Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 65: Vlad’s Marathon PB, Training When Recovering from Illness, and How to Deal with Races Going Wrong
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Welcome to Episode 65 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick and Vlad Ixel as they recap Vlad’s 2:26 Marathon PB at Gold Coast Marathon and Sim’s training as she recovered from illness; before going deep on a listener question about how to mentally deal with the fact that for totally unpredictable or sometimes unseen reasons, some races can just go wrong. Keep listening for some fast and close race results as usual!
Results
Trail running Series Anglesea: https://tomatotiming.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16&RId=29876&EId=1&dt=2&top=10
Sydney Trail Half Mara: https://180cadence.au/pages/sydney-trail-half-marathon-winter-2025-results
Mt Baranduda Trail Run: https://www.alpinetiming.com.au/results/r600/
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! 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!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Episode Overview
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 65 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick and it is the dynamic duo back today. I'm joined by Vlad Ixl and it's just the two of us. are we doing, Vlad?
00:00:21
Speaker
ah'm Doing well. I'm done with my marathon, so excited to get back into some trail running. I was going to say I am excited for this episode because we get a rundown of something probably a bit off topic in some ways, but on topic because it's you and that is Gold Coast Marathon and how it went down for you.
00:00:37
Speaker
And
Global Racing Update
00:00:39
Speaker
yeah, aside from that, we've got a listener question to get through and some really cool results from around the country, slightly less going on around the world this weekend, which was a bit of a relief for someone that feels an incessant need to watch as much as possible of the big races.
00:00:53
Speaker
So I had a bit more of a free weekend. We'll take it. Just in time for the
Vlad's Marathon Experience
00:00:57
Speaker
Tour de France to start too. So, you know, had a break. Anyways, for now, Vlad, you raced a marathon.
00:01:05
Speaker
You ran a PB. Well, fricking done. Absolutely love it. And those splits at the end, I knew you'd come home strong, but that was super strong and showed there was more in the tank. But talk me through the week beforehand and then how the race actually panned out. Yeah. So pretty much um committed to a full taper, which I haven't really for a long time.
00:01:24
Speaker
must say I was relieved to see that when it was popping up on Instagram, on um um Strava. I'm like, he's doing it. This is going to be good. We're good. No sandbagging. No, I didn't taper for this one. So that's why it went Yeah.
00:01:37
Speaker
Yeah, I had no excuses. um Now, kind of thought this is a good chance to like also slow things down for like 10 days before not just the marathon, but also before like the second part of the year and um the trip to Europe.
00:01:52
Speaker
So i thought, yeah, it's a good chance to um rest up, catch up on some other things at the same time. Everybody in my house was sick. So I was like, this is a good time to really take it down, take take take take it a bit slow on training. So my immune system is a bit stronger um and it worked well. I've pretty much like, I mean, the taper is not like that aggressive.
00:02:16
Speaker
um it started 10 days before the marathon um with a little bit of less volume. ah think realistically, um not doing a long run and just doing a 70 minute run.
00:02:29
Speaker
um That's when I started feeling a bit fresher. And then Yeah, Monday and Tuesday, normal double runs a little bit shorter than usual, but still double key session on Tuesday was six times one K at race pace um at the marathon race pace. So a pretty controlled session.
00:02:48
Speaker
um yeah And after that, yeah, it was two 20-minute jogs and, you know, some faster one-minute efforts three days before the race. um
Race Day Dynamics and Support
00:02:59
Speaker
So, yeah, definitely. Hang You just said to you just said two 20-minute jogs and I see two 45 to 50-minute jogs, but sure.
00:03:06
Speaker
Oh, no, sorry. They're two days before the race. Oh, okay. Yeah. was going to say, you really tape it off if all you did was the Tuesday session, then two 20-minute jogs for the rest of the week.
00:03:17
Speaker
um but i think Yeah, I think like you don't want to like obviously drop off too much. um If I did like, you know, a 200K week, like last thing you want to do is like drop it to like 100K week and then a 50K week.
00:03:33
Speaker
nine Yeah. So, yeah, it was, I mean, I felt like it was a big taper and I had a lot of extra time um and I was feeling pretty fresh. yeah Definitely
Future Marathon Goals and Speed Balance
00:03:44
Speaker
the travel.
00:03:45
Speaker
I mean, it's a long flight. It's a five-hour flight. So that was yeah not that fun. lost a whole day um traveling. What day did you travel? On the Thursday afternoon. Okay, nice.
00:03:58
Speaker
So I stayed two days in Brisbane. And then the day before the race, I got the train down to the Gold Coast, um stayed in a hostel right at the start line, which was good. um Wait, in a dorm or in your own room in a hostel? Yeah.
00:04:12
Speaker
dorm that was the only option oh my gosh there's literally nothing I mean 30,000 runners this city was packed there was not many options i thought there might be some cancellations you know some people pull out and and I kept on checking accommodation like every few days but there was nothing coming up there were obviously few places for like 700 a night
Trail vs. Road Running
00:04:33
Speaker
yeah which was a bit hard to justify but Also like being right there at the start line, like I'm talking about 100 meters from the start line. I did not even have a drop bag because I knew can just walk straight back to the hostel.
00:04:46
Speaker
um Okay, that that is pretty good. I'll take that. Yeah, that was really good. Was it quiet? Like did you actually get good sleep? Yeah, it was quiet because most of the people in the hostel were runners.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah, okay, that helps. Actually like a lot of international runners. I thought there might be like a lot of Aussies that coming from Brisbane or something. um But there was a few Asians from like Taiwan and Japan um and Singapore.
00:05:12
Speaker
So it looks like those people chose that. place for the location. Yeah. um I mean,
Simone's Training and Recovery
00:05:18
Speaker
the race starts at 6.15 in the morning, so you don't want to be staying too far.
00:05:23
Speaker
They do have the tram from 4 o'clock in the morning, but the tram kind of goes along the coast, so you don't want to be too far from the tram at the same time. Yeah. And it was like little pods, so it was a bit nicer that you had a bit of gravity.
00:05:38
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. I love the pods, actually. Those things are good. Yeah. I mean... I think that extra, yeah, the extra privacy was nice, but the mattress and the pillow were really, really bad.
00:05:52
Speaker
no. So that that was, yeah, that was a bit. um ah I cannot, no matter where I'm going or how good or how fancy it is, I cannot travel anywhere without my travel pillow. Like it's a really good memory foam, like really nice pillow to sleep on long term.
00:06:07
Speaker
I can't go anywhere without it. Yeah, i mean, if even if I would have brought my own pillow, the mattress was so bad. Okay, yeah. It was a bit, yeah. So i didn't have the best sleep, but I slept well the two nights before. So I had to wake up at 3.15 and I think I was up probably at one o'clock and could not fall asleep because it was just so uncomfortable.
00:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, that's always what happens. But talk me through your entire like pre-race routine, what you did from the time you woke up to the race start. Yeah, so pretty much just had um like a small bowl of rice um just before I had.
00:06:44
Speaker
Plain rice, anything on top? plain rice just super plain rice i can't stomach plain rice it has to have like well i'll put so to be fair if i want if want savory i can just put salt on salt and usually some olive oil and then it goes down really sweet or in the morning sometimes i'll have rice and i'll literally just mix jam through it it's like a sort of rice pudding i guess you could take some soy sauce with you and it would be pretty easy to get down Yeah, I just find that at some point, like much sooner than otherwise, the rice starts to almost feel like clag glue kind of stuff in my mouth. I don't know. It's just it gets old old quickly.
00:07:18
Speaker
ah think if it's warm, it's okay. So that's those microwave cups. Oh, okay. Those aren't too bad. I feel like those have a little bit of oil or something on them. Yeah, probably 3% oil or something like that. for Yeah, yeah.
00:07:30
Speaker
So it's not, it wasn't too bad. um But yeah, I just wanted to get that in with the coffee
Managing Race Disappointments
00:07:36
Speaker
straight away. And then I had um some bicarb tablets from the chemists.
00:07:42
Speaker
How much bicarb? How many tablets did this go around? I had 10. Okay. So I had 10 with one of the big, big gels. um And then...
00:07:53
Speaker
And a lot of electrolytes because the news that that day was really humid. So, I mean, I got to say Gold Coast, some really incredible weather, Brisbane as well. um It was a nice free days where like it's a lot cooler in Perth than than there. So it was really nice there. But it was pretty warm, like, you know, marathon day probably got to like 23, 24.
00:08:16
Speaker
yeah I probably would have finished. It was probably maybe 20, 21. I walked to the start line with just shorts and my singlet like it was that warm.
00:08:27
Speaker
yeah So I had to make sure that I have a lot of electrolytes and I started the day before and then in the morning as well had a fair amount of electrolytes. um and then had another gel 20 minutes before start.
00:08:40
Speaker
Do you carb load for one or two days before? um One day. So one day I'll just stay away from fiber and literally just had rice. um i don't I don't know. I just feel like rice sits a bit better. I've tried it a few times with like bread and pasta, but I feel like rice just works a little bit better.
00:08:57
Speaker
Yep. um and um I don't know. i think rice tastes good as well. i mean, I'm not a big fan fan of like microwave food, but, don't know, one day before the race, it's okay to have free three or four microwaved rice packs.
00:09:11
Speaker
ye And it's been working well for me. So um um at the same time, I was having a high carb drink as well throughout the day, um the day before. And yeah, so i had the other gel, got on the start line, still dark, um nice and warm. And I left my bottles at the aid stations.
00:09:29
Speaker
um So that was the first for me, which was cool. Was this like because you were sub-elite or is that something they allowed? I the last person
Frequent Racing Strategy
00:09:39
Speaker
on that list for the bottle tables, which meant that my bottles were on the last table right, right at the back.
00:09:46
Speaker
um And actually like they were so far out that once i almost fell because I had to reach so far into that table to try and pick it. And then three bottles I just could not reach.
00:09:58
Speaker
Oh, dear. So, yeah. Yeah, it i was a bit unlucky there, but still, I guess I was happy that I had some bottles and um I didn't take the chance of like having that as my main source of carbs. So I had a belt with all my gels, with all my um seven gels that I had with me. Nice. A bit of weight, but I also like I did not want to risk it knowing that my bottle is going to be somewhere at the back of the table and… No, that's smart. …a lot of bottles on those tables.
00:10:27
Speaker
I mean, i don't know why they only had six. tables where you can really spread it out to like, I don't know, 15 tables, 10 tables. um There was, i would say 300 people that had the bottles.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, wow. I mean, I'm guessing that by because I was number 290. two hundred and ninety So I'm guessing that and I was on I was the last person um on that list for the bottles. Yeah, okay I would have had 290 bottles there.
00:10:52
Speaker
um I don't know, would have been pretty simple to spread them out a bit more. But yeah, anyway, hopefully. Yeah, i so i kind of went with just um electrolyte in the bottles just to make sure that I have a lot more electrolytes than i usually do because of the humidity.
00:11:11
Speaker
yeah Luckily, they did have an aid station every two and a half K. So that meant that I could get a bit of plain water in between as well um and then just pour a lot of water on my
Mental Health in Racing
00:11:20
Speaker
head and try and stay cool.
00:11:22
Speaker
And, yeah, started the race, was ah bit a bit unsure about pacing. um i was told there would be 224 group with elite women.
00:11:32
Speaker
And I think, like, we talked about it on the pod two weeks ago. I thought that might be a bit too quick for me. um But maybe I was going to hang to the back of them. So first few K, I was just behind them.
00:11:44
Speaker
And then kind of felt like maybe I said I got a bit closer to them, set with them till about 10 K.
Future Race Planning
00:11:50
Speaker
And then I felt like the pace was slowing down. yeah, yeah i think they end up running the the top woman was um 229 high. 229. So yeah, probably a lot slower than the last few years.
00:12:04
Speaker
um Probably maybe because it was a bit warmer. But yeah, I decided to go after 10K. Pretty much had three or four guys behind me um that came came with me.
00:12:17
Speaker
I was hoping to work with them together, but nobody wanted to lead. Yeah. And that was a little bit annoying, kind of from 10K to 38, where I was kind of asking them to
Race Results and Upcoming Events
00:12:31
Speaker
take the lead a bit.
00:12:33
Speaker
And when I kind of tried to drop back, they would just drop the pace. um But I guess, you know, everybody just does whatever they need to do to make it to the finish line. True. I sometimes, do you just chuck in a couple of swerves?
00:12:47
Speaker
did a couple. I did a couple. Oh my gosh. Because you kind of get a little bit angry. like you kind of Yeah, exactly. I get angry. Let's work together. um but yeah at the same time i mean yeah i was but at the time i was like come on guys like we can we can really like go a few seconds quicker here by if everybody just takes a turn and it's not like they were just holding on they were there with me for like 28k so they were yeah no at that point you're just holding on
00:13:18
Speaker
At that point, I'm sharing some choice words and I'm very much swerving. Yeah, and a few times, like when we get to do any of the drink stations, some of them will actually actually go to the front, um pick up the bottle and then fall back, which was, yeah, a bit annoying. But ah luckily, Fraser, who is a good trail runner, good marathon runner, good road runner in general, he was pacing the women's group.
00:13:46
Speaker
And he obviously had to stay with them. yeah But I think after 38K, he was like, okay, enough is enough. I'm just going to go a bit quicker to the finish line. he just came by and I could see him like running fairly quick. I jumped on his back.
00:14:01
Speaker
And I think he obviously saw me behind him. So he kind of helped me. He could have went a bit a lot quicker. um Obviously, he's a 218, 217 marathon runner, super talented. And he was pretty much like...
00:14:15
Speaker
i tempo pacing it for the first thirty eight k So it was really fresh. um But yeah, kind of noticed I was behind him and then he just ran exactly to the pace that I wasn't getting dropped.
00:14:28
Speaker
um So a massive shout out to Fraser.
Closing Remarks
00:14:31
Speaker
Please tell me that meant you dropped the guys that were hanging on you. Yeah, exactly. Thank goodness. they travel Dropped them by like, you know, 45 seconds in the last 4K, which was really nice.
00:14:41
Speaker
Great. um But yeah, i was I was ready to put in a bit of a push because I was feeling good. I didn't know when I should start it. I thought maybe I should start it with 10K to go. And then I was like, let's play it safe because I've heard that after the turnaround at like 36K, 37K, it gets a bit windy, but it wasn't that windy this year.
00:15:02
Speaker
Okay. But yeah, perfect timing. Fraser came by and yeah, pretty much towed me all the way to the line. And we picked up maybe like seven or eight runners in the last 3K, which was nice. I think I went ah and i think it went from like thirty five k or thirty thirty k till the end.
00:15:21
Speaker
ah went from fifty eight so thirty eight Oh, nice. So definitely ah quite nice picking up some of those struggling elites that probably just put went out too hard. um And, yeah, actually, well, Fraser did finish a bit in front of me, but because hes started of me. He listed behind. Yeah.
00:15:41
Speaker
I saw that because I was like, oh, I saw the result and I'm like, hang on. Like I knew that Fraser was pacing the women, but I'm like, okay, has Fraser then caught up to Vlad and Vlad out sprinted him?
00:15:52
Speaker
Yeah. Then I saw the video of the finish and like, oh, I know what's happened. Fraser was on the front line. Vlad was back. So you pipped him. ah Like it looks like you pipped him.
00:16:03
Speaker
um yeah is is i mean i don't think there'll be a time where i'll be able to out sprint fraser he actually did like a 10k race the week before and um when well under 30 minutes so is super quick and yeah it would be nice to see him in more trail races it did say that is um heading off to Europe to do a bit of trail running, but then comes back to the Sydney marathon. So looks like he's a bit on the fence between road and trail.
00:16:34
Speaker
But to give him all the credit, like I think he could do really well on the roads. So yeah, it would be nice to see on on some trail running events and some trail running events. But nevertheless, he's a talented runner and I'm really grateful.
00:16:50
Speaker
that he held back and got me the finish line. You can see exactly where he passes because you went from like clockwork 327, almost every to then of sudden 319 at and then last K, 316, but then your 500 metres at 304 pace.
00:17:04
Speaker
at thirty eight k and then last k three sixteen but then your last five hundred metres at three ah four pace Like your graph makes me think that you've got you did have that two extra minutes in you to run 224.
00:17:18
Speaker
Or at least 225. So I would say like at least like I would have got 225 high. um So one second a K, I feel like that could have been shaved there before, maybe a bit more. But yeah, I was happy with the PB. i was happy with the fact that I guess I did not smash myself and I was able to run pain-free like the next day.
00:17:40
Speaker
good So that's a positive. um But yeah, i mean, I think like in the back of my mind, I have this goal now to go sub 220 and um that's a big step forward towards that goal. And yeah, I just trying to think when can I fit another marathon next year, which is a bit tough, but um yeah, I'll try and do something next year for sure. You ended on sub 220 pace for the last like 5K.
00:18:04
Speaker
So yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, i think the 220 will take and maybe another two years, to be honest. Yeah, but I just think it's there, I think, with the right training and the right preparation and obviously a good day on the day and people that don't leech off you and you actually get some help on the course.
00:18:24
Speaker
yeah Yeah, absolutely. I think, like, you know, if you're in the right group and on the right day where, you know, the weather is a bit cooler, you know, you you obviously can get a few seconds a K quicker.
00:18:37
Speaker
yeah But yeah, I am excited about it. i think that, you know, the fact that ah I do this kind of half a year of a bit more speed orientated training and then the second half of the year do a bit more trail has been affecting kind of my speed development a bit.
00:18:53
Speaker
So I am going to try and do a bit more flatter efforts even when I get deeper into trail running for the next six months. um just to make sure that I don't kind of take steps backwards with my speed.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, speed still helps and translates across. Oh, absolutely. I think like if you have a look at all the best trail runners, they have some pretty fast backgrounds. um You know, obviously I started running in general like atd age at a pretty late age at 25. So I've never built that speed when I was young.
00:19:27
Speaker
um So this is all kind of new to me. um But yeah, hopefully hopefully I can so you know run a 224 next time, maybe a 222 and then deep under that 220 and then retire happily.
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, I love that plan. I think like you know kind of I said that in my Instagram post, i obviously I love trail running, um but there is something about like holding a pace and like you know kind of running to that pace and just trying to hold on, trying to hold on, trying to hold on.
00:19:59
Speaker
um I think we, I don't know if I would enjoy doing marathon training like the whole year round, but for those five weeks, it was, you know, a bit different. And then, um yeah, that race was really fun. And I mean, Gold Coast Marathon is is a really fun event.
00:20:16
Speaker
ah So many people on the course, the course is quick. Obviously, it's probably a bit warmer than probably some of the Japanese races that you could get um at a similar time zone.
00:20:28
Speaker
And technically, if you live in Perth, pretty much like the same cost, I guess. You know, for me to do a marathon in Japan is probably cost about the same as doing one in in the Gold Coast.
00:20:39
Speaker
Damn. But yeah, that was a special event, really fun. Actually saw a lot of trail runners around. Like you can see a lot of people with like UTA gear and and UTA t-shirts and stuff. So yeah, it's it's a fun event. And know if I'll do it next year just because of the timing of it. But yeah, was it was fun. And walk away with the PB, so can't complain.
00:21:02
Speaker
Exactly. You ticked the box. And yeah, I'm with you on the like, my heart's on the trail, but I also do have that love of the monotony of just holding an effort and a pace when you're like right on that line of going, I think I can hold this, but can I hold this? Because then you just find that as you keep going and you like, it's almost like even just by holding the same pace, you feel like you're gaining momentum because you're like, I'm doing it.
00:21:27
Speaker
I'm doing it. I'm still doing it. And it's just a bit like, there's nothing, there's nothing to focus on that's like taking you away from that or like gonna like the, it's you and your physiology.
00:21:39
Speaker
And that's it. It's not the ups or the downs or the technicality sort of thing. Like I love both worlds. Yeah, exactly. Like it's very pure, like very, very simple. Like, you know, another flat K, another flat K. There's nothing that's really changing on the course. And um yeah. I will say though, when a day goes bad, then that's when you hate it.
00:22:04
Speaker
Because when a day goes bad on the trail, you're going, okay, today's a hike. That's fine. This is fun. Have some fun at the aid stations. Chat to people along the way. day You go have your dad bay day at Gold Coast, you're probably standing on the side feeling very sorry for yourself going, what am I doing with my life?
00:22:20
Speaker
Oh, like you really, you know, you really lose time really quickly and because everybody is so close, you get, you know, you get overtaken right away by a bunch of runners and that just makes it even harder and harder and you're like, should I stop? Should I just jog it in?
00:22:35
Speaker
Yeah. But, yeah. yeah and On a good day. Yeah, on a good day, it's really good. And, I mean, it's such a big build-up and it's a pretty quick race if you think about it. So, um yeah, I had a lot of fun. And Gold Coast is incredible. The weather there is so good during winter.
00:22:52
Speaker
And I did see quite a lot of mountains around it as well. Oh, yeah. maybe um There's some good mountain ranges up there. um been I've done quite a bit of running up there. It's really nice. I mean, I'm sure it'll be pretty warm in summer. Yeah.
00:23:05
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. yeah I've had some, some hot and steamy runs up there visiting family. That's for sure. But awesome. Well, well done.
00:23:16
Speaker
You've made me like I've always, I always have an itch to do another marathon at some point, but it's that sort of thing where you're like, I can't, I can't dedicate time to it unless I don't know. It just magically fits like you've just done.
00:23:28
Speaker
um And I'm healthy, which has not been the case for a while. So at some point in the lead up to a big race, I'll do another marathon. Yeah. um Or straight after, like, you know, so like I think for me the way it worked out is that I had two bigger trail races.
00:23:43
Speaker
Then I had a bit of like downtime before some more trail races. Yeah. And I was like, this is a perfect time to kind of change things up a bit and – focus on something different and um it wasn't like long enough like obviously most marathon blocks probably go for eight ten twelve weeks this was about five weeks um yeah but it was long enough to kind of yeah just have a different goal you know work with something else and yeah now can yeah focus on some trail running again Yeah, I think it'll fit um the way I've always looked at it if fitting for me is that the first six weeks of say a long 100k block where it might be a fast runnable 100k sort of thing and you do six weeks into a marathon, into a small break, into another six weeks for the sort deal. Yeah, exactly.
00:24:32
Speaker
ah so That's how I looked at it. Yeah, but also like living in Australia time of the year makes a big difference because you don't want to try. like That's where Ballarat now fits though. Now they're over in Vic.
00:24:42
Speaker
Ballarat's actually at a good time for it. That's where Kel, like when Kel did really well at Ballarat, was in the lead up to Western States sort of deal. um Yeah, and when you don't have to travel for it, that's a big bonus as well. Yes, 90 minutes away. It's great.
00:24:56
Speaker
Yeah. so But we'll see. Watch this space. It'll happen at some point. um And I have a wow. I think it's going to for me at least, feel very flat race and stacked race this weekend. i yeah For the cross country, I've got the 10K state cross this weekend, which is usually the most competitive cross and also competitive It being in Victoria Park in Ballarat, I imagine it's not going to be that hilly.
00:25:23
Speaker
Therefore, to me, it'll feel a bit like a road race. um But also, was chatting to you about this actually. I've just gone and bought... um I won one for myself, but I've just gone and bought one of the Insta360 cameras. But ATSVIC have asked me to wear the camera during the race to film the race course so that they can then send footage of the course to interstaters because it's going to be national cross this year.
00:25:51
Speaker
Like it's the exact same course that we're running this weekend. So they want footage of the whole course. So I'm going to be there like a doofus on the start line with the camera on my head to film the race. Yeah. I'll be like, it's not for my own YouTube, guys. It's for ASVIC.
00:26:07
Speaker
You're an influencer now. Apparently so. No, no. i'm ah I'm doing a favour. I'm doing a very big favour because obviously for me it's ah it's a session more than a race anyway. um But it will be my burst of speed um after – and actually just trying to figure out how much fitness I have or haven't lost with this flu.
00:26:28
Speaker
um Not that I think I've lost a huge amount because – Yeah, to go through, my last week was essentially one of struggle, but also to be fair, I am very thankful that I have the capability to do this. My days turned into, okay, how can I maintain?
00:26:44
Speaker
i wasn't worried about maintaining fitness as much as maintaining as much leg conditioning as possible. Like all the little things, the ankles, the eye for technical terrain, the climbing and those sorts of things.
00:26:57
Speaker
Like I wasn't yeah, I didn't think that a week of rest was going to make me unfit, but I just know how, if you take a week completely off, the return to running is just so much harder.
00:27:07
Speaker
So, um last week, yeah, I didn't run. i couldn't run the Sunday, Monday. um and I just did 50 minutes easy the Tuesday and then I ramped it up cause I did two hours uphill on the Wednesday to be fair though.
00:27:22
Speaker
ah an hour of that was hiking because I was on my treadmill that I could go to 40%. So I hiked an hour, ran an hour uphill for 1500 meters climb. Two easy runs, but got a solid 20 Ks in on the Thursday over two flat runs.
00:27:38
Speaker
And then because I was like, I was able to run easy at my normal heart rate, And I didn't feel perfect, but also i didn't feel like I was putting myself backwards purely because I have the freedom to wake up, do my run, and then go back to bed.
00:27:53
Speaker
So there was many 12 to 15-hour stints in bed um in between every single run. So I was like, the priority of this week is do what I can, and then i had like i was forced to rest in between.
00:28:06
Speaker
So, yes still men I got done three hours Friday. This was also, though, the weirdest turnaround I've ever had because I did three hours Friday into four hours Saturday.
00:28:17
Speaker
i was meant to do five hours Saturday, but I'm at the stage where like four hours actually doesn't feel like a long run anymore. I've done enough six hours and and just enough of the four hour runs and plus to feel like that's just a normal run.
00:28:29
Speaker
So I had five hours in my head as my plan, but normally I don't look at my watch and I don't even care about time, but I was already checking my watch for going, how long do I have left? And there was only two hours gone.
00:28:41
Speaker
And I was like, okay, when not we're not having a good day today. And then I looked at my pace and it was shockingly slow. I was at Mount Macedon, which is like, you can usually get moving decently enough. Like normally I've done five hour runs in Mount Macedon where I've covered over 50K and I'm like fine and like taking it fairly easy.
00:29:02
Speaker
On this day, i was just snail's pace. And it was not that my heart rate was high. it was that my body, if I tried to do anything more than what I was doing, I was almost sleepy.
00:29:15
Speaker
Like it was just like my body was going, no, we're not doing this. So I cut it at four hours and it was a slow four hours. I covered 30 Ks in four hours that would normally take me three, that 30 Ks. Like I've done it before and it wasn't anything too strenuous.
00:29:31
Speaker
So anyways, I was just like, I finished that run going, oh, have I overdone it? Like that whole questioning thing of, okay, have I cooked myself here? have had Was the three hours into four hours too much?
00:29:43
Speaker
I had four hours again planned on Sunday though and I was meeting Kel. And so I was like, okay, let's see what I can do here. So I went to bed at 6 um on that Saturday after the four hour run.
00:29:56
Speaker
I did absolutely nothing after the run. I drove home, I ate. To be fair, this is very different to my past life, but this is the reality of what it was. I ate 20 chicken nuggets and half a packet of potato gems and and from from the oven.
00:30:08
Speaker
Then was comatose in bed but like 7 p.m., slept for 12 hours almost, and woke up a new human. It was amazing. I'm like, I don't know what fixed me, but I feel like this was not the recipe you would normally put towards fixing yourself, and it worked.
00:30:23
Speaker
So it was chalk and cheese because the next day, the four hours with Kel was We covered 40Ks in four hours with the same amount of elevation gain. And I think my heart rate was only five beats higher.
00:30:34
Speaker
And I was running and I was fine. And I was like, okay, yesterday was just a glitch in the system. Like probably was that it might have been a bit too much or something. I don't know. But then I wouldn't have turned around so quickly. I wouldn't have thought.
00:30:47
Speaker
so one day One day could still um be a bit. But yeah, that's weird because usually you could take a step backwards as well if you're coming back from sickness and you overdo it. Yeah, I don't know.
00:30:59
Speaker
but to be fair, I did also, i went to bed at seven. ah woke back up at like nine, downed a massive bowl of rice and then went back to bed again. So I'm putting it down to the sheer amount of food i ate in between the two, as well as the just, I spent the entire time horizontal.
00:31:20
Speaker
I don't know. um But it was like I fully turned a corner on Sunday. I have i felt inhuman and just sick as a dog on Saturday after that run. And after Sunday I went shopping.
00:31:30
Speaker
I went to my brother and helped him clean his rental. And then I came home and I did some work and I was fine and perfectly human. So... Yeah, don't know. We'll take it. And I've literally, I felt like I still sound a bit off. I still do have a cough, but I have actually felt fine since. And today i did a threshold session this morning and I have another threshold session this afternoon.
00:31:52
Speaker
So like I'm back on a double session day feeling fine. So ah don't know what it is, but either way, I still got 140 Ks in last week. Well, mostly the most flu ridden running I've ever done, but at the same time I got 140 on feet. so I'm happy.
00:32:08
Speaker
like And UTMB is not that far away, I'm guessing if UTMB wasn't happening and you had a race a bit later on, you probably would have taken it easy for that weekend. 100%. Like CCC, it's more the fact that – I now fly out in like 10, 11 days.
00:32:27
Speaker
um I race a 45K six-hour race in two and a half weeks and then it's only four weeks or whatever till it's 100K. um So, yeah it was like it's getting close.
00:32:43
Speaker
don't know. I was just the more the longer it went on of not being able to like feel normal and run up hills instead of walk up absolute douche great hills and those sorts of things. I know it was only a week, but at the same time, it was just like that that drags on.
00:32:57
Speaker
And then I was like, okay, body, I need you to come good here now. um And it has, so we're all good. But 100%, if there was no like race on the calendar, I actually think I would have overall approached the entire week the same up until Saturday.
00:33:13
Speaker
Like how I felt Saturday I probably would have just pulled the pins on Sunday, which is interesting because but I've always taken the approach of movement. Movement is medicine in a way because as long as it was easy, like I'm talking my average heart rate's 120, 130.
00:33:28
Speaker
Like was like – one thirty like i was like walking up most hills sort of deal. Like it wasn't as if I was pushing at any point. I think most of my runs, my max heart rate was like 140.
00:33:39
Speaker
So I was keeping it easy for that. So, and I've always approached the return to sick from sickness like that, just not letting my heart rate get high um because that's felt good. But then yeah, I probably would have called it Saturday and not done Sunday if I didn't have the race.
00:33:55
Speaker
But then I say that's interesting because I felt fine Sunday. So it didn't feel like I needed to call it. So i don't know. But yeah, I mean, I think obviously it's pretty hard to know because every sickness is different. And when you come back and when you feel 100%,
00:34:10
Speaker
um I mean, I personally have like this rule that if I'm not feeling great, I just try and like really take it easy for like one or two days before I go hard. um And I kind of had this two or three weeks ago where had this head cold, had a day off, took it really easy for two or three days without any sessions or a long run and felt good.
00:34:31
Speaker
yeah So sometimes that one push, like, you know, that heart rate going just a little bit too high um and it can set you back. But yeah, luckily you're... I think that's probably what saved me is even though like I just let myself feel shit and move slow Saturday.
00:34:46
Speaker
I didn't go this is too slow I need to run faster. i went it's fine if my heart rate's 120 or it was like 110 for a good portion of the run. Like it was it was slow because I was like just accepted the fact that I needed to be slow that day.
00:35:01
Speaker
um I do think that yes that's where you run into danger is if you try and Like my head was getting judgy on myself, but at the same time, if you let those thoughts win and you start pushing, that's definitely where you can overstep it. So, cause yeah, I did take the, like I did that in a so a similar approach in a way with the complete, like I'd spent 60 hours in bed at the start of this going, I've just got to rest as much of this away as possible.
00:35:25
Speaker
without feeling like I necessarily 1000% needed to be in bed, but more going, this is the fastest way to get rid of this. So felt like I'd done that time and I was up to the just easy movement for as long as I can time, um listening each day to what was going on. So anyways, we got there. I'm sure a lot of people are going through this right now because there's a lot of a lot of cold and flu going around. 100%. And I will say i don't recommend my approach except for the fact that I was looking at it like, well, running is my work.
00:35:59
Speaker
Like if I had a job, every single bit of energy I was putting into the one run I was doing that day, I would have had to put into a job or into work or something else instead and I wouldn't have had the energy to run at all.
00:36:11
Speaker
Like yeah that's where it's like – the The to and fro of going, i dedicated the entire week to all I have to get done today is an easy run and then go to bed.
00:36:23
Speaker
If you can't do that, I don't recommend my approach at all because I would still be very sick, I think, if I tried to do that on top of anything else. Yeah, and I think you want to remember that you're probably not going to improve on any fitness by doing this.
00:36:36
Speaker
What you could do is hopefully not lose as much by by just jogging really easy. But yeah, it's better, especially right at the beginning, like what you did is take it really easy for a couple of days before um you kind of push yourself a little bit.
00:36:52
Speaker
um and Yeah. And today, thankfully, I feel like it's paid off because I did a session, like I did 11K's worth of threshold work this morning feeling like normal threshold.
00:37:03
Speaker
So, which I don't think it would if I had have taken the week too much lighter. Anyways. Yeah, I had something similar a couple of years ago and I wasn't feeling great. Had this race in Turkey, 120K that I signed up for.
00:37:19
Speaker
And i was like, I need to do this one last long run. And then, you know, it's like three weeks before I can really slow it down. So I had a really big week already. um And then I had a 75K run planned. I did it, finished the run, got in bed and was sick for a whole week and oh no got to the race, but only did like the 20K option.
00:37:42
Speaker
um but You know, obviously flew from Australia all the way to Turkey for a 20K race that I felt good for the first 10K and then suddenly hit me and Oh, no. It's the disaster.
00:37:53
Speaker
But it was literally that one run that just overdid it. If I would have rested that day or like, you know. On that run, were you still just trying to go your normal pace and effort and heart rate and or were you moving slower?
00:38:06
Speaker
I was definitely moving slower. Okay. I just remember was like it was already hard to drink and my throat was like i was just ah like struggling to swallow and then finished. Okay, yeah, I've had no feelings like that.
00:38:17
Speaker
no I'm not pushing through that stuff. I'm like I'm getting 100 grams of carbs in every time and everything feels fine. i just feel speed limited. like Yeah, so what I mean is like I did that run when that coldness or sickness was just coming on instead of like having like two or three really easy days and maybe then doing the run at ah the same effort and maybe I would have been okay.
00:38:41
Speaker
Yeah. But that run just really put me. To be fair, that's what I was really scared for BTU. Like I was so worried that BTU was going to do that for me, which is precisely why, like I got home the same night from BTU and didn't get out of bed for two days. I'm like, you matt you must now pay penance for what you just did to your body.
00:39:00
Speaker
I'm like, there's no way. that yeah because I I had exactly that I couldn't drink during BTU I couldn't get my nutrition down my throat was shocking like I had the full cold sweats going on like I'm like I know it's not cold but I'm cold yeah I did that thankfully only for twenty seven k I don't know how long your run was but I had I had in the back of my head going okay you are going to have to pay for this like big time so yeah that's why I spent the longest I've spent in bed in a long work long time afterwards
00:39:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, that was definitely a learning lesson for me. And and when whenever somebody asked me about things like that, that's probably my number one advice is like when you feel like something is coming on, just really take it easy back off and then re-judge how you're feeling after three days. Yeah.
00:39:51
Speaker
Yeah, I'm happy that you're all good. And yeah, it's only seven weeks till UTMB, which reminds me that i still have a lot of logistics work before that expo that we're doing in there, um which to be honest, I would have rather run a race than do the expo there because it's so taxing on the body.
00:40:09
Speaker
I actually, ah I've got my accommodation from the Tuesday. i leave Chamonix and go to Cormier for quieter time ah because I race on the Friday. So I kind of disappear pretty early in the week.
00:40:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's a tough week with so much going on. and Yeah, yeah. But, yes, it is coming up scarily fast. And also I feel like I've just cropped out of my brain this race I have beforehand in Poland, which is still a Sky Running World Series.
00:40:35
Speaker
And I was just like it was only today i looked at the date and I'm like my race is in less than three weeks. What? like Yeah, but I think when you have like such a big goal, um yeah,
00:40:48
Speaker
Oh, that is the plan. I don't want to spend too much anxious energy on this race. Like I still, I haven't looked at the race course. I have no idea of the, to be fair, i do need to look up the mandatory equipment because I have to pack soon, but I don't know what the race course looks like. I don't know anything about the race because I'm like week of the race. I figured that out.
00:41:06
Speaker
Not now. That's fine. And I think that's always been my way of like dealing with race nerves and tension and all that. It's just like signing up to so many races that you kind of know, well, there's always one, you know, in two or three weeks time.
00:41:23
Speaker
And I think that leads up, leads really well into today's question as well. Yep, exactly. You can ask it. How do you deal with the ability for races to just go wrong?
00:41:35
Speaker
Um, you know, ah feel like you just got to put less weight on it. And I literally been doing this for the last 13 years is having ah signing up to so many races in advance that not a single race, I'm like all in for it, you know, even though I might be, that's not my thinking.
00:41:57
Speaker
you feel like that short changes you though? Like you never get your full potential out doing it that way? Maybe a tiny bit, but then again, like, you know, I'm not really racing for sponsors anymore. You know, I'm just running for myself and I don't know. I feel like to do really well,
00:42:14
Speaker
at a race, you really got to put in a big build up towards it today because the level is just so high. And if personally I would want to do really well at a race, I probably need like a 16 week build up.
00:42:28
Speaker
And yeah, the last 13 years, like my longest build up to a race would have been three to four weeks, like like this marathon, you know, which was fairly important to me in many ways, but I did a 50k four weeks ago, um you know, and yeah and I'm doing a race in two weeks from now.
00:42:46
Speaker
And then after that 50K that I'm doing in two weeks' time, ah have another trail race, you know, two weeks after that. Yeah, but do you have like – because essentially I count myself right now as being in – I think it's been like a 14-week build to CCC.
00:43:03
Speaker
um But I do have – like I have had – actual proper just training races in there in terms of the cross-country series. um And then BTU was meant to be one.
00:43:14
Speaker
And then I do still have um the Skyrunning World Series race. But at the same time, I'm looking at that still as the last big training effort for that one race at the end of the block. i and't like So it's like almost that middle ground of going – I have races along the way, but they're more to build race craft and confidence still for that one race that I am going all in on and pinning all my hopes for this block on and dedicating 14 weeks to kind of deal.
00:43:40
Speaker
Yeah, no, exactly. I think that that makes sense and kind of, you know, I have a similar vision to that as well. um And I think that's a healthy way of doing it.
00:43:51
Speaker
Obviously, if you would have went, you know, all in for one race and maybe you would have had one racing that build up you know you have a lot more weight on that bigger race at the end and when things don't go right there you know it could be a pretty big like downfall um yeah yeah feel like imagine you're building up for 14 weeks and you know your stomach is off or like you get a cold two days before it you know it's a big drop
00:44:26
Speaker
Yeah, so my, which to be, this one, this one honestly was, it broke my heart. My very first world champs all the way back in 2018. So I had a whirlwind month at the start of the year where I got my Solomon contract at one race. Four weeks later, I won Oz champs. It was in April and I got my spot on the world champs team.
00:44:49
Speaker
I think that year it might've been ah September, October, like late in the year. um So from April until that world champs, my entire focus, every single thing that I was mentally focusing on in training for months was that world champs.
00:45:05
Speaker
Now the hard build was like 14 weeks. But I was also at this point in time, i was still almost, I was doing three subjects at uni, so almost full time at uni.
00:45:16
Speaker
And I was putting in some of the harder sessions of my life at like 7.30 PM on a treadmill in an altitude gym, like sending it on this treadmill uphill and on my sessions, like I've never put more energy into sessions.
00:45:30
Speaker
And I just remember i we travelled two weeks before. It was also my first trip overseas. And I was like, my confidence was through. i hadn't raced any trails though. I want to say this. Like I hadn't done any.
00:45:43
Speaker
um ah done cross I'd done the cross-country series like I'm doing now. Like in Vic, I'd done the 15K. And like I'd gotten PBs across every distance in the lead up. And I just had i had a lot of confidence, but I just had this whole like,
00:45:58
Speaker
Everything is riding on this race. um But then it was also my first year of doing this. I was 23. so And I was fresh off all of my own health struggles beforehand too. So we got there two weeks before.
00:46:10
Speaker
I even got there far enough before to stay up at altitude for a two whole two weeks to acclimatize and everything. Like I sent myself broke for this race because it was a world champs. Had to buy all my tickets.
00:46:21
Speaker
My parents came over with me. Like my club at home had given me some money towards it. Like it was a big thing for me at the time. And then I moved into the team hotel, like, and I was also the only female on the team. So there was me, there was Leo, can't who else was on it but there was five guys and me.
00:46:39
Speaker
um And then moved into the team hotel and the team hotel is like buffet eating. which is fine, um but I didn't, I was too young and naive and sort of unsure of myself to go, no I'm celiac, I need to just bring all my own food to the table.
00:46:57
Speaker
I went, I don't want to be the weird teammate that people, I've had an eating disorder before, they still think I don't eat or I'm weird around food. So I just went with the buffet and tried to like go, I'll make it as safe as possible.
00:47:08
Speaker
And this was the Thursday before like the Sunday race. I got so sick that my last session, like we did i did a session and I couldn't get through my 600 reps without running to the bathroom at the track.
00:47:20
Speaker
And I carb loaded with all this stuff I'd bought from Oz, but the damage was already done. I carb loaded for two days. And I lost a kilo and a half because I was that unwell.
00:47:31
Speaker
And it was just, I was in complete denial. I didn't know, like if you had have seen videos of me on the start line, I would have looked all bubbly and excited. But I was so sick and I was just empty.
00:47:42
Speaker
And I just remember being like 2Ks into the race, which was a 12K uphill. And it started with like 5Ks uphill, 5Ks flat, then 2K uphill to finish. I got 7Ks in and there was this little like rollercoaster dip thing.
00:47:56
Speaker
And because of the fast up, fast down, and I, me being me, was in a world champs, my first world champs wearing an Aussinglet was absolutely redlining from the get-go.
00:48:07
Speaker
So by the time I was 7Ks in, We went down this downhill, went quickly up an uphill and I just fainted mid-race. And I was on, remember hitting the deck and it was like the feeling of then hitting the deck kind of like I wasn't out for long, but I remember seeing people's legs sort of running away from me and going past and then going, no, you've got to get up.
00:48:28
Speaker
And I was running five minute Ks on the flat for the next two Ks. And then I got myself to the finish line. But it was such a battle that I reckon I was mentally scarred for over a year from that one race.
00:48:44
Speaker
Like it was just this whole, I put everything into it. And then it was something that you wouldn't even expect that sent me. It was also when I really learned to respect sort of celiac and travel and the fact that buffets are a no-go and many things before races are a no-go for me.
00:49:02
Speaker
But Yeah, that was where I learned the brutality of just a race going wrong for a reason that a race shouldn't go wrong. And from then on, ah feel like now this is almost, no, must be eight years ago now.
00:49:15
Speaker
I've had so many races go wrong for the wildest number of reasons that over time, my brain has sort of developed this thing of going, I just need, this is my way of coping with exactly what Hamish has asked this, by the way. Thanks, Hamish.
00:49:29
Speaker
um my way of coping with it is going, I have to love every part of the trying. So every part of the training towards it. And not every part, like love in some way because it's bloody hard at times. But at the same time, I love the hurt. So otherwise I wouldn't do it.
00:49:47
Speaker
But it's like I have to enjoy the trying to do something really good without ever expecting that something really good will actually happen. And then I find more often the good actually comes.
00:50:00
Speaker
So it's almost like even now when I go, i am 100%, I'm all in on CCC. I'm back taking every bloody vitamin and mineral I can. I'm doing 10 minutes of ankle exercises every day. I'm doing like every single little 1% I've ever done.
00:50:15
Speaker
I've accumulated all of them and I'm putting them towards CCC while also still going. It may turn to hell in a handbasket, but that's okay. I'm still going to, like I've adopted the approach of going, I don't actually want that to let me stop trying because at some point I'm just praying and hoping that it's all going to pay off.
00:50:36
Speaker
But I think Tim, my coach, he's a good one in going. every single bad race, if I call him afterwards and we have a chat, he'll be like, if it's a bad race, he'll be like, just onto the next one.
00:50:48
Speaker
And the one thing he'll just say is all of this will pay off one day. And so then, and don't know, that's just what I hold onto of going, it may go wrong. Cause then when it does go wrong, you go, well, this was always a possibility.
00:51:00
Speaker
Instead of trying to, I feel like what made world champs or a few of my races go even more wrong than they needed to, was trying to hold onto it going amazingly for too long.
00:51:12
Speaker
Instead of accepting this one's not the one, damage mitigation, wait for the one. And then when I've had a day that, to be fair, BTU last year was actually one of these days where I was expecting not much, got halfway through the race and went, nah, body's got it today, let's go.
00:51:30
Speaker
And then you get those days as well. And they kind of make up almost for the really bad days. I'm not sure they ever really will, depending on how big the bad days are. But at the same time, it's like throw enough throw enough stuff at the wall and something will stick is kind of my approach to all of this and going, I still want to be the person that has a really good crack at something without fearing the fact that I can look like an absolute idiot at the end of the day.
00:51:59
Speaker
Like I could run in the CCC in like 500th and I'm like, but I learned something in the process and I did something cool. I don't know. It's my thoughts.
00:52:10
Speaker
Yeah, no absolutely. I think that, you know, i always just thought that when you are putting more pressure into one race, the chances of something going wrong is just a bit higher.
00:52:23
Speaker
yeah so by knowing that, well, if this is not my day, something is off, you know, my nutrition is not right, or this is not right. um I have another race in three weeks, you know, i better forget about this one, learn from it, move on.
00:52:39
Speaker
um It just makes, I don't know. don't know. It just puts takes away a bit of the pressure, which um maybe because I've never done like a crazy amount of like sports as a kid or um i wasn't involved in like, you know, organized sport when I was a kid.
00:52:58
Speaker
i just felt like that pressure was not healthy and I wasn't enjoying. Like, obviously, I love the training, but I didn't like, you know, the two or three days before the race because of that pressure that I was putting on myself.
00:53:10
Speaker
So I thought, all right, well, I just sign up to more races and then there's less pressure on that single race. So there's more chances of having good races. do you Do you recognize that you could actually mentally approach every race the same, even if you haven't actually yet signed up for another one, because no matter what you're going to?
00:53:28
Speaker
Yes, but maybe it's not exactly because you can still back out. But if you already paid for the entry book flights and accommodation, you're pretty deep in to that race.
00:53:39
Speaker
um So I think that's more of a commitment thing. True, I hear you, but I suppose um i guess you can still, like for those that, I don't know, they might not even just have the finances to commit to another race when they're fully committed on one race kind of thing, when it's like a dream race or something.
00:53:56
Speaker
But I think you can still have the same mental approach to go if it doesn't happen this year, For this race, say it's a big dream race, someone has saved up the money, they've committed, they've put the training in, things can still go wrong, right? Even if they, like it might be a 100K or a 100 miler where they can't race three weeks later and they don't have the training behind them and stuff.
00:54:17
Speaker
I think you can still actually develop the same low pressure mentality to that race despite it being, feeling very important. by going, if not this year, that's okay, i can try again next year.
00:54:32
Speaker
And I can try, like I think for me I've taken exactly the mentality you're saying but but just internalising and going, I'm not going to let a bad day stop me. I'm going to keep trying.
00:54:44
Speaker
And that's a sort of just a dedication to myself to go, ah don't actually need to have another race on the books fully committed to just yet because I'm not going to let this race stop me from doing that.
00:54:55
Speaker
in a way and also recognizing that sometimes for many of the big a dream goal racers it takes a couple of goes and that's fine it takes a couple of goes for many many people I don't know just yeah no you're 100% right I mean it's obviously a lot more you got to be a bit more mentally strong um which is easy to say but not that easy in real life um but Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think when you put all your eggs in one basket, it's tough when things don't go your way. And even though, yeah, you could have the mental outlook of like, oh, well, I'll do it again next year.
00:55:37
Speaker
you know, you're still going to have a pretty low downtime after it, which I always avoid. Like, you know, I've had some really bad races, you know, travel to a race, pay a lot of money to fly there. Yeah.
00:55:52
Speaker
I have a bad race, feel down on myself for that day and maybe a little bit the next day. But then I'm like, all right, well, I better get yeah going for another run because i have another race in two weeks time. And maybe even if it's a smaller race, um you know, it's like I better get going again. And once start get going again, then that dip and that low is not that bad and it moves quickly where if you don't have another goal right there,
00:56:20
Speaker
it could linger on for a lot longer than it should. And that's maybe, you know, not that healthy as well, because that's going to affect other areas of your life. Like, you know. um Yeah, for sure.
00:56:31
Speaker
But... and And I think your approach, absolutely perfect. I just don't think like when it works, it doesn't work in every circumstance because but where where does your brain go when you think, okay, i don't know if you would ever do this, but you're going all in on a hundred miler. Are you still just signing up for a race very quickly afterwards?
00:56:51
Speaker
Yeah, I would. Okay. um And, you know, i definitely want to do a hundred miler soon. okay I would have a race on the cards within a month after it, maybe five weeks or something. even Even if that means that that race five weeks later, I'm not going be 100% for it.
00:57:14
Speaker
um I would think that I would still have it. you know I think obviously now I'm a little bit more experienced. I've literally would have done 300 plus races in the last 12 years. yeah the last twelve years ah And I still get really nervous, but it's a little bit better um and I can control things a bit better.
00:57:32
Speaker
But you know it's been working well for me so far. But then it's obviously a stopped me from having really, really good results at the same time. um And I think I spoke a little bit about it when I was sponsored by the North Face for six years where You know, my goal was just to keep the sponsorship. It was never like do well in a race.
00:57:55
Speaker
Like for six years, I've never had this kind of like, you know, I want to win this race or this type of an event. My goal was always just do as much as you need.
00:58:05
Speaker
So you keep the sponsorship for another year, another year, another year, another year. Yeah. okay So I think that that's a lot of it came from that, you know, mentality of trying to keep the sponsorship.
00:58:17
Speaker
And, you know, now it's a little bit different. Obviously, I don't, I haven't had a sponsor for, four years um and yeah, I still kind of keep doing it and it just means that I have a lot less pressure on. I put less pressure on myself um and just go out there and some days obviously I have better results and some I have worse and a good example of it would have been Asia Pacific trail champs where ive I've put a lot of I put a pretty big build didn't race much before it um but had a race.
00:58:52
Speaker
two weeks after it, three weeks after a Translantel in Hong Kong. yeah Came in really, really fit, but obviously rolled my ankle, didn't have the day that I wanted, you know felt really sorry for myself you know for that flight home.
00:59:08
Speaker
But then got home the next morning and went for a run. And you know I was on a positive mindset from that point onward.
00:59:20
Speaker
Yeah, I just put let not as much weight on any race. So then when things go wrong, they just go wrong and I just move on really, really quick. Fair. Very, very fair.
00:59:30
Speaker
Well, there's there's two different approaches for you, Hamish, and for anyone anyone else listening because... Yeah, I think this is actually a very interesting topic um to think about as we've as we've delved into it a bit more because it's like that, it's almost tied into that, the question we answered last week of the boom or bust sort of racing of do you all in and risk it blowing up absolutely spectacularly in your face or do you sort of,
00:59:59
Speaker
get really good results sometimes and really bad results sometimes but they're over so quickly like it's like that hedging you not hedging your bets as much as yeah just damage limitation and for you like and for many people it's almost like that protecting your mental space of protecting protecting your mental health in many ways like if you're the sort of person which actually what you were just saying there is is almost just made me very Like I'm just very thankful for where my brain has finally gotten to in life and the perspective I've got because I can never equate, like even though I say that that um that world champs race, it broke me in terms of being too scared to go all in on any races for a very long time.
01:00:39
Speaker
But at the same time, I'm not sure, personally, I can't equate a low of a race going bad in my life to actually being that bad. It goes, okay, that's fine. Keep running. We're good.
01:00:50
Speaker
um But I'm not sure. That's a life perspective that's a very hard-earned one. so No, and and realistically, like running is is, you know, if you look at it, if you take a few steps back, it's, you know, it's not real life, right? It's something that we do um but it's a lot smaller than, you know, health and family and and so many other things.
01:01:12
Speaker
Yeah. yeah So how would you go if you instead of had a race planned in like two or three weeks, you like had a big other life goal planned, like just anything that wasn't running, but it was still something that excited you, motivated you?
01:01:27
Speaker
Like would do you think that would be as protective of your mental health space after a bad race as another race on the horizon? um I don't know. While I'm still like all in on running, you know, in this stage of my life,
01:01:39
Speaker
Probably not. Definitely in a couple of years, for sure. Like I would you know probably would be looking for those goals to replace maybe some of the highs that I get from running right now. And um you know to be honest, like I love the day after a race, like that's the high that I love. Like, you know, the the yeah sorry, it's finishing a race in that day because usually the next day ah kind of forget about it and move on.
01:02:04
Speaker
But the high, even if I had a bad race, you know, well, as long as I finish the race, let's say I'm still on a very positive high for that day. um And I don't move too quickly from it, like during that day. And I love that. Like I'm pretty addicted to it, would say.
01:02:22
Speaker
um Aren't we all? Yeah, I don't know if I'm addicted to the missing sleep the night before a race or like, you know, being nervous about racing. It's after the race that makes you forget all that. Yeah, exactly. It's that high that, you know. Keeps us coming back.
01:02:37
Speaker
Amazing, yeah. Otherwise, we'd probably all be bonafide insane at this point if there was not that time after a race. So, yep. Hold on for the next high, people. It is coming after every low we can get there.
01:02:51
Speaker
But awesome, awesome. Well, that was a fun chat. This episode is proudly brought to you by Bix. Bix has supported the show from the start. And personally, I'm really loving the big 40 gel.
01:03:04
Speaker
Whether you're just going out for a 60 minute run and want the one gel, you're a moderate carb fueler and have 80 grams an hour, or like myself, you're trying to hit that 120 grams an hour range. It makes the maths super easy.
01:03:15
Speaker
Not only is the 40 grams of carbs, but I really like the fact there's 200 milligrams of sodium. It's a nice number that's not going to overload you if you're going high carb fueling, but it also means you don't have to carry around any annoying little salt tablets.
01:03:26
Speaker
And again, the natural flavor, I've always been a fan of that. There's no palate fatigue. The consistency is really nice and thin. It goes down super easy. so I've become a really big fan. If you want to give that a go or try out any of the rest of the range, head over to website, use code PPP at checkout to save yourself 20% off the entire range.
01:03:45
Speaker
And with that, let's get back to the show. To finish off this week's podcast, we've got a few fun results also to go through from people that I hope did feel the high that we've just discussed.
01:03:56
Speaker
um And that starts off at a trail running series in Anglesey. So there was, this is part of the, um i think it's the rapid ascent ones for the Vic trail running series. And the long course was twenty eight k And this was just in a cool name to see out and about and winning one of these things after such a rep a run at UTA 50. That was Demi Caldwell who came fourth at UTA 50 and she ran, she won this one in two hours 11 for the 28K.
01:04:32
Speaker
Second was Yvette Brady in two hours 16.32 then a very quick close run for third because third was Phoebe Thomas in two hours 16.45, only thirteen seconds And then on the men's side, it was a very close race for first and second because Owen Todd got the win in two hours and 43 seconds.
01:04:53
Speaker
And then Hector McGillivray, hope I've got that right, in two hours and 57 seconds. So 14 seconds there. And Zach Shippum in third in two hours, four minutes and 54 seconds.
01:05:08
Speaker
And then at, have you heard of the Sydney Trail Half Marathon, Vlad? No, not yet. Okay. So i've been ah just I've looked up some of the results and they've got some very cool times for the half marathon there.
01:05:24
Speaker
It's just the first race I've ever seen where this is the case. And I think it's the case from all the research I can do. But they run the half marathon, like they won one race on the Saturday. And then the same race on the Sunday, like it's the half marathon again, which I assume is to double the field allowed for that distance because often what limits races is permits for number of people allowed in a day, which is quite often why races are held over multiple days um despite maybe not even needing to, but they need to permit wise.
01:05:55
Speaker
But either way, there's a Saturday half marathon and a Sunday half marathon. And I believe from everything I can look up on the website, it's just the same course and the same race, but two races.
01:06:07
Speaker
Wow. Which I can't decide because then when I look at the times, I'm like, but who's won? The fastest person on the Saturday or the fastest person on the Sunday or overall? all Like,
01:06:18
Speaker
Anyways, it's just – Maybe if there are some listeners that know, send us a message on Instagram. Yeah. That's cool because that's what we're talking about, Western States. Oh, yeah. It would be cool if Western States was over two days to get more people in.
01:06:33
Speaker
um So maybe they did exactly the same thing. Yeah, maybe, maybe. Either way, um i think I'm just going to go with the three fastest times and this is across the two days. I don't know, even though they're two separate races. But on the Saturday, Tia Bull, she got the win in an hour 44 minutes.
01:06:51
Speaker
and Georgia Barr who go Georgia I used to train with Georgia down here in Melbourne so an hour 47 was in second um and then first place on Sunday had the third fastest time overall which was Olivia Cameron in an hour 51 so hopefully that made sense And then on the men's side, um actually, I've just got to check which day was the fastest. ah The fastest was definitely the Saturday. It was won by David Byrne in an hour 27.36. He just out sprinted Corey Arkins in an hour 27.45.
01:07:30
Speaker
And third was Henry Hugman in an hour 29.10, which actually this was super stuck because Quinton Gill was in fourth only another minute back. So top four separated by four minutes.
01:07:43
Speaker
And I definitely have heard Henry and Quinton and Dave Burns names before. So interesting run. Then Vlad, you're taking us to Mount Baranduda. Yeah. um So yeah, obviously the race director wasn't there on the day. He's on holidays in Europe, but we'll cover the results for his race.
01:08:01
Speaker
yeah That is James. We believe this is the Riverina oh Health Riverina Series up in Albury-Wodonga. And he's enjoying Vebbia right now, I think. He might be racing next weekend at the Vebbia race, which I've been there for three years in a row, so really sad to miss out on this year. But, um yeah, he's going to be away for a couple more weeks. Yeah.
01:08:28
Speaker
Winner of the long course, Sarah Jane Miller, who a friend of the podcast. um First place in one hour, 36. Second place, Emma Flower in one hour, 40, and one hour, 45 for Corinne Hattkinson.
01:08:44
Speaker
um In the males race, they had Morgan Payne in one hour, 21, Rob Murray in one hour, 24, Damien Gillard in one hour 25, so pretty close there.
01:08:59
Speaker
Yeah, and this was – it's 16K with 840 up and down, which is pretty punchy. Yeah, yeah. I mean – um i mean Looks like they are doing pretty good stuff with trail running and um it's nice that they have, you know, a couple more races that far on the East Coast.
01:09:17
Speaker
um Wow, this is more along the river than the coast, for sure. Yeah, so this is this is like up on right near the Murray River. Oh, okay. But like it's not far out of Wodonga.
01:09:30
Speaker
um So you wouldn't necessarily call it coastal, but it's in a cool part of the world, that's for sure. Yeah, i did a tennis tournament there when I was 15 years old.
01:09:41
Speaker
and yeah um I might not remember the area that well. But yeah, under 16 nationals in probably like 2000 and...
01:09:54
Speaker
Five or four three, I would like to say. Love that. now Now you're really showing your age. Well done. Yeah, sprint finish there for between second and third, only seven seconds between them.
01:10:06
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Damn. I'm loving seeing just so many trail races now where it's so close and it looks like really fun, tight racing. Yeah. Well done to absolutely everyone there to quickly run us through. r Overseas, there was the ah UTMB major Valda Aran in Europe, but then there was also Restonica Trail, Restorica Trail over there as well. So there was some pretty stacked UTMB races.
01:10:38
Speaker
um I didn't see any Aussie name results to call out, but... um If you do ever, ah this is a call out for everyone. If you you know of any Aussies racing overseas or you see any results, please send them through um because we're not going to find everything.
01:10:52
Speaker
Just trying to trawl through the number of trail races that there are around the world every single weekend. And I know that we're getting to the season now where Aussies might be popping up overseas more and more. so See how we go.
01:11:02
Speaker
But coming up next weekend or this weekend on Aussie soil, there is Ultra Adelaide in Adelaide, self-explanatory. Then there is the Winter Wellness Trail Run in Bright, which I've never heard of before, but being in Bright.
01:11:19
Speaker
Always a fan. Yu Yang's Trail Running Festival down here in Melbourne. Billy in Mogul Trail Race in Queensland. Somerset Rail Trail Classic also in Queensland.
01:11:31
Speaker
There's one in Sydney, the George's River Festival of the Feet. I love that. What a name. um And that looks like about it for next weekend. Vlad, what you got coming up this week?
01:11:46
Speaker
Try and recover a bit. um And then, yeah, 50K next weekend. My goodness, you just never stop. When's the 50K? Which fifty k is this again? um So that's the one in Kalgoorlie. So that goes a along the water pipeline that goes from Perth to Kalgoorlie.
01:12:02
Speaker
Oh, you've just done the perfect training for that. 42Ks on runnable terrain and now you're on a rail trail for 50Ks. Perfect. Yeah, exactly. it's um I've done it in 2021. Yeah, it's it's all like soft gravel, um a little bit of sandy, but yeah, a nice community event that I'm happy to be a part supporting that event.
01:12:22
Speaker
Nice, nice. And I will be enjoying and training hard through my last week at home but before, well, I'm technically in Australia all of next week because I fly don't fly out till Sunday.
01:12:33
Speaker
But at the same time, it's my last full weekend at home. So it feels like I've got a lot of organizing to do and I better get going on that because I haven't even looked at mandatory gear lists and everything to make sure I've got it all.
01:12:45
Speaker
But anyways, that's my week coming up. Um, and ah obviously the cross country race on Saturday. So I'll see if I actually, to be fair, I'll be able to download the footage so I can download some running footage from it. And, uh,
01:12:58
Speaker
Although people might see more footage from me coming up soon anyway because now I'm going to have this fancy little camera that I can carry around places. So look out for that, everyone. It'll be probably some hilarious fails to begin with.
01:13:11
Speaker
But anyways, thank you, everyone, for listening. This has been Episode 65 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. Vlad, thanks for joining me again and we'll speak to you next week. See you, guys.