Kilian Jornet: 'All the bad things about running are there to reap something good'
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Version 0 of 1. What have you been up to recently? Well, we finished the running season at the end of October. Then I took two weeks off for vacation, we went to Nepal to the mountains. Then it’s the transition to the ski season, so I’ve been in the mountains again. I have to ask, have you ever done a road race? [laughs] Yes I think I have done one, in Paris. It was from a foundation, a charity, but it wasn’t really racing. It was running with the people. So not really, no. In training. I don’t like even to run 200m down the road. I cross and get off it. What’s your favourite place to run? I think it’s the place of tomorrow. The thing I like about running is discovering. So its the place you haven’t been running before. I like the mountains because it’s where I feel confident, but it’s nice to run in wild places. In Norway and Scandinavia it’s huge, the beauty of the sea and the mountains. In the US all the parks ... In Nepal, the huge mountains ... but I think every place, really. I really want to explore here in the UK, too … the Lake District ... So the nicest is the one of tomorrow. Do you remember your first ever race? My first, first race .... [thinks] actually it was when I was three year old, I did a 12km cross-country ski race. And running race? I did some cross-country when I was in school. Did you win the ski race? No [laughs]. When people ask you for training tips, what do you tell them? I think the first one is to not think training is training. To think that if you run, it’s because you like it. So don’t think that you need to run, need to train, that it’s an obligation. It’s just. Go out and enjoy it, because then it makes it so much easier. You go to the training because you like it, you feel much more relaxed, you don’t take something too seriously. I think it’s important to do sport in a serious way, but don’t take it too seriously. And another, it’s important to be methodical. It’s better to run one hour every day than to run 10 hours at the weekend and then do nothing. And you don’t try to follow others. Every person is different – some people can assimilate like, 30 hours of training a week. Some people can’t. And some people are better to do interval, some people volume. It’s all personal so it’s important to listen to yourself and to be really individualist on the training. Do you ever struggle with motivation? Ever wake up and think, “I just don’t want to run today?” Yes many times! Of course I think I am really lucky to live in the mountains and live in a beautiful place. I think if I stayed in London for three days it would be impossible for me to run! Or there are days when you are tired, you’ve been training a lot, it’s bad weather, it’s raining and you need to be out for hours. But these days you just need to put the work in, just go out and say, “OK, I just do it ...” Do you ever listen to music when you run? Yes. Mostly, it’s the days when I’m not motivated for running, or if you need to do five hours and in the last hours you are really tired. What do you listen to? A big variation. I like punk, I like classical – Bach or Tchaikovsky – or some Catalan music. Or classic rock, like Dylan, Springsteen or Hendrix. Do you wear a watch when you run? I’m a road runner so obviously we’re all obsessed with pace, but I guess that’s irrelevant in the mountains? When I started, I used one to monitor my heart rate in the mountains. But after a while I stopped doing that, because I started to know where I was. In the mountains we use devices a lot for the elevation – how many metres you’ve been climbing. I have GPS too, but this is more for afterwards to see where I was. What’s the worst thing about running? All the bad things about running are there to reap something good. But I don’t think, “I like everything! I like suffering and I like blisters and pain.” What’s the best thing then? The best thing about running is that you can discover everything and you need nothing. It’s easy. I like that it’s easy and you need just a pair of shoes. Sometimes I’ve been driving for hours and I see a nice mountain and I think, “OK, I want to go there. You just put shoes on your feet and you go. It’s easy, you can discover. It’s like you are an animal and you are discovering things. When you come in after a five-hour run, what do you eat? What’s your indulgence? I really like chocolate! But after a long run, normally you prefer salty things. And I’m a fan of Italian food so probably pizza. What’s the furthest you’ve ever run? In one go? It was 44 hours I think. It was the Tahoe Rim Trail, it was 280km. The last few hours ... [grimaces] Wow. So this is probably a trickier one for you, what’s the shortest distance you’ve ever run? Actually we did some sprint races, just 100m elevation. Just up! It takes about three minutes but it’s almost harder than running 100 miles. What do you eat for breakfast on the day of a long run or a big race? A lot of times I don’t eat breakfast. But for a race or a very big day maybe just one slice of bread with some jam or Nutella. What do you eat when you are running on the ultras? Normally some gels but not much because after hours of running it’s not great on the stomach. After many hours, you start to eat normally. It depends a lot on the weather and conditions. So if it’s wet and cold you’d like soups or burritos and if it’s warm maybe more fruit, or a sandwich. Real food. A piece of pizza maybe. You don’t eat a big quantity. In a short race you don’t want to fill the stomach but in a long race [laughs] ... you want to feel that you have something because you will really be empty of energy if you don’t eat. It starts to be dangerous for you, being cold and empty. Have you ever run barefoot? Yes, in the mountains and as a child. What’s your greatest achievement so far? Enjoying everything that I’ve been doing. Doing the things that I wanted to do.. It’s not a big goal or a big thing, but just visiting and discovering and meeting people. When I am old I will remember that more than winning a race. Do you watch athletics? I have no television but I do follow a bit. Do you like watching road races? Yes, it’s beautiful and athletic to see somebody running a marathon. I’m maybe more interested in endurance running, but when you see a sprinter, it’s so beautiful, so powerful. I sometimes think sprinting and endurance running are almost different sports. Yes, they are the same because you are running, but in a physiological way it’s completely different. Do you do any non-running training? I practice a lot in the winter on other sports – just skiing for six months. In summer I climb a lot too, so that’s like a fun core training. Who is the greatest ever runner? I don’t know. That’s hard. I’m pretty young to know all the runners that have ever been. For me, when I was young I think the two people that marked me were Haile Gebrselassie and Hicham el-Guerrouj. Killian Jornet’s book, Run or Die is published by Penguin |