Running with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) taught me more about endurance fueling than I ever imagined it would. IBS is a disorder of the digestive tract, commonly characterized by abdominal discomfort and altered bowel movements. Symptoms vary and can range from loose stools to constipation, bloating, and abdominal pain. When I started running in 2021, […]
Running with IBS – A Guide to Endurance Fueling With a Compromised Gut Read More »
I woke up on race morning looking 6 months pregnant. Trying not to panic, I prepared myself a coffee and a carb mix while I was getting ready. Then I felt anger. Why must this happen again? Why has my gut health become so bad recently? And why did none of the usual things that
North Sea Ultra 111K Race Report Read More »
I stared at the email in disbelief. My heart raced seemingly as fast as it had just a few hours ago when I did my threshold interval session. The message was simple, but its impact was profound: “We are thrilled to announce that you have been selected for the CCC.” I had secured a coveted
Complete Blueprint For a DIY Ultrarunning Training Camp Read More »
I woke up before my alarm around 03:00 am. I had hours until the start of the race. I had my nutrition ready, my race bib collected, and my brand-new running kit laid out on the small hotel room table. Everything was in place for my first race of the season. I had looked forward
5 Life Lessons From a Race I Didn’t Run: The Courage to Pause When Everything Says Go Read More »
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 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 »