Holly Zimmermann

Long runs are the pillar of training for the marathon and any other long distance race, but fueling them can be tricky. And if your mind is boggled at the thought of fueling a 3-hour run, imagine what’s required for more than a day on your feet? Beautiful wilds of Spain's Galicia I’m not a doctor nor a nutritionist but I’ve been around the block in foot races of all distances. Here’s my non-expert experience and some tips on fueling for endurance. The Marathon As crazy as it may sound, ultra runners consider the classic road marathon to be a fast race. It is a ‘relatively’ short distance, typically on good terrain, without much elevation gain or loss and the pace is at the high end of our aerobic capacity. Obviously the amount of calories that your body needs to take in depends on what you are burning. Are you jogging? Or running at your aerobic-anaerobic boundary? In general it is recommended that runners need to add in 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates each hour that they are runni...

Adventure racing is anything but mainstream. A multidisciplinary endurance sport far removed from civilization that tests the mind as well as the body. The 2021 Master course of the Nordisk Adventure Challenge in Silkeborg, Denmark was simultaneously the European Championship of Expedition-Length Adventure Racing, raising the level of the competition across the board. With a point-to-point distance of 575 kilometers, an 80-hour time limit gave us three and a half days to complete the course, which left little to no time for sleep. So what exactly is Adventure Racing? Well-known in some parts of the world, it is still an obscure sport here in Germany. Also called expedition racing, adventure racing is a team sport involving the main disciplines of trekking, mountain biking and paddling, but often include climbing, abseiling, swimming, inline skating, horseback riding, skiing and whitewater rafting, among others. Teams are generally mixed in gender and made up of two to five people, ...

Team Training Weekend: September 24-27, 2020 It took me six hours to drive from Regensburg up to Hohnhorst, a small village just west of Hannover, Germany. The traffic had been horrendous, with construction everywhere and tractor-trailer trucks lined up like a serpent in the right lane. But I was welcomed warmly by Vincent, his wife Carina and their chocolate Labrador, Miley. They offered me something to eat and we sat and chatted at the kitchen table for a couple of hours before turning in early. A good nights sleep in the pocket would be great to have before the monster endurance challenge that was waiting for us over the next couple of days. Carina gave me a pile of sheets and a blanket and Vincent pulled out the sofa bed. I felt comfortable there and was anxious but looking forward to what was to come. A 06:30 alarm for an 8 am start was the plan. I had slept ok, but not great as is typical in a new bed. I scurried into the kitchen looking for a pot of coffee but didn’t see...

The question I am most often asked is not “ How do you train for running in the desert?” nor “ How do you stay motivated during those long runs? ”, but rather two simple words, “ What’s next? ” And from those who know the type of races I prefer to run, they ask the question, waiting with bated breath, hoping that I will dazzle them with something off the charts. No pressure there. Bu honestly, I don’t choose races for the ‘Wow’-factor, I keep my eyes and ears open as to what is out there, waiting patiently until I hear of a race that sends a chill down my spine, and then I know it is the next one. Choosing races of such magnitude with any other motivation I think would make it impossible to invest in the amount of training, planning and preparation necessary to pull it off. During my down-time this past winter I created an Excel spreadsheet with all the race options that interest me including all of my standard short-distance races in and around Regensburg that I run with my...