Ultrarunner Taylor Spike

Oregonian Taylor Spike added his name to the very short list of ultra-endurance athletes to complete a sub-60 hour, 200 mile ultramarathon. For Taylor, running is about life - and life is about submitting to the friction necessary to get uncomfortable. Comfort is hiding after a lousy day at work to bust into a case of beer. Comfortable is overweight. Comfortable is Dilaudid, a buzz and a couch. There was a time in Taylor’s life when he went through the motions of addiction to cope. "I didn’t have a pill problem, I had a pain problem". Back surgeries and a gut left him uninspired and lethargic.
In the suffering of the long run, he finds his family and his truth. “I was quick to look for the easy out,” according to Taylor, who at the time was trapped in the spiral of routine, but which ultimately spun into a self-destructive path chasing numbness and a false high. When a second surgery was required for his back, he was already walking down that road. Alone. When the second round of therapy and pain management was heaped on his plate, Taylor expected help and accountability. He hoped again to skate through riding the easy out. Life was not gritty, raw, or real.
What he found instead was a heavy dose of self-accountability and a hard look in the mirror. No one offered to do the heavy lifting for him, and he realized that no one could alter the map of his life besides himself. There are prisons we lock ourselves in that we hold the only key to. “We all go through life avoiding confrontation,” he says. Even conflict within ourselves.
Listen to this podcast with Coach Blu and Taylor. See if you can relate to anything said here, and make sure to share the word with others! We can all recover. "I am a CHAMPION!"
Follow Taylor Spike
Twitter @Taylorspike
Instagram: tspike2

[@Mattbarentsen]

As an alcoholic and ultra runner, I loved this conversation. Thank you.