No matter the level we’re starting from, education is something that benefits us all. Take 45 minutes two or three times a week for listening, watching or reading something on improving your ultra-running.

To get a better understanding of the workings of the athlete’s mind, I went back to college and studied sport psychology. For me it was fascinating. I saw this as an opportunity to get one step closer to psychologically stepping up to an event like a 100-mile ultra. It was inspiring to listen to guest lecturers, former athletes, talk about how they coped in times of stress. What I learned was that anyone can become mentally strong. It just takes awareness and practice.

Not everyone has the desire or opportunity to go to college but if you spend 45 minutes two or three times a week listening to, watching or reading material related to your goal, you will be propelled in that direction. Focus is powerful. If you are focused on cultivating good habits, your energy will make things happen. To control your time, you will have to prioritise your tasks and delegate them, defer them or do them. To read that book or watch that documentary you will have to dump the distractions.

When training for a race I live it. I focus on the journey. On long runs I listen to audiobooks; more often than not, it’s someone with more experience than me talking about how they prepared for, coped with and raced such an event. During rest evenings I sneak documentaries on the same subject if I’m alone. I’m constantly reading about nutritional ideas and recipes. I’m always looking for something that I didn’t know. I usually find it. It’s never-ending but never dull.

Michael Greger MD’s How Not to Die lists the 15 most common causes of death in the US then tells you how to avoid them by what you eat. It would take me a lifetime to research and decipher so much information yet here I have it all in one book. I enjoyed reading it so much that I bought the audiobook too so I could listen to Michael Gregor read it to me himself.

T. Colin Campbell and his son Thomas M. Campbell, now a physician, shared findings with the world in The China Study, hailed as one of the most important books about diet and health ever written.

Adharanand Finn spent six months in Kenya and wrote, Running with the Kenyans. From reading this I got months of experience and knowledge that I never had to leave my sofa for.

Christopher McDougall spent months in Mexico hanging out with the mysterious Tarahumara Mexican Indians researching Born to Run, observing their lifestyle to find out what makes them reputedly the best ultra-runners in the world.

In July 2015, ultramarathon legend Scott Jurek smashed the world record for running the sprawling 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail that extends nearly the entire length of the United States. His book North shares that journey.

James Clear explains how we are a result of our habits. Reading Atomic Habits made me aware of my bad habits and gave me the tools I needed to alter them.

In the 12 years that I have been running, I’ve read hundreds of books on running, diet, psychology and feats of human endeavour. I’m so grateful for the effort behind each and every book, the people who spend months and even years finding out the hows and the whys and the wherefores and then share their experience freely with passion and expertise. After every non-fiction book I read I come away a little bit wiser. The more knowledge you can absorb, the better and more inspired and ready you will be.

*Disclosure: The links to the recommended books in this post are affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase any of the products using these links, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. These are all books I thoroughly enjoyed and all opinions expressed here are my own.