I signed up for the race on a whim. Having missed the start of my first race of the year – the Schwerin Seen Trail 61K at the end of March- (because I was stuck in the hotel room with severe gut distress), I wanted to get at least one training race in before my […]
Ultralauf Cottbus Race Report 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 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 »
“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 »
“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 »
“The most important thing now is to get mileage in and stay injury-free.” I kept repeating this sentence as I slogged up the tiny hill in my local park, wondering what passing runners would think of me and my snails-pace. The urge to speed up and prove to myself (and those other runners) that I
Understanding Easy Running for Ultra Distances Read More »