Why Stopping Was My Best Decision: 1,000km Across France with Jens Wachter

Endurance athlete and Athletica user Jens joins Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen to share the story behind Project Trans France, his ambitious attempt to run roughly 1,000 kilometers across France in just 17 days while pulling a self-supported trailer. Jens explains how years of ultrarunning and orienteering shaped his approach, how he incorporated high-volume training into an ordinary workweek, and how Athletica helped him adapt his workload based on heart rate, HRV, sleep, and recovery. Once the project began, an intense European heat wave and a worsening groin injury forced constant adjustments. Ultimately, Jens made the difficult decision to stop—not because his motivation disappeared, but because his body was sending unmistakable warning signs. The conversation is a powerful reminder that successful endurance training is as much about adaptability, self-awareness, and decision-making as it is about fitness.

Key Episode TakeawaysHuge goals become manageable when broken into smaller units. Jens turned 1,000 kilometers over 17 days into a target of roughly 60 km per day, then split each day into two 30 km sessions.Training has to fit real life. Rather than building his life entirely around training, Jens used his commute to incorporate running, cycling, elevation, and back-to-back sessions.Progress eventually becomes durability. For an ultra-endurance challenge, simply getting faster wasn't the objective; Jens needed to develop the ability to repeat a sustainable workload day after day.Adaptability matters more than rigid adherence. Illness, injury, work commitments, and changing conditions required continual modification of the plan.Recovery data can provide useful context. Jens used heart rate, HRV, sleep, training load, and Athletica's coaching feedback to help identify when to push and when to back off.Don't try new gear immediately before a major event. Jens believes using fresh, insufficiently tested equipment during a long training run contributed to his groin issue—a classic reminder of the "nothing new on race day" rule.Environmental conditions can completely change the challenge. The heat wave in France elevated Jens' heart rate and dramatically reduced the pace and volume he could safely sustain.Know your personal warning signs. Jens recognized agitation, excessive heart rate, exhaustion, swelling, and increasing pain as indicators that something was wrong.Stopping can be an endurance skill. After consulting medical support and reassessing his injury, Jens chose not to continue simply for the sake of completing the challenge.Remember why you started. His closing advice is simple: "Be kind to yourself and keep it simple." When things become difficult, reconnecting with the reason behind the goal can help guide the next decision.

Try Athletica | Adaptive Endurance Training Plans Powered by Sports ScienceDr. Paul LaursenPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching