In 1952, Czech runner Emil Zatopek won the 5000m and the 10,000m in the Helsinki Olympic Games. He then entered the marathon—the first marathon he would run—and won that race, too. When he was later asked about his accomplishment, he said, “I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known.” 

Winning gold medals in the three longest running races in a single Olympic Games is a feat likely to never be repeated. It was no fluke, though. Zatopek had become known by that point for his punishing workout routine. Indeed, he is considered the father of modern-day high-intensity training. “If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a problem,” he once said. “It's raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's besides the point. It's simply that I must.” 

That feeling that Zatopek had at the finish line—that mix of pleasantness and exhaustion—was more than simple joy at having won a competition. It was the sort of satisfaction that can only be felt when you have a accomplished a goal that required you to work really, really hard. Indeed, this emotion is at the heart of all endurance sports; it’s what we’re all searching for. It’s unlike anything else in life, and ultimately, it’s what drives us to take on such difficult tests.

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