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Skyrunning world champion Emelie Forsberg gives her tips on how to push your running comfort zone. Keep running To become a stronger runner in any kind of terrain you need to have continuity of training. You will always improve at something when your do it regularly for a long time with no breaks. For this reason, try to enjoy your running. Even if a run is no longer than 15 to 20 minutes, it’s so much better than nothing if it makes you want to run again. Sometimes I do short runs because I know I will feel better after a few minutes, even if I’m tired when I start. I do it because I love having the continuity. Continuity of training is key, says Emelie. © Salomon Push your comfort zone If you already love running and want to become stronger, push yourself every now and then outside of your comfort zone. Maybe one or two of your training runs can include some non-comfortable pace. That small effort will make you better. Play with speed To become a better uphill runner I’ve noticed uphill fartleks have worked for me. (Fartleks, a Swedish word that means ‘speed play’, is a form of interval training.) Run with speed for a few minutes, then slow down and then run again with speed and try this on different slopes for variation. Try to be fresh when you do this training! Emelie won the Transvulcania ultra marathon on the Canary Islands. © Selu Vega-Transvulcania Power the hills To improve your uphill endurance, try to run or fast walk the whole slope or mountainside, even if it’s a long ascent. Recovery is king Recovery is important. If your recovery isn’t good enough, training gradually breaks you down. I try to rest as much as possible when my body tells me I need it. It’s better to be fresh and able to keep training than to break down or get injured and not to be able to train. Remember to have fun and enjoy your runs! © zooom.at/Markus Berger Eat well Always eat and drink well for recovery. I love natural ingredients and avoid eating too much meat. I feel best when I eat a lot of vegetables and a big dessert!

From mastering the art of recovery to learning to hike, these are the tips from champion ultra runner Ryan Sandes that will see you through an ultra. This is part one of a three part series. Click here for part two and here for part three. 1. Listen to your bodyWhen you're training for a 100 km race it’s important to have a training schedule, but you must be flexible with it. A lot of ultra runners get hell-bent on achieving their goals, causing them to lose sight of the bigger picture. You really have to listen to your body. If your body is not feeling up to it one week, then back off. If you’re feeling on top of the world, maybe you can do a bit more. Remember, the schedule is a guide only. “Recovery is more important than running.” ©Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool 2. Stay mobileBefore I run, I often do 10 to 15 minutes of basic mobility exercises to ensure everything is firing when I start running. It’s important to build basic mobility exercises into your training, even if you only have time for two or three minutes before you start running. Side bridges, basic mountain climbers, bear crawls, A-marches, lunges and ABC drills are all helpful. 3. Better to be under than over trainedTraining for an ultra marathon isn’t just about how many kilometers you run each week. I know a lot of guys who came into the sport and for two years did high mileages and won races, but then burned out. If you're new to the sport and you're doing a high mileage, you're really risking injury. For me, I'd rather go to a 100 km race 20 per cent under trained than one per cent over trained. ©Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool 4. Have an off-seasonIt’s important to have an off-season. I don't mean taking three months off and doing absolutely nothing! It’s fine to take a month off and just hang out with your friends and have a party or two. But then spend the next two months doing strength work in a gym to prepare yourself for the season ahead. This helps prevent injuries. 5. Hike that long run When you're trying to build up for an ultra distance trail race, it's important to incorporate hiking into your long runs. It helps you get extra time on your feet. You might start with an hour or two of hiking and then run for two hours afterwards, or hike for an hour, run for an hour. ©Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool6. Keep a logKeep a logbook and write briefly after each run what you did and how you felt so you can look back and see what’s worked and what hasn’t. 7. Spend time on recoveryRecovery is more important than training! It's vital to make sure you're getting enough rest and sleep. If you're working full time then you need to be really careful, as it’s all a lot of stress on the body. Get regular massages, too. Our legs are like car wheels – you might have a Porsche, but if the wheel alignment is out, it's not going to drive well.Main image: ©Kelvin Trautman / Red Bull Content Pool

Seven time world triathlon champion Conrad Stoltz, aka Caveman, has a secret: in his free time he enjoys getting his hands dirty with some old fashioned manual labor. Caveman Conrad Stoltz wouldn’t be where he is without a lot of hard work. After all that blood, sweat and tears getting to the top as a triathlete, you might guess the four-time winner of the XTERRA World Championship favors lazy days in his downtime. Nope. Not Caveman. Instead he likes getting his hands dirty with some hard graft. Caveman built his own pool to cut down travel time. © Conrad Stoltz This predilection first grew out of a problem: a few years back Conrad needed somewhere to swim when he was staying at his family’s remote farm in South Africa. Rather than travelling a long distance by vehicle to the closest spot, he rolled up his sleeves and made his own swimming pool in the backyard. Over three summers he dug out a 25 m long trench, lined it with sandbags and plastic before hooking up a pipe and filling it with water from a nearby stream. No diggers, all by hand.  “For some reason I enjoy hard manual labor and then seeing a solid result at the end,” he says. “Whereas with a lot of the other work I do, with training and triathlon, I work really hard, but at the end of it you don't really have something concrete to show for it.” Handmade. No diggers used. © Conrad Stoltz After completing his pool, Conrad moved on to a new labor of love: he built a dirt pump track for the local kids in a poor community nearby his home in Stellenbosch. A pump track is a small, looping trail with dirt mounds and is designed for bicycling without pedaling. Riders use a pumping motion to maintain their speed as they ride around and around.  Pump tracks are great for improving skills and fitness. © Conrad Stoltz Conrad and friends were given land on the edge of town for the project. With the help of a digger and about five men, they had it built in a few short hours. “Pump tracks are a fun way for kids to learn to love cycling,” Conrad says. “It’s a social gathering place and a breeding ground for budding mountain bike or BMX riders. “Kids like being challenged, learning new stuff, being active without feeling like its serious training. When kids have fun on bikes they tend to stay off the streets and out of trouble, which is the main reason I built this track. “I’m quite passionate about it and will do some coaching there too.” Fancy bikes aren't necessary to have fun on a pump track, says Caveman. © Conrad Stoltz

It is time for the fourth episode of #SuuntoAdventure Video Series. Relax and get ready to dive deep with freediver William Trubridge! William Trubridge is a world-renowned freediver who has a natural affinity with the depths. In 2010 he became the first person to break the 100m barrier completely unassisted and has broken several records after that as well. Watch the other episodes in the series: Face to Face with Emelie Forsberg – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 1 Face to Face with Greg Hill – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 2 Face to Face with Kilian Jornet – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 3 Face to Face with Conrad Stoltz – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 5

“The appeal of freediving is how different it is to any other sport. The fact we’re completely immersed in liquid; a single breath, the weightlessness, the absence of sounds, the dullness of the colors... everything is subtracted,” says freediver William Trubridge. "It’s a completely different experience to life in the air element. When I'm diving it feels like I'm being accepted into the ocean." Trubridge, 35, is a multiple record-breaking freediver who has a natural affinity with the depths of the ocean. He is the first person to dive to 100 m without assistance. The ocean and its depths are as much William Trubridge’s home as his life on land. Born in Britain, the first few years of his life were a nomadic existence sailing around the world on his parents' yacht before the family settled in New Zealand. He learnt to swim at the age of 18 months, and was freediving to 15 m by the age of eight, competing with his older brother to see who could bring back a stone from the deepest depth. But it was not until he was 22 that he discovered freediving was a sport. Since then, Trubridge has broken numerous freediving records, including in 2010 becoming the first person to break the hectometer; diving to 100 m without assistance. His immersion in the aquatic world has made protecting the ocean a lifelong passion for Trubridge. In 2015, he launched the Plastic Challenge, a global campaign to raise awareness about the problem of seaborne plastic pollution. The campaign motivated people all over the world to clean up their local beaches and waterways. Trubridge is also a vocal ambassador of a NABU International campaign to save the critically endangered Maui and Hector dolphins. For much of the year he is based in the Bahamas, where he trains at Dean's Blue Hole, It is also the location of Suunto Vertical Blue, one of the largest freediving events in the world, which Trubridge organizes.     Although considered the world's best 'no-fins' freediver, Trubridge is also a multiple record holder in 'Free Immersion', where divers descend pulling on a rope. In 2011 and 2012 he received the World's Absolute Freediving Award (WAFA), which ranked him as the world's top freediver.    RECORDS: Constant Weight No Fins (CNF): 101m Free Immersion (FIM): 121mCheck more at www.aidainternational.org/competitive/worlds-records   Watch Face to Face with Will Trubridge, #SuuntoAdventure Video Series Episode 4

High profile aero wheels used to be regarded something that were mostly used in time trials and triathlons. But in recent years aerodynamics and aero wheels have taken off in road cycling as well. Decrease in aerodynamic drag and increase in speed are a welcome addition to any cyclist. Aerodynamic drag is the main form of resistance working against a cyclist. The benefits of being more aerodynamic are most obvious for fast riders but it helps in slower paced riding too as more time will be spent in the wind. The most effective way to decrease your drag is to optimize your riding position on the bike. A reduced frontal area will increase the speed – and save you energy. On the equipment side one of the most important ways to improve aerodynamics is to use high-performance aero wheels. Wheels play a key role in aerodynamics since the front wheel is pushing through the air first. Its shape is complex. The most crucial part of the aero wheels is the height of the rim as well as its width and overall shape. The profile of the rim smoothes the air coming around the tyre and rim. Basically the higher the profile, the less drag the wheels produce. For this reason full disk wheels are the most aerodynamic – and the fastest. However, disk wheels are more difficult to use in cross winds. The rim height and profile are not the only components affecting the aerodynamics of a wheel. A wheel is an entity where every component from rims to spokes, hubs and tyres have their own role and effect on performance. The overall rim-tyre shape improves the riding characteristics of high profile wheels in windy conditions. When both together are forming a perfect airfoil shape (NACA profile), side wind resistance is reduced and stability improved. This makes 60 mm tall rims pretty easy to ride in much more conditions than one would think. A great example of this is Mavic’s integrated wheel-tyre systems. They smoothe airflow around the tyre and wheel, and improve streamlined airflow at every yaw angle.   Mavic Cosmic CXR 60’s unique CX01 technology unifies the rim and tyre together, saves time and watts in every condition and provides high stability in crosswind. Their 60 mm wind tunnel optimized rim profile with extra-light carbon rims fitted with Yksion CXR tyres enable a very dynamic ride.     Action images: © Loris Von Siebenthal / Mavic