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

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.

• 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.

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.

• 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?

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.

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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

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

In this final part of our series with James Stewart, we return to the deeper questions that sit beneath every long run, every hard session, and every season of training: how do we stay connected to what matters, and how do we keep going when things get tough?

This episode picks up where the last one left off - covering points six to ten from our list of ideas that influence long-term performance. From self-efficacy to community, identity to joy, we explore how these concepts shape how we train, how we lead, and how we show up in life.

It’s a conversation about real resilience, the value of play, and how success so often depends on what you believe about yourself when things aren’t going to plan.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, disconnected, or unsure where your motivation went, this one’s for you.

• Why confidence builds through small wins • How identity keeps you steady in hard times • Why community fuels long-term consistency • The role of fun in reframing pressure • How to balance play, purpose and progress • Advice for anyone feeling flat or lost in training

Subscribe to The Ultra Life - weekly reflections from Paul on running, life and everything in between: 👉 https://pyllon.substack.com

Watch short films, interviews and more: 👉 https://youtube.com/pyllon

Follow on Instagram: 👉 https://instagram.com/pyllon 👉 https://instagram.com/pyllonultra

Interested in coaching in 2026? Spaces are limited. Reach out early: 👉 https://pyllonultra.com

There are only 52 weeks in a year.

In this quiet, reflective solo episode, I explore what that really means.

Not in terms of productivity, discipline, or becoming a better version of yourself, but in how we live inside our weeks. How many pass unnoticed. How many blur together. How often we tell ourselves we will get to the things that matter later.

This episode is an invitation to pause at the edge of a new year and ask a gentler, more honest question:

What will you choose to remember?

A meditative reflection on time, running, attention, and the small choices that shape a life, one week at a time.

🎧 Pyllon Ultra Podcast Thoughtful conversations and reflections on running, life, and what it means to live the ultra life.

📝 Substack Long-form writing and quieter reflections. https://pyllon.substack.com

📷 Instagram Personal: https://pyllonultra.com