In his final check-in before Delirious West, Glen Smetherham brings a powerful mix of honesty, humour, and hard-earned strategy to the mic. Despite an ongoing heel injury, Glen has been balancing short trail runs, high-volume cycling on Zwift, and mental prep to ensure he can still toe the start line with confidence.
This episode dives deep into the practical and psychological side of ultrarunning. Glen shares how he’s planning around pain, sleep strategy rituals (complete with melatonin and weighted blankets), and his multi-layered approach to gear, nutrition, and crew support. He even breaks down his sock strategy (spoiler: 10–12 pairs!) and drops an epic opening monologue defending Shannon’s alleged mobile pastry shop.
As Glen puts it, “Adventure doesn’t start until something goes wrong.” Whether you’re racing, crewing, or dreaming about future 200s, this one’s packed with gold.
Key Highlights:
• Opening roast-apology about Shannon’s “car-based bakery” 🥐
• Managing heel pain with logic only an ultra-runner could love
• Gear choices: shoes, socks, and the perfect low-stack “slipper-feel” pair
• The science of sleep extension and how Glen’s prepping to nap like a pro
• Practical aid station hacks, nutrition plans, and watch strategy
• Why this could be his most satisfying Delirious West yet, injury and all
Useful links (& notes from Glen) to some sleep studies:-
Sleep Extension before Sleep Loss: Effects on Performance and Neuromuscular Function – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27015382/
NOTES – “Here are a couple of studies that show that it would be beneficial to get at least 6 nights of sleep extension leading up to Delirious. Aiming for an extra hour sleep each night.”
Ultramarathon runners and support crew: The influence of pre-race sleep and training profiles on performance in a 217-km mountain race – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38909481/
NOTES – “Here is the one including support crew”
Manipulating sleep duration perception changes cognitive performance – An exploratory analysis – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32172039/
NOTES – “This study showed that manipulating the perception of sleep duration can impact reaction time (which can translate to improvements in a race like Delirious with the runner being more alert and perception of effort being lower). Results showed quicker reaction times when participants believed they had 8 hours of sleep after a 5-hour opportunity, and slower times when they thought they had 5 hours of sleep after an 8-hour opportunity. While this is very different than the much shorter sleep durations than we experience in Delirious, it may still be worth asking your crew to lie to you and tell you that you had a solid peaceful 30mins sleep rather than a broken 10mins, and you woke up looking like a monk who had just meditated on a mountaintop rather than the fact they look like the’ve just spent the last 10mins in a dumpster wrestling a raccoon.”
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