You Have a Motor – Part 1: Choosing a Misogi

🏔️ You Have a Motor

Part 1: Choosing a Misogi

On Saturday, I ran my first ultra marathon.

A 12-hour race in Oregon that went up and down a mountain…
over and over again.

The loop was simple on paper:

• 🟢 3 miles total
• ⬆️ 1.5 miles straight up
• ⬇️ 1.5 miles straight down

And just to make it interesting, each lap included
1,000 feet of climbing.

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🔥 Why This Race Existed for Me

Twelve weeks ago, I decided I wanted to find a Misogi for this year.

Misogi (禊) is a concept borrowed from ancient Shinto tradition in Japan. Originally, it was a ritual purification — often involving cold water like rivers, waterfalls, or the ocean — meant to cleanse the body and spirit.

In more modern terms, Misogi has been adapted into a framework for intentional, transformative challenge.

One core idea defines it:

🧠 A true Misogi should have about a 50% chance of success.

If you know you can do it, it’s training.
If failure isn’t possible, it’s comfort.
If you’re not sure you’ll make it — that’s a Misogi.

That uncertainty was exactly what I was after.

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🧭 Choosing to Make It Hard

I started researching 12- and 24-hour loop races in Washington and Oregon, asking myself not:

“Can I do this?”

…but:

“How can I make this hard?”

I texted my brother about one of the races I found. He told me that he and my cousin were planning to run the Spike Camp Ultra at the end of January.

I signed up with them — partly for accountability, partly because it scared me.

To earn the medal at Spike Camp, you must complete:

• 🏃 10 laps
• 📏 30+ miles
• ⛰️ 10,000 feet of elevation gain
• ⏱️ Within 12 hours

That became my goal:
10 laps.

Here’s the part that matters —
I intentionally didn’t train optimally.

My brother and cousin were running 50–70 miles per week leading up to the race. I had ChatGPT build me a 10-week plan based on the race demands: 30–50 miles per week.

I followed about 10% of it.

I ran once per week, with distances between 5–15 miles.

By any endurance standard, it wasn’t enough.

👉 And that was the point.

I wanted uncertainty.
I wanted to earn it.

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🧪 One Week Before the Race

One week out, I decided to do a
“let’s see what I have in me” run.

It was my first trail run ever.

I had never run more than 15 miles in my life — let alone on trails with major elevation.

Naturally… I went for 20+ miles.

I needed to understand:

• 🥵 The pain
• 🧃 Fueling and hydration
• 🦯 What running with poles actually feels like
• 🚫 What happens when things go wrong

I finished with:

• 22 miles
• 4,300 feet of elevation
• 6 hours on feet

At mile 19, I started cramping after running out of electrolyte water.

And on a trail, there’s no easy bailout.
No calling a friend.
No quick exit.

You finish — or you don’t.

I finished.

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🧠 Doubt Sets In

On the drive home, my daughter called to ask how it went.

I don’t remember a word she said.

I was in so much pain I could barely sit still in my truck.

When I got home, I sat in the bathtub for 40 minutes and questioned everything.

Why did I sign up for this?
I can back out — no one would blame me.
I should have trained more.

I told my wife flat out:

“I can’t do this. Why did I sign up for this race?”

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🔑 The Thing I Forgot About Myself

Once again, I went back to ChatGPT.

I uploaded a screenshot of my Strava data and asked:

“Based on this run, how long would it take me to complete 10 laps at Spike Camp in six days?”

The response:

• ✅ Best case: 8:45
• ⚠️ Most likely: 9:30

That helped.

But what mattered most wasn’t the time estimate.

It reminded me of something I’ve relied on my entire life —
but never said out loud.

⚡ I have a motor.

I’ve seen it show up before:

• When people told me I’d never become a manager at Target — it took 8 years, but I did
• When I finished college while married, with three kids and a full-time job — it took 7 years
• When I ran 22 trail miles having never done anything like it before

It’s never been about pace for me.
It’s about time and forward motion.

👣 One foot in front of the other.
🔒 Lock in.
➡️ Keep going.

This isn’t unique to me.

It’s human.
It’s how we were built to survive and thrive.

Sometimes it’s brutal.
Sometimes it feels pointless.

But for those willing to stay in it…
there are moments of quiet beauty — like standing on a mountain as the sun rises, knowing you didn’t quit 🌅

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⏭️ What Comes Next

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share more about how the race unfolded — and how it finished.

I thought this post would be about race day.

But this process has already changed me more than I expected.

So… did I complete my goal?

My motor would tell you yes.

But did I put enough gas in the tank? ⛽

You’ll have to come back next week to find out.

🛒 Merch that supports your desire to grind check the link below. 

https://kfg-collection.myshopify.com/

Got thoughts on this? Drop a comment below — I’d love to hear from you! 💬

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