Fitness
He Hit Rock Bottom After Running 100 Marathons in 100 Days. Here’s How He Bounced Back.
BROOKS BASH WAS well into a run on a remote Texas road when everything clicked. His mom biked beside him and his wife jogged behind; his legs felt strong and his mind razor sharp. The 31-year-old was about halfway through completing the equivalent of 100 marathons in 100 days in a rebellious stunt to fundraise for his start-up. After weeks of running 26.2 miles daily, he’d found a rhythm that felt euphoric.
Things were about to get even better, too. One of the fundraising videos of him running (on a treadmill in the back of a van on the drive from Los Angeles to Texas, no less) had gone viral, and donations were pouring in. He always believed in what he was doing, but now others did, too. The high of everything aligning—his physical goals and fundraising objective—made him feel ready to conquer whatever came next.
That type of flow state is potent, but fleeting. A few weeks after completing his 100th consecutive marathon in March 2024, Bash crashed hard. For months, he struggled to get out of bed, adrift with brain fog and a pernicious sadness. He was confused why reaching this monumental athletic milestone left him feeling so empty.
Now 33, Bash has recovered from his lowest period—and his journey can be a helpful example for how anyone can go about navigating the mental trials that come with chasing a major fitness challenge. Whether you’re chasing a marathon PR, endurance goal, or even a 300-plus-pound bench press, when the work is over, your mind needs proper recovery time, too.
The Challenge
Bash, founder of a supplement company Earthy, conceived of his 100-marathon challenge in an attempt to put the pieces of his personal life and career together. “If I didn’t have to work, I would run around all day anyway,” he says of the decision to eschew traditional fundraising for a public endurance challenge. “This is what I feel the most alive doing.”
The reality of the endeavor was brutal at first, and he didn’t plan exactly how he would approach each day. “The first two weeks were super gnarly,” Bash says. “Everything hurt.” He typically split up each day’s miles, running in the morning on Santa Monica’s Strand, working all day, then finishing his total after sunset. “I would come home, and my wife would be on the couch watching Christmas movies, eating soup by herself, and I’d think, ‘I need to go run 12 more miles.’”
Eventually, his body adapted, and he laid out his plans more intentionally. Runs evolved into social events. Friends would join, or he’d take meetings while jogging. He tapped into LA’s abundant network of run clubs. “Everyone knew what I was doing, and they’d ask, ‘What mile is this?’” He became known as “the marathon guy.” Growing up as a military kid who regularly relocated, Bash’s only constant was sports—but he was always the new guy, arriving mid-season and riding the bench. Now, he was able to forge his own position. “Endurance stunts have finally given me a chance to show people what I’m made of,” he says. “For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m in the driver’s seat.”
This compulsion to prove himself likely explains why Bash initially never set an endpoint for his challenge. The primary motivation was always to get investors’ attention, but part of him just wanted to show how far he could go. Around day 93, close to his $100,000 fundraising goal, he decided marathon 100 would be a clean finale. Once he allowed himself to see the endpoint, his body rebelled. “I got super tired, my Achilles flared up, I was bored, I was over it,” Bash says. He limped the final miles of his last marathon.
Dr. Neil Dallaway, who studies mental fatigue in endurance exercise, says this phenomenon aligns with current theories about how our brains process fatigue. “Physiological changes happen when you realize you’re not going to win.” Bash’s only competition was himself, and the cost of continuing had started to outweigh the incentive. “The minute the motivation drops below the cost, you’ll disengage from the task,” Dallaway says.
Despite this, Bash ran a personal-best time at the Los Angeles Marathon a week after he ended the challenge. Two weeks after that, he took on the Speed Project, a punishing 320-mile route from Santa Monica to Las Vegas, as a solo runner. Twenty miles in, his knees couldn’t hold his body weight. “I had to sit and cry for a bit,” he admits. He finished the race in 6.5 days, hobbling through the desert feeling broken.
The Fall
Weeks after the Speed Project, Bash was inexplicably irritable during a Fourth of July camping trip with his wife Lauren, usually a beloved activity on his favorite holiday. Back home, he stared blankly at his computer screen, vision blurring, unable to focus. He couldn’t find the energy for anything, painful irony for the founder of an energy company. The self-criticism was relentless. “You’re such a loser: you got everything you wanted and now you can’t get out of bed,” he’d think.
Convinced the problem was physical, Bash underwent blood tests and visited his physical therapist for his painful knees and swollen ankles. He assumed once his physical injuries healed, his mental health would improve, too. But when the pain in his legs subsided, he still felt off. Having never experienced anything like this, he couldn’t recognize what was happening. His wife’s friend offered a simple explanation: depression.
According to Dr. Steven Gonzalez, CMPC, Assistant Athletics Director for Leadership and Performance at Dartmouth College, certain personality traits, like perfectionism and emotional sensitivity, can make some athletes more vulnerable to mental health crashes after competition—particularly those outside of mainstream team athletics, like endurance sports, who don’t have a professional support network. This phenomenon is well-documented in Olympians, who often experience “post-competition blues,” even with access to world-class physical therapists, doctors, athletic trainers, certified mental performance consultants, and psychologists.
“You see that happen when people chase these large goals and all of a sudden they do it,” Gonzalez explains. “And it was something that they initially thought was unthinkable, or there were a lot of doubters.” These people commit to grueling, often all-consuming goals, and the pursuit becomes so entwined with their identity that achieving their objective can feel disorienting. After reaching the pinnacle, there’s a moment of awe, but not long after, a cavernous question takes hold: Now what?
This can happen to anyone. When you put yourself through extreme physical and mental stress, whether for a half-marathon or a 50-mile ultra, depression can creep in and make it all too easy to question who you are and what the effort was for. Without proper prep and support, things can go south fast.
The Climb Back Out
Bash was “floating in space” before he identified his depression, but once he permitted himself to acknowledge it, the healing began. He immediately started therapy. “I see it as working with a coach,” he says. Bash’s therapist helped him realize that losing his community was part of his struggle. After months of being cheered on, the bleachers were empty.
He needed to rebuild his social network. He joined a hiking club, took a few workout classes, and spent time with his wife, who regularly reminded him that it was okay to not feel okay. Dr. Gonzalez notes this approach is a good one: “It’s really important to get back to things that bring you joy. For some, it’s spending time with family and loved ones.”
Today, Bash has returned to his baseline—and is planning his next goal: a self-constructed “triathlon” he’s calling “Catalina to Whitney.” He plans to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast, cycle to Mt. Whitney, and then run to the summit. His approach has changed fundamentally. For previous challenges, Bash didn’t approach them with a plan; he just showed up and relied on his baseline fitness. This time, he’s hired a coach to build a training routine and created a “come-down plan” with his therapist that includes pre-scheduled sessions and time off work.
Bash wants to help other endurance athletes, particularly men, understand and be ready for how they might feel after reaching big physical goals. “Women are starting to do a good job talking about mental health through endurance sports,” he says. “I don’t think men are at all. We need to talk about it more. There are tools that can help you as if you were doing an ice bath or the foam roller.”
How You Can Prepare to Avoid Mental Burnout
Lots of people who take on intense athletic endeavors only train their bodies. But a comprehensive approach can help to mitigate physical injuries and the psychological toll that can follow achievement. “You’ve got to think about what the plan looks like from a mental, physical, technical, and tactical perspective,” Gonzalez says.
According to Dallaway, one approach that could be especially useful for major undertakings like Bash’s could be brain endurance training (BET), a strategy particularly useful for athletes who can’t replicate the demanding conditions of their sport in training, like ultramarathoners and triathletes. With BET, you perform cognitive tasks like the Stroop Test during or immediately before or after training to create adaptations in the parts of your brain responsible for fatigue. “It makes exercise feel harder in the short term, but easier in the long run,” says Dallaway, who’s conducted several studies using the protocol. Tools like the app Soma can help you integrate BET into your routine.
Gonzalez’s approach is even simpler. He recommends building a plan around three components to pursue major goals: patience, hard work, and recovery. “I see a lot of people who are great at working hard, but they’re impatient and really bad at recovery,” he says. “Without those things, you’ll find yourself injured and struggling.” Recovery in this case includes self-reflection. Ask yourself: What did you learn? What would you do differently? Is this how you expected to feel? Why or why not? Permit yourself to step away from the activity and trust that your body will signal when it’s ready to engage again. Be kind to yourself.
Once you’re ready to get back out to your chosen pursuit, make sure you have a clear reason why. “A super strong anchor of why you’re doing it can get you through anything,” Bash says. But also remember, there’s more than one way to succeed. “Knowing when to walk away is also a sign of mental toughness,” says Gonzalez.
Bash doesn’t regret his 100-marathon challenge. He hit his business goals while finding a way to turn his passion into a profession. He also learned the valuable lesson that coming down from the proverbial mountain can be just as challenging—if not more—than the climb up.
Carrie Dennis is a content strategist, editor, and writer. Find her work in Travel + Leisure, Esquire, Condé Nast Traveler, and more.
Fitness
Surprising exercise secrets I learned from speaking to the fittest woman in history
Most people wouldn’t mind being a little bit fitter. But the fittest? That seems unreachable. However, many argue that all-conquering CrossFit athlete Tia-Clair Toomey is, by objective measures, the fittest woman in history.
Toomey, who is an ambassador for the fitness app Pliability, has won the CrossFit Games – an annual competition to find the fittest man and woman on earth – an unrivalled six times on the trot. In 2023, she paused to have her first child, then returned in 2024 and won the competition two more times.
In the midst of her winning streak, the 32-year-old also represented Australia in weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won gold in the same event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics in the two-woman bobsled and completed a Hyrox doubles race in a lightning-fast 54 minutes 24 seconds.
In short: Toomey is incredibly fit. The average person might not be able to emulate her superior fitness levels, and most don’t want to – they simply want to be fit and healthy enough to thrive in everyday life. You can, however, benefit from her insights about how to approach exercise.
Read more: Do these three things each week to be fitter than most Brits
1. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good
“You can’t be perfect at everything all the time,” says Toomey. “Trying to juggle too many things at once is where many people come unstuck, because you’re stretching yourself too thin. So it’s important to find balance.”
The aim is not to do everything immaculately, but to identify the things that are truly valuable to you – these might be your workouts, work or supporting your family – and take pride in throwing the (cluttered) kitchen sink at them.
“Even if it’s just a simple workout, you can feel really fulfilled at the end of the day knowing you gave it your best,” Toomey says. “I think a workout is a perfect place to demonstrate this.”
Read more: Walking experts reveal the number of daily steps you need to boost health – and it’s not 10,000

2. Small changes make a big difference
Most people set themselves lofty fitness (and life) goals, then fall short of them. Just look at how many New Year’s resolutions have been discarded by the time February rolls around. Toomey suggests a more manageable approach.
“If you can get 1 per cent better every day, you can’t ask for any more than that,” she says. “It’s when you create excuses, stop challenging yourself and give up on pursuing your chosen goal that you stop progressing and plateau.”
She recommends making small tweaks to improve how you feel each day, rather than obsessing over a daunting target.
For example, you could head to bed 15 minutes earlier and keep your phone out of the bedroom, drink an extra glass of water, go for a walk after dinner or eat an extra portion of fruits and vegetables. Small changes soon accumulate to make a big difference over time.
“It takes a lot of pressure off people when they break their goals down like that,” Toomey says.
Read more: Study reveals the small changes to your diet, sleep and exercise that can add years to your life

3. Be open-minded
A lot of people use the phrase “exercise isn’t for me”. This is likely linked to a less-than-pleasant experience at some point in their past.
But exercise is a very broad umbrella, and Toomey urges people to remain open-minded when approaching it. This is something she learned firsthand.
“I enjoyed my first CrossFit session, but I didn’t really enjoy the coach, so I opted not to go back for two months,” she says. “Who knows where I would be now if I never went back because of that one interaction.”
Toomey ended up trying a different gym and finding a coach who was more passionate and encouraging. “Then I was hooked and fully committed,” she says.
For the everyday exerciser, this could mean changing the variables to make your workouts more fun. For example, if you don’t like how running feels, you could swap to a lower-impact activity like swimming or cycling. Or if you find solo strength training sessions boring, you might join an exercise class.
There is no need to suffer through a certain type of exercise just because someone told you it’s the best. Take a playful approach to your workouts and continue to experiment until you find something you enjoy. Because if your exercise plans are fun, you are far more likely to stick to them.
Read more: The easiest way to strengthen your entire body, according to this expert coach

4. Put your ego aside
If you have ever watched Toomey compete, it’s hard to imagine her struggling with anything exercise-related. But, she says, when she first started CrossFit training she found it difficult to hold a barbell overhead in a stable position.
This was exposed in a CrossFit workout named “Nancy” – five rounds of a 400-metre run and 15 overhead squats (squatting while holding a 30kg barbell overhead).
“I was a runner prior to CrossFit, so I would race ahead during the 400m runs, but then the overhead squats were very challenging for me,” Toomey says.
To learn the correct technique, she started by scaling back the overhead squats, using an empty barbell rather than one loaded up with weight. Then, as she improved, she gradually increased the load on the bar.
“It’s all about building confidence,” Toomey says. “Everyone wants to go from zero to 100, but you need to put your ego aside, take your time and put the work in to actually learn a movement. That is how people evolve.”
If Toomey is willing to scale back exercises to learn them properly, the rest of us should be too. That might mean starting with goblet squats rather than barbell squats, wall press-ups rather than full press-ups, or walking rather than running.
There are exercise options to suit all fitness levels – you just have to find the appropriate ones for you and gradually progress them over time.
Read more: Sitting all day wreaks havoc on your hips and spine – here’s how to stop that from happening

5. Variety is the spice of life
What is the one exercise Toomey wishes more people would do? She struggles to pick just one before prescribing variety.
“I just love seeing people active,” she says. “But constantly doing one thing will have a lot of impact on the body. I think it’s really important to have a variety of exercises. That way you’re constantly working different muscles, building broad fitness and stimulating the mind in different ways.”
This is good advice for any exerciser. The body works on a rough use-it-or-lose-it basis, so if you don’t use a joint or muscle to its full potential, it can weaken and tighten over time. Greasing the groove on a wide range of movement patterns is the best way to prevent this and stay mobile for decades to come.
Read more: After 50 you need to train smarter – the eight rules for strength training in midlife, according to experts

6. Commit to a plan
A one-off workout cannot transform your fitness, but a progressive exercise plan can. This is why Toomey recommends finding a structured programme to follow over a longer time period than just a single session.
“That is going to help you stay motivated, particularly if it’s linked to some sort of sports or fitness goal like your first 10K, triathlon or pull-up,” she says.
“It gives you something to aim for. Otherwise people think, ‘Oh, I’m just going to keep doing this forever,’ and it can feel quite overwhelming. Following a programme helps you build healthy habits that you integrate into your daily routine and actually stick to.”
Read more: I specialise in coaching people aged 40-plus – do these six things for immediate results

7. Look after yourself
Muscle isn’t built in the gym. What you do during your workouts triggers myriad positive physiological changes, but the actual adaptations happen while you are recovering.
For this reason, Toomey places a great emphasis on sleep and nutrition, prioritising quality fuel and recovery between her training sessions.
As part of this, she regularly uses a sauna, breathwork and completes a stretching and mobility protocol via the Pliability stretching app shortly after waking each day.
“I tend to wake up feeling a bit stiff and sore from the previous day,” she says. “But I want to walk into the gym feeling strong and confident. That stretching session acts as a form of meditation as well, helping with both mobility and mental clarity.”
Read more: Swap the gym for this trainer’s six-move kettlebell workout to build full-body strength at home
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Fitness
How busy women can realistically hit 10 hours of exercise a week – and unlock the biggest health benefits
A huge new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine – which analysed the activity levels of more than 17,000 participants – suggests that to achieve a substantial (defined as greater than 30%) reduction in heart attack and stroke risk, adults should aim for 560–610 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week. That’s considerably more than the current 150-minute minimum guidelines for health benefits, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that only 12% of people in the study achieved it.
It’s not to say there wasn’t any reduction in risk for lower totals – just not what scientists class as ‘substantial’. And it’s also important to note that the study was observational, meaning it cannot prove any kind of direct link; just association. It could be the case, for instance, that participants were already healthier and fitter than the general population. Plus, neither sedentary time nor less vigorous exercise were measured.
When WH put the findings to personal trainers, they were very keen to stress that something is always better than nothing – and they also had some useful tips for giving it your best shot at getting those golden 10 hours in.
4 tips for adding more movement into your week
Olivia Horncastle is a personal trainer helping busy women and mums fit exercise into their schedules.
Habit stack
‘I get my busiest clients to habit stack movement – so every time they fill up a kettle, they might do some squats, when they brush their teeth, they might do a wall sit,’ says Horncastle. ‘Other small things like trying to take calls while walking, or stretching in front of the TV at night work well. It doesn’t need to always be adding a full workout – all small additions help.’
5-minute workouts matter
‘Even starting with a 5-minute bodyweight circuit and building that up over time starts a habit – something is always better than nothing.’
Set yourself daily or weekly challenges
That might be trying to do 50 squats throughout the day, increasing your steps by parking further away at the shops, or taking the stairs instead of the lift, says Horncastle.
Tie exercise into your social plans
‘Instead of drinks with friends, I might suggest we go for a walk and grab a drink at the end, or try a new Pilates class instead of brunch etc.’
What type of exercise should you prioritise?
Michael Baah is a strength coach and oncology exercise specialist working with busy professionals, athletes and people recovering from cancer. ‘All that protection for your heart works best if you maintain your muscle mass, too,’ he cautions. ‘If you walk a lot but never do any strength work, you actually lose muscle faster, and after age 30, women naturally lose about 1% of their muscle every year unless they use it.’
Baah recommends doing three 45-minute strength sessions a week, using simple, compound moves (think: squats and deadlifts) that work your whole body. ‘You should finish each exercise feeling like you could maybe do just one or two more reps – this is the safe and effective method we use in clinics.’
‘The rest of your target comes from walking,’ adds Baah. ‘Just 40-50 minutes of brisk walking every day gets you there easily. Add a swim, yoga or dance class once a week if you like, and you’re all set.’
But don’t forget to adequately fuel, notes Baah. ‘Once you’re moving regularly, food matters, too. You need enough protein every day to help your body get stronger – aim for 1.4-1.8g for every kg of bodyweight. Without this, you do the work but miss out on the best results.’
If you’re more deterred than motivated by the recent study results, Horncastle wants to leave you with a few words. ‘Start small and slow, whether that’s one workout a week and building up, or starting with a few small walks – that’s how you achieve long-term, consistent change.’
‘And don’t compare yourself – who cares if Susan does hot yoga five times a week? She isn’t living your life. You need to find what works for and benefits you, but is realistic, too.’
One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.
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Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.
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