The Thickness - tales of grit, growth and glory
Sep 29, 2026 · 37 min · 9 segments
The advice every runner needs when motivation disappears: slow down, stop chasing numbers, and remember why you started. In this honest solo episode, Niall shares how he nearly fell out of love with…
There's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
That is that sometimes you can work really hard towards something that you actually forget why you started doing it in the first place, you know.
um and i think that's probably where i found myself lately with um running and especially after after the ultra you know i'd spent months building towards the blue stack ultra months and months training running jiu-jitsu long runs fueling gear worrying second guessing and doing all the things that you're supposed to do and then eventually Then eventually it was over.
Just like that.
And I deliberately at that stage took two weeks off after the ultra.
And I wanted to let the body recover.
It needed time.
I needed time.
And after the two weeks the plan was straightforward enough.
Get back running.
Simple.
Keep building the momentum.
When I started running again, I just, I just fucking hated it.
And I won't lie, I was not enjoying it.
I don't know why, but running felt like a chore.
It felt like something I had to do.
I was going out because I felt like I should be going out running rather than You know, it being something that I wanted to go and do.
And the more I wanted to enjoy it, the more I wasn't putting off runs.
I'd see other people around the locality running.
I'd see people doing their training.
Right for the wrong runs and that.
And I'd be thinking just, Why haven't I enjoying it anymore? Why is this? What's wrong with me? Why have I all of a sudden just not enjoying it? And I actually put up a few stories about it.
And a couple of people come back to me.
There's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
That is that sometimes you can work really hard towards something that you actually forget why you started doing it in the first place, you know.
um and i think that's probably where i found myself lately with um running and especially after after the ultra you know i'd spent months building towards the blue stack ultra months and months training running jiu-jitsu long runs fueling gear worrying second guessing and doing all the things that you're supposed to do and then eventually Then eventually it was over.
Just like that.
And I deliberately at that stage took two weeks off after the ultra.
And I wanted to let the body recover.
It needed time.
I needed time.
And after the two weeks the plan was straightforward enough.
Get back running.
Simple.
Keep building the momentum.
When I started running again, I just, I just fucking hated it.
And I won't lie, I was not enjoying it.
I don't know why, but running felt like a chore.
It felt like something I had to do.
I was going out because I felt like I should be going out running rather than You know, it being something that I wanted to go and do.
And the more I wanted to enjoy it, the more I wasn't putting off runs.
I'd see other people around the locality running.
I'd see people doing their training.
Right for the wrong runs and that.
And I'd be thinking just, Why haven't I enjoying it anymore? Why is this? What's wrong with me? Why have I all of a sudden just not enjoying it? And I actually put up a few stories about it.
And a couple of people come back to me.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
