Home - Francesco Puppi

Un po’ di cose che ho scritto

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Relentless pursuit

Olympic Trials

World Mountain Running Championship – Patagonia

Don’t mind this

francesco.puppi

Zegama is not made for me. It’s too hard, too te

Zegama is not made for me. It’s too hard, too technical, too demanding for my current abilities. That’s why, maybe, I’m made for Zegama

@nikerunning @corosglobal @naakbars @corositalia
@zegamaaizkorri @goldentrailseries @thepilloutdoor

#zegama #runthedistance #basquefever #aizkorri #niketrail #fuelyourultra #goldentrailseries #findyourwhy #runnershelpingrunners #sharethetrail

🎥 @anacufer @the.adventure.bakery

Follia avanzare così nel 2023 @zegamaaizkorri @

Follia avanzare così nel 2023

@zegamaaizkorri
@nikerunning
@naakbars
@goldentrailseries
@rondevanvlaanderenofficial

#zegama #basquecountry #aizkorri #sanctispiritus #runthedistance #niketrail #beyondracing #madness #anysurfaceavailable #mudfest #trailworks

📸 @igor_quijano
🎤 @martingaff @badboyrunningpodcast

Fun days exploring the short trail course of @wmtr

The Basque Fever 🖤 It’s the Tour of Flanders

The Basque Fever 🖤

It’s the Tour of Flanders of trail running

We say that Zegama is Zegama, and that’s because of its people. Here’s to all the volunteers, race directors, photographers, media teams, and especially fans who walked for hours under the rain to cheer the athletes.

Eskerrik asko!

#zegama #zegamaaizkorri #goldentrailseries #niketrail #fuelyourultra #trailrunning #uphill #runthedistance #pushthepace #sharethetrail

Cover photo @the.adventure.bakery

Zegama!! We were expecting some #madness but toda

Zegama!!

We were expecting some #madness but today was totally out of scale. Crazy conditions made the course super fun and super technical. Torrential rain, hail, strong winds, cold, mud, trails that turned into creeks, we got everything and it turned out to be a pretty epic day.

I’m not the best runner out there on such terrain, but I’m honestly really proud of how I ran and how I managed to get to the finish line all in one piece, in a still decent time, with a good effort for the training I’ve had.

It’s always a learning experience - today was even more. For example, it’s crazy how you go from feeling like a Bambi on the first little downhill on the mud, to actually be quite comfortable and know where to put your feet by the end, running kind of fast.

Eskerrik asko @zegamaaizkorri - gracias!!

22th place - 4:07:07 😊

@nikerunning @naakbars @corosglobal @corositalia

#zegama #zegamaaizkorri #niketrail #runthedistance #anysurfaceavailable #breakthrough #kindlethefeeling #oncloudnine #madness #fuelyourultra #exploreperfection

Photos: @the.adventure.bakery @jsaragossa @philippreiter007 @martiskka 🥰🙏🏾

ZEGAMA MADNESS! Ready to dig deep and be the best

ZEGAMA MADNESS!

Ready to dig deep and be the best version of myself tomorrow!

42km +2500m of mud, ridges, crazy fast competition and the best fans that the trail circuit can offer.

Catch the live on @goldentrailseries YouTube and media channels - gun goes off at 9 a.m. CET 🔥

Zegama maite zaitugu!!

#basquecountry #basquefever #zegama #zegamaaizkorri #niketrail #runthedistance #mudfest #locura #folie #goldentrailseries #euskadi

Photos: @the.adventure.bakery @goldentrailseries

I’m going to Zegama not because I want to prove

I’m going to Zegama not because I want to prove myself something, or because I want to look good at the eyes of someone else who reads a ranking.

I’m going to Zegama mostly inspired by my own curiosity and a spirit of discovery. I think that here lies the difference between proving myself and expressing myself - a small but fundamental distinction that makes all the difference.

I want to see how all the work that I’ve done during the winter months translates into fitness. I want to experience where the far from perfect and maybe unconventional approach that I’ve been sometimes forced to adopt this year takes me in a mountain race. So that maybe this new training style becomes the new normality, or that I will learn that it’s ok to take my time, it’s ok to cross train, it’s ok to say that I’m tired, it’s ok to take a break, and next time I will be more aware and secure of my own means.

Change - at different scales - can often be pretty scary. It requires adaptation, stepping into the unknown, sometimes shattering our certainties. Changing what has always worked, or be willing to admit to ourselves and the others that a system or philosophy that we’ve always adopted may not be the most appropriate anymore, takes a certain amount of courage. But change can also bring opportunities, fun, new discoveries, better self awareness.

It’s with this mindset that I’m returning to where I failed last year, that I want to challenge myself and my weaknesses, that I want to discover something more about me. It’s going to be muddy, slippery, technical, intense and painful.

But isn’t it precisely why we buried ourselves into the pain cave for so long this winter? 😁🤟🏾

#zegama #runthedistance #whywerun #reframe #respond #aizkorri #trailrunning #niketrail #fuelyourultra #vert #art

Good photos: @kirsten.kortebein 🖤

Zegama 2022. After any realistic hope to run dece

Zegama 2022.

After any realistic hope to run decently had just flown out of the window, I was overtaken by @thatdakotajones (yes, precisely that one as the name suggests) and I was telling him some joke.

Does anyone have a clue of what it was? 🤯🤯😂

#zegama #raceweek #niketrail #uglyphotos #runsteepgethigh #trailrunning #mileage #runthedistance #arizona #aerobic #aratz

Photographer: unknown

Seems like a fair plan uh? Didn’t seem appropri

Seems like a fair plan uh?

Didn’t seem appropriate to wait until 2024 to announce my 2023 calendar 😴🤯

Catch me on those trails! 🏔️🌳🍭🍝🤟🏾

#calendar #madness #tentativeschedule #properathlete #trailrunning #mountainrunning #niketrail #fuelyourultra #runthedistance #dontgetinjured #trailaddicted #sharethetrail

Photos: @stephan_wieser and @jsaragossa

In case you forgot about the @nike guys… we’re

In case you forgot about the @nike guys… we’re just waiting for the most appropriate time to show up 🤟🏾

But when we’re ready, oh boy, we’ll be ready 🧨

Loading.. 🚀

#tothemoonandback #zinalbound #anysurfaceavailable #runthedistance #niketrail #highmileage #puertovallarta #stopthemadness #zegama #soldout #overtime #killingmesoftly #thecure

📸 @jsaragossa x @goldentrailseries

There are far more things that I would like to lea

There are far more things that I would like to learn than I could teach

But of one thing I’m pretty sure, running is the answer

@thepilloutdoor days - days like this

@manuel_crap @_cariboo @filippocaon @denis_piccolo @lu__po @albertoferretto @mountainhobo

#outsideisfree #arcorocks #trailrunning #niketrail #destivelle #lakevalley #looping #madness #cushion #ride #follia

Photos: @albertoferretto / @lu__po

You gotta keep up that motivation 🤙🏾 For th

You gotta keep up that motivation 🤙🏾

For the stats lovers: 42.65km +1052m 3h05:00 = 4,32kg of gelato consumed

#gelato #madness #icecream #longrun #kelvin #london #marathon #ultras #trailrunning #move #outsideisfree #churchofthelongrun #vanlife #runthedistance #sharethetrail

Spent some days with some of the best people I kno

Spent some days with some of the best people I know, mostly doing one of my favorite things, walking around in shorts and jacket 👌🏾🥰

Also, FYI: teaching italiano, listing American restaurants, talking about the Midwest, singing Eros Ramazzotti, buying Giovanacci coffee, watching crazy Italian shows that I didn’t even know they existed, talking about the pension reform in France, the current TikTok ban discussions, US elections, what’s wrong with the Italian people, the mafia, housing in the US, Boulder, road tripping, running and biking lots of miles, help moving a washing machine, working and dreaming of new things, climbing many vertical meters, watching the sunset, getting some rain, sitting on the beach, eating gelato, focaccia, pizza and all the good things that my madness country sometimes can offer

#madai #italiano #madness #finale #gelato #mammamia #chepalle #vert #running #trailtothepeople #andiamo #trailrunning #niketrail #intensitycontrol #milesformiles #allthelove

NUTRITION I’m not a nutritionist and I don’t

NUTRITION

I’m not a nutritionist and I don’t post much about food, because I’m definitely not an expert, I’m not super passionate about it and I know that it’s a triggering/sensitive topic, but I still wanted to say something related to training, fueling and performance. Simply put:

To run fast and perform, you need to fuel. A LOT.

I believe that the performance and health benefits of a high calorie diet or high glucose availability far outweigh the very marginal gains and the many side effects of a low calorie diet.

This is particularly true for endurance athletes. Science backs up the fact that, in low energy availability conditions, there may be augmented mitochondrial biogenesis. But it is also improved by endurance exercise. And in the end, races are won by the fittest athletes, who are the ones who are able to train the most at the highest (correct) intensity. Low energy availability is disastrous for performance, and leads to RED-s, increased risk of injury, lower bone density, metabolic and psychological health issues.

Also, among endurance athletes, I do not understand why a lot of people are so obsessed with proteins (protein foods, protein pills, protein this, protein that..) when the number one thing for fueling and recovery is carbs, as long as we’re meeting the protein intake that we’re supposed to get (between 1.5 and 2.0 grams per kg of proteins, correct @elecasi?). What’s wrong with carbs? Why are people afraid of them?

If you’re training hard and a high number of hours, anything, even junk food, is way better than underfueling or no food at all. I think the fact that many people see great endurance athletes so skinny and fit tends to develop a cliche that they restrict what they eat: this is generally very untrue, as many endurance athletes do eat incredible amounts of food (as they should). Not all of them, unfortunately, but many.

So, in the end: eat plenty, don’t worry about your weight, think about performance and most importantly your health!

#training #trailrunning #niketrail #irunfar #runthedistance #ultrafueling #nutrition #endurance #sportnutrition #carbs #reds #underfueling #health

Photos: @lapeppina

Trying not to overcomplicate things #basics #trai

Trying not to overcomplicate things

#basics #trailtothepeople #runthedistance #chamonix #summerstrust #alpine #trailrunning #niketrail #fuelyourultra #itsok

🎥 @sylvaincachard who also bonked really hard during this long run 😂😁😘

HOW TO LOSE We invest a lot of time and energies

HOW TO LOSE

We invest a lot of time and energies in training people how to win, often forgetting that we should probably do the same for how to lose.

First we need to better define what “losing” means. Is it not coming in first place, not leaving up to someone’s expectations, not performing to our potential? There’s a wide spectrum in what losing is generally considered, a much narrower idea of what success is. All such concepts are very much based on the result, the outcome, much less on the process.

When we judge ourselves by what place we came across the finish line, it provides little information on how to improve in the future. Judging ourselves by how much effort we gave or whether we executed our plan offers a road map for what can be worked on towards the next goal.

When we walk away from a race that didn’t go the way that we wanted and we’re left with our own thoughts and emotions resonating in our minds, are we actually equipped to handle that situation? I feel like we’re not doing very much to put people in a constructive situation to handle their defeats, other than clichés and motivational quotes: it doesn’t matter how many times you fall, but how many times you get up and all this BS. The main thing here is that we’re telling people to get up, without teaching them how to do so.

We’re also often part of an environment that is very good at surfing the wave of success, for how rarely it may come, and just as quickly disappears when things get tough.

I think it is often assumed that people/athletes will just figure out how to lose by themselves, through experience. Sport, especially at a high level, teaches people how to lose much more than how to win. Great athletes set really high standards for themselves and are basically failing most of the times.

#distancerunning #anysurfaceavailable #montblanc #marathon #failing #niketrail #athletesunfiltered #irunfar

Photos: @jsaragossa @goldentrailseries @claudiobellosta

CLOSER TO MYSELF A film Da un po’ mi era venut

CLOSER TO MYSELF

A film

Da un po’ mi era venuta l’idea di tradurre in immagini alcune parole che avevo scritto a Novembre 2022, di ritorno dalla Thailandia.

Il video racconta dei mondiali ma soprattutto di altre cose, è un anno di vita in sei minuti, colto attraverso piccoli frammenti di trascurabile felicità

Art and direction©️ | madness in collab with @glo_87

Grazie a chi c’era, c’è e ci sarà ancora

Cover photo @stephan_wieser

What’s the best race strategy that we should emp

What’s the best race strategy that we should employ in an endurance competition?

The first important thing is to align the actual and expected demands: when that happens, we are able to pace ourselves and perform up to our current capabilities. If the assessment of our capabilities is out of sync, we are either over or underestimating ourselves and we will not perform as we could.

So any realistic race strategy should start from acknowledging what what you’re capable of and what your strengths and weaknesses are: here’s what I trained and what I can do. Here is what the race demands. I’m going to execute based on those two things, instead of trying to live up to some self imposed standard or expectations from the outside.

The second thing is a sort of “self talk” that I always try to tell myself before a big race: start running as late as possible into the race. For the first half of the race, the more energy you save the better, the less thinking the better. If it’s feeling easier than what you were expecting, that’s likely to be the correct effort. Starting too fast is a wasted physical and mental effort: no one wins the race in the first half of an endurance contest. Less thinking also means less thoughts about pain, fatigue and doubts whether you can sustain the pace the whole way.

The magic happens when this perceived effort allows you to stay with the front group of a race, or in a position you’ve never been at. But that - at least for me - happens quite rarely 😁
Then of course things are going to get hard, really hard at some point. But since you already know it, delaying this moment as much as possible I believe is a very efficient way to think about race strategy.

Finally, I also want to say something regarding the way that the elites approach the competitions, which may be misjudged from the outside. Any race a lot less tactical than you think. Most of the times we’re just going out there willing to push through incredible levels of discomfort in order to achieve the result that we want. As simple as that. We’re just good - sometimes - at taking care of our physical and mental state that puts us in in the best place in order to perform.

We should celebrate recovery more. Good running d

We should celebrate recovery more.

Good running depends on great recovery. Just as putting in a lot of hard work requires energies and dedication, recovery takes effort: we need to create time and space for it.

The problem is that we’re immersed in a culture that mostly stigmatizes recovery. Working hard is badass, recovery is a sign of weakness. No one says “I skipped today’s workout and did an easy run instead” and people go “oh great!”, we usually feel proud of things like double threshold workouts or working 60h a week; those are the things that generally get public recognition and acceptance.

I think it mostly starts from ourselves and we need to be ok with admitting how tired we are sometimes, instead of pushing through and only carving a deeper hole of fatigue. It might seem trivial, but until we don’t give ourselves the ability to recover, we’re not going to recover. A lot of times we blame other things such as losing inspiration, not being focused, not being motivated and not leaving up to our expectations…but in reality we’re simply tired. And sometimes we’re scared to admit it and take action - at least I am.

If we’re working too hard for too long, we are not going to last and we’re not going to perform. So: let’s celebrate recovery more. Let’s make recovery badass and as interesting as building fatigue.

Let’s set us up for long term success and take advantage of the huge work we do by recovering with just as much passion and care. Wouldn’t it be just better for everyone?

#endurance #runninglong #trailrunning #anysurfaceavailable #recovery #badass #toughness #milesformiles #training #diary #runsteepgethigh #alpine

Photos: @stephan_wieser

Restarted running yesterday (Yes I only own basic

Restarted running yesterday

(Yes I only own basically two cycling outfits. I don’t think I need more)

#fromwhereiride #milesformiles #runthedistance #niketrail #aerobic #nonsobene #carlofino #stopthemadness #anysurfaceavailable

📸 @glo_87

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