The longest race I finished as an ultrarunner is UltraBalaton, a 222km long lap around lake Balaton, in Hungary.
I still remember it vividly, with all the exhilarating sensations at the finish and also all the pain and suffering that I had to go through during some very long 31 hours.
As I watched some news during the recent crypto crash, something made me think about this race again, but I didn't know why. It was something about Mike Novogratz cancelling his crypto fund or predicting the burst of the Bitcoin, not exactly sure which one.
It wasn't the news per se, as it was mainly the tone and the position: a bit of perceived arrogance coming from Novogratz. To be honest, I didn't know what exactly in that news made me think of UltraBalaton, but there was certainly something that felt off.
And then, a few days after, it clicked.
I'll try to share with you this "click". Bear with me as I start with a little story.
The Night Before The Race
At every big running event there is some sort of a gathering before the race. If it's a marathon, it's called a pasta party. UltraBalaton had this huge tent in which hundreds of runners (not all of them covering the whole distance, mind you) were getting together to discuss, share tips and have a beer (yes, I was surprised too) before tomorrow's race.
It was my first participation at such a big event and it was also my first attempt to break the 200km barrier. The longest distance I covered so far was 100 km. So, during this so called party, I tried to pick the brains of other finishers as much as I could.
One of them, who covered the distance in a little less than 24 hours (which is an absolutely outstanding performance) was kind enough to answer my questions. After a few technical infos about the check points and nutrition packs, I asked him upfront:
"What would you say is the most important thing to do, in order to finish this race?"
He looked at me, thought for a few seconds, and then said, in a surprisingly kind tone:
"You have to take it step by step. You have to be humble. If you get here with your preconceived ideas about your speed and how fast will you finish, you won't make it. Not even half of it. Balaton will eat you alive."
Next day I started the race with these words still circling inside my head. And as I was advancing, kilometer by kilometer, I started to realize how true the humbleness part was. Especially after the first 100 km, there were more and more runners abandoning, crushed by fatigue, barely walking. Many of these barely walking guys looked way so confident at the start.
Balaton was eating them alive.
There were 250 runners starting the full lap. Only half of them finished it. I was so happy to be among them. But also humbled.
Truth is, during an ultramarathon this long, anything can happen. The entropy is so high, there are so many unexpected and unpredictable things that may happen, that you can simply not enter into it with arrogance. Even if you are an experience marathoner.
A marathon is only 42 km. UltraBalaton is 5 times that distance. And your body stamina decreases logarithmically, not linearly.
Humbleness is key.
The Unpredictable Crypto World
This whole cryptocurrency world is something that we, as humanity, never experienced before. Especially the trading part of it.
This is not your usual trading desk, with rules and regulations, with technical analysis and some sort of predictability. Nope. It's an uncharted territory in which you have no idea how many players really are, how much they are willing to trade, how many funds are actually moving, from what part and in what direction.
In a way, crypto trading is very similar with ultra-running. At least at the entropy level. The amount of unexpected things that can pop up in this area is simply too much, even for an experienced trader.
Just like a marathoner should approach an ultra with humbleness, even an experienced trader, like Novogratz, for instance, should approach crypto trading with the same attitude.
Otherwise, crypto will eat you alive.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me 
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