Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Targeting the Ticket - Episode 1!
340 Plays11 days ago
Welcome to Targeting the Ticket, our new series covering the Golden Trail National Series in 2025. Join us to follow the journey of Nathan Pearce, Bridget Lunn and Toby Lang through the 2025 series, with the goal of getting their hands on the golden ticket to the Golden Trail World Series Final later in the year!
On the first episode regular host Brodie introduces and gets to know the 3 runners we will be following this season. We talk about the demands of the first race, the Donna Double at the Warburton Trail Fest, and discuss what training has looked liked for each athlete over the past few months ahead of the exciting season to come!
Thanks for joining us on Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod and share your thoughts, questions, or your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Brodie: @brodie_nank
Nathan: @nathanpearce_
Bridget: @bridget_lunn
Toby: @lang.toby
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/moire/new-life
License code: VJ9EPZM2AQUSWRXL
Recommended
Transcript
Golden Trail National Series 2025 Update
00:00:29
Speaker
Just a quick note in this episode, when this recording was made, the rules for the 2025 Golden Trail National Series hadn't been updated, and therefore the 2024 rules in regards to the under-23 prize were discussed.
00:00:44
Speaker
Those rules now have been updated. You can find them on the Golden Trail National Series website. ah But essentially, there is no longer a golden ticket for the first place under 23.
00:00:57
Speaker
And instead, there's a $500 cash prize for first place in that category. um But you can find out more details headed over to the Golden Trail National Series website.
Introducing "Targeting the Ticket" Series
00:01:06
Speaker
um i Hope you enjoy the rest of the episode.
00:01:10
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the first episode of our new special series, Targeting the Ticket. ah My name is Brodie. I'm one of our regular hosts here on Peak Pursuits podcast, and I'm bringing you the first episode, joined by some very special guests who we'll get to in the moment called Targeting the Ticket.
00:01:30
Speaker
this series is going to follow the Golden Trail National Series in 2025 and follow some of the runners who are doing the whole series. So we're very excited to chat more with the runners, get their i'd get their thoughts and feelings on preparing for the series as well as their experiences within the series and hopefully we'll get one, two, if not all of them getting the ticket to head across to the global final later in the year. So hopefully we picked our guess right this year.
00:02:01
Speaker
um So without further ado, I'll get in and introduce our guess.
Nathan Pierce's Transition to Trail Running
00:02:07
Speaker
So first off the rank, we have Nathan Pierce. Nathan is what would you say, Nathan, a ah runner by background rather than a trail runner by get background?
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah, track track road runner, I would say. Track Roadrunner who's come across to the trails in the last few years, um had some really good results in 2024, maybe not his best year last year. That's what he said.
00:02:34
Speaker
um But he's back this year. um I'll give a little bit of a rundown of some of his results in the past. so Nath won roller coaster in 2024 and got the course record that year. He came second this year in the same race, only second to Seth O'Donnell, who had a blasting race. So another solid run there.
00:02:55
Speaker
Otherwise, also in 2023, he was first at Buffalo Stampede 20, second, oh, sorry, maybe second at Buffalo Stampede 20. What's that one, Nate?
00:03:06
Speaker
ah First. Sorry, i got it wrong there. ah Second at KMR 25K, second at BTU 30K. So some some stellar
Nathan's Current Preparations and Challenges
00:03:17
Speaker
results in 2024. 23. 23, sorry. And shaping up ah for a big with some big goals.
00:03:29
Speaker
um thanks nathe for joining us Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure. that um How's it feeling this at this point in the season, um shaping up for 2025? How are you feeling? thanks twenty five of Well, the end of 2024 was um going pretty good. And then New Year's Day, I um went for a jog and had a bit of a sore calf pull up. So I've just sort of had about four weeks just trying to get rehab that and get
Nathan's Goals for Mountain Running Champs
00:03:54
Speaker
that right. But um two weeks back of doing sessions now and feeling like i didn't lose too much fitness so hopefully um with a few sort of long runs in the next couple of weeks i can get um yeah ready for march and hopefully put some good results down fantastic yeah it's good to see you back running and and um hopefully that's a just a little speed bump and you're you're on your way um i understand you're not running donna double which is the first race uh of the golden trail national series we'll get to that in a moment
00:04:26
Speaker
um and opening your season at the mountain running champs over in South Australia. Is that right? Yeah, in Cleland, just under Mount Lofty there. So yeah, I think it's a 14k mountain classic sort of race. So that's sort of one of the goals for the year is to hopefully make another Australian team for the world mountain and trail champs in the the mountain discipline. So yeah, just sort of heading over to to run the nationals for the first time and see how we go and think there's some pretty healthy competition um rocking up
Bridget Lunn's Reflection on Golden Trail Races
00:04:59
Speaker
as well. So it should be ah red hot race.
00:05:01
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing that race play out and and see who who turns up because I've heard some heard some rumors. So that's going to be really exciting. i'm I'm sure we'll get to cover that a little bit more in the next couple of episodes.
00:05:13
Speaker
um Thanks again for joining us. Our second guest um also... ah ah probably shot out of onto the scene last year in 2024, Bridget Lunn. So Bridget ah lives in Canberra. Is that right, Bridget?
00:05:30
Speaker
And Bridget did the full gold, sorry, three of the Golden Trail races last year. ah She was eighth at Donner Double, seventh at Coastal, and then third at the final in Brisbane, which we know was a really stacked race. So um definitely seems to have learned some things along the way and ended up with fourth overall. How did you find last year, Bridget?
Improving Race Performance through Proper Accommodations
00:05:51
Speaker
ah Yeah, there's definitely a lot of learning curves. I um definitely improved my running a lot um throughout the year. um i guess one of the first things I learned from the first two races is not to camp in a swag the night before and start the race with your legs really sore.
00:06:07
Speaker
um Because Brisbane was the first race I had a bed and it went so much better. um So yeah, I've
Bridget's Training Progress and Running Background
00:06:13
Speaker
definitely learned a lot. I haven't raced since Brisbane, but I've been training a lot and it's been going pretty well. I've had a few ah sort slower weeks, just kind of managing niggles. But yeah, I think I'll be in a pretty good place for Warburton.
00:06:27
Speaker
Fantastic. um Be exciting to see. Now, I think you're also a medical student. Is that right? So juggling studies and and training at the same time? Yeah, it's um it's a lot.
00:06:39
Speaker
Also work in there as well. busy, busy schedule. It'll be um interesting to see how you balance all of that. Now, Bridget, I don't know you that well. What's your background to running? Is trails your first endeavors into running or have you done other running in the past?
00:06:55
Speaker
um No, well, I haven't even been running three years yet. I started in sort of mid twenty twenty two just as a, oh, I wonder what happens if I just keep running and don't stop and see how good I can get.
00:07:09
Speaker
um And, yeah, the first year I started running, I did a marathon and then – um yeah sort of got introduced to trails last year I suppose and I guess I've been hooked. Fantastic, exciting. So I'm relatively new to running I would say three years so good to it'll be good to hear the comparisons maybe between your experiences and and someone like Nathan even Toby who has spent a lot longer running so yeah welcome and thank you for coming along and being a part of the series.
00:07:37
Speaker
Thanks for having me here.
Toby Lang's Golden Trail Success and Future Plans
00:07:39
Speaker
No worries. And ah third, we have maybe our most distinguished guest from the 2024 season, ah Toby Lang, who had ah a lot of success in the Golden Trail series but being the winner of the under 23.
00:07:55
Speaker
um And that meant that he also headed over to the Global Final. So he has some experience um doing ah both the domestic season and and competing at the Global Final. And then on the way home, went to the Asia-Pacific Champs in Korea and was third in the under, was it under 23, Toby, for the Asia-Pacific Champs as well? Yeah, yeah. Fantastic.
00:08:20
Speaker
And probably, don't know, this one's for me, but Toby's best result maybe in the domestic season was sixth place at KMR in the 25K in pretty packed
Trail Running Culture and Global Competitions
00:08:31
Speaker
field. So I think that was a really impressive result and maybe my pick of the races. What about you, Toby? Which one was your best race last year, do you think?
00:08:41
Speaker
um Yeah, definitely good on you. Like, that was just the rest of the I feel like we're a bit... Like not bad, but just I didn't feel the best, but that definitely something went well on Kunoni and I just got to try and repeat that. I think for the rest of the races, whatever I did there.
00:08:56
Speaker
Fantastic. And how was the global final? I'm sure we might touch on a little bit more. What were your experiences like there? um It's just so different, like how they treat trail running, especially since a lot of the people there are sort of like that's their job.
00:09:13
Speaker
And I feel like having trail running as your, you know, as your profession, as your job that you do for money, I feel like it really does change it a lot. So there are a lot of people like that who are there. And yeah, it's just incredible to see the like amount of talent there and just so much depth in the field.
00:09:29
Speaker
um Yeah, and the trail the trails as well were just crazy. Nothing like what we have in Australia. Like, i think there's this one crazy descent that was just down this really steep ski slope.
00:09:39
Speaker
And it was really rainy, so it just completely turned to mud. So it just everyone was just slipping and sliding down that, and one was staying on their feet. But it was, yeah, it was a lot of fun. Yeah, it looked pretty intense from all the footage that was coming out. It was a cool event to follow. And I think like some of those trails, um correct me if I'm wrong, were sort of like not custom built, but the course was sort of custom built. It was some maybe not existing trails like where you were sort of heading down the the ski run. Is that right? Like it wasn't all some of it was on a cross country. They sort of made a route.
00:10:13
Speaker
There's a lot of like forest trails, like walking trails, um some like some roads as well. But yeah, they're definitely like those ski slopes, which are just, like I guess they must have started out as grass, but then once you get a few hundred people running on them, they just turn to just mud.
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Golden Trail Series Structure and Goals
00:10:32
Speaker
And so you're still under 23 this year, so you've got your eyes on the under 23 golden ticket again for 2025? Yeah, I sure do. Fantastic.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah, nice. Any other goals for this season or is that sort of the main focus and you'll just see what comes with it? um So i'm going to treat I'm going to try and treat the first two races, so Donna and Kunanyu, as also a selection for world champs.
00:10:58
Speaker
But I think I'm going to more focus on the Golden Trail series and just sort of see what happens with that. Yeah. And at World Champs, would you have your, are you looking at the mountain distances the same as Nath or the trail distances?
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah, definitely the mountain distances. I think probably try and focus on the vertical, but I mean, I'd be happy with either one, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, cool. Nice. Oh, well, thanks for joining us and um looking forward to getting to know all of you, all three of you, or letting the the podcast listeners get to know all three of you over the coming episodes. um The plan is to do a pre and post for each race of the season. So that will be eight episodes. So we'll see if we we hang in that long.
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah. But yes, thanks so much for all three of you joining us. And yeah, without further ado, we'll get stuck into the first ah preview. So the first race um or maybe a good place to start is ah the Golden Trail series in its entirety and what it is and what it means.
00:12:00
Speaker
um So for the Golden Trail National Series, ah most ah some of our listeners may have heard of the Golden Trail World Series or seen videos of people running and crazy trails like Toby described in in Europe.
00:12:15
Speaker
um So that's sort of the main international series where all the the best pros in the world race against each other. um But Golden Trail also has ah some sort of like domestic competitions in various countries across the world, um including Australia, um where the best of Australia race against each other to get a ticket to the global final, which sort of happens in, I think it's in October or late September this year.
00:12:41
Speaker
So so There's four races, ah three races and then a final. um And in order to yeah get max points or to sort of count for the overall, you need to attend two of the qualification races and and the final.
00:12:59
Speaker
um And then the person who accumulates the most points by the end of the series ah in the first male and the first female and the first under-23 male and first under-23 female Those be the ones that get air their travel paid to go across to Europe to to be confirmed at the moment. We'll announce it when we know um in that time and go to the and go all expenses paid sort of to the to the global final. So there's a bit on the line, um which is really exciting.
00:13:30
Speaker
um And it meant in 2024, there was some really good racing across sort of the four races. So I'm excited to see what we see this year. The first race is ah the Donner Double at Warby Trail Fest in, I think it's just over two weeks from now, so not far
Insights on Donna Double Course Challenges
00:13:51
Speaker
off. And Toby, I believe you did a course recce there.
00:13:55
Speaker
Tell us a little bit about the course. um So sort of starts off a bit flat for about two kilometres going along the river, and then it just sort of goes up really steep, just goes up and up and up um pretty consistently just for about six kilometres or so I think it is.
00:14:11
Speaker
You get about a thousand metres climb and it sort of flattens off at the top for about maybe another six kilometres or so. um you Then you turn around, come back and just fly down the exact same way you came along this like really narrow, not too narrow, but like Pretty tricky track and it's really steep. It's flight all the way down and then back along the river to the finish line.
00:14:30
Speaker
think about 20 kilometers total with 1200 meters climb. Yeah, it's pretty, pretty tough. And there's some really steep bits, particularly that first bit of the climb before it sort of flattens out. Really steep up and down. So it's pretty tough.
00:14:43
Speaker
um You ran last year, Toby, how did you find it? um It was pretty tough. Like I just, I felt all right on the climb. um Then going up to the top, and then turning around, coming down, i think it's really the downhill that got me.
00:14:56
Speaker
Like, I've never really experienced it, but just the way my legs felt on the descent, especially near the bottom, um like, I managed to survive getting down to the flat bit, but then going along that last little flat bit along the creek, um it was just, but like, could barely run.
00:15:13
Speaker
Like, even though it supposed to be the flattest, the easiest part of the race, I just couldn't run. It was just a really hot day, and I think... I just got dehydrated and taken off electrolytes and i just felt like I was cramping a lot, but I managed to hop on my way into the finish line.
00:15:26
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. It's really tough finish. It's like the heavy legs or sort of like numb legs on that last really flat bit. And you're trying to race to the finish line. It's pretty tough. um Bridget, you were also there last year. How did you find it? Was it your first trail race or are you done some trail races before? I think I'd done some like community trail races before and definitely nothing as renowned or as steep as that was kind of a brutal um introduction to more serious trail running um yeah the climb yeah' you're climbing for a really long time when you think about it but um yeah similar to what toby was saying it's the downhill that really kills you because you're
00:16:07
Speaker
running downhill and you're trying to like you're trying to break the whole time um and it just keeps on going and your quads eventually start to give out um i did stack it uh coming down last year um but luckily i was able to get back up and despite my quads protesting um overtook a few people and yeah got got to the end eventually was thankful to be off that hill um But no, it's ah it's it's cool.
00:16:34
Speaker
Once you finish, you'll be like, that was cool. I'm glad I did it. Yeah, it's a pretty memorable race to complete.
Preparation for Donna Double: Focus on Descending Skills
00:16:40
Speaker
um Is there anything that either either of you have done to sort of prepare for it based off your racing last year?
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, I've been doing a lot of sort of, I've been trying to really focus on descending. So not really like specific descending sessions, but just whenever I get the chance, I'll sort of try and run fast, run hard downhill my training. So if I'm doing hill intervals, for example, what I'll do is I'll run up a hill, take a bit of a break at the top of the hill, and then try and go down fairly hard on the descent as well.
00:17:11
Speaker
So sort doing up and down efforts. I feel like that's been helping a lot. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think for me, um, nothing specific i'm just hoping that uh the increased VO2 max will just help me climb um for such a long time along with gym strength little bit of hill reps but yeah nothing specific yeah nice cool well i would highly recommend getting out for at least one big downhill bridget before you come down because i think you even you can get a lot out of just one big downhill so find your biggest
00:17:43
Speaker
find your biggest hill even if it's a long run um on your long run day and and just do the climbing at whatever pace and then and then bomb the downhill I think you'll be sore for a couple of days but you'll probably um be happy about it on race day maybe if you can fit it in yeah nice and and Nathan you um you're not running this year and unfortunately you missed last year but I know you've trained a lot out on the course have you got any top tips for anyone tackling Donna this year Oh, well, I did it back in 23.
00:18:16
Speaker
Oh, true. You did too. You did you yeah it before. It was early doors of my trail career and I um ah got given a free entry the night after I'd done a and I like, oh, I'm fit. I'm healthy.
00:18:31
Speaker
but's Let's go do it. And I underestimated how steep was. that road climb was um so yeah you come come along the river and you you kick up that road and there is probably one of the steepest roads in in victoria if not australia and then um you get a little bit of a ah um sort of rest coming down into that valley and then you hit that yeah the grueling climb and i reckon i got about cana half in my calves calves blew up and that Etienne and, um, Fraser came flying past me and I don't think I saw Fraser ever again for the rest of the race. So, um, but yeah, I went out in, um, I went and did a long run out there in November.
00:19:15
Speaker
Um, and yeah, it's, it's pretty, pretty gnarly course. So I think my, um, recommendation is just take that first initial couple of flat Ks pretty cruisy because a lot of people do go out pretty hard. So,
00:19:29
Speaker
um And then, um yeah, the descent's going to be depending on the weather. But when i was there, I don't know about you, Toby, but the trail's pretty worn at the moment.
00:19:40
Speaker
um Last time I was there, I reckon and I jumped over 30 trees and um the water pretty much swept most of the trail away. So, um yeah, it'll be pretty gnarly, I reckon.
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah, when i was there, there's... I found there's a lot of like, there's a lot of, ah it was really overgrown as well. there's a lot of bushes creeping in on the track and sort like having to push through with my legs a lot, especially the top.
00:20:03
Speaker
And then on the descent, there's a lot of like tree fern leaves that were right about at eye level. it's really hard. Like had to either like duck under them as i was trying to descend or just have my arms in front of my hat in front of my face, trying to like push them out of way. so I'm kind of hoping that they're before the race, they do go through and clear it all out.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah, I did a ah did a course recce in mid-Feb last year um and had the same experience, mostly on the top section, that it sort of felt that the the the either side was growing into the trail and the trail, it was very narrow. And I was like, oh, this is going to be hectic trying to pass people either way because you do sort of come back and people are still climbing and you're headed down um but they do well last year they did clean it up and it was really nice on race day so um hoping that they do the same this year because it does make a big difference and i think it also
00:20:56
Speaker
improves the enjoyment and safety for everyone, not only the top people, but also the other people. You can see each other a bit from further away and you've got, you know, where you can step off the track. Whereas when the ferns are over, it's hard to tell where you can put your feet on, except for the really middle of the track. So yeah, I reckon they'll do some. um Maybe we'll drop them a line.
00:21:21
Speaker
yeah not not so Yeah, when I did it in November, it started torrential raining at the top. So I um i spent most of the way down on my ass. So it was the quickest way down.
00:21:34
Speaker
Well, last year it was lightning fast um in terms of weather, but it was also very hot. um So it'll be interesting to see what the conditions are like this year. um The times last year we had, I'll just i'll just yell out the winner. So we had ah Lara Hamilton won the women in 2004-16 and took a course record by, think, about four minutes.
00:21:56
Speaker
um And Max Taylor won ah the men's, in one hour 50.07, also taking the course record. And I think the top four or five, four, I reckon, went under the course record.
00:22:09
Speaker
um So it was a really competitive and fast race. was a bit hot, so maybe someone can go quicker. What do you reckon? Anyone going to touch those times this year? Well, I'm not there, so I can't say.
00:22:20
Speaker
I hope so. Have you heard whispers of who's racing? i actually don't know who's
Speculation on Donna Double Competition Level
00:22:25
Speaker
racing myself. I haven't seen a list. Have you heard any whispers of who might be racing? I've had a quick look at the entry list. It's not too, think there are still going to be some more people entering, I hope. Like I think there's only about 60, 60 something entries the moment.
00:22:41
Speaker
Mm-hmm. um to donna and anyway any know names that stand out to you um oh not just off memory i don't think max is running this year or leo um so that's the top two from last year and billy's in billy's in asia so i don't think billy's running so that's top three so maybe what i'm hearing toby is you're gonna win this year i hope so see if i can do um i'm actually entered now
00:23:09
Speaker
What about you, Bridget? Have you heard of anyone who might be racing in the female categories? We'll obviously cover this a little bit um in the main pod when when we get a full start list. But um heard of anyone else you might be racing against?
00:23:21
Speaker
Yeah, no, I have no intel at all, sorry. um I think based on a previous podcast, Simone was racing. I think she was keen to get her course record back. Does that sound right?
00:23:32
Speaker
I think she is racing. I should know this, but yes, I'm pretty sure Simone is racing. So there's at least one healthy competitor. um So that'll be, that yeah, I'm sure Simone's was the course record that was taken by Lara's last year.
00:23:46
Speaker
And that was actually set by her, in the very first time she won, she ran um Donna Double back in like 2018 or something. So I think she's got her eyes set on trying to trying to get that one back or at least sort of improve her time.
00:24:00
Speaker
um So that'll be, you at least have one person that you can race hard against. um This is, I think, the fun bit, or maybe not the fun. Hopefully in future we get to hear more about who's going to be racing. But I find that this sometimes in the trail scene, and especially for the first race in the season last year, there was a lot of like trepidation, like who's going to run, who isn't running, who's who's actually going to be there.
00:24:24
Speaker
um So we have a little bit of um anticipation for the first race, which is exciting, and I'm sure we'll we know a little bit more afterwards. Yeah, it sets its own once the the first race is done. and you sort of get a map of who's healthy and who's firing.
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah. Last year was definitely the tone was set at the first race because it was it was fast. um So it's going to be hopefully we see a similar intro to the to the competition this year.
00:24:52
Speaker
um And yeah, and then it sort of leads on to another really good season. Yeah.
Nathan's Training Adjustments for Upcoming Races
00:24:59
Speaker
covered Donna a little bit in terms of what the course is like and your prior experiences with it but just to finish off this first intro episode I thought it'd be nice to sort of delve into maybe the training that you've been doing for the last couple of months in preparation for the season and maybe just ah highlighting a key week of training that you've been doing um it can be the week that's just gone or it can be a week that you did
00:25:26
Speaker
few weeks ago um so maybe nathan i'll throw it to you you said you've been back for two weeks so you don't have as many weeks to choose from but um what's been what's been what have you been doing in training to prepare yourself for the season yeah so was um yeah it was firing pretty pretty good towards the end of 24 but just sort of pulled up with a um bit of a calf issue with sort of yeah neural calf issue um early January. So just being back, um this tonight was my second session back. So last week got 63K under the belt, which was it was a nice feeling um with no issues. It's always, especially when you...
00:26:05
Speaker
um do come back from an injury, it's sort of you're sort of always quite hesitant and never know if you're feeling that phantom pain there. So it was quite, um yeah, rewarding to sort of get through that 63K and, um yeah, session last week as well and did a couple of 600s and, lit yeah, did my laps in, I think I was hitting 73 laps for 400, which i was like, hmm,
00:26:31
Speaker
okay, that's feeling ah little easier than what it should be um for the first session back. So, um yeah, just now sort of looking towards building up the long run, hit hit the trails for the first time for the year um over the weekend as well, which was a nice feeling um just getting out to sort of do what i love um rather than just running these flat, lengthy runs along the river.
00:26:56
Speaker
And, um yeah, so just now, um building those long runs up and, yeah, come to KMR, I'm just hoping to get the VO2 max, as Bridget sort of said, just sort build that up and I'll see where I'm at um after that national race and if I need to sort of work on anything in that fortnight, I will. But I've, yeah, previously just sort of um run races off my normal training and it's worked in well. So we'll see how we can.
00:27:28
Speaker
I was going to ask you that. um Obviously, you've got a lot of experience racing as a ah track and and road runner. And I know you bring a bit of that to the trail.
00:27:40
Speaker
um The session you did on on Tuesday, was it? um Yeah. The 600s. Is that some sort of regular yeah regular training session you would do um in terms of sort of fast speed session or sort of um Is that something you would do every week or it varies a little bit, but you're always doing some sort of sort of more running based session on the Tuesday?
00:28:02
Speaker
Yeah, so I would always say it's sort of more ah yeah road-based session for the Tuesday. so usually um when I'm yeah firing in at full cylinders and yeah running every every day of the week, so Tuesdays is sort of that more interval session.
00:28:20
Speaker
um Midwinter staple session is sort of eight by a kilometre. um So when yeah when moving pretty well, um I'll be doing those sub-three-minute pace of 60 seconds.
00:28:34
Speaker
So I still sort of bring that element of what I've... sort of being able to get my fitness up to um through the road and the track training over the years.
Nathan's Transition from Track to Trail Running
00:28:46
Speaker
Like I've been running track since 2011. I feel old saying that number 14 years ago. But um yeah, like ah I was always sort of a yeah pretty um established 1500 junior.
00:29:02
Speaker
fifteen hundred junior um did it Did pretty well at the cross-country levels. Going to World Junior Cross-Country Champs as an under-20.
00:29:13
Speaker
um And then, yeah, just sort of had two years off from running and slowly got back into it. um And a good mate of mine, Steve, just sort of pointed me in the direction of trail running and he's like, oh, you should go run a roller coaster back in 22. And I rolled up and won it and broke the course record. And I was like, oh, this is this is pretty cool. So I still sort of um harness that sort of road running to my training. I don't do too much specific trail running sessions, I will sort of in the lead up to some big events.
00:29:49
Speaker
um And I probably will more towards when Coastal and BTU come around. um Yeah. Sort of more sort of hill tempos, that sort of thing. But I think ah for me, i I get a lot of my fitness from VO2 max sort of flat tracks or threshold sessions and then getting out on the the hills on the weekend.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And it's I think it's important to harness your strengths and and that's obviously a big strength of yours in the trail running world is your calibre of running on the track and road. So um um that definitely seems to sort of improve your trail results and and then sort of getting that specific work in is important so you can still convert on the trails.
00:30:32
Speaker
Are you planning to do any specific training We know Mountain Running Champs is coming up. It's the week after Donna Double, so that's, what, three three weeks or three and a half weeks away.
00:30:43
Speaker
Have you got any plan to do any specific trail sessions before that to prepare you, or is it more you save that for later in the season? Yeah, I'll save it probably later in the season. Well, I'll save it just with this calf. I'm just sort of mode yeah monitoring it still. So it's still early doors. I don't want to – I'll just keep to what what is working at the moment and um build the the fitness up. And if that's all I can do, then that's what I've got to sort of work on. But – yeah As I said, I'll slowly implement some hills and stuff in the long runs.
00:31:17
Speaker
um And if I'm just sort of keeping my load to that 60 to eighty k a week, I probably could probably yeah work um work those long runs and work the hills a bit more. um So I'll see if...
00:31:29
Speaker
if the cuff allows that. But, um yeah, all all's looking pretty good for now. Yeah, fantastic. And um your first race is going to be KMR at the end of March in the Golden Trail, um and that's a with...
00:31:46
Speaker
Again, I think 1,300 or 1,400 metres of climbing and descending. about I think the winner did 2.10 or 2.11 last year, so maybe somewhere between 2.10 and 2.20 for your race. How are you feeling or what are the things that you want to be able to tick off to make you feel confident and you can race well over that distance?
00:32:07
Speaker
in the next next few
Nathan's Goals and Preparations for KMR Race
00:32:08
Speaker
weeks? Yeah, like I probably get a long run up towards that distance, I think. um I did, yeah, I did do the 25K KMR two years ago now.
00:32:19
Speaker
um Well, first I just needed not go the wrong way. i was going to say you did the KMR 26.5, didn't you? Yeah, exactly. So I was leading that race and sort of 2K to go, I took a kilometre wrong turn and came back and there was Piotr at the finish line, basking in all the glory. But no, it was a good sort of race. I wasn't actually even planning to...
00:32:44
Speaker
to run the 25 I was there for the VK the day before and Jeremy Hunt had a had an entry and he um his back pulled up pretty sore so he's he was just like doing a run was like got a long run so I just sort of started long running it and got about halfway through the climb and I was like um I'm leading this thing I better take it seriously so um um Yeah, so just sort of switched into race gear um halfway up the climb. So ah the trails at Kinyanya are spectacular. So I think as much as it is...
00:33:17
Speaker
um trying to think that i like get the confidence up for that race i think when you do chuck a bib on a race bib on and you do have that um a bit of training in the in the legs um you sort of pull something together and yeah with those trails it's yeah it's pretty spectacular on to the top there and um yeah so i i love thinking it hey just I said you're not overthinking it, just rock like whatever whatever comes will come and you'll train to think about the calf and and get there to the race start, however fit you are, and it'll come together as it comes together probably.
00:33:56
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah, that's that's pretty much yeah how long. And then you've got a bit more time before the rest of the season to get sort of all cylinders firing for those last two races. So, yeah, you've still got plenty of time.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah, I'll just keep it as it is now and then um yeah focus on what I need to work on later in the year. Fantastic.
00:34:20
Speaker
Cool. Well, we're here to, cool to hear the journey. Bridget, Toby, do you have any questions for Nathan? Any, do you want to interrogate his training at all? Yeah.
00:34:34
Speaker
I don't think I really did so what So in conclusion, you're training really well, Nathan. Well done. that Perfect. All right. Well, Bridget, you um are running Donna in a few weeks' time, and you're saying that you haven't raced since...
Bridget's VO2 Max Focused Training Routine
00:34:54
Speaker
Brisbane last year so you've had plenty of time to sort of get some training under the belt which is which is great do you want to give us a little bit of a rundown maybe on what you've been up to train generally since last year and then maybe more specifically highlight maybe like one week of training maybe last week if you want yeah sure um actually remembered I have done a few races since Brisbane but like much shorter one and not trail so I did um national cross country in August um And it ended up coming 12th there, which I was really happy with.
00:35:26
Speaker
um That was my first time ever running. Very decent. Yeah. um And I've also done two track races, which are my first ever races on track, um a 3K and a 5K, just as sort of training races. i don't really have any track aspirations. But, yeah, good to see how the fitness was going sort of objectively.
00:35:49
Speaker
um Yeah, I guess, as I mentioned, in my training's mostly focused on that VO2 max. So I've been doing three sort of k sessions a week plus like a long run and a sort of midweek long run, both of them on trails.
00:36:06
Speaker
um So Tuesday is normally like a track session. It might be, um well, last week it was eight by 600 some um with some 200 meters thrown at either end of that. um And then Thursday is normally threshold session.
00:36:24
Speaker
um so it might be like 3K, 2K, sort of a sub-threshold working into threshold. um And then Saturday is a normally 6x1K and then some hill reps at the end.
00:36:40
Speaker
um So yeah, it's a lot of work. I'm... looking at changing my um sort of training structure after Donna, the group I train with is primarily um like a track running group.
00:36:53
Speaker
um So, yeah, i might be including some more trail-specific training in the future, but we will keep you posted. Yeah, cool. Yeah. So you're saying you do a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday? Is that right?
00:37:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, cool, cool. And do you train with it? What's the group that you train with up being in Canberra at the moment? Um, it's sort of alongside Dick Telford's group.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah. Um, so I sort of train also with Robbie Bolton who trains sort of the the kids. Um, i don't know. I'm sort of in between the two groups. Yeah. Um, yeah.
00:37:30
Speaker
They're very fast and they make me feel very slow. Yeah. Yeah, but as I think there's definitely something to training with those sort of like, and as Nathan was sort of saying, that the running your running ability is a big part of the picture on how well you end up running on trails. So it's important just to train the running side of things and um the running sessions that you do with them are probably benefiting you quite a bit.
00:37:55
Speaker
um They're all, what sort of distances are they running? Are they mostly track or they do some road stuff as well? I think they're all track like 1,500 metres. um ah Like Cam Myers in the group just set the under-23k world record. Like it's insane.
00:38:12
Speaker
That's a name drop and a half. Yeah.
00:38:17
Speaker
That's great. i was that I was half expecting I was expecting Nathan to give the name drops, not not you, Richard, but I like that. Maybe I was good. Yeah.
00:38:27
Speaker
Fantastic. So have you trained a little bit with Cam? has he been ah easy and He trains with dick's group, doesn't he? Yeah, well, I mean, I like watch him fly past me. Yeah, yeah. ah that's That's cool. i would I would like to do that. So nice one.
00:38:42
Speaker
Cool. um And then is the main reason you're sort of thinking of maybe changing things up a little bit that you want to get some more trail specific stuff or more longer stuff or like what's the what's the thoughts with the um potential change to your training structure?
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think a bit more trail specific stuff, like, um yeah, some more uphill work. Because really enjoy um doing the the long uphills. ah But, i yeah, don't really get the opportunity to do that in training. And I think doing three sort of workout runs a week is quite a lot um and i think it can lead to a bit of burnout and you rock up you're like oh i don't really want to do this um so maybe dropping it down to two k- sessions but sort of increasing the the bulk in your easy runs um yeah i feel like that might be beneficial but i guess we'll see how that how that goes after donna
00:39:37
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Well, there's plenty of trail runners in Canberra that hopefully you can tap on the shoulder and ask to join in on their runs. So hopefully that that goes well. You've definitely sport for choice with places to run as well. So um yeah, looking like that'll be but we good. um What's been like the number one thing that you've been working on in order to get yourself ready for Donna or or just the season in general? Like what's the one thing in training that you think is most important for the for this year?
00:40:07
Speaker
Honestly, don't know. I don't think about these things too much. um I've just been trying to get my speed up. um Yeah, I don't know.
00:40:18
Speaker
Just train, I guess. Just train, see what happens. See happens. Yeah, I think um for the final, Brisbane, I think that race in particular perhaps favours Roadrunners a little more than the others because it's all like open fire trail and maybe that's where I got like part of my advantage from.
00:40:41
Speaker
um but yeah, in terms of Adona and Newcastle, just going to see what happens. and Fantastic. Great. Awesome. Well, it'll be exciting to see how the training evolves, if it does, over there over the season and and your experiences.
00:40:57
Speaker
um Nathan, Toby, any questions for Bridget? I was going to say, um did you head up to Parrishaw with the crew? the No. and No, I was on um separate holidays. Yeah, nice.
00:41:12
Speaker
Next time. Next time. All right. Well, yeah, excited to see how that goes. And Donna Doubles just around the corner. So exciting. um All right. And one other person, Toby, ah last but not least, um you've had a busy 2024 and now headed into a fairly busy start to 2025.
Toby's Consistent Training Routine
00:41:39
Speaker
What's the training been looking like generally and can you run us through maybe a week of training of the last couple of weeks?
00:41:46
Speaker
Yeah, so it's been going, I think, really well for the past few months. I think since I came back from Korea, I was a bit sick. So it took me about two, three weeks of just sort of low weeks to get back into the swing of things.
00:42:00
Speaker
But then from there, I'm going to actually really bring up my mileage and and just get some really good training weeks in. um so I've been doing about, trying to keep it consistent about 100Ks each week since then, up until now. And I think now I'm about to start bringing it down for the lead up to Donna. um But yeah, my fitness, I think, has been going quite well. I did a 5K, think it's end of last year, I think December sometime.
00:42:28
Speaker
um and I managed to take like 30 seconds off my time since the start of 2024. I'm pretty up with that. ah And then my most recent recce at Donna, I just treated that as a sort of long run, but I did my exact same time as I did in the race last year.
00:42:46
Speaker
So I'm happy with that. um But like a typical week for me will be, generally do sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Like I'll try and do a...
00:42:59
Speaker
easy I'll try and run every day of the week usually. It's usually just an easy run on Monday. i also do a swim on Monday, about 45 minutes. And then Tuesday session, we've got a really good group of orienteers here in Canberra.
00:43:13
Speaker
So we do sessions on Tuesdays just along the lake. I think the most recent count was... high 40s of number of people that came.
00:43:24
Speaker
that's pretty good. Damn, that's good. And then Wednesday is another easy day. Just do some sort of, you know, either 30-minute, 45-minute, or 60-minute jog, depending on how I'm feeling. um Then Thursdays are generally ah another session. It's generally a smaller group. It's like the same sort of orientiers, but more like the more keen orientiers, I guess.
00:43:47
Speaker
Um, so we either do like track hills threshold sort of stuff on Thursdays. Um, and then Friday is another, like, you know, general easy day, do whatever.
00:43:58
Speaker
And then on the weekends, I try and do, I try and do a long run. I've been sort of bringing up my long runs in distance a bit. So I used to do about 20 Ks for my long runs, but I've been trying to do maybe more like 25 Ks is trying to sort of match the what the Golden Trail series races are like. And I sort of treat them, i don't know if it's good or not, but I sort of treat them as sort of a session. Like I go pretty hard in my long runs.
00:44:21
Speaker
So I generally try and go out to a national park somewhere around Canberra and find someone with a big hill, run up that hill and then run back down again, both pretty hard, like almost an effort. But yeah, that's a general week for me.
00:44:36
Speaker
So the lead up to Donna, I think that's, I'm pretty happy with my preparation and Just got to start easing off and backing off before the actual race. Sounds like you're ready to go. um the So you're also two sessions in a long run generally?
00:44:51
Speaker
Yeah. um Sometimes I do like a half a session as well sometime throughout the week. Like I kind of count my long run as a session or I'm going to like sort of tap a set, like half a session onto the end of one of my easy runs, either on like the Saturday or ah Friday, whatever.
00:45:07
Speaker
ah just see how it lines up. Like something small, like I don't know, a little bit of speed work at the end of it. Yeah, and when you say you go a bit harder on a long run, are you sort of doing some harder work during that long run or you just generally for the whole thing go a bit harder?
00:45:24
Speaker
um Like how do you structure that? um I think generally a bit go a bit harder. So generally I'll do if there's some sort of big hill throughout the long run, I'll try and hit that.
00:45:36
Speaker
Like I won't take it easy, i guess. I won't really push it. too hard but like also won't go easy on it and the same thing on the downhill like I just sort treat it as just having a bit of fun but I guess it is kind of and effort as well yeah Yeah, nice. That's cool. It's the main reason we're doing it for fun. So it's it's nice to sort of let loose a little bit.
00:45:58
Speaker
Do you go with people on that long run and just like leave them behind? Or like what? How does that one work with the group? No, we sort of all go pretty hard.
00:46:09
Speaker
Like it depends on what group I'm running with. But yeah, generally it's all... Or like if I do, I can sort of just wait at the summit or something like that. yeah okay. So you' the big dog in the group, first to the summit.
00:46:22
Speaker
Brody's saying this from experience. Yeah, I'm saying this is this is this sounds like Nathan when I go for a long run with him.
00:46:31
Speaker
um have to try and catch up on the downhills or he's just having a rest at the top. yeah some yo-yos yeah yeah yeah nice okay cool well it sounds like you've been doing really good um prep what was the 5k time that you got the pb like what it what's your 5k at the moment um it was 15 27 yeah fantastic and you said 30 second pb about i think was 15 54 earlier february 2024 earlier i think february twenty twenty four I didn't do a since then. And then I was, it's pretty conservative effort. Like I was going for 1530.
00:47:07
Speaker
I was getting paced like very consistently, just going conservatively. 1530, that was my goal. um So maybe I could do one. I'm keen to do another one soon, but probably not in the lead up to these races, but at some point.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah, fantastic. Great. Cool.
Orienteering Events as Secondary Races
00:47:25
Speaker
And um you mentioned in there that you you sort of run with that orienteering group. I know this is trail running podcast, but I'm going to give us a plug. um You're an orienteer as well, and and the listeners might know that I do orienteering. Have you got any orienteering in the calendar for the first half of the year as well, or any goals that you're trying to chase in that space?
00:47:45
Speaker
um So I'm also going to be doing the National Orienteering League, which is sort of taking place in the same timeframe as the Golden Trail series. um We had one round off in New Zealand in January, which I went to. That was the Oceania Champs.
00:48:02
Speaker
um The second round in National League is, think it does clash with Donna. So I won't be going to that one, which is in WA. But then, yeah, the last two rounds, are they don't clash. So I think one's in Victoria, one's in Central Coast. So also go to both of them.
00:48:17
Speaker
So i go and I don't really have any goals to do with them. Like it does, ah did start trail running through orienteering. So it does kind of hurt to say this, but I'm sort of treating them more as B races and treating the golden trail races as my A races for this year.
00:48:32
Speaker
But I guess it's just how it happens. Yeah, fantastic. And like, yeah, you've got to sort of head towards what's sort of most meaningful or the big goals of the year. So it's cool that you're still out there doing it. And I'm sure there's some level of cross benefit between the two.
00:48:48
Speaker
um And it'll be good to see you at the orienteering races, but also hopefully good to see you crushing the Golden Trail series um and maybe getting that win at Don a Double for the for the podcast.
00:49:01
Speaker
i See what I can do.
00:49:04
Speaker
Fantastic. Do you have any questions for Toby, Bridget or Nathan? I was ah curious about that time. It's pretty swift. so um wait With them your long runs, sort of what um elevation are you getting over that It sort of depends. I try and go for about ah try and go for as much as I can really. um so generally about maybe 800 1,000.
00:49:31
Speaker
meters like it is fairly easy to get that. If you got into the national parks or on camera, we've just got so much around here. guys have epic a mountain, just run up and down it. What about you, Bridget as well? Do you get, try and get as much vert in on your long runs or,
00:49:45
Speaker
you keep it pretty sort of oh Yeah, normally I just do them flat, ah but the last couple of weeks I've definitely been trying to do them on the trails. I definitely prefer doing them on the trails because they're so nice around here.
00:50:00
Speaker
um I actually went on a run up Stockyard Spur Toby, you'd know it, um with Jess, one of the other hosts on this podcast a few weeks ago. and yeah, it was really intense.
00:50:15
Speaker
I guess it was kind of similar to Donna, um but having a hard session the day before, i just got dropped instantly by the rest of the group. But yeah, it was still really fun.
00:50:27
Speaker
Yeah, know that's some serious elevation, isn't it? That's like a thousand meters up Stockyard Spur? Yeah. I think it's like 500 meters of climb in the first 2k. Is that it? Something like that. Yeah, it was ridiculous.
00:50:39
Speaker
That sounds pretty Donna specific. That's pretty good. Nice. Yeah, you could call it that. I had no idea. You said you hadn't done any specific training. Now I'm going to lock that in a specific training.
00:50:52
Speaker
Fantastic. Cool. All right. Well, any other questions for each other or any last thoughts about upcoming race at Donna? We might um touch a little bit more on, Nath, your prep for mountain running champs. Hopefully we can catch everyone between Donna and before Nath does mountain running champs, but we'll see how we go. um Touch base then.
00:51:14
Speaker
Yeah, I'll be in Adelaide that week anyway, so we'll see. There we go. But we got I think we've got Labor Day on Monday. a few days in between. Fantastic. All right, well, good luck, Toby and Bridget, for your final preparations. Good luck in the race if I don't chat to you before then. and um Good luck with the rest of the training, Nath. Hopefully everything's smooth sailing from here. And thanks so much for joining us for episode one um of Targeting the Ticket. And we'll see you back here for episode two.
00:51:43
Speaker
Thanks for hosting, Brody. Thank you. Thank you, guys.