Mental Feat - ultra running explored

When preparing for an ultra it is very important to plan your hydration and energy strategy. When are you going to drink, what are you going to eat at what point etc. Over the years I have been running ultras I have tried and tested a few different ways and at my most recent race, [...]

With a few single day ultras under my belt I am heading off to once more tackle the Namibia 24h ultra marathon. 126km / 78miles through the Namib desert lies ahead of me. It is a self sufficiency race, so I will be carrying food, water, and equipment with me, in total about 10-12kg. In [...]

Over the races I have done I have always been very interested how different people choose their tactics for dealing with the race on a mental level. The range is of course wide and you tend to get 14 answers if you ask 12 people. However these are the ways that I use to deal [...]

Ahead of this year’s Namibian Ultra marathon I wanted to see if I could draw some conclusions for how to plan my race by looking at previous year’s results. I looked at each stage and the average speed, and I think I uncovered some good tips that I will take with me to the race [...]

I was asked to comment on how you should prepare mentally for an ultra marathon. This was written for a person that was going to go to the rainforest, so my thoughts are with this in mind, but are fairly generic anyhow. – Take a sheet of paper with comments and well-wishes from friends. In [...]

This is difficult since it is such a vast subject, but I’ll try to touch on a few points: – You will not be able to replace as much as you will use up. Dont take too much food, since your body will not be able to take all the energy. – Try everything that [...]

I ran the Al Andalus Ultra Trail in July 2009. It was seriously hot in the south of Andalusia. Actually, the day before the event I went around the village we stayed in and on the traditional Spanish temperature and time display we could read +51 Celsius! On the starting line I saw one of the experienced [...]