Hello friends! There has been a lot of talk here about how outdated our vessels/containers are (coming from the beings who created us, I don’t disagree lol). I believe a lot of people forget and truly do not know how unbelievably amazing and incredible our bodies are.
These machines, these containers, are capable of unbelievable physical, mental, and “spiritual” capabilities. In this article, I will cover some amazing people, and incredible physical, and mental achievements humans have made.
To start, here are some amazing facts about the least understood, most complicated, and powerful technology/organism/element known to man: the human body and brain.
•The human body contains an extensive number of blood vessels, measuring between 60,000 to 100,000 miles.
•The human brain contains approximately ONE HUNDRED BILLION neurons, about the same as the number of stars in the galaxy. (1)
• P.S, as adults we still can make new neurons (this is good news for me lol) (2)
•ONE PERSONS BRAIN generates more electrical impulses than all the telephones in the world COMBINED (interestingly I found this on a military website, however a different link is provided) (3)
•Our bodies' sensory systems gather data about our environments at a rate of a billion bits per second, which is 100 million times faster than our thought processes. (4)
Crazy, I know lol. Our brains alone are absolute powerhouses. Built for knowledge, and understanding complex situations. Now, below the neck is what I want to get into next.
To show you the incredible endurance of the body and mind (and a strong belief in yourself), there are races called ultra marathons (like 26.2 wasn’t far enough lol). Any race longer than your traditional marathon, ranging typically from 50-100 miles.
There are too many stories of incredible and talented runners and athletes, but I’ll cover just a few of the all time greats in the sport. Running an ultra marathon and athletics is very much mental as well as physical.
My girl Pam Reed. A woman who has ran decades of ultra marathons, she is a shining example of defying the odds. Three weeks before her 60th birthday, she became the 19th person in history to join the 100x100 club, running 100 races with 100 mile finishes. (5)
If that wasn’t impressive enough, on March 28, 2005, she ran for 80 hours, completing 301 miles and setting a new world record.
If you’re wondering “holy F, your body can handle that??”
Yes, yes it can.
After finishing, she calmly embraced her mother and father, a few friends, and walked over to chat with reporters. “I’m amazed I did it, but I’m more amazed at how (good) my body feels,” she said. “I’ve hurt more after a (26-mile) marathon.”
Hard to top that.
We have the legend himself next, Scott Jurek.
One of the most accomplished athletes and runners ever. He is all vegan, and completed all of his running on a vegan diet (which is TOUGH).
He has claimed #1 victories in many of the biggest courses in ultra running, specifically the Western States 100, which many consider the hardest trail run in the WORLD.
Seven times in a row. Not only that, he has set a speed record for hiking the Appalachian Trail, doing almost 50 miles a day. He is the currently the US all surface record holder for 24 hour runs, at 165.7 miles. (6)
He once ran the Western States 100, and two weeks later ran Badwater 135, undoubtedly the world’s hardest foot race (a 135 mile trek through Death Valley on the hottest day of the year, finishing at the top of Mt. Whitney. The road is so hot, the soles of your shoes can melt. The athletes run on the white line on the shoulder to prevent this. Average of 120 degrees temperature, so the road would be somewhere in the realm of 140?). A few minutes after winning and running for 24 hours, he was interviewed and said “I think you go through the phase where you realize that the human body was built for endurance—for endurance, not for speed. We have an instinctual drive to do this perpetual motion thing. And then, there is the spiritual, psychological side—to find out who I am as a person, who I am inside.(7)
Scott Jurek credits much of his ability to run far distances to MEDITATION and BREATHWORK. He’s him and his beautiful family after a race:
One more quick example of another human who defied the odds through running is one of my favorites, Bob Becker. He started his first marathon later in life, and fell in love (who turned 80 this year). A bit of his resume (it’s quite long lol) so impressive you’ll have to read it yourself:
•World record for 75-79 age range in the 48-hour fixed-time event: 167.5 miles at "Six Days in the Dome", Milwaukee, WI, June 2024.
•Race record at ARFTA--"A Race for the Ages"--Manchester, TN. Existing record broken with 230 miles completed in 74 hours.
•Overall win at "Icarus Ultrafest", 24-hour race, Ft. Lauderdale FL in November, 2020. 97.6 miles.
•Azalea 12-hour Ultra, Palatka, FL: Masters winner in November 2018--54.5 miles.
•"Badwater Hall of Fame": induction in 2023.
"Badwater 135": four finishes, including 2022.
(Here’s Bob running on the shoulder at Badwater and he ran this race at 77)
I include bob’s story to show you that it is NEVER too late to start something new, and do not believe that just because you are older, you can’t accomplish physical goals. LAST YEAR he ran 167.5 miles in 48 hours, breaking a world record for his age group. (8)
Just to show you, our bodies can handle extreme physical, and mental endurance. A common saying about ultras is “the first 50 are physical, the last 50 are mental.” Many people report having complete fatigue, and literally being so physically exhausted you can’t move, and you think you done.
Then you run another 50 miles.
It’s the power of your belief and your willpower.
Eventually I also experimented with running to strengthen my mind and body. I used it to challenge myself and to find my physical/mental limits. It took a long time, but eventually I did a few half marathons before work. I clocked in at 5-5:45 a.m daily. Here Is a 16 mile run I did once before work (about two years ago). I was WRECKED that day, but it showed me I can still work through hard pain and challenges:
So, your body can do a lot more physical work than you think it can. Your mind will always give up before your body, in the form of “I can’t do this” or “this sucks I don’t want this” or other negative speak. Not saying hurt yourself, but our minds are literally set to make you survive, and be comfortable. It’s first priority is not happiness, or challenging itself. It’s staying somewhat comfy. Once you get used to challenges, they just get easier.
Now, to show the resilience of the mind, here are notable people in history who ignored the haters, learned from their mistakes, and became mental athletes, innovators, and directors. A few people who changed the course of history we all know by using their MENTAL ENDURANCE over YEARS. Yes, mental athletes (think the researches, scientists, professors, inventors) use endurance most of their lives. Having to face rejection thousands of times, years or thousands or failures takes extreme endurance and belief in yourself to continue.
•Steven Spielberg: Famously rejected from the University of Southern California’s Cinematic Arts THREE TIMES! Imagine if he gave up on his dreams because someone told him no three times. (9)
•Colonel Sanders (vegan friends I am sorry) went door-to-door, B2B all over the country to sell his famous chicken recipe, and was rejected 1,009 times. Finally, after 1,010 try, someone accepted, and the gigantic behemoth that is KFC was born. (10)
•Sam Walton opened the first Walmart in 1962 at 44 years old. Deeply in the middle of his life, he took a leap of faith, and with BELIEF in himself he succeeded. It is never too late to start!! (11)
•Thomas Edison failed 2,774 times while trying to invent the light lightbulb. He is quoted as saying “I have not failed 10,000 times-I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” lol after 2,774 tries I’m sure it did feel like 10k. (12)
•Einsteins story is amazing too. After graduating with a degree in mathematics and physics in 1900, he couldn’t find a job as a teacher or researcher. He even thought about selling insurance! Eventually he found work as a patent examiner until 1909. In 1905 (at 26) he published five of the most groundbreaking papers in physics history (including the famous e=mc2). In 1909, he finally got a position as an assistant professor, and eventually a professor of theoretical physics in 1911. This is a GREAT example of endurance and never giving up! If he gave up, we would be VERY behind. Also, note that some of the most groundbreaking pieces of physics history were written while he had a day job, not a teaching/research job.
(12)
So, to sum it all up. Our minds, bodies, and “spirits” have incredible endurance, and powers of belief many do not know about. When you start to challenge yourself, you can discover your limits, and eventually learn how to break them. Specifically for us, this means also breaking out of the perceived limitations of your own mind. Stop believing you can’t go run. Stop believing you can’t get better at psionics. Stop believing you’ll never feel better. It’s not true! This is the voice of doubt.
Lol us runners know the voice of doubt very well. It creeps in when your really starting to feel the burn. “Just slow down, or even better, walk!” NO! Train yourself to ignore that voice, just like all of these great people above, and you will succeed in many areas of your life. Your psionic capabilities will explode. Your physical and emotional life will benefit. We are on a mission here as well to expand our psionic capabilities and potency. This happens when you start exercising your mind, believing in yourself, and practicing endurance! You are capable of so much more!
References:
(1)https://www.dentinstitute.com/22-facts-about-the-brain-world-brain-day/
(2)https://www.thehealthy.com/aging/mind-memory/brain-facts/
(3)https://health.choc.org/10-facts-about-the-brain-you-didnt-know/
(5)https://tucson.com/article_34b46600-17a2-11e6-b8d5-6b346d6854c8.html
https://ultrarunninghistory.com/hall-of-fame/pam-reed/
(6)http://www.scottjurek.com/about-scott
(7)https://www.badwater.com/2005web/stories/story11.html
(8)https://keys100.com/about-the-race-director
(9)https://www.educationnext.in/posts/how-spielberg-defied-the-odds-and-sparked-the-spielberg-effect#:~:text=Steven%20Spielberg%20was%20famously%20rejected,determination%20that%20fueled%20his%20path.
So wistfully, amazingly written. Great stuff
I really liked this post and have spent awhile thinking how to respond. I think a lot of what you said here is really great! But I did want to leave a comment to remind people to not push too hard at once! Yes we have more strength than we know, but there are still limits to how we push ourselves. I used to be a big runner. I was super crazy obsessed. Two things happened at once that put a stop to this.
I hurt my ankle, badly, unrelated but it's an injury that effects even just my walking to this day. The other thing that happened, is that my myelin levels were effected badly due to excess exercise. I was very not good for a long time because I pushed so dang hard.
There was a study recently on this which I feel inclined to share.
Basically, I pushed way too hard for too long. Don't be like me! Take your training slowly, don't push to an unreasonable level, and keep working hard to be the best you that you can be! But yes of course, humans are powerhouses! Become a superhero, build up your strength and power, day by day, and don't try to do it all at once guys! :]
This was a really cool write up and I appreciate very much how much time and effort it too! Appreciate all your resources too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!
Hell yeah my dude 👏🙌 really though, it was nice to get that kinda encouragement in boosting my body and abilities
Very cool! It’s crazy how much more complex the processes are that to us seem so simple. My immune and nervous system read this though and were like oh you THINK SO *commence autoimmune and psychological issues* 😂 it’s so crazy though to see what people are capable of! To bounce off what you said about it running even - I used to get panic attacks when I ran thus making me think I couldn’t do it. I downloaded the couch to 5k phone app and was able to take small steps and get there at least for a bit (thanks knees). But love the post. And bibliography haha!