Feeling a little edgy?

Cramming all the food in your face at any given moment? 

How’s that bizarre twinge in your knee that you’ve never noticed in your entire life? 

Welcome to your (temporary) new normal. You’re in the throes of taper madness, and while things feel weird right now, we promise that it will pass.

Skratch Labs uses real food, starting from scratch, to create sports nutrition that you actually want to eat. Our products taste better and feel better--because they have no artificial sweeteners, isolates, colors, or preservatives that might cause GI distress--to help you perform better. So you can get out there and bust your butt, not your gut.

- Drink Mixes to replace the electrolytes lost in sweat.
- High-Carb fueling options for your biggest efforts.
- Bars and Crispy Rice Cakes for training or enjoy as a snack in between workouts.
- Energy Chews  that taste great and work fast.
- Recovery Mix to refuel, rehydrate, and rebuild to help you recover and keep going big.

Take 20% off your next order at https://www.skratchlabs.com/ when you use code ULTRASIGNUP20 at checkout and fuel better for your next big race!

💪 Peaked Performance: When are we our fastest, strongest, and most creative? Elite swimmers peak in their early 20s, powerlifters peak at 35, while marathoners typically reached their best by 40. The good news: "While we may have peaked in one endeavor, we are likely getting better in another."

📆 Best Laid Plans: When setting up your weekly run training, coach Jason Fitzgerald argues that run volume is important, but how you structure your training might matter more.
Golden Rule #1: Distribute Effort Evenly
Golden Rule #2: Prioritize What’s Important

⛰️ Seek Out the Pain Cave? Courtney Dauwalter on how she reframed the metaphoric "pain cave" from a place she avoided, to a place she seeks out.

⬆️ 401k: Retirement plan or run challenge?  ⬆️

🧵 Twitter, Re-imagined: With the rapid adoption of Threads, we posted a roundup of our favorites.

🌀 Streaking Mount Washington: After his friend, Todd Nappi, summited the northeast's biggest peak for the 200th time, Andrew Drummond felt inspired. He decided that for his summer project he'd try to summit Mount Washington 100 days in a row. Today is his 51st day, and this weekend, to keep things interesting, he'll also compete in the Vermont 100 km. Watch his video and follow along on Strava.

👣 Ultra Feet Exposed: Wanna see some Hardrock feet? How about Andrew Glaze's feet after 173 weeks of running at least 100 miles with big races sprinkled in. [Viewer Beware]

🎥 Video of the Week: Tim Olson posted this video about his day at the Siskiyou Out Back Trail Runs. The Former Western States champion threw out his back before the event but still managed to win the 50-mile distance.

➡️ Lastly, here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this week.