Every Mountain is Different Vol 2: “Dare to Fail”

This series is inspired by my own discovery, as I train for a 200-mile race, of what I am really training for. Which you can read here. This series focuses on athletes I work with and their mountains, based on my observations.

Jenn and I first crossed paths at a Green Beret Fitness weekend of events. I watched her cross both finish lines and saw that she wasn’t afraid to sign up for hard things. She was immediately seeking her next challenge.

Soon after, I watched her fall short at GBF Ocala.

What everyone saw was a failed 68-mile ruck. A woman who just needed to train harder.

What I saw was someone who was already willing to put in the work. In fact, she was training the only way she knew how: with more intensity, more volume, and more grit.

Months before her second attempt, I dug into how she was training. Listening to Jenn highlighted a trend I see in a lot of endurance athletes: the hard work was never her problem.

So I asked her if she’d trust me.

The hardest part wasn’t adding training. It was rest days, recovery, actually tapering, fueling, and letting some CrossFit mornings take a back seat. For someone who loves her LFT community, it wasn’t easy. It meant trusting a process that looked very different from what she knew.

At GBF Rock Creek, my phone buzzed. She was almost 80 miles in, I read, “I’m gonna be honest, I might pull the plug after this loop… I’m feeling just totally f*ked right now.”

Ninety minutes later, she trudged in. I took her pack. She did not want to keep going. So, I told her exactly what to do. Sit. Eat this sweet potato. Drink the Ketone IQ. Close your eyes for 7 minutes.

She didn’t argue. She did everything. She trusted me. And then she got up and kept moving to complete 100 miles.

Jenn didn’t just become someone who could finish Ocala or complete a 100-mile ruck. She became someone who learned that progress isn’t always built by doing more. It is built by doing the right things consistently. 

Sometimes strength looks like pushing harder. Real strength often looks like pulling back. Knowing the difference is wisdom.

Jenn didn’t find her love for endurance and the mountains until later in life. She isn’t chasing certainty. She is chasing possibility with Cocodona 250. That’s what it means to dare to fail.

Everyone’s mountain is different.

The person you’re becoming is what matters.