In this 20‑mile long‑run video, the runner‑coach outlines a purposeful training session designed to improve both physical endurance and mental resilience. He starts with a clear pacing plan—keeping the first 15 miles at an easy, low‑intensity effort (around 7:30‑6:30 min/mile, heart rate 135‑155) before accelerating for the final five miles to simulate a fast marathon finish. Throughout the run, he discusses how adverse weather (cold, rain, wind) is used as a mental‑training tool, encouraging a positive attitude, gratitude for health, and comfort with uncomfortable conditions. He shares specific nutrition tactics, favoring caffeine‑infused Precision Hydration gels that can be consumed without water, and notes how cold can affect gel texture. Form cues are highlighted: deliberate arm drive, focused breathing, and a relaxed, rhythmic stride achieved by running without music, fostering a meditative state. Practical race‑day advice includes preparing gear in advance to minimize friction on cold mornings. The video concludes with a brief promotion of his coaching service (pbprogram.com) and an invitation for viewers to share their own strategies for running in tough conditions.
Chapters
Greetings from my cold shower this morning. You know it's a good day when you start seeing the rain go completely sideways. Didn't see that coming. Oh, we're here on a nice long run. Sunday 20-miler, fast finish and beat. Long runs when it's coming down like this, just incredible training for the mind. It's not just the body. The plan is to go out for a 20-mile run. First 15 miles mellow, hold back, and then the last 5 miles picking up the pace for a little bit. I wasn't paying attention and I stepped in the biggest muddy puddle. So, um, yeah. Good start over here. Got a nice wet left foot, but yeah, that builds character. So let's do this. Mile 0.1 and my feet are wet. For some reason, these river ditches always remind me of Terminator, the movie. Growing up in Amsterdam, I often watched the American movies. Sure enough, now living here, every river ditch I see reminds me of Terminator. Totally noticing that the heart rate is going up when I'm talking and going up that little hill over there. 135 heart rate, around 7:30 minute miles. So yeah, cruising. I can actually take off the There we go, another Terminator dropping. You know that feeling that it just seems like the wind is actually changing whichever direction you run in, that you're running straight into the wind no matter which direction you run? Today is one of those runs, it seems. But hey, there's nothing you can do about it other than embrace it, so might as well enjoy the Good. Right now it's mile 7, and I just noticed I went up a little hill, started talking to the camera. Sure enough, my heart rate is 145. I really constantly have to tell myself on these long runs, fast finish, to hold back at the beginning, to really save energy. And so there's two main reasons we do that. One is if we're training for a full marathon. First 15 miles low intensity, last 5 miles faster. If we don't hold back enough, we're not going to be able to push it hard enough the last 5 miles. Plus, I want you to learn during a race what that feels like to hold back, to know that you can run faster, but to actually train your brain to become comfortable with running much slower than you could run at that stage of the race. So this morning it was dark when I went out, it was rainy, and I was thinking to myself, well, this is going to be a character kind of building run. Not every run has the same purpose, and Kilian Jornet talked about this in his podcast interview that I did with him too. The purpose of today's run for me, not just to get a 20-mile long run in 5 minutes, but to actually train the brain a bit more. Be comfortable with running against the wind and keeping a positive attitude, being thankful for a healthy body to run in, looking at the positive things instead of starting to wind down in the negative. I honestly don't know if you can hear any of this. No, just yelling. Yeah, really, like on race day you're going to often experience less than ideal conditions. So the more we can train— even now running up the hill in the absolute downpour of rain with some good wind in the mix and enjoying every minute of it, because I know I'm training the mind over here. When it's raining a lot in the morning, to get out the door, just put your race outfit ready or your running outfit ready. Make those steps as small as possible. Almost 15 miles into my long run. Uh, first 15 miles already held back. Now I'm going to start picking up the pace in a bit here. So at this point, I do like taking a bit of gel, in particular with caffeine. Gives me a bit more energy for a faster push finish here. Caffeine surely helps. Keeps the brain fresh too. Whoa, look at this, it's like a river. Well, that's the only way home. Nothing like running the last 5 miles with completely drenched carbon fiber shoes. Some gels get really hard when it gets cold outside. Once again, this is why we test in different scenarios how race day nutrition performs. I really like these, they work well for me. Precision Hydration gels. Main reason is that besides them having a pretty plain flavor, they go down without water. So even during a race, I don't have to time it around aid stations where there's water available. I can just take a gel whenever I want. Big plus. 16 miles in. Running about 6:30-minute miles, heart rate 154. Feeling good after 2 hours running through water. My toes are super cold. Sometimes you don't know what you're going to experience. Practicing it in training makes you familiar with the feeling so it doesn't throw you off when it happens on race day. So 4 more miles to go and a few fun hills in the process. Mile 17, about 6 30-minute miles, heart rate 155. So I'm definitely putting in an effort over here, and I just want to describe what I'm doing right now. When I'm running and not holding the camera, I'm really— you notice I'm running above my talking point at this point. But when I'm not talking, I'm focusing on Finding a pattern, finding a rhythm in my breathing, in my footsteps. This is why I don't run with music. I'm trying to get into a rhythm, so it almost calms the mind down. It really becomes almost a meditative state, and not that you're zoning out, but you just take the miles away. Mile 18, heart rate 159, 6:30. All right, few notes just want to share with you guys. Here's what I'm doing. I just went up a hill, it was hard, had to push it. Two things I'm doing: one is really focusing on my arms. You can get significant amount of power out of your arms. The other thing I'm doing, focusing on breathing out hard. So I breathe in. When it gets hard, sometimes I try not to make too many animal noises, but sometimes just deliberately focusing on that breath can make a difference. What's going through my mind right now? I've been trying to hold 6 25-minute miles. I know that sometimes you start to run tense. I'm telling myself, run relaxed, just breathe in and out, focus, you're almost there, dig deep, enjoy, one foot in front of the other. That's what I'm gonna do right now. So when you feel stressed, tight, hard at the end of a long run, When you're pushing it, try to relax. Try to relax more. Drop the shoulders and enjoy. Almost there. Right in the tunnel. Last mile was about 6:20. Fastest mile of them all. Let's have a look. We got it done. That's that. It is these runs that are not pretty, but the hold back finish fast, surely one of my favorite ones, both for the body and for the mind. If you want to be coached by me to run your personal best time in any race distance, from 5Ks to half marathons and marathons, all the way to the ultra distances, check out pbprogram.com. See also the link in the description. I'd love to hear from you. How do you deal with running on cold, windy, dark days? Days that you don't feel like running? Let me know in the comments. All right, bye.
