The Long Run # 1
22 August 2025
Small insights & inspiration for those who not only want to continue walking, but also want to continue growing as a person
Welcome to The Long Run, a newsletter that has been on my mind for a long time and which I am now finally giving free rein to.
Over the past five years, I've coached countless ultrarunners and professionals through Sweet Spot Performance in their quest for impressive performance and growth, without losing themselves in the process. Whether it's in their athletic or professional lives, or both.
What started small has grown into a thriving Sweet Spot community that now extends far beyond Belgium, from Amsterdam to Zurich. A group of conscious "Real World Athletes" who inspire each other and share insights.
With this newsletter, I want to share not only my perspective on ultra running, but also on personal boundaries, sustainable training, and life with a wider group of people, including you.
What can you expect? No dogma or spam. Instead, a long read with personal insights and reflections on a variety of topics related to (ultra)running, personal growth, and leadership, as food for thought during your own long run.
LR #1 focuses on the mental aspects of ultrarunning. An ultra mindset is invaluable beyond sports, even professionally.
Are you an ultra runner or a driven professional and do you recognize yourself in these stories?
Are you ready for the next step in realizing your sporting and/or professional ambitions?
Do you want to continue to grow without losing yourself and also start working on your own leadership?
I'd love to hear your story.
If this isn't for you, you can always unsubscribe at the bottom.
Silence after the storm in your head
It's the end of August. Summer is winding down. Chamonix is buzzing even louder than usual: UTMB week is just around the corner.
For some, the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc and the whole circus surrounding it is "way too much." For others, it remains a long-held dream. Love it or hate it, the UTMB is undeniably the biggest and most competitive 100-miler in Europe. There are few other events where you, as a recreational athlete, can run alongside the world's elite in the same race. At least, if you're lucky enough to snag a race number, but that's another story.
My own participation dates back to 2013. Despite having run many ultras that were in many ways tougher or more beautiful, the memory of the tension just before the start of the UTMB is one of those haunting moments I still cherish: An intense cocktail of excitement and doubt about what lies ahead, the energy of nearly 3,000 runners and a multitude of supporters, fueled by a speaker who believes he needs to go the extra mile. It's a whirlwind in my head.
And then finally… the starting gun. The elites blast off as if it were a street marathon. The masses slowly begin to move. My mind is still. The storm has suddenly subsided.
Isn't it precisely that mental balancing act between motivation (I want this!) and uncertainty (Can I do it?) that makes ultrarunning so appealing, more than the performance itself? And at the same time, dealing with mental pressure when you're truly challenging yourself is often a pitfall that can stop you before you even take the first step.
This also happens when you are about to make important decisions in other areas: a project you are not sure you can handle, or a change of course in your life whose outcome is anything but certain.
The start of the UMTB can be followed live here from 5:45 PM on Friday 29/08
Mental preparation is like stabilization training
During the intake at the start of a new program, I always ask: "Do you do stabilization or strength training in addition to running training?" The answer I usually get: "Yes, but far too little."
Almost everyone realizes this is useful, but maintaining it consistently proves to be quite a challenge. Sound familiar?
The same applies to the mental aspects that play a role in ultrarunning. Almost everyone who's ever run an ultra knows this is important, but in practice, almost no one pays much attention to it during preparation. Only after a few realizations do they realize there's still much to be gained mentally.
By adopting an ultra mindset, you'll often achieve more than by training harder and harder on willpower alone and constantly getting stuck on the same things. And this, too, is something you can learn.
Case study
This is how Sweet Spot athlete Anouk describes how she started working on her ultra mindset:
“Ultimately, it's not my body that has gone through the biggest change in recent times, but my mind.”
I've finally accepted that success doesn't create itself. Like many others, I've learned in recent years that running ultras is not only a physical challenge but also a mental one. Logical, you might think. But realizing this, and then actually doing something about it, is far from logical. Training your legs is a much easier and more straightforward way to improve.
Almost any runner can complete a few intervals. But asking yourself questions about what drives you, what holds you back in races, or—even less obvious—what you believe about yourself or your own abilities? Not every runner can do that, or not every runner is open to it.
Are you willing to look yourself in the mirror? To be your own experiment to break patterns? Erik's comments are often painfully accurate, but always well-intentioned.
I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that it's not my body, but my mind that's the limiting factor in my success. And not just in sports, but also at work and in my life.
I always thought my strength, "just pushing through," would get me everywhere. Pushing and pushing through—that's what makes a good ultra runner, right? The answer is no. That strategy will get you ahead of things, but pushing harder won't make you run faster. Ultimately, it wasn't my body, but my mind that underwent the biggest change.
Ultramindset – practical
Research shows that process goals have a large positive effect on performance, performance-oriented goals a moderate effect, and outcome goals hardly any effect.
So, there's little point in focusing solely on your finish time or ranking from the start. This is often even counterproductive. What does help is focusing on what you can control and what you can do now. For example, focusing on your nutrition, strategy, and sustainable pace.
How do you translate this into your own preparation? Just like with physical training, this is something you do step by step. Some concrete tips:
- Motivation check : Ask yourself, "Why do I really want to do this ultra?" How will I feel if I quit, and it turns out that was premature? A clear WHY often makes the difference between persevering and giving up.
- Focus on the process : Think beyond ranking (outcome goal) or expected finish time (performance goal), because you don't have complete control over those. Focus on what you can do here and now (process goals).
- Mantra : Choose one short phrase that helps you maintain focus (“I walk smoothly and strongly”).
The really long run - Noor's FKT on the Haute Route Pyrénees
Sweet Spot athlete Noor van der Veen dares to pursue her ambitious goals by pushing her personal boundaries. She took the plunge and, supported by her team, ran the fastest time on the Hautes Route Pyrenées in July.
A technically challenging route of approximately 700 km and around 45,000 meters of elevation gain. This was not only a huge physical challenge, but also a mental and logistical feat.
In the podcast Naar de vaantjes she tells how she got there, what drives her, how she prepared and how this adventure went.
Book tip
On Trails – An Exploration by Robert Moor
In this book, Moor takes you on a journey through the history, philosophy, and meaning of trails. Drawing on his experience as a thru-hiker, he explores how trails are formed—from ant trails to trade routes and highways—and what they tell us about choices and direction.
A path is never just a route, but simultaneously a metaphor for learning (and life), growth, and the traces we leave behind. Highly recommended for anyone who spends a lot of time on paths but also wants to pause and consider which paths they're following, and which new ones they might not (yet) dare to take.
Finish
“A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”
Congratulations, you've made it to the end of the first edition of The Long Run. A long read, as I said.
Hopefully, you've found some inspiration here. Perhaps you recognize that intimidating feeling of tension and doubt just before something big, whether it's your first ultramarathon or a new step in your professional life.
Sometimes the distance between where you are now and where you want to be seems enormous. But it always starts with that first step.
Comments, questions, or suggestions for future topics? I'd love to hear them.
Warm regards,
Erik
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