Emelie Forsberg has just taken a stunning victory in the Mont Blanc marathon 80km race. But it's not her epic win she's talking about – nor the fact it means she's now the 2014 Skyrunning Ultra champion. Take a look at her Facebook page and you'll see it's her love of running and her passion for the mountains that comes across. “From my heart I can truly say I enjoyed every second of it,” she writes. “Pure skyrunning. J´adore! I love!”Before the race, we asked her exactly why she loves to run. Her answer is both refreshing and inspiring: “It's hard to describe it's so good,” she says. “You get a really good feeling in your legs. You feel so light – you're just flowing over the ground. Every uphill is super easy. Maybe you reach the summit and you just want to go further. Everything is connected. You feel like really wow, I could go on forever, or wow, what a great feeling, this is so beautiful.” “You can still get a great run even when it's also a rainy day and you have to really push yourself to go out the door,” she adds. “You're always super happy you got out there.”For Emelie, running is all about pleasure. “It is never difficult or hard!” she says, although she admits that it can get tough in a race. As for what she thinks about for all those hours on the trail, she says she tries to cultivate a state of 'mindfulness'. “If I have things that I think about, I make a list but when I have done that I'm less in my mind. With mindfulness you don't think about anything. You are just there – and nothing more.” Image ©DROZ PHOTO

There are some athletes who have printed spreadsheets and detailed training schedules mapped out months in advance. Then there are athletes like Emelie Forsberg, who's more a 'back-of-an-envelope' kind of a girl. She trains on feeling and goes for races for the experience as much as the competition. Emelie's 2014 ambitions are suprisingly modest: “I just want to keep it together – that's an important goal,” she says. “To realise your limits and what you can do and not push yourself too hard – that is always going to be my biggest goal. It's a big goal, maybe not that interesting but that's who I am.” That's not to say she doesn't have some big plans for the year. But we'll let her artwork do the talking...

Maybe you fancy your chances against the world's best, or perhaps you'd just like to follow in his footsteps. Now's your chance. Here, we reveal Kilian Jornet's action-packed summer calendar. Catch him if you can... The trail running season got off to an exciting start for the Suunto ambassador – second place at Transvulcania and a new record at Zegama. But from late May he focuses on his personal project Summits of My Life LINK and will journey to Alaska to attempt Mt McKinley (Denali). A few weeks there and Kilian be back in Europe in time for the Sky Running World Championships in late June in Chamonix, France. Kilian intends to participate in the vertical kilometer (VK) and in the marathon: “I guess I'll be a bit tired after McKinley, but I hope to be in good shape to run both races, as I am very familiar with the routes,” he says. One of the most eagerly-awaited events will then take place in July. After three years trying for a place, Jornet has finally got into the 160km Hardrock 100, America's toughest ultra and one so popular that entry – even for elite athletes – is via a strict draw. “Finally! It is a race I have always dreamed of taking part in,” says Kilian. “The route and the scenery in these mountains, to my mind the most beautiful in continental America, are breathtaking.” After Hardrock come two races in July that Kilian knows well: the Dolomites Skyrace, where he'll do the VK and Sky Race (22km, 1,750 m) and the Giir di Mont (32km, 2,650 m). In August he'll do the classic Sierre Zinal (31km, 2,200 m) and Kima Trophy (50km, 3,800m) and then return to the States for the Rutt Ultra (50km, 3,048 m). His last race will be the Limone Extreme (23.5 km, 2,000 m), near Lake Garda in Italy in October. But he'd also love to do the 170km Diagonale des Fous on Reunion Island again. “It's a race to be experienced, not only for the environment but also for its magnificent route amongst volcanoes,” he says. If there's any energy left in the tank, Kilian plans to finish the year with a return to his personal project and attempt a record on Aconcagua, 6,960m, the highest mountain in the Americas. Go Kilian!

How do you film the world's fastest mountain runner? Filmmaker Sébastien Montaz says it's all about the emotion. Dejame Vivir - Let Me Live - is the eagerly awaited second film from Sébastien Montaz to follow Kilian Jornet on the athlete's personal Summits of My Life project. It follows Kilian as he sets two mind-boggling record ascents on Mt Blanc and the Matterhorn. But it's much more than a documentary of the climbs, the filmmaker tells us: “To me what's important is not the performance; that's not my thing. My background is as a mountain guide and I've always filmed people – the thing for me is to try and capture the emotions. Kilian is someone who's happy, who has an entertaining personality. We wanted the film to be like him. So I asked him to shoot whenever he did something. Kilian has passion for the image and a very good understanding on how to make a film. He writes books, has a very good touch for telling stories using his phone or camera, he's posting stuff every day. He has a good eye and knows what works. These very personal shots added something new to the film because people think they know a little bit more about Kilian. It's more intimate. We also involved the public. For the Matterhorn record I was asking via Facebook for their shots, which I included. It's the same concept – getting stories from the inside.” Kilian is not the only star of the film. There is also another mountain legend, who the team meet in Russia for a race on Mt Elbrus, Vitaly Shkel, a Russian mountain guide. “His nickname is 'the monster' in Russian,” continues Montaz. “There's a whole legend around him. He lived in this hut at 4,000m all summer just to prepare for the race. He was well prepared. Kilian was quite suprised to have someone who kept up with him! To me it was the highlight of the filming to discover this unique athlete.” It's also a highlight of the film to see the camaraderie and friendship develop between the small community of mountain runners who turn up for the race. “Russia was fun,” adds Montaz. “It's a bit of a wild region.” Déjame Vivir is available for download here. 

Finding your running legs after a long winter or a period of inactivity is always a challenge. Emelie Forsberg offers some old school advice: Just get out there and run! For the trail runner Emelie Forsberg, there is only a small window to get fit after winter. The first race on the calendar is the brutal 80km Transvulcania in mid-May, which doesn't leave a lot of time to train if, like her, you're into ski-touring and other mountain sports! But the Suunto ambassador says there is a way to quickly regain your running fitness: “I'm old school! I was recently in Chamonix and was worried I had heavy legs. I spent four days there. I ran for three hours on the first day and three hours on the second day. On the third day I felt good so I ran for six hours! My tip is just to never give up. You may not feel good the first time or even the second time but you will feel good soon. You just have to get over the hard part and then you can start to enjoy it and you'll be running fit again.” However, there are some running specific exercises she does practise. Emelie's five running specific exercises “I do five exercises that are really good for working the small muscles that are important for running. You just need to do them a few times to wake the muscles up.” 1. Plank, sideplank and reverse plank: “This is good for the core, back and hamstrings.” 2. 'Paddling' with rocks: “This is good for the abs.” 3. Side leg raises: “I do this to wake up the small muscles in the hips that connect to the IT band.” 4. 'Swim' with rocks. “This is great for the lower back and shoulders. I lie on my stomach, lift up my chest and 'swim' with a water bottle or rock in one hand.” 5. Hip flexor stretch: “This is important for running.”

In between a super busy race schedule, we managed to catch up with the recently voted National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Kilian Jornet. The Suunto ambassador shares his thoughts on adventure, reveals who his heroes are, and what Apps he never hits the trails without. Congratulations! Thanks! It's great to be an ambassador for running and mountaineering and to see these sports get recognised. And if I can inspire other people to fulfil their dreams, that's really motivating. What are you up to right now? I'm very busy. It's the middle of the ski mountaineering season and I have two world cup races coming up. I'm really doing a lot of meters now for the next month and a half. And then? I go to McKinley (Denali) in June and then Aconcagua in winter to continue my Summits of My Life project. “The summit is just an excuse; it's more about the way, and not the goal.” What is your definition of adventure? Adventure for me is about discovery. It's about going to new places, whether physical places or new sensations that you haven't experienced before. You can go to the high mountains but if you have all the information, it may not be an adventure. Equally, you can go behind your house and if you don't know what's there, then it can turn into an adventure because you're going somewhere unknown. When you want to explore, adventure comes. Do you see yourself as an adventurer? People like to give labels but I don't think like that. I feel like a person who simply loves the mountains.  You have a huge fanbase. But who are your heroes? When I was a kid, I was always looking to the big mountaineers like Walter Bonatti or Reinhold Messner but also people like Ueli Steck are a huge inspiration. Bonatti started the idea of light alpinism and Messner did the same in the Himalayas and Ueli is taking it one step further. The summit is just an excuse; it's more about the way, and not the goal. Favorite App? I use Current Incline for when I'm climbing or skiing, Total Ascent-Descent for counting the meters - I will do up to 700,000 a year - and Vertical Speed. I really like the way I can personalize my Ambit to have just the sports I want.  Next year you plan to climb Mt Everest. After that...? I don't know, I will see what I will do. It's important to have goals but also listen to the feelings of today and stay in the moment. For me, adventure and exploring is more than just achieving a list of things. Get more adventure on our Facebook page. Find out and follow Kilian's next adventures on his website www.kilianjornet.cat.