Introduction and Scott's Background
00:00:00
UKRunChat
Hello, welcome to the UK Run Chat Podcast. I'm Michelle and today I'm joined once again by coach and triathlete Scott Hill. and Scott's not only a seasoned athlete but also a thoughtful coach and we thought we'd chat around the challenges that busy people face tonight trying to balance life and training and we'll catch up on what Scott's been up to since we last talked which I think was around the time of the last Shrewsbury Half. Now Scott's our 90 minute pacer at the Shrewsbury Half, aren't you Scott? We've got that coming up pretty soon.
00:00:31
Scott
Yeah, this year's passed pretty fast. i can't believe how quick it's coming around, to be honest.
00:00:35
UKRunChat
Yeah, you're looking forward to the You do it quite regularly for us. Is this your third time pacing?
00:00:41
Scott
I think it's more than that now. i think I had a year out with ah with an injury I had, a back injury, but I was still there doing the pacing for the lead runner on on the bike.
00:00:51
Scott
So was still there participating in some form, but obviously couldn't run on that occasion.
00:00:55
Scott
But I'd probably say it's been maybe four five years in total now, possibly.
00:01:00
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's quite a lot then. So you obviously enjoy that kind of role of helping other people achieve a goal then.
Motivation and Coaching Philosophy
00:01:07
Scott
I think so. I think coaching as a whole, that's one of the main reasons, if not the main reason why people that coach coach um it is to help other people achieve something that they might think not achievable. And you know the half marathon alone is um it's a big feat for some people.
00:01:22
Scott
And even that 90 minute bracket, it seems to be a key target a lot of people aim for. And it's it's nice to help them achieve that.
00:01:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, it is. how How successful are you kind of at at helping people there?
00:01:35
UKRunChat
Do people generally get through it in in a time that they want to?
00:01:40
Scott
it's not an easy course.
Marathon Pacing and Strategy
00:01:41
Scott
It's, um, it's challenging, you know, with with the elevation side of it and it, it comes in, you know, peaks and troughs.
00:01:47
Scott
And, I think quite a lot of people underestimate ah half marathon alone, uh, let alone one that's, you know, it's, it's rolling.
00:01:58
Scott
Um, and I seem to come in bang on time every time, which is good. Um, it's obviously good for the event. It's good for the people as well. And those that managed to hang on. Um, but it's, um, I always find that the first couple of miles, a lot of people are a bit concerned about the pace, but I always try and bank five or ten seconds per mile early.
00:02:20
Scott
knowing that it gets a bit harder later on and and obviously we've got a little bit of safety net. so But I talk to him and discuss that as we go in as well and give him tips on on how to tackle the hills.
00:02:31
Scott
And then hopefully people enjoy it. But I think at the end of the day, a lot of people um achieve great things on that course in in whatever pace they're going for, be it the 90-minute one or you know the two-and-a-half-hour one.
00:02:44
UKRunChat
Yeah, I think a hilly course can sometimes be helpful, can't it, in terms of, you know, achieving a
Running Techniques and Tips
00:02:51
UKRunChat
I know the hit the uphills are hard, but can the downhills be useful as well?
00:02:55
Scott
I'd say the downhill, yeah, they can be, but i think you get more fatigued from the downhill. People tend to try and think, well, I can go faster here.
00:03:02
Scott
But ah effectively, you'll put more load for your body and and you can um fatigue things like your quads a lot more than you would do, obviously, if you just took it a bit more ledgerly leisurely on the downhills. But yeah, it is a good one. It has a lot of spectators, a lot of support.
00:03:18
Scott
And I think that just adds to that sort of atmosphere for the people doing the run as well.
00:03:22
UKRunChat
Yeah, how do you pace a hilly half marathon then? Because you you can't be doing even splits all the way round now.
00:03:29
Scott
Well, as I said before, that's where I i bank a few seconds early, knowing that would know it could be a little bit slower later on.
00:03:35
Scott
um And then with the runners, you know, were just helping them accept the fact that they will spread out on the hills. You know, they're going up, some people naturally climb quicker than others. And then obviously we tend to come together again when it pans out or going down the hill as well. But just letting people understand that mindset piece that that will happen and then we'll come together a bit later on and then it's nice and flat on the way back in for the finish.
00:03:56
UKRunChat
Yeah, brilliant. Have you got any tips for people who are attending Shrewsbury Half this year? I think we're going to have a ah record year, actually.
00:04:04
Scott
Really, that's good. um I think you know if this is your first one, whether you're doing you know the the metric one or you know the half marathon standalone itself, then think just enjoy it. um As long as you're training in the lead up to it regularly, consistently, then I think you know you'll be fine.
00:04:21
Scott
And just enjoy it if it's your first one. ah But just accept the fact that these sporting events are quite addictive and you want to do another one afterwards.
00:04:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, they are, aren't they? Yeah, it's it's a good feeling crossing that finish line.
00:04:33
Scott
Yeah, yeah, it's good.
00:04:33
UKRunChat
Yeah. What, what?
00:04:34
Scott
I think it's good generally for, not not just for, you know, physical of stuff, but mentally as well. Sport is a really powerful tool.
00:04:41
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. What, what would you generally advise athletes training for a first half marathon, kind of what to go up to in terms of distance and how,
Training and Community Spirit
00:04:50
Scott
So I think this depends on the individual themselves. You know, if if they're running, you know, an hour and a half then for a half marathon, then that's kind of where they need to be getting up to. Maybe not at the top end of that.
00:05:02
Scott
But if they're taking them longer than that, then obviously to factor that into training as well. But I think it's just that progressive build of training, you know, don't go, okay, I'm going to do it. in a few weeks time, I'm gonna go out and run 10 miles, 12 miles this weekend.
00:05:16
Scott
That's not the way to do it. It's just to gradually increase that by 10 to 15% a week training volume and just and have a variety of training. you'll Go out there, do some slow endurance stuff, maybe do a little bit of threshold where it's a little bit harder paces within within that.
00:05:30
Scott
and even you can put some interval stuff in there so it's some hard efforts but shorter repetitions as well so just enjoy the training maybe encourage friends and family to join your training as well um and that's a good way to do it as a whole
00:05:44
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah, that's good advice. Thank you. what What's been the most rewarding part for you of pacing at Shrewsbury, would you say?
00:05:53
Scott
um i think it's just the community spirit you get from this event it's I mean, even even down to spectators, you see the spec same spectators on the course every year as well. And, that you know, they give the pacers a lot of support. They give the runners a lot of support.
00:06:06
Scott
And even those that are handing out water on the feed station and things as well, you know they're they're supportive as well. And it's great to see. So I think that's just, for me, that's that sport as a whole. just that community spirit, support on each other, and regardless of whether you're doing it in you know an hour 10 or you're doing it in two hours 30, it doesn't matter.
00:06:26
Scott
And that's the good thing with sport as a whole, I think. And that's what i like.
00:06:30
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah. And Shrewsbury's got a great finish as well, hasn't it, with lots of people cheering you over the line.
00:06:35
Scott
There's a lot of people on the whole course. I mean, it loops on itself and you'll see people at one point and a couple miles later, you'll see them somewhere else.
00:06:44
UKRunChat
Yeah, well, all the best with that. and if if anyone listening out there is going for the 90-minute goal at Shrewsbury Hearth, then Scott, to your man.
Balancing Life and Training
00:06:52
UKRunChat
and So what have you been up to personally then, Scott, um in terms of your own your own sport since we last spoke?
00:06:58
Scott
Yeah, so this year has been really busy for me, um work-wise generally. So I'd probably say my endurance training that i would normally do, you know typically um I race Ironman triathlons that distance.
00:07:11
Scott
So training hasn't been where I probably would normally put it. um So that's been difficult. It's been challenging. But that you know it delves into one of the topics we're going to talk about tonight with the self-reflection and stuff and just...
00:07:26
Scott
accepting that life gets in the way sometimes. and It's not about you know factoring this stuff in around our life, be it work, family, you know stuff like that. We have to factor this in around our work, around our family, because normally that's more important.
00:07:41
Scott
in a lot of ways. But at the same time, don't give up on it. you know Stay active, because i still think that's got a lot of value in it as well. And it does give us that um that break from the stresses of general life. So I think you know don't get consumed in work, don't get consumed in family life.
00:07:58
Scott
Give yourself time as well. And if that time is you going out and doing a couple of mile run, then ensure that you get that as well, because it is good for headspace.
00:08:08
UKRunChat
So what have you managed to fit in this year? Because I you did Outlaw, didn't you?
00:08:12
Scott
So I did Outlaw weekends ago as a relay.
00:08:15
Scott
And that was just due to the fact that I haven't had the volume I normally would to to do it justice and be happy myself.
00:08:23
Scott
So, you know, a managed to recruit a good swimmer and a good runner. and And I did obviously the bike section. Normally we did very well. We won as the team. We were ah the first athletes across the finish line.
00:08:35
Scott
um So that was really good. That was different. It wasn't something I'd done before as a team event. So that was really nice um just to share that moment. Again, that community sort of feel, share it with other people. And that was nice.
00:08:46
Scott
And that's something that I'd recommend as well and and maybe do again. So if you know if you're looking at doing a triathlon and you're not the best swimmer, maybe recruit some other people that can swim and do another discipline and and and share that experience.
00:08:57
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's that's a great idea, actually, if you've not got that much time to train, isn't it? Just focus on um one thing or something smaller.
00:09:02
Scott
Absolutely. Yeah. yeah
00:09:05
Scott
Absolutely. you know And it can expose you to maybe another sport that you're not doing. And then you know after that, you might delve into a little bit more and do an aquathon where you're doing a swim and a bike or you know a swim and a run or giraffron or a triathlon.
00:09:19
Scott
It's really good. and And I think you know we mentioned Outlaw there. Next year, they've got their three weekends on and they do multi-sport activities as well where you can go and do multi-sports, which is quite interesting.
00:09:31
Scott
ah But yeah, other than that, myself this year, I went and did Ironman Venice, ah which had a very good performance there. um Probably my best one to date. when I did the the art of the half Ironman in four hours and seven minutes, so was happy with that.
00:09:49
Scott
Just hung on to third place in my age group. It was... ah
00:09:53
Scott
I think if there was another couple of miles, I would have lost it, but I'm happy with that. But generally, I think the performance a whole, world would have been happy with anyway. And then two weeks after that, I went and raced in Spain at the GB Middle Distance Championships for Europe, but which was which was good as well. and And I was the British athlete across the line, I believe, on that day, which means I get automatic qualification for 2026, which I've shown interest in. So yeah, I'll be going back and doing that hopefully.
00:10:22
UKRunChat
Oh, that's great news. So whereabouts in Spain was that?
00:10:25
Scott
um Pampola, this one.
00:10:28
Scott
god and Next year, I'm not sure where it is
00:10:31
Scott
Yeah, but no, it was good.
00:10:33
Scott
yeah That was another experience for me. It was something I hadn't done before, and yeah, I enjoyed that and definitely go back.
00:10:39
UKRunChat
Yeah. So will those experiences change the way you approach kind of choosing races in the future, do you think? Or are you still wanting to compete at that longer full iron distance?
00:10:49
Scott
I definitely still compete at the longer distance.
00:10:53
Scott
It's training load, you know, it is a bit more naturally because it's double the distance of half distance, but it's got a weird pull to it.
00:11:03
Scott
Like once you've done one, people so many people say never again, but you know, within within a few weeks they're looking. It's definitely got a strange pull and I've lost count of how many I've done now.
00:11:14
Scott
I don't think it will stop.
00:11:17
UKRunChat
have you got more booked in or are you kind of pause on that at the moment?
00:11:19
Scott
Yeah, so I'm going back to Barcelona in October to do another one.
00:11:25
Scott
Yeah, so I need to pull my finger out now and do some proper endurance training for the next two months.
00:11:30
UKRunChat
Yeah. That's it's not that far off actually now, is it? Yeah. We're fast heading into autumn.
00:11:33
Scott
that Yeah, it's scary. It'll be Christmas before we know it.
00:11:38
UKRunChat
and Gosh. Yeah. Oh gosh. Yeah. It will be. and So yeah, so we we got you back on today to just chat a bit about how how we fit the training that we want to do into our life.
Mental Focus and Adaptability
00:11:50
UKRunChat
So we we thought we'd start with kind of that self-reflection aspect of when things don't necessarily go the way we want when we've got such a a hectic schedule.
00:12:01
UKRunChat
How you know busy athletes do struggle to stay mentally focused on what they need to do sometimes, don't they? So have you got any tools or practices that you'd recommend?
00:12:10
Scott
So, it's difficult. I mean, motivation comes and goes and that's normal. You'll have a goal in sight, whatever it may be, and you you're motivated to do that.
00:12:23
Scott
um Once that's gone, it's difficult to keep training for some people. So that's why we always talk about motivation and discipline. And if you're disciplined, then your motivation will come back around again and and you know you'll have results.
00:12:36
Scott
Ultimately, it is that consistency in training that gives us the results. I know so many people out there that, you know, friends even that will pick up a training program and maybe follow it for a short period until they've done whatever event it may be.
00:12:51
Scott
You know, they'll put that training program down again and then then they'll pick it up in, you know, the same same timeframe to build up to the next event and they cover old ground, they don't really get any fitter, uh, and they end up with the same results. So then that can be a little bit self deflating as well that, you know, you're you're not maybe performing where you see others or you want to, but ultimately those people in the background that are performing and naturally training, uh, consistently, you know, whether they, whether in some ways, whether they want to or not, um,
00:13:24
Scott
So I think it's ah just ensuring that people remain focused, remain motivated as much as they can, but the discipline is in there. If they're leading a busy life, then i think it's important for them to factor work, family life and around sport.
00:13:42
Scott
For me, for example, ah you know, weekend is typically the time that I'll do endurance sessions. um And I'll speak to my family, but like okay, what what do you want to do this weekend?
00:13:53
Scott
And if it's all we want to go and have a day out, then fine. um Maybe I'll get up an hour or two earlier than they will. and I'll go and do the longer session, come back out breakfast and then off we go by, you know, so I've achieved um the long session I want to.
00:14:09
Scott
And I've also obviously kept the family happy and, you know, they still get time with me and we get time to go and do something, whatever that may be.
00:14:16
UKRunChat
Yeah, and that's where that discipline comes in, isn't it? Yeah.
00:14:18
Scott
Yeah, yeah. And and just remaining flexible as well. is You've got to accept that sometimes things are going to get in the way. um Whether that's you know family life or work, and that's fine as well.
00:14:30
Scott
And if you've got a program you're following and you know you know that tomorrow you're not going to be able to achieve that session, but you know that there's another run on Sunday, for example, that you could do tomorrow because it's shorter, then just to switch the days around.
00:14:43
Scott
you know Do that short session tomorrow, then maybe factor in the longer one on Sunday. That's just remaining flexible. You're still getting consistency in training. You're still developing. And ultimately, you're still achieving a program.
00:14:56
Scott
just you know you just got to be flexible and change it right um but yeah i think it's just remaining positive except life gets difficult sometimes um you know i i again experience personally was meant to do an hour and a half ah cycle today, a hilly so a hilly cycle, but um I was on duty last night at work and I wasn't finished until about one in the morning. So I was at about three, four hours sleep last night. So I naturally was tired.
00:15:24
Scott
So I just went and did my easy recovery ride today and I'll do that other ride another day.
00:15:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, and I guess if you'd have kind of powered on through and got that session done, you'd have exhausted yourself, wouldn't you?
00:15:35
Scott
ah Yeah, quite quite possibly made myself more tired. And obviously, if we start to fatigue ourselves more than we need to be, then that's when you can pick up illness or injuries and stuff as well.
00:15:45
Scott
So it's just been smart, ultimately. um You know, i remain consistent. I just did a recovery cycle. Yeah, that's fine.
00:15:54
UKRunChat
yeah How would you kind of factor in, because we're in peak holiday season now, the the children are off school, and people are trying to fit training around looking after ah kids as well.
00:16:05
UKRunChat
what What happens when you kind of drop the ball on a training plan for a week? What do you what do you recommend? How do you pick it back up again?
00:16:12
Scott
you're not going to lose your fitness in a week. It's just not happen. um I think, you know, for for athletes that coach, if I know they're going you know, they plan a holiday, for example, and I try to take the stress off them and go, well, go and enjoy your holiday.
00:16:24
Scott
You don't get that time back. um Some people need to train because now that's what makes them tick. And again, it's just having that in moderation.
00:16:35
Scott
Okay, let's reign it back in. Maybe not, you know, run three or four times a week. Let's just run twice that week. Um, or just reduce the session, reduce the volumes. you know I go holiday next week, I will take my runner trainers, I'll take my wetsuit and I will swim and I will run and I will cycle as well.
00:16:55
Scott
um but it'll be around family time and stuff as well. So I'll factor that in. So it's it's just, it's about planning, you know, forecasting, you know, the coming days and maybe have that plan with your family.
00:17:07
Scott
know, right on Tuesday, we're going to do that. Thursday, we're going to that. Friday, we're going to do that. And then you sit back and look at, okay, where can I fit this stuff in that I want to do? And so, yeah, a bit of give and take.
00:17:18
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. So if, if someone's feeling a bit overwhelmed for a kind of forthcoming race, if perhaps they've not, they've not got as much training in as they perhaps wanted, what would you
Managing Training Expectations
00:17:29
UKRunChat
How, how can they refocus and, you know, help themselves?
00:17:33
Scott
So if they've been building up for a race, and it probably hasn't gone as best as it could be or could have done.
00:17:43
Scott
I guess that's just that little bit of of self-reflection there. I think, you know, if if your if your goal, for example, was be half an hour and a half, I want to run that, but my training hasn't been there, then...
00:17:54
Scott
Don't put pressure on yourself to achieve that. Maybe look at, okay, um I'll be happy with a 140 or 145 and aim for that. um It's fine. you know Like guess i said, we all go through the circle of life and we all have bad days, bad weeks, bad months in some cases.
00:18:13
Scott
If it doesn't go to plan, you can't change it. So don't dwell on it and let it bother you. Just, you know, reflect, see, okay, what went wrong? Why did it go wrong? Can I change that?
00:18:26
Scott
And in the future, can it be better? You can't change what's happened. So there's no point in, you know, um, hiding in it a hole and sulking because you can't change it. No one no one can.
00:18:37
Scott
And that's fine. you know Generally, most people that support us in this sport, be it friends and family, will support you regardless. um It's just ourselves that are hard on ourselves.
00:18:48
UKRunChat
yeah We are, aren't we? we need I think we need a bit more self-compassion as athletes.
00:18:56
UKRunChat
and Any tips for us being less hard on ourselves? I don't know.
00:19:01
UKRunChat
I'm like that. i'm I'm really tough on myself if I can't do what I think I need to.
00:19:06
Scott
It's just having that acceptance, you know, and just, you just have to accept that some things are not going to go you know, to plan. I guarantee that the pro athletes out there in whatever sport, their days and weeks do not go to plan either.
00:19:22
UKRunChat
yeah, that's just life, isn't it, I guess.
00:19:24
Scott
Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and yeah, things change day to day and we just have to be mindful of that and just prioritize things another way.
00:19:35
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah, yeah, that's that's very wise advice. So in in terms of because you you talked about consistency there. So how how would you build a training plan then that So, for example, what we're planning and we're planning across the summer holidays.
00:19:54
UKRunChat
How would you build a training plan then that prioritises consistency and whilst knowing that people might have a few hiccups?
00:20:04
UKRunChat
How do you build that in?
00:20:06
Scott
So I think, you know, it you know ah you're not, you're not going to lose any fitness within a week.
00:20:06
UKRunChat
ah for You know, someone's training for an autumn marathon, perhaps, and they've got a i know summer holiday right in the middle of it for two weeks. How does how does that work?
00:20:17
Scott
It's not going to happen. Two, three weeks. Yes. Things will start to dip off slightly. Um, But if that's the case, if you you know you're not to be able to train for a couple of weeks, then I'd accept a week. And then the second week, maybe look at some things you can do to maybe just just stimulate the body.
00:20:34
Scott
um And it could just be some you know some extra walking. You can do that with your family, can't you? Just some extra home workouts. you know You can go and do some stretching, some mobility, and just some little workouts around. you know We always talk about...
00:20:48
Scott
you know talk about
00:20:52
Scott
strength and conditioning really important to performance and things and a lot of people neglect it and it's probably one of the first things to go but we can do stuff like that just generally around the house you know a few calf raises here and there for example um without even interfering in anything you're doing for the day you could even have a chat with someone whilst you're doing it you might look a bit strange but um it's it's still stimulating the body with exercise The problem with inconsistency though is if we're inconsistent then we're going to heighten the risk of injuries, we're going to increase the risk of plateauing and obviously the motivation is going to dip and come back up and stuff
Training Consistency and Recovery
00:21:29
Scott
um It's getting the most bang for your buck out of your training. But at the same time, if you've had a week or two off, you don't all of a sudden go, now need to over-train and I need to put more hours in because that can have the same effect as well.
00:21:43
Scott
you know We can hit injury risk, plateaus, fatigue, and all them things as well.
00:21:51
UKRunChat
yeah What signs do you look out for as a coach then if an athlete's pushing a little bit too hard then too soon?
00:21:57
Scott
so we've We've got to accept that we will get tired. That's fine. But I always say to athletes that I coach is there's a difference between feeling at tired and being, I say, tired, tired, and you'll know when you're tired, tired.
00:22:11
Scott
And, you know, me as a coach, I use a platform to deliver all the sessions I do, and I can see things happening within training, you know, if they're doing them, if they're not, if they're doing something different and things like that.
00:22:23
Scott
And that's where the inconsistency can sort of come into play and
00:22:30
Scott
It's just making sure that the balance is there. So if they're not hitting it week in, week out, then I'll have to reduce the coming weeks of training just to counter for that that loss in volume and just ensure that we're still getting the bang for buck with minimum volume. So we want to be training as minimal as we can for the outcome, for the performance that we want.
00:22:53
Scott
And more doesn't mean better. And That's also something very difficult for athletes to understand. If we want to be ah very good you know half marathon runner or marathon runner, it doesn't mean we have to go and run marathons and half marathons to do that.
00:23:10
Scott
We can be better at that running or or those distances by having better training sessions at shorter distances. And a prime example, let's talk about an interval session.
00:23:23
Scott
sort A good warm-up, you know go and do some running drills, some gentle jogging, um some pickups in paces to the desired pace for the main set, and then obviously some steady jogging, typically is what I'd say.
00:23:34
Scott
And then we do the main set where we eat the high-intensity stuff, but for short duration. So if you've got a running track, we're probably going to look at 400 meters.
00:23:43
Scott
Within that, you'll do the session of repetitions of of high you know volume, high reps of 400 meters, but then you've also got to recover between each one. and then obviously cool down at the end. The whole session's not like highly intensive, it's only the elements of the session.
00:24:01
Scott
And some people think, oh, I've been done an interval session, it was a 45 interval session, but then if you break it down, potentially you've only been at intervals for 10 minutes.
00:24:11
Scott
and the redit rest of it's steady state. So, you know there yes, there's the high intense bit, which will stretch us, but then the rest of it is all nice and calm and relaxed and just enables the body to absorb what we've just done to it, you know absorb the load effectively.
00:24:26
UKRunChat
Yeah. How, how important is recovery then? How would, how does recovery get factored into a training plan like that?
00:24:34
Scott
So again, this depends on the individual. Typically, Again, for athletes I coach, I'd say I'd have a a day off, a full day off every week.
00:24:47
Scott
so I don't like to structure stuff so that people are running back to back. So I wouldn't say, oh, let's go and run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, for example, because you're going to heighten your risk of injury by doing that because it's it's very intense exercise.
00:25:01
Scott
You're compounding your muscles, joints, and everything else. So I just just stagger them out and maybe put some other things in between them so you can still go and do some training but you're doing other things around that and it could just be you know for a triathlete we obviously go with squim and swim and cycle and stuff as well but we wouldn't necessarily do things day in day out back to back um just to reduce that risk um but yeah typically loading 10 to 15 per week extra um and
00:25:29
UKRunChat
So is that on total kind of training time? Is that how you would work that out or on mileage or...?
00:25:36
Scott
Yeah, I like to work off time over anything than necessarily mileage.
00:25:41
Scott
you know But this again, this can be very different to different athletes. I look at cycling, for example. I look at how long it takes me to cycle a set distance, and I'll base my training around that time.
00:25:55
Scott
But then if I was to go run, I'd probably look more so at the mileage. So it's it's it's different for different disciplines and stuff as well.
00:26:03
UKRunChat
Yeah, okay. Yeah,
00:26:05
Scott
But again, all coaches have a different way looking at it and they may prescribe it in different ways. ah For me, I've gone through British triathlon coaching courses for my accreditation for coaching.
00:26:17
Scott
I've done all of them, all their courses.
00:26:20
UKRunChat
I think you're the highest level you get to, aren't you?
00:26:23
Scott
Yeah, so went up to the high-performing coaching program with them um from assistant coach over the years, yeah.
00:26:30
UKRunChat
Yeah, i can ask you a question about triathlons while we're on the subject of triathlon training then? So look Louise asks, so from somebody who used to do them 30 years ago, so she's done she's done a few and she she's attempting a sprint triathlon next.
Triathlon Gear and Strategies
00:26:47
UKRunChat
She asks, first of all, what's changed in 30 years, if anything?
00:26:50
UKRunChat
And what kit is essential, would you say, for a sprint triathlon? What do you need to focus on?
00:26:57
Scott
So when you first started reading it out, i feel i said I was going to say, I bet the kit's changed in 30 years.
00:27:09
Scott
a say for anyone, you've still got to enjoy it. And that's that's the main thing, regardless of if you're just starting out or you know you're coming back to the sport or you're you're still involved in the sport.
00:27:20
Scott
You've got to enjoy it. and And I'd say that's the key takeaway from it. you know And again, laboring on the point where mentioned earlier is you know rope your family into it. you know There'll be loads of people out there that probably think, oh, I'd love to have a go at that, but never have.
00:27:36
Scott
Get one of them along and and share the course as well, because you then have memories of something you know that you've done together or you've inspired someone else or you've got them involved in sport that they might not never have been involved in.
00:27:46
Scott
um So I tell you the enjoyment is is the biggest factor. Equipment wise, 100% has changed in 30 years.
00:27:55
Scott
Do you need all the top end kit? Not necessarily. um you know I've got all sorts of kit now and it's just developed over the years. Don't get me wrong, you know I've got a very nice bike, but I didn't start out on a very nice bike.
00:28:09
Scott
um Over the years I've just developed, bought new bits of pieces, new wheels, you know new components. So I think if you're starting out, it's just ensuring you've got the right kit and it's safe.
00:28:21
Scott
um So obviously you need a helmet for an event, for example, for a triathlon, regardless of distance. Just making sure things like that are are um actually serviceable gonna do you the job they need to do is should it be needed to do that job.
00:28:35
Scott
And that goes for any of it, you know just make sure the bike is serviceable, making sure your running trainers are ah good to use. So again, we can obviously overuse trainers and we can burn them out. And if if we,
00:28:47
Scott
If we use training for so long, then they can impact and, uh, heighten the chance of injuries. So, you know, just making sure that everything you have is serviceable for what you want to do and enjoy the moment, reduce the risk of, of injuries.
00:29:03
Scott
That's probably the main thing. So I think, you know, for a sprint triathlon, what do you need? If it's a pool based one, a swimming costume and a pair of goggles, if it's open water, a wetsuit, um,
00:29:14
Scott
think for most courses, you can pretty much use any bike you want as long as it's serviceable and make sure you've got help on
00:29:21
UKRunChat
Yeah, so you don't necessarily even need a road bike, do you? Or kind of clip on shoes and things. They're just kind of nice extras.
00:29:26
Scott
helmet on. You could go and see, you know, where we are in Shropshire, all sorts of events happen and you can see all types of people doing the sport on various types of bikes. I mean, you know, the outlaw I did the other week there, um there was like two people raising money for Alzheimer's that were doing it on the old Bronson bikes.
00:29:53
Scott
it was It was nice to see.
00:29:56
Scott
So yeah, just making sure your kit's serviceable, ah fit for the job and and enjoy it.
00:30:01
UKRunChat
Yeah. And any tips for a good kind of seamless transition then?
00:30:08
UKRunChat
Because that can often lose a lot of time, can't it? From from swim to bike, especially.
00:30:14
Scott
Yeah. ah So transition for triathlon, obviously, is where time can be lost or gained. I think it's just making sure your kit is minimal as possible.
00:30:24
Scott
So you want to be coming into transition and not having to faff. You know where everything is. It's you minimalistic. You've only got the things you need and then and off you go.
00:30:34
Scott
You know, the the longer distance stuff. Some people do a full change from a swimming costume into full cycling kit and full running kit. Again, most, events will have an area where people can change and that just makes them comfortable and that's fine.
00:30:48
Scott
Obviously those that are going for podiums and wins, they ain't going to be doing full changes. They're going they're going be in and out as quick as they can. Um, but their motive for the sport is different.
00:31:00
Scott
Yeah. And that's fine as well.
00:31:03
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. Um, and any tips for kind of like, what would you focus on more for, uh, a triathlon, let's say a sprint triathlon, um, how would you kind of structure a ah a week or two weeks of training? Like what, what's the breakdown of what to focus on?
00:31:20
UKRunChat
So you're a runner and you're getting into triathlon, what should be your main focus?
00:31:28
Scott
Again, this this is very individual to individual. I mean, I expect everyone to taper slightly for a sprint. ah And that's just where we reduce the volume, but keep a bit of intensity there so that we are not fatigued when you go and do the race.
00:31:45
Scott
Granted a sprint is the shorter distance of triathlon, but it's still classed as an endurance event. you know it can take It's still an hour a plus. and That's still classed as endurance sport. um so it's just making sure that your body can engage really in training your sort pacings and stuff that you're going to take to do a sprint because you you work out what distances they are
00:32:09
Scott
If we look at a 400m swim, a 20k bike, 5k run typically, then as long as you can cover them distance in training, then you know you'll put them together on the race day itself.
00:32:21
Scott
So again, don't put pressure on yourself, just ensure that you can cover them distances, have a variety in your training, but train all three disciplines. ah and And yeah, if you can do the distances, just glue them together.
00:32:34
Scott
Maybe in some of your sessions is is glue them together. So by that, do brick sessions. You come off your bike, go have a little run. um And just factor that in every now and then as well.
00:32:44
UKRunChat
Yeah, it's it's harder than it looks like, isn't it? um I'm trying to remember from a triathlon done many, many years ago, like getting off the bike and trying to run without your legs turning to jelly.
00:32:53
Scott
you could go and support your friend then if she's coming back after. to
00:32:55
UKRunChat
I probably, yeah, should do. I've not got a bike anymore.
00:33:00
Scott
sure someone lends you on
00:33:05
Scott
um no i think um it is it's just that enjoying it getting out sharing the course with other people and um having that consistency in training and just training the volume yes the muscle group is different from cycling to running and just getting used to that transition they it will feel a little bit jellied out um I used to get quite dizzy swimming and getting out of the water to try and cycle don't go from, you know, the, the, you know, horizontal linear position, standing up to horizontal.
00:33:34
Scott
And it used to make me a bit wobbly, bit dizzy. Um, some people suffer with that quite often often and they'll put earplugs in on those plugs. Um, but generally I don't suffer anymore. That was very early on in when I started off triathlon.
00:33:47
UKRunChat
Yeah, I guess you you get used to it, don't you? And that's what training's for.
00:33:53
UKRunChat
Yeah. and So can we chat a bit about nutrition then? um Because I think this is the thing where, especially in an endurance sport, this is the thing that people tend to struggle with a lot.
Nutrition Strategies for Races
00:34:05
UKRunChat
And it's it's how to kind of how to train an experiment with it when you're not necessarily covering the full distances that you will be on a long event.
00:34:15
Scott
Yeah. So again, this will vary between different sports and and what nutrition you can use, how you can use it. You know, if we look at someone that wants to swim the channel, for example, um, they can't have outside assistance, so they get their nutrition kind of given to them the way where no one has contact with them.
00:34:36
Scott
Whereas if you look at triathlon, then there's potential contact where people are handing you stuff physically in the same with running. Um, Nutrition can make a break endurance races.
00:34:48
Scott
And it's something we have to factor in or be aware of and factor into training. and And let's look at cycling, for example. If we go out on a social ride, group ride with all our friends or club or anything on the weekend, more often than not, they'll go and do a coffee shop they'll have cake and coffee and everything else.
00:35:09
Scott
And that's fine because it's a social aspect and that's important, but you end up giving yourself nutrition halfway through your ride. So let's just say you're going out for a four hour cycle, two hours in, you stop and you have a coffee and cake and everything else. You give yourself fuel.
00:35:23
Scott
You don't do that in a race.
00:35:25
Scott
um and and sometimes people forget that so we have to make sure we're still training our body without that caffeine stop sometimes so that you use your nutrition strategy race day in training and again that's just looking at products that races may use or have and you could if you get on with them products because again everyone's different some people don't like certain products could give you gi issues by that mean gut issues So factor the products that are used in events, to find out what they're using, maybe try them in training so that you know that your body can stomach them.
00:36:00
Scott
So then you know you're good on race day. And if you can't use the stuff that they're supplying, then you may have to become a bit more self-sufficient and find a way of carrying your own nutrition so that you don't have GI issues.
00:36:14
Scott
And it's it's just trial and error to start with. be ready it really is obviously we have a lot of people out there that suffer with GI issues anyway be it diet, medical conditions and stuff as well and those people potentially had to do it for a long time through their life is work out what foods and nutrition works for them and obviously they have to then incorporate that into their race as well which which can be tricky um but it's it's something we all should be looking at
00:36:45
Scott
ah I wouldn't necessarily say we need to be looking at really refueling ourselves in nutrition for something up to an hour. You could probably have ah good breakfast, you know, have some water, some electrolytes and stuff like that and and have a ah good performance. But if you're going over the hour, then we need to start looking at fueling the body for that as well.
00:37:06
UKRunChat
Yeah. so So in terms of trying gels for the first time, for example, what kind of duration of session would you advise people try them on? Because it's a bit scary kind of taking a new gel on a long run for the first time, isn't it?
00:37:21
UKRunChat
Are you able to try things on shorter distance? I guess it it's difficult to test it out, isn't it, and see how it works?
00:37:28
Scott
yeah i mean, typically, if you most gels, you're probably looking on the packet, they'll say you can take three an hour, so one every 12.
00:37:37
Scott
If you're going out for, let's say an hour run, there's nothing to say you can't take him on 20, 30 minutes in. It'll probably take a good 15, 20 minutes for it to actually you kick in and body start use it.
00:37:48
Scott
um So that's where the nutrition strategy comes in. And we know that like if if I take it at minute 60, it's not gonna hit me until minute 75, 80.
00:37:59
Scott
eighteen know ah So we need to factor that in as well if you're going over the hour for nutrition. But you know typically you'll hear people talk about 30 to 90 grams of carbohydrates an hour.
00:38:12
Scott
um height And then obviously hydration, when you get fluids where you've got electrolytes, you get carbohydrates in liquid form now, sodium, so the salt that we lose, it's important to replenish salt loss.
00:38:24
Scott
ah And if you suffer with things like hunger in endurance races, then you can get some nutrition companies offer protein in liquid formers now as well, which should take away that hunger feeling.
00:38:38
Scott
ah So yeah, it's practicing it in training. You could potentially practice it in racing. If you've got, let's say the A race is Boston Marathon,
00:38:50
Scott
you know, your, your B races, this Ruseby half marathon and practice that use the Shrewsby half marathon to practice your nutrition strategy for later, for later on in the season.
00:39:00
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. It's good to kind of know what you're eating for breakfast as well, isn't it? And the timings, I guess, of what time the race, is your race starts, how you'll digest everything.
00:39:10
Scott
Yep. Yep. So I, you know, even, um, So there's something that happened to me the other week when when we did the relay there. um I came out the hotel in the morning and my car key fob battery died.
00:39:23
Scott
So I couldn't start the car. So luckily one of my friends was about a mile away. he was on his way to the race. He was the runner. He picked me up and took me on. But because of all this faff that happened, I didn't have the breakfast I would normally have.
00:39:37
Scott
um and i still did the race i still had the nutrition i had i still followed the strategy but i got off that bike and i didn't feel 100 percent um and it took me a little while to trigger that i didn't have the breakfast i would normally have um and and i do think that that was a contribut contributing factor to the way i felt was because i didn't fuel myself properly before that race um yeah it just obviously i wouldn't say panic set in but
00:40:03
Scott
something else was an outside factor that I couldn't control that I was like, how am going to get to the race? You know, all this stuff. And we solved that problem. But in in the midst of all that faff, I didn't eat.
00:40:19
Scott
ah But yeah, breakfast is really important. It's probably the one meal I'll never skip.
00:40:24
UKRunChat
Yeah. It does make a difference, doesn't it? Yeah. It's important to be well-fueled.
00:40:29
Scott
Absolutely. Yeah. Even not just in sport, but in general day-to-day life, we, you know, we need to fuel ourselves to survive. And that could be as simple as going and a kick him around in the park where your kids.
00:40:40
UKRunChat
Yeah. um How far ahead of ah of a race should athletes start testing the nutrition then? What would you normally recommend?
00:40:47
Scott
um I think they can test it all the time. ah you know If they're looking at a specific product they know, then there's nothing wrong with getting your body used to it. I'm not saying that you go out and do every session taking on nutrition.
00:41:01
Scott
and For example, i cycled tonight for an hour and just took a bottle of water with me. um i didn't take electrolytes however post that i did have my evening meal before i go to bed tonight i will have a recovery milkshake to help my body recover through the night obviously then tomorrow train again so it's just factoring that recovery in it with the fuel nutrition before during and after had i gone out for the hour and a half that i originally planned that i would have took a little bit of nutrition with him as well
00:41:33
Scott
so but yeah train you know if you're doing longer sessions and practice with nutrition um if you're looking at race strategy then obviously if you longer sessions pacings distance of things and things then start to factor in your nutrition into those because it'll give you real feel for the race
00:41:52
UKRunChat
Yeah, i I think a lot of the time from from athletes I speak to, and i think i don't think they take enough fuel on board. And how does that impact performance?
00:42:03
UKRunChat
what What are the warning signs that you perhaps need to take more fuel to improve your performance?
00:42:09
Scott
I think generally performance performance or lack initially If you're not fueling properly, you might not, let let's say in training, you're you're well fueled and you're well prepared and rested and you're you know you're running seven minute miles, for example, and then you come and do a race and all of a sudden you're at seven and a half, eight minute miles and you can't, for some reason, run that pace. It could be just down to the fact that you're not rested, you're not recovered, or you're not taking on enough nutrition.
00:42:40
Scott
But normally at that point, it could be in some ways too late to recover from. ah and If your body wants to protect itself it will slow you down
00:42:56
Scott
Training takes time. Gradually increase your your nutrition within your training. and obviously Hopefully then it will work in your race but do that over a series of weeks not the week before.
00:43:11
Scott
And then just matching nutrition to the intensity of stuff you're doing. So, you know, if you're going out for a harder session, then we need to make sure we're fueled for that. And we need to recover from that as well. If you're going out for an easier session, you could probably get away with not taking as much nutrition.
00:43:25
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah, that's a good point, actually. Intensity, that matters, actually, doesn't it?
00:43:29
UKRunChat
Yeah. And any other mistakes that you see athletes making with fueling that we perhaps should look out for?
00:43:41
Scott
Yeah, I've seen some interesting nutrition strategies in triathlon. I've seen people with sausage rolls and pork pies and sandwiches strapped to their bikes and stuff like that.
00:43:56
Scott
I think jam sandwiches used to be a thing in the past for some endurance rides and stuff and tour cramps and things like that.
00:44:02
Scott
But generally, a lot of the nutrition products out there are made around performance. so that So they're typically made for you to get the fuel you need for that specific race or training thing.
00:44:19
Scott
We've given you minimal waste as well. So by that, I mean, you're not gonna need to nip off to the port-a-loo, hopefully.
00:44:27
Scott
If you start eating everyday food, so you're having steak sandwich, your digestive system might turn that into a bit more waste than the nutrition product would, and then you may need to go and use a port-a-loo, for example. so It's just factoring stuff like that in as well, you know making sure that you're eating foods relevant to the performance that you want than eating foods that you might eat normally or want eat afterwards.
00:44:51
Scott
But yeah, it's um it's interesting to see some people's nutrition strategy. um But just being smart, practice it and training and obviously keep it all to a minimal that you can. Ultimately, you want to get the best out of your performance for whatever race it is, so make sure that you're having the appropriate nutrition for that.
00:45:07
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, thanks, Scott.
Maintaining Fitness with Limited Time
00:45:10
UKRunChat
um So, yeah, let let's finish up then with some kind of advice for, so we've talked about kind of balancing life and family. So for athletes with a limited time, especially over summer, what are your top tips for maintaining progress then without, if you can't fit in the long or and kind of intense endurance sessions that you might need?
00:45:33
Scott
probably three, I'd probably say little and often. um So now if you're sharing, let's say you're sharing childcare responsibilities, you know, let your your husband your wife take your kid for half an hour, go and do a half an hour run session you need to, and and vice versa.
00:45:48
Scott
if if If you're both an active couple, then, you know, go and do that. um Get the kids involved. You know, I've got i've got my 11-year-old son. Sometimes if I'm doing some of the brick sessions or runs I do, I get him on his mountain bike with my water bottle in his bottle holder I'm doing my run and he's my he's giving me my nutrition.
00:46:08
UKRunChat
Oh, that's a great idea. Yeah. Get the kids active as well. i love it. Yeah.
00:46:13
Scott
Yeah, so I do that and, ah you know, make it fun, you know, get out on the bikes together. You don't have to be, you know, cycling hard all the time is, you know, get the family out into, you know, the local woods whatever it may be, do a bit of off-road cycling you down the local park.
00:46:32
Scott
I think there's there's a few lakes around here where a lot of families go and do water sports, paddle boarding, cycling, and you'll see some of the parents doing their swimming training while the kids are on paddle boards and stuff as well. So it's, I think using the time smartly to benefit yourself.
00:46:49
UKRunChat
Yeah, and i'm making it fun for the kids as well, I guess. yeah Yeah, I know I've just tidied out my garage, which kind of half of it functions as a gym, but often recently the treadmill's been used as ah as a shelf.
00:47:02
UKRunChat
So I've just tidied that out with it being summer so I can get on the treadmill again now.
00:47:06
Scott
Come and tidy mine if you like.
00:47:10
UKRunChat
Mine was bad enough.
00:47:11
Scott
Yeah, we're getting there.
00:47:14
UKRunChat
yeah but yes Yeah. But yeah, it's important, I guess, to think of, kind of different ways, isn't it? it It's just being flexible, like you said earlier.
00:47:20
Scott
yeah yes that's Yeah, exactly that. When my kids were a bit younger, we've got Trevlin in our garage. My wife was working.
00:47:31
Scott
I couldn't go out and leave them. So I couldn't go out run for an hour outside because I'd be a bad parent. So I was on the treadmill in the garage and they were still in the house. It was it was fine. So it's using time my like that.
00:47:42
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah, that's perfect. um is Is there any kind of... could you give us a couple of ideas for like fun sessions that you might fit in and say maybe 30 minutes? Any ideas?
00:47:54
Scott
For just as an individual or you look in a family,
00:47:58
UKRunChat
Yeah, so say you've got 30 minutes to nip out to yourself. how would How could you make the most of that for a training session?
00:48:06
Scott
Okay, so if you looked at three sessions alone, you know as I mentioned before, I'd probably go and do an eat one wit one easy run. So maybe it's just a nice little slow zone one, toe two plot. Yeah.
00:48:17
Scott
and probably have another one where I'd have a good maybe 10 minute warmup, 10 minutes of you know some higher intensity stuff. You might just do some 100 meter, 200 meter sprints, but making sure that if you're doing a 200 meter sprint, for example, do two to 400 meters, an easy jog, and then just repeat that a few times, and then you know have a 10 minute easy jog afterwards.
00:48:36
Scott
So you're effectively fatiguing the muscles by the highest stimulus through lactate threshold, then you're a bit fatigued and then you just do a steady state run afterwards. So you actually, you run in an easy pace on tired legs, if that makes sense.
00:48:54
Scott
And then you can just do some other stuff. So you can throw in some longer intervals. So what we typically say thresholds, it might be lactate threshold one, for example. So it's stuff you can still run hard, but you could probably still have a conversation with someone, maybe a few words before need to have another breath. ah And again, similar sort of thing, you know, just have a night, make sure you warm up properly though.
00:49:18
Scott
And then obviously, two three four minutes at a threshold pace so we're looking at you know a seven out of ten for example eight of ten then obviously a nice couple two to four minute easy recovery and just repeat that couple of times and then just a nice slow job back home
00:49:32
UKRunChat
Yeah, sounds good. oh will that Yeah, there you go. If you're listening out there wanting some ideas, give give those sessions a try and let us know how you get on. ah Well, thanks so much for joining us again today, Scott.
00:49:43
UKRunChat
it's been it's been a good It's been a good chat and hopefully lots of insight for our listeners, and whether you're you know training for a first race or juggling a busy schedule like you are.
00:49:52
Scott
Yes. Yeah, and I look forward to seeing everyone at Shreve Yard Mountain. Yeah, I'll be there.
00:49:59
UKRunChat
Yeah, I will have a fantastic time.
00:50:01
Scott
Yeah, we'll do. but I'll be there with the hour 30 pacer and we'll come in on time again.
00:50:06
UKRunChat
Yeah, perfect. I'm sure you will. um And you can find Scott on Instagram. You're Ironhill83, aren't you? Or your coaching company, which is TriWolf Coach. I forgot that right.
00:50:18
Scott
is right. Thank you.
00:50:20
UKRunChat
Yeah, excellent. oh Well, thank you, Scott. And thank you all for listening. And we will see you on the next episode.