· 6 min read · Published on Carlos Builds

29 Miles Was Easier Than No Finish Line

On my birthday I run my age in miles. It’s the only goal I have that comes with its own finish line.

A running watch on Carlos’s wrist reading 29.39 miles in 5 hours 44 minutes 39 seconds.

What it’s about

Every June I run my age in miles. This year that meant starting at 3:40 in the morning, twenty miles outside before the Tucson heat got serious, and the last 9.39 on a treadmill. It hurt, and it was still the easiest hard thing I did all year.

The piece is me trying to work out why. The run had a finish line that wasn’t going to move. Almost nothing else in my life does: a product has rungs, a career changes shape, and a business just keeps going. I didn’t find a way to bolt a finish line onto those. I found out the hard part isn’t effort.

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