Ultra-runner William Goodge's daily routine: he's up at 6am, loves a steak and swears by Whoop

William Goodge ran from Perth to Sydney in a record 35 days in May, the equivalent of 2.5 marathons each day. This is how he eats, trains and recovers.

6am is a good time to wake up. It’s early enough to get ahead of the day, but not too early that I’m waiting for things to open and people to wake up, so I can start pestering them.

I leave my phone alone for the first hour and mix a Cadence electrolyte sachet in water to replenish the electrolytes I’ve lost during the night. Then I have my morning supplements. At the minute I take Heart and Soil “Whole Package”, which is full of things like testicles, liver, blood, bovine extracts, white blood cells — types of food I don’t want to eat.

I’m a big believer in the natural way rather than anything pharmaceutical. So mushroom products are a big one. I use a brand called Headstrong, and my go-to is cordyceps. As an endurance athlete, cordyceps have been shown to improve VO2 max. I also like taking tremella, which they call the beauty mushroom because it enhances your skin hydration, that kind of thing. Lion’s mane is good for the brain.

I also like to read an extract from Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, before going out to get a coffee. A moment of peace before chaos ensues.

Every day I also a packed smoothie. Frozen fruit and vegetables as well as superfood powders; spirulina, chlorella, a protein powder, sometimes creatine. Then eggs for breakfast — and I don’t shy away from bacon.

I have a skincare doctor called Ellie Hartley. She runs Hart Medical in Mayfair and gives me a whole bunch of things to use. But every day I’ll wash my face, use a toner and put on my SPF which I get from SkinCeuticals.

I do a stretch routine. That opens me up and makes me feel a lot better about the day in general and any exercise that’s gonna come.

As for training, I do up to nine sessions a week. After stretching I’ll go for a run. The most standardised session is an easy hour. Nothing too intense. Then I will do a strength session later in the day for an hour or two.

I’ll always take Sunday off. I like to have one night a week where I can have a drink and enjoy myself, not take it all too seriously. Otherwise you’re getting close to over-training.

I do an ice plunge and infrared sauna a few times a week. They’re great for sweating out toxins and improving recovery, boosting circulation, that kind of thing. I use Normatec compression boots by Hyperice a lot too.

As for health tech, I’ve been using Whoop for five years. I really like the wearable band, it kind of tells you everything about everything. The best feature for me is the journal tool — you get a good viewpoint on things that are either harming or helping you.

I listen to Rich Roll’s podcast. I feel Rich, the ultra-athlete, wellness evangelist and author, is a really great interviewer.

Whole foods are the best and always will be. My energy is so much better when I eat real food, but I will be a sucker for something like a pain au chocolat in Paris.

For lunch, it might be a superfood bowl, heavy on vegetables but there’ll always be protein. I’m a big steak guy and I love cooking. So that, alongside Japanese-style sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, beets, is for dinner.

Then I watch Netflix to wind down. I don’t do that thing of not looking at a screen an hour before bed cause once I’ve finished the movie, I’ll be going to bed.

I take Cadence’s sleep sachet and Headstrong’s reishi mushrooms an hour before bed. Then I listen to binaural beats overnight using this app called NuCalm. My brain’s pretty active at night — the beats are really good at drifting me off into sleep.

Take big risks and do them authentically. That’s my philosophy.