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Running in Purple
A Law Student’s Journey Beyond the Finish Line.
By ZealZag TeamThe Bec des Rosses and the Thirty-Year Competition That Changed Freeride Skiing
In 1996, a small group of skiers dropped off the Bec des Rosses — a 55-degree face above Verbier — in what became the first edition of the Verbier Xtreme. Three decades later, that same face is the closing venue of a global competitive series. The route from sidecountry dare to world championship is not a straight line.
By ZealZag TeamYour First Multi-Day MTB Stage Race: What the Training Actually Looks Like
Stage racing on a mountain bike is a different discipline from a single hard event. The training is different, the equipment choices are different, and the in-race decisions that determine whether you finish comfortably or blow up on day three are different. Here is the framework that experienced stage racers actually use.
By ZealZag TeamRoad Running Shoes: What the Categories Actually Mean and How to Choose Between Them
The road running shoe market has fractured into distinct categories over the last decade, driven largely by carbon plate technology. Understanding what each category is built to do — and what it is not — prevents expensive mistakes and, more importantly, prevents buying race-day performance at the expense of training health.
By ZealZag TeamFrom Pool to Ocean: Developing the Skills That Open Water Swimming Actually Demands
Pool swimming builds fitness. Open water swimming demands something different — navigational awareness, physical composure in crowds, and adaptations to temperature, chop, and current that no lane session can prepare you for. The gap between the two environments is closeable with deliberate practice, but it requires specific work.
By ZealZag TeamTarifa: The Strait Wind Capital That Makes and Breaks Kitesurfers
At the southernmost tip of continental Europe, where the Atlantic forces itself through the Strait of Gibraltar to meet the Mediterranean, Tarifa has been the default kitesurf destination for European athletes since the sport found commercial footing in the late 1990s. The wind is the reason. The town, the culture, and the logistics are worth understanding before you commit to your first trip.
By ZealZag TeamGear Up and Ship Out: The Logistics of Getting Your Kit to an International Adventure Race
Adventure racing asks you to navigate across terrain you have never seen, by foot, bike, and paddle, for anything from 24 hours to ten days. Getting your equipment from your home to the race start in another country involves a logistics challenge that experienced teams treat as seriously as the physical preparation. Here is what that actually involves.
By ZealZag TeamTaking It Outside: How to Prepare for Your First Outdoor Sport Climbing Trip
The transition from plastic to rock catches most gym climbers off guard. Routes that feel within your grade indoors become struggles outside — not because outdoor grades are sandbagged, but because outdoor climbing demands a different skill set. A structured preparation closes that gap faster than hoping fitness will carry you through.
By ZealZag TeamGirona for Cyclists: Why the Roads Around a Medieval Catalan City Became Europe's Benchmark Training Base
Girona, 100 kilometres northeast of Barcelona and 40 kilometres from the Costa Brava coast, has become the unofficial capital of professional European road cycling. The roads explain why — varied enough to build fitness across every energy system, accessible enough to ride without a car, and concentrated enough to keep coming back to the same climbs with the same benchmarks.
By ZealZag TeamHeat Acclimatization Before a Summer Ultra: Why You Can't Just Hope for Cool Weather
The biggest summer ultras — Western States, Hardrock, Leadville, UTMB — send athletes through environments where heat is a primary physiological stressor, not a background variable. Arriving without deliberate heat preparation is a choice that shows up in the canyons, not on paper.
By ZealZag TeamCowes Week and the Solent: What Racing at Britain's Biggest Sailing Event Actually Demands
Cowes Week draws around 1,000 boats and 8,000 sailors to the Isle of Wight every August. The racing is on the Solent — a tidal channel whose competing water flows from both ends create one of the most tactically complex race environments in northern European sailing.
By ZealZag TeamNazaré: How a Portuguese Fishing Town Became the Capital of Big-Wave Surfing
Nazaré existed before 2011 as a beach town with a funicular and a seafood economy. Then Garrett McNamara rode a wave measured at 78 feet, a photograph went viral, and a submarine canyon became the most consequential piece of seabed in big-wave surfing.
By ZealZag TeamPlanning Your First Sport Climbing Trip Abroad: What to Pack, Where to Go, and How to Not Destroy Your Fingers by Day Three
A sport climbing trip to a European crag involves more logistical decisions than most other forms of destination athletics, and fewer of those decisions are obvious until you have already made the wrong one. The gear is heavy, crag access is rarely straightforward, and managing climbing load across seven to twelve days requires deliberate planning.
By ZealZag TeamPreparing for Your First Multi-Day MTB Stage Race: What Back-to-Back Days Actually Demand
Stage racing on a mountain bike exposes gaps in fitness that a single hard day never will. Cumulative fatigue changes what you can do on day four, and pacing instincts built for one-day efforts misfire when the finish line resets every morning for a week.
By ZealZag TeamLanzarote for Triathletes: IRONMAN's Wind-Scoured Benchmark and What Training on the Island Actually Demands
IRONMAN Lanzarote has been held every May since 1992, making it one of the oldest full-distance IRONMAN events in Europe. It is not famous for its climbs — though there are real climbs — but for the northeast trade winds that blow across 180 kilometres of volcanic road with no shelter and no apology.
By ZealZag TeamHow to Crew Your First Offshore Race: Finding a Berth, What to Bring, and What to Expect
Offshore racing is one of the most logistically opaque sports to enter from outside. Boats do not advertise vacancies the way races take entries. Here is how to find a berth on a competitive offshore boat, what qualifications you need, what to pack, and what the first 24 hours at sea actually looks like.
By ZealZag TeamNo Snow Required: How Cross-Country Skiers Train Through Summer and Autumn
Elite cross-country skiers often log 800 hours of training a year — most of it without snow. The dryland toolkit they use is transferable: roller skiing, uphill bounding, and double-pole intervals on roads build specific fitness that transfers directly once conditions return.
By ZealZag TeamSwimming the Bosphorus: Istanbul's Cross-Continental Race and What You Need to Know
Once a year, Istanbul shuts the Bosphorus to shipping and opens it to swimmers. The race covers roughly 6.5 kilometres from the Asian shore to the European side, with a current strong enough to matter. It is the only mass-participation open water event that crosses between two continents.
By ZealZag TeamHow Portugal Became Big-Wave Surfing's Most Important Address
In 2011, an American surfer and a Portuguese canyon nobody had surfed changed everything. A decade later, Nazaré hosts the world's most-watched big-wave contest and Portugal claims the heaviest beach break on the CT calendar. Here is the story of how it happened.
By ZealZag TeamTaking It Outside: How to Make the Gym-to-Outdoor Climbing Transition Properly
Climbing outdoors feels nothing like the gym even when the grades on paper are the same. The athletes who struggle most aren't weak — they just haven't prepared for the specific differences. Here is what changes, what gear you need, and how to set up your first outdoor season.
By ZealZag TeamRunning Madeira: Levadas, Ridge Lines, and the Race That Crosses the Island
Madeira packs a 1,862-metre volcanic summit, 200 kilometres of levada irrigation channels, and a serious international ultra into a 57-kilometre-long island an hour from Lisbon. For trail runners wanting genuine mountain terrain with subtropical logistics, it is one of the most efficient destinations in the Atlantic.
By ZealZag TeamFlying with Kite Gear: Airlines, Customs, Insurance, and When to Just Rent
Kitesurfing equipment is difficult to travel with — kite bags exceed most airlines' size limits, insurance requires a separate specialist policy, and customs varies widely by destination. Here is what to expect and how to plan around it.
By ZealZag TeamRacing Across Time Zones: How to Manage Jet Lag Before a Destination Marathon
Flying east or west to race a marathon introduces a physiological variable that most athletes handle too late or too casually. Here is what jet lag actually does to running performance, and how to structure your travel and pre-race days to reduce the damage.
By ZealZag TeamNew Zealand for Adventure Racing: GODZone, the Southern Alps, and the Best Training Ground in the Southern Hemisphere
New Zealand has produced more competitive adventure racing teams than any country of comparable size. The South Island terrain, the GODZone expedition race, and the Queenstown–Wanaka corridor make it the default destination for athletes building toward international competition.
By ZealZag Team