I just s*** myself, can you not.

Strava Playing Grinch, T100 crowns champs, America’s Best Trail Running Towns, The Goats recap, and more…

👋 Good morning and happy Friday! Welcome to the Front Pack newsletter, your source for all things endurance. Click here for the full version.

OK. Subtle deep breaths because I’m having a what did you get yourself into moment. A few weeks back I threw my hat into the 2025 Unbound Gravel XL ring. The XL is 350 miles and starts Friday afternoon before the main event.

Why? Because it is 350 friggin’ miles and you get 36 hours to complete it.

So you basically have Friday from 3pm until Sunday at 3am to finish. It sounds insane but something I really wanted to do – feel unrelentless pain and absolutely test my mental and physical limits.

So today, Unbound started sending confirmations and yup, I am officially in for the XL.

It is real now and I am nervous, LOLZ, but you know what. With enough time, training, and equipment testing, this is going to be incredible. Let’s just hope the rain gods play nice.

Hope something incredible happened to cheer up your week and made you feel alive. Make it a great weekend!!

Stay moving…✌🏼 – Scott

Headlines

Top news, races and results you may or may not have been paying attention to…

Strava Becoming a Walled Garden: This week the company made some HUGE changes that impact everyone, especially everyday athletes and coaches. What was a very much open API that allowed tens of thousands of apps to work with Strava, they’ve announced it is changing the way apps are allowed to process data. 3 key takeaways from the update include – #1: Apps can’t show your data beyond yourself. #2: Apps can’t use any “AI” whatsoever in their processing of your data
#3: Apps can’t do any analytics or data processing of your data.

It’s big news and not something you should sleep on. The always awesome DC Rainmaker breaks the whole thing down. Read more…

Knibb Crowned Race and Season Champion as Tum Tum Pop Up: In Dubai, it was Taylor Knibb (USA) who became the first female T100 champion after a dominating season. In addition to winning the race and the grand prize, Knibb was very concerned with how the camera was going to capture her finish, telling the man behind the lens, “I just s*** myself… can you not get my ass” live on TV. She stormed to victory in Dubai after previous wins in San Francisco, Ibiza and Las Vegas. A second-place finish would have been enough to take the title. Read more…

Van Riel Real Nice: On the men’s side, it was Belgian superstar, Marten Van Riel winning the first men’s T100 with an incredible back half of racing. He won t100 Ibiza, Dubai, San Francisco, and claimed second in Las Vegas. Read more…

…But Not Loyal: Know we just addressed Marten Van Riel winning the T100 season series, but alas, new week. The champ is off and headed to rival IRONMANs event in Cozumel this weekend. He is looking to earn himself a slot for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice next year and while this will be his first full IRONMAN race, it is hard to believe anyone would count him out. Read more…

Recapping The GOATS 2024: A must read, The Goats is an unsupported off-road bikepacking race in Portugal. The 725-kilometer circular route with a staggering 17,000 meters of elevation gain weaves through six distinct mountain regions, each offering its own landscapes and diversity. Starting near the Alto da Torre, the highest point in Portugal at 1,993 meters, the event is as much a journey through Portugal’s wild heart as a test of endurance. Only half of the riders would make it to the finish. If you read nothing else from this newsletter, do yourself a favor and read the reflections of the women’s 2nd place solo finisher. Read more…

Meanwhile

Other happenings in the world of endurance.

How to Say Goodbye to the Rider You Used to Be: One day you’re young and in the best shape of your life, then the next you’re not. What an excellent piece because I’ll admit, I’m currently in this stage of my life. I’m a 42 year old man trying to convince myself that I’m in my early 30s, physically. So while the author is a former high-level amateur, the message remains the same, at some point we all need to come to terms with our own limits. Even celebrate what we’ve accomplished but move on to the next. Read more…

America’s Best Trail Running Towns: Whether you’re looking for a weekend getaway or a dreamy place to relocate, these towns and small cities all serve up their own versions of trail-running nirvana. Cities included are Huntsville (AL), Flagstaff (AZ), Boulder (CO), Missoula (MT), Portland (OR), Roanoke (VA), Truckee (CA). Read more…

Dauwalter x Suunto Race S Titanium: Their partnership began in 2017 but it comes to life — literally — in a new collaboration between Courtney Dauwalter and her sponsor Suunto, the Suunto Race S Titanium Courtney, which is available today for $450. Read more…

Endurance Running 🤝 Strength Training: Check out the following Six Steps for Successful Strength Training guide that can hyperdrive your offseason. Read more…

An in-depth look at ‘the Norwegian Method’ of endurance training: A new book offers a detailed analysis of the history and methodology of the fashionable system that has caught the imagination of the distance running world. Read more…

Hike turns into 280 million-year-old discovery: Claudia Steffensen was walking behind her husband in the Valtellina Orobie Mountains Park of the Italian Alps and discovered a fragment of a 280 million-year-old ecosystem, complete with footprints, plant fossils and even the imprints of raindrops, researchers have confirmed. Read more…

Beauty in New Hampshire: For anyone in the New England area, head to White Mountain Forest and more specifically the Mount Willard Trail. When all is said and done, you’ll get the most stunning overlooks in New England. Read more…