Kilian Jornet is one of the top trail runners of all time. He has won countless trail races including Western States, Hardrock 100 (4 times) and Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (3 times). Kilian was also the Ultra Running World Champion in 2012, 2013 and 2014. I enjoyed reading Kilian’s book Run or Die a while back and picked two inspirational quotes to share.
Favourite quotes from Run or Die:
“A race is a life that is born when you get up in the morning and dies when you cross the finish line.”
Kilian uses this quote to describe how you must be completely focused when you are running an ultra marathon. He talks about creating a bubble and keeping out the worries from your daily routine. You can’t let these worries sneak in because you have enough to deal with. You have to stay positive and be very focused to finish an ultra marathon. Doubts about your training, your pace, your nutrition – none of these thoughts will help you during the race. This is one of the main reasons that I always smile and refuse to complain at aid stations. You get amazing reactions from volunteers – “You look so fresh”! You might be feeling terrible but complaining about it won’t help. Acting like you are feeling good helps you feel better. Getting complimented on how good you look helps you feel better. Protect your bubble during a race.
“The secret isn’t in your legs, but in your strength of mind. You need to go for a run when it is raining, windy, and snowing, when lightning sets trees on fire as you pass them, when snowflakes or hailstones strike your legs and body in the storm and make you weep, and in order to keep running, you have to wipe away the tears to see the stones, walls, or sky.”
This is part of the skyrunner’s manifesto – the whole manifesto was pinned to the door of an old apartment where Kilian lived during the early days of his ultra-running career. He would read it every day before going out to train. I’m a big fan of this quote except the part about running past trees that are being set on fire – that’s nuts.
I read once that you might have symptoms of an eating disorder if you train in extreme conditions – snow, rain, wind, etc. This concerned me because I knew that I ran in all of those conditions, was there something wrong with me? It wasn’t until I started to get to know other trail runners that I realized that we’re cut from a different cloth and we train in the extreme cold, heat, wind and rain. You might ask, why do this to yourself? It’s not because I’m a masochist, it’s because it’s good practice. You never know what conditions are going to be like on race day. I’ve run through snow, rain and thunderstorms. You can’t control the weather but you can control the way that you react to it. As long as you are prepared for it, running in the rain, snow and heat will make you better. Don’t run past trees that have been set on fire by lightning, that is just crazy.