“Because I Can”

This week, I sat in freezing water with a Life Flight pilot discussing why men voluntarily seek hard things.

Cold plunges. Ironmans. Ultramarathons. Early mornings. Etc.

Somewhere between the ice water and the conversation I extracted the simple answer:

“Because I can.”

Almost sounds like an indifferent shrug or a cold dismissal,

But coming from a man who regularly watches healthy people lose tomorrow without warning…
those three words just hit different

⚡️ F5 Fast Files - Short Summary

🛫 Dallas Kittrell

Dallas is one of those men who naturally makes you want to level up.

Professionally, he is a Life Flight pilot, flying critically injured people (often children) to hospitals where they might survive.

But for “leisure” Dallas does endurance events, even racing in the Ironman 70.3 world championship in New Zealand!

His current training is for a race called “Grand to Grand,” a 171-mile self-supported ultramarathon stretching from the Grand Canyon to the Grand Staircase over the course of seven days. 😱

Everything is carried on the runner’s back:
food,
gear,
sleeping equipment,
everything.

Honestly, he’s probably overqualified to answer my question, but joining him for his recovery day at Plunj I ask anyway:

“Why do we seek out hard things?”

He told me about a close friend who recently died unexpectedly.

He talked about flying children on Life Flight who, only moments before tragedy struck, were healthy and vibrant.

Parents wailing in grief.
Lives changed instantly.
Tomorrow gone without warning.

“Because I can. I just don’t know how long that will last.”

Not to prove something, but to express gratitude through action.

🏃‍♂️Taken For Granted

There are countless things we experience every day without appreciating them.

The ability to walk.
To breathe deeply.
To sweat.
To see.
To hold our children.
To wrestle in the living room.
To laugh around a dinner table.

We assume these things will always be there.

But Dallas sees firsthand that they won’t.

And because of that, he chooses to fully experience what he still can.

I said, “surely this isn’t just about health benefits”, because let’s be honest…
171-mile ultramarathons probably aren’t the pinnacle of long-term orthopedic preservation.

He laughed and agreed.

No, this wasn’t about optimization, but presence and gratitude for his capacity.

About being a good steward of what he has been given, at least for today.

🎁 Stewardship for the gift of your body

One thing I appreciated was Dallas’ perspective on balance.

At one point, he realized just how much time Ironman training demanded from his young family.

Long bike rides could consume four hours at a time.

So he pivoted.

He began focusing more heavily on running-based events because he could train effectively in a fraction of the time.

He didn’t stop pursuing hard things.

He simply learned how to pursue them while creating more space for what mattered most.

Now his kids join him on runs.
He pushes a stroller.
His wife rides beside him on an e-bike.

Fitness stopped being something that pulled him away from his young family…
and became something that could include them in.

That hit me, because as I can recently attest fitness doesn’t look the same in every season of life.

For one man, it’s Ironman training.
For another, it’s lifting before work.
For another, it’s basketball three nights a week.

For me…
Right now it’s simply doing push-ups everyday because that’s what I can stay consistent and accountable to.

The point isn’t comparison.

The point is stewardship.

⛺️ Just People

One of the most interesting parts of Grand to Grand isn’t even the mileage.

It’s the evenings.

After running roughly 30 miles each day — an ultramarathon in its own right — the racers set up camp together in the desert.

No phones with service.
Music is discouraged.
No digital escape.

Just people.

Tired.
Hurting.
Present.

Together.

And maybe that’s part of the reason we seek hard things in the first place.

Not just to suffer…
but to remember what matters and strip life back down to its essentials.

One day, all of this will be gone, so get out there and live it.

“Because you can.”

Justin

F5 Brotherhood

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