Max and Sarah are back for another catch-up! This week, Sarah talks us through her recent Spine recce, we chat about the Big’s Backyard Ultra World Championships, and share what we’ve both been up to lately.

From big ultra adventures to the usual running chat, join us for another episode of Trails, Tales and Fails! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Like, follow and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

We're shaking things up! Alongside our usual chats with runners doing ridiculous things on the trails, we're introducing new features:

🏃 Coaching Corner — Your training, racing and fuelling questions answered.

😂 Tales from the Trail — Your funniest, strangest and most disastrous running stories.

🙌 TTF Shout-Out — Celebrating runners doing brilliant things, big or small.

We want to hear from you, so send your questions, stories and shout-outs to ⁠trailstalesfails@gmail.com⁠. You could even feature in a future episode!

We’re proud to be supported by:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Protein Rebel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — get 15% off with code 15TTF (one time code)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Beta Outdoor Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can get 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BV Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ compression and apparel, plus 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Näak Nutrition⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ products to fuel your adventures using TTF10.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trailskin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ get 20% off with TTFS_20

Don’t forget to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to join our Strava club to connect with fellow trail lovers and celebrate your own achievements.

👉 Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trails, Tales, and Fails Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to continue the conversation and connect with fellow trail and ultra runners.

What does it really take to complete the TOR330?

On this episode of Trails, Tales & Fails, we're joined by Mike Harrington from George & Falcon Trail Runners to talk about taking on the TOR330 — a brutal 330km ultra through the Italian Alps, packed with huge climbs, technical mountain trails, sleep deprivation and some seriously tough decisions.

Mike takes us inside the race, sharing the highs, the lows, the moments when things got properly difficult, and what it takes to keep moving when you're running on empty.

We also talk about his experiences at the Winter Downs 100 and UTS the realities of racing over extreme distances, lessons learned the hard way, and what it takes to tackle some of the biggest challenges in ultra running.

Plus, we're introducing some new features to TTF, including Coaching Corner, Tales from the Trail and TTF Shout-Outs. We want your questions, stories and running disasters!

🎧 In this episode:

• What makes the TOR330 one of the ultimate ultra-running challenges

• Managing sleep deprivation, fuelling and fatigue over multiple days

• The highs, lows and toughest moments of a 330km mountain ultra

• Race strategy and lessons learned

• Advice for runners stepping up to longer ultras

• Mike's next big challenge

Also with Truth or Lie and our quickfire questions.

We're shaking things up! Alongside our usual chats with runners doing ridiculous things on the trails, we're introducing new features:

🏃 Coaching Corner — Your training, racing and fuelling questions answered.

😂 Tales from the Trail — Your funniest, strangest and most disastrous running stories.

🙌 TTF Shout-Out — Celebrating runners doing brilliant things, big or small.

We want to hear from you, so send your questions, stories and shout-outs to trailstalesfails@gmail.com. You could even feature in a future episode!

We’re proud to be supported by:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Protein Rebel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — get 15% off with code 15TTF (one time code)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Beta Outdoor Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can get 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BV Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ compression and apparel, plus 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Näak Nutrition⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ products to fuel your adventures using TTF10.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trailskin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ get 20% off with TTFS_20

Don’t forget to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to join our Strava club to connect with fellow trail lovers and celebrate your own achievements.

👉 Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trails, Tales, and Fails Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to continue the conversation and connect with fellow trail and ultra runners.

This week, Max, Rob and Sarah are joined by one of the biggest names in UK ultra running — Damian Hall.

Damian has finished fifth at UTMB, won the Spine Race, set multiple FKTs and taken on some seriously ambitious challenges. But there’s much more to his running than racing.

He’s also a coach, author, journalist, climate campaigner and co-founder of The Green Runners — a group working to make running and the wider sport more environmentally sustainable.

We chat about Damian’s recent running adventures, and with winter ultras such as the Spine and Winter Downs approaching, we also get practical: how do you train for 200 miles without destroying yourself? How much running do you actually need to do? What role does strength training play? How do you prepare mentally for several days on your feet? And how do you stay motivated when it’s dark, cold and absolutely miserable outside?

We also chat about longevity and Damian’s latest book, Run Forever, which explores how we can continue to get the most out of running as we get older.

Plus, there’s the usual Trails, Tales, and Fails chaos with Celebrity Pacer, Truth or Lie and the Quickfire Round.

If you enjoy the episode, please give us a rating, follow the podcast and share it with your running friends. It really helps us grow the show.

Support the show via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and buy us a coffee.

We’re proud to be supported by:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Protein Rebel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — get 15% off with code TTF15

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Beta Outdoor Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can get 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BV Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ compression and apparel, plus 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Näak Nutrition⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ products to fuel your adventures using TTF10.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trailskin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ get 20% off with TTFS_20

Don’t forget to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to join our Strava club to connect with fellow trail lovers and celebrate your own achievements.

👉 Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trails, Tales, and Fails Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to continue the conversation and connect with fellow trail and ultra runners.