Scott Jurek's Tip For Staying Motivated While Running - Exclusive
Running short distances is hard enough, and running a marathon is even harder. But running an ultramarathon? Now, that is an accomplishment for the books. In fact, running legend Scott Jurek has been crowned the winner of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance run, which is an epic feat considering it was far above the 26.2 miles of a standard marathon. From 100 to 166 miles, Jurek has broken speed records that to be quite honest— we can't even fathom. Our biggest question remains: how on earth does the book author stay motivated?
In an exclusive interview with Health Digest, Jurek revealed his best running tips and tricks, including his favorite post-race breakfast sandwich meal with the plant-based brand, JUST Egg. The vegetarian advocate opened up about the fact that the sport isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as he explained that "doubts still creep into my head" while challenging himself in such grueling conditions.
Jurek is no stranger to questioning his motivation as he mentions, "That's one thing everyone hears about the wall that occurs in marathons that you hit this point where you don't think this is going to happen ..." So how does he continue to push himself beyond his limits?
Remind yourself that things will get better
In 2010 Scott Jurek set the United States all-surface record in the 24-hour run with 165.7 miles. According to Jurek's website, that's approximately 6.5 marathons in one day. Besides the fact that we are thoroughly impressed, Health Digest was curious to know if there was ever a point when he felt the record just couldn't be done. Jurek responded, "I had three or four waves of that [doubt] over the 24 hours. I remember at one point, 18 hours in, running around in a circle."
He continued, "In those situations, it was important for me to remind myself, 'This is a bad spell, things are going to get better,' and that's important for readers to know — it's very common to experience that, and acknowledging it and sitting with it is okay.
"Understand, be emotional about it," Jurek told Health Digest. "If something's going wrong or the stomach's [aching], or you have some other issue with something that's bothering you, a cramp or something that seems like an injury, then it's time to move on from those and try to figure out, 'How can I remedy the situation? How can I put a positive spin on things and start thinking about what, strategically, can I do to change the predicament or the situation I'm in?'"
If you find yourself unable to move on from the present challenge, Jurek recommends finding a spot on the road or some sort of identifiable target and getting yourself to that point. Continue to do that until you see the finish line. "Biting that larger goal into more digestible pieces is key on the mental side," he said.
Head to JUST Egg's website to learn more about its products. Keep up with Scott Jurek's running career on his Instagram page.