The story flashes forward several years to 2005. Goggins was in the middle of his first ever experience running an ultramarathon, the San Diego One Day. He writes that at that time he hadn’t run over one mile in the previous six months but that he still had the idea to try a 100-mile, 24-hour course. He kept pace the first 25 miles and seemed to be doing well. He was supported by his second wife, Kate.

The director of the ultramarathon, John Metz, checked on Goggins throughout the first half of the race because he could tell Goggins was not in the right kind of physical condition for a 100-mile run. Goggins was too proud to accept help. Goggins notes he was racing to raise money on behalf of fallen comrades’ families, so the decision to take on this athletic feat was uniquely meaningful.

At this point, the narrative flashes back in time several years as Goggins describes friends who died in an operation in Afghanistan. At the time of their lethal mission, Goggins was engaged in freefall certification to become part of DEVGRU, an elite group within the Navy SEALs. Goggins tells the story of learning of the death of his friends and then informing another of them that his twin brother was MIA.