Jeff Cady says, Most of the time

now, I don't listen to music because it makes things too easy at times, especially for ultra marathons.

That mental toughness of, OK, I'm going to go out there and do this.

So making sure that you are creating that mental toughness and that, okay, I can get through this because headphones die, phones die.

You're not going to always have that crutch to lean back on.

Okay, what's going to happen if I can't listen to music? I'm able to still do the thing and not having to rely on those types of things.

Jeff continues, Comfort

is an illusion, so do something that scares you today.

Whether we're on trails training or at a race, we're part of a community, and one of the best things about the community is something Jeff partakes in, too.

One of the things I enjoy is, is helping people.

So, uh, on all the races, whenever you're in the thick of it, if I'm not helping people, I'm not me, so every race I help somebody in some way.

At, uh, Coldwater, there's a kid who was like, "I ran out of electrolytes." I was like, "Okay, I've got extras.

Here.

Uh, my, my nutrition has electrolytes.

These were extras." And, and handed them off, uh, 'cause he was doing the 100K and, uh, was trying to make it so that he could finish it and just kept going.

It also provides a kind of clarity and focus that works both on and off trails.