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Big Goals, Moving Countries, and Western States Recap Feat. Mikey Dimuantes | Episode 116
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In this episode of Peak Pursuits Jess and Brodie sit down with Mikey Dimuantes to talk through his recent move to Turkey, his races so far in Europe, and his big goals for CCC.
Jess and Brodie then talk through the wild events that went down at Western States including Holly Ransons incredible 15th place, before recapping the Aussie results of the week.
Results:
- World Masters Mountain Champs
- Laverado 120k:
- Marathon du Mont Blanc 23km
- Byron Rainforest Run (NSW)
- Newcastle Cross Country: King of the Mountain (NSW)
- Lofty's Revenge Ultra Marathon (SA)
- Wondai Country Running Festival (QLD)
- King of the Mountain (WA)
- Sri Chinmoy Canberra Trail Series: Ainslie Amble (ACT)
***Don’t forget, use code PEAK at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Join us on Patreon HERE
Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
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Follow Jess: Instagram | Strava
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Travel Plans
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 116 the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Brodie, one of your regular hosts, and this week I'm joined by Jess Jason up in Canberra. Jess, are you going?
00:00:20
Speaker
Hey guys, I'm going well. um Yep, very much in the middle of Canberra winter, just trying to survive. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like, and I realized today we're nearly a month through winter. I'm not used to this whole winter thing having been to Europe a lot the last few years. So I feel like I've reached a big milestone by making it a third of the way through. Yeah.
00:00:44
Speaker
yeah It's been particularly like wet and gross this year. Like I feel like, yeah, maybe not quite as cold, but just rainy every day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, hopefully, yeah, not too, and you're overseas soon, is that right?
00:00:59
Speaker
Or, you know, maybe another month? Yeah, I've got like a month to go and then I'll be over in Chamonix, which I'm pretty excited about.
European Travels and Climate
00:01:08
Speaker
Fantastic. And someone who was in Chamonix just this weekend and who I've got my act together this week and managed to get some talent on the show, we've got Mikey Demiantis joining us from Turkey. here How are you going, Mikey?
00:01:23
Speaker
Good. Thank you. Yeah, just got back yesterday and not dying in the winter, but dying in the heat over there. Yeah, the opposite. It's been it's been hot in Europe. um I've been seeing like news stories about heat waves in the UK and then it looked like it was pretty hot in Chamonix over the weekend.
00:01:41
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was it was really hot during in the day, but then it it would always storm in the evening, which was really nice. So the air would like, th but it got pretty stinky hot during the day.
00:01:54
Speaker
Yeah, nice. I love that, like that storm. So the sort of the evening storm happens a bit in different parts of Europe, especially in the mountains. It's sort of nice when it's been a hot day and it sort of like brings in in the cool weather.
00:02:06
Speaker
Yeah, nice. Awesome. Well, we're going to start by having a chat to Mikey and we're going to get to Chamonix a little bit later and what he's been doing
Racing Reflections and Life Balance
00:02:14
Speaker
over the weekend. But rolling ah catching the listeners up first, I guess last time, Mikey, we talked to you, you'd just come off Canyon's 100K. I think you were maybe even still in the US on a little trip.
00:02:27
Speaker
um And after that, I think you were saying you you weren't doing too much in the back half of the year and that was not, we didn't know at that time, but there was a reason behind that. Maybe catch us all up what happened last year. Very exciting.
00:02:41
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. I remember that interview actually. We were in a hotel in California, staying with Zoe's parents. um But yeah, I had a baby obviously, Fred in September. um so Yeah, it was a very, very busy year last year. i kind of don't know how we held everything together and how I managed to train and race within all of it. It was probably asking too much of myself and of Zoe and everyone. But um yeah, so I guess last year Transcend um in August, which was like maybe four weeks before Fred was born um in the middle of August.
00:03:26
Speaker
And then this is all from a running perspective. Obviously, this these were the like probably the lowest priority things that were happening at the time, but were just yeah happening alongside everything. um And then raced Cosi 50 at the end of last year as well, which were both really fun races, but I think were really...
Mental Focus and Race Pressure
00:03:46
Speaker
hard to do probably because i didn't feel like i was in my best shape like i think training wasn't amazing throughout the whole year um just because i with like i was working quite a lot and obviously supporting zoe as well and like as you would know brodie like pregnancy is a massive thing for your wife it's huge and you have to be there to support them as much as you can and Like, obviously it's not a toll as nearly as much for the person supporting, but it it still is, you know, a a significant thing that you have to show up for.
00:04:18
Speaker
Um, and all of that accumulates and is part of training load, you know, so you can't, you can't often train as much or you're not responding to training in the same way or whatever. Um, so that happened.
00:04:29
Speaker
Um, And i mean, those races, like you said, you weren't you weren't maybe on your best, but you did still manage to come away with two wins and two pretty good results still. Like, were you able to put together pretty good races on the day, given maybe how you felt like training and and life was going in general?
00:04:50
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And I think it was good to like, feel like I was getting to the start line, not very that confident, to be honest, like particularly at transcend, because I was training through that whole block with a, like an Achilles niggle.
00:05:04
Speaker
Um, and it was kind of good to, to, to race, get to the back half of the race and feel like I had to really mentally switch on, stay calm, wasn't feeling good throughout most of the race. So it was kind of good to race in those conditions, if you know what I mean, just to build it. Do you think it like took the pressure off a bit, like having other things to focus on?
00:05:28
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think a little bit. Um, I think though, i don't know if you experienced this just like, I think, I think I felt like if I, if I wasn't, um,
00:05:43
Speaker
I think maybe I would have preferred or it might've been better for my body and for my training not to try and push for those races as much. Like, I think I maybe underestimated how, how much like transcend, for example, is going to be a ah big toll on my body. and it was probably would have been yeah a smart move to kind of,
00:06:02
Speaker
sit sit back and be like look i'm a little bit injured i'm not feeling great in training probably good to take a bit of a step back at the moment you know um and i think that can be a hard thing if um like yourself yes like if you're transitioning into part-time professionalism in trail running or whatever, and you you might feel an expectation to race from sponsors or anything like that. um Yeah. And Access is really supportive. you know they'll They won't push you to race and they'll try and make sure that you're doing the right thing.
00:06:32
Speaker
But I still think from yourself, you can have that expectation, which is
Life in Turkey and Running Focus
00:06:36
Speaker
a tricky thing. Yeah, it's still something from yourself, I think. ah definitely i't found when I was – oh, sorry, Jess, you go first. Oh, I was just going to say, like, I think it is, like, I don't think, like, there is a pressure from the brand, but it's like, it comes internally. Like, you feel like you have to earn what you're given. Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:57
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And like, I feel like, yeah, it makes you kind of like make risky decisions with races when maybe like you shouldn't be doing it. But, and especially in trail, like it's hard because,
00:07:09
Speaker
I feel like our races take a lot out of you that you can't just bounce back. Like it's not just a track race. It's like, definitely four to five hours at least like usually out on the trail um yeah yeah and i think i found when i was when i was running for solomon it was like again it was nothing it wasn't from the brand pushing me to do anything they were very supportive the whole time but it's like when you when you're sponsored one there's that expectation that you need to show up because you are you you are a sponsored athlete i guess and you i don't know me internally felt like i needed to show up but also like
00:07:40
Speaker
you're wanting to progress and you're wanting to maybe get a better deal or maybe become more successful and and push yourself to the next because you know if you can get that result then this leads to that and leads to that and i think it leads to maybe not making decisions purely based on how you're feeling um which is a bit tricky i've sort of found it quite nice since i haven't been sponsored because i just don't have to think about that although i've been injured for most of it so i couldn't i i couldn't have raced if i wanted to yeah um but now you're over in turkey and yes a new a new setup how's that going like um because you're sort of you've moved to asics europe and like global the global team um and you're not working as a teacher anymore like your wife is the breadwinner now um how's that going with training and life colors of
00:08:43
Speaker
yeah it's yeah very different so like at the end of last year um i was you know talking to asics europe because i've been in contact with them since 2024 and i've been talking to them and um kind of asked them you know would it be possible to transition to that team and then um got the offer from them that was gonna that was like oh i can maybe transition to more um full-time running um and using that as a focus for the next three years while we're in turkey so like we we've moved to turkey on the back of zoe completely like we've um she's a diplomat working for the government over here um so we're here for three years living in ankara um and
00:09:33
Speaker
yeah the setup now we've we've moved over in march at the end of march or just after buffalo Um, now we've been in Istanbul living in a hotel room, which is why the lighting in here is so like, I was thinking that was some quite like interesting lighting in your house. Um, so yeah, we're living, we've been living in a hotel in Istanbul and we will be until the middle of July.
00:09:59
Speaker
and then we moved to Ankara, which is like the capital there, which is kind of a Canberra like city. Like it's, it's like, I think or it's, that's probably a bit generous. It's definitely more congested and more hectic and a bit more like can feel a little bit more claustrophobic than Canberra does. Obviously Canberra is the most livable city in the world.
00:10:22
Speaker
It's just, had to, had to get it in there. I can get white and I can walk under a beautiful nature park within two minutes. Um, it's just not like that everywhere, but yeah, we'll be moving there.
00:10:35
Speaker
Um, and There's like really nice training grounds, five, five, 10 minute drive away. So it'll be logistically training will be a little bit more difficult, but definitely you like good places to train in the morning.
00:10:48
Speaker
And I can make that time now because I will have that time. Yeah. So yeah, um I won't, I won't be teaching or working at all in any other capacity except for running during the day. um but I'll be home with Fred all day pretty much most of the days a week.
00:11:05
Speaker
I think we might get a little bit of help with childcare so I can like train a couple of mornings a week, mainly a little bit, but um I think for the most part I'll just be getting up early and then coming back and then spending the working day being a like a ah dad, you know?
00:11:20
Speaker
hey i'm done um which is which is awesome yeah so it's i've it's been a big change i've gone from having probably too many individual things on my plate last year now having maybe maybe less than i'm used to which is different but um yeah i really want to give myself like an opportunity to try and excel a bit more in trail running i think i have a really good unique opportunity I think I've shown I can race well up to a level at ultras at least.
00:11:54
Speaker
And I think with a bit more focus and dedication, I can get a little bit better is the hope. Yeah, very cool. And it's it's fun to try. So I'll i'll give that a go.
00:12:06
Speaker
yeah Turkey is really cool. Sorry, was just going to say, is the ASICS ah Europe team, is that like global or is it is it different to like, is it or are you in ASICS global?
00:12:18
Speaker
it's not technically like a global team. but Well, it's it's not it doesn't technically come under global, it comes under Europe, like it's the ASIC team. um But they have athletes from all around the world, but but it's kind of owned by ASIC Europe, if you're not saying. that where all like the big dogs in Europe run?
00:12:39
Speaker
Like, um I'm trying to think of Antonio Martinez Perez is just one that jumps to mind. Is he running that? Yeah, yeah. So he's in the same team. We're in the same team. Oh, and Zara. yeah Sarah Alonzo, yeah Ida, who just eat us sorry who just won the 10th second in the marathon, um Tom Evans, Ben, Dimon. like the okay cool I'm in the same time as that, is which is fun. I've got to learn as much as I can while I'm there.
00:13:05
Speaker
Yeah, you definitely. And you've got some big dogs in the ultra scene as well as some people who are good over that sort of, I guess, mid-ultra distance as well, which is really cool. You've got lots of people to learn off. And people, yeah, it's great.
00:13:17
Speaker
Like, I think the the level is
Injury and Recovery Journey
00:13:22
Speaker
is insane. Like the, just being in Chamonix for that weekend, like seeing the, from, you've got like 18 year old kids that are just can run like a 30 minute VK and are just animals in the mountains. Like you really, think the depth is insane and it's only getting, it's only getting deeper and and,
00:13:46
Speaker
definitely i think yeah it's ah it's evolving so fast like just watching the results of different races as they happen especially those european races where you're getting more young people doing them and you look at them and go wow those races are ah really changing quite rapidly and uh yeah and are so deep and it's like if you unless you have a perfect day there's someone that's like two minutes back You know? yeah Yeah. Yeah. There's zero margin for error.
00:14:13
Speaker
Like, unless you're, unless you're absolutely on your game at the fittest you can be and have a good day. I think now at big European races, at least the depth is crazy. I think it's probably similar in America at some races, but yeah, I think, I think at Europe at the, at the biggest races, is the depth is insane.
00:14:37
Speaker
which is good because i'll be constantly raising those people so i think i'll my expectation like ah even after my weekend chamonix like my expectations on myself for the next six weeks are much higher yeah yeah yeah very cool um it just taking it back to living in turkey how have you found the adjustment there to training so far um like you haven't been there for really long but have you found that it's worked quite well for training. Like you're getting able to do things that you were wanting to do.
00:15:11
Speaker
i think training Istanbul has been an adjustment for sure. It's, it has been tricky to find meant like mountains to get to, yeah,
00:15:24
Speaker
um At the moment, Zoe's working like half days, basically. um So we've we've had a little bit more time and she's been great with taking a little bit of leave and stuff. And we've been going on trips to to find some more mountainous places to train.
00:15:39
Speaker
um it the The days that we've been in Istanbul, like there's been a lot of days when I've been getting up at five o'clock, walking to the train station, catching a train for 20 minutes, training for three and a half hours, catching a train home.
00:15:56
Speaker
You know, like as I have to do a little bit of logistics in order to get some kind of running quality sessions in because they're not just yeah out my front door. and And even then, they're not they're not perfect sessions.
00:16:09
Speaker
I will say like up until up until I had my knee
Coaching and ASICS Support
00:16:13
Speaker
like injury, like when I had a fall, I reckon and I was in really, really good shape, particularly for running. like um And I think since then, it's taken a little bit longer than I thought to come back, like the fitness. but Um, I think you can get fit anywhere.
00:16:30
Speaker
You just have to be willing to make some sacrifices and make some changes and, you know, maybe do a little bit more work in the gym or on the treadmill or do a little bit of more logistics in your training, but you just gotta be willing to do that.
00:16:43
Speaker
Um, Yeah, you can bear into sport for choice. I drive 45 minutes to the mountains. walk And and they're still they're still not that, they're they're good, but they're still not perfect.
00:16:53
Speaker
But yeah, yes it's it's funny. You can sort of make it work wherever. have you Do you find you've been doing a bit more in the gym when when you're in um Turkey because of like the vert or like other reasons? for I'm probably still doing like two two sessions in the gym a week.
00:17:12
Speaker
that are maybe be a little bit more, um I'm still doing some heavy strength like related stuff, but then maybe doing a little bit more, um, like, I don't know, muscular endurance, like middle, middle weight, higher reps stuff that i think will help with that kind of climbing strength.
00:17:31
Speaker
Um, and then a lot more work on the treadmill. So like probably two to three sessions a week on the treadmill. Um, but generally like the, the place great. Like the, as in the pit to live, the people are really friendly. The like culture is really nice. They're amazing with Fred. Like whenever you,
00:17:50
Speaker
like if i'm walking around to a cafe or something in the morning like the all the older women on the street will stop and like pick him up out of his pram and like almost like the culture of like not touching or kissing someone else's baby does not exist it's like yeah okay It is the community's baby and they will all yeah like want to hug him and look after him, which is really nice. You just kind of have to get used to it because it's so different. yeah Yeah. i remember when I went to Turkey, it was like, I remember Laura was like a little bit worried about, because it's always, it's always like orange on smart traveler, I think because of more in the South, like it's always got like some sort of warning there. um
00:18:31
Speaker
And the people in Turkey, like some of the nicest people in a country I've ever been to, like it was incredible. Yeah, it's so I loved it there. Which is terrible. Yeah, that's not ideal.
00:18:45
Speaker
But yeah yeah, really nice people. Yeah, to training was going really well and then um was feeling super fit in Germany and then just had a ah bad stack. And I think since then, and it's only been probably two weeks since I've started running since then.
00:19:00
Speaker
I think things are taking a little bit longer to come back, which is fine because there's a lot a long time until like the biggest goal of the season. So I'm not sure. Yeah, so what happened with your knees? Because you posted a photo of it.
00:19:12
Speaker
It looks pretty nasty. Yeah, it was pretty it was pretty bad. I was in Germany um with, like, I went with with zoe and Fred and we we took, like, a week off. Because in Turkey they have this, it's like a week of public holidays.
00:19:28
Speaker
It's called a Bayram. And, like... Monday to Friday is all public holidays. So like Zoe wasn't, wasn't at work and it's really easy to take leave during that time. Like no one wants to work and people just, people just take time off. Everyone goes on holiday during that week. So we went to Germany cause we, we knew that everywhere in Turkey would be so busy to go to and we found some cheap flights and then, um, yeah, i was training. i went to like the Bavarian Alps, like bad rock and all, um, and was training really well the whole week and then like got to,
00:20:00
Speaker
a long run in the middle of the week, felt really great on the climb, got to the top. And then I was like, oh I'll go down this steep descent. Like it looks fine. And then was having so much fun going down. I was like, woo, this great. And then just like my foot came out from underneath me and then just smacked all of my weight, like through like a little pinhole thing on my knee.
00:20:21
Speaker
um And it was just like one puncture wound on the inside of my knee. um kind of like on the fat pad bit, but not below the kneecap. um And it just went like, just swelled up like crazy. I'm just gushing blood and yeah, it was
Competitive Racing Mindset
00:20:36
Speaker
bad. Like it took me three hours to get off the mountain because I couldn't really walk and then damn got home and was icing it and then got stitches the next day, got got like an x-ray um and they like stitched it all up, fixed it up.
00:20:52
Speaker
But I was on like, I was in a knee brace for like three days and then it was another six days off. It was another like five days off anything. And then like I did maybe three days where I was doing like a 30 minute elliptical just to test it.
00:21:08
Speaker
And then I kind of got into running again over the course of seven days, like after that. Um, so I reckon I've only been back at full training load for like maybe 10 days, i think, or meant maybe, maybe two weeks now or maybe 16 days.
00:21:25
Speaker
Um, But yeah, those those injuries are so hard when they're like, like it's sort of a little bit out of your control. This is why runners avoid trail running. Like this is their, this is their worst nightmare is like, oh, I'm going to fall over and like spray my ankle, bang my knee or something.
00:21:41
Speaker
Yeah. I feel so stupid because I was like, on training camp. I haven't got like an overuse injury. i've just got I've just fallen over. It's so lame. Yeah, and knees are particularly bad for that. I felt find just because of like the the joint and it has a fair bit of sonovial fluid in it and like you just disrupt it and it just swells so bad and and then you can't you can't do anything even if you wanted to.
00:22:04
Speaker
But it's actually not that bad, but it just like takes a while for it to get better. For sure. yeah Good to hear that it wasn't a break or anything like that. That would have been much more frustrating.
00:22:15
Speaker
was actually really lucky like that I got away with nothing worse than that, to be honest. um Obviously frustrating like in that final lead up in coming through into the the race in Chamonix where you were planned to run the marathon. Was that right?
00:22:33
Speaker
Yeah, had planned to run the marathon, um which would have been really fun. um'm um Yeah, i'm pretty I was pretty disappointed to miss out on the marathon actually, um especially because I was feeling so good. like i got I feel like I got a lot of confidence when I was training in Germany.
00:22:48
Speaker
um Felt like all my training and in istan Istanbul has transitioned pretty well to the mountains. I was feeling really strong and then that happened. I was like, right, I'm
Light-hearted Hair Discussion
00:22:58
Speaker
just going take all the pressure off and do a sensible build back with my knee, not try think about racing too much.
00:23:05
Speaker
still wanted to do something at at the map, like at the marathon long weekend, just to like get the atmosphere a little bit, as long as it was going to be safe. Like, um, but yeah. And then just focus on rebuilding for CCC pretty much.
00:23:19
Speaker
o Um, are you still working with Blake with your training? No, not at the moment. Still obviously using his, like, a lot of his philosophies.
00:23:31
Speaker
Probably doing a little bit more volume than he would.
Race Recaps and Performances
00:23:40
Speaker
Yeah. um Yes, but self-coach at the moment. I think think after CCC, once I settle a little bit more, I think I'll definitely want to look to find a coach.
00:23:51
Speaker
um Probably try and find kind of a European coach, if you know what mean? Like someone who's familiar with the mountains and like the demands of racing, particularly in Europe. Cause I think it's a it's a very unique, can be a very unique skillset to race well over here.
00:24:10
Speaker
I think you have to be a lot stronger than you do. i think to race it in like it like in australia fair things can be mountainous but they're not so relentlessly steep and i think doing that for a long time you have to be a lot stronger so and yeah anyway so i'll just i'll think i'll try and work with a different coach after that and um yeah it's been great like in the week that i was in chamonix um ASICs have like some people that you can talk to as part that's kind of part that are part of the team so I was like talking to a nutritionist like a um a mindset kind of coach like a um mental health in trail running kind of person that was that was really good so I'm going to try and meet with them weekly like in the lead up to CCC
00:24:59
Speaker
um and yeah like yoga and some strength and conditioning people that you can talk to which is really which was really cool so gonna just lean on them as much as i can when i'm there um yeah so you're gonna go back to the asics camp before ccc Yeah, I've got one more one more block there, which is very lucky for me, um which is will be kind of towards the end of July. I'll have like a 10-day block there, um which Zoe's sister will be is coming over. Zoe's sister will be doing a lot of childcare for me during that period, which i'm crazy like grateful to her for that. Yeah.
00:25:43
Speaker
yes a Yeah, i'll be I'll be over there for for those 10 days. And then um after that, it'll just be in Ankara getting ready for the race pretty much.
00:25:55
Speaker
And with the, like, i I think maybe people would have seen the ASICS announce their sort of like their chalet that they've got there. Is it like a, do you have to book in to get there? Because it's like, there's lots of athletes or is it big enough to fit like majority of the athletes? Yeah.
00:26:10
Speaker
i think if if you wanted to book like if you wanted to come at any time you would be able to there'd be enough room like yeah i think people um it's funny like people like to go to the to to the chalet but also i think everyone who's on the team already lives somewhere really beautiful in the mountains yeah which yeah it's like yeah have the they have their training grounds at home and want to do the majority of their training at home but um i know like antonio martin peres for example will spend i think a lot of august there like in the weeks before training for it just getting on specific terrain but um yeah i think if you wanted to if you wanted to be there then you can just you you book but it's it'd be pretty simple
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah, looks very cool. um And last week, obviously, was a ah race week on that on the Saturday. um How did you feel like the race went? Was it it was a bit tough? It looked looked hot, looked um the field looks like crazy. Sort of what you were referencing before, like so deep. So many people I haven't heard of before. Just like yeah running super fast.
00:27:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it was it was cool. um I think i I prioritized that week as like a training week. So I did, I think, four at four hours on the Wednesday after I arrived. Like a big workout on the Tuesday, four hours on the Wednesday, and then um another two kind of normal running days and then the race.
00:27:34
Speaker
um I think maybe I was a little bit...
00:27:39
Speaker
felt like i I felt like I ran pretty well on the runnable sections, like which I'm i'm not not surprised, but I think I didn't have quite as much power on the steeper stuff. like um This is purely from a running performance point of view. like that the The race was awesome, and I'll talk about it in a sec.
00:27:57
Speaker
um yeah I think just carrying a bit of fatigue like through the week as a training week. and then trying to run Yeah, because you still got like a big, like you you went out for a big run on Sunday as well, but you still got in 150k 7,000 meters of climbing. So it wasn't a wasn't an easy week at all. wasn't It wasn't an overtake of a race week. um Yeah.
00:28:18
Speaker
But, yeah, like it was – yeah, so um i was I was fairly happy. i think I was most happy with, like, my mindset in the race. Like I feel like I ah pushed pretty well throughout the whole thing, which was kind of the goal going into it. I knew my fitness wasn't the best it could be, like after the layoff with the knee and stuff. And felt like I pushed well and the running on the flat to and downhill sections was, like, better than I thought it would be. So, yeah.
00:28:46
Speaker
But yeah, like the field was, was insane. Like we we went out running like three twenties kind of uphill and there was probably 50 people ah all around us.
00:28:57
Speaker
And then yeah, you get to the steepest stuff, which I think in most contexts would be like my strength. But then in this context, it's like, I'm the weakest climber out of any of these people, cause they all live here. And it's like, um or at least I was on that day.
00:29:13
Speaker
um Yeah, it was it was awesome. Like you run up kind of through the valley for a lot of it and it's fairly flat probably for the first 11K. And then you kind of run um really steep pinch, really steep downhill and then more like really technical undulating stuff and then it finishes with like really steep...
00:29:33
Speaker
pinch at the end um and you finish like on top of this like plan praz which is like a big plateau where there's you know kind of similar to la flage yeah like you can see the whole valley around you and all these people just doubled over like yeah almost vomiting in front themselves um yeah it was really cool to be i don't think i realized quite how big marathon of montblanc was like from a like there was 2 000 people in the which is the, you know, the shorter of the races. I think there's still, it was the original race. The 23K was first and then came the marathon and the 90K. Yeah. That was the original course from 1979, I think. So it's like a really old historic race that's was cool to be part of. Yeah. It was crazy. I was looking, um the people from the shallow, like the Asics people were showing me some photos from the race, like really early days.
00:30:31
Speaker
And, it's people running in like foot deep of snow, like in at the same time of year. And now it's like completely dry, rocky and just like the, the recession of the glacier. Like it's, it's um yeah, it's changed so much since, since those early days.
00:30:49
Speaker
Yeah. There was, there was a guy on the start line who'd been to every edition since 1979 and he was racing. He won the 23 That really cool. Yeah. that was really cool yeah Yeah, it's a really big... Sort of like watching it on the weekend, I was like, actually, like... I sort of... I think i did I've never actually been UTMB finals, and I do want to go at some point, but, like, I don't know. I feel like that race is just so hectic. There's so much going on. It's very, like... there's a lot of i don't know it feels very marketed whereas like i feel like watching marathon um du mont blanc on the weekend i was like it just looks like the pure there's still heaps of people there and i was like that looks like a cool event to go to one day yeah yeah it was really cool yes i'm really i'm really glad i got to got to run and race i think it's good going through the motions like in chamonix you know like getting yeah it feels to race there and um
00:31:41
Speaker
Same fit. Is it the same? It's the same finish line, isn't it? Oh no, no. You finished up top. So you started where you finished, I guess. Yes. Same finish line for the marathon and the 90K. For the marathon. Yeah. Yeah. And the Yeah.
00:31:54
Speaker
And did your knee feel okay? Yeah. My knee was fine throughout the week, like, um, which was good. So yeah. Awesome. That's pretty hard for that. that's Are you going to race again, um, CCC?
00:32:09
Speaker
Yeah, so I'll do an uphill race in July as well when we when I come back at the start of the week. um Just kind of an opener for the for for the week, which will be good because maybe I'll be a bit fresher for that. Is it like a short, is it like a VK or is it longer uphill?
00:32:28
Speaker
it's It's kind of similar to Cross de Mont Blanc. So it's, it's um I'm going to butcher the name, Monta de Nidagil. um it's like an uphill race of out of um La Passe, which is like right in the back. It's normally in the World it's normally in like the uphill World Cup series. It's a lot of fun. So yeah, hope to improve on what I felt like during the cross model at that race, which would be good.
00:32:59
Speaker
But then after that, there'll be some big days just wrecking CCC course, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And then the the big dancers, CCC, have you got any, like, have you got any goals per se for CCC or like, what's the, what would you like to get out of racing this year? Is it like going after a big result? Is it building some experience in in that sort of race? Like you've done, you've done something at UTMB before. Have you done CCC? Yeah.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, i did I did CCC and didn't finish. i got i've finished it I finished at La Fleger, which is like 7K from the finish, and spent the night up there in the medical tent.
00:33:36
Speaker
Oh, my God. Which was just so bad. um Yeah. But, yeah, I think i think before my my knee injury, I was feeling actually really confident that I could have a really good result.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah. um And, like, I wanted to... run top 10 top five like i was feeling really strong and i was like if i'm feeling this good 10 weeks out like ah and and if i can get in the mountains and get strong like i'm like pretty confident i can run well here um and i think with how i feel now i think it will depend on how training feels in the next few weeks i still have that goal like i want to if i can get back to that feeling in the next few weeks, I'm going to race, try and race at the front of the front of the race if I can. Like okay my goals for the next three years are like to to try and run at the front and be competitive at European races.
00:34:33
Speaker
um And I think, you know, I was able to do that with my fitness at at canyons last year, coming off like training when I was pretty busy.
00:34:44
Speaker
um And I think if I can make the transition to, I know it's not always that simple, but if I can make the transition to being more of a full-time runner well, and it, you know, I take on the extra training load well, I think I can,
00:34:58
Speaker
I can have results like that again. Yeah. Awesome. That's so cool to hear. I love, I love hearing that like, that's the goal and, and like you're watching what you were up to, like looked like you were, it's not out of the question that you're on that trajectory, which is yeah very cool.
00:35:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's, I mean, I could say that I can say this and oh I could come 40th, you know, like the level is crazy yeah over here. But I think if that's the goal, that's where I want to be. So I think you have to have that mindset and try and set yourself up for it.
00:35:34
Speaker
It's easy. differently yeah But you've got to, you've got to do the work as well. So if, yeah, hopefully things come together in the next like eight weeks and training starts to feel really good.
00:35:46
Speaker
Yeah. Very cool. Yeah, well, fingers crossed we'll definitely be um getting behind you. Well, I very much hope just for my own watching that you are up at the front because it will make it way more exciting for me if you are right up the front.
00:36:01
Speaker
So do it for the fans, Mikey. Do it for the fans. Yeah. Do it for the spectacle. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, cool. um Jess, have you got any more questions for Mikey at the moment?
00:36:15
Speaker
Are you going to keep the blonde hair for ccc Oh, yeah, definitely. I think I need to get, I need, I need one more cut and one more dye. So it sits in like perfect, where you have a little bit of legal. I think that's, that's all.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yeah. The hairdressers are so, so good over here. They're like, there's one on every, every corner and they're just, yeah the guy, I walk past him now on the way to the cafe some mornings and he's like, just trying to get me in every day. He's like, you you're showing me you need a redye.
00:36:47
Speaker
I feel like a bit of pink in there would look good too. Oh, you're trying to get me off. Yeah, I was going to say, we're going to pop some purple in there as well and go to match the kit. yeah The attic's purple.
00:36:59
Speaker
Yeah, go to the Joe Fukuda. Maybe you could get some sort of bonus if you if you match your hairstyle with the kit. Maybe I'll go the Dennis Rodman like shave and then like an ASICS logo or something in blonde in my hair. That would be great. Definitely. well's That's one way to get talked about a lot in the coverage. So maybe any publicity is good publicity. Yeah, that's a good point.
00:37:25
Speaker
Nice one. I'll think about it. Yeah, we we can ah we can then we can harass you a bit closer to the time, see if we if we haven't seen it yet. um Well, thanks so much, Mark. It's very cool to hear about what you've been up to and um about the journey over the last 12 months. It's been a big one, but looks like you're...
00:37:46
Speaker
in a very cool place now as well with the what you're able to do with your training. Very privileged position, I guess, but it's going to be, um hopefully you can make the most of it and it's a good opportunity while you're over in in Europe.
00:38:01
Speaker
Yeah, definitely lucky. Just, yeah, try and make the most of it. Nice. All right. Well, Mikey's going to stick around for as long as he can, but he might drop off to go and do some parenting. um We're going to move on to ah feel trace yeah yeah feel free to drop off whenever you need to. um We're going to go through a couple of news topics and then into some results. A quick break in the show to thank Bix. Bix has just come out with their 30 gram gel in two brand new flavors. This is a new gel, new flavors. You've got the choice of the salted strawberry or the berry. The salted strawberry is also packing 300 milligrams of sodium as an increase, whereas the berry has 200 milligrams. Both make them perfect for the conditions we have in Australia, yeah whereas most gels on the market do not have sodium within them. What Bix has done here is take the recipe for the gels that work so well, that 1.8 ratio that is very, very friendly on the stomach and added a soft, subtle, but very tasty twist that you can dial in your race day and your training nutrition to that extra fine detail.
00:39:06
Speaker
As you know, bix has been supporting the show from the start and it literally helps keep the podcast coming to you every week. So if you want to support the show, level up your own nutrition game, head over to the Bix website, use our brand new code PEAK, P-E-A-K for 20% off at
Australian Athletes' Highlights
00:39:21
Speaker
checkout. And with that, let's get back to the show.
00:39:23
Speaker
The main news of this week, were one of the events we already talked about, but the other big event that was happening in America, if you were hiding under a rock, was Western States Endurance Run. um And it was a it was a big year, lots of um lots of drama. We talked a little bit about it last week, and I listened back to see who I picked, and I didn't pick it that well.
00:39:46
Speaker
I think I picked – I think the three people I picked in the top three of the men all pulled out. Did Dan Jones finish? I don't think he did. No. I picked Jim – yeah, Jim, Hans, and then ah then Dan Jones, and they all pulled out. So my picks weren't that good. But I did pick Jen Lichter, who won the women's race, and she broke the course record, which was – ah Courtney Dahl-Walter's course record in 2023, which was an incredible time back then 15.29.33 and Jen So that was that was really epic to watch. And
00:40:30
Speaker
yeah it was cool to see how fast she was running the whole race. She had Riley Brady in second place, who was sort of there while I was watching. Um, when I first turned it on in the morning, Riley was like right there still looked threatening. um but then did drop away. Jen sort of ran away a little bit at the end, but Riley still ran a really fast time of 15.42.14. don't know.
00:41:02
Speaker
That might be the third fastest all time, I think. So super, super fast run for Riley there. And then Marion Hogan... came third again, um again was closing pretty well um and also ran, I think, her fastest time in 1551. So yeah, that was a that was a really cool race to watch. Did you guys get to see that one at all?
00:41:27
Speaker
Yeah, i loved watching Jen Licto coming in, like that last road stretch when she was like a couple of minutes away from the course record and like you couldn't really tell like how far she had to go. It was just so exciting.
00:41:40
Speaker
um Yeah, I had to have it on mute at that stage because of like, there was a phone call or something. I can't remember what it was, but I didn't know what was happening. Like I couldn't tell if she was going to make it or not. And I watched some of the men finish. So I had a rough idea of how far it was. And then as the camera came around and you could see the track and I was like, oh, she's going to be just under. But yeah, it was very cool. It was still a bit of bit of drama at the end, even though she had the win. Still like, was she going to come under? Wasn't she? And yeah, she did sneak under.
00:42:09
Speaker
Yeah, it was pretty inspiring. I um actually jumped on Amazon after watching that and bought some of those like star tattoos because I was like, they're so cool.
00:42:20
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. you gonna You're going to join the sparkles for the next race? Maybe. i i was I was like, i was I'm like, I'm influenced. i'm I'm not sure I could pull that off, but I'm influenced. Maybe maybe Mikey could add it to his hairdo and it might, um he's just dropped off. So we'll just we' just send it to him in a message and say that he's got ah he's got to rock that for CCC. But um yeah, that was that was very cool. um Thanks Mikey for jumping on, but he's he's just had to drop off. um
00:42:52
Speaker
Although he's back. Yeah. Not sure if he purposefully dropped off or not. we thought I thought you must have left, Mikey. Did you have any... um We were just talking about the um the the women's race. did you have Did you catch any of it?
00:43:09
Speaker
Yeah. watch the hour I reckon I watched the whole thing until we watched Jen lick to climb out of the canyon in like over into Devil's Thumb.
00:43:22
Speaker
think I think I saw jen Lichter and Riley Brady climb out of Devil's Thumb. Um, which I think is at like a hun is it is halfway. Yeah. The top of devil's time is, is 50 miles.
00:43:37
Speaker
Um, yeah. And she was just like, tick, tick, tick, tick the whole way the climb. And then this very steepest pinch at the top, just hiking, looks so strong. And then i remember the, um, commentator saying like that she was in the best spirits of anyone that she'd seen all day. And that she was just super happy and smiling and chatty going through the aid station, which I think is so cool. Yeah. I'm a massive jet lifter fan.
00:44:01
Speaker
Yeah, I've like heard the name a lot in the last year, but I haven't like been following it that closely. And then like I knew that she was very good. And like some of the results we've seen this year of her um her doing the 100K at Black Canyon. And then like there was question marks whether she was going to make the 100 mile. um But yeah, since then, I've been like listening to Jen Lichter podcast because I was like, I've got to find out more about this person because I actually don't know. And like her story is incredible as well. So yeah, definitely a nice person to...
00:44:29
Speaker
a great person to like, you feel good rooting for her as well, because you're like, she's, she's a good person. She's, she's had some tough things happen and and it's awesome to see her sort of have such an amazing result.
00:44:42
Speaker
And like run an incredible time that we thought was like, I don't, I, I'm not sure. I think they thought that the the men might break the course record, but I'm not sure that they thought that the the women would. So I think, yeah, a super impressive time.
00:44:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry, going. might jump now. No worries. All right. See guys. I wish we had more time to chat and catch up with you guys. No, good. Thank you. worries. Thanks, Mikey. Catch you later.
00:45:09
Speaker
Hope the winter goes well. yeah See you. Yeah. See you. Bye. um Any other comments on the women's race, Jess? Um, oh, it was, yeah, like pretty also inspiring to see like Molly Seidel finish the race. I think she came in like 24 hours. Um, must've had a pretty rough day out there. Like, I don't know what happened, but, um, yeah, it looked pretty painful and I guess, yeah, it's, you sort of weigh up like the pros and cons of pulling like DNFing and going to finish. And I don't know. I think it is like a bit of, it's a bit inspiring and a bit of grit like shows a bit of grit to finish 100 miles when it's not your day yeah definitely we talked a bit about this last week because it's sort of like we were sort of saying how like how much that can take a toll on your body but at the right time for the person like it the person can decide if they need to finish um if they don't need to finish for whatever reason then maybe be pulling the pins a good idea and we saw a bit of that happening which again like i don't
00:46:14
Speaker
think that's a bad idea for some of the people that did dnf but um like obviously molly wanted to get it done and like it's pretty cool to watch someone suffer through and and finish off like that because like it's not an easy thing to just keep pushing when you're like i can imagine she was in in a pretty hard spot so yeah cool to see that happen yeah um Probably one last, like obviously we could go, maybe I'll just shout out the whole top 10, but um one and and the first one of that in fourth place, probably and and a good person to shout out was Caitlin Fielder from New Zealand who came fourth and she was charging home. Like the whole time I was watching, she was taking...
00:46:58
Speaker
positions and she was getting closer and closer in time to the top ladies so yeah she had a ripper run and she ran yeah 15 57 so run sub 16 which is super quick time and in in a lot of years um that would that would definitely win. um Obviously, this year was a quick year being the temps were quite good, but also like the the caliber of women in this field was crazy and led to some some really fast times across the board. The top 10 all being under 1645, which I'm sure there's been winning years, which has been under that. um So anyway, the fifth was Lottie Brinks.
00:47:35
Speaker
Sixth was Tara Dawa. Seventh was Fu Zhaozhang. Eighth was Fiona Pascal. Ninth was Huao Ha. And tenth was Hannah Allgood. And I think our very own Australian, ah Holly Ranson was 15th in, I don't have her exact time here in front of me. There it is. 1746.45. super fast time. yeah i don't know for sure.
00:48:02
Speaker
sorry go Yeah, potentially the fastest time by an Australian male or female. Yeah, it's unvalidated, but we think it is. So if you are faster than that, sorry, but we think Holly may have run the fastest time for male or female at Western States for an Australian, which is really cool. So huge shout out to Holly. And yeah, she looked like she had a great time, I'm sure. We're going to try and get something from her over the next couple of weeks, even just a short short snippet. So hopefully you hear from her. But um yeah, it was cool to follow her throughout the day. And like she was in very good company the whole day. There was like some very good people running filling out the top 20 in the women. So um yeah, a great run from Holly.
00:48:46
Speaker
In the men's race, there was a bit of carnage early. Hans Troyer ran really fast from the get-go, actually had a bit of a gap. I didn't watch a lot of this stuff, so I don't know it all very well, but essentially he had he was in the lead and then there was a few people behind um in sort of second and third. Francesco Puppi and Jim Wormsley and Vincent Bouillard were around and then a few few more guys. as well. um
00:49:17
Speaker
Then about halfway through, I think Jim Wormsley had to pull out. I'm not exactly sure what place he was in when he pulled out. And then shortly after that, Hans Troyer, he had to pull as well. And that's where Francesco Puppi took the lead and he held it for some time. But then the eventual winner... in also a course record and maybe I think about 20 minutes faster than the course record. So incredibly quick time, but they were just pushing each other all day was Vincent Bouillard from France.
00:49:49
Speaker
sort of Not that anyone thought he was a one-hit wonder, but he didn't have a great day last year at Western States. um He did win UTMB back in 2024, and that was like a shock win. So we have seen some other results from him that have been very good as well, but this obviously is another huge win for him, taking his joins a sort of small rank of people who have won both Western States and UTMB. So an incredible run from him.
00:50:19
Speaker
running through Francesco in the past, in the last sort of like, I think maybe in the last 20, 30K and then holding onto the finish. Francesco Puppi was in second after somewhat of an interrupted season. We were talking about him last week and saying that like, I i was sort of wasn't predicting him to be up so high because it just looked like he had had maybe too many interruptions, but he showed, I think last year, we he sort of showed how great he was and he's sort of run really well again and sort of proven, that he can still have a great result, even maybe if his season hasn't been perfect. And he ran 13.51. And then third was Ryan Montgomery, who maybe was somewhat of a surprise, although he was seventh last year. um He ran a huge PB. I think it was like two hours faster than he ran last year to run 13.53.
00:51:10
Speaker
So that was the the top three. any Did you catch much of this race? Any thoughts, Jess? Yes. oh Um, I didn't catch ah you probably know a bit more than I do, to be honest. I didn't watch, I didn't see, um, cause I got back from my long run pretty late. I didn't see the finish of the men's, but I did like before my long run, I was like, oh, Hans Troyer was winning. And then when I got back, like he wasn't even in the picture. So yeah, it must've been pretty exciting.
00:51:39
Speaker
Yeah, well, when I woke up, I obviously got off a bit later than you probably. This shows how much training I'm doing in the moment. But when I got up, hands wasn't in the picture. like There was no no hands, no no gym, no killing. And I was like, I don't know what's happening here. So I had to like, I think Sim gave us gave us a bit of an update on the chat. She put it on double speed and watched everything and gave us the the quick recap. So yeah, it was it was a bit crazy. there's lots of moving parts. But yeah, it's state those top three, I think,
00:52:08
Speaker
were the top three roughly when I started watching. I think hands had already dropped and um they just, yeah, Vincent took the took the lead. and But they were pretty close all the way through to the end. So it was definitely still quite interesting to watch. And then filling out the top 10 in fourth also from France was Thomas Cardin, who we talked a little bit about being like this French athlete who's just won like heaps of races in Europe. And this is his first time I think first time racing 100 miles, first time racing in America. So it was a cool result from him. He ran 14.07. Fifth, like this is one of the coolest but cool pieces of footage I've seen. I saw it on Michael Dunstan's Instagram. It's Zach Miller's finish because I didn't actually watch it. He ran the last 600 meters in like,
00:52:58
Speaker
315s or something like he's absolutely sprinting it's so funny to watch saw that it's crazy i kind of like just the grit on his face like it would be so painful yeah and it it didn't look like a good 315s either like he was working hard to run that 315s he did not look smooth Well, like, I mean, even to be able to move like that at the end of 100 miles. Exactly. yeah yeah. So, and he definitely didn't need to. He wasn't in a sprint finish. So, yeah, that was that was pretty cool to see. Just, like, his yeah he's always here. I think, like, I don't know his story that well, but that people talk to talk about him in, like, this sort of, like, he's very well-renowned and and people, like, always showing heart. So, yeah, very much. Yeah.
00:53:40
Speaker
He finished like that, but still ran a very fast time as well. And then in sixth was Adam Peterman, seventh Jeff McAvro, eighth Canyon Woodward, ninth Will Murray and tenth Hiroki Kai. And he finished just before Jen Lichter finished. So yeah I think Jen Lichter was 11th overall. Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:02
Speaker
which, yeah, incredible incredible race all round um because, yeah, there were still some very good men coming in after that as well. So, yeah, cool to see the women and the men racing together there. It's interesting when they're in the in the same race like that, um how it how it all plays out. And often there's not a lot of sort of women running through the men in the back half. Seems to be how it plays out.
00:54:30
Speaker
Yeah, it seems to be like that with the longer distances. Like they just get closer and closer. Definitely. Definitely. And we'll we'll get back to another occasion of that happening in a bit. But the other big race on the weekend, which we talked briefly to Mikey about, was the Marathon du Mont Blanc in Chamonix. So that had a 42K, a 23K, 90K and a VK.
00:54:59
Speaker
um The big, I guess the ninety k is pretty well-renowned, but the 42K has been part of the Golden Trail series over the past few years, every on and off, not every year, but on and off. So it's quite well-renowned, I think, um and definitely had some really high-quality athletes there. And probably the the story of the day was Tove Alexanderson blowing another course record out of the water on what Mikey said was quite a hot day and maybe a slightly longer course than it usually is. So she she ran, ah first woman to run under four hours there for the 42K with I think about two and a half thousand meters of vert, 15 minute course record from Judith Vita. And there's been some incredible women run this over the years. So yeah, just such a
00:55:48
Speaker
Another incredible performance for Tove um was probably the big story of the day. um And the other results in that race in second was Ida Amelie Robsalm, who's ASICS runner, who Mikey was saying was staying with him. And Naomi Lang was in third there um in the men's race. We had Remy Bonet took the win. Yeah.
00:56:16
Speaker
And Frederic Tronchard took second off the back of yeah winning the European short trail a few weeks ago. So, yeah, good good little fight between Remy and Frederic, I think. And then Manuel Morales was in third.
00:56:30
Speaker
um So, yeah, I watched a little bit of this. It was... um I was sort of busy doing some bits and pieces, had it on the background, but it's very visually quite nice because there's lots of nice mountain views in the background.
00:56:42
Speaker
Did you see any of the race there, Jess, or any thoughts on the results? No, I didn't see much of this one. um But, yeah, it's pretty cool seeing like what Tove is doing and I think it'll just like bring all the other women up to her level hopefully, which is exciting.
00:57:01
Speaker
I think so. i think it's definitely like got that. It's got like that seems to happen across sports, but definitely in running a lot in terms of those barriers that are broken by one person and that sort of rising tide lifts everyone up. And i think even though she's sort of winning these races by a little bit, there'll be those people will go after it and try and challenge themselves to be as good as her. And then it'll lift lift everyone up. Not that the women's field is is not already super strong, but you can see how like how competitive that's going to become.
00:57:31
Speaker
um over the coming years, a bit scarily so, I think. Definitely. Just looking at like that race, she they didn't actually start at the same time as the men. The women started first, half an hour before, so they weren't sort of in the women's field, but she was, I think, 11th in the men's in the overall field, which was like a super fasts um super fast men's field as well. So, yeah, incredible run from from Tove there. um just showing us again uh i don't know she's doing one of the races that i assume she's doing occ um so that will be that'll be really interesting to see how she goes there yeah are you running ah you're running occ yes i am there you go you get to you get to take on tove ah hopefully i get to shake hands with her at start yeah yeah Yeah, she's super nice as well. Very quiet, but yeah, super nice. so
00:58:30
Speaker
I'm very humble for how good she is because she's obviously like she's just she's so focused on just being the best version of herself that I don't think she really – she's not so focused on like the accolades or anything like that, which is like I feel like a very cool thing to see as well.
00:58:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Nice one. All right. Well, that takes us through the two big news topics of the week. um We'll go into some results. We had some Australians running overseas and we might start with the Australians running at Marathon Mont-de-Blanc. Mikey, as we were talking to, he ran the 23K and he came in 42nd there. So yeah, incredibly deep as we were talking about. And Ian Best, who's just headed overseas.
00:59:20
Speaker
Again, I think he's spending a bit of a time in Europe this this time, like a bit of a block. He came 50th. I think he was maybe like three minutes, four minutes behind Mikey. So a decent run. But I think, again, I'm not sure how happy he was with his race. I think he said it was quite tough as well. But Ian, the night before, had run the VK.
00:59:41
Speaker
um and he ran, he came 18th in the VK. So that was sort of straight up from the valley floor, 1,000 meters, 3.8K. So pretty cool event. I think he was about 43 minutes. So again, I don't think he was super happy with his time, but he only just got over there. So bit of a but blowing out the cobwebs. Be cool to see what he gets up to for the rest of the season.
01:00:07
Speaker
um and then in italy so not too far from there at lavarito which is one of uh the utmb events used to be a sort of its own event quite a historic race in the dolomites in italy and then the the big race has several distances uh but the the queen race is the hundred and twenty k and we had Lucy Bartholomew running there and she had an incredible day. i was sort of like watching the splits all day and she was she was like leading the entire time until like the last maybe like 10K or definitely like the last 10% of the 10%, 10, 15% of the course. So it's very cool to see her there.
01:00:50
Speaker
She did get passed right at the end by Sumaya Buddha who is an incredible athlete. um and finished just 90 seconds behind her. So, yeah, that one, that was like ah Lucy's already had some fantastic results this year, but I think she's even stepped it up again because, yeah, definitely a big...
01:01:14
Speaker
Lavarito is a very big event and um both her and Samaya Buddha ran under ah the course record, which was held by Courtney DeWalter. So yeah, super quick time.
01:01:28
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was a really exciting another really exciting race. And um I assume if it was hot at Chamonix, it must have been pretty hot there as well. So like to go under the course record in hot conditions is super impressive. Yeah, definitely. It was definitely sunny and they look very wet at the end. So either sweat or water. us So I think it was, I assume it was quite warm.
01:01:52
Speaker
Even when I was there, I was at Laboreto a few years ago, around the twenty k there. And I remember it being... It was like, cause it's in the valley, like you still go up to high places, but in the valley in Cortina, which is about a thousand meters, it was like 28, 30 degrees.
01:02:08
Speaker
Um, because it sort of is at this time of year. Um, so yeah, if it was conditions like that, it's pretty impressive to run that fast when it's, they spent a long time in the sun as well.
01:02:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Lucy, like we've always known that she's been like with her results at UTMB, we've always known that she's been like up there with like the world-class runners, but I think she's just really solidifying her spot in that kind of like top echelon of um female trail runners. So yeah. Definitely. She's just getting better and better. Like I think we've seen her sort of coming back maybe post-COVID, various bits and pieces happening. And she sort of got a bit stronger each year. And then like those two top tens at UTMB and then last year's top ten was probably...
01:02:56
Speaker
She was a bit closer in time to the front. And now she's like, to me, she's like in the conversation. Like I'm thinking top five, top three at UTMB is looking like where she's headed. Like this, yeah both this and Transvolcania, the results she's putting out there, the the women that she's racing pretty close to.
01:03:17
Speaker
um yeah it's like she beat Esther Schillag in who came fifth who yeah we know is an incredible athlete as well um so yeah I think she's definitely she definitely looks like she's in um in great shape and I hope she holds that together and has a good final block through to I assume she's doing I'm pretty sure she's doing UTMB Yeah, I'm not sure. um We'll have to ask. We'll have to follow. Yeah.
01:03:45
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully we can get her on at some point. And I know she's she's got a lot going on. she's She's always often doing bits and pieces, but hopefully we can even maybe grab her for a quick chat at some point. um shit This was another race where like at the I was watching the splits like early on, maybe 20K into the race. I think she was 30th overall. And in the end,
01:04:10
Speaker
she was In a lot of the day, she was 10th overall, and she only got passed by Sumaya in the last stretch to come 11th overall. So again, like these two women showed very prominently in the overall field as well, and they moved up very strongly through the field um to be really not like super bit far behind near the end. So yeah, some fantastic running there in Italy ah from Lucy.
01:04:40
Speaker
And jumping across to, I think this was Czech Republic. Yes, Czech Republic. We have the World Masters Mountain Running Champs. We're just going to shout out the Aussies that were running there. So we had Zbignac Hanis running the uphill and he came twentieth And he was fifth in his age group of, in the 40-year-old age group.
01:05:08
Speaker
And then we had Louise Fairfax, who is an orienteer from Tasmania, but also a trail runner. Here we go, running the uphill 137th. And she came second in her age group, which is a 75 age category. So well done, Louise. Big shout out there. Awesome to see.
01:05:26
Speaker
Still running up mountains at the age of, or what, I'm not sure the exact age category, so I don't want to get her age wrong, but around 75. So Louise.
01:05:37
Speaker
um Medalist, Australian medalist. There we go. um And then we also had Stephen Brown. he ran both the long distance and the up down in the long distance. He was 42nd, seventh in his age group of the forties. And in the up down, he was 84th, which was 18th in his age group of the forties. So yeah, some top tens there from Aussies in the age groups at the world masters mountain running champs. So very cool to see.
01:06:06
Speaker
and then we might head to some domestic races do you want to grab any of these you've got any of these ones up jess um i can quickly do um the shri chin moi beautiful we had one of the canberra trail series events on over the weekend So these ones have typically been some shorter distances this year. um So there was a 12.8k and an 8k. And this one was around Mount Ainslie and Mount Madura, which is just like a really central local mountain in the middle of Canberra.
01:06:43
Speaker
um So in the 12.8K, we had Ben Silk in first place for the men in 51.12 and Britt Harridan was second in 56. Sorry, Britt Harridan was first female in 56.01.
01:06:59
Speaker
um And then in the 8K, we had Cody Clarkson was the first male in 29.15 and Louise Sharp was the first female in 36.17.
01:07:11
Speaker
Very cool. Nice one. And is that, that's, where does the course go for that one? Like, is it around Man Ainsley? Does it go up and over? yep it starts at the bottom, at the base of Ainsley and it goes up to the top and then it goes down over the saddle across to Madura. um Not up to the, right to the top of Madura, but like sort of halfway and then back down.
01:07:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's so cool. These look so, like, I'm a bit jealous of these, like, races that just happen, like, locally. I feel like over time they could become, like, a little bit like the, say, the cross country in Victoria where there's lots of people that are competitive but maybe not, like, elite, elite, although there is elites there as well. But there's, like, a big depth of people who you don't have to be the very best but you can still go out and, like, have a really fun race of, like, trying to beat similar people around you and still be competitive. And I feel like these sorts of series have like a lot of potential to sort of build to that. I see Brit runs them a lot. Does she use them as training? Yeah.
01:08:19
Speaker
Yeah, she's got this um goal to like get the course record at all of them. so Nice. I love that. That's so cool. Like it's it's cool having these sort of like local races and like, yeah, like what does a course record mean in in the long run? But like it's still such a cool goal to go after. Like and I love like thinking back to the like the course records I have. Like I shouldn't announce this on the podcast, but there was my my um sister-in-law sent me a post from her, her partner lives in Mildura and we went up there for like one of the family holidays a few years ago and I ran the Mildura park run and they have in like their, I don't know, 500th one and I've still got the course record. So they like shared a photo of when I got the course record like three years ago or something.
01:09:03
Speaker
It's a very easy course record. If anyone wants to go out there and get it, um feel free. But like, i don't know, it's cool. It's cool personal challenge. Like that really means nothing. No one cares except... me and i don't care that much but like it's nice to have those little goals so i love yeah i mean the people of camberl love it like brit's like the trail queen over here like everyone knows her when you go on a run with her like everyone's just like hey brit hey brit it's so good Queen of Canberra. I love it.
01:09:32
Speaker
Well done, Britt. That's awesome. um All right. Heading up to Queensland, we had the Byron Rainforest Run. ah Looks like I don't have an exact distance on this.
01:09:47
Speaker
I don't know the distance. I'm going to to 40 kilometers based off the time. So in the women, the winner was Katie Lovas in five hours, 55, maybe closer to 40 or 45, depending on how heel it is anyway. Tara Douglas was in second in 6 hours 29 and Larissa Witten in third in 6.36. And then in the men, Luke Nichols was first in 4 hours 28. Reece Lawler was second in 4 hours 32 and Patty Main was third in 4 hours 51. There's also a race called the Posties Round, which was won by Penelope Hill in 3.06.55. And on the men's side, Aaron Dower in 2 hours 12.
01:10:31
Speaker
And Nightcap Nudge it was won by Aislinn Hanley in 1h26.36 and in the men, Michael Pollan in 107.58. So, sorry, I didn't have heaps of details about that one, but well done to those winners. The King of the me Mountain, 27km in New South Wales. The winner...
01:10:53
Speaker
ah was Vlad Shatrov in the men in one hour, 54, 55, which is pretty quick for 27. So nice moving there. And then Morgan Maloney in the women in two hours, 28, 53.
01:11:08
Speaker
Had a one of the, I don't know if this is, I never know with the Adelaide ones, whether they're part of the trail running series or not. it doesn't have their branding. So i assume maybe not. It was called Lofty's Revenge.
01:11:21
Speaker
fifty So it was a fifty k Beautiful. um And in the women, the winner was Isabel Prior in 5 hours 39.
01:11:32
Speaker
And then in the men, the winner was Josh Edwards in 4 hours 14. Cool. so And I'll take us to Wondai Country Running Festival.
01:11:45
Speaker
and don't know where Wondai is. Sounds like it might be. off the beaten track a little bit. I just Googled it. Where is it? Oh, yeah, a bit inland. Not too inland. off Inland from the Sunshine Coast. So they had a few different distances there. They had the Yesbergs Earth Moving Trail Run, 21K.
01:12:08
Speaker
And the winner there on the women's side was Jane Lucas in 1 hour 51. And in the men, Oscar Booth, 1 hour 29. pretty close actually. So the others, sorry, in the women was Rebecca Rickards was second in one hour 52 and Abby Dunlop in one hour 57. And in the men, it was Bill Hennessy in one hour 31 50 and Matt Hampton in one hour 32 50. So some pretty close running there in that race.
01:12:36
Speaker
And then we had the King of the mountain in WA. Is that one of their trail series races? No, this is a separate one one that is organized by um the WA Marathon Club.
01:12:53
Speaker
So it's probably, yeah, it's kind of more similar to like the Victorian – cross country series where like it, there's some road races and there's some sort of more traily kind of courses. um But this is one of their trail ones that's out at Kalamunda, which is um around where Vlad lives out in the Perth Hills. um So from memory, it's around, must be around 10,
01:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, must be around 10k and it is like pretty fast, like um sort of start on like a road and then you get onto a fire road and then um there's the hardest part of the race is like sort of in the middle where there's a steep short kind of climb and then like a ah rocky technical descent and then you run back up the road.
01:13:48
Speaker
um so yeah, it's definitely a fun one to do in WA. But, yeah, so the winners we had Thuy Dugan winning the women's race in 54.14 and Dionne Walwook winning the men's race in 45.11. There go. Was there also, because I saw something from Ben Leeson, like another one that was also called King of the Mountain, and they got two? no Because um on this website there's only one, but, yeah, I found another website that has a King of the Mountain
01:14:21
Speaker
um from the w ah that's like a 16K route. i yeah I don't have results for it, so I'm not sure. i thought, yeah, the King of the Mountain was sixteen k so that's why i I was confused. So maybe, sorry, the race I was just explaining.
01:14:39
Speaker
was not ah that you know why we've just given it we've just done a new zealand race it was on the same day i think james has accidentally found the wrong link so we've that was a race in new zealand i've just realized because i went to the event page and it says welcome to puan noi which is definitely a ah maori word um I think that is a merry word anyway. And I'm guessing, yeah, i saw it yeah New Zealand, Puani. Puani Surf Last Saving Club. Sorry, everyone. But there was a race. There was ah the race in, I'll see if I can find it.
01:15:14
Speaker
The King of the Mountain does exist in WA. And Ben Leeson did win. Yeah, i was like, I'm pretty sure it's 16K, but then i was looking at the times. I was like, oh, no. That's not right. Yeah, so you were right. It is 16K. Ben Leeson won and I think also took the course record from what he said on Strava. And he ran 101.35, which is moving for a 16K course. I think it had about 480 meters of climb. So another strong hit out from him. In second was Ollie Wright in 104.12 and then Kent Jenkinson in 108.12.
01:15:49
Speaker
And then in the women, first was Petra Geragian. I've said that wrong maybe. I feel like we've called out Petra a few times. She's a legend over in WA, isn't she? Yeah.
01:16:01
Speaker
Yeah, she does just about every race over there. And she's in that 45 to 49 category. So she's still still crushing, which is cool to see. She ran one hour 17.29. And second was Maluka Bancroft in hour 19.23. And third was Amy Thompson in one hour 24.27. But it took me... There's a lot of people in this race.
01:16:29
Speaker
Pretty deep. so Yeah, it's a big group. Definitely popular. I say Ben ran 101 and then 60th ran 130. So there's people finishing like that's two to a minute on average.
01:16:42
Speaker
Yeah. The running scene in WA is actually really strong. Yeah, so cool. People love it. Love that. Awesome to see. And the WA Marathon Club, like it's super, like the events are really affordable compared to the Perth Trail Series.
01:17:00
Speaker
um Yeah, that's probably why they got a a bit more of a deeper field at that one. Yeah, I think Ben was sort of talking about that as well. Like he was saying, like if he's just using it as a training run, it was like maybe the Trail Series is a bit outprices him, whereas maybe this is a bit better. And I think it's similar with like the cross country in Victoria, like the if even if you're not a member of the club i think maybe it costs 60 to do one of the races whereas trail race is probably going to cost you at least 100 um or maybe 80 to 90 so it's a little bit cheaper um but yeah cool to see some some very deep running in a more like because it definitely more of a trail race than a cross-country race this one with that men of vert so very cool to see
01:17:44
Speaker
yeah Nice one. So that's all the results for this week. We um we wanted to sort of catch Mikey for as much of the the news as possible. So we didn't get a bit of an update from you, Jess. So maybe we'll finish off with that. How have you been going? We haven't heard from you for a couple of weeks. What have been up to?
01:18:01
Speaker
Yes, I've been good. um i had a little bit of a setback a couple of weeks ago. I was supposed to race the Cohen Winter Trails, but unfortunately came down a bit sick the week before. so yeah, I'm just not taking too many risks before I head overseas. Just like I don't want to prevent myself from being able to train when I'm over there and like, yeah.
01:18:27
Speaker
just making some smart decisions.
Training Reflections and Skills
01:18:29
Speaker
um But yeah, the last week of training was a lot better. So bounce back from the sickness. And I've been on kind of like a Wednesday ah session and then weekend session long run kind of schedule. Very cool. um which is a lot harder than I expected. Like, three I don't know why. I just thought, like, combining the long run and a session, like, would make things easier, but it's it's probably harder.
01:18:59
Speaker
Yeah, the long run just becomes harder. um But no, it's been good. I really like um having an extra day in between long run and then like the faster interval session. So like waiting until the Wednesday, I feel like you just feel a lot more recovered. um And yeah, I've been, I got back out into kind of like the bigger mountains on the weekend, which I haven't been to this year, um which was fun. And I am, I was super surprised at like how good I felt like, um yeah, not really, it wasn't really phased by the longer climb, like felt super strong and
01:19:41
Speaker
my descending has just gotten a lot better. Like I, it's really funny. Like I can't even explain why, like I haven't done anything specific, but um it's like, you just, you don't overthinking it anymore. And I remember like when I first got into trail running, like I used to ask people like, Oh, like, how do you descend so quickly? Like, I just can't do it. And they would never really like have an answer they just do it and now i totally understand that i'm like it's just a feeling it's kind of like when you learn to ride a bike like you just you just learn like how to do it yeah it's so interesting because like i i get that question a lot and i'm like i just i don't have a good answer for you but people get so a bit frustrated because they're like what so stop gatekeeping just tell me know I'm like, but there isn't. And like, I think that's something where like a lot of the best descenders I've, or the people who like are just very good at descending without like just come to it being very good at dis descending have come from some sort of sport where they've had to do that. So whether that's like,
01:20:48
Speaker
maybe skiing, which is a bit rougher, like off-piss skiing or orienteering or maybe even just like hiking where they've spent a lot of time in technical terrain. Like those people just, it happens a bit quicker, but then people who maybe come from more of a road or track background, it takes a bit longer, but it's pretty cool that you've you've reached that stage. You've joined the yeah joined the downhill club.
01:21:11
Speaker
It's so fun. like Yeah, so good. I love to hear when people start to get, like, go from being stressed about downhills to being like, I love the downhills. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's so good. And yeah, I'm excited to give it get over to Europe now, like, and um yeah, got some plans locked in So I'll head over in like a month's time and have, like four weeks before OCC to train on the course, which will be so cool.
01:21:38
Speaker
I'm really excited. That's awesome. And that must be like such a such good timing as well, like to have that confidence boost on the downhills when you're like going to go overseas where like you're doing a race where the downhill part is undeniably important. And a lot of Australians who have done it before have been like, oh that downhill was like, that was the bit that
Race Preparation and Confidence
01:21:56
Speaker
that got me. So like it it must feel good that you can go away and like you can maximize your maximize how good you can get on that because you're sort of like you've got that baseline feeling i can do this yeah yeah i'm not too worried about like the technicality or anything like that i think um like obviously it's the size of the descents maybe
01:22:20
Speaker
Yeah, and like the distance of the race, like is quite a lot more than what I've ever done. I love how it's creeped up, hasn't from 50. Yeah. It's very quickly got to 60. Yeah.
01:22:32
Speaker
yep and yeah because i've been kind of keeping the volume pretty low this year like i feel like i do still have a fair bit of work to do to feel confident over that distance but um now that we're getting closer like i'm definitely starting to ramp things up so i think that confidence will come over the next few weeks hopefully yeah awesome awesome and are you still you still working with coach kate Yes. Yeah. Cool.
01:23:00
Speaker
and And what was the, what was the session? what's What's the sort of sessions in the long run look like? Like, what are you, what are you doing? um So we started out like not too crazy. um But for example, like this weekend I have 10 K like easy to start and then two by six K like at threshold heart rate over trial.
01:23:27
Speaker
Cool. And then finish with 12K. No. It adds up to 30K, whatever that is. Yeah, cool. Nice.
01:23:39
Speaker
Yeah, and then aiming for like up to 1,400 meters over that 30K. Awesome. That sounds meaty. sounds maybey Yeah. Yeah. I've got a good plan for where I want to go for it. um There's like a trial called Stockyard over here, which is, it starts with like a really steep three Ks. Like I think you climb 500 meters in the first few k's and then it kind of flattens out and there's another little climb so i think i'll do like that first 10 k's like up and then um practice like kind of conserving with like hiking on the steep bit at the start and then i'll do like my 6k efforts along the kind of rolling part and then head back down should be a good session
01:24:29
Speaker
sounds good yeah i see a lot of canberra people headed out to stockyard i think ian best and patrick clark have been out there quite a bit this year yeah it's a really good one for like training for europe trails um yeah because it's just it's got that steepness and um we're really lucky at the moment because like there hasn't been much snow um unfortunate for like people that like skiing but yes for us trail runners it's kind of good yeah yeah definitely definitely awesome ah Well, that looks that all sounds
Injuries and Life Balance
01:25:01
Speaker
very promising. So excited to hear. And I think like sounds like you made smart choice the other week and like a bit like what Mikey was saying. He's sort of looking back and said, maybe I shouldn't have done that race when I wasn't quite right. And it's hard to make that decision in the moment.
01:25:16
Speaker
But yeah I think those sort of decisions pay dividends. Yeah, it it can be tricky, especially when you're kind of like at the end of sickness and you're kind of like, yeah oh I'm going to head out for a run anyway. Like I might as well do it. But then you just need to like be realistic and say, I'm going to like push myself harder than what I would if I'm just going for a run. So like that's going to stop me from like fully recovering. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
01:25:45
Speaker
Very cool. yeah um Well, yeah, nothing too much to add from me last week. We talked a little bit about what I've been up to, but yeah, just back doing some work, doing some swimming without my legs, which I nearly drowned, but I'm getting better at it. and that sounds I was definitely on your side with like, that's is so hard. I don't know how, Simone was like, it makes it easier. i just, yeah.
01:26:10
Speaker
I feel like I've done like one or two laps with a pool boy and I just like tapped out from there. so I was complaining about it to my physio and he said that it only he's he read or he someone's his understanding is that the legs only add 10%. So I should stop complaining. I reckon it really varies among people. like Probably. you have strong legs, like a weak upper body, like... you know the worst thing is because i'm slow i go in the slow lane but then there's some really slow people in the slow lane but it's really hard to overtake people when you can't kick so like i put my my arms are absolutely flooded with lactate from just trying to like overtake someone because like they're going way too slow but like
01:26:55
Speaker
Swimming is already hard to overtake. I find swimming overtaking really difficult because you have to, you've got a long distance to go and you're not going that much faster than them. So it's like, it's a bit difficult. And then you add not being able to use your legs and it's very difficult, yeah but I can't go in the medium lane because I'm way too slow. Like normally best I'm in the medium lane. So I, yeah I'm definitely a slow lane boy at the moment.
01:27:20
Speaker
Yeah. And are you able to jump on the bike a bit? I'm going to, my physio was still keen to me not to do too much. Like I've, um um I've set up my bike trainer now is it's all ready to go. i've done a few small rides, but just sort of kept it the same. So I would still say I'm not really training. I'm just like, I don't know. I feel like I'm doing gym training as if I'm,
01:27:45
Speaker
a runner or rehabbing, but the other exercise I'm doing is just like normal active person exercise. I wouldn't even call it like cross training yet. So, um, I don't feel unfit. My heart rate's gone up a bit. Um, just interesting, like looking at my data, like my resting heart rate's gone up a little bit. My, um, HRV has changed a bit. Um,
01:28:08
Speaker
But I don't feel like incredibly unfit. um I feel still pretty good gym wise, which is great. So yeah, that'll all come back. i I don't feel the rush to do it. I'm also just doing it for like the health benefits at the moment. So yeah, hopefully I can get stuck into the cycling a little bit more in the next month or so. yeah, as Mikey said, like you've got ah like ah got other priorities as well at the moment with um yeah the baby coming. So Yeah, I'm not i'm not stressing myself. Like it's interesting Micah was saying that and I was like, oh, I haven't really felt the same. and then I was like, oh, well, I haven't really been training for the last...
01:28:46
Speaker
So it's sort of like good timing that I haven't had that extra stress of training. I've been able to be present without worried about like going, oh, I'm affecting my training. I can just be yeah fully here, which is, yeah, nice little good timing really in reality. Like if I got injured last year when I was about to go to Europe, that would have sucked. But like the plan was always to be here, have a baby. So it's not the worst timing to be injured.
01:29:15
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think you'll look back and be like, this all happened for a reason. Like, I don't know, being present for this time in your life is is pretty special. so Exactly, exactly.
Upcoming Races and Community Updates
01:29:25
Speaker
Yeah, and Laura's doing really well, so it's um it's good it's good to feel like I can sort of facilitate that being as good as it can.
01:29:34
Speaker
Definitely. Nice one. All right. Well, that's all for us for this week. We've got a few races coming up. The trail running series number two in Anglesey, Mount Misery trail run in South Australia, Sydney trail half marathon in New South Wales, the winter version. Yeah, I think they also have a version they run at another time of year.
01:29:55
Speaker
North Head night run in New South Wales and the ASRWC Yipperini Trail in Northern Territory. So not as busy. It was a really busy week this weekend. um I'm not sure there's there's maybe a golden trail happening overseas, but yeah, lot week, but then yeah, things start to heat up overseas and definitely a few, lots of races looking forward to Transcend coming up soon and yeah, a few other things coming later in the year. So yeah, lots of cool stuff to look forward to and
01:30:27
Speaker
Get to hear from everyone headed off overseas. Jess is going to be the last person, one of the last people to abandon me. I feel like everyone's overseas at the moment. Yeah. James is about to go overseas. Sim's probably packing up soon in a month or so. I'm not sure if Vlad's going. We'll hear from, oh, Vlad's running um Gold Coast Marathon next week. So yeah, we'll hopefully hear from him after then. He's been a bit busy, but um hopefully we can get him on next week and he can tell us all about it.
01:30:54
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be cool. Good to the lads. And yeah, hopefully everyone has good week and thanks for listening.