How focused are you when you're running?
For me if I've got an hour and I've had a hectic day, running is a really great way to clear my head and to work through issues because you're kind of on your own and you can think clearly. There's not a lot of stimulus coming at you. There's not a lot of noise. When I run I really do some of my best thinking.

Are you on a permanent runner's high?
That's a good way to look at it. I almost feel that way. It's a combination of indulging in what I love, but it's also my diet. I noticed that when I cut all refined sugars and largely cut processed foods out of my diet. I try to eat organically. I don't eat any artificial ingredients or colors or sweeteners. I think that diet plays a big, big role in my mood.

So at home on a normal day, you don't eat blizzards for dessert?
No, I don't. It just makes me feel so bad. I don't even crave it. I really don't take in any refined sugar at all. It was hard, I've got to admit. It took about a good month for me to wean myself from sugar. And you crave it. But once you get over the hump, if you can push through it, you feel so much better. Your energy level is so much more consistent, that you don't miss it. When I have a craving now, it's usually for something savory. Like a piece of grilled salmon. It's really not for sweet anymore.

When did you make that switch?
About a year after I started running I really started tuning into my diet. In the last decade, I've been on a really good diet. You don't get the highs and lows, you just feel like you're constantly at a pretty high level of energy.

Does that help you get by on four hours of sleep?
My average night sleep is about four hours. I absolutely believe that diet is huge in that, and learning to sleep that little was also about a month's process. It was really, really tough. I used to set my alarm and force myself to wake up, and I'd be groggy. But what I've found is that now, those four hours of sleep are a really good, solid four hours, where I used to have seven or eight before, and a lot of that was restless stirring around. Now when I sleep for four hours, it's very restorative sleep.

Are these things that you'd recommend for recreational runners who want to perform better?
A recreational person, a weekend warrior, could benefit from it. I think that just with the way I shifted my diet to a 40-30-30 program (40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein, 30 percent fat) and everything from whole grain, carbohydrates, and good fats (olive oil), that shift alone helped me reduce my overall body fat and feel better.

ON WHETHER OR NOT TO HAVE A PERSONAL COACH

What's your taking on having a personal coach?
My motto is to listen to everyone, follow no one. We each respond to things differently. There's no one cookie-cutter mold that's going to work for everyone. I think the best thing we can do is be open-minded, try things, talk to as many people as you can to see what can work for you. I hadn't trained with a coach prior to working with Chris Carmichael (at the beginning of 2006), and it's really been an enjoyable experience. I think I was doing pretty good before Chris, but he's helped me in a lot of ways to bring in fresh eyes, a different perspective. Not everything he's tried has worked, but some of the things are different ideas I never would have thought of before, and in that regard I think a coach is very beneficial.

ON COMPETITION

In your book, you talk about being competitive not with other people, but with yourself. Is that really how you live?
It's very much how I feel. You can't compare yourself to other people. You'll always come up short. I think you're always gonna be your own toughest critic. There's no fooling yourself. What I've learned is that shortcuts just don't pay off in running or in life. If it comes easy, it's not worth having. One thing that ultra distance running seems to do is…if you take short cuts you pay the price. Not only do you pay the price in performance, but when you're out at mile 80 and you're ready to give up, in the back of your mind, you're thinking, "man I compromised on my training. I should have done those extra ten miles. And I know I didn't." Or you're saying in the back of your mind, "man I paid my dues, I laid out my training, I didn't compromise, I ran those extra ten miles, I can do this." So not taking shortcuts has been both a performance and psychological advantage.

What about ego? Where does that fit in? Do you need a pretty healthy ego to power through 100-200 miles?
I would say that ego gets in your way. It's exemplified in looking at some of the women in the sport who are amazing and routinely beat men. Head to head, women can win outright. I think what you find with men a lot of times is that they go out so hard, especially young runners who are strong. They will hammer through the first 50 or 60 miles of a 100-mile race, and then at mile 70 or 80, they're in a stretcher, and then a woman will come along at a steady pace with no ego concern and pass right by. Ego is really a hindrance.

But you obviously need to have the self-confidence, or conviction, that you can do it.
I think that's a belief more than anything else. A belief in yourself that you can do it. I believe that's a learned trait. And that's what I think the symbolism of ultra endurance running is, that you prove to yourself you can do things you never thought you could. If someone had said to me, before I started doing this, you're going to go out and run 100 miles through the mountains, I would have said, "No, a human being can't do that, let alone me." And then when you actually achieve that, it teaches you that you're better than you think you are and you can go further than you think you can.

What about mental tactics to get to the finish line in a particularly challenging race?
There's a technique I use that I just call "baby steps," for lack of a better term. The first time I ran 200 miles, there was a point at mile 165 where I could not get off the curb. I'd run for about 40 hours straight, and I sat down for the first time and I couldn't get up, and I thought, "there' s no way I'm going to make this 200 miles. I can't even stand up, let alone run another 35 miles." But what I did, I just shifted my paradigm. I told myself, "Don't think about 35 miles in front of you. It's too daunting. Just focus on standing up." So I struggled and struggled and I finally just stood up and I celebrated the accomplishment. I kind of pumped my fist. And then I said, "ok you stood up, now get to the stop sign down the road. Don't even think about the 35 miles, just make it to the stop sign and be satisfied." So I got to the stop sign, so I said, "ok just get to the lamppost 100 feet up the road, don't think about what's left in front of you." And I did that over and over again and at the end of ten hours, I'd run 35 miles. So I just take baby steps. Break larger daunting tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces.