What Does a Coach Get to Claim?

An athlete finishes an extraordinary race. The coach has been there through the training, the doubts, the changes of plan and all the ordinary weeks that made getting to the start line possible. So how much of what happens next belongs to the coach? In this solo episode, Paul starts with an athlete finishing the Tor des Géants and his own discomfort with turning someone else's achievement into evidence that the coaching works. From there, he looks back at how his understanding of coaching has changed, from essentially giving athletes lighter versions of his own training to something much harder to define. He tells the story of an athlete who was strong, committed and successful, but repeatedly couldn't finish 100 miles. Eventually, rather than prescribing another training block, Paul offered to run the distance with him. It was something he'd almost never recommend, but for that athlete, at that moment, it seemed more useful than getting any fitter. The episode explores belief, judgement, mistakes, different coaching relationships and the awkward relationship between results and good coaching. A great result doesn't necessarily prove the coaching was great. A bad one doesn't necessarily mean it failed. And some of the work that matters most may never appear in a training plan or a finish-line photograph. There isn't a particularly clean answer here. Just a question Paul has become less certain about the longer he's coached: what is a coach actually responsible for, and what do they get to claim afterwards? Paul Giblin is an ultrarunner, endurance coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra. Keep up with Pyllon: Instagram: @pyllon / @pyllonultra Substack: Pyllon YouTube: Pyllon Coaching: Pyllon Ultra If you enjoy the Pyllon Ultra Pod, follow the show and share the episode with someone who might enjoy it too. Thanks for listening.

Show notes For a long time, my race calendar organised most of my life. There was always another training block, another trip, another race. Western States would lead into Chamonix, Chamonix into UTMB, and the things I was going to deal with afterwards could usually wait a little longer. The strange thing is, I was happy. Running gave me progress, identity, incredible experiences and somewhere to go when other parts of life were harder to understand. Sometimes it probably helped me avoid things too. I’m not sure those two things are as easy to separate as we like to think. The last couple of years have almost reversed that pattern. Frostbite, recovery, moving house, the croft, work and all the ordinary jobs of life have become the new calendar. The big running ambitions never disappeared. I just became very good at telling them to wait. In this short solo episode, I talk about a recent day on Ben Nevis, lying in hospital after Yukon, a difficult TDS, the years when racing occupied almost everything, and why I’m now trying to work out how much space I want to give the athlete again. I’m not sure balance is quite the answer. Maybe some of us naturally put our weight somewhere, and the question is how far we allow the pendulum to swing. Paul Giblin is an ultrarunner, endurance coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra. Keep up with Pyllon: Instagram: @pyllon / @pyllonultra Substack: Pyllon YouTube: Pyllon Coaching: Pyllon Ultra If you enjoy the Pyllon Ultra Pod, you can follow the show on your podcast app and share an episode with someone you think might enjoy it. Thanks for listening.

Another episode of our Long Run Conversations with John Connolly. Ultra running has always moved in waves. One year it's barefoot shoes. Then maximal cushioning. Heat training. Carbon plates. Heat suits. Weighted vests. High-carb fuelling. Some of those ideas genuinely move the sport forward. Some quietly disappear. In this conversation we explore why we're so drawn to the next big thing, how social media and marketing influence the way we train, and why it's often the unglamorous basics that make the biggest difference over time. Along the way we chat about: Heat suits and weighted vest training Barefoot shoes, maximal cushioning and carbon plates High-carb fuelling and the rising cost of race nutrition Why elite athletes aren't always the best models to copy How to think more critically about new training ideas The difference between genuine innovation and clever marketing Why consistency still beats novelty As always, this isn't about dismissing new ideas. It's about asking better questions before changing the way you train. If you enjoy these conversations, we'd love to hear from you. Let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next. Find Pyllon Ultra: 🌐 https://pyllon.substack.com

Winning is the part everyone sees. The pressure beforehand, the difficult decisions, the quiet conversations between crew members, the volunteers standing in the rain, and the moments when an athlete is wondering whether they can keep going are much easier to miss. After spending the weekend crewing for Gus as he defended his West Highland Way Race title, Paul and John sat down to compare notes. The conversation begins with the race itself but soon broadens into something much bigger. They discuss how defending a title feels very different from chasing one, the responsibility that comes with supporting an athlete through difficult moments, and the fine line between coaching, crewing and simply being a friend. Along the way they reflect on what makes the ultrarunning community so special, why races can bring out both the best and worst in people, and the stories that rarely make it onto social media. This is the first of what we hope will become a regular series of conversations between two friends, coaches and long-time observers of the ultra running world. In this episode How this year's West Highland Way Race felt different from last year The pressure of defending a race title Crewing Gus through a difficult day The differences between coaching and crewing What spectators and social media rarely see The role of volunteers and support crews Community, belonging and friendship in ultrarunning Why racing often reveals more than finishing times Paul Giblin is an ultra runner, coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra. You can connect with Paul here: Website: https://pyllonultra.com Substack: https://pyllon.substack.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/pyllon Pyllon Ultra: https://instagram.com/pyllonultra YouTube: https://youtube.com/@pyllon

There are some things in life that we carry alone. Not because we don't have supportive friends or family, but because nobody else can quite carry the weight of something that matters deeply to us. In this solo episode, I explore the quieter side of commitment. The emotional cost of caring deeply about a race, a business, a creative project, or simply the person we're trying to become. Drawing on experiences from racing around the world, building Pyllon, creating films and writing, I reflect on why pursuing meaningful things can sometimes feel surprisingly lonely, and why perhaps that's not something to fear, but something to understand. This isn't really an episode about running. It's about what running, and other long pursuits, reveal about the way we live. I hope it resonates. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can find me here: Substack: https://pyllon.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pyllon Pyllon Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/pyllonultra YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pyllon Website: https://www.pyllonultra.com You can also find The Pyllon Ultra Pod wherever you listen to podcasts. If you're enjoying the podcast, sharing it with a friend or leaving a rating and review really does help more people discover it. Thanks for listening.

In this episode of the Pyllon Ultra Pod, Paul sits down with Pyllon coach John Connolly for a more informal conversation about training, racing and the things that often sit beneath the surface for endurance athletes. This is not a polished lecture or a neat list of training tips. It is more of a coach-to-coach conversation about what we notice in athletes, what people often struggle with, and how easy it can be to overthink the process when training starts to feel uncertain. We talk about the messy middle of training, the gap between what athletes think they should be feeling and what they are actually experiencing, and why honesty is such an important part of long-term development. A quick note on the audio: we had some technical issues during the recording, so Paul’s side of the conversation is not quite where we would normally want it to be. We have cleaned it up as best we can, and decided to share the episode because the conversation felt worth putting out. In this episode we cover: The uncertainty athletes often carry into race season The value of honest conversations between coach and athlete The importance of staying connected to the bigger picture What we are noticing in runners at this point in the year This one is a little more relaxed, a little less polished, and hopefully useful if you are somewhere in the middle of your own training process. Thanks for listening. You can find more from Pyllon here: Substack: https://pyllon.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pyllon and https://www.instagram.com/pyllonultra YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/pyllon Website: https://www.pyllonultra.com

Show Notes At this point in the season, a lot of runners start to question themselves. Races are getting closer. Training suddenly feels more exposed. Sessions that felt perfectly normal in winter now feel loaded with meaning. A flat run becomes evidence that something is wrong. A bad session suddenly feels significant. And yet, objectively, many runners are actually in a very good place. In this solo episode of the Pyllon Ultra Pod, I explore the strange gap between what’s actually happening in training… and what it feels like is happening emotionally. Why confidence often lags behind fitness. Why uncertainty never fully disappears, even for experienced athletes. And why learning to tolerate that uncertainty might be one of the most important skills in endurance sport. I also reflect on my own training, conversations with athletes, old experiences in Chamonix, and the subtle psychological effects of comparison culture and social media. This episode is about trust. Trusting consistency. Trusting the process. And trusting that progress often feels far less dramatic than we expect it to. In this episode: Why runners often feel behind even when training is going well The difference between objective progress and subjective feeling Why confidence reacts faster than fitness The hidden psychological cost of comparison and constant visibility Why endurance sport demands commitment before certainty How experienced athletes learn to tolerate ambiguity rather than eliminate it Why patience and emotional steadiness matter more than most people realise And maybe most importantly: How to keep moving forward even when you don’t fully trust where you are yet. Coaching & Pyllon If this episode resonates and you’re interested in coaching, you can find out more at: pyllonultra.com Pyllon is about more than training plans. It’s about building something sustainable and meaningful around running and life. I also write regularly on Substack: pyllon.substack.com And you can follow along here: YouTube: youtube.com/pyllon Instagram: @pyllon and @pyllonultra If you enjoyed the episode, subscribing or sharing it genuinely helps support what we’re building. Thanks for listening.

“I just don’t have enough time.” It’s something I hear constantly from runners. From parents. From professionals. From people trying to hold a lot together. But what if time isn’t the real problem? In this solo episode, I explore a pattern I see again and again in the athletes I coach. The tension that builds when ambition doesn’t match the season of life you’re in. The stress of trying to run a professional-level training schedule inside a very non-professional reality. This isn’t an episode about waking up earlier. Or squeezing more into your week. Or optimising your life. It’s about alignment. About recognising the season you’re in. About training honestly within your constraints. And about the maturity it takes to adapt your identity without lowering your standards. I also share a few reflections from my own recent season, from steady progress in training to the uncertainty of building a new running project, and how showing up consistently, even without immediate feedback, is not that different from good training. In this episode: Why “not enough time” is often a misdiagnosis The friction created when ambition and reality don’t align The hidden stress of pretending you’re in a different life season Why adapting your training is a sign of strength, not decline How clarity and acceptance often lead to better consistency and performance If this resonates, take a moment this week to ask yourself a different question: Are you training for the life you actually have? Support the Project I’m currently working on a big running project that means a great deal to me. If you’re a brand, business, or individual who feels aligned with Pyllon and would be interested in supporting or getting involved, I’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch through the website. Coaching, Writing & More If you’re interested in coaching, you can find all the details at: pyllonultra.com I write regularly on Substack, sharing longer reflections on running, training, and living the ultra life: pyllon.substack.com You can also follow and subscribe here: YouTube: youtube.com/pyllon Instagram: @pyllon and @pyllonultra If you found this episode helpful, subscribing or sharing the podcast genuinely helps support the show. Thanks for listening.

Easy training is meant to feel restorative. So why does it so often leave us feeling uneasy? In this solo episode, I explore a feeling many runners carry quietly: guilt when training feels easy. The sense that if a run doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t quite count. That we haven’t earned it. We unpack where that belief comes from, how endurance culture and comparison shape our relationship with effort, and why ease can feel undeserved even when we know it’s essential. I also share personal reflections from my time training in Chamonix as a full-time athlete, and a moment on an easy run that turned into something else entirely, driven by ego and the need to prove commitment. This episode isn’t about justifying easy days. It’s about questioning why discomfort has become our proof of worth, and what it might mean to let training be enough without suffering. In this episode: Why easy training can feel emotionally uncomfortable How guilt creeps into rest and recovery The influence of comparison and endurance culture When effort becomes a measure of self-worth Reframing easy training as a skill, not a weakness If this episode resonates, take a moment on your next easy run to notice what comes up. Sometimes the most important work isn’t visible. Coaching, Writing & More If you’re interested in coaching, you can find out more at: pyllonultra.com I also write regularly on Substack, sharing longer-form reflections on running, training, and the wider ultra life: pyllon.substack.com You can follow along and subscribe here: YouTube: youtube.com/pyllon Instagram: @pyllon and @pyllonultra If you found this episode useful, subscribing or sharing the podcast really helps support the show. Thanks for listening.

Episode Description In this episode of the Pyllon Ultra Pod, Paul sits down with Rebecca Hormann for a conversation that goes beyond results and race reports. Rebecca had a remarkable year in 2025. A win at the West Highland Way Race. A recent victory over 200 miles in Portugal. But this conversation isn’t about splits, podiums, or outcomes. Instead, it explores what happens underneath performance. Rebecca talks openly about uncertainty, patience, learning to trust the work, and how her relationship with running has evolved as the distances have grown longer. We discuss decision-making under fatigue, how she approaches fear and doubt, and what it means to commit to a long-term process rather than chasing short-term validation. This is a conversation about becoming - as an athlete and as a person - and about the quiet inner work that sustains endurance over time. Topics Covered Finding identity beyond results Learning to sit with uncertainty before and during big races The mental demands of very long formats What a 200-mile race reveals when there’s nowhere to hide Trusting process over outcomes How coaching can create freedom, not dependence Redefining success beyond podiums Listen & Follow Subscribe to the Pyllon Ultra Pod for thoughtful conversations about endurance, identity, and the inner life of training and racing. Links Substack: pyllon.substack.com Instagram: @pyllon | @pyllonultra YouTube: youtube.com/pyllon Website: pyllonultra.com