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Kilian Jornet | 2026 Western States 100 Pre-Race Interview
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Kilian Jornet is the greatest trail and mountain runner of all time. He joins the show coming off a 3rd place finish at last year’s event, certainly questing for a victory in this year’s edition. He is the 2011 champion of Western States and debuted here in 2010 - the famous “Unbreakable” edition where he dueled with Geoff Roes and Anton Krupicka all day before landing on the podium in 3rd. Suffice it to say, Kilian has a storied history at this race. It’s not that often we get the privilege to speak with Kilian, so we also used this opportunity to have a broader conversation getting his insights on various state of sport topics. Hope you enjoy.
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Norda is the official footwear partner of our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. All the rage this summer is the imminent release of their new model, the 055, the shoe that Rachel Enterkin wore start to finish en route to her course record victory at the Cocodona 250 earlier this year. Go check it out at NordaRun.com and make sure you are subscribed to their mailing list to get exclusive early access to the shoe. I've put a bunch of training miles in it. It's the real deal. We're back. It's Tuesday, June 23rd, another day of our studio-based coverage of the 2026 Western States 100 here in Olympic Valley, California. And we are honored for the first time ever in person to be joined by Killian Jornett. Killen, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, thank you for having me. Big fan of the show and uh nice to be here.
SPEAKER_02You want to lead us off, Brett? Are we just jumping straight into Western States? Talk about whatever. We can talk about avocados, we can talk about broken arrow, we can talk about anything.
SPEAKER_03I guess the first question that I've been very curious about, when did you know that you wanted to come back and race Western states this year?
SPEAKER_05Um when I crossed the finish line last year.
SPEAKER_03Really?
SPEAKER_05It was a it was I I mean, like um I I I knew that I didn't want to do a season like to chase a golden ticket, uh, for what that implies to training, to other races, to other projects, to to traveling. So uh uh finishing top 10, I had the opportunity to come back and it was like, yeah, I I I thought that it would be much worse uh the experience because when I raced here in in 2010 and 2011, like I felt completely destroyed. It's the race that I it really don't fit who I am, and and I didn't really like it those years. Like uh I I love the atmosphere and that, but not the the race itself. So I was like, ah, I don't think I come back ever again. But last year I felt I felt differently, I felt like that I could run well, and then I was like, maybe it's not that bad. I uh I want to come back.
SPEAKER_03So your your experience of the course and the race 12 years more, 13 years, 14 years?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think fifth 15 years.
SPEAKER_03So 15 years. So between that time like yourself as a runner changed where this course felt better?
SPEAKER_05Um yeah, no, I think absolutely. Like uh because uh 2010-11, like I didn't like I didn't touch uh like uh pavement or flat at all. Like uh for me it was like yeah, maybe I was crossing a road to to go to mountain. That was the flat I I was doing. And um and I was always training high in the mountains, never hit. So when I came here it was like that's that's brutal on that way. And and and I think when you are not prepared for a race, then you don't enjoy it. And I wasn't prepared those years to to the race. So these last years running a bit more on on flat and um and preparing on the hit, then uh I I could really enjoy it, or like really enjoy it. I could enjoy it a bit.
SPEAKER_00I from from afar, I saw you on the track at Plaster High last year. I saw all the other runners, Chris Myers, Caleb, uh Seth Ruling, anyone that was in the sort of like that top five, top six range. You looked so incredibly good at the finish. Like you were like already eating food, kind of just like skipping around on the infield. And one of my thoughts then was like, Did you leave it all out there on race? Like, was there energy still left in the tank? Because you looked so good.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, I I I felt great. They lay the last hour. It was like, I hope it's like 10 more miles, then I can really like keep pushing on that. But uh the race is how it is, and and I probably did some mistakes, or like not mistakes, but uh not execute the best uh strategy that I could have executed that day. Probably could have started push a bit earlier, but it's something that you never know during the race, and I was playing my cards. Um but it's a good feeling, I think, to feel strong at the end. Like uh I prefer to finish that and feel that I have a bit left in the tank than be completely destroyed.
SPEAKER_00Did you think the race was gonna possibly come back to you like Chris or Caleb?
SPEAKER_05Um yeah, it's I think when you are racing the races always up and downs. So it's moments like uh probably when they went down like um um to to last chance and and down, then I was like probably in a bit lower moment. I was like, I I I don't want to follow it, I don't know how it will be feeling after. And then you have a high and and you feel okay, I maybe I I should have done, but it's not at that point. And probably like for uh Caleb and Chris, maybe at the end they were more in a lower point and I was in a higher point. So I I think like uh I don't like to think about uh like a parallel universes, like realities that it's not that you can undo or like redo different things. So it's uh I like to think on like this is how I am and what's the best I can do from now on, not think about like what if something are there any strategies that you'll commit to this year that are based on lessons from last year? Ah for for sure, I think more on the on the management of energy. I think I can dare a bit more to to push harder um earlier, but also like uh I don't know how my injury will react. So like uh it's uh I think it's good to have a plan and to to to think about uh all the strategies, but then like uh reality is that on Saturday uh everybody will see how they feel and how they react to the moves and everything, and and I need to be more like on the intuition side on that and and just follow a plan that it might not fit the the feelings uh that you are having on the race day.
SPEAKER_03One of the most interesting parts that you wrote about uh from your race last year was the nutrition over the course of the race. We've I mean it seems like we're in a very high carb era right now, and your approach was a little bit different through the stages of the race. How do you feel that went?
SPEAKER_05Um, I felt it going well because I ended up with a lot of energy, and like when I needed to have energy, I could really eat a lot. Like uh the last hours, the thing is like if if we start probably sometimes you start eating a lot and then like your stomach is like not handling after 10 hours. I prefer to be the opposite that uh I have like when the race is it's decide, it's in the last uh five hours, let's say. And there is where you want to to feel good. So it's like uh everybody can run fast in the first like five hours of a race, like uh at this level. So it's like not there, probably where uh where you need to push to to the maximum of of the different systems, but uh to try to be able to do that on the on the last part. So the strategy was a bit more to to save the systems, like uh the the all the the the hydration and and trying to to not have like a low pH or and or a high pH and and try to have like a good stomach for the last part of the race where the heat and the fatigue uh really affects. And um then it's also very individual, like adlit to adlit, they have different metabolism and uh they have uh a different consumption. So but to understand that I think it it can help on how yeah, how to save yourself for when it matters that you are able to fuel as uh as much as you need.
SPEAKER_00Brett and I were talking last night and we were reading one of your blog posts from Western States last year, and I I had to get these notes down because I think that it's just a really interesting strategy to talk about. I bet 95% of the front of the race last year was just eating jet fuel, right? It was carbohydrates, drink mix. You had a 50%, you had a 50-50 ratio of fat to carbohydrates, avocados, coconut oil, nuts, dates, banana, overnight oats, cacao, and beetroot.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, the first hours of the race.
SPEAKER_00In three, in three big intakes, 2,000 calories per.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yeah. No, but it the the plan was more like uh in the early stage of the race, not running at a very fast pace, um, then like uh our like consumption is um we are not burning only carbs. We are burning both fat and and and carbs. And of course we have a lot of fat uh on ourselves, we could like uh survive for many days running without uh any fueling. But um the thing is like in a race, um we measure also the during the race, like the um expenditure, energy expenditure, and uh we saw that uh I I burn like 16,000 um uh calories. So like if you are eating only carbs, uh the deficit will be very, very high. So it was a bit the strategy of like, okay, I I know I will be in deficit at the end of the race, but uh how can I do to not be on deficit in the early stages? So eating some fat would allow me to upgrade a bit the the calorie intake at the early stages, uh so the body is not like getting into uh an alert signaling that uh okay you are having a big deficit, so like uh all the systems start to malfunction, but like to try to keep that having a bit of the intake. And and then when uh transition with the heat, it's also like carbs are uh priorized too. So at the end of the race, like is where I was switching into like uh uh only calves.
SPEAKER_00Were you getting the energy expenditure data from the double labeled water test? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was that pretty accurate? Is that a good one?
SPEAKER_05That's uh as good as uh we have it today. Like um it's uh it's very difficult to measure like calorie expenditure. And um the most uh accurate uh ways to do it is either like in a in a in a heat room, it's called like that you are there and it's measuring all the temperature, but then you need to just stay still and for like 24 hours in a room and and and that's not very practical for um uh and it's not possible to do it during a race because like you need to be inside there. Uh and the yeah, the double label water is it's the most precise thing that we have to measure that uh compared to any other kind of uh measurements.
SPEAKER_00I got one more. Yeah. What do you get from the core temp pill, the data? What did it say?
SPEAKER_05Um so we saw um that uh it's a bit of fluctuations at the beginning, like uh depending on uphills, downhills, that's that's normal. Um I reached my highest temperature at the end of the race. Uh I think it's uh well when the body has been heating the most for for many hours, and then you are pushing a bit more towards the end, and then it stays like hot after you finish uh because it needs time to recover. But I I I went up to 39 uh degrees. Um and the last uh five hours I was pretty stable at 38 high, so pretty hot. But um but it felt good. Like I felt that I could maintain this uh I didn't feel hot during the race, so it was good to see that at that temperature um I was able to still like uh perform.
SPEAKER_03Was that a good indicator then that the the cooling and hydration protocol that you were doing throughout the second half of the race was correct?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it seemed to work. Um I think you can always do more on on the on the cooling protocol because it's uh yeah, the cooler you are, the the best it is. Um But uh yeah, it's uh you need to find a good means into like being able to cool, not losing a lot of time on educations and and during the run to be comfortable. Um so I think it like I didn't feel like hot uh during the race, so I think that's probably the the best indicator like how we feel too.
SPEAKER_00One last question from me on nutrition.
SPEAKER_01Um I don't want to phrase this.
SPEAKER_00Especially I'm curious about this because you talked about what you feel within that first third. If you had to guess, do you think most athletes at Western states of your caliber are overfueling, underfueling, or intaking right around that physiological optimum?
SPEAKER_05Um I think it's on parts. Like for sure, like many are overfueling uh at some moments of the race because you see like a lot of people like stopping to vomit or to to to have diarrhea, and that's not normal. Uh it means that those you are not absorbing uh what you are putting in. Um so maybe if you go with less uh or with a different strategy, um they will not have these problems. And the problem is that if if that happens, then it's harder to recover the absorption capacity further on on the race. So I would say it's um I I don't think in top athletes today it's underfueling. That was very common, like uh 10-15 years ago, that we were like just going without anything and just taking a gel every uh two hours or something like that. Today I don't think we have an underfueling problem during races. I think before the race, I think to gain some weight it's it's very positive. Um just for that, because like you will never meet the demands of the race. And and and if the body is like fighting the last hours because it's like way under its normal weight, it will perceive that like as a danger and it will start to shut down some systems. So like it's better to arrive at those hours with a normal weight. So like if you have a bit at the beginning, that can be good. So I think maybe a bit underfueling before the races, um, but then like uh maybe sometimes overfueling during uh during like some parts of the race. But I think that's also like very individual, like uh uh athlete to add, you need to try that during the thing is like it's hard to try that during training because you never train like for uh hundred miles and in these conditions and this speed. So you need to also like with experience of other years to to try to interpret what what could be the the right amount.
SPEAKER_03I think you had written about this too, and I found this really interesting was uh your rate of fueling or different fueling types depending on if you are descending or ascending. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, um um yeah, because we always talk about like um the the carbs per hour or calories per hour or liters of water per hour. But the reality in trail running is that uphills and downhills are very different um metabolically. Like in an uphill, uh our uh metabolic system is working much more, we are burning much more um uh energy. Um so we need more cars, probably in the uphills, because uh we have a higher heart rate and we are working more. While in the downhills, our heart rate is going down, uh it's also more bouncing, so uh sometimes it might be harder to eat. So it's it's to be a bit strategic on like being sure that before the uphill you have the the energy that you need, but you are not like overdoing in the downhills where it's easier to have like a GI the stress. And um yeah, I think to to train that a bit on training to see what are the moments and not thinking about every 20 minutes I need to take uh something, but to to to play a bit on with the with the terrain, I think it's uh uh we will see more and more that uh uh I believe.
SPEAKER_00Precision fuel and hydration is the official nutrition partner of our 2026 Western States 100 coverage, and guess what? They've got a new watermelon flavor of their chews launching this Tuesday, or Chews Day, as they're calling it, June 23rd. If you've utilized their original or mint and lemon flavored chews before, you'll probably be stoked. I received a sample a few weeks back. The taste is great, the watermelon is there, and it's kind of like a chewy, jolly rancher sensation. Same as always, each packet contains two chews efficiently delivering 15 grams of carbs each. They've got a high carb to weight ratio, making them a great choice when you need to travel light. They contain no artificial ingredients, they're vegan and gluten-free, and batch tested for anti-doping. And again, they taste amazing. And to celebrate the launch, Precision is gonna be at Trailcom with a watermelon stall by the Precision Fuel and Hydration stage in the Event Village. And then they're gonna be supporting their athletes all weekend out there on the Broken Arrow and Western States courses. If you want to try these out for yourself, head over to their website, pick up a pack, and please use code SINGLETRACK at checkout for 15% off your next order. Thanks to Precision for making this content possible. Brett, what was the name of the breathing sensor that we came across a year ago? Timeware? Timeware. Okay. Okay, so where I'm going with this, Brett and I love gear and we love the sensors and the watches, et cetera. And every time we think we're the first to come across a new piece of technology, you're always already following that account.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03You're always the only other mutual for like this account was created two days ago, followed by killing.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean, but but it's also very important to understand that not everything that we measure is uh uh is important and not uh uh and not everything important is measurable. That's the first rule. Like uh and we need to be very conscious about that. Uh but then it's like uh great to to try to to have as much data as we have uh and putting it in the good context, not to be blind on that, um, to to let us dictate like how we train, but just to to try to understand how we work, how is our physiology and and if it's relevant or not?
SPEAKER_03Have you found that there are any particular pieces of data or metrics that you find more important now to follow than maybe 15 or 20 years ago, or or even vice versa? Is there anything that you thought was really important then that you're like, uh, I don't really need that anymore?
SPEAKER_05Um well it's a lot of things that they come up and and and we see that they are not as useful like after two, three years. I think it's uh how I see it is more like uh I will try to collect data not to dictate my training, but just to understand um how I am, how I'm reacting, and then see the relevant. But this process is long. Like uh you cannot be trying something for one week and say, yeah, that's that's interesting. I will dictate my training or my recovery from that. It's like uh I would take um uh I don't know, uh um it's it's a lot like today, it's a lot of things that we can measure. We can measure um metabolism, uh like uh the the carbs and and fat um uh burning in real time. We can measure like the ketones, um uh cholesterol, uh triglycerides, uh uh breathe rate, the uh breathe uh like the uh all the measures on breathing. Uh we can measure like uh the um how we are absorbing food, like with the methane or um hydrogen gas. We can measure uh easy. I have been wearing like an easy helmet like to try to understand like when I'm in a risky situation, what is going on in the brain. But um what's the company there? Um easy helmets uh that uh it's uh it's not very practical at all, but it's uh interesting. But I think it's interesting to see that to try to collect data. Then collecting data means also you need to have like good people behind like uh scientists that they are able to interpret that data. Uh and then like normally it's like two, three years after uh being able to collect data, then you can start to see like uh patterns and then like to see if those patterns have an influence into performance or into health. So it's it's a process that is long time. So it's not for me, it's not about uh dictating my training. That's always mostly on very common things that you can see that it's like a heart rate or breathing, it's also pretty, pretty accurate on that, or just feeling like uh the RPA and and things like that. And then like this data, like it's very interesting to understand like more on a scientific level what is going on. And but those processes are are long, they you need to interpret the data like after a lot of collection and and then like uh make sense of it, and and those things takes uh takes often years.
SPEAKER_01I guess from what from what you've learned about yourself, how does that play into like approaching a race like this?
SPEAKER_03What what strengths do you have that would make you successful at Western states?
SPEAKER_05Um well, I think like um uh even if it was probably one of the weakest points of me is like uh heat adaption. I think I have been training very well on that. Uh even if it seems that Saturday it will be like not the hottest um day, but uh but yeah I think. Like heat management now, it's uh something that I feel comfortable with it. And then uphills. Like I'm I'm often like a good uphiller. And um I that means that I might spend a bit less energy than others on uphills, or I can like make uh the race harder on uphills. Um on the other side, like uh flat and downhill, like non-technical downhill, it's where I I'm um uh struggling more and and I'm with the injury a bit a bit more, even so like I think it's good to know what's good and bad and then just try to to play with it.
SPEAKER_01Um I have one last like non-Western states related question.
SPEAKER_00Why don't I throw it in? Of course. Okay. Um one of my favorite episodes that you ever did on a podcast was on the how to be a pro cyclist, how to train the company.
SPEAKER_05I yeah, with uh Jack, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Jack. And one of the comments you had there, and I was thinking about it this weekend because the U20 nationals were going on a broken arrow, the Eagle race. Yeah, actually Kyle Skag's son won.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I they followed me. That's that's amazing. Yeah, yeah. That's so cool. Yeah, I mean I I miss them, but uh that yeah, that's so cool.
SPEAKER_00And anyways, I was thinking about that, and then I was thinking about one of your comments on Jack's podcast, and in that podcast you said that in a certain age age range, as long as you're sleeping well and eating enough, it's impossible to overtrain.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I I believe so, yeah. Um like if you are doing things like uh like if you are not doing stupid things uh on uh uh hydration, uh sleeping and and that like I think training, we are really able to absorb a lot. If we have the energy uh to to to do those efforts, and uh yeah, like uh I I think most of the time, like w one of the of the things that that we underestimate the the less is stress. Like I think more it is more people that it's feeling overtrained because of stress out of uh training than than because training itself. Because we need to take into account like someone that is working or uh uh having kids or like uh uh having stress on life or thousands of things, that's like consuming a lot of uh a lot of energy uh and not only um um calories, let's say, but also like uh how we change like uh all the hormone system, how we change like um uh the the the recovery processes. So like I would say, and normally when you are young, you don't have a lot of stress because it's not a lot of things going on. So like uh then it's uh yeah, you can really train as much as as you want.
SPEAKER_00Like 30 hours a week, 40 hours a week?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's uh and that's something I saw for last year when I did the stage of elevation project. I I don't know how many hours a week I was doing. I was doing probably uh 100 hours a week or whatever. Um and I was recovering well.
SPEAKER_00You got a stimulus out of that, right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, no. So I like on the neuromuscular system, it was like crashing down, but on the metabolic system, I was like uh being better and better. So it means that and uh for me it was kind of holidays because like home, like is with three kids and and like all the logistics on that, like it's you don't sleep much. Like I was sleeping like I think four hours per night during the stage of elevation. It's like I'm sleeping slightly better than home. I just finished my run and I can rest in the bed and I can have these hours of sleep and I don't need to think about anything else, and I don't have meetings and anything. I'm just running, so the stress levels are so much lower than like normal life, so like to recover better.
SPEAKER_03Did you expect to see something like that happen over the course of states of elevation where you're like, whoa, I'm gaining fitness right now?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, I was surprised, yeah, somehow. Like I could see a bit because in the Alps project the year before, um, I we could see that metabolically I was uh uh also like uh improving a bit, but uh but yeah, I was a bit surprised like after uh yeah, so many and and then I think also that on it was just fun, like it was never technical or that you need to think about uh other things compared to the arts. So it was, I think the the recovery really makes a big difference on that.
SPEAKER_00I I think we've kind of joked about it a little bit because we have fun with it, but I've like one of my hypotheses has always been that multi-week adventures or projects are almost like a death sentence. It's like what you do at the end of your career and it's not something that you can super compensate from. But like now I think of you after States of Elevation, Tara Dower, yeah, Joe McConaughey. Like there are people who have gotten a great stimulus out of this and they're like still putting up amazing results in our sport.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think it's um no, uh I uh I mean like I have been doing that like uh uh and and and for all my career, like doing expeditions, and and I think it's if you if you give the time to recover, it's it's a great stimuli. Uh, I think it's more that often in I as I have been saying also like to cyclists, like why you don't go to do like a training camp in in Tibet, like and you are like two weeks at 5,000 meters training well. And it's like the the problem is not really those stimuli, it's like where do we place them because the schedules of competitions and are so tight that uh it's not possible to place the time to do that stimuli plus the recovery of that because it's uh yeah, the the schedule of competitions, it's uh it don't allow us to do that.
SPEAKER_03Do you think the overall level of performance across the top of the sport could be higher if there was less racing pressure? Because there's so many big races all throughout the year that there's almost the expectation for everyone to be at. Like like what if I mean we almost saw it during COVID when there was a year of no racing, then the year after that a lot of people got way better.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but also like we are racing much less today than we were racing 15 years ago.
SPEAKER_00Like doing like 15 races a year.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, and everybody was doing that. Like uh now, like it's like it sounds crazy if someone is doing like Western and Uten B. And I mean like come on, like uh 15 years ago, like when I did Western first time, I did like Pitteness crossing, so but then they had thing, and then the week after it was Western. Then we did I did like uh Zigama and uh and Gil Dimont Serginal and then Uten B and then go for like uh I think the maybe hour night that was but we were doing like 10 races, four or five ultras, lots of short things and some projects in. And today like top at least are racing like two, like if it's long distance, probably one big one, and then like two or three like secondary, and if it's short distance a bit more, but we are racing much, much less than before. So that allows us to perform much, much better. Like before we were having a lot of fun because we were racing every weekend on very different races, but today we have much more time to prepare um competitions, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Is the level of racing today more intense than it was when you were racing more frequently?
SPEAKER_05Um Yes, but uh but uh the thing is like uh everybody's doing the same, so it feels the same because before probably we were going to here to Western and we were not we had been maybe preparing the race for three weeks because before we had another race, but everybody did the same, so we all felt like of the same level that today like everybody has been preparing for uh like months to the race. So I would say it's it's it's more intense, but uh the preparation of everyone it's it's kind of similar on the the timings. So I think it would change if someone like now was racing every week and then coming here it would say like wow that's a big difference to to what they expected, or if someone like 15 years ago was preparing one race very well and was crashing it. But uh I think like uh that was the the the common state of the sport at that moment that everybody was racing a lot and today is different, but everybody's kind of doing the same.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Do you think more people like yourself will have longer careers in the sport as a function of this?
SPEAKER_05Not sure. Um I think it's um uh and I think it's not about the the training preparation and racing itself because that like it can be either way. Uh we have seen people like uh racing not much and having long careers and some that they have been racing few because I I think at then it comes more about like the yeah, the mental aspect of it. Uh on um how do you feel like uh to go for another year of training and putting this pressure and like the the expectations that you have and if you are meeting the goals. Um the uh and that comes to to motivation to like what motivates an athlete to be there. It can be uh economical motivation, it can be uh uh motivation of just like loving it. Um it can be many different things. So I think it's more like a mental thing on that. And and today probably also seeing young uh athletes, they have much more pressure earlier on. Because they are 18, 19 years old. If they are starting to perform well, they think, okay, I can make a living of that. Um but uh then the pressure that they have from teams and and and social media, like it's something that didn't exist when I started uh running. Like uh you were going because you love it, and and it didn't yeah, you didn't get any feedback like from anyone else because like this uh yeah media and social media didn't exist. So like you are doing it and you were going home and and that was all. And I think today the pressure, I think it's more about that, the pressure that people can have from community and and external factors is much more important on the longevity of the career.
SPEAKER_00So we have better science, better collective knowledge about the sport, but it that's being counterbalanced by these like new social media pressures that create outside stress. So it's more outside stress than it ever was before.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Um, and that's uh like besides the sport, like I think that's something that the next generations uh they will struggle about that. Uh, when I think about uh my kids and how they will grow up already with like the um all these A's looking at uh at them, like to everybody, it's uh it's a lot of uh pressure to every every person. Like we need to to be someone and and and to to have this uh yeah, this identity, and it's like something that we talked today and before like nobody thought about that because we didn't have this external ace uh looking at us. And and for an athlete, it's even more because it's people that you don't know that is uh looking at you and and and it might affect a lot of people.
SPEAKER_03Do you get nervous before races? Um that's a great question.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Still not anymore, actually. It's uh and it's a pity because I I like and that's the thing. Like I I would love to go back to the first years I I I was winning the those races because the emotion that you get at the end it's so big, and today is like, yeah, yeah, it was a nice day, you know. Um but and that means that I was very nervous those years too, because you feel that uncertainty and and and also that you feel like that you if you achieve a good result, you will feel uh big emotions. And today, like I want to win the races, but but I I I know how it feels. I I it's something that I have experienced, so probably uh like probably to feel this same excitement and nervous before something, it's more when I do a project in the mountains that it's a lot of things that are very uncertain. That in a race, like yeah, I know it can go well or bad, but uh I know how it feels either way, and it's nothing that I can do. So it's uh yeah, I uh it's it's it's you feel a bit more activated than a normal day, but that's kind of all. Which also makes that the you sometimes you are smarter during the race because you don't do mistakes due to that.
SPEAKER_03You can rationalize what's going on a little bit better. That's interesting. I bet there's gonna be a lot of newer runners who listen to this comp conversation that I think will find it really interesting that you wish you could feel those like first race nerves every once in a while.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's amazing. It's an amazing feeling, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Raid Research is the official equipment and apparel partner of our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. You've definitely heard me talk about their LF5L Vest launch and their trail tech shorts in the past, and yes, they are both already sold out, but they're gonna be restocked in early July. So make sure that you are subscribed to their mailing list so you don't miss the update. In other news, Raid has many new summer trail products set to release later this week. They are relaunching their first running tee. That's gonna be followed by an ultralight Anorak Rain Shell, women's cargo crop top, and a very exciting women's specific belt in the first half of July. So again, join their mailing list so you don't miss a beat. Other than that, if you are listening to this during the week of TrailCon and in the area, Raid is gonna have a booth there. So go say hello. Thanks again to Raid for supporting our coverage this week. Go check out all of their products at raidresearch.com. And if you end up buying anything at checkout, please let them know that the folks at Single Track sent you. I I I I know I took us off track earlier. Uh, Brett was starting to talk about Western states and in training. Uh so I apologize for that. But um especially since Zagama, but even before that, the for this entire build to Western states, how do you decide what training goes public and what stays private and why?
SPEAKER_05Um it's different reasons. And um well, uh one is uh sometimes it depends on where I go. I don't want to see people going there because I want to keep my trails like for myself and private and uh and that. And I know some places that uh the owners of the houses don't want like people passing by there, so it's not nice that to publish that. Um and then some other reason is just like uh um more like uh also uh the pressure that that can bring too. Uh that uh I I feel like uh uh even if uh yeah you you can feel if I publish everything you are expecting like to perform every day. I think that's kind of one of the things of stuff that people feel that you need to perform every day and to to feel good and and that and and and showing like showing off every day and and training is about the process, it's not about like racing every every session. Um so it's a bit of that, a bit of the um uh life uh things that uh where you want to train and not be not not have people there. Um and so it's a bit of of everything that then I decide like okay, I I want to polish these things or or not, and periods of time, like also I think that uh how you are um more mentally. We had a pretty complicated spring uh for yeah uh an accident and things, so then it was like I I want to focus on like the the the the family and that and and and train but not think about like social media and these things and and publishing training is also like social media.
SPEAKER_03I guess on that note, like swinging it back to this year's western states, yeah. I guess the question we probably should have asked. How are you feeling right now?
SPEAKER_05Um I feel okay. Like I mean, like uh this week, like it's uh you are mostly resting and uh and uh not having much to do, so it's it's like yeah, it's like vacation. Um so I feel I feel good. Um and uh I I I think I'm metabolically I'm I'm I'm I feel great. Uh then like uh I I still fight pet feel pain on on my knee, but that's something I know and and I will see how it uh plays during the race. Um but uh no, I think I I have done everything I could to be here as ready as possible.
SPEAKER_03You felt pain in your knee last year?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, in the training. Then during the race I was afraid about that, but it didn't come. So that's why I was a bit also like setting back, like thinking, okay, maybe I will come, it will come. And then I was like, okay, now it's only like uh 30k to go. I uh I can go.
SPEAKER_00Are there any, if you look back at the last especially maybe 10 to 15 years, have there been any races where you have gone into it with a fairly significant injury and yet you've still prevailed?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, maybe many, many, many times.
SPEAKER_00Which what's the what's the one that comes to mind that you're the most proud of?
SPEAKER_05Of uh uh no, it's uh I thought I've done a lot of racing. So no, but for example, within B last time I won, I had COVID, I was like uh pretty affected. Uh I did raise um uh I'm allergic to bees, for example, and I raised one year Sierzinal and uh with a bee that had bitten me, and I was like playing a lot of strategy to to yeah, to win the race. Uh uh I also ran uh with um uh it's a problem. It was a limone sky race, I think, uh in the sky running series. Uh uh Sierzinal one year with two broken ribs, too. Um that sounds terrible. Yeah, it was the week it was so stupid. Like the week before we were doing a slug lining and I fell on the slug and it was like shit, like uh and it was one week for before the race, but uh you know like but I think you you get used to to try to use strategy and and and knowledge of oneself, like to see okay, here I can push, here I cannot. So I'm like it don't make me more nervous having an injury. It's just like I know how it is, and and I know that some things I will not be able to do it, but uh other things like uh they can work well. So I but I think that's everybody like have that have a longer experience on on racing that you know that is never almost never perfect. It's always like something.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we were talking about this with Scott Jurik last night about how it seemed like this year there was a pretty intact uh start list for the race. There wasn't that many people withdrawing to injury, but then we were also, but how many are showing up a hundred percent, ninety percent, eighty percent? Whereas But does it matter then? Yeah, what like what's the best like that yeah.
SPEAKER_05But I mean like uh that's live, like it's it's nobody is like hundred percent at any point of the their life, like it's always something going on, no, and and and that's uh that's how it is. It's it's and and the athletes need to find out like uh Liz Le Bon was a good example in these Olympic Games, like uh she had a big injury, she was showing up. And and that's like uh if we think like uh Tour de France last year, Bingiga like came for a very bad prize, and like and it's not like nobody's like uh there uh whining about that. It's like how life is and how a sport is. So you just have you what you have and you show up and and do with that. And and sometimes you win, even of that, because you play with the cards or uh or because everybody has uh something.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and you know, we've talked about this on previous episodes of like training hard to be as prepared as possible, but maybe you come in a little bit beat up. Is that better or worse than not training to your full maximum and then showing up on race day feeling fresh, but maybe not having done all the preparation?
SPEAKER_05Like I I think that's very individual. Like uh I I, for example, like to train a lot and I don't mind to arrive a bit tired to the races. And uh on the other side, I'm I'm coaching, for example, um uh a guy that is doing scheme on training, and like it's the opposite, like he needs to arrive super fresh in the race.
SPEAKER_02Who you who are you coaching?
SPEAKER_05Uh he's uh well we are a team of three uh uh coaches, it's Oriol Cardona. Uh he does some uh good uh running races too. But he needs to ripe very fresh to races, so he wants to feel fresh, and I I want to feel a bit worked out kind of and and and everybody's like I think it's more mentally than than uh what's best, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I've gotta ask this question because we asked Jim Jim Walmsley is anti-pacer at Western States. Where do you come down on the pacer debate? Are you pro-pacer or anti-pacer?
SPEAKER_05Um well, I don't think it's like pro or or anti, but uh, I think like uh uh on a race like this we don't we don't need pacers. Uh I think why paces exist, I think it's for safety reasons. Um the sport has changed a lot. Like when uh like 50 years ago, like it was not any spectators, it was less eight stations. And uh and and that means that it was easier to encounter like problems. Or if you had a problem, like maybe you need to wait like four or three hours until someone came and see you, or like easier to see wildlife uh there or or getting lost. Today those things don't exist. Like uh it's so dense that if you have a problem, like in a few minutes someone will see it. Uh, it's plenty of educations, it's like creos like of filming and things, like uh, so it's it's not a safety need for a baser. Um and and I I don't think people cheating, but it's an easy opportunity for people to cheat because like you can have someone that is carrying your gear or like uh uh giving you food and things like that. So uh so I don't think it's it's a need and it's uh risk of uh of um of that. Um yeah. Personally I think uh maybe races, maybe like Hard Rock, for example, that uh uh I don't think the front of the pack needed, but like maybe behind like that uh you might be exposed to lightning and and in altitude uh snowstorms, it makes more sense because people might be also more space. But in in races like that, and especially in the top uh the guys that they are finishing like under 24 hours, probably they don't need uh a pacer for safety.
SPEAKER_03So will you be using any pacers this year?
SPEAKER_05Um uh no, I will not be using pacers, but then like uh also like uh maybe uh some of the clew is like uh to take some content. But uh yeah.
SPEAKER_00Is El Housin's on the crew?
SPEAKER_05Uh uh I will see. Like he's uh he's staying here this week, so uh yeah, I don't know when he's uh going to Canada. He's racing uh next weekend. And uh he will be he will be around, so yeah, he will be killing.
SPEAKER_00I've got two more. Okay. I have this quote written down from your one of your blog posts. Uh well, I mean, generally you've written about how you say reward fades with repetition while the consequences of losing can grow heavier. And I guess like at this point in your career, does winning still feel good, or does it mostly feel like a relief from not losing?
SPEAKER_05No, it feels good. Um, I think um I it feels good to to win a race. Uh it's uh yeah. Um I think like a few years ago I I would fulfill that that it was a relief to to to not lose the race, but not today. Like, I mean it's it's just a game. Like we are racing, it's what's the importance of that? I mean, it's just like we are having fun there and and try to push. And it's I think for the ego, it's uh yeah, you are a bit happier the day after if you have a good result than a bad result. But what you want to experience is the same. Like uh you want to experience the process of changing your your body, your capacities during the the training to get the race so that you you have achieved whatever is the result. And the experience of the race itself, you you will have it the same. So um at the end, like I feel like, yeah, I will feel happier if I win the race. But uh it's like uh I I feel and um maybe it's more visual when doing mountain projects that you always think I want to do an experience that is transformative. And I have done things that they put me really through the edge of everything, and you came back the same person exactly. So nothing is really transformative. And what's really transformative is the the passing of time. So it's not that you will think if I do that and I uh I achieve this goal, I win the race, I I I do this climb, I do the summit, I will become someone else, I will be another I it will transform me. No, uh the from that morning to the evening, it will be the same no matter the the the outcome. What it will change is the process of years to get there. So um I think it's just the winning or or having the motivation to win, it's just the this uh this thing that you look for, but it's not important to reach it, it's just what it makes you move to to want to be there.
SPEAKER_03So for on Saturday, is that not the only indicator of a successful day for you?
SPEAKER_05Um no, I think like uh for me success on Saturday, I think on this line I will think I want to win the race, and I will do everything to win the race. Of course. But success, I think it it can be viewed in many different places, and now like I I would look on like how did I feel during the race, how was the nutrition, how was the heat management, how was the the the management with the injury? So those are small things that I want to to see that if they go well, and it can be both ways, because I have been winning some races and and and not feel like success because uh I did a lot of mistakes or or it uh yeah, it was a lot of problems going there. And and and so I think it's both ways, like and and many times like success, like winning it hides a lot of things that they were unsuccessful, uh while sometimes you are not winning a race because some others are stronger, but you have been executing and and and achieving your best possible, so it's uh it's a double double-edged sword, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Last question from me. We before this episode I we put out uh a request to our audience, and what questions do you want Killian to answer? The most number of people want to ask you what is your favorite trail running meme account right now?
SPEAKER_05Wow, that's a difficult one. I will I will not answer that yet. I I I no and and like it's very good ones here, it's very good ones in in Italy, in in um in France, so it's and and it depends like what kind of humor you like, if you like more dry or more ironic or more like flat. So but yeah, no, it's it's a good time. Like I mean, like it's uh it's a lot of good memes and and uh yeah, yeah, it's I think we are in a good moment in sport, also like that. Uh at least we take very seriously what we do and we want to to perform well and and train well and that, but it's also like I think everybody understands that it's just sport, it's just like for fun and and that we need to not think that we are doing something important and and these memes uh pages are a good reminder of that.
SPEAKER_03I do appreciate that as our sport continues to professionalize, it is still fun.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's the most important, if not, that's why why we are doing that.
SPEAKER_00Well, Killian, we cannot thank you enough for coming here today. Goes without saying, but we're so excited to follow your race Saturday. Any final thoughts that you want to leave listeners, viewers with before we go?
SPEAKER_05Well, everybody out there, like um uh think about uh the race. It's uh to enjoy it, to have fun, and and to be grateful uh for the organizers that they are putting that on. Like we are just like running the race. Like some people is working a full year to to make that possible, and without them, without people that is showing up, doing trail work, doing uh all the all the necessary so we can do it, it would be not possible. So have fun, enjoy, and and think that uh yeah, it's it's about uh being present on the moment, like uh in the good moments, in the bad moments, and experience uh every every moment of the race because even if it's struggling, like uh two, three weeks after today, like we will remember those moments uh uh with fun. So yeah, enjoy up there.
SPEAKER_00All right, thanks for tuning in to our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. This is our fourth year doing it, and we're having the time of our lives. Before we go, I wanted to ask the following from you if you're motivated to contribute to what we're doing, please consider leaving a detailed rating and review on Apple and Spotify. Leave a comment on any of these episodes on YouTube, and support our partners and let them know that we sent you. For example, uh go get one of the new vests from Raid the LF5L, let them know that we sent you at checkout. Same goes for Nord or Precision. Use our discount code in the show notes there, and use the link as well to complete their nutrition planner for your next race. These are the specific actions that truly keep the lights on for us and make this annual pilgrimage to Olympic Valley, this tradition, this great tradition possible. Thanks for considering, and we will see you on the next episode.
