"A 24-hour event is different. I have one task that day - running - and an unbroken stretch of time. If I desire, I can think about every single second and account for its passing. I can treat my seconds like Tupperware containers and try to fit as much running as I can into every single one. At the end of the day, I know where my time went. It went to running."
"You have time to think about everything - to digest, synthesize, examine, and unravel ideas. A girl can eat herself alive out there if she does not have enough to think about. On these grounds, a strategy I have adopted in my preparation for long races is book-loading. It is like carb-loading, but with books, and I highly recommend it."
"Before my races, I read something I am excited about, and I think about it in the early hours of racing while I am still lucid. For those who are similarly excited about good books and running, I've compiled a short list of books I have enjoyed recently. I only included books in the running and performance genre this time. Next month, I will write a follow-up column recommending philosophical texts I think you should read as a runner, too. There are many."
The author focused early ultrarunning efforts on 24-hour events, which compress an entire day into one continuous running task and allow clear accounting of time. Daily life often fragments minutes, but a 24-hour race offers an unbroken stretch for concentrated effort. Extended solo hours become intellectually catabolic, providing space to digest and unravel ideas but also risking mental depletion. To manage this, the author practices book-loading: reading stimulating books before races to occupy early lucid hours. A curated list of running and performance books is provided, with a planned follow-up recommending philosophical texts for runners.
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