Your first 100-miler doesn’t have to be a guessing game. In this episode, I break down the complete blueprint for going from marathon finisher to 100-mile finisher. It covers everything I learned through years of trial and error, plus great coaching, across multiple 100- and 200-mile races, starting with a homemade 52-mile loop around my college campus.

• Why you should give yourself 12–18 months to train, and why a marathon is the starting line
• How to pick your race: excitement first, then elevation gain, terrain, temperature, cutoff times, and date
• Building up the distance ladder: marathon → 50K → 50 miler or 100K → 100 miles
• The three key training blocks: VO2 max, lactate threshold, and endurance, with example workouts and RPE targets for each
• Minimum peak volume to shoot for: 6 hrs/week for 50K–50 mile races, 9 hrs/week for 100K–100 mile races (from Jason Koop)
• The rule of specificity, and a simple formula for matching your weekly elevation gain to your race
• Why consistency and deload weeks beat big, unsustainable training weeks
• Treating long runs as race-day rehearsals, including carb, hydration, and sodium targets
• Essential gear: two pairs of shoes, toe socks, a hydration vest, a long-battery GPS watch, a headlamp, and chafe balm
• Building your crew and pacers, plus how to taper the right way
• Race-day execution: fuel early and often, mix in whole foods, and enjoy what you’ve earned

You’ve put in the work. Go out and run your race.

New episodes drop every week, with actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don’t miss one. And if you’re ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching, or check out www.runyourrace.com.

In December 2018, military veteran Jared Ewing was hit by a car in Cleveland, lost his calf muscles and Achilles tendon, and was told by a room full of doctors that his marathon days were over. Ten months later he finished the Columbus Marathon, and this summer he completed four 100-mile races. Jared shares the full story, the faith that carried him through it, and how “one more mile” became the mindset that rebuilt his running.

• The night of the accident, the strangers who saved his leg, and the choice between amputation and keeping the leg
• Six weeks in the hospital, four in a nursing home, and getting to the YMCA on a walker
• Starting with a quarter mile on the treadmill and adding a little more every day
• Buying a full marathon bib “just to see,” and finishing Columbus 10 months after being told he’d never run another marathon
• Why you don’t have to run the whole way: walk/jog strategy for marathons and ultras
• Pushing back on limiting beliefs and building up slowly over a one-to-two-year plan
• From road 50Ks to the JFK 50 to a sub-24-hour finish at Burning River 100
• How his faith in God removed his fear of failure and kept him positive through every 100
• Where his mind goes during a 100: gratitude, prayer, and his “spiritual crew”
• Why the highs and lows in ultras come in waves, and why you’re never alone out there
• Being a light for other runners on course
• What’s next: a sub-3 marathon attempt, a backyard or 24-hour race, Marathon des Sables in April, and his first 200

Find Jared Ewing here...

• Instagram -> @jrod4513
• Strava, Facebook, LinkedIn -> Jared Ewing / @jrod4513
• GoFundMe for his upcoming four-100s documentary -> https://gofund.me/ef77da6bc

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don’t miss one. And if you’re ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.

Go out and run your race.

Dm me the word "COACH" on Instagram (@pierceshowe) to learn more about 1:1 coaching

Thinking about your first 100-miler but not sure where to start? This one is all tactical. Pierce breaks down what to look for when picking your first 100-mile race, then walks through five of the most beginner-friendly 100s out there to help you earn that first belt buckle.

• The #1 factor in choosing a race: what excites you most (mountains, flat, trail, road)
• Other factors worth weighing: elevation gain and descent, temperature, cutoff times, altitude, and terrain
• Why it’s easier to race on terrain similar to what you train on (and how to make it work if you can’t)
• Rocky Raccoon 100 (Huntsville, TX — February): low 40s to 60s, ~5,000 ft of gain, the “hilliest” on the list
• Tunnel Hill 100 (Vienna, IL — November): 30s to 50s, only ~1,400 ft of gain, a go-to for PRs
• Brazos Bend 100 (Needville, TX — December): under 100 ft of gain, basically sea level, flat and fast but can get warm
• Hennepin 100 (Sterling, IL — October): mid 40s to mid 60s, ~1,000 ft of gain
• Long Haul 100 (Lakeland, FL — January): 50s to 70s, ~1,200 ft of gain
• Why you should build up through a marathon, 50K, and 50 miler before tackling 100
• What Pierce learned from running his first 100 on a one-mile neighborhood loop (and why he doesn’t recommend it)

Go out and run your race.

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don’t miss one. And if you’re ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.

In this episode I break down my most recent ultramarathon the Habanero 100 Miler. This race is held near Houston, Texas and is known as Texas' hottest 100 mile race.

In just 8 days I'm running the Habanero 100-mile ultramarathon — noon start, temperatures from 95 to 105°F, one of the hottest 100-milers in Texas. My goal is to win it. In this short, tactical episode I break down the seven strategies I'm using to survive and perform in that kind of heat — and how you can apply them to any hot-weather race or summer running.

Here's what I cover:

• Ice bandana — using per-cooling to drop your skin temperature, one of the most science-backed ways to beat the heat
• Arm sleeves — for holding ice and keeping the sun off your skin so it doesn't quietly drain you all day
• Wearing white to reflect the sun instead of absorbing it
• Hydration — why I aim for 32 to 48 oz of water per hour, and how sweat testing helped me dial that number in
• Sodium — targeting around 1,000 mg per liter of water to actually absorb what you drink
• Pacing — running conservative through the hottest hours, then going guns blazing after 7pm
• Heat training — running in the heat plus a post-run sauna protocol to build heat adaptation without overcooking your body

Short, sweet, and straight to the point. Stay safe out there, and use the heat to make you stronger.

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don't miss one. And if you're ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.

Go out and run your race.

I ran the Summer Sufferfest 54k trail race outside Dallas this past weekend as a tune-up for the Habanero 100-miler, and in this episode I break down exactly how it went — plus the simple three-question framework I use to mine wisdom from every race so I keep getting better.

Here's what we cover:

• The three questions I ask after every race: what went well, what didn't, and what I'll do better next time
• Why a tune-up race belongs in your 100-mile build — and how to use it to stress-test gear and fueling
• Going out conservative in the heat (this thing starts at 97°) and saving a gear for later
• Topical cooling with an ice bandana — one of the most effective strategies for racing in brutal heat
• "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together" — why locking into a group carried me through the first loop
• Where my fueling broke down, the stomach issues that cost me the last five miles, and what I learned
• My fixes for Habanero: more whole foods every 2-3 hours, a cooler with swappable bottles, a spare ice bandana, taping my feet against blisters, and switching from a vest to a waist belt

Every hard race is data. Reflect on it, write it down, and let it make you better.

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don't miss one. And if you're ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.

Go out and run your race.

Nick Petterson sits down to talk about his journey from college soccer player to ultra running standout — winning Rocky Raccoon 100 in 14:38, taking first at Grasslands 100 in 17:39, and pushing 270 miles at the Summit Trail last man standing event.

• How Nick discovered ultra running through YouTube while training for his first road marathon
• His first 100 miler — a virtual COVID-era race run as 20 loops around his apartment complex, finished in 29 hours
• Hitting the wall at mile 60 and the mental shift that got him back on his feet
• Why he bounces between hundred milers, backyards, and fast road marathons to keep training fun and well-rounded
• His weekly mileage approach, back-to-back long run strategy, and how training gets race-specific as events approach
• His fueling strategy, including carb intake per hour during Rocky Raccoon and Grasslands
• The mental game during a backyard ultra vs. a hundred miler, and how he talks himself through the low points
• The single biggest piece of advice for runners looking to get more competitive in the hundred mile distance — improving your slowest miles, not just your fastest
• Why consistency, not perfection, is the real key to long-term improvement

Find Nick here...

• Instagram -> @nickp_runs
• Strava -> Nick Peterson

Dm me the word "COACH" on Instagram (@pierceshowe) to learn more about 1:1 coaching

Six years of running experience, compressed into one episode. What started with a high school lacrosse tryout 5K turned into half marathons, 200-mile races, and even a half marathon every day for five months straight. In this episode, I'm expanding on my viral "6 years of running in 60 seconds" Instagram post and breaking down the biggest lessons I've learned from my own journey and from coaching over 100 athletes.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• You don't suck at running — you just haven't trained the right way for long enough
• How to safely increase mileage: add 3 miles per week if you're under 30 miles per week, or 10% if you're over
• Why a recovery week every fourth week (70-80% of previous volume) is where the real adaptations happen
• Running with friends makes everything easier — find a run club in your city
• Don't neglect strength training — it's key for injury prevention
• Skip the biohacking: sleep is the #1 recovery tool (aim for 8-9 hours)
• Fueling basics: eat a lot of carbs, 30-60g of carbs for runs 1-2 hours, 60-90g for runs over 2 hours
• Why carbon plated shoes should only come out on race day and your last 1-2 big workouts

Whether you're chasing your first marathon, a faster marathon, or an ultra, this episode gives you the training foundations to get there.

Go out and run your race.

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don't miss one. And if you're ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.