11/19/2025
In 2011, I (Lane) got wrecked. I was diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis (RA). Everything hurt. I had no appetite. I lost 40 pounds. I couldn’t climb a few stairs without needing to stop. It was bad.
My whole life to that point I had a healthy, strong body that I could count on. Working out and being active was part of who I was. In about 6 months, I went from benching 285 lbs to only weighing 148 lbs myself and having no strength or endurance.
The worst part was that I didn’t know if this was a forever new normal. Was I going to always be like this? Over a year passed with pretty much zero relief. Living in chronic pain all the time sucks. Like really bad.
Eventually, I found a doctor and got meds, and I started to get some of my health back. I still had crazy pain, but I was interested in eating again. And I could go for a walk without needing to stop to breathe.
This is when I got a crazy idea. And sometimes that’s all it takes to reclaim everything.
I decided I was going to run a marathon. I had never run any races, and I think the longest I’d ever run before was maybe 5-7 miles.
Still deep in RA, I needed a “W” first. I needed to see if my body could actually handle running. So, I signed up for my first race and ran a 10k to prove to myself I wasn’t crazy. I got 3rd in my age group.
Then, I registered, trained, and went on to run the 2014 LA Marathon — one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself in my life.
Life isn’t easy. We all have things that hit us and steal from us. Our health, our money, our belief, our inspiration, our hope, our people.
What I’ve found is that sometimes the antidote to pain is finding a way to use it to fuel something that you never thought possible before.
If I could run a marathon with RA, it was proof that RA wouldn’t write the final line.
RA doesn’t define me anymore, but I used to believe it might. My days are fueled by seeing what RA can’t take from me.
👉 Is there something you need to do for yourself to prove to yourself the thing you are facing is beatable?
Do hard things. Test your hard. See what it can’t touch. See what you can do in spite of it. See what greatness it actually can push you to.
