The Comrades Marathon is a 55-mile race in South Africa that's billed as "the ultimate human race." Here's what I learned from preparing and completing it.

1. What Ultra Running Can
Teach You About Life
@bmorrissey

2. The plan
1. The basics.
II. 5 lessons from Comrades.
III. Final takeaways.

3. I. The basics

4. How to get started
1. Run around the block or a nearby park.
2. Realize you’re out of shape.
3. Run at a pace you can speak easily. This will be slow.
4. Add no more than 10% each week.
5. Make it a habit.

5. 3 secrets to success
1. Some natural ability.
2. Focused practice.
3. Perseverance.

6. Training plan
1. 7 months
2. 1,100 miles/70mpw
3. 3 marathons/1 50k
4. Back-to-back long runs
5. Focus on recovery

7. Lesson 1: Set a big goal

8. 2. Nothing is impossible.

9. Lesson 3: Chip away

10. Lesson 4: Vasbyt

11. “Once you have run an
ultramarathon like the Comrades,
any failures you have experiences
are no longer that important.”

12. Lesson 5: Success looks a
lot easier...

13. Than it really is

14. Really

15. III. 5 Lessons
1. Planning is necessary, but ultimately insufficient.
2. Learn to enjoy the process more than the result.
3. Failure is inevitable and ultimately beneficial.
4. Know things won’t always get worse.
5. Really hard things are messy.