Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Human Performance Outliers podcast with Zach Bitter.

All right, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Human Performance Outliers podcast. I'm your host,

Zach Bitter, and today I have a solo topic-based episode for you. Today's topic is going to be on aid station navigation.

I have a couple of reasons why I wanted to record this podcast.

One is because I've been getting a lot of questions about this, and I think it's a really

good question, especially as the events that you are doing starts getting a bit longer,

and you essentially have yourself in a position, especially

for longer trail races, to spend a wider range of time in aid stations. And when we look at

things like moving time versus non-moving time in a longer event, like say 100 miles on a trail,

it can be something that can be very consequential in your

finishing time or the way I like to look at it, finding that balance between being prepared

enough by not neglecting the things that the aid station can provide for you that will help

you actually move faster out on the course. But also don't put yourself in a position where you

need to be running faster

than you actually would had you been a little more efficient.

And I think that balance can be struck with just a little bit of preparation, both in training

and a little bit of planning ahead of time before you get to the event itself.

This will help you make sure you are maximizing the aid station in a way

that will allow you to move as fast as possible between aid stations, but also minimize the

amount of time you spend in there, therefore making every step you take just a little more

powerful because you can get to the edge, you can get to the finish line faster without actually going any quicker.

And in some cases, if you're really efficient, maybe going even slower.

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