Tara Dower on the Cost of Pushing Your Limits

Tara Dower has accomplished some incredible things in ultrarunning, but her journey hasn't been without challenges. From battling anxiety on the Appalachian Trail to taking on Western States and Hardrock just 13 days apart, Tara has learned a lot about resilience, mental health, and knowing her limits.

In this episode of For The Long Run, Tara joins Jon to discuss building mental toughness, the physical and emotional toll of racing, and how injury forced her to rethink her relationship with running.

They also dive into the realities of professional ultrarunning, her podcast DNF Diaries, and why she's rediscovering the joy of running without pressure.

Stay connected:

Tara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tara.dower/

Tara on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@taratreks

Tara's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dnf-diaries/id1796896599

Support our Sponsors:

CEP compression socks and sleeves are built to support runners through the full race experience, from long travel days to race-day miles and post-race recovery. Shop CEP at ceprunning.com and make compression part of your next race plan.

TrainingPeaks helps runners turn their training data into actionable insights, track fitness and recovery, and seamlessly sync workouts to their watches. Get started for free here!

FlyKitt helps take the jet lag out of travel with a personalized plan built around your specific flight, so you can arrive ready to run, work, or explore. Use code FTLR at flykitt.com.