UTA50 — What 50km of Trail Running Teaches You About Yourself

What happens when the body gets tired…
 but the mind still has hours left to fight?

In this episode of Between Sessions — A Health & Fitness Podcast, Justin reflects on his experience completing the UTA50 — a brutal 50km ultra trail race through the Blue Mountains involving relentless climbs, technical terrain, exhaustion, and mental warfare.

But this conversation goes far beyond running.

We explore:

•  What trail running is really like for people who’ve never experienced it 
•  The difference between physical pain and mental fatigue 
•  How ultra-endurance events expose your thought patterns under pressure 
•  Why some people’s mental “elastic band” eventually snaps during these races 
•  What runners discover about themselves when there’s nowhere left to hide 
•  The strange clarity, simplicity, and connection that comes from hours alone in nature 

Justin also shares the lessons learned from training for the event while balancing increasing business pressures and managing two gyms — and why endurance challenges often become more about identity and mindset than fitness itself.

The episode also touches on Michael’s recent medical challenges, and how difficult periods of physical uncertainty can create a similar mental battle: learning how to adapt, keep perspective, and continue moving forward when the body suddenly feels unreliable.

Because eventually, every endurance challenge becomes a conversation between you and your mind.

And sometimes the greatest challenge isn’t the mountain…
 it’s convincing yourself to keep moving.