Rich Roll - Finding Ultra

A remarkable journey of overcoming mental, emotional, and financial barriers to fulfill a personal quest.

Booklist

Finding Ultra is about a journey we all take as human beings, when we decide to pursue the impossible and live a life of mission. When I need to dig deeper, push harder, and find a little boost, Rich Roll is the guy who comes to mind. He is inspiration embodied.

Sanjay Gupta, MD, Emmy awardwinning chief medical correspondent for CNN and New York Times bestselling author of Chasing Life and Cheating Death

Roll has accomplished amazing things, but it is his ability to draw inspiring and uniquely insightful lessons from his experiences that sets him apart from other extreme athletes. Finding Ultra is a fascinating read full of practical tips.

Dean Karnazes, New York Times bestselling author of Ultramarathon Man, Run!, and The Road to Sparta

You walk away from reading this book knowing you have the total power to transform your life on every level. Roll is immensely likeable, a most compelling storyteller, and a true shaman of health and fitness!

Kathy Freston, New York Times bestselling author of The Lean, Quantum Wellness, and Veganist

Rich Rolls Finding Ultra is a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle, break down walls, and redefine whats possible.

John Brenkus, creator and host of ESPNs Sport Science and New York Times bestselling author of The Perfection Point

Finding Ultra is the ultimate story of hope, perseverance, and endurance against lifes biggest challenges.

William Cope Moyers, New York Times bestselling author of Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption

This awesome piece of writingone part memoir, one part how-to, and one part megadose of gut truthreminds us to wake up and live our best life. Prepare to be entertained, but most of all, prepare to be inspired.

Mel Stewart, fourteen-time national champion, former world-record holder, and winner of two Olympic gold medals in swimming

I loved this. A rare book, unusual for its honesty and willingness to bare all, that really does deserve such superlatives as riveting and compelling. I was moved by watching Roll conquer his demons, and felt privileged to share in his eventual enlightenment. By laying it on the line, Roll absolutely wins us over.

Rip Esselstyn, New York Times bestselling author of Plant-Strong and The Engine 2 Diet

Finding Ultra is an inspired first-person account of fast living and even faster swimming, biking, and running that will leave you convinced of the power of your own will.

Brendan Brazier, bestselling author of Thrive

A tribute to the fortitude of the human spirit, and the power each of us has to grab hold of our life and achieve the unexpected. For anyone who feels stuck, Rich offers sage advice on everything from relationships to lifestyle to diet to spiritual well-being.

Dave Zabriskie, five-time U.S. National time-trial champion in cycling

An inspiring story of a man whose life took a tragic turn but then rebounded spectacularly. Down but not out, Rich Roll rose like a phoenix, taking the commitment to his own health to a new level and achieving a remarkable transformation. I believe everyone will be able to relate to this plant-powered athletes riveting story and perhaps garner some inspiration for their own journey. A top read!

Luke McKenzie, five-time Ironman champion

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

The American Dream is an elegant, aspirational ideal originally premised on egalitarianism: equal opportunity for all. A mandated right to seek self-improvement. An open door to pursue potential, and in turn, contribute the fruits of ones journey for the benefit of all.

But along the way, the foundational ethos of this enchanting concept lies a smoldering carcass on the shoulder of a modern superhighway, supplanted by a relentless compulsion to accumulate and consume. The priority is no longer self-actualization. Nor is it contribution. Personal responsibility has been exchanged for victimhood. Challenge is to be avoided. Comfort is king.

And he who amasses the most wins.

Indeed, personhood has been reduced to consumerism. Our social currency is stuffworth dictated not by who were are but by what we own, fueled by a cultural mandate that forsakes the value of service, struggle, and authentic expression for the pursuit of luxury, instant gratification, and ease.

The implicit promise of this perverted paradigm? Happiness, of course. Peace of mind. Contentment.

This is perhaps the greatest lie ever perpetrated on humankind. Because stuff doesnt make one happy. Because the quest for status is rooted in ego. And because security is an illusion.

As a result we suffer. In turn, we inflict pain on others. And upon the planet at large.

Intellectually, we all know its true. The key to our identity, and ultimately our happiness, cannot be found in what we own. Our quest is not to accumulate. Its not to seek power. And its not to remain safe.

Nonetheless, we persist in reflexively bowing to the material gods, mindlessly chasing that elusive consumerist high with the insatiable appetite of the fiendish addict. And just like that addict, we are left not fulfilled; instead we are broken, hollow, wreaking havoc, and like Thoreaus percipient observation, quietly desperate.

To say that this cultural malaise has left us infirm is to woefully understate the situation. Right now, millions of people all across the world are suffering, terribly and unnecessarily, imprisoned by the delusional promise of our displaced priorities. Never before in the history of humankind have we been more depressed, obese, diseased, stressed, lethargic, medicated, generally unhappy, and more unfulfilled than we find ourselves today. Its an entrenched, self-perpetuating cycle that drives us to further escape, salving our pain and disillusionment with anything we can get our hands on, from unhealthy food choices and television and video games, to illicit drugs, prescription pharmaceuticals, alcohol, shopping, gambling, and relationships.