Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I had started running to get healthier, but instead I ended up getting healthier while running. I was already suffering from blisters, but when I finished the race, my feet were in even worse shape than before. #2 I began running, and eventually competed in, my first hundred-mile race in 1999. I had lucked into a good one for beginners. The course was flat and wide, and the twenty-mile loop wound through scraggly woods that blotted out the sun. It smelled like wood and mold. #3 The trail was overrun with sneaky tree roots that could trip you if you weren't paying attention. The dark air constricted your breathing, and the sounds of the race seemed to turn a bit more sinister. By mile seventy-five, your feet began to sweat again, and your shoes began to fill with needles. #4 I had completed a few races by this point, and knew that ultrarunners were as much about enduring as they were about running. I was determined to finish a hundred miles, even if it meant walking the last twenty. I was so sleepy that I could have curl up and take a nap right there.