Read before You Ultra

An intriguing read. Invites one to test the strength of one’s own arguments.

❝A sport that bans a non-enhancing substance on values grounds while permitting an enhancement of greater magnitude on cultural grounds isn’t defending principle. It’s defending preferences and calling them values.
—trailsnultrasnc
https://open.substack.com/pub/tnus/p/the-clean-sport-myth?r=1n6v12

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning

❝And that’s what these adventures have taught me more than anything, perfection is overrated. Adaptability wins.
—Cody Taylor
https://run-ultra.com/news/pepperoni-broken-poles-and-unsupported-fkts/

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning

The mindset of a champion.

❝I panicked for about five minutes before suddenly it hit me: why *couldn’t* I be the race leader? Why *shouldn’t* I be the one leading this race?
—Rachel Entrekin
https://open.substack.com/pub/rachelentrekin/p/extremely-admirable-and-confusing?r=1n6v12

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning

This is as solid a strategy as it is difficult to get right. Major props to Abby Hall.

❝Just as important as finding places for mental relaxation, competitors must also find places and times to lock in and commit to hard efforts.
—Jason Koop
https://trainright.com/how-she-did-it-abby-halls-2025-western-states-victory/

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning #wser

The finish.

❝Anything can happen in two hours to render the past two days’ efforts futile. With almost the entire race behind me, I have much to lose. It’s not sunk cost fallacy, it’s sunk cost fact.
https://open.substack.com/pub/readbeforeultra/p/carpe-ing-a-couple-of-diems-part-v

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning #writing #racereport

The fifth and final part of my 100-mile race report comes out tomorrow. Feet will hurt, competition will unfold, cutoff will be chased. Catch up here:

https://readbeforeultra.substack.com/t/my-first-100-mile-race

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning #writing #racereport

❝I had stuffed this up, I’d let the crap I couldn’t control upset me at the start when it was not that important and I’d cooked myself.
—Melanie Macfarlane
https://melmacruns.com/2024/10/16/race-recap-taupo-100k/

Narrator: She had not, in fact, stuffed this up.

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning #racereport