Eric Deeter is the mind and voice behind The Ultramarathon Mindset Podcast. Eric also blogs about topics like ultramarathons, goals, identity, and motivation. We had the opportunity to get together and chat about ultra stories for an hour, I’m sure we could have talked for much longer, as ultrarunners do, but podcast episodes are typically only an hour long.
link to our episode
Episode notes
Shannon Mick is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in Telemental Health and is an Ultramarathoner. She first got into running when she was dating her husband. She thought running was stupid and would kind of get mad at him for not spending time with her and instead going for a run. She ended up doing a 5k and finished second to last. She is a competitive person and knew she could do better than that! She has now done 50 miler and will be doing the Oil Creek 100 in October. On this week’s podcast episode she talks about what she’s done to grow as a runner, the hallucinations she’s experienced and even accomplishing two FKTs.
Eric Deeter
I hope that you enjoy this talk as much as Eric and I did. Our conversation actually didn’t end after the episode was (pre)recorded, I asked Eric some things to learn more about him. We met through LinkedIn, by the way.
Eric’s Journey into Ultramindset
Eric shared a snapshot with me of his path and challenges that he overcame throughout the years. People’s stories can be really cool and inspiring, Eric’s definitely is. He shared that he ran in his late 20s, working his way up to the marathon distance, but then became out of shape, letting himself go. He openly shared that he experienced limiting self-beliefs, which we all experience from time to time and I actually experience way more frequently than you would guess! A self-belief example is, “I should not have success,” which is one that Eric specifically shared with me. I struggle with this one, I totally relate with him.
In 2017, Eric found the drive and integrated mind and body into his life. He lost the weight that he put on when he became out of shape. A friend of his ran a 50 miler in September of that year. Ultrarunning friends are THE WORST influences, am I right?! Ha, ha, I’m partially kidding! Eric began trail running. The following year, he ran the same 50 miler that his friend did! You may be able to guess what came next. Eric decided to give the 100 mile distance a shot. He missed the cutoff time at mile 84. That sounds familiar… Anyway, just 6 weeks later, Eric attempted another 100 miler. He kept going and never gave up.
I got Eric’s permission to share something great that he posted on social media with you all. He wrote this on 09/12/21 after DNFing The Hawk 100
“DNF . . . Did Not Finish. The reason we ultra runners do hard things is to push ourselves to our limits. Some days our limits come before the finish line. If you never have a DNF, you probably are playing it safe and not taking on big enough challenges.
I played it safe for years. I chose challenges that had a wide margin of safety. And I made excuses to myself if I came up short anyway. But when I’d “win”, the victory always felt hollow. I knew in my heart I hadn’t come near my limits.
The mindset work I did to get past my limiting beliefs led me to running ultramarathons. And I found a community of people who love to text themselves by doing hard things.
You compete against the trail and the elements. And winning is never easy nor certain.
Yesterday the trail won. I could have done some things differently, but I don’t think the result would have changed, except I might have been a few miles further along when I ran out of energy. I gave my best and came up short. Now it’s time for recovery and using this experience to adjust my training to be better for next time.”
Eric Deeter
Eric is a Life Coach as well as an Ultramarathoner
Eric is a life coach, he looks at self-limiting beliefs, and continues to fine-tune that ultramarathon mindset. You can learn more about Eric and his services on his website. Listen to his other Ultramarathon Mindset Podcast episodes, as well.
Link to Eric’s Website
Please contact Eric if you’re interested in learning more about his coaching services.
Mindset and Mental Wellness Coaching 
4 thoughts on “The Ultramarathon Mindset Podcast”