Chet Fehrmann: The Nature of It

After five or six years I started to question why I was doing ultra's- mostly while I was doing them.  They were quite exhausting and actually painful for a day or two after the finish.  They took a lot of time to train for and a lot of money goes into getting ready and being prepared.  I was doing well.  Regular ski marathons were too short- I didn't have enough speed to be good, but I'd always finish with plenty of energy.  I was doing well enough that I had defined myself by my accomplishments and felt like I had to keep racing.  Was it arrogance that was telling me that it would be a waste to stop using this ability I had?  Or was I afraid to let go of how I was defining myself and that I would turn into a "once-was, has-been" storyteller of what I once was? My body took care of all that thinking for me. On a short hill-climb of a road bicycle race, I compromised my back and developed a herniated disc in my low back that presses into my spinal cor...

The first Ultra-Marathon I ever skied was the 24 Hours of Telemark in Hayward, WI.  It was a 5K loop that you skied as many laps as you could in 24 hours. For some reason it just seemed like something I'd "enjoy".  It went great for 10 hours.  Then I fell apart.  I kept going throughout the duration of the event but skiing too fast the first half of the race took me out of the competition. Every ultra since then has taught me about my body and learning to overcome what I think I know of it- and instead actually listen to it, respond appropriately, and eventually succeed. In 2007 I competed in my first Susitna 100.  Run, bike, or ski- at that time it seemed obvious to me what the best choice was.  Why would you choose any other method?  However, the rapid advancements in fatbikes at the time was quickly changing the best method from "maybe skis or maybe bikes" to what it is now.  In all but the deepest and softest snow (slowly becoming an anomaly...

With some pretty ambitious goals this lifetime I've decided to create a place to be able to look back at where I started and how things have progressed. Sometimes thoughts may be included... The Nature of It refers to the things we can't change. It's synonymous to when it gets cold enough outside lakes freeze over. This is not to be confused with "No good deed goes unpunished- that's the nature of it". The physicalities in this world are the only things we can't change. My goal is to write of the choices I make to create what I desire in life. The obstacles and challenges are also my creation, whether I create them by choice or by default. By bringing awareness to the obstacles in life, I hope to be able to dig deeper and clear the causes.