"Pain is mandatory. Suffering is optional"

This photo 📸 was taken shortly after I strained my left hamstring on ascent 12 during the 29029 Everesting Challenge in Sun Valley, Idaho. It happened on a section not shown here called "the Wall", where the grade is ~40% and every step needs to be considered to make sure you've got a solid purchase in the loose gravel and rocks. I still remember that last critical foot placement being somewhat tentative, but pressed on and felt my foot slide back down the hillside and the pain shoot up the back of my leg.

I thought I was done.

I thought I just needed to hobble the rest of the way to the top to get the gondola back down, but that I would most likely have to settle for 12 out of 15 ascents.

I was crushed. And I was more proud than I have ever been in my life.

I had trained for 7 months, was in the best shape I'd been in in over 20 years (maybe my life) and just climbed roughly 23,220 vertical feet. An amazing accomplishment!

But I just wasn't ready to give up. I rode the gondola down, went straight to the recovery room in the lodge and sought out a personal trainer who stretched me, iced me and taped me up. She didn't have a very confident tone in her voice as she worked on me, but I thought I might still have a chance.

I went down to the start line where I checked in with Colleen Rue who was running the ascent board. She and Coach Brent Pease checked in with me, a moment for which I'll forever be grateful. Brent asked me about my average summit times so far, which were roughly 80 - 100 mins and told me "you have time - even if your next 3 summits take 3 hours each, you can still finish by 6pm and earn your red hat. It's going to hurt, but you can do this if you just go slow."

With that, I took a deep breath, gave my wife Laura Winter Spence a kiss, and started back up. Every step hurt. I almost turned around 100 times in the first 100 yards.

But I took another step, focused on that next little rock, that next little divot in the trail...and I start channeling the quote from Colin O'Brady: "Pain is mandatory. Suffering is optional" with every single step.

I reminded myself that between stimulus and response we have choice.

That moment may be a microsecond, but that moment is ours.

We get to decide.

And I got to decide if this pain was going to sideline me or if it was just going to be part of my experience.

I chose the latter.

And then I decided I was going to get to Aid Station 1.

And if I could get to Aid Station 1, then I could get to Aid Station 2.

And if I could get to Aid Station 2, I could get to the summit.

And if I could get to the summit, that will be 13 ascents.

And if I could do 13, I could do 14.

And if I could do 14, I sure as HELL was going to do 15.

At some point, my hamstring stopped hurting. I honestly don't know when. And I don't know if it just worked itself out or if my Possible Mindset blocked the pain.

But what I do know is that I owned that choice.