Book Release Party & Western States Playlist

Making Plans Between the Years

It’s been two weeks since the release of “Runhundred” and one week since the Valencia Marathon. Wow. Despite a packed end-of-year schedule, life is finally easing out a bit. I really long for that. A lot.

But there is one real highlight left that makes my heart beat faster:

The “Runhundred” Book Release Party

During my time as a musician, it was common to celebrate the release of a new album with a special event called “Release Party”. In Switzerland, it’s often called “Plattentaufe” (“Record Baptism”), which is a super nice way to name it. It also hits the point of what it is about. Welcoming someone or something new to the world with open arms and equipping it with good vibes and blessings.

That’s precisely what we are doing this Saturday in a super sweet vegan café in Munich called A Little Lost. There’s going to be vegan cake, superb coffee, a book reading, Q&As and, most importantly, a get-together of lovely people.

Due to limited space, I made this an invitation-only event. There’s room for roughly 30 lucky people. If you have the feeling you should be on the list but haven’t been invited yet, drop me a line. I sent out the invitations by gut feel and not based on specific qualifying criteria.

The good news is that I will be trying to record the event and, if the sound quality is bearable, make it a Podcast-Sonderfolge of the Das Z Sprachnachricht. Let’s see how this turns out.

Making Plans

(This is how “making plans” should always look like. Unfortunately it doesn’t most of the times)

From next week on, I’ll officially enter my annual planning retreat. Each year, I spend 3-4 weeks between December and January reflecting on my past year and planning the new one. This refers to my private life, my business ventures, my running, and everything in between. I use all kinds of different methods, from open brainstorming, the Eisenhower Matrix, S.W.A.T. analyses, “Keep-Drop-Add-Improve”-lists to simple excel tables and dry calculations.

This sounds much more structured and focused than it actually is in practice. Finally, it all narrows down to one simple question, and that is:

What do I want to do with my life in 2024?

I can already reveal that writing and running will take center stage. Two super manifold passions with countless ways to put them into practice. I am glad I have found both, and every day of my life that I dedicate to one, or the other, is well spent.

Back to “Runhundred”.

Can you do me a favor?

This ask is €0 and will just take one single minute of your day. 

If you enjoyed reading “Runhundred”, would you leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads? When you rate and review the book, it helps other lovely runners find it and possibly get a copy. The search algorithm is tough, but this is the easiest way to conquer it.

• Review on Amazon

• Review on Goodreads

Just a quick rating and a couple of words can go a long way.

Thank you to all who already own a copy of “Runhundred”! You really made my debut as a book author a truly great experience.

Gift the thrill of running 100 miles

Obviously, “Runhundred” is still available to the world and all orders placed this weekend will arrive before X-Mas guaranteed, in case you want to give your loved ones with a running adventure story.

Here are 3 important things you should know:

1. “Runhundred” is also available on Amazon. This can be particularly interesting for Kindle Readers and for people who would like to give the book to someone they don’t meet in person.
   

2. The basic “Runhundred” T-Shirt bundles are still available at the Willpower Onlinestore. Get a book + a shirt for €49.90 and even less, if you have a discount code.
   

3. Speaking of discount codes: In case you have already bought the book but now also want to own one of those lovely “Runhundred” T-Shirts, here’s a special 15% discount code for you: RUNHUNDRED15. You are welcome.
   

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Everything Not Running

You asked for it, and I deliver. In chapter 19 of “Runhundred”, “Starting on Familiar Ground”, I listed all the songs that listened to, while running Western States. I’ve been asked many times to publish them as an official Spotify and Apple Music playlist, and finally found the time to compile them for your listening pleasure. Here you go:

Here’s also the list of songs in case you just want to take a look but not a listen:

• Bon Iver, "29 #Strafford APTS"

• Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, "Drought of ’85"

• Dan Reeder, "Bitch Nation"

• Newton Faulkner, "Teardrop"

• Patti Smith Group, "Because the Night"

• Snow Patrol, "Set the Fire to the Third Bar"

• Tom Rosenthal, "Go Solo"

• Agnes Obel, "Familiar"

• Leonard Cohen, "Come Healing" (This song in particular gained great traction during my Western States journey and got dedicated a whole chapter for itself)

• The Gaslight Anthem, "National Anthem"

• All the Luck in the World, "Haven"

• Birdy, "Skinny Love"

• Novo Amor, "Carry You"

• Tuvaband, "Trees"

• Bruce Springsteen, "Atlantic City"

• Thrice, "Salt and Shadow"

• Down, "Jail"

• King 810, "Bad Man"

• Trevor Sensor, "The Reaper Man"

• Bear’s Den, "Sophie"

• Mumford & Sons, "Little Lion Man (Live)"

• Alt-J, "U&ME"

• Greg Graffin, "The Fault Line"

• Tim Barry, "Prosser’s Gabriel"

• The Lumineers, "Ho Hey"

• NYVES, "Fools"

In “Runhundred” I explain this song selection as followed:

“I decided at the last minute to listen to music on the first stretch. I’d brought wireless in-ear headphones for this purpose, and used the music mainly to ground myself, connect with the race, and limit external distraction. Although I love listening to wild, heavy, or fast music, it doesn’t work for me when I’m running an ultramarathon. Sure, songs like these deliver an extra boost of energy, but the high art of running long distances is to pace yourself properly and not to explode after two hours of all-out exertion.”

It is quite common for me to create a playlist for a certain race. At least if it’s an important one. I also have a secret “1-star”-Playlist, only for racing hard. Whenever I find a song particularly powerful and moving, I rate it with 1 star on Apple Music. This rating is not related to the quality of the music, but a way to rule the track out of all my automatically generated playlists, which all update automatically update based on my actual preference rating of 3, 4 and 5 stars. Practically, this means that my “1-star songs” never pop up when I listen to music and thus stay fresh and rousing for race day, when I need their power and emotions most.

“How nerdy is that?”

“Yes.”