In this episode of the Pyllon Ultra Pod, host Paul delves into the often-overlooked topic of resistance and its impact on ultra-running. Rather than focusing on conventional training tips, Paul explores the deeper, more existential aspects of why we run and how resistance shapes our journey. Drawing inspiration from Steven Pressfield's "The War of …

In this episode of the Pyllon Ultra Pod, host Paul dives into the importance of celebrating individuality in ultrarunning and endurance sports. Reflecting on recent races and personal experiences, Paul discusses why athletes often strive to conform and how embracing one’s unique preferences can lead to greater joy and success. This short episode en…

A follow-on chat from last week! Quick update from the West Highland Way Race (and special guest appearance)! Paul returns to a past episode and the problem for athletes of not fuelling properly. Despite all the planning, so many struggle to adhere to their nutrition plan as the race progresses. Paul believes that this is more than just a bad stoma…

Paul is officially off-the-rails now (come back James Stewart!!) and takes the opportunity to talk to Alice before the start of the West Highland Way race early Saturday morning. Alice has a unique energy for sure :D This was recorded in the van on the way down to Glasgow - so please excuse the sound quality! - What has Alice learned from her past …

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. Another short episode with some thoughts from Paul after a busy 10 days back in Scotland. Paul covers his thoughts on the importance of putting some time and effort into the planning of your race / event. He also covers the issue with nutrition that's seldom talked about. If you'd like to spend a weekend with Paul and some of …

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. AN IN-BETWEEN EPISODE. Just a short update from Paul and quick observation from the world of Formula 1 racing. Is this is a major shift from ultra running for the bearded trail runner? :) You can connect with the Pyllon Ultra team on twitter and instagram @pyllonultra or check out the website at www.pyllonultra.com Pyllon is a…

This is a special post-completion edition of the Te Araroa episodes. Paul is done. He's back in the UK but these Q&As were done in the immediate days after the run. So much of what you hear is raw and without the benefit of distance from the event. You will hear Paul talk about his experience, the trail, the learning, the emotions, how it feel to c…

The 3rd report from the trail is here Paul's epic 50 day journey continues. He is tackling the FKT on Te Araroa in New Zealand. A 3,000km journey across the entire country, water crosses, sea crossings and everything in between. To find out more about the journey visit the website here: In this 3rd episode Paul talks about the adventure of getting …

The 2nd report from the trail is here Paul's epic 50 day+ journey continues. It will last 50 days. He is tackling the FKT on Te Araroa in New Zealand. A 3,000km journey across the entire country, water crosses, sea crossings and everything in between. To find out more about the journey visit the website here: In this 2nd episode James sent Paul a f…

The first in a special series of pods Paul Giblin is on an epic journey. It will last 50 days. He is tackling the FKT on Te Araroa in New Zealand. A 3,000km journey across the entire country, water crosses, sea crossings and everything in between. To find out more about the journey visit the website here: In the 1st special episode you will get a v…

Final Sprint of Series 8 already! This is the last in the series - it’s been us giving you our Top 6 training (and life) mistakes! For Number 6, it’s a cracker - it’s something that we are all prone to: Self-Deception. In this episode, we talk about the main dangers of self-deception and how you might combat them: Injury and Burnout Stunted Growth …

Series 8 continues, and it's another Sprint Pod. James is back in this episode as the series on training mistakes continues. In Episode 5, you'll hear about the troubles of expectations not meeting reality. We'll talk about: Using data and inputs to set better goals Why your expectations should be anchored by reality How low expectation levels can …

Series 8 continues, and it's another Sprint Pod. You're stuck with just Paul in this episode as the series on training mistakes continues. In Episode 4, you'll hear about 'the struggle of sticking to the plan'. We'll ask: Even when really motivated to reach your goal, why do so many people go off-plan? What do you need to be aware of in order to mi…

Series 8 continues, and it's another Sprint Pod. Slightly bigger than bite-sized this time as we had a lot to talk about! This series we thought we'd give you the benefit of 15 years of run coaching experience and cover what we currently see as the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to training, and also how those mistakes turn up in your '…

Series 8 continues, and it's another bite-sized Sprint Pod. This series we thought we'd give you the benefit of 15 years of run coaching experience and cover what we currently see as the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to training, and also how those mistakes turn up in your 'normal' life too. In Episode 2, you'll hear about 'Short-cuts'…

We are back with Series 8, and it's another set of bit-sized Sprint Pods. These short podcasts around the 10 minute mark to give you something to think about as you move through your training and racing. This series we thought we'd give you the benefit of 15 years of run coaching experience and cover what we currently see as the biggest mistakes pe…

In the last episode James and Paul talked through the last part of their ATAK approach to challenging situations. They shared some detail on how they’ve made the approach work and when they haven’t had the awareness or control to turn a hard time into a good experience. So the theory is good, but it can be really easy to stall at any step. In this,…

A to the motherfunkin' K homeboy! We are busting our way towards the end of this series on our ATAK model for dealing with challenges in racing, training and life. If you haven't already listened to the intro episode please start there! In this episode we break the 12 min structure and have both James and Paul discussing the final piece of the jigs…

As we continue with Series 7 of the Sprint Pods, James Stewart is back, and he's taking ACTION! This is a follow-on from the last episode where Paul tackled 'Thinking', on our journey through our ATAK model for dealing with challenges in racing, training and life. If you haven't already listened to the intro episode please start there! In this epis…

As we continue with Series 7 of the Sprint Pods, Pyllon Head Coach Paul Giblin returns to talk about the 'thinking mind' in racing - when things aren’t going as planned. This is a follow-on from the last episode where James tackled Awareness, on our journey through our ATAK model for dealing with challenges. If you haven't already listened to the i…

We are back! Series 7 of the Sprint Pods is underway. These are short podcasts around the 10 minute mark to give you something to think about as you move through your training and racing. If you haven't already listened to the intro episode please start there! We'll be talking about an approach to dealing with tough times in racing, and developing …

We are back! Series 7 of the Sprint Pods is on its way. Short podcasts around the 10 minute mark to give you something to think about as you move through your training and racing. In this introduction James will introduce a Pyllon-specific approach to overcoming challenges when you are out there in the heat of racing or just trying to work through …

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. BONUS EPISODE. This isn’t the start of the next series of our shorter sprint pods. We just couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about a pretty special run from one of our Pyllon athletes - Romy Beard. Running a West Highland Way is a big under-taking for anyone. But Romy decided to tackle the High Route, which like the trail,…

We are ready to wrap up this Sprint series of pods on the subject of belief and confidence. Paul and James finally get together again to chat through any thoughts and learnings from the last series. Some useful discussion including: - How James has built his confidence ahead of his race this coming weekend - How you can buy into believing more of t…

We will shortly be recording the summary of the last series of Sprint Pods, and we'd love to hear from you, as we can then discuss any observations and comments. This is a medley of the sprint series as a reminder of what we discussed. It's all 5 episodes in one handy podcast - it's centred on confidence and identifying how and where you can sharpe…

Welcome back to the Pyllon ultra Pod. If you've listened to the last few episodes you will already be aware that we are focusing on confidence and self belief in this series of short podcasts. This is the last of the short episodes in this series. Paul takes back the mic to talk about the threats to our self-belief and why it's important to improve…

Welcome back to the Pyllon ultra Pod. If you've listened to the last few episodes you will already be aware that we are focusing on confidence and self belief in this series of short podcasts. In the last episode Paul cut straight to the point on positive self-talk. It's pretty easy to say to yourself you are doing great or you can run better than …

Welcome back to the Pyllon ultra Pod. If you've listened to the last few episodes you will already be aware that we are focusing on confidence and self belief in this series of short podcasts. In the last episode James talked about how our own self-talk can hold us back before we’ve even started in training, racing and our wider work and family liv…

Episodes are coming weekly now for the next 4-5 weeks. In Episode 2 James moves things on by talking about the importance of 'conscious' self-talk. It's another 10 minutes to get you thinking. James gives us some really great practical examples of how self-talk can make a difference in your life - whether you're a runner or not. There's a fine line…

We are back! With belief and confidence. No, not us. The pod. Wait. We are the pod. Paul and James are masters of their own pace. It’s been a busy few months with world splitting travel but they are here with the second series of sprints. In 2022 they talked about Thought Biases across 6 episodes. This is not long form podcasting. It is 10 minutes …

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. An Endeavour 192 Special BONUS EPISODE. PYLLON ENDEAVOUR 192 - THE WHY Ultra running has enriched our lives in so many ways and we hoped that more people might get involved in the sport or at least better understand our purpose. In the following years, Endeavour continued, with our boldest event being our Scottish National Tra…

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. A Badwater Special with Pyllon Coach - Debbie Consani. BONUS EPISODE. This isn’t as you likely expected the start of the next series of our shorter sprint pods. We just couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about another one of the iconic American ultra races - (Badwater) and to one of the most accomplished, consistent and 'ha…

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. A WS100 Special with Pyllon Coach - John Connolly. BONUS EPISODE. Before we launch into a new Sprint Pod series we took the chance to hear more about this year's Western States 100 race, as Pyllon Coach John Connolly found himself on a mission to reach Auburn, California. John has crewed for Pyllon's very own Paul Giblin 3 x t…

Series finale already. They've been Sprints up until this point and in this episode Paul and James get together to talk in-depth about 'thought biases'. We have covered a lot already in a short space of time, and you can catch up now on all episodes. After the 5 thoughts biases we covered across the Sprints series we promised to do a longer episode…

Hey hey! It is Sprint 5 of our latest series. The overarching topic is 'thought biases' and we finish this off with "All-or-Nothing" thinking. We have covered a lot already in a short space of time, so you can catch up now on all episodes in under 50 mins! In this sprint episode Paul will talk about: What all-or-nothing thinking is Where you'll spo…

Well, hello! It is episode 4 of our 5 sprints. The overarching topic is thought biases and we explore MUSTS AND SHOULDS in this one. We are back to James chatting this one through. So, buckle up and listen to under 10 mins of thoughts on the subject. In this sprint episode James will talk about: The binary nature of the thinking How to recognise it…

Hey hey! It is Sprint 3 of our latest series. The overarching topic is 'thought biases' and Paul talks about egocentric thinking in this one. We have covered a lot already in a short space of time, so check out the first few episodes after this. In this sprint episode Paul will talk about: What egocentric thinking is Some examples in your life Why …

Hey hey! It is sprint 2 of our 5 sprint series. The overarching topic is 'thought biases' and we explore overgeneralisation in this one. Although James does describe it as having a Z for our American viewers. And it is James taking the baton from Paul this week. In this sprint episode James will talk about: What overgeneralisation is How it shows u…

Yo! We are back with a new series. This is the first of our bite-sized Sprint pods - where we talk about a specific topic related to the theme of the series - and we do that in under 10 mins. There will be 5 Sprints and a longer Ultra pod after that. We are going to talk about thought biases over the next few weeks. We have 5 to talk about. James a…

This is not a full episode, as we’ve decided to do things a little differently for the next series and beyond. This is just an update on what we are planning to do and hopefully you’ll join us for this next series. We will create a theme for the series, and we’ll do 5 x short and sharp episodes on a particular topic. So, it’ll either be me or James…

Happy New Year! Time to get moving with your training. But how do you make the most of winter and set yourself up for a great Spring and Summer season? We thought you’d maybe heard enough of just James and I, so we invited someone to join us for this discussion. Someone who is well versed in training and racing through winter - Debbie Consani. Debb…

We continue where we left off in Episode 1 Series 4 of the Pyllon Ultra Pod. Listen to that first if you like. What do you do next when you know what you want to achieve? How do you best manage the initial spark and burst of energy that always comes when you initially take on a new challenge - and how could you think about harnessing that energy to…

We are kicking off Series 4 of the Pyllon Ultra Pod. We’re back again. We have some new things to talk about, and maybe some older topics that we’ll revisit as things have moved on, situations have changed and we are different people than we were back in early 2020. This last quarter of the year has been a busy time for both of us. It's been challe…

Pyllon Ultra Podcast. An End2End Trail Special with Paul Giblin. WE ARE BACK. It has been too long. We know that and hope you do too. Paul and James get chatting 1-2-1 in this special episode on Paul's E2E trail endeavour. For those who don't know, Paul ran LEJOG and being Paul, he decided to increase the difficulty by doing it all on trail. That m…

A special podcast this week. James chats to Paul about his first week on the end to end trail from the luxury of a Travelodge near Bristol. The end to end trail is a challenge to run from Lands End to John O'Groats. But in a twist from the usual fastest / straightest route, Paul has chosen to do it all on trail. Which adds 50% more distance and eno…

Regular listeners will know that we often steer an impulsive path on this podcast. It’s about running, by runners but for more than runners. And this week Paul and James got into a conversation about purpose, goals and motivation. There was some deep digging done on questions such as, “did I choose this life?” and “Why I am doing this?” Also always…

Straight outta lockdown Paul Giblin and Graham Connolly decided to take on the Cape Wrath trail. Their aim was simply to run it in under four days. If you don’t know what the Cape Wrath trail is like, it’s wild, barren and unmarked. As well as loose lines that can’t be called trail in the more common sense of the word, it is boggy, laden with river…

DOING THE INTERNAL WORK! In the last episode of this series we talked at length about cognitive biases, how and why we might be conditioned without really being aware of it, and how these gaps in our awareness can hold us back. So, in this episode we talk more about self awareness and how any kind of introspection may help or hinder our development…

Now it is time for Paul and James to go deeper into the subjects they promised at the Series 3 kick-off. This one will be very different from series 2. There are no guests - it is just the two of them discussing a range of matters relating to the growth of self. In this episode Paul is curious to explore cognitive dissonance and the Dunning-Kruger …

We are kicking off a new series of the podcast. As we said in the last episode, we want to make the most of the time that we put into these episodes by talking at length about some of the areas in training and life that aren’t discussed as often or in any great detail as things like running workout sessions, race updates and how best to train for a…