Dan Goldstein

Up Close, and Personal…

To me, sport is…

Sport is a path of self-discovery. Through connecting with my physical being, I am able to find a greater sense of clarity and ease. It is in moments of exercising my body that I feel my most authentic self. Each day that I make a decision to do something difficult, I am moving into greater alignment with my values and inching toward wholeness.

On a typical training day,

I do: 10-12 miles with some core work or yoga along with stretching and rolling.

I eat: as many different whole plant foods as possible. Lots of calories and even more antioxidants.

I wear: I always run in rabbit, my apparel sponsor.

I listen to: rap and mellow electronic music or a good nutrition science podcast.

I recover by: rolling, rolling, rolling and following a whole food, plant-based diet.

I cross-train by: generally some light body weight work. I also enjoy cycling and doing long tours on occasion.

My idea of an effective weight training session is…

it doesn’t have to be glamorous. Just doing simple body weight exercises has helped me to build my strength and running efficiency.

The moment when I discovered my athletic potential was…

when I crossed the finish line of my first 100 mile race. Just six months beforehand, I hadn’t run further than a marathon.

The three biggest lessons I have learnt so far in my athletic career are…

1. It’s all about the long-term. Progress is not measured by miles per week, but by years and lifetime miles.
2. We are all striving for high performance and ease in activity, but these things come and go. A longevity mindset entails an acceptance of this ever fluctuating nature of fitness and a simple devotion to the daily process of training.
3. In sport, things do not often go to plan. By holding on loosely to our ideas of how things ought to go, we leave space for adaptation and create the conditions for authentic joy.

Before a big race, I tell myself…

just relax and try to find some joy. If I cannot do those things, I remind myself that the event’s suffering is only temporary and will indeed come to an end.

The toughest race of my life was…

Oil Creek 100 Mile. This was only the third ultra I attempted and it took immense mental fortitude to get to the finish line.

The most memorable moment of my sporting career so far…

coming through the finish line of my first marathon, Philadelphia 2015. This moment was the first major stepping stone along my path of virtue and marked the beginning of a great shift in my personality and perspective. Although I was an athlete, I had only picked up running 13 weeks prior and while I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, I did everything in my power to set myself up for success in my training. Completing the marathon distance was more than an athletic achievement for me, but the inflection point in creating positive change in my life and becoming the person I want to be.

My training sanctuary is…

my local trails in Frick Park.

My dream starting line is…

Western States.

I nourish my soul with adventuring…

meditation, journaling and reading.

Unived helps me by…

supporting my training and racing with tasty and easy to digest vegan nutrition products.

I have chosen to associate with Unived because…

the world is going vegan and Unived is leading that transition in sport.

My favorite Unived product is…

The Elite Drink Mix because it is an easy package to sneak in calories during a workout or long run.