Are You Stuck in Mouse View?

"Always be learning.”

That's one of the biggest lessons my dad taught me, and one that I love. Because I love learning and growing, and I'm guessing you do too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be an ultrarunner. A 5k would suffice.

But there are two ways to learn in ultrarunning.

The first is learning from your race so you can improve the next. What one of my teachers called "mouse view" - an intense but narrow focus on one race at a time. This is usually how we think of learning in ultrarunning.

The second is learning from your ultrarunning as a whole so you can progress in the sport. What that same teacher called "eagle view" - looking at your entire ultrarunning journey and using what you've learned to decide where to go next.

Mouse view asks: What went wrong in that race?

Eagle view asks: What kind of ultrarunner am I becoming?

Looking at the big picture every now and then helps you see improvement you might miss and puts individual setbacks in perspective. Good and bad, success and failure, PR and DNF - they're all data points in your larger story.

Maybe you've lost sight of the bigger picture. Maybe you're only seeing the failures, or you're going through a tough time right now. But step back and you'll likely see it: you're becoming a more mature ultrarunner, expanding your capability to handle whatever the sport throws at you while living a real life.

So take that step back. Think about what you've learned over your time in the sport and what more you want to experience.

Then make your plans. Your eagle view is calling.