Out of the dry air, the soft dust swirling the breeze and white and yellow sunlight, I could hear some muffled music and applause. I could smell meat on a grill and I could feel my heavy legs shake the weight of 39.75 miles as I added another .25 and finished my first 40-mile trail race. Strangers cheered me on. My brother and father were there and give me high-fives as I passed the finish line and a volunteer student from the Sisters High School Cross Country team took my bib number and handed me a bottle of water and a pair of socks marked “Peterson Ridge Rumble.”

Even though I ran the race (no one else could move my legs for me), I could not ignore who was around me, the sounds of encouragement I heard, the texts I got after from those in my Spartan group, from people around the Courthouse, the handshake from my father, the hug from my mother, the high-five from my brother.

Fitness is internal. Our fitness is our fitness. But, like a great poet once said, “No man is an island” and no fitness goal is ever reached in a vacuum.

We have to push ourselves, imagine, train, and do. And we have to be pushed.

I know it: I ran this race because I told others about it. I had others keep me accountable to make sure my lifestyle matched my ambitions. Drew (of Courthouse Nutrition) helped me train and told what to eat the week before to make sure I had enough energy and that I drank enough water before and during and after the race. I asked the Performance Training guys about foam rolling and stretching and building functional, balanced strength, and everyone I spoke to, Coaches and Trainers and Front Desk Staff and Instructors and Friends and Family, everyone had something to add. But, more than anything else, they simply added an encouraging word.

Near the end of the race, in the woods outside Sisters, Oregon, I found myself alone. I could not see anyone in front of me nor could I hear anyone behind me. I heard my shoes on the dried pine needles and I heard my breath and I thought about all the conversations I had leading up to this point in time, when I could feel the ache in my shins and when I had not seen in an Aid Station in over an hour and I could feel my mouth dry out and my muscles start to tighten.

I was going to complete the race, but I was not going entirely by myself.