Durango Holistic Athletics, & Running Team, Durango, CO (2026)

02/02/2024

Obligatory podium shot 🤷
Via who I owe an encounter with a big horn sheep in exchange for covering this one🙏
1st in the half marathon/Beast, 5th in the 10K/Super, 1st in the 5K/Sprint. Bailed on the Hercules Hoist after the first one since the penalty was slight, I’m also slight, and it’s not a relevant skill for the rest of my year as planned. But outside that, nothing was beyond me on the day. Turns out I already don’t suck. Slow and gentle to stay safe, but didn’t fail anything.
I’ve spent the last 8 weeks building the base. Just like easy runs and strides prepare us for harder running to peak later on, while preventing injuries, I believe the right approach is to avoid hard obstacles in the base phase of ultra OCR training. I’ve been cat crawling, doing pull-ups, and piling easy miles -all compromised by killing myself in the sauna every morning beforehand.
And I held my own racing off that training. That’s like running a 5K PR before you even touch the track for the season. From here, it’s no more sled work, no more passive saunas until I can’t stand before runs, no more long cat crawls, and way fewer pull-ups. I’m place of all that, it’s obstacle play, more frequent and longer RedMill sessions -which also means more frequent BFR with since I’m addicted to the realness of that first mile at 80% LOP… it’s not only obstacle proficiency and grip strength (the weakest part of my game) I’m after the next 3 weeks, but amplifying my most freakish attributes, ensuring I’m prepared to handle my own self imposed style of racing: when the muse wants to dance, I’ll be ready to follow or lead.

12/29/2023

I’ve been finding something new in “the process” lately. It began with a diffuse, inarticulate version of a mantra, some amalgam of ideas, like a line from Bone Games written instead by David Deida, but not fully memorized, just acted out.
I stopped asking for anything to get easy. I already do an acceptable job not pursuing difficulty, which seems to be many athletes’ preferred approach, and seems equally toxic. ‘Don’t wish The Muse was a slut,’ might be a marketable way to get something down.. Desiring for this physical work to cost me exactly what it costs me ironically (ironically?) makes it all feel free, light, blissful…
Something from the Bhagavad Gita comes to mind as well:
“You have the right to work, but for the work’s sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either. Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga. Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.”
At some point I’ll have to learn to accept wisdom without the ascetic requirement of all this effort. Maybe?

12/03/2023

I feel like what gets lost in the athlete/influencer/social media game is precisely what I hold most dear: these are the things I actually use, in the real world, not just in some studio with curated lighting, that enable me to survive and thrive during these crazy adventures.
I just talked to hundreds of people about .atx at this past week. But can they understand I’m actually in the fox hole with the product line? I hope so.
This shot was taken three days and almost 100 miles into a project I’ve had in mind for a while, with a few things coming together just right to allow it to happen (more to come and a good cause to support). Being able to get pain free reps on my body after so many injuries is huge, and a double dose of the Relax blend (CBN based instead of THC) for bed time has made my rest better than ever.
It’s not a coincidence that I had my biggest training week ever last block -and that it wasn’t a struggle. I’m learning more all the time. And I get to share what I find with you 🙏
Thanks for being here to see it all unfold.

09/17/2023

Appropriate shot for what feels like a blur… ran 1:05:low at the half in Big Cottonwood, aiming to cram turnover and abuse into my system with 13.1 (plus a wrong turn) miles at 4:59 average, officially.
I’d say it worked, since I’m Still a bit compromised in my hip flexors and adductors a full week later!
I’ve been at 100 miles a week for a while, having fun with it while letting my body come around. I’d say simply running daily and enjoying Durango puts me around 90-100 miles a week, so it’s no stress at all here. I’m also doing 8+ saunas a week, lifting twice for pure strength (to avoid any extra muscle mass), and taking time to read and write to integrate more of my self than ever.
I’ll go above 100 a few times this block -as I can fit it around a few honest race efforts- with this week around 115. Though it feels worth 160 in my mind and body! By coming in wrecked from the half, I believe I’m making severe gains in running economy.
But beyond soft tissue, I was so sore it was nauseating for the 3-4 days post race, so the mental perks of staying on the gas pedal through that is encouraging immediately..
Suddenly I’m a week out and running costs me less effort, despite faster paces, by the day. I even snuck in 4 miles at 5:13 ish/Olympic Trials pace yesterday, and had well over 10k feet of gain over the rest of the week. This is a good secret.
Like anything that makes you bullet proof, obviously there’s an injury risk, but I’ve been this body for long enough to know it should only bring benefit to my legs and lungs.
Announcement for those who took the time: I’m committed to the Chicago Lakefront Ultras 50 miler, with every intention of starting around world record pace. It’s less that I think it’s a smart move, and more than my conservative pace would only be a little slower -so by the time it hurts, no matter the pace, why not have a huge goal to keep me squeezing and vibing?!
I also finally perfected my formula for pre race hydration, the formula that got my heart rate lower than any other supp I tried with a standardized workout 🤫 post later this week.. and don’t worry, it stacks with .inc Esse👌

Address

Durango, CO

Opening Hours

10am - 12pm

Website

http://www.ganthonykunkel.com/

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