Ella

“The question became less and less theoretical in Vermont, where I started to come up against my own limits. I've heard it said that ultra marathons are 90 percent mental. And the other 10 percent? That's mental too. I was in the thick of that other 10 percent.”
― Scott Jurek, North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail

“Horty relished the gnar. To him, true adventure should be steeped with elements of failure, risk, and even death, preferably all three. He was especially fond of the Shackleton quote "I love the fight and when things are easy I hate it.”
― Scott Jurek

“We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

“Horty had a theory about motivation. He told me that a lot of motivation could be boiled down to this: How bad do you want it? He would ask people, "What's the furthest you can run without stopping?" After they replied whatever distance, he followed up with "Could you run a mile further if I gave you a million dollars? What if I was running behind you holding a gun to your head, could you run even further?"

He said, "It's easy to say you want it real bad when you're sitting at home on the couch. But when the going gets tough, do you want it enough?"

We often think we can't go any farther and feel like we have nothing left to give, yet there is a hidden potential and strength in all of us, begging us to find it. We arrive at it via different means---something reward, sometimes fear. There was something to Horty's motivational theory, and finding that desire was the most vexing problem. How bad did I want it?”
― Scott Jurek, North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail