You Don’t Just Earn Strength. You Keep Earning It.

We all say we want to be strong.

We want to be the kind of runner who digs deep at mile 70 and keeps going.

Who pushes through the tough moments.

Who finishes with grit, purpose, and the story to prove it.

We want the strength.

But if we’re being honest, we don’t always want to have to be strong.

Not today.

Not when training didn’t go to plan.

Not when the weather’s yucky, the course is tougher than expected, or our motivation isn’t quite there.

We want proof of strength—without always paying the price.

The happiness of the finish line without the agony of the climb.

The confidence of knowing we can do hard things, without actually having to go do the hard thing again.

The identity of a strong runner—without the constant call to be strong.

That’s not weakness. That’s being human.

But also: that’s not how strength works.

Strength isn’t a badge you earn once.

It’s not a milestone you hit and never have to revisit.

You don’t “become strong” and then coast.

Strength is something you practice.

And the only way to practice it… is to do things that demand it.

Which means: discomfort. Challenge. Effort.

Not just once—but again and again.

I was thinking the other day about the time I ran Coldwater Rumble 100 one January.

It had only been two months since my last 100, and I felt like I’d forgotten what it takes - the discomfort, effort, and level of strength it takes.

Would I remember how to settle into the toughness of it? Would it all come back to me or would it be too much?

I decided I wouldn’t know until I stepped into it.

So I ran it.

What got me to that finish wasn’t remembering what to do.

It was re-accepting what strength really means:

Being strong doesn’t mean it’s supposed to feel easy.

It means you’re willing to let it be hard and do it anyway.

It means accepting discomfort instead of dodging it.

And that willingness? It’s easy to want to skip it.

To wish we could just have the result, without going through it again.

Doing something hard once is one thing.

Coming back to do it again—knowing exactly how much it takes—is something else entirely.

But deep down, that’s what we actually want:

Not to be handed the outcome, but to earn it.

Not to wonder what we’re made of, but to find out.

To become the kind of person who does hard things—over and over—not just once.

That takes more than strength.

It takes the willingness to be strong—not just once, but over and over.

To forget how, and still believe you can.

So if you’re in a tough stretch right now in any way—

If the effort is real, the discomfort loud, and strength feels distant—

You’re not off-track.

You’re right where you need to be.

In the unglamorous middle—where strength isn’t talked about or shown off, but built. Reinforced.

And the next time you toe a starting line, you’ll feel it:

Not just the echo of past strength—

But the power of choosing it again.