David Ayala is a Professor of Mathematics at Montana State University and an amateur ultrarunner who most recently finished 3rd at the 2026 Hardrock 100.

Until recently he'd never owned a watch. He has no social media. What he does have is a faculty webpage full of trip reports, written in LaTeX, for unsupported FKTs on the Wind River High Route, Sierra High Route, and Teton Center Punch, documented with a remarkable level of transparency.

In this Sunday Conversation, we talk about training for flow state, why he calls competition "oblique collaboration," the huckleberry analogy, and whether he'll ever race again.

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David Ayala on Hardrock, Flow State, and the Art of Dismissing Fear (Sunday Conversation)

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David Ayala on Hardrock, Flow State, and the Art of Dismissing Fear (Sunday Conversation)