The Art of Braving New Waters: How Long Distance Running Taught Me to Embrace the Unknown
It starts with silence. The kind of silence that isn’t empty, but charged. Charged with nerves, excitement, a strange sort of dread. The sun hasn’t broken the horizon yet. The world is holding its breath. And there you are—stood still at the edge of a road you’ve never run, in a town you’ve just arrived in, heart doing somersaults against your chest.
You could turn back. Stay safe. Stick to the familiar loop around the block. But that’s not why you laced up, is it?
Running long distances doesn’t just train the legs. It trains the spirit. It forces you to dance with the unknown, over and over again, until you stop fearing the void and start reaching for it.
Because what lies on the other side isn’t just another kilometre... It’s you, version 2.0. A version you don’t meet until the path ahead stops making sense and you keep going anyway.
The Curiosity That Kills the Excuses
It happens in the first 10 minutes of a run: that voice in your head throws a tantrum.
"What if we get lost? What if we hit a hill too steep? What if we burn out and bonk hard?"
You nod. Smile. And run into it anyway.
Why? Because curiosity is more powerful than caution when you let it be.
Running has taught me that every unfamiliar road, every strange trail, every whisper of uncertainty, carries a gift on the other side—if you’re willing to unwrap it through effort.
Sometimes that gift is confidence. Sometimes it’s a story you’ll tell for years. And sometimes, yeah, it’s a gnarly lesson. But all of it makes you sharper, more nimble, more alive.
Comfort Zones Are Speed Traps
Stick to what you know, and you’ll get fast. Maybe even efficient.
But fast and efficient can become boring. Predictable. Complacent. And in that comfort zone, progress plateaus. Your edge dulls. Your hunger fades.
It took long-distance running to teach me that the edge of discomfort isn’t the place to fear.
It’s the place you find yourself.
Pack your life into a suitcase, land in a new country, and run before the city wakes up. It feels risky. Reckless. But it’s not.
It’s liberating.
Run Towards Resistance
Every unknown trail I've tackled mirrors something deeper:
The fear of making a bad decision.
The anxiety of being seen trying.
The doubt of whether I’m "good enough."
Running doesn’t erase those things. It makes you stare at them, sweat through them, conquer them one step at a time.
Whether it was running and winning my first ultra in WA... or later breaking records in the Bali Ultra, every peak I reached started the same way: With an unfamiliar path I had the guts to follow.
The Payoff of Possibility
When you run towards the unknown, something wild happens:
You stop trying to control everything. You surrender to the process.
You feel the terrain instead of overplanning every detail. You read your body like a compass. You run with trust instead of tension.
And as it turns out? That version of you—the one that trusts, adapts, overcomes—is dangerous in the best possible way.
The Invitation
This isn’t a story about running. Not really.
It’s a story about curiosity. Courage. And the quiet rebellion of refusing to play it safe.
Braving new waters isn’t just about pounding the pavement. It’s about choosing growth over comfort. It’s about saying yes to a new route, a new pace, a new country, a new chapter.
The world is wide. And every trail you’ve yet to run is holding a version of you you haven’t met yet.
So the next time you're standing on the edge of something uncertain... Take the first step.
Because everything worth finding—clarity, confidence, connection—starts just beyond the edge of what you know.
And you? You're more ready than you think.
So if any part of you felt seen in this piece—if you’ve stood on the edge of change, craving something more but unsure where to begin—then consider this your nudge.
Not a pitch. Not a push. Just an open door.
A free discovery call. No pressure. No expectations. Just a human-to-human conversation to explore what your next “unknown” could look like—with a coach who’s walked that road.
Because sometimes, all it takes is a single brave step…
And someone in your corner who’s ready to meet you there.
Hit the link to book a chat.
We’ll talk. You’ll decide. No risk. No strings. Just possibility.
Yours in running and in life,
Daniel Lucchini