The Pyllon Ultra Pod

An athlete finishes an extraordinary race. The coach has been there through the training, the doubts, the changes of plan and all the ordinary weeks that made getting to the start line possible. So how much of what happens next belongs to the coach? In this solo episode, Paul starts with an athlete finishing the Tor des Géants and his own discomfort with turning someone else's achievement into evidence that the coaching works. From there, he looks back at how his understanding of coaching has changed, from essentially giving athletes lighter versions of his own training to something much harder to define. He tells the story of an athlete who was strong, committed and successful, but repeatedly couldn't finish 100 miles. Eventually, rather than prescribing another training block, Paul offered to run the distance with him. It was something he'd almost never recommend, but for that athlete, at that moment, it seemed more useful than getting any fitter. The episode explores belief, judgement, mistakes, different coaching relationships and the awkward relationship between results and good coaching. A great result doesn't necessarily prove the coaching was great. A bad one doesn't necessarily mean it failed. And some of the work that matters most may never appear in a training plan or a finish-line photograph. There isn't a particularly clean answer here. Just a question Paul has become less certain about the longer he's coached: what is a coach actually responsible for, and what do they get to claim afterwards? Paul Giblin is an ultrarunner, endurance coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra. Keep up with Pyllon: Instagram: @pyllon / @pyllonultra Substack: Pyllon YouTube: Pyllon Coaching: Pyllon Ultra If you enjoy the Pyllon Ultra Pod, follow the show and share the episode with someone who might enjoy it too. Thanks for listening.

Show notes For a long time, my race calendar organised most of my life. There was always another training block, another trip, another race. Western States would lead into Chamonix, Chamonix into UTMB, and the things I was going to deal with afterwards could usually wait a little longer. The strange thing is, I was happy. Running gave me progress, identity, incredible experiences and somewhere to go when other parts of life were harder to understand. Sometimes it probably helped me avoid things too. I’m not sure those two things are as easy to separate as we like to think. The last couple of years have almost reversed that pattern. Frostbite, recovery, moving house, the croft, work and all the ordinary jobs of life have become the new calendar. The big running ambitions never disappeared. I just became very good at telling them to wait. In this short solo episode, I talk about a recent day on Ben Nevis, lying in hospital after Yukon, a difficult TDS, the years when racing occupied almost everything, and why I’m now trying to work out how much space I want to give the athlete again. I’m not sure balance is quite the answer. Maybe some of us naturally put our weight somewhere, and the question is how far we allow the pendulum to swing. Paul Giblin is an ultrarunner, endurance coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra. Keep up with Pyllon: Instagram: @pyllon / @pyllonultra Substack: Pyllon YouTube: Pyllon Coaching: Pyllon Ultra If you enjoy the Pyllon Ultra Pod, you can follow the show on your podcast app and share an episode with someone you think might enjoy it. Thanks for listening.

Another episode of our Long Run Conversations with John Connolly. Ultra running has always moved in waves. One year it's barefoot shoes. Then maximal cushioning. Heat training. Carbon plates. Heat suits. Weighted vests. High-carb fuelling. Some of those ideas genuinely move the sport forward. Some quietly disappear. In this conversation we explore why we're so drawn to the next big thing, how social media and marketing influence the way we train, and why it's often the unglamorous basics that make the biggest difference over time. Along the way we chat about: Heat suits and weighted vest training Barefoot shoes, maximal cushioning and carbon plates High-carb fuelling and the rising cost of race nutrition Why elite athletes aren't always the best models to copy How to think more critically about new training ideas The difference between genuine innovation and clever marketing Why consistency still beats novelty As always, this isn't about dismissing new ideas. It's about asking better questions before changing the way you train. If you enjoy these conversations, we'd love to hear from you. Let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next. Find Pyllon Ultra: 🌐 https://pyllon.substack.com

Winning is the part everyone sees. The pressure beforehand, the difficult decisions, the quiet conversations between crew members, the volunteers standing in the rain, and the moments when an athlete is wondering whether they can keep going are much easier to miss. After spending the weekend crewing for Gus as he defended his West Highland Way Race title, Paul and John sat down to compare notes. The conversation begins with the race itself but soon broadens into something much bigger. They discuss how defending a title feels very different from chasing one, the responsibility that comes with supporting an athlete through difficult moments, and the fine line between coaching, crewing and simply being a friend. Along the way they reflect on what makes the ultrarunning community so special, why races can bring out both the best and worst in people, and the stories that rarely make it onto social media. This is the first of what we hope will become a regular series of conversations between two friends, coaches and long-time observers of the ultra running world. In this episode How this year's West Highland Way Race felt different from last year The pressure of defending a race title Crewing Gus through a difficult day The differences between coaching and crewing What spectators and social media rarely see The role of volunteers and support crews Community, belonging and friendship in ultrarunning Why racing often reveals more than finishing times Paul Giblin is an ultra runner, coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra. You can connect with Paul here: Website: https://pyllonultra.com Substack: https://pyllon.substack.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/pyllon Pyllon Ultra: https://instagram.com/pyllonultra YouTube: https://youtube.com/@pyllon

There are some things in life that we carry alone. Not because we don't have supportive friends or family, but because nobody else can quite carry the weight of something that matters deeply to us. In this solo episode, I explore the quieter side of commitment. The emotional cost of caring deeply about a race, a business, a creative project, or simply the person we're trying to become. Drawing on experiences from racing around the world, building Pyllon, creating films and writing, I reflect on why pursuing meaningful things can sometimes feel surprisingly lonely, and why perhaps that's not something to fear, but something to understand. This isn't really an episode about running. It's about what running, and other long pursuits, reveal about the way we live. I hope it resonates. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can find me here: Substack: https://pyllon.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pyllon Pyllon Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/pyllonultra YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pyllon Website: https://www.pyllonultra.com You can also find The Pyllon Ultra Pod wherever you listen to podcasts. If you're enjoying the podcast, sharing it with a friend or leaving a rating and review really does help more people discover it. Thanks for listening.