Katharina Hartmuth: Tor des Géants and Putting Joy Before Results

From Distance To Empty · 01:20:20

Show by Kevin Goldberg and Peter Noyes

Learn about our Patreon Offers!: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get some free DTE Swag by supporting out sponsors!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://janji.com/pages/distance-to-empty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be sure to select 'podcast' > 'Distance to Empty' on the post purchase "How did you hear about Janji" page. Thank you!Check out Mount to Coast here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Open Fuel: Code DISTANCE for 20% offKatharina Hartmuth joins us after a historic Tor des Géants. She won the women’s race in roughly 67 hours, about 12 hours faster than her own winning time in 2024. She finished third overall, becoming the first woman ever on the Tor overall podium, about 15 minutes behind second place and 75 minutes behind the winner.We talk about the secret goal she beat by five hours and why she sets time goals instead of position goals. She explains why joy is the foundation of her running, and how she rebuilt her confidence after knee surgery and two rough years. She also gets into the training changes behind the breakthrough. She made running, not hiking, her default on runnable climbs, which saved her about 30 minutes on one of Tor’s longest ascents. And she does close to half of her high-volume training on the bike, which lets her train 30 hours a week without running 200K weeks. Then we get into her sleep strategy and the six-hour sleep monster at the end of the race, how she raced alongside second place for most of the back half without chasing, and how fast she thinks Tor can go. Plus a ranking game she hated, and the Quick Five.Show notesIn this episode:Her path into trail running: a flat corner of Germany, sports climbing, moving to Switzerland, and volunteering at about ten trail races in one summer.Why she left track early, and why a long-distance triathlon convinced her trails were her thing.Joy as the foundation, and the one race where outside pressure took it away.Cross-training: close to 50% cycling in big weeks, hard sessions on the bike with less recovery cost, and back-to-back bike and run days for fatigue resistance.What changed since 2024: knee surgery, setbacks, a willingness to fail, and racing less conservatively.Uphill efficiency, and making running the default in the “gray zone.”Running her own race, and taking her ten minutes at aid even with second place right there.Sleeping less but at the right time, and holding off the sleep monster until the last crewed aid station.Realizing on the final descent that the time was real, and briefly thinking she must have taken a wrong turn.How fast Tor can go, and what has to line up: weather, stomach, and menstrual cycle timing.The ranking game: Hardrock (1), TDS (2), Swiss Alps 100 (3), UTMB (4), Tor des Géants (5).Quick Five: halfway at Tor, going blind at Hardrock, pasta with tomato sauce, a good rain jacket, and no, she hasn’t found her distance to empty yet.TrainingPeaks Tip of the Week: Peter on Variability Index (VI). In a race, you want it close to 1.0 for an even effort. In interval sessions, expect it to spike. Create a free account at trainingpeaks.com and email us a screenshot, and we’ll send you Distance to Empty bib clips.Mentioned:Katharina, the film by The Ginger Runner on YouTubeTor des Géants and Tor des GlaciersHardrock, UTMB, TDS, and Swiss Alps 100Follow Katharina: [Instagram / website]Support the show:Janji, Mount to Coast and Open Fuel: use code DISTANCE. For Janji, choose “Podcast” then “Distance to Empty” on the post-purchase survey. Send us proof on Instagram (@distancetoemptypod) or at [email protected] for free swag: hats, Creepers socks, bib clips and new shirts, including Peter’s Favorite Hallucination.Training plans, group coaching and 1:1 coaching: distancetoemptypod.com

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