Supercompensation and the Social Brain: How My Fastest 5K Came After Five Days in the Mountains
After writing a recent race recap, I noticed a pattern.
Five of my best seven runs in the past three years have happened at the end of a trip.
And for me, a trip isn’t a beach towel and margarita. It usually involves a small group of guys, big mountains, and punishing physical goals.
One of those runs? My fastest 5K in nearly a decade came after five days of backcountry skiing in the Mt. Baker region.
The Skiing
It was a low-snow year across the PNW, but Baker had the deepest base in North America. So we booked a cabin with a hot tub in Glacier, WA, and planned for huge days. A massive storm system was incoming, and we knew our window for getting above treeline would be short.
One big obstacle in that area, especially for out-of-towners, is that many roads to the good stuff are either seasonally closed below snowline or buried under impassable drifts, making for long, wet ascents before you can even click into skis.
Still, we were ambitious.
We set off early, hiking for hours in the rain before finally reaching snow.
The terrain around Baker is nothing short of wild, featuring steep valleys, cliff bands, dense forests. It’s easy to get lost in every sense of the word.
But the work paid off. We skied long, flowing lines, whooping through face shots, racing down pitches, high-fiving on transitions. Pure mountain joy.
And then came the brutal hike out.
At one point, I caught an edge in a no-fall zone, tumbling toward a creek—only narrowly avoiding disaster. I was gassed, but still had five miles and a heavy pack to carry back to safety.
The Pivot
After three straight days of these kinds of efforts—returning to the cabin soaked and starving after dark—we started to wonder if we were pushing our luck. On the fourth day, we hiked for an hour in the rain before deciding to call it.
Back at the cabin, the incredible vegan food and hot tub were waiting.
But after an hour or so of rest, the itch to move returned. We set off for a short run on a logging road that climbed over a ridge behind the cabin. On a clear day, you could see Mt. Baker in one direction and the ocean near Bellingham in the other.
The Shift
What I found on that run was better than magic.
While my legs were trashed my nervous system was primed. I wasn’t thinking about pace or metrics. I was just stoked to be outside, jogging in the rain with friends, laughing at my near-fall into the creek, and replaying the best turns of the week.
Somewhere along the climb, my body clicked into rhythm. We moved as a pack.
And I ran my fastest 5K in nearly a decade.
The Science Behind the Magic
This wasn’t just a fluke, it was physiology and neurobiology at play.
Supercompensation: My body was in a sweet spot of recovery from cumulative stress. Not “rested,” but ready.
Social Brain Activation: Moving in sync with others activates mirror neurons, increases dopamine and norepinephrine, and triggers oxytocin from shared connection.
Flow State: The rhythm, the story-sharing, and the laughter contributed to a highly focused, low-resistance state of performance.
Why This Matters (and What It Says About Altiva)
This is a glimpse of the Altiva Method in action:
A training philosophy that blends neurobiology, personal motivation, and the reality of your life outside of workouts.
Instead of forcing the perfect training block, I allowed for variation—and that’s where the magic happened. Weather, mood, social dynamics—all of it mattered.
That run didn’t happen because I followed a strict plan.
It happened because I paid attention—to my body, my environment, and the people around me.
Takeaway:
Your next PR might not come when you expect it.
Sometimes you don’t need a perfect training block.
You just need a few days of hard work, the right people in your corner, and the freedom to surprise yourself.
