Tears streamed down my face as I ran the final meters to the finish line of my first mountain trail ultramarathon. Overwhelmed by a mix of anger, gratitude and relief, I could barely breathe. My left knee was swollen and bleeding heavily. My hip ached. My right arm and hand were scraped raw. “I fell […]
From Broken To Unbreakable Read More »
My mind felt empty as I climbed the steep hill around 2 am. It was a warm night; the bright moon and star-filled sky provided enough light to see without a headlamp. A sense of calm and peace washed over me as I moved my exhausted body around another loop on the motocross track, accompanied
Mindfulness for Runners Read More »
“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 »
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 »
“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 »
“Come on, last one!” I mutter as I hype myself up to start the last interval. It would be only 30 seconds up that hill, but those 30 seconds seemed as impossible now as winning a 24-hour race once seemed. While I had accomplished the latter just a few months before this hill workout, I
The Science of Speed in Ultrarunning Read More »
I bought my first pair of kettlebells in 2015. Sidelined by injury, I hadn’t run consistently in a few months, and the lack of movement was negatively impacting my mental health. I had tried to substitute riding a bike and hiking for running, but I didn’t particularly enjoy either. Besides, winter was around the corner,
Kettlebell Training for Runners – Ultimate Beginner’s Guide Read More »
“Shit”, I thought. “I possibly can’t hike these muddy trails with that heavy backpack.” Panic and anger set in as I evaluated my options. The steepness of the trail wasn’t the problem. The problem was the ankle-deep mud I had just sunk into and the trees blocking the path. It seemed impossible to move forward,
Sachsentrail 2024 Race Report Read More »