“You will not give up again,” I told myself. “Stop calculating. Just keep running.” I took a sip of water and trudged forward in the dark forest. “Just until the next checkpoint. Then you can take a break.” I wondered if they had coffee. Halfway through my first 100-mile race, I was on the verge […]
Psychological Secrets of Ultrarunning Success Read More »
I didn’t buy my first pair of kettlebells to build muscle. Quite the opposite. When I hit the “buy now” button on that fateful day in 2015, I hoped those oddly shaped cannonballs with handles would live up to the promise of delivering a great cardio workout. Two years prior, I had quit running because
How Kettlebells Rebuilt My Body and Mind Read More »
I already know what would happen if I were out there: the giggles as I run to the high jump bar, the burning shame as I kick it, the disappointed sigh of the PE teacher as she writes another failure in her notebook. So I sit on the hard wooden bench instead, my gym clothes
How Being the ‘Unathletic Kid’ Became My Ultra Running Superpower Read More »
Disappointment and anger rose to new heights as I typed out the email. I had prepared for months and invested in new clothes, a backpack, and poles. I learned how to navigate with a compass and map and logged countless mind-numbing hill repeats up and down the same small hill in my local park. All
The Art of Self-Coaching: A Guide for Runners Read More »
I stare at the photo in disbelief. Anger, sadness, and compassion merge into an overwhelming emotional storm as I try to understand. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t find a logical explanation for why I didn’t see back then what I do see now. I do, however, know why I have changed
The Ultra Life: What 40 Years and 100-Mile Races Taught Me About Distance Read More »
“Just grab something,” I repeated those words as I approached the aid station. It was 02:17 AM, and I was on a motocross track where I had been running lap after lap for 16 hours already. I grabbed a few dried dates and a handful of peanuts and carried on toward the first steep climb
From Bonking to Winning – Lessons on Ultramarathon Nutrition Read More »
“The final lap. This is the final lap. You already won. This is your victory lap.” I tried to force myself to comprehend what I had just achieved. To feel pride, elation and all those feelings I thought one was supposed to feel when winning. But I couldn’t comprehend it just yet. After running for
The Advantages of Starting Ultrarunning Late in Life Read More »
“Should I do this tempo run today? What if I just ran them slower? Take it a bit easy?” I had just gotten ready for my morning run after a terrible night of 6 hours of sleep, interrupted by frequent fireworks going off in the distance. It was already January the 7th and people still
Creating Your Ultramarathon Training Plan Read More »
“I really did it! Now I really am an ultrarunner.” Pride fills me as I write these words in my training journal. I had just completed a 50km training run – my longest long run to date and the last long run before my first ultramarathon. I had started running again just 7 months prior,
Ultramarathon Long Runs – A Framework for Success Read More »