One of the things that has served me exceptionally well over the years is my ability to be good at a lot of different things while mastering nothing at all. While this may sound like a negative shot at my abilities and aptitudes, I have no shame in this admission and I’m actually quite proud of it.

A few years back I put together an aggressive plan to complete a particularly difficult 125-km ultramarathon that had been on my to-do list. My ingenious plan to get across the finish line within the 29-hour cut-off time was to complete 2 other ultramarathons of similar difficulty and elevation change in the 8 weeks preceding my 125, to get me adjusted to the pain and suffering. It was a dumbass plan in hindsight, I admit.