Journaling separates personal emotions from training performance
βUnderstand, you know, I'm a big believer in you aren't your feelings, you're the person experiencing those feelings. So as soon as you can get them on paper, this allows you to understand them a little bit better. And also they can go, OK, that's there, have the shower, park the feelings and you can kind of move on with the day and go, right, that session was great, awesome, let's move on.β
A positive attitude is the ultimate performance differentiator
βI've had a fantastic attitude towards my training, my, this process of improvement, how I come about things every day, the excitement I have for training, the joy I found in training this year. And then the other side to it is effort. Am I trying as hard as I could do?β
Consistency is the foundation of earned self-respect
βAnd no matter how bad I felt about myself each day, I always had the evidence there that I did something kind to myself. I took myself outside, I moved my body, I ran, even if I could run for two minutes, walk for one minute, and that was the basis of respect that I gave myself. And from that, it built forward.β
Backyard ultras prioritize durability and mental stamina
βIt's a case of durability and how long can you last for. That suits my nature quite well. So for me, it was like, finished last year, knowing I was like, okay, I believe I can do really, really well in this format and go a lot further than I did last year.β
βConfidence is an action, not a feeling. That's been the biggest part of this. You know, you don't feel confident. And then go into something, you go into something, and then you gain confidence as a byproduct of consistency of hard work.β
Ultra running forces vulnerability by stripping back emotions
βYou often will explore certain thoughts and certain feelings that we often sometimes just trying to distract ourselves from. Especially as men, I often find it's a lot hot, a lot, this resonates more with men. It's like we do kind of bottle a lot of things up more so than women.β
The process of becoming outweighs the race outcome
βThe most important part of any training block isn't the outcome, isn't the middle, the end of the finish, the marathon finish line. The most important part is who you become in that process. It is that becoming, that time where you spend 99% of your time anyway.β
Data-driven prep identifies physical weaknesses under fatigue
βHe's looking at my form compared to a fresh form. And he's like, yeah, when you're dropping into the pace you're going to run an ultra and you're forming a technique there, there's a little bit of instability in that area we got to work on. And just finding weaknesses. And I like that.β