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UTK Recaps, Race Insights, and Fuelling Wins feat Juliette Soule | Episode 86
0 Playsin 17 hours
Fresh off a stacked Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 50km, newly minted Aussie citizen Juliette Sewell joins Jess and Brodie for a deep dive into one of the most competitive women’s fields of the Australian trail-running season. Juliette breaks down her fifth-place finish, navigating a brutal descent, shin-scare drama, dialled-in fuelling, and race-day winds that literally knocked her off her feet. We unpack tactics, training tweaks, heat adaptation, uphill treadmill work and her big 2025 target: chasing a Golden Ticket at Tarawera.
Brodie then recaps his gritty run at Great Southern Endurance Run, while Jess reflects on a tough but powerful Kosci finish before diving into results.
A packed, honest, news-driven episode for anyone following Australia’s summer trail racing pulse.
Results:
***Don’t forget, use code PEAK 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!
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello, welcome to Peak Pursuits episode 86. I'm Jess Jason and I'm joined by regular host Brodie. are you going Brodie?
00:00:19
Speaker
Yeah, pretty good. Dodging the rain down in Melbourne. We're still having some stupid weather but um yeah, it's going pretty well. Yeah, it's been a bit of a slow start to summer, um but it's finally here, December 1, hopefully it gets warmer from here.
Juliette's Racing Journey
00:00:35
Speaker
um is's crossed And today we're joined we're lucky to be joined by um our guest who is from the Kiwiland, but mainly lives in Australia and I think possibly is a citizen now but um she can update us on that herself so our guest today is Juliette Sewell how are you going Juliette hello yeah I'm going well thanks and i can confirm i am now an Australian citizen so thanks welcome to the club thank you yeah
00:01:13
Speaker
ah And she's fresh off 50 with a stacked field and a fifth place. um Amazing run. um She was just saying before, feeling a bit rough today. How's the recovery been?
00:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, thanks Jess. Yeah, I mean, my like quads were so sore. like I had genuinely such bad DOMS.
00:01:41
Speaker
Probably DOMS were as bad as after Tarawara, and it was obviously a 50k, so I wasn't expecting that, but today I'm starting to feel better, so... that is a relief yeah yeah and you were saying that maybe like obviously the cosy 50k course is like a net downhill and there's that sort of big downhill in the in the middle and i'm assuming that like by the look of the how the race played out you you you didn't you couldn't really ease up on that descent like everyone had to had to go full gas
00:02:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's, yeah, so the, like, course starts with, like, a, like, sex and guy descent, um, and it finishes with another long, just but well, it's short, but it's very steep descent, um, and, yeah, the first descent, like, everyone was just, like, hammering it, so there was definitely no easing into the race. Yeah, damn Yeah. um So tell us a bit about your lead-in to the race. Like how did training go? um Because you're obviously coming off CCC. um So when did you sort of decide to jump into the UTK50?
00:02:49
Speaker
Yeah, so I did UTK 100 last year and I was like definitely eyeing up UTK again this year because I'm doing Tarawera again next year and last year doing that UTK Tarawera like double sort of worked out quite well.
Injury Insights and Mental Challenges
00:03:09
Speaker
um But i yeah, I am like injury prone um in terms of like bone stress reactions um and just being like realistic like I know doing 100k two months before doing another 100k is like not the best decision especially when I just did CCC in August which was like a massive stimulus because of all the birth um so there was that like you know going for the 50k as opposed to 100 in terms of like being more sensible about like a ah shorter race and then also like
00:03:52
Speaker
In terms of like prep for Tarawera, like objectively the 50k better just because it's faster. um And like I can recover faster and continue training rather than having like a really big breakdown stimulus with one hundred k Um, and yeah, so whilst my heart did not want to do the 50, every part of, you know, logic was pointing towards that outcome. Um, and yeah, so I was planning on doing the 50 for a while, um
00:04:26
Speaker
and the lead-up was going pretty smoothly. Like, I took, like, you know, a while of running after CCC and then, like, really gradually started building back into it. um And, yeah, things were going really well. And then a few weeks ago, i like went to uh like dad went up to cossey and did like recce weekend like on the course and then i came back to sydney and that week i felt some like awareness in my shin on the same side that i've had three stress reactions now
00:05:01
Speaker
and i was just like, it was super mild, but because of my history, i was like having a full-blown like mental breakdown and convinced myself that I had a stress reaction.
Race Day Experiences and Strategies
00:05:11
Speaker
And anyway, i end up getting an MRI like 10 days later and there was nothing. So... That was good news. i did not have a stress reaction, but it had been a very traumatizing week. um And obviously I hadn't been running during that week.
00:05:29
Speaker
So, yeah, and then it was suddenly like, and during that period I was like, well, i'm obviously not going to race Cozzy. Like, I'm not even going to race Tower Weir. and then it was suddenly like, wait, I can, like, do all the things that I was, like, going to do originally. So it was very weird. Yeah.
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah, an abrupt shift in plans. But yeah, I was just after that super excited to be able to race. you know Like cheesy as it sounds, like I was just like very grateful um and to be healthy and very excited to race.
00:06:01
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, after that, things went smoothly. But um yeah, there was definitely a little hiccup in the middle there. Yeah, i read um I read your sort of post on Substack about the the MRI and I remember opening it up and being like, you know, every time someone gets an MRI, they really hope that they don't have something. yeah often as not, most of the time they do have something. And I was like, oh, I really hope this isn't something. And it was, yeah, it's an interesting read because like you do, yeah having had a BSI myself before too in the past, like and you you sort of like get better at
00:06:34
Speaker
understanding what the different feelings of pain you might have and whether it's general soreness or a different injury or a BSI. So you're sort of pretty convinced when you do think you have one. And I imagine it was a big relief, but also like slight confusion when it came back negative. Yeah, I mean, like, it was the weirdest thing, like, because, you know, anyone who has had a BSI, like, you know what it feels like. And for me, like, I felt this, like, start, you know, always starts as, like, a mild awareness. That's what I was feeling on my runs. Like, it even started, like, aching at night, which is, like, you know, number one, like, red flag.
00:07:14
Speaker
And so I was completely convinced and I've never been in that state before where it's like, I suspect that it's a BSI and got an me MRI and it's not a BSI. Like it's always been a BSI.
00:07:25
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I mean, I see the MRI was clear. It was, there was actually like a little bit of fluid on the top of the peroneal muscle. So that's like what I was feeling, but obviously like that's not like, it's not an issue. Like if a mild sometimes you symptoms due to like some, um,
00:07:43
Speaker
a small amount of fluid like you can run through that without causing any ah like problems but yeah it was just a very strange experience that finding is probably the sort of finding you would expect to see after a big training weekend you might see that on yeah a lot of people just because the perineals are used a lot in trail running and and therefore there might be some fluid build up so yeah it's not that it was like something they necessarily even had to train through it because it could be just like a normal yeah free yeah Yeah, yeah. No, like it wasn't even like, you know, like it what it's not even like what I would classify as a nickel.
00:08:21
Speaker
It's not something to be concerned about. But yeah, because I'm just so like hyper aware about it. it Yeah, it was a whole thing. this Yeah, damn. I imagine that would have been a lot. At least it's like, it's good to know like, and and I like read through like your process because I've had a very similar experience in the in the middle of the year of like,
00:08:41
Speaker
okay, had some shin awareness, okay, well, i really hope it's not bone stress, but it might be, and then going through the steps of like trying to confirm it by sort of maybe testing it and then and then not running on it too much and and getting it kicked out. Like it sounds like you went through the right the right motions and like whilst it would have been nice and not to have to pay for an MRI, at least the conviction that it was nothing going on would have been pretty positive going, taking that through into like getting back into things.
00:09:08
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Like, and that's the thing. Like, even if I sort of asked my physio who I've like worked with for a while now and she like, you know, i' is familiar with all my history and stuff.
00:09:20
Speaker
And I was like, so convinced it was a stress reaction. I was like, is there even any point in like getting an MRI? Like, I was like, we basically know it's like... either like stage one or stage two stress reaction, how based on how it's feeling. Like I don't, I almost just like don't, I can't face like getting another MRI. And she was like, if there's any chance that you want to race, cosie then you need to get an MRI. Um, and yeah, obviously I ended up being so glad that I did because,
00:09:53
Speaker
it meant like when the symptoms did go away I was 100% confident that you know like there wasn't like an underlying issue that would potentially reserface so I felt really confident in and like being able to race hard yeah nice that's that's it it's a good feeling to have that like confidence in you there's no like questions asked like you know your body's in the position to to do what it needs to do. Did did you like lose ah and much of your training or was like, it sounded like it was a pretty quick turnaround and you were able to sort of get back into the final prep. Okay.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it was like, I think it was like the third week before COSY or no it was like the fourth anyway it was like three or four weeks before um I missed like a week of training including my final 20 mile long run but you know then I had like the week after that I like was able to like get back into it and do like a 25k long run that weekend and then the week after that was tapered
00:10:58
Speaker
And then the week after that was cosy.
Training and Fueling Techniques
00:11:01
Speaker
um So, yeah, like I did miss a week of training, but in the scheme of things, I'm like, I know like a week of training, like realistically isn't going to like move the needle like that much. it's It's like more like the accumulation of those things over time rather than like one specific week. So I wasn't like super fussed about that.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. So, yeah, tell us a bit about how the race went, like, um I guess, yeah, from start to finish, the high points, low points, everything in between.
00:11:38
Speaker
Yeah, so I had deliberately not, like, looked at who my competitors were in advance. Like, I obviously knew, you know, I knew Jessie were going to be there, Lucy Bartholomew would be there, Demi Colville would be there, all of you three very speedy ladies.
00:11:57
Speaker
um So even, like, just knowing those three women were there, I was like, well, it's going to be, like, a stacked field. then... There was Andrea, I can't remember her surname, but the Icelandic woman who ended up winning, who was super fast.
00:12:13
Speaker
But I didn't stalk any of those people, which I, like in the past, have had a bad habit of doing and then getting in my head and psyching myself out. So I was like trying to be zen, like not you know um not stalking the results of my competition. um But yeah, rocked up to the start line of Perisher. It was pretty freezing. um And I was wearing like a summer outfit, basically bucket hat included. It was just like, I also had an ice bandana and was like part of my like crewing was putting ice in the ice bandana.
00:12:50
Speaker
to like keep cool and I was like I don't know if I'm gonna be needing this because it's like feels like it's five degrees but anyway then yeah we went off and it was very fast at the start um it was like pack of like elite women um which yeah it sort of formed like a little bit of a peloton which was kind of nice as it was super windy Um, and I tried to stay towards the front of that pack, uh, just because, I mean, it was still running on road at that point, so it wasn't too, like, crazy. Um, and, yeah, then the first 4K on road, um, and then by the time we got to the single track, um, it had, like, spread out a tiny bit, and i think it was...
00:13:43
Speaker
um the woman I can't remember her name but she was a the like pro uh triathlete she was in the front Melissa ah can't remember her last name did she end up pulling out I saw she was up there early earlier um and then it was Lucy and then Andrea and then me and then you know the rest of the women very close behind. um Then we started the long descent um from Perisher down to Bullock's flat and I pretty quickly got passed by Demi.
00:14:22
Speaker
But yeah I was like I... she was going really fast and I was like I'm not gonna like I'm already going really fast I don't need to like completely bury myself.
00:14:34
Speaker
um And then another woman, Hannah, passed me, who was a Kiwi. I later found that out She was a Kiwi. um And, yeah, I mean, I was just sort of sitting and i guess it would have been seven, six or seven,
00:14:51
Speaker
at that point. um And yeah, that descent was, as I mean, it's definitely the fastest I've ever run that descent. Like the paces from the race compared to the like training runs I did on the course. I'm just like, how is that even like possible? Like it's just so much faster than I've ever run on that terrain.
00:15:13
Speaker
um got into, ah and yeah, it was nice. Like the descent, to be able to like settle in a little bit, um, you know, start like fueling. I recently started working with, um, a like dietitian who like works specifically with endurance athletes. So we had like a a fueling plan that I was like, okay, I know exactly what I need to do at what times.
00:15:40
Speaker
Um, and then got into Bullock's Flats, got to see my crew, um who was my partner, Wyatt. And he like, restocked me and put ice in my ice bandana and then I was off.
00:15:55
Speaker
And on the way out of Bullock's Flats, I saw Jess and Sarah coming in. so I was like, okay, I know they're, like, super close behind me. um And yeah, then it was the section from Bullocks to 3-4, which is about 20k and it's on this like really nice like um sort of windy, smooth single track.
00:16:18
Speaker
But it's also a net uphill and it's very deceptive because you don't feel like you're running uphill but then you're just like, why is this like way harder than it should be? Like why am I running slower than I feel like I should be? And it's because you're running uphill for twenty k um And that was the section that I really started to hurt. I was like, we've just, like, bombed this long downhill and now I'm, like, feel lot of pain, basically.
00:16:48
Speaker
um and But it's like, yeah, you just still got to keep pushing. Like, there was no respite. So i I think I, like, yeah... Maybe pulled back slightly, but then as soon as I was like able to recover a little bit, like continued to push a bit more.
00:17:07
Speaker
and then after Nagarigo, felt better. And then, yeah, it felt like I was running um a lot better by the time I got to Threadbow.
00:17:19
Speaker
um I saw Sarah behind me just like getting into the Threadbow aid station so I like pushed harder to like try and fend her off and I ended up passing Hannah the Kiwi girl in front of me um just before the aid station Then yeah, the aid station at Threadbro is the final aid station and again just did the nutrition, the bottle swaps and the ice.
00:17:51
Speaker
um And yeah, then I was off. Hannah, the Kiwi girl, had overtaken me because she didn't stop at the aid station. Um, so I overtook her again on the way up to Dead Horse Gap and yeah, I mean, i think it, I feel like it really helped for me, like, knowing this course pretty well. Like, I knew what to expect from each section, like, I knew how long each section was and you're able to kind of, like, divide it up in your brain.
00:18:18
Speaker
Um, and... Yeah, like I was suffering for sure like a lot. But I kept like reminding myself that like everyone else is also suffering and you just need to like suffer for longer, basically. Because I think like in the past I've had a habit in races, like when I start to feel bad, and like, well, everyone else is like feeling so amazing and like,
00:18:46
Speaker
I have no chance, but it's like that's not the case. Like everyone is finding it hard. You just need to like persevere. um And yeah, I then got to Dead Horse Gap and then there was a final climb up to Eagle's Nest. um My coach had told me to like really push the final climb and not like save anything for the descent.
00:19:10
Speaker
Um, because, yeah, I mean, descents, I am not limited by my aerobic abilities. Let's just say that. I am limited by my technical abilities. So, yeah, I was like, even though I was...
00:19:27
Speaker
you know, breathing pretty hard, pushing pretty hard. I was like up the final climb and just got to run the whole thing and just keep going. And thankfully it is a pretty short climb. Um, so yeah. And there was also a lot less snow on the course compared to when I was there like a month before, which was for relief. Um, cause it nearly was still a bit of snow at the top and yeah, it was super, super windy at the top of Eagle's Nest. Um,
00:19:55
Speaker
I actually got blown over like and like yeah just because it was so windy but only briefly got back up um started the descent and I mean i felt like I was going really fast I definitely set a PR on Merritt's nature track um but at not too probably like halfway down the descent Sarah passed me Maybe it was less than halfway. But anyway, and she was just, like, dis descending so fast. and i was, like, obviously sucks to be passed, but also, like, there is no way I can keep up with that.
00:20:30
Speaker
um She was flying down. And after that, I was just, like, really concerned about Hannah passing me as well. and so I just tried to, like, go as fast as I could. um to like avoid being passed by Hannah and yeah managed to hold her off at least and yeah finished in fifth so I was pretty happy with that and definitely could not have given anything more because that was really really hard at
00:21:01
Speaker
Amazing. Yeah, you did so well. And yeah, like, it's so good to break the race down. Like, do you usually do that with your coach? Like, go through it like a strategy for each section?
00:21:13
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I think it like, I mean, I find it like helps to have, you know, like studied the course a little bit and thought like, okay, like, what am I going to be focusing on in this section? Yeah.
00:21:28
Speaker
Um, especially in like the longer races where it's like, you don't just want to go like, you know, send it from the gun basically. Um, yeah. yeah And how did, um, the fueling go?
00:21:44
Speaker
Yeah, the fueling went, um, well, no, no issues. I was doing 90 grams of calves an hour, with 100 milligrams of caffeine an hour. a hair And that's a lot. That's a bit of caffeine. I was like talking to um Vic, my dietician, I've just started working with him.
00:22:04
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, i usually do like caffeine every like one and a half to two hours. And he wanted me to, at least for 50k, go up to 100mg an hour because, you know, he has his little, like, calculations in terms of like, what's the, like, appropriate amount, like, um for someone to take. And, you know, I trust he's not going to...
00:22:31
Speaker
send me like give me a crazy amount of caffeine that will make me like sick like I'm like okay if he's recommending that like obviously it's um it's an appropriate dose which yeah um so nice yeah Oh, actually, one question I have, because I know you've been one to take the bicarb before. Did you dabble? I did. i did i took my bicarb at, like, 5am, the race started at 7.
00:22:58
Speaker
um Definitely on that first descent, my stomach, I was, like, a little bit worried. I was like, are we going to have, like, his stomach problems today? um which like i never usually have stomach problems, touch wood, in races, but it it actually ended up settling down so it was fine. Nice.
00:23:19
Speaker
Are you using um Big Bicarb or one of the little Bicarb brands? Are you using the Flycarb one? I'm using, yeah, your recommendation Brody, the Flycarb. yeah how do you how do you find it because it's like it's hard to i think it mostly makes me feel nauseous because it's really hard to consume yeah so when i originally tried that just like the regular flavor it was like literally probably one of the most disgusting things i've ever eaten Like I had to hold my nose when I was eating it so I couldn't yeah like taste it properly because it was just so foul. But then I tried the mango flavor and that's actually, it's like, it doesn't make me like want to throw up. Like it's obviously not like yummy by carb, but it's yeah yeah it's fine.
00:24:10
Speaker
um so I've been on the mango. That's my recommendation. Yeah, okay. Yeah, for anyone listening, the um the brand that we're talking about is called Flycub. They're from the UK, but they don't, like Morton has ah patented the or patented the um the pellet formation. So it means that other brands at this stage, it seems that they can't use that. So in Morton, you don't really taste the Buycub too much because it's in the pellet.
00:24:37
Speaker
But in the fly carb, it's sort of like a powder and you mix it in. So it sits, like for me, I've found that it sits pretty well in the stomach because at least it's mixed into the gel, but it's very, very salty. I would describe it.
00:24:51
Speaker
I'm going to try the mango, it seems. Yeah. I mean, the thing about bicarb as well is like at this stage, there are no... there's no evidence for its like effectiveness in endurance sports.
00:25:06
Speaker
So it's trying to be effective in shorter, like think like eight hundred meter fifteen hundred meter even but there's no evidence for longer term i mean for yeah ah ah effectiveness and longer efforts. um But yeah, I've also recently started taking um beta alanine, which like has the same effect as bicarb, as in like increases your ability to buffer lactic acid.
00:25:39
Speaker
Um, but it's, yeah, you just like take it every day over time it increases the amount of, I think it's carnitine. It's like an amino acid in your muscles, which like helps with the buffering. Don't quote me on that.
00:25:55
Speaker
Um, but yeah. And that's like, obviously has less like stomach, uh, side effects because you just take like a small amount every day, and the biker.
00:26:08
Speaker
Yeah, it's interesting. Using the bike hub training, I assume in in the lead up, do you have you noticed any sort of ah benefit in your sort of endurance training sessions? Or is it like you haven't really like where are you at with that?
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, I would say so like I usually take it like on my workout days and like speed session and then for my long run. um I definitely notice a difference for my speed sessions. I wouldn't say I can notice a huge difference for the long runs.
00:26:39
Speaker
Mm-hmm. but it's hard because you're just not really like accessing those like like my long
Preparation for Future Races
00:26:46
Speaker
runs are pretty much always like easy long runs so it's like I kind of feel good anyway um yes yeah yeah yeah so it's hard to it's hard to get that comparison yeah I actually ah tried i used bike car for one of my races and and not for the other race um in the last month and yeah it was I don't know it's hard it's so hard to know what you would have felt like if you didn't take the bike up so like yeah tough one um but like you said there is no evidence supporting it in in races really over 10 minutes so yeah but but there's plenty of people in the endurance world doing it so it's it's a tricky one
00:27:26
Speaker
I think the main like recommendation would be like if you have any like stomach, if it causes you to have stomach issues, like it's not worth taking away. It's not worth it, yeah, definitely. Because it's like there's the risk that it will cause stomach issues and there also isn't any proven benefit.
00:27:45
Speaker
But it's like if you tolerate it fine, then you know why not? like You might as well. um give it a go yeah nice um you're also talking about the ice bandanas what was it what was the temperature in on the um on the race day yeah pretty chilly I'll be honest like it was sunny but the wind was very cold and very strong um so like I definitely didn't feel cold during the race but also like you know, the ice bandana is, like, reducing your core body temperature, so, which, like, has a, like, beneficial effect on your, like, perceived, it reduces your, like, perceived exertion.
00:28:25
Speaker
um so again, it's that thing, like, well, I don't know what I would have felt like without the ice bandana, maybe I would have been hot. um But also, it was more like, I'm planning on using the ice bandana for Tara Weir, so we wanted to just, like,
00:28:39
Speaker
practice the logistics of of did you talk about like with your coach like the like given that cosy could have been cold or like even that it was sounds like it wasn't warm like the risk of being too cold like is that something you discussed or is it sort of like we need to test this for tarawara so we've we've got to try it in the race situation No, we actually didn't. Like, it didn't even occur to me that it would be too cold. Like, I think just because of last year, it was not that cold. But obviously... And I guess in a 50k that's during the day, it's probably like yeah the risk of like getting... Because I'm just thinking to like the people who were at UTMB this year that that had to stop because they got too cold. and And even that happened a little bit at GPT-Miler. But those races are also much longer and go overnight. So it's it's a bit different.
00:29:27
Speaker
But, yeah, I didn't start with the ice in my bandana. And, like, if I got to the third first aid station, like, I told Wyatt that I would, like, tell him if I wanted ice or not. So I could easily have just... You're still making the decision. Yeah. Yeah. yeah um Cool. And then i looking forward from here, you're talking you're talking about Tarawera. Is that... It sounded like that was, like, a bigger...
00:29:52
Speaker
a bigger goal than UTK. And is that like like one of your big goals next year? Is it for a particular reason or is it just that you're excited to go hard at Tarawera? Like what's the reasoning behind that one?
00:30:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Tarawera is definitely a big race I'm targeting. It's always like, you know, a little bit nerve wracking to like put it out there because then it's like, well, then if it goes badly, then you kind of got no excuses. But it is my big goal. I am shooting for a golden ticket there. um Cool. I was off 27 seconds. what I was posturing. That was question, really. Yeah, I was off by 27 seconds last year. So I'm like, I know that.
00:30:33
Speaker
I know that I i can do it um and I've like yeah learned so much like as a runner over the past year. um and yeah Training's been going well, just continuing to build, but yeah I'm really excited for it.
00:30:50
Speaker
I'm feeling pretty confident after Cozzy and um yeah, that's that's the aim. Cool, exciting. Big summer ahead and lots of heat training over summer. Yeah, exactly, exactly. It's good timing for summer.
00:31:07
Speaker
It's actually going to be 38 degrees where I am on Saturday, apparently. So that'll be fun for us. ah Where is that? I need to go there. Yeah, it's down in down in the Shire, actually, in Sydney. Okay.
00:31:21
Speaker
There you go. Nice one. Cool. Do you have any other questions for Juliet, Jess? Um, no, it's like, what does, what is there anything else you're going to change to your kind of, um, prep for Tarawera compared to last year?
00:31:39
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah. Um, I mean, ah yeah like over since last year, we've like, the training approach has changed slightly. Um, we've added in some longer sessions on the uphill treadmill at 15%. Um, um,
00:31:55
Speaker
um So those will definitely be a big part of the block and um doing some like longer like threshold style intervals um during them.
00:32:09
Speaker
And yeah, we've also recently started doing track workouts, which has been super fun. um So yeah, I think we'll continue sprinkling those in just to keep the legs turning over reasonably.
00:32:25
Speaker
And yeah, since last year, I've like definitely really went into the heat training. So that will be a bigger, a bigger part of the equation. Oh, and I'm also like, yeah, as I said before, recently started working with the dietician. So I'm excited to really dial in the fueling side of things and just be like 100% sure that I'm getting enough, like both during training, but also like in and around training.
00:32:52
Speaker
ni Yeah, open some more questions for me. The heat training, will you do it ah like, will you do anything for heat training or is it just going to be like training outside in in the heat? Like what's the, are you going to see what the weather looks like, I guess? So I just do like passive heat training. um Okay, yeah.
00:33:09
Speaker
Just like, um yeah, sauna, steam room, um hot tub, whatever, you know, it depends on where I am and what is available.
00:33:20
Speaker
um But yeah, I usually do like four times five four or five times a week, like 20 to 30 minutes. um And yeah, we're not we're not really doing any active heat training other than just going for runs in the summer when it's hot.
00:33:36
Speaker
Yeah, and you'll probably get a decent amount of that anyway over summer, I imagine. Yeah, and also like Rotorua in February, like, again, touch wood, but like it isn't, it's nowhere near as hot as Sydney.
00:33:48
Speaker
Yes, yeah. It's not like it's like a Western States kind of heat trading level required. Yeah, um and the uphill treadmill, like Rotorua or Tarawara is probably more of a like a flatter Yeah, yeah.
00:34:03
Speaker
um the Do you know like the rationale behind doing lots of uphill treadmill? Like it sounds good that you're doing some speed work as well, but like have you got to do it? Yeah, so the uphill treadmill, I mean, obviously it's great if you're training for a race with lots of vert because you can get vert when you're not necessarily in the mountains. But um the rationale behind the uphill treadmill is basically just to get like time on feet and like aerobic volume um in a way that's like significantly reduced impact. Mm-hmm.
00:34:37
Speaker
So that's the main, yeah, rationale, especially for the like like the longer like threshold style interviews, if not interviews, intervals, which can be like ah quite a big like injury risk for someone like me. If you put it on the uphill treadmill, you're going so much slower and just like having that gradient, it just way reduces the the load. um on your body and feel like there was a it sounds like some pretty good pretty good for you yeah you runs on there as well as the threshold are you doing sort of just the threshold on there
00:35:19
Speaker
Yeah, so at the moment I've just been doing easy running on the uphill treadmill, but in the next couple months into Tarawira, some of that will become intervals. And what's easy running? I imagine it's still relatively difficult running, because if I run on an uphill treadmill at 15%, even if you put it quite slow, it's a little bit hard. Yeah, but you just really do get used to it. first, it was like there is no easy...
00:35:48
Speaker
on the uphill treadmill but once your body adapts to it you know like it does like you know easy would be like heart rate like sometimes like below 140 like 135 for like minutes on the uphill um Sounds like you're much better at it than I am. That's really cool. It's good to know that I might adjust a bit more. But, um yeah yeah, sorry for peppering you with lots of questions about your training. um But it's it it's just really interesting to me and hopefully some others as well.
Brodie's Race Reflections
00:36:20
Speaker
But, yeah, sounds sounds cool. Sounds like a ah fun summer ahead.
00:36:24
Speaker
Yeah, I'm excited. Just got to stay injury free. But yeah, hopefully, oh, I know I'm doing all the all the things I can do in my power to make that happen. Yeah. Sounds good. No, you're killing it. You sound super dialed. Oh, thanks. Keep up the good work.
00:36:41
Speaker
Thank you. 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, 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.
00:37:23
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 checkout. And with that, let's get back to the show.
00:37:40
Speaker
And Brodie, you had a race couple weekends ago. um I don't think you've gone through your race recap yet. So do you want to update the listeners on how the race went and how the recovery has gone the last week? Yeah, so i um i I think, yeah, last time I was on, we – We were chatting, I did triple tops down in Tassie in early November and then I had two weeks between um that that and and the second race I did, which was great Southern Endurance run in the Victorian Alps.
00:38:11
Speaker
um So yeah, it was 28k, except it got extended to thirty k so it was a bit longer than I was probably ready for. But but Yeah, it was hard. I tell you what, like I haven't done this year. I haven't done much running to to start with and I haven't done any runs. I think I've done one run where I did a continuous climb over 500 meters.
00:38:38
Speaker
ah And this race starts with a 1,400 metre climb up Feathertop. So it was, yeah, it was pretty tough. I found that particularly difficult. But I got to the top of Feathertop and then from there we had about, i think it was about 20k along the Razorback, sort of undulating, and then up to the top of Hotham and then like a bit of a 5k sort of mostly descent to to the finish line. um So yeah, I survived the climb um and then survived the Razorback, still wasn't feeling that good and then i actually finished not not too bad. So yeah, I was pretty happy but um it was 3 hours and 10 minutes so it was quite a long race for me given sort of the amount of training I'd done.
00:39:27
Speaker
um But, yeah, I was pretty happy with it. Ian Best absolutely blew me out of the water. um He ran up Feathertop 10 minutes quicker than me. i think he yeah I think James was saying last week he went up faster than the time he went up in four peaks.
00:39:43
Speaker
um And then he he held a pretty healthy gap to the finish. But I managed to come second, so I was i was pretty happy with that. um Had a good little battle with Toby Lang on the Razorback and then managed to pull away from him. so Yeah, it was it was super fun. and And the Razorback was amazing. Like, um I don't know how much you you two have run in the Victorian Alps. And I've run there quite a bit. But I must have never run along the Razorback in sort of November, mid to late November. Maybe it's a specific time. But there was like this plant, and I don't know what it is, but it's like this small sort of shrub plant that looks a bit like heather that you see in the UK. Yeah.
00:40:23
Speaker
and it was like purple flowering. It was beautiful. Like it was so nice running across along these sort of single tracks with like these small eucalypts and then like this sort of pink purple flower carpet. It was beautiful. So yeah, I had a great time out there running when I wasn't feeling awful, but I was feeling awful for most of it. So it was definitely a struggle. But yeah I'm really proud of what I was able to achieve, like I'd hoped to go closer to Ian um if I was fit, um which I think I probably could.
00:40:54
Speaker
But yeah, I was about 15 minutes behind him at the end. um ah But my many my nutrition was pretty good. Like I managed to get in. I wanted to like, I knew that I was going to like it was a long distance. So I was going to try and get as much in as I could. um given I haven't done much running, like I just, my gut is not super ah ready for lots of nutrition. So especially with the climb to start with, like my heart rate was in threshold zone for the entire climb.
00:41:21
Speaker
Um, So I was, yeah, I was trying to hit myself, hit hit the nutrition, but it was struggling. But in the end, I sort of peed it off a little bit, but I did still manage to get like 85 grams of carb an hour. So I was pretty happy with that, um given the circumstances. And I was nauseous.
00:41:39
Speaker
for most of the day. And I thought I was also a bit like that at triple chops. And I thought it may have been the bicarb, which is why I didn't do bicarb. And I still had it. So maybe I'll have to try bicarb again. I can't completely rule it out.
00:41:51
Speaker
um I think it's just my body getting used to the the high levels of carb and trying to do it while you're running at at a high heart rate. So yeah, it's, I think like I'm excited now to get into training, train my gut, train my legs, train my fitness. I've got a lot of training to do. So yeah, no racing on the cards for so the immediate, ah intermediate, medium term future. And I'll just race when I feel like I'm i'm ready. I'm not putting anything in the book. So yeah,
00:42:23
Speaker
I'm excited to get into into some training over the summer um and and yeah just get out there and enjoy enjoy running again. I've spent too long sort of stressing about how I'm feeling and racing towards goals that are probably ah maybe a bit of a stretch. um So I'm looking forward to getting the full love for running just in the mountains and out in nature and and maybe running along the Razorback where I don't feel nauseous and I'm looking at the pretty flowers. How did the Achilles pull up after the race? It was actually really good. so it's been like massive, like I'll give a shout out here to Lachie who's been with me for about...
00:43:05
Speaker
two years now working on this sort of very stubborn Achilles um because like he's been very patient with me. He's been very helpful um and he sort of guided me to this point where like I don't think it's felt that good in a race since maybe mid-2023.
00:43:25
Speaker
So it's been long time. Like it's it's still not perfect, but like every race I've done since then, it's felt like really if I reflect on it, like honestly, pretty shit in every race I've done since then.
00:43:40
Speaker
So it was really positive. Like i could still I can still feel the sensation of like, my Achilles feeling a bit tight, my lower calf feeling a bit tight, but like that the activity was hard for that part of my body, but not getting the sort of insertional pain during the race and then pulling up really well afterwards as well. So both of the two races, it was like that. And I was actually surprised how good it felt given that I haven't actually hit my Achilles with much running ah since I've sort of done this most recent comeback.
00:44:10
Speaker
But I think that just all of the work I've been doing for the last two years in the gym um and slowly sort of building on all that stuff this is maybe coming coming through now. And I'm feeling pretty positive about it, um especially because I'm not putting myself in on any timelines now um because that's been probably a the biggest mistake of the last two years, like for whatever reasons that I put timelines on myself.
00:44:34
Speaker
um So, yeah, um it it was actually pretty good. Like, it found the climb really hard. Obviously, a 1,400-meter climb at about, no, would have been, I think it's about 10% grade, roughly.
00:44:46
Speaker
So, it's just that grade that you can't really hike on. Like... If you're hiking, you're going too much slower than you would be if you're running, even if you are running pretty slowly. So it was like, I was like trying to wait for it because I knew Feathertop was like that, but I know there's a few sections, but they're like 8K in where you can hike for maybe like a tiny bit. And you could probably still run, but like it's steep enough that you can hike and maybe you're 10% slower. Whereas for most of it's like if you hike, you're probably 30 to 40% slower than if you were running. So you just can't not run.
00:45:19
Speaker
um So that was pretty hard on the Achilles, but yeah, it did all right. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty positive. I'm really happy with where it's at and yeah, looking forward to ah post when I can actually put some fitness together because really I haven't trained properly for like at least 18 months. um So I'm just, yeah, I feel like I could be in a much better place if I just but it build some bricks. and um Obviously, I have trained for many years, so I have bricks in the wall. So hopefully some of it comes back quickly. And that's why I can still maybe get
00:45:52
Speaker
decent results without having a lot of training behind me but I know that my level could be a lot higher so yeah I'm looking forward to sort of trying to reach there and and hopefully trying to so go past my previous best level as well that would I would love to do that I'm only 31 so hopefully I can still do that um but yeah I'm most excited about just getting out in the mountains and going running without pain yeah and are you still gonna um focus on orienteering and trail running or just waiting to see Yeah, I'm sort going to say, like for me, like I think if I wanted to take, like if I wanted either to go to the absolute best in in that sport, I probably would be better off just to focus. And you can see that there's a few trail runners, a few orientees that have transitioned to trail running because they can't do both and get to the the highest possible level for themselves in trail running.
00:46:47
Speaker
um So that's like Chris Jones, Paul. Frederick Tronchard, those guys have fully transitioned. Although Tove did win world champs. I was about to say. yeah think I think Tove might be a special case. shes incredible um She I think she could probably beat me in an orienteering race and a trail race. like she's She's just such such a high level. She's a very impressive athlete.
00:47:14
Speaker
So I think she's maybe the exception. um But, yeah, I still love both sports though. so For me, I'm like, yeah, I know maybe if I could maybe eke another 1% to 5% out of myself if I focus purely on one. But, like, I still love doing both. And and for me, that's probably the most important thing is, like, being able to... I think I can still be good enough at both that they're not too negative against it. Like, they're pretty they're still pretty um complementary. They're just maybe not 100% complementary. But...
00:47:48
Speaker
Yeah, at this stage, I'm just going to do whatever I'm most interested, what I'm most excited about. And I think for the next year, that'll probably be a bit more trail, because there's a few trail races in Australia that I'd love to do um And I'll probably enter them at a whim right at the end, if I'm feeling like I can, um because I don't want to like say, I'm going to do this race, and then I'll try and meet that race by, and I'll push the
Jess's Race Challenges
00:48:12
Speaker
barrier to get there. So Yeah, I reckon I might jump in a few races late notice next year or I might do no races at all. We'll see. i im um yeah I'm not too stressed about doing a race, to be honest. I just, yeah, yeah I'm excited to just go out there and get get running.
00:48:27
Speaker
Keep us on our toes. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. be scared, everyone. I might turn up on any start line. All all right.
00:48:39
Speaker
Cool. And and Jess, you like we probably should have gone into you straight off the back of Juliet, but you were also racing in Juliet's race. You did mention seeing you at the at the bottom of the descent.
00:48:49
Speaker
Close behind. Close behind, I heard. um Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah, don't sell yourself short, Jess.
00:49:00
Speaker
Yeah, i had a pretty rough day, to be honest. i sort of, yeah, um wish I didn't line up. to be honest, but um it is what it is. and i yeah Definitely like a learning experience for me. I think there were a few signs in the weeks leading up um that I was probably a bit cooked from the year um and I tried to sort of blame it on like hormones and things like that. um
00:49:31
Speaker
but yeah like My last few long runs, were like I was struggling quite a lot and like not finding it easy. and things like that um and it is hard because like you can blame it on so many different things and i I always try to sort of um keep going and telling myself that I'll be fine and I was trying to be positive and all that stuff um but yeah I guess like a lot of things went wrong for me on race day and like I mean I yeah i don't want to make too many excuses because I still ran like quite a decent time um in a very strong field so like
00:50:08
Speaker
to have that result when I was having a bad day like I still think um there's definitely like things I can take away and be proud of myself for finishing the race um but yeah basically like woke up um race morning and couldn't like tried to get some food down couldn't get anything down was basically like throwing it up um which hasn't happened to me since Cozzy last year. so bit shit that nothing's really gotten better in that way. um but yeah, I think it it all sort of comes down to anxiety and nerves. um Yeah, the gut-brain connection is very strong for me. so I have all of those side effects, which are fun. um But actually on the drive over, I kind of like drank a Coke. So I was able to get some calories down and then I felt, um a fair bit better. um
00:51:06
Speaker
So, yeah, still trying to be positive. And then, um yeah, started the race and i was, yeah, like sitting in the pack for like maybe a couple K. And then when we turned around,
00:51:20
Speaker
And as soon as we got up to any little hill, I already felt like I was like at the end of the race sort of thing, like where your legs are already tired. And i was like, oh God, like why is this happening again? And then I think I just from there really battled mentally and um like negatively spiraled again, um just wasn't very strong mentally and kind of having flashbacks to like Buffalo, how I felt at Buffalo. So I was just like, I'm not going like in my head. I was like, I'm not going through this again. Like in the descent, I was like, I'm pulling out at Bullock's flat. Like I just, I just can't like put myself through that again. And to be honest, like I was just feeling embarrassed.
00:52:01
Speaker
Um, um, at how, yeah, how the race was going. um And, yeah, then I got to Bullock's flat and saw Maddie and Katinka, my crew, and they were like, oh, just keep going. Like, you'll – you're on the section where that you really enjoy and I do really usually love the TVT. So I was like – they were like, just see how you go. Like, um you can always – stop at the next aid station. So I was like, okay, I'll just keep going. um And then i tried to get some fuel down because I also hadn't been able to do that um before that point. so
00:52:41
Speaker
tried to get like quite a lot of gel down and it just like came straight back up. So i was like, oh God, yeah, I'm definitely like stopping at the next aid station. um And then when I got to the next aid station, I kind of just walked around for a few minutes and then I realized that the crew couldn't get there. So I was like, oh, I'll just run to Threadbo. And then I was kind of just running to Threadbo thinking in my mind that I was going to pull out.
00:53:06
Speaker
um And like i was I was having moments where I was like, oh, I'll just – um try and like like in my head i was like okay like you're stopping at Threadbro just try and push yourself for a few minutes and like I just couldn't like i am my brain was just completely out of it um and yeah then my feet started to like blister up on both um sides like quite badly on the arch um and it was just getting worse and worse.
00:53:39
Speaker
So I was just having like all these things that were just piling up and then got to thread bro still thinking I was going to pull out and saw Maddie again at the aid station and she was like,
00:53:51
Speaker
shit And I was like, oh, my feet are just like hurting so much. And there was like blood in my shoe. And then she was like, no, keep going. You've got 14K. I was like, oh, okay. And I just kept going.
00:54:04
Speaker
And yeah, I actually try, I don't know, my feet were in so much pain, but I was just trying not to think about them. um My other parts of my legs actually felt okay at that stage because I'd sort of like, i don't know, I wasn't feeling anxious anymore. I was kind of just like,
00:54:21
Speaker
feeling a bit grateful that I had people that like, um, were like believing in me and like telling me to keep going. Like I was starting to feel really great. I was trying to like lean into being grateful for that. So i was like,
00:54:33
Speaker
Yeah, getting a bit more positive um and I was just happy. I was like, I was like i was going to be, i was like, I think I'll be a lot more upset if I don't finish the race. um So yeah, I was really happy to get to the end and I actually felt pretty like steady going up Eagle's Nest um and yeah, not too tired at the end. It was just more my feet were like really painful. So it was like hard. to enjoy it but yeah um sounds like a day it's all right i mean i just yeah i like bit of a shame with sounds like you at least like like shout out to maddie it sounds like sounds like your crew did a fantastic job of like obviously it's a know hard day to be there but like yeah i don't know you probably feel better having even though it wasn't your day
00:55:29
Speaker
probably having feel better than finishing. ah then Yeah, definitely. Than pulling out at the first aid station. So, yeah, it's sort of, I think that's pretty cool about trail running. It sort of shows the power of of that person or those people that are helping you out there and that have maybe sacrificed something to be there to help you as well. Like it sort of helps with with those hard moments. So, yeah, pretty cool that.
00:55:53
Speaker
Sounds like they were a big part of getting into the finish line. So, luck them. Yeah, I know. I'm so grateful to have them. And, yeah, i'm I'm really happy that I got to the finish line because it was, like, the last race for the year. So, at least I can say that, like, I ticked the box and I've got um the learning experience to take into next year.
00:56:14
Speaker
And, yeah, I'm having it too. Sorry. or I was just going to say, like, you said at one point, like, You know, you weren't having, like, a strong day mentally, but the fact that you, like, you know, you felt bad, like, at kilometre two, and you ran fifty k through that, despite wanting to pull out, despite having stomach issues, despite having feet that looked like they were a crime scene by the end of the race, like...
00:56:40
Speaker
And finished feeling like positive and grateful is like such a testament to your like mental strength. um Yeah. and Yeah.
00:56:51
Speaker
You should be like really proud of that because a lot of people would have just like thrown in the towel or like even finished but being like that was like the worst day ever, but you know. it's pretty incredible. Yeah. And it sounds like like.
00:57:07
Speaker
Oh, sorry. Here you go, Jess. Yeah, I think like um like after having like a similar-ish kind of day at Buffalo, I think now that I've reflected on that, like i like I've realized that there's takeaways from it and um yes, it sucks, but it's like it's okay. Like you I'm just on my own journey where like maybe I'm not improving on like a straight line trajectory but like at least I'm still showing up to races and like being consistent I haven't had any injuries so exactly had success in different areas but um yeah I mean it does it does kind of suck when you don't when it doesn't go your way yeah yeah and it's it's also like super easy to be hard on yourself um
00:57:53
Speaker
It sounds like you you've got more things you want to do to work on like your mental approach to races and that sort of thing. But yeah, I'd just like to echo like what Juliet said, like being able to finish a a race when you feel like that, like I think that's still like you, I think you underestimate like your mental strength, at least in that part of the race. So like you've got a lot of, there's a lot of strength in your mental approach to a race. But like obviously we we always narrow in on the things that we're not very good at.
00:58:21
Speaker
So, yeah, like I think you can take that out as a big positive and and hopefully you can sort of see that because like finishing a race like where you've already spent, I don't know, two hours feeling nauseous and you have no you haven't been able to get any fuel down and now your feet are like a bloody mess. Like that's just, I i don't know if I could have finished in that. So like I think that's that's still pretty impressive to like hold yourself up to Eagle's Nest and then and then come back down again. And then really like not be that far behind, to be honest, like you weren't that far back. That's the other thing, like your time was objectively very good. So yeah.
00:58:55
Speaker
So yeah, hopefully, hopefully you can, like, I know this, I've been in the same position as you and I know in this moment, you don't really feel that, but like, hopefully over time and hearing us say it will make you feel a bit better the pre-racing I thought was interesting like you were saying um like you were you were being positive and and like you maybe said okay it was my hormones but maybe you were just feeling burned out like it's so easy to look back after the race and say oh well I should have obviously realized that that was the case but I've done this like millions of times and so I think like you try and be positive and that is probably the right thing and like most times like
00:59:32
Speaker
your positivity pays out um because it was just what you thought it was. so I think like, yeah, just try try not to Try not to linger on that too much because it's very easy looking back now and going, okay, yeah, probably was a bit much. And I've done this like so many times. so Yeah, I think like the thing that I'm finding hard at the moment is like distinguishing between like the techniques that I'm using for the anxiety, like mindset, but then also trying to pick up on like when I'm actually just cooked and like don't want to do anything.
01:00:06
Speaker
something it's like I feel like I chose to do this race because um because like there's more incentive to do 50k rather than a 30k but like I would have probably enjoyed i would have preferred to be doing a shorter race because I've done a lot of longer races this year um and I probably chose it for the wrong reasons like my I wasn't really that keen to do it um but it's yeah it's hard to kind of distinguish between those thoughts and like anxious thoughts and which ones like you should be listening to which ones you should be just brushing off um so I think it's all part of yeah the learning and just getting stronger mentally
01:00:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's very true. It is really hard to tell. And like similarly, you know it's really hard to tell like when you're cooked and should probably take a step back. But also like training is hard and like it makes you really tired all the time sometimes. it's like that fatigue is also just like a part of of being an athlete sometimes. And...
01:01:13
Speaker
Yeah, like I had a similar thing. my like I was injured in March with a bone stress injury and like the weeks leading ah into it, I was like super fatigued, but I was like, yeah, this is just like training. and then I was like, no, you're now injured. But it's like, in the moment, I wasn't training through that, like trying to sabotage myself. But it was just like, yeah, it was really hard to to tell when it's like a warning sign that you should listen to or when it's just like a normal part of training.
01:01:43
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Definitely. But yeah, a break now, two-week break with no running at all, which I'm very excited about. I can't really run at the moment anyway because I've got no sleep.
01:01:56
Speaker
was it Was that the plan before Cozzy or is that something like you've decided afterwards? No, I definitely need it. I definitely need a break. um I've pretty much been going the whole year, so I think it'll be good. Yeah.
01:02:11
Speaker
And is that something you had sort of like decided or is it something that like you worked on with your support, like your coaching team or your support team or like how did you come to the decision to take the two weeks?
01:02:22
Speaker
um I kind of just decided that because i've that's what I've seen um other people do. Like I guess I noticed it mostly last year when um we got back from Asia Pacific Champs and Charlie and Mikey had like a big break.
01:02:38
Speaker
um And so because all of that sort of non-forced break was new to me, like usually having injuries forcing me to stop, um I was like, oh, yeah, that seems like a good break. Like a good idea. And I've, yeah, I've been working with Kate avery um the last few weeks um since my coach and i had to break up. um So, yeah, chatted to her. Sounds funny when you say it like that. Chatted to her after.
01:03:09
Speaker
And she was like, yeah, that's really good idea. And, um yeah, was fully on board. So, yeah. I think it's a good idea. That was sort of why I was asking the question because I think so many more people could be doing it. And it's particularly hard actually when you, like you said, when you've had breaks, many breaks for injuries and stuff in the past that you sort of just want continue the momentum. But yeah, I think if you look at the people who...
01:03:37
Speaker
ah like not everyone because some people just seem to just keep going and going and going but like I think sometimes maybe they might be the exception but like yeah Charlie and Mike are great examples like Charlie's done that really well for the last sort of like three years having that having that break and he talks about like having he likes it because it's the opportunity for him to go ride his bike and that sort of thing and do other things he loves so hopefully you can you can um enjoy some of your other hobbies do some more dog walks maybe yeah yeah I'm going to be doing my hot girl Pilates for sure. Yeah, Love that.
01:04:12
Speaker
Awesome. Cool. Yeah, sounds like it was ah it was a learning experience at the very least. um And yeah, definitely I'm sure you will sort of build off that. And like you said, it's not it's not a linear ah progression for anyone um or it's very, very rare to have that sort of linear progression. And and it is a bit of roller coaster.
01:04:32
Speaker
Yeah.
Cozy Event Reflections
01:04:33
Speaker
Yeah. All right, well, let's while we're talking about COSI, maybe we jump into the COSI results, you reckon? yeah Yeah, I think so. Cool. All right, well, I'll yell out the 50K just because we were talking about that. And firstly, I wanted to point out We top 15, six females in the top 15, which is nearly half of the top 15. So that's that's pretty pretty cool. um Well, half a seven and a half, so a little bit under half. But still, like its ah I think that just showed how competitive this race was ah on the women's side particularly.
01:05:10
Speaker
um So the winner was Andrea Colbin's daughter. yeah I did notice you didn't say her last name before, so I'm like, Juliette. Leave that for you.
01:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, she was first in four hours, 24, 48. And she was also third overall. So she had a pretty incredible run. ah Second was Lucy Bartholomew in 4, 32, 12. And third was Demi Caldwell in 4, 34, 16.
01:05:36
Speaker
thirty four sixteen So not too far, just two minutes behind Lucy. So yeah, some some great runs from from those ladies. But really the whole women's field was, yeah, pretty strong. In the men's,
01:05:48
Speaker
Michael Demianti's got the win probably unsurprising but still pretty quick time 404.08 um I don't know was it in the exact same courses last year because I was sort of comparing the time to what to what the guys ran last year think it was yeah yeah so i think they ran around 410 so it was a bit Mikey did run a bit quicker and that was a Tate Perps and Ben St Lawrence so some pretty handy runners so it looks like a pretty good time from Mikey I think um and then still a pretty like a very good time from second place who I didn't know well i think we chatted just said his name in the preview because he was the highest rank but Jack Ferris was in second in four hours 12 25 so comparable to the times of the top guys last year so yeah very very good run from Jack and Third was Ronan McNally in Foras 30.19.
01:06:41
Speaker
So that was the 50K. um I don't know if anyone else wants to. Does anyone want to take one or do want me to run through all of them? I can do it. You guys can comment. All right. The 30K, we'll cover the 30K quickly. ah In the women's, Kate Avery got the win.
01:07:00
Speaker
in two hours, 42, 33. So she's continued, Kate's continued to sort of... Her reign of terror. Yeah, I know. Dominant running coming coming back. yeah um A quick shout-out I didn't say to Sarah Lutowici, who came fourth in the 50K, who is also um on the post-pregnancy program train of just running incredibly well. So shout out to both those. But Kate did get the win. Second place was Sarah Leavitt in two hours, 45-11. And third was Belinda James in 3-06-19.
01:07:35
Speaker
And in the men, Thomas Banks backed up from... is a pretty very impressive run at GPT50, but he was just off the podium there because of the big overseas ah runners. He won in two hours, 22.07, so great run from Thomas.
01:07:52
Speaker
Second was Henry Hugman in two hours, 26.50, and third was Alex Bate in two hours, 27.25, pretty close between those two.
01:08:02
Speaker
And I think maybe Henry got past Alex on the last descent because I was following the tracking. So yeah, some some fast and close racing there, which was cool to see. In the 100K in the women, we had Sophie on a couple of weeks ago.
01:08:20
Speaker
i was watching her very closely the whole time and she was slowly making her way up through the field. And yeah, I was very happy to see her take the win in 11 hours, 58.10. So yeah, if you didn't hear about Sophie's preparation for this race, you can go back and listen. She was on the weekly pod a few weeks ago. um a really quick time and a decent win from from Sophie there. Second place, not too far behind, ah was Anna Pillinger in 12 hours, 16.30. So a really strong run from Anna there.
01:08:52
Speaker
And third was Charlotte Lomas in 12.21.58.
01:08:57
Speaker
um And there was some good racing in in that 100K, a bit of back and forth all day, which was cool to see. um The same which was which in the men's race. The winner was ah Frenchman Loris Lassery, who we spoke about on the preview. He did take the win in 9 hours 53.20.
01:09:17
Speaker
Second place was Godfrey Slattery in 10 hours 02.25. And third place was Gerald McPherson in 10 hours, 12.25. So think that's another third place for Gerald. I think we were talking about him in the preview. He was third in the marathon at Buffalo and Hounslow. So he's had a good year of third places in some pretty competitive races.
01:09:40
Speaker
And Godfrey, I'm not sure we mentioned to him. I think he might be a ah relatively new trail to trail. So, yeah, really strong run from Godfrey there.
01:09:52
Speaker
Great run. ah In the mylar, in the women's category, we had Steph Austin in 19 hours and 45 minutes, 56. She ran pretty dominant race all day out the front. um Very quick time. I'm not exactly sure what the fastest time on this course is, but she was sixth place overall as well. So um a really great run from Steph. ah Second place was Christy Laurie in 22 hours and 26 minutes. And third place was Jessica Schluter in 23 hours and 55 minutes.
01:10:29
Speaker
In the men's category, sorry, there's a lot of races here, but the last one, ah Morgan Glazier, who was ah who came across to Australia, he's from the UK, he was supposed to be running GPT under mile. We talked about him a little bit in the preview because he had ah something happen where he I think he ended up in hospital, he needed to see a doctor and he unfortunately missed the start of ah the GPT-100 despite sort of being that he might have been able to, but he just couldn't logistically make it back in time. He has run a really impressive time here and got a big win, 17 hours and 38 minutes. I'm sure he was happy to get his race done down under and he did take the win. So great run from Morgan.
01:11:13
Speaker
Second place was Liam Fearns in 1809. and third place was Adrian Della Nugaridi in 1837. I've probably said that wrong. Sorry, Adrian.
01:11:26
Speaker
um But that was Cosi. Any thoughts, ah girls, andia anything that you saw there that I've missed? Yeah, I just think how interesting it is. Like, the depth of competition and Australia, like, it exists, but for any given race, it's, like, literally a coin flip, whether it will be, yeah yeah like, who lines up. Like, it could be, like, the, you know, 50k women's field, which was stacked, or it could be, like...
01:11:56
Speaker
pretty empty I don't you know and there are always good people but like less competitive than other races and yeah you never know what you're gonna get so interesting combo there yeah yeah it's it's that's yeah it's super interesting to see how that plays out like I think um I was saying in the in the COSY preview that I think the 50k women's field was probably the strong was definitely the strongest I'd seen all year and and maybe one of the strongest women's fields we've seen like in terms of like all of the top ladies, well, not all of them, but like a ah lot of the top ladies being there even compared to the last few years. I think also the level has really risen across the board. So it's leading to these super competitive races. um
01:12:39
Speaker
But yeah, it's it's interesting how some of them end up more competitive than others. And then it's it's really, yeah, you can't really, ah can't really pre coach results anymore because you don't really know who's going to turn up where.
01:12:53
Speaker
yeah yeah definitely and these big races the utk often will have have pretty strong fields across the board but then you might end up with a 50k like the the women's where it's it's super super strong down to 10 yeah it's uh it's cool to see it's it's it's positive and and hopefully we can get more start lines in future years where we get like strong fields like this all turning up um and And racing against each other because, like, it is really interesting racing when you when you get to watch those races where you've got 10 really good people
Racing Events and Updates
01:13:28
Speaker
racing. Mm-hmm.
01:13:33
Speaker
Oh, any other thoughts about Cozzy? Otherwise, we'll leave it there. We'll move on. Yeah, I think we can move on to ah the Heroes and Villains trail run. Are we going to do that as those results now? Yeah, why not? It's the only other one we had, so let's do it. All right. So, um Heroes and Villains, do you guys know much about this race?
01:13:56
Speaker
I don't know what what the Heroes and Villains bit is. I tried to do some research and... My research wasn't very in-depth, so I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. Looks like it's in the Yu Yangs, which is um sort of towards Greatish and Roadish in Victoria. I think the main thing was that it was a bit of like a dress-up thing, maybe.
01:14:18
Speaker
Oh, wow. Oh, yeah, for Halloween? Yeah, like I guess so. Or like it a sort of like a javelina type of setup, I think, is what they were going for. It's pretty cool. And I think there's some night races, I don't know if all of them are night, but I think at least some of them are.
01:14:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, they had a lot of different distances, um everything from the two k the 6 hours, and all the way up to 50K. um But I think we'll just go through ah fifty k results. so um In the men, we had Sean Cross in first place in 4 hours 15. And then second place was Adam Kefai in 4 hours 25. third was Parfit 4 hours 40.
01:15:04
Speaker
then... There was only one...
01:15:09
Speaker
then
01:15:17
Speaker
ah there was only one female in that race and unfortunately was a dnf so um yeah it looks like they've got not heaps of entrance and they're spread across a lot of different distances so it's hard to do a result section i find it quite interesting when races do this like events do this um yeah i don't understand i don't really understand why they don't um just like limit the number of events and yeah Yeah, you'd think it would make it more complicated for them. mean, James have talked about this a few times, but I guess like if you you look at it from a purely participation hat on, it gives the option for any distance, although I would say a 42 and a 50 are pretty similar. It can be one to give us. Yeah, probably. but Yeah. gives it It gives people lots of different options, I guess.
01:16:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. um All right, we'll quickly go through the 21K then because we had three, at least three females in that one. so ah In the 21K for the ladies, we had Cindy Shenhall in 2 hours 26, 15, taking out equal first with must be her sister or cousin, Stacey Shenhall, in the exact same time. say Pretty wholesome stuff. Yeah. um And then second was Claire Lee in 2 hours 30, and third was Elise Coon in 2 hours 59,
01:16:44
Speaker
And then in the men we had Chris Schumann in first place in 1 hour 43, Nathan Heermans in second in 1 hour 50, and Darren Granger in third place in 2 hours 11. Nice.
01:17:00
Speaker
Cool. So that was Heroes and Villains. um We also had a news topic to go through today. So the fifty k World Champs getting postponed.
01:17:13
Speaker
Yeah, so I think this is the like the ultra running one that was supposed to be in New Delhi in India. It was originally scheduled for the coming weekend.
01:17:24
Speaker
um But I believe that it's been cancelled and rescheduled because there was some air quality concerns. um And it's been, so yeah, rescheduled to next year in March.
01:17:36
Speaker
um So yeah, just an interesting interesting news. um Maybe not not good news, I guess. But yeah, just interesting consider like race races that may be happening where the air quality can fluctuate a little bit.
01:17:48
Speaker
um Obviously, it's got to be careful to protect the athletes, but it's obviously not ideal for people who have been training for world championships and then it'd be delayed three months. um So, yeah, just an interesting one. Yeah, it sounds like it was more to do with the farmers burning off their fields preparing for spring because I'd assume they probably have a lot of fire like fires over there because it probably gets quite hot. so yeah, a bit of Yeah, and I imagine this is something that the the the event organizers as well as the sort of governing bodies are thinking about when they're um like they're not just putting races in places where they know that that it could be a risk.
01:18:29
Speaker
um So this one sounds like it may have creeped up on them a little bit. hopefully hopefully they're planning those those things um but yeah if it is farmers yeah farmers burning their fields as um maybe that would it was not super obvious uh when they were sort of planning the event and whatnot um yeah and then we also have a listener question to go through so this one's from kaz um who sent this one through a few weeks back but um sorry we're only getting to it Yeah.
01:19:15
Speaker
ah Juliet, do you want to take us off first? Of course. Yeah, I mean, a couple of things come to mind. Uphill treadmill. um Not just, ah you know, supervised, but yeah, I mean, like, it's boring, but that's how you get hills when you live in flat land. You can create as many hills as you want. You can run uphill for two hours if you want. Yeah.
01:19:43
Speaker
And you can just put on a show. Personally, I like to watch The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. That's my recommendation. because it makes you, does it make you angry or hyped? It makes me just like so invested in the drama and the time flies by. But yeah, so that would be recommendation number one. And then in recommendation number two would be like heavy strength training like for your legs um just in terms of like obviously it's like not the same kind of stimulus but just in terms of like um getting that like
01:20:22
Speaker
that like deep muscular fatigue, like things like squats and deadlifts and lunges with weight, um, stuff like that. And then, you know, maybe if you have like small hills, you could like do a like lower body strength session and then go run on the small hills and it would feel like they were big hills, I reckon.
01:20:41
Speaker
Um, Also, i know people do, you could also do like stair climbing, like if you don't want to do the uphill treadmill, you could do like the stair master or the stair mill, whatever it's called at the gym.
01:20:54
Speaker
um People also sometimes do stuff like that with the weight vest, like weighted hiking, weighted stairs, all of those kinds of things would be getting at the same type of um stimulus.
01:21:07
Speaker
Yeah, and if you don't have a gym, like you can do that in, but you have access to, don't if gyms are more more common than high-rise buildings, but um if you have like, it you can do a similar thing in like, ah if you live in a high-rise building or if you have access to one, like just going up the stairs to the top, getting the lift back down to the bottom and doing it again, like it's a similar type stimulus. Yeah.
01:21:27
Speaker
that's and That's another idea I've seen people do before. Yeah. Yeah, and I guess the other one is like a weekend trip if you can um go for a drive because sometimes I guess like it's the longer hills that I think are the hardest to replicate um when you don't have things like an uphill treadmill. Yeah.
01:21:50
Speaker
So when you're climbing for like an hour or longer, um i think that's where like the strength training um probably isn't as good as like getting out onto those hills. So yeah, weekend trips.
01:22:05
Speaker
um And we also mentioned just making sure that like your race day nutrition and hydration um is dialed because then you have less room for error so you're delaying fatigue um delaying the fatigue from other systems and you're keeping that fuel in so that your muscles don't deteriorate as quickly um when you're doing the heels in the race yeah I think that I think like on on top of what you said there that like the one thing that maybe is hard to train even if you are using
01:22:39
Speaker
uh uphill treadmill and and that sort of thing is it the downhill so that's where i think like those weekend trips can come in um as a positive because if if you do like a big downhill if you can do like just a few big downhill stimuluses they can they can give you a lot of benefit like you don't have to repeat it as much yeah and i mean downhills are like essential if you're doing a race with lots of vert because you don't want to get wrapped though. Like that is a really important point. You can't just go uphill all the time. Like you definitely need to, if you're doing ah a race, especially in ultra that has both uphill and downhill, you definitely do need to go downhill beforehand. Definitely. Yeah. And cause like most, if you're training for a race with hills, you're probably focusing on going, okay, the uphills, I need to make sure i've done the uphill training.
01:23:26
Speaker
um But also most of those races will have a fair bit of downhill in them. um If they have a lot of uphill. um or they'll have more downhill than you're used to as well if you live in a flat area. um So yeah, that's that's super important. But the good thing with those sort of downhill stimuluses is they can, you can sort of get a lot of benefit out of getting a big stimulus and then and they're not doing it for a few weeks and then and then doing another one. And so doing a few in, And even if it's like an eight-week field, if you only sort of do it two or three times, you can still get quite a benefit from that. So, yeah, I think that's that's probably the other thing to those weekend trips can be quite beneficial to make sure you you'll get the uphill, but you'll also get that sort of downhill stimulus. Yeah.
01:24:08
Speaker
Yeah, cool. I think we've covered most of the things that you can do for training for heels when you don't have any big ones. so thank you for that question, Kaz. And then, yeah, that brings us sort of to the end of the podcast. um Just... run through the events that we've got coming up this week. so um we've got the Afterglow Twilight Half Marathon, which is in the South Coast in Victoria. um We've got the Buller Sky Run.
01:24:39
Speaker
um So that'll be one of the events that'll be done under single track next year oh this possibly this year. think this one may be, I think is what James has said. um So they were the like... previously running wild that are sort of going under the single track banner but sort of being running in a similar in the similar way that they have been run but just um single track taking over their organisation. But, yeah, that's I've done that one actually in the past. is is a cool It's a cool race up on m Mount Buller so it's a fun one. um And then we've also got the Perth Trail Summer Series has kicked off again and the Qi Gong.
01:25:22
Speaker
ah race which is in the Perth hills um and then we've got Sydney Trail Half Marathon, um the Duval Dam Busted Trail Run, Biroir at Daybreak in Queensland um and UTMB Thailand. Yeah so you've got the I think I think it's the major again um for the Asia area so we have UTAs that There's the major for Oceana, um but this is the the major for Asia um and it's in Chiang Mai. And it's got like some pretty heavy hitters on the start list because it is is the major and they do get that.
01:26:03
Speaker
that prize money and it's maybe a slightly easier to get to than Oceana for Europeans and maybe even Americans. So, um, yeah, I think the fields there will be pretty good and sort of last, uh, race of the season for many of the, the big runners. Um, I don't know, ah If there's any other Australians that i I don't know of that are running, but I do know that Toby Sparks is running the 50k
Personal Plans and Farewell
01:26:28
Speaker
distance. So good luck, Toby. I hope you have ah hope he has a great race. And any other Aussies that are over there doing it, good luck to you as well. um
01:26:36
Speaker
Yeah, we're excited to see how it goes. Yeah, wicked. um cool that brings us to the end of episode 86 so thanks guys um what have you got coming up this week at juliet um what have i got coming up this week not much just easing back into it very gradually and eating lots of food yeah yeah recovery vibes yeah yeah nice Yeah, and what about you, Brady? I'm actually headed down to Tassie again this weekend, which is cool. I'm looking forward to that. And I'm going to get out somewhere in the Tasmanian wilderness for a fun run. I'm trying not to make it too long. I want to go for a long one. But um yeah, I've still got to be smart. But oh yeah, I'll probably get out for a couple of hours and do a bit of a mission. So yeah.
01:27:25
Speaker
I'm excited for that. um That'll be, yeah, I think I'm going to go to Walls of Jerusalem at this stage, which is sort of like in the sort of middle of Tassie. So, yeah, looking forward to that. Awesome.
01:27:38
Speaker
Sounds fun. Yeah. All right, thanks, guys. And you're resting up, Jess. Enjoy those two weeks off. Yeah, I'll be resting up. um yeah Work has kicked into Christmas things now. So we've got all that fun stuff like Christmas parties. It's a good time of year to not have to worry about training.
01:27:59
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just enjoy myself. So, yeah, looking forward to it. Cool. Have fun. And thanks, Juliette, for joining. It's been great to sort of chat to you and and hear about what you've been up to and your race at COSY. So, yeah, we might have to get you on next year around Tarawira or after Tarawira when you get that golden ticket.
01:28:20
Speaker
Oh, yeah. All right. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys. Oh, yeah.