Anton Krupicka finished one race in 2013. A week ago, he won his second race in as many weeks. Sure New Mexico’s Jemez 50 and Colorado’s Golden Gate Dirty Thirty lacked deep international fields, but Krupicka is 100 percent healthy and he’s excited to be back on a race course. That’s a big change from years’ past.

In June 2011, Krupicka broke his leg after slipping on ice, on a sidewalk. That wasn’t the cause of his latest injury, but it didn’t help. “For two years, that was an issue,” he says of the complications that followed. “I wasn’t confident in actual running and it’s a chain reaction. You get injured and keep getting injured.”

Finally, at the urging of New Balance teammate Jenny Simpson, he sought out Richard Hansen, a sports chiropractor in Boulder, Colorado. Following active release therapy and Graston technique sessions, Krupicka was quickly back running and has been for five consecutive weeks now.

“Injuries are weird. I’d been doing strength exercises all winter long,” he says. “It could be coincidental and that my muscles were finally strong enough to do what they’re supposed to do.”

Either way, he’s hitting the road for three weeks in “The Roost,” the undersized white pick-up that he’s lived out of for several summers in a row.

Any running injury causes physical pain, but being on the sidelines so much wears on the mind too, particularly for someone as prominent as Krupicka. He is one of ultrarunning’s first global stars, and he’s not a boring blog or Instagram feed. He’s honest and open. He answers questions and is willing to talk about every criticism he’s received.

“Of course I get depressed and fearful. This winter was about as bad as it's ever been. I guess because I'm 30 now and I just feel like I miss so many races and opportunities,” Krupicka says. “This winter there were several times where I felt completely unworthy as a sponsored athlete and wondered how and if I was ever going to get healthy.”

Krupicka’s been through these trials before though and understands the peaks and valleys of such intense training. He explains away any self-doubt, quickly adding to his previous thought, “An oft-overlooked part of being a successful athlete is the almost irrational self-belief that one must have.”

The Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) is a 103-mile route that crosses three countries while looping the race’s namesake peak. It’s traditionally among the most competitive 100-mile races in the world, and as a group, American men have historically performed poorly there. At last year’s race, Krupicka started especially conservative. He gradually moved through the field and joined the leaders at the front of the race. After such a long layoff, it seemed like a fairytale.

“I’ve never felt more easy so late in a 100-mile race. At 75 miles, I was still in second, but just couldn’t push because of my hamstring and Achilles. I simply came into the race mechanically unsound and after 17 hours, my Achilles and hamstring finally said enough,” Krupicka says.

He didn’t finish the race. He returned stateside and endured his “In the High Country” film tour, visiting some 20 cities, mostly while being injured and unable to join in group runs. What could have been a great trip, a celebration of running and adventure, instead included some sour moments because of the injury.

“It’s horrible. It sucks. It’s my least favorite thing. I’m supposed to be this celebrity athlete coming to a running store and I can’t even run for a few miles. I dread those trips (when injured), but it’s my job,” he says.

Such frequent injuries can result in criticism and he’s well aware of the remarks that flood online message boards, often about his lack of race results. “I get their point. I feel the same way sometimes.” But of course, such criticisms are limited to the internet. On the film tour and otherwise, he says, “It’s all love face to face.”

He had a similar experience earlier this year at the Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji. Krupicka committed to the race early on, but became injured. He traveled to Japan but was unable to start the rugged, 105-mile loop. Being so close to a race and unable to run has to be especially trying, and Krupicka acknowledges as much.

“It was pretty rough. I didn’t want to go on that trip at all. But, how do you turn down an all-expenses paid trip to Japan?” Krupicka says. “It turned out fine. I met some great people, experienced a new culture, and got psyched to do the race next year.”

He regained his form shortly after that trip and Krupicka is now “running more than I have in years.” He embraced climbing and speed hiking when his injuries limited pure running over the past two years, and while not abandoning that, he pledges to combine such movement with running in a more even mix. “That’s what races in Europe are like anyway,” mostly referring to UTMB.

He plans to race UTMB the same way this year. He hasn’t fully embraced a taper, laughing at himself for it, but will drop the three-day UTMB course tour that he did preceding last year’s race. “I ran it with Joe (Grant). He was out there. Timmy (Olson) was there. Julien Chorier and Sebastian Chaigneau were doing the same thing. Everybody was there and I thought, ‘this is what you’re supposed to do.’”

Running 8, 5, and 6 hours over rugged terrain on consecutive days two weeks before the goal race compromised him though and he laughs off the thought of repeating that course reconnaissance trip again. “This is stupid. It’s too much. I’m more sure of myself now and don’t have to cram in such long runs to see the course,” Krupicka says.

Before UTMB, Krupicka will race the Lavaredo 119K on June 27 in Italy, part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour. He’ll see a very competitive field there, and again at UTMB on August 29.

“I truly know and believe in my core that I can run with the best in the world. Kilian (Jornet) is always a few minutes out of reach unless he messes up, but other than him, everyone is beatable. I’ve had that self-belief since 2006 and it is the main difference in the runner I am now versus the runner I was trying to be in high school and college.”

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io