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How Does Patricia McKibbin Balance Work, Family, and the Drive to Compete?
393 Plays12 days ago
In this episode of the Peak Pursuits Podcast, James sits down with Patricia McKibbin—trail runner, physiotherapist, and all-around powerhouse.
If you’ve followed the Australian trail scene, you already know Patricia has put down some seriously impressive performances, including a standout run at the Asia Pacific Championships. But what makes her story even more inspiring is how she balances elite-level training with her work as a pediatric physiotherapist, being a mum, and tackling the unpredictable challenges that come with both.
In this episode, we’ll dive into her journey—her breakthrough races, the battles she’s faced with nutrition and gut issues, and how she manages to keep pushing forward despite all the curveballs life throws her way. Plus, we’ll chat about what drives her to keep competing at such a high level while juggling so many roles.
If you’re a runner looking for insight into the highs and lows of competitive racing, or just someone who loves hearing inspiring stories of resilience, this episode is for you.
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at Bix’s website 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 trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
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License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction to Peak Pursuits and Patricia McGibbon
00:00:15
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is James Sieber and today i had the pleasure to sit down with Patricia McGibbon. Trish is a multiple Australian team representative, most recently coming fifth at the Asia-Pacific Champs Short Trail in 2024, helping the team towards an incredible second place finish.
00:00:36
Speaker
Trish has also had some incredible results, most notably a first at Optraill Australia 50k in 2022, a second at the Buffalo Stampede Marathon in a historic battle with Sarah Jane Miller in 2023,
00:00:49
Speaker
A first at Ultra Kosciuszko 100k also in 2023 and a first place and course record Kanani Mountain Run Ultra in 2024.
Patricia's Challenges and Routine
00:00:58
Speaker
Today's conversation though is more about all the other elements that are involved in getting to a start line and to the finish line.
00:01:08
Speaker
We talk about Trish's challenges with recent sickness leading to her taking a momentary step back from racing, navigating nutritional challenges whilst racing, and the unpredictable nature of being a business owner mum and trying to train and compete at the very top level of the sport in your late 30s, as well as navigating the complex emotions that come with dedicating the energy and time to being competitive in the sport in 2025. I found Patricia's openness to be very insightful and I'm sure many of you, especially the mothers listening, will relate strongly and have some valuable perspectives to take away.
00:01:43
Speaker
And I encourage you to share this with anyone you know that might gain some benefit from listening to Trish's perspectives in the sport. With that, let's get to the episode with Patricia McGibbon. Okay, Trish, welcome to the Peak Pursuits podcast. How you going? Hi James, thanks for having me. I'm pretty good today, thanks.
00:02:04
Speaker
We're recording this on a Saturday afternoon. What's today for you running wise? I usually do a hard session on Saturday mornings, like long hill reps. Today actually I've been doing some easier running lately, so I did an hour easy.
00:02:20
Speaker
um Came home, had a massage went shopping with my son for some new clothes and then cleaned my house and did some gardening basically. That sounds very, was gonna say, it sounds very lovely until he got to the cleaning a house bit, but part of our life. Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Asia-Pacific Champs Experience
00:02:40
Speaker
ah All right, I wanna kind of jump straight into a quick recap. Our audience will just listen to some of your results, which are incredibly impressive. And one that I think when I was going through and looking at your recaps, the Asia Pacific champs last year, where you came fifth in the short trail, the 40k, it seemed like that was a day that a lot of things went well for you after and number of runs that hadn't.
00:03:06
Speaker
I don't think you've had a chance to, in this sort of forum, kind of talk about that race, but just give us it from what you can remember of it, a little recap of what that whole experience was like. And I'm also curious what that experience like at the Asia champs is like compared to doing the world champs.
00:03:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's a really good question. um I would put Asia Pacific Champs as one of my best races. um Like you said, it was a day that everything went well. I have a probably well-known history of my nutrition not going well during races, and it's been quite a frustration for me since I started trail running in 2019. I just feel like my stomach stops me um no matter how good my fitness is.
00:03:41
Speaker
If the nutrition goes badly on race day, it really interferes with the race and the overall result. think Don't even know really why it went well on that day.
00:03:52
Speaker
um I can't really pinpoint it. I had worked a dietician actually for at least 12 months prior to that race and we'd been testing a lot of different things. um So, yeah I guess heading over to the race, um I didn't really do anything that different to the other races. I do a lot of pre-nutrition, low FODMAP in the days before. And actually, interestingly, it was really difficult in South Korea to do that.
00:04:18
Speaker
And the night before the race, I was actually quite stressed and called my husband and said, I can't do low FODMAP. I'm starving. Like I've eaten white rice for two days and i have no energy. Like I'm really worried about this.
00:04:30
Speaker
And he was like, just peanut butter sandwich. So had two big peanut butter sandwiches the night before the race. So finally I went into the race thinking I've just messed up my entire pre-race nutrition strategy.
00:04:42
Speaker
um But I surprisingly it was um quite, yeah calm before that race it was the perfect temperature for me i find racing in the heat um makes my stomach situation worse um the race started with quite a fast start so um heading down a hill and you had to i knew that there was a single track quite close to the start i think it was only two k's in to be honest it was a little while ago now so i can't remember exactly but i knew i needed to start off reasonably fast so i didn't get too caught um i just sort of settled in and i could see jess jason um
00:05:14
Speaker
ahead of me and I sort of, if I can keep her in my sight, I'll just settle into where I was in the pack. um So I had just, yeah, a really good first climb. I caught up to a couple of people on the descent, which for me, it's usually the opposite. um I'm usually a climber and I wouldn't call myself, I'm not a terrible descender, but it's not definitely, you know, chasing Siobhan or SJ down a hill. They're usually out of my sight. I would put them as descenders, not me. So I um just had really good going down the stairs was just feeling really good. um So I caught back up to a couple of people and then, yeah, the next climb and descent, the same sort of thing. I just felt very in flow that day. My nutrition was the best I've ever had, which was not a lot. If I tell you the grams of carbs per hour I consumed, people will probably be horrified. But for me, I actually consumed something. So um at 40 grams of carbs an hour, I was...
00:06:09
Speaker
like having a fantastic day. um Yeah, so to be honest, i I think it was just one of those days where everything just went well. I knew where I was sitting in the pack and yeah, come fifth was, I would peg that as one of my best races for lots of reasons, not just the result, but the nutrition went well, the pacing went well and I just felt really in control that day.
00:06:34
Speaker
And what was the overall experience like of the Asia Champs?
Team Dynamics and Achievements
00:06:39
Speaker
Being in its first year, felt obviously not rushed in the way it was put together, but it was all quite a tight timeframe, at least when they announced it to when the event happened.
00:06:49
Speaker
How was that experience experience different or similar to the World Champs one? I think anytime you're part of an Australian team, it feels a little bit special. it was really fun going over there.
00:07:00
Speaker
Um, yeah, look, there's always challenges with organizing teams at the last minute. I kind of had my sights on this, um, cause there was some technicalities around this race where you didn't necessarily have to go with the country. You could go as an individual if you had the results. So I'd already decided to go regardless if I'd gotten in the team or not.
00:07:18
Speaker
Um, so for me, the preparation had been started in advance. Um, and then it was just a bonus that I got to go as part of the Australian team, I guess. Um, It was smaller than a world champs, of course, but I actually thought the race was put on quite well. There's always hiccups, um but it still felt like a championship event.
00:07:38
Speaker
And yeah, we still raced like a team and prepared like a team leading up to it. So um it still feels different to... a non-championship event, I guess. It's just in a smaller capacity.
00:07:49
Speaker
It struck me as well watching like the live. It was put together really well. The live stream was really good for us at at home. It's at a very nice time of day for us. I was just working on a Friday from memory and chatting to my coach doing the same thing. And it was very nice.
00:08:03
Speaker
But it also an environment where Australia is probably one of the favourites as a team competition and that's coming across in our results and how many sort of top top five, top 10 finishes that we got. did it Knowing that you were fighting for those overall like top three team positions, did that add anything different or not to maybe being at the world challenge where we still also want to be super competitive, if we want to do well, but it's revying against a much bigger pool of runners?
00:08:32
Speaker
Absolutely. And I think, unfortunately, I think in the post- sort of discussion of Asia Pacific champs, I didn't feel like some of the team medals were probably advertised or like um celebrated as much as I felt that they should.
00:08:46
Speaker
i think the short trail of men's and women's teams just did phenomenally. Like I know at an individual level, not everybody was as happy as they maybe they wanted to be, but you know, the short trail women, we did get a silver medal.
00:08:58
Speaker
And some of the write-ups after was there was no medals in the women's. But I thought, oh, as a team, we actually came second. Like we stood on a podium and received a silver medal at a championship event. And from a female trail running in Australia perspective, like that's phenomenal.
00:09:12
Speaker
So I guess that was one little disappointment after. um And I should shout out the men came third, which is also fantastic. um We didn't unfortunately have full teams in the long trail and so we weren't eligible for the overall award. um But despite that, we were still tracking to come second or third. So if we'd had a full team, the chances are that we would have actually placed in the overall team category.
00:09:34
Speaker
um I think it's a really good opportunity for Australia. I think you're right in those big world championship events. We don't expect to get places or um team medals. And I did think going into Asia Pacific, we were all quite, yeah,
00:09:49
Speaker
jazzed up as a team that yet we have a chance to get a medal as a team and I think that um you know if you're having a bad day it definitely gives you that extra motivation to continue I'd like your opinion on this you think because trail running is an individual sport 99% of the time that that's where that attention on the team potentially got lost um I think it may have been a mixture between just being you know Asia Pacific champs it was for the first year um it was you know and it was not not at any fault of anybody's um that I can see, you know, ORTRA was new at the time that this happened, that they'd just established the combination of Aura and ITRA together.
00:10:27
Speaker
And so you've got a newly formed governing body, I guess, or group that then had to very quickly turn around in a couple of weeks, a team. And so i just think a little bit got lost within that. um But, you know,
00:10:40
Speaker
It's just something I think that will evolve over time. um i was still really proud of our team and the result. And to be honest, that silver team medal is pride of place on my medal wall because i I just think as a team, like all four of us got in the top 10, which is really, really great. And I don't think Australia gets an opportunity to to shine and like that on the on the big stage as often.
00:11:04
Speaker
It's actually a really incredible result and I would put myself in that same bucket as probably not fully appreciating the like magnitude of the result that both short trail teams did. And they said it's it's a shame that we couldn't field a full team to score for the long trail, which I think is is an ongoing debate at the moment anyway.
Nutritional Struggles and Solutions
00:11:25
Speaker
But Yeah, just hearing you recap it, I was like, wow, okay, that was really impressive.
00:11:30
Speaker
and And it says something for the level of running in Australia at the moment as well. Yeah, absolutely. And of course, shout out to the juniors did amazing. Like there were multiple individual medals, even though they also didn't have full teams.
00:11:42
Speaker
And the long trail, all the athletes did really well. They just, again, we just didn't quite have a full team, but at an individual level, all of the ah Australian team did really, really well. So i think it's exciting to see what will happen in the next Asia Pacific chair.
00:11:56
Speaker
I'm a big fan of racing in Asia now, James, because I think the time difference was only two hours. um I didn't feel like the weather was like going from boiling, you know, sorry, freezing cold Canberra winter to like a hot um European summer and there was no altitude to deal with.
00:12:13
Speaker
So for me, it was just a lot more trainable for from an Australia's perspective. I do find it very hard to train for these European races. ah You're definitely not the first person I've heard to say that the attraction of racing in Asia right now is just getting bigger and bigger. I think Simone was saying about with her sky running season, you can almost go back and forth. Like, yes, it's still paying for the flight and it's still eight hours or so, but the difference of 24 hours and a lot more money to get across to Europe and the time zone change is not particularly feasible. think Billy Curtis is now situating safe in Asia to do that whole thing. So,
00:12:51
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely, the the only thing that really strikes me is the humidity. That's, was that something, you e did mention sort of the conditions, you're typically not great in the in the heat, from especially from your stomach perspective. Is that something that, could you really feel that racing in Asia, the champs?
00:13:08
Speaker
Not on this day. Okay. I was very lucky. The weather was smiling upon me on that day. I think it was a little bit humid, but nothing that was significant. Like, whereas in Australia,
00:13:21
Speaker
I try not to race too far north of the Blue Mountains. Okay. Which is interesting because you've gone to Brisbane three times more, maybe? I have gone to Brisbane three times, yes. And I'm hot every single time. yeah And I guess that ist that is in winter as well. so you do have that.
00:13:40
Speaker
I'm not sure they really get winter, but it's closer. Yeah. Yes, I definitely couldn't go for black hole or something like that. yeah No, no, I don't know how how they managed training, to be honest. Again, speaking with SJ, a friend of both of us, about her chime in Townsville and getting up at three to go and do the long runs and it's still high 20s, 30s. Yeah.
00:14:03
Speaker
Tough. That they would breed them tough up there. um Coming back to a couple of things that you said the start of talking through the Asia champs was that you have had, like people know you for stomach issues and you've you've had those sort of challenges and in races and then you've now worked with a dietitian.
00:14:22
Speaker
um i guess Quickly, are you still working with that same dietitian or have you finished with them? No, I did finish up mainly because we had worked together for more than 12 months. i actually had a couple of good races last year where I wasn't unwell.
00:14:36
Speaker
And i felt that I'd gotten, yeah, just I tried everything. Yeah. sorry yeah. Okay. And what, this is, I can't think of a way to make this not sound bad, but how how bad did it get for you to go, okay, actually, i need to work with a dietitian. Like how how disruptive was this becoming to your racing?
00:14:56
Speaker
Yeah. Um, do you know, interestingly, i just completely normalized it. So I, I'm physically ill in most of my races since I started running in 2019. And I just got to the point where, yeah, it was just normal. I don't, don't even stop. I just keep running and be sick off the side as I kept running.
00:15:14
Speaker
Um, I decided to do something about it because was listening to a lot of, it's been a lot of just talk in general in the trial community about grams of carbs per hour. And I was thinking, gosh,
00:15:25
Speaker
people are having like 80 or 90 grams of carbs per hour and I'm barely getting in 10 or 15. Imagine what I could do if I could consume carbohydrates while I was running. So I looked into it from a performance perspective.
00:15:39
Speaker
And interestingly, once I started thinking about it, it became more of a a stressor, if that makes sense. So prior to actually attempting to fix it, I didn't even get that worried by it. It was just part of a race to me. Like,
00:15:55
Speaker
I'm going to feel good for the first half. Then I'm probably going to get sick around 30 to 40 K and then I'll just finish the race on fumes. That's just how all my races were. um And yeah, so I kind of once I started thinking, okay, I'd like to have more carbs because I'd like to get that performance boost. I put all this effort into training and then I'm racing on fumes.
00:16:14
Speaker
um i actually started worrying before the races. Oh, well look will I get sick or will I won't? will I not get sick? So interestingly, it actually gave me more of a negative bright i ah mental connotation around the being sick. And then it started to bother me that I was being sick.
00:16:29
Speaker
um So now I've had to kind of turn back around a little bit and to try and not get so worried about it happening. But I did, like I said last year, I didn't race quite as much last year. um I injured my ankle quite badly um after Kenyani, which I raced at the start of the year.
00:16:47
Speaker
um So Kenyany 67K, I was not sick um during the race. I think I was after, but not during. um And i also ran in Norway in Stronda and I was not sick.
00:16:58
Speaker
um And then I also had Asia Pacific where I was not sick. So I did have three races last year, which was really positive. um The other races that I did, I was sick, but I think as an average, it has improved quite a lot.
00:17:10
Speaker
And what changes have you made to get that to happen? Because I'm sure a lot of people listening to this that have heard of this high carb revolution and that is a really stressful thing for them because like like yourself, they might, if they've probably never even thought about fueling or if they have, it's very minimal. It might be lollies, Coke.
00:17:32
Speaker
And then all of a sudden it's like, no, you've got to have these three to four gels an hour. And if you're not doing that, you're losing performance. So yeah, kind of where where did that start and what changes have been made?
00:17:44
Speaker
um I did lot of gut training. So making sure that all my runs I'm fueling and fueling at an amount that I could cope with and then gradually increasing that. So every pretty much every run for the last year and a half, I've very meticulously thought about what I was consuming and how much I was consuming, um which the dietician and my coach helped me with.
00:18:05
Speaker
I changed what I was taking in. So I find anything with flavor makes me sick. So I drink water with salt, like table salt in it and then salt tablets. So that's how I get my electrolytes.
00:18:19
Speaker
um I don't drink anything with flavor. I don't eat anything with flavor. I have the flavorless precision fuel gels and that is it. That is all I consume. so and But that's allowed you to go from 10 to 40 grams an hour, which is a huge, like, huge jump. It's better, yeah. In training, I can get up to 60. I have been able to do that. But the extra stress of racing seems to cause me for more issues. And so I feel safer at 45 to 50. So...
00:18:50
Speaker
sorry I actually think Asia Pacific, it was about 45 when I calculated after. I'd gone in aiming for 50 and ended up having 45, which is still really low, but it did feel good to consume that amount. And the fact that it stayed in was really helpful and I absorbed it and I could feel a huge difference. So I do highly recommend that everyone attempts to get those cups per hour. It does make a really big difference.
00:19:14
Speaker
ah The conclusion that I've sort of come to with all the people who's investigated this for me, which is a lot of different people that I've had sort of look into this, is that my body's reaction to stress is to stop like stop my gut, um which then means everything I consume after that has just doesn't get absorbed and then it eventually is brought back up.
00:19:35
Speaker
Yeah. That's really interesting and really challenging. It's having to have that level of focus in your day-to-day running. Did that remove any of the the joy or the freedom? Like you have a very high responsibility job, you're a mom, you're a wife.
00:19:53
Speaker
A lot of people use running as their escape, but now you're being told to think about how many grams on every single run and different types. Was that challenging to kind of have to do that? Yeah, a really good question. i actually had that exact conversation with my dietitian and my coach. And um so I did stop for a while. I said, that's not fun anymore. Like,
00:20:12
Speaker
I don't want to think about my gut constantly. um So we just jigged it around and so not everyone was having to think about it. um As things started to improve and I found like the flavourless gels that were working and the water made a huge difference versus the sweet drinks.
00:20:27
Speaker
um That was probably one of the biggest changes for me was well salt water. Then, yeah, it did become... more fun again, but you're right. Personally, I find anytime I start focusing too much on something, the joy of running starts to disappear and I have to kind of reset and go back to not stressing so much about either the gut or whatever I'm looking at on my watch or, yeah, I agree with you.
00:20:53
Speaker
And the mitigating the stress, is that where the low FODMAP before races comes in or do you have to follow a ah ah more FODMAP diet day to day?
00:21:04
Speaker
No, day to day I have no stomach issues. Like I'm not someone who needs to go gluten-free or low FODMAP. I started doing it before races just as a let's try everything.
00:21:15
Speaker
We basically threw everything at it. um And to be honest, because we threw so much at it, was then hard to tell what worked and what didn't when I did have a good race. And so then I was like, well, I'll just do low FODMAP always.
00:21:28
Speaker
So that's why it was interesting after South Korea that I actually didn't because I ate bread the night before. And I was fine. So I'm not actually convinced that the low FODMAP is necessary. And I think there's a really big balance between low FODMAP works if you still get enough energy.
00:21:43
Speaker
But if you're struggling to find the foods, you're better off going into a race with enough energy than to be low FODMAP without enough energy. So I tend to, depending on where I am, i reduce certain foods that I think probably start me off in a more irritated state.
00:21:59
Speaker
But i I'm not so worried from now to be strict low FODMAP. which I can imagine is quite nice to not have that like stressor in the back of your mind. There's enough things going on before race day to be worried about having, yeah, trying to eat something that potentially can make it worse.
00:22:16
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. It is much less stressful. Yeah. yeah um Another thing that kind of struck me is you seem to mention or you seem to have a number of injuries when you're getting started and then you started working with a coach.
Training and Health Setbacks
00:22:30
Speaker
ah The whole time have you been coached by Andy?
00:22:32
Speaker
No, I started working with Andy 2022, just before Skyrunning World Champs, which is my first team. So somewhere in the early to mid part of the year.
00:22:43
Speaker
Mm-hmm. how How did you like look at training differently moving on with Andy? Because it sounds like he's been very involved in this whole process as well with your dietician. Yeah, no, he's been really helpful. um When I started with him, yes, I used to get a lot of like tendon, overuse type injuries.
00:22:59
Speaker
um we He kind of had it just a different approach which did fit better with my way that I like to train. it was just a lot less intensity to start with.
00:23:10
Speaker
um He just built up my base again. And when we started doing more speed work. It was just very calculated and very progressive. um I'm not 20 anymore. And so I do find my body doesn't cope as well with a rapid change. Not that anybody's body really does. You know, I'm a physio and I also do understand that from that physiological perspective, but I do also notice it quite a lot as someone in my later thirties compared to when I'm 20, sometimes you can get away with stuff um like rapid changes
00:23:42
Speaker
In doing speed sets randomly, you might be able to cope with that, whereas I don't feel like I can at my age. So I have to be a little bit more careful and progressive. And Andy just kind of got that and was. um So over the years that I've worked with him, he very much does build year by year.
00:23:57
Speaker
And I have looked back through my training and, you know, used to do one hard session a week and then it was too hard. Now I sort of built myself up to doing sort of three sessions in a long run. And I'm still...
00:24:08
Speaker
from a muscle and tendon perspective, um seem to be holding out, which is good. I think this might lead me quite nicely into my next question.
00:24:20
Speaker
When I was looking through your socials and looking at Tarawara, which has happened end of February, still got a ninth and any top 10 finish at a UTMB event is very impressive. But One thing that really stood out was that you said that you pushed a bit too much in the first 35K for where my body was health-wise.
00:24:43
Speaker
It sounded then like you were saying, like from a muscle and tendon perspective, you were feeling fine, but was there other stuff going on? Yeah. I've had a few ah few health things probably since August last year. I'm quite a private person, so I hadn't really said it, and I hate the concept of excuses, but um I got these chronic sinus infections. So when I was in over in UTMB, the reason i actually pulled out of the race is I had a sinus infection on the day.
00:25:11
Speaker
um My stomach didn't hold out, but when I chose to pull out, that was part of the decision and the decision knowing that last time I pushed through that race feeling terrible at that point, it took me about six weeks to recover physically and I had Asia Pacific champs.
00:25:29
Speaker
very soon and so I chose to focus on Asia-Pacific champs and that c sinus infection just actually never went away. So i sort of had gone on through this process of antibiotics after antibiotics um waiting to get into specialists because I needed to see an ENT and the waits in Canberra are six plus months so i had to drive to Sydney.
00:25:50
Speaker
um Then my tooth got infected on the same side and so I had to wait again for a specialist. um So long story, basically was on antibiotics during the COSY race um and I had been taking lots of Panadol. I was feeling quite run down, but I kept pushing, which is not recommended, um but it wasn't an injury and it was something that I couldn't fix because my appointment was in March and I couldn't get my tooth fixed before then. So I thought, well, it's not a respiratory illness.
00:26:20
Speaker
It's not an injury. I'll just keep running. So I kind of just kept running, kept racing. And by the time I got to Tarawara, gotten COVID two or three weeks beforehand.
00:26:31
Speaker
um The tooth had gotten so bad. I went in for an emergency root canal. hadn't slept. I couldn't eat. And I kind of thought, do I go? um So it was like five days before. And I was like, I don't know if I go, but I spent a lot of money. And as people know, it's not a lot of, you know, the you've put all this time in.
00:26:52
Speaker
My mum was coming to support me and crew me. I just decided why not? You know, i'm a bit of a you only live once. This is a great opportunity. I hadn't run Tarawera. I really wanted to go to the race.
00:27:04
Speaker
So thought, look, I'll just go. I just won't worry about my results. But being the competitive person I am, by the time I got there, my tooth felt better. I was still on antibiotics for that race, but the tooth felt better. And i was like, look, I think I'm okay.
00:27:21
Speaker
So I took off racing, which um wasn't the plan, wasn't what my coach was expecting me to do, wasn't what I had thought I would do, but I couldn't help myself.
00:27:32
Speaker
And then I got to 35Ks and just I was very unwell, yeah to say the least. um But I pulled myself together and decided I wanted to finish. So I did. I ran to the end.
00:27:45
Speaker
And to be honest, I haven't really recovered. And so that's why i have pulled out of Kinyani, which I was meant to be running um next weekend, which I was really disappointed about.
00:27:56
Speaker
But I just haven't recovered from that. And I think it was my body saying, actually have this infection all these infection issues for a long time. um Plus the COVID didn't help.
00:28:07
Speaker
And it was just really bad timing. And I accidentally ran myself into a little bit of an energy hole, um which I'm now trying to just slowly build myself back out of. um already feeling heaps better but I and I'm back in training and stuff I just didn't quite feel ready to race um and it's my favorite race and I just didn't want to go did not give it the you know what I could do on the course so next year for that one but um ready for the rest of the season, just yeah needed to have a little bit of a break and recover.
00:28:39
Speaker
I can only imagine like the mental load of, by sounds of it, like the last six months then, trying trying to compete, trying to train yeah on antibiotics, by science but i basically that the whole time.
00:28:52
Speaker
um this this time right now? Because I was was wondering obviously what the Kanani was going to be about, but it just sounds like yeah obviously you physically needed the rest, but I'm guessing mentally as well, you needed that break?
00:29:07
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. i mean, life's busy. um i don't just run. um And yeah, I just needed a little bit of a break. I think it's important. It's interesting because I haven't been that injured apart from my ankle, which I did injure last year. I haven't had a lot of time off.
00:29:23
Speaker
Whereas prior to that, you know, i'd have my injury break every now and then and you kind of have that chance to reset and get the fire back and really want to get back into it. And I kind of just been consistently running now for a couple of years.
00:29:34
Speaker
um So i think it's good to have ah have a break. I'm still pretty keen to race and um we'll see what happens for the rest of the year. But, yeah, I just I made a bad decision, I think. I didn't listen to my body and just, yeah, don't recommend it.
00:29:51
Speaker
it's It's hard to listen to the warning signs though. like because Even when you've got the right people in your corner to tell you to slow down or to stop, it's, yeah, as you saw on the start line. Too many fun things to do. Exactly, exactly. And what the toll antibiotics obviously take on our stomach, especially, and our gut bacteria, like knowing that you already react poorly to stress from a gut perspective, I can't imagine it was particularly fun trying to push through Tarawera at that point.
00:30:20
Speaker
I wouldn't describe it as fun, but I did get a sense of, I was very pleased that I finished. So I'm glad at that point that I made that decision to finish.
00:30:31
Speaker
But no, it had taken away the joy of the race quite a lot. Yes. You have had a couple of DNS, which sound when I've listened or read for the the right reasons, CCC last year and Brisbane Trail Ultra, think 2023.
00:30:48
Speaker
Having had those DNS, is it something that you kind of like, okay, I know I'm not in that position. I'm not that bad. i can finish this one safely. Did that knowledge help? Yeah, definitely. um Yeah, Brisbane, I did DNF. i was very disciplined.
00:31:03
Speaker
dizzy when I stopped then and my blood sugar then when they tested was extremely low. Um, I think I saw you and Siobhan actually at the aid station where they were testing me. yeah just realize so Yeah. Um, and yeah, CCC again, that was different. I, I done it the year before and thrown up for 14 hours. so I kind of knew what that felt and I didn't want that again.
00:31:24
Speaker
i knew what the outcome would be in the time to recover. So I think I'm getting a little bit more sensible over time. um Yeah, so I do try and make the decisions. Tara, where ah i I was okay, I wasn't feeling lightheaded. I just felt really unwell and tired, i would say, was the feeling.
00:31:43
Speaker
but Was there any sort of mental checklist you went through the like someone listened to this that might come and find themselves in a situation in the future where you're like, okay, i'm I'm okay to keep going. Like I'm not physically sick. I can stand upright. I'm not dizzy. um Do you know what I did?
00:32:00
Speaker
I called my mom. okay I had a chat to her on the course um and then I made the decision to keep going. Yeah. So she kind of helped me go through the checklist. So even though I'm in my thirties, I still called my mum to get advice on the trail.
00:32:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I think that's great. I feel like as long as our mums are around, we will keep doing that kind of thing. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. You've mentioned a couple of times that you're not a full time athlete, you are sponsored athlete, you are sponsored with ultra and going into your third year with them. Is correct? Kind of two and a half?
00:32:31
Speaker
and yes Yeah, but yeah, you're not you, you do work full time. You
Balancing Roles: Runner, Mother, Business Owner
00:32:36
Speaker
are a mum. Can you just give everyone a little bit more context about what you do do for for work? Yeah, sure. I'm a paediatric physio, so it means I only see kids and adolescents, so from birth to 18. I co-own a clinic in Canberra um called Country Children's Physiotherapy with a friend of mine.
00:32:54
Speaker
And, yeah, I love my job. It's sort of part disability work, part sports. um I spend a lot of time doing that, um and I have a seven-year-old john um who takes up the rest of my time. So between running work and family stuff, that's pretty much what I do with my time.
00:33:16
Speaker
ah It sounds like your son is technically Canadian. You had him over there. Technically, yes. um Not officially because we were over on a posting. um So he's not officially a Canadian, but he identifies strongly with being a Canadian if you ask him.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yeah, I like that. My dad's Canadian, so I've got Canadian citizenship. Okay. Oh, there you go. Yeah. It's not a bad place to to be forced to be born, I wouldn't have thought. um And your partner husband, say posting, is he in the forces? Yeah.
00:33:46
Speaker
at Public service. Okay. yeah ah Is he away much? like Have you guys been posted around place before? um We've only been on one posting to Canada. um We were there for three and a half years.
00:33:58
Speaker
um So not posting, but he does travel a lot. So I have a treadmill in my garage that I use when he's away. And I have a mum who comes and stays over to help me out. So without all the support and my in-laws as well actually come and help quite a lot.
00:34:13
Speaker
um yeah without them I wouldn't to be able to compete at the level that I compete yeah I'm really lucky from from memory like the the first time I really noticed you from a racing perspective was but was 2022 Buffalo Stampede marathon sorry 2023 against Siobhan my wife and SJ from memory there was a story about logistical nightmares trying to get you to that start line is that correct oh yeah about a week or two before My husband was like, sorry, I'm going to be overseas.
00:34:44
Speaker
So i ended up calling a friend of mine, Jess Ronan, who's also a runner, and she agreed to come down with me in the van. um i we have a sprinter that we've done up, um so we're going to take the van down. And then a really good friend of mine, Ellen Bradley, who also races, was like, I'll come down, I'll look after Henry while you run, and she was going to do the twenty k the day before.
00:35:06
Speaker
So we kind of all took off um down to Buffalo, camping, had my spare car seat transfer. It was all, it worked out okay. But um I had a lot of people helping me that day. Unfortunately, my son is very flexible with who has him.
00:35:21
Speaker
So early in the morning, my friend came over to do a little swap in the van while my son was asleep. And then I took the shuttle up to the top and ran and then just met them at the end. Wow.
00:35:32
Speaker
Because that context applied to what obviously I was crewing at that time. And I got to watch you and SJ just go like hard for so long in that race. And it was so impressive to watch. Like it was only until the final descent off Mystic that really any separation or any discerning separation happened. But having that context is kind of...
00:35:52
Speaker
adds whole other layer to it um which is just I guess kudos I know it probably doesn't seem like anything special to you but but but definitely kudos for that the the unpredictable nature of both your husband's work and obviously being a mum and then trying to train at what is like the very top of the sport in Australia I was talking to Dani Vanderhiel about this and she was very curious like how how other mums in that area are able to just kind of like deal with the fact that there's nothing certain, you can put all this hard work in and something can just completely go haywire on the day and you've got to go, yep, no, I can't do it.
00:36:26
Speaker
Do you put any any strategies for that kind of scenario? I think I used to get quite stressed about the unknowns that would happen. um i think over time, because there often is something, and someone said to me once when I was getting quite frustrated actually about the Buffalo thing leading up to it, I was very stressed about driving this van by myself.
00:36:48
Speaker
you know, five and a half hours with a five-year-old at the time, I guess, five-year-old, cooking all the food, like we were camping, getting it all set up to then be able to race at that level. And I didn't have crew that day, so I did self-crew and I did note that the others had crew I could see at the aid stations because SJ and I were quite close together.
00:37:08
Speaker
um So I was quite stressed about that fact and someone said to me, well, if you'd known in advance that that was going to happen, would you still signed up for the race? And I said, yeah. I would have. no And I was like, oh, yeah. So even if I'd known, I would have signed up for the race.
00:37:22
Speaker
And that kind of thought process I use for a lot of the races when there's things like this, things do come up. um South Korea, for example, for Asia Pacific champs, both my husband and I were overseas. And so I had a spreadsheet and my son went through three or four different places of with all his grandparents um over that week.
00:37:40
Speaker
You know, i had to notify the school of who was picking him up on what days. Like we had this really complex spreadsheet because it just all coincided. Um, but had I known that would I have still signed up? Yes, I would have.
00:37:52
Speaker
So we kind of just made it happen. And that helped me reduce the pre-race stress around those sides of things a little bit more. That's quite incredible. I feel like any mom that's a runner would be an incredible project manager because the amount of moving parts that are going on right there. ah thats WhatsApp makes a big difference. WhatsApp groups are very helpful because you need backups for backups in case someone's sick and they um getting the parents on the list for pickups from school. You know, my friend had to get that into the list and yeah, gets complicated.
00:38:23
Speaker
You must have a very strong why for not only running, but for racing to be able to say like, given all this stuff that makes it harder than let's just take Siobhan, my wife, we don't have any kids, so we don't have this logistical element. I work from home. Yeah.
00:38:41
Speaker
The why that you have, for especially for racing, is that something that you've you've really had to consider and develop over time or that's evolved over time? It's a good question. I've actually been thinking a lot about my why lately because I think as i go on and actually particularly after Asia Pacific, I was so satisfied with that race that I actually found it hard to be motivated afterwards um because I was just like,
00:39:08
Speaker
I felt like I had achieved the race that I wanted to achieve. I didn't win, which is never, like it's actually not my goal is to win an Asia Pacific or a world chair. That's not my goal. But the race itself had just, it had all worked out and I felt like I'd run to the fitness that I had and that's all, that was what the goal was.
00:39:25
Speaker
um So yeah, I have actually since then been thinking more about my why. um I've always loved competing. So I've competed since I was you know in primary school.
00:39:37
Speaker
um through various sports, but all involved running. So I've always run. so I guess it's quite tied to my identity as a person. I enjoy running. It's my social side. um Like my social life is running.
00:39:49
Speaker
um I love where running takes me. I get to see a lot of the world. I've had some amazing experiences since I started a trail running in particular in 2019. So I get a lot of joy from the process, which I think is important because the racing, or at least this level, you know, isn't necessarily going to be forever.
00:40:07
Speaker
um But I do enjoy the competition and I think it's nice to have things, not that I'm old, but as you get older to still have that ability to compete and to test yourself.
00:40:18
Speaker
So I still appreciate that side of things. um Sometimes I do think it would be easier to not do it. Yeah. so um And I think as things go on you know obviously if there was an issue or my son had something on, I would not pick a race over him.
00:40:36
Speaker
um So I'm still quite considered, is this still okay for him? And i always ask him, like with that Buffalo Stampede example, I asked him, do you want to come? And he said, yeah, like I'd i'd love to come.
00:40:48
Speaker
um So, yeah, I'm never going to put it ahead of my family, but if I can make it all work and juggle it, then it it's fulfilling for my, for me. Yeah. Two things. don't know if that answers your question. No, no, no, it does. I don't, I don't think people need to at least outwardly share their wise. I could sort of incredibly vulnerable thing to do. And a lot of people haven't actually put words to the specifics of it, the love for the sport, what it can do for us personally, professionally at home, all of that comes in two things that really struck out to me. First thing is you sound like you have an amazing son who's a very mature head on his shoulders. If he's,
00:41:23
Speaker
Like making those decisions. I've put those words a little bit in his mouth. He was probably just more like, yeah. Yeah, cool. At least he's responding to you. I think yeah um that thought that's a win. But the second thing is, does the concept of being a role model to your son Does that feature, because that's what really strikes me is when I'm talking to you right now or I'm talking to SJ or any other parent who has ah child and they are putting these hours in, like it can seem on the surface as a selfish thing, but actually I think it is the most like selfless act of an example a parent can give. Is that something that you consider in that whole process?
00:42:05
Speaker
Interestingly, my husband and i talk about this a lot. I actually, I do think it's selfish, even though I do it. um I think there's a point of example and then as I think I do it beyond that, if that makes sense. Like sure I don't think I need to be out 12 hours a week to set an example. I know that's probably an unpopular opinion.
00:42:23
Speaker
Like the extra bit is because but it does fulfil me, which I do think then makes me a better parent and it's important, I do think, to show kids that it's you can have something that's yours even when you're an adult.
00:42:36
Speaker
Yeah. and I do believe that quite a lot. Obviously, I believe in showing like the importance of physical activity and fitness, but obviously I'm taking this to the extreme. It's not you know the expectation. i Interestingly, my son's not that into sport.
00:42:52
Speaker
He has a lot of other interests and things that he loves to spend his time on and he'll be active because it's part of our lifestyle and he'll come hiking, groan a fair bit about it, but he will come along.
00:43:04
Speaker
But it's not like i he... wants to be a runner because he sees me being a runner. But he does seem to, i think, take some of the doing things when it's hard, even though it's hard and like setting a goal and those kinds of examples I think are important.
00:43:20
Speaker
But i I do think there's a component of this and it does sometimes play on my mind a little bit that there's a component that I think is an example there's and a component on top of that that I do think is selfish, but it doesn't necessarily a bad thing to be a little selfish sometimes. I just...
00:43:36
Speaker
yeah I try and keep that in mind, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. And I completely agree. i would say it strikes me that putting yourself first potentially is sometimes mistaken for being selfish as well. And like, this is something you are so passionate about and why does being a mom or being a wife or being a co-director of a physio clinic mean that you can't put a hobby and yourself first at points Yeah, absolutely.
00:44:02
Speaker
think for me, it's just knowing, which I'm not very good at, I'm still working on it, is when to pull back on the running. Like there's always times in your life that you need to put more into work. We need to put more into family.
00:44:13
Speaker
um So I'm trying to get a little bit better at not always choosing the running and trying to be a little bit more balanced. I think it's really hard because to compete and, you know, everyone's getting so fast um to compete with everyone else and to stay at that level like you do need to be a little bit selfish like and i don't think that's a bad thing think it's a reality of elite sport is you need to put yourself first and like you said it's not necessarily a bad thing it's just a reality of yeah trying to be as good as you can be at something and whether it's running or whether it's something else that's the nature of it um i've definitely gone the other direction with work too you know when i first came on as a director i threw myself into work um and my husband had to say
00:44:58
Speaker
you know, pull back and actually the running went to the side for a little bit. So, yeah, I think it's not just sport that you can accidentally do that. um Like I said, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just something I'm quite conscious of. Yeah. Trying not to, yeah.
00:45:13
Speaker
So are you consciously now almost periodizing the year or a handful of years to have, yeah, I know I'm going to have a big work bit here or a big run bit there.
00:45:24
Speaker
is that, yeah, does that happen? I'm not nearly that organized. Okay. That sounds fantastic. That sounds like what I should do. Not nearly as organized as that. Okay. No, I think I was listening to another podcast you were on and you were thinking about, obviously, if you're trying to get onto a world team, you do have to think 18 months, potentially two years in in advance. Yeah.
00:45:44
Speaker
Look, leading up to a world championship, my husband and i have a chat. Like we know that the training is a priority leading up to that. And so, you know, coast trips and things like that, we do reduce, which,
00:45:57
Speaker
I'm forever grateful to his support because that does impact him and I am aware that it impacts him. But there are no mountains where we go at the coast. And if it's a mountainous race, that's sort of part of it. So um I guess that's one thing before I sign up or apply for a world's team. Like I do sit down with my family and sort of talk about that and what that means.
00:46:17
Speaker
Yeah. We've kind of already touched on this, but again, I find sometimes in conversations being a parent, especially the mum, and especially if if you've got a high responsibility, a high stress role that um I'm guessing is very easy for it not to be a 40 hour week job. It could quite easily become a double that if you let it Do you find that there's some positive, like, I guess, transferability between being a runner, being a mum, being a ah director, like across that whole loop? is Is it all like, does it interconnect somewhere in a very positive way?
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. I think it's always helpful to have more than one part of you sort of my perspective. Um, if I'm injured, have my family and my work. If work's not going well, I have my family and my running, um,
00:47:07
Speaker
hopefully family's going well, but you know, then you have the other parts of you. so I think it's really helpful. I don't know, you know, I've tossed up a few years ago I was quite, you know, I had moments where I'm frustrated that I don't have time to recover. And ah you know, I can't do it. I feel like sometimes I can't put as much into the running as I would like to.
00:47:26
Speaker
But then if I didn't have the work and my career, and I love my job, I love my career, I think then, you know, it's inevitable to get injured or there's going to be a time where I'm not as competitive anymore. Like that's just life.
00:47:40
Speaker
And I like having that other part of me, if that makes sense. I get a lot of fulfillment. I feel I help people in my job on a one-on-one sort of face-to-face kind of side of things. I'm still very much a clinician, even though I'm a director.
00:47:54
Speaker
Okay. um And we have, you know, lots of lovely staff and, um, Yeah, I get to meet lots of different people in my job and help them reach their goals. So I get a lot of fulfillment and I think if I didn't have that, that would be challenging um for me. So um it is sometimes too busy and I'm not the best at um balancing it perfectly. I do work more than 40 hours, yes.
00:48:18
Speaker
I think any small business owner could agree that it's impossible not to. Like there's always something to do. But I probably wouldn't change it either. Okay, so that's, that's interesting.
00:48:30
Speaker
Because we're at a point in trail are running globally, yes, Australia, not so much, but it is starting to to come where sponsorships are not just gear, they can be a percentage of a salary at a wouldn't guess there's anyone maybe be one or two people that are actually getting a full salary's worth of of of income from sponsorship but is it something that you're thinking of now as like okay maybe like if I was given the opportunity what could I do if I didn't have to juggle all of those like if someone was to replace your whole income through running or at least a large percentage of it is that something something that you you would jump at or or the feeling you get from work you wouldn't change how it's set up now
00:49:13
Speaker
I think if you'd asked me a few years ago, i would say, yep, I would jump at the running. um Now, I think, I mean, age is just a number, but I do kind of see in the next five years or 10, like, you know, at some point, um my career will probably take even more of a front seat and the running will be more of a hobby.
00:49:34
Speaker
yeah So i don't think now I would jump at that. like Okay. I also, i think financially it's different when you have family. Yes.
00:49:45
Speaker
I can't make decisions. I can't imagine a sponsorship that in Australia is going to supplement me fully for my job no as a director. So I think the reality would be that if I was younger, yes, but now, know, mortgage, kids, I probably can't make that decision anymore.
00:50:05
Speaker
No, no. And it was ah it was an incredibly hypothetical situation. Hypothetical, I know. Which would be amazing for that sort of situation to exist in the sport in Australia. as' Like I said, I don't quite think we're there yet. And whilst we're actually talking about the kind of the sponsorship world, where the Ultra Partnership, what's that been
Sponsorship and Future Aspirations
00:50:25
Speaker
like? Because it's not it's still not particularly common that that many people are sponsored in Australia, um not for a number of years, and not in a shoe that they've seemed to exclusively been wearing prior to the sponsorship.
00:50:35
Speaker
Yeah, I actually, you know, I found Altra when I lived in Canada. And I've probably been exclusively wearing them since 2016, even though I've only been sponsored for the last couple of years.
00:50:48
Speaker
um I, sorry, your question was, what is it like? Yeah, just just what's the experience been like working with a brand and... Yeah.
00:50:59
Speaker
Oh, look, it's it has been really helpful. Like, I think like sponsorship is very helpful. i was really lucky... it's the brand of shoe I wear. yeah I cannot wear any other shoes either.
00:51:10
Speaker
um with my foot, I have enderoma, which is a bundle of nerve fibers where the toe bones push on it. It becomes really painful. My foot goes numb and I find the wide toe box, um, completely alleviates the pain. So I'd started wearing those from 2016.
00:51:27
Speaker
And so then when I was able to partnership with them, it was my absolute favorite shoe brand. Um, Yeah, I felt really, really fortunate. It is really helpful. Trail running, it's not as cheap as it looks. And I travel overseas every year, sometimes slightly twice year, which is ridiculous.
00:51:45
Speaker
um So, yeah, it's been really helpful to have them as a sponsor. Yeah. do Do you get together as a team at all? Because the Ultra team seems to be growing a bit.
00:51:56
Speaker
Yeah, it does actually. This year in particular I've noticed a couple of other athletes come on board. um No, we don't. It's I think a smaller team maybe than some of the other brands and sort of growing this year I did notice. But, no, in the past I haven't.
00:52:10
Speaker
um I've met some of the team members. Nigel Hill was over in World Champs in Austria. That's actually just before I became part of the team. Okay. Yeah.
00:52:21
Speaker
So, I have met some of the team members, but we don't get together like some others do. How did the connection between you and Ultra come about? Was it through Nigel at that chance?
00:52:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it sort of started the conversation, I guess. Okay, interesting. That's really cool. So we're a big advocate for the front and the middle and the back end of the field. But it is really cool to see brands coming on and supporting athletes over here because it says that they take it seriously and our capacity as an example for the brand is worthwhile putting money in, regardless of that whether it's ah social media influence or it's just the sort of person that you are at events and a friendly face and a really positive light and person in the community.
00:53:03
Speaker
um I just really like see how that comes about. And yeah it's just really cool to see brands doing it. So give them a bit of the airtime as well for that. Talking now, obviously, at the time recording, we're a week before. Kenyan, you've already said that you've decided to withdraw from that event and not go down.
00:53:22
Speaker
What does the rest of 2025 look like for you? It's a very good question. i knew you were going to ask me about that. um I don't have a perfect answer. I hadn't actually signed up for any races purely because i um at the end of last year, when I was trying to plan what I was going to do,
00:53:39
Speaker
I had all these infections and I was like, I'm just going to book these two, Tarala and Kanyani. um They were still in the window for the selection for the team for World Champs. And so I thought I'll just deal with that and then I'll see how I'm feeling and decide what I'm going to do.
00:53:53
Speaker
so obviously that's now nearly finished. um So I just need to make a decision before next weekend about applying for the team. Okay. Okay. So given that just the future in general, what, if anything in particular, still excites you about trail running?
00:54:13
Speaker
I'm still really keen to get back into running. So I'm going to build myself back up um as my energy improves. So like I said, it already has. I had a really good run the other day, which made me feel really positive. um i I think I'd still like to compete.
00:54:28
Speaker
So I'm going to do some races towards the middle and end of this year. um i think what I'd like to do ultimately is I would like to go back to the longer distance if I can get my stomach under control.
00:54:42
Speaker
And I think that's always been my sort of goal as i go longer, um which I do think I'm innately better at going longer. If I can get my stomach under control, then I'd like to see what I can do.
00:54:56
Speaker
But it's still a little bit up in the air. I had dropped down my distance this year anyway. I was planning to only run less, like 50Ks or less, um just to have another year of positive experiences around my stomach.
00:55:07
Speaker
um And then my plan had been actually to look at something like the Mount Fuji 100 next year. um but it's it's all very, like, up in the air because I'm not sure how my stomach will go. um The vote from my household is to go to Japan because my son loves Pokemon.
00:55:23
Speaker
So... When voting at the location of my next big race, ah Japan was voted as a yes. And as we spoke about earlier, Asia is very attractive for a number of reasons.
00:55:36
Speaker
The Mount Fuji seems like an incredible race and beautiful. I was wondering earlier when you were talking about you get to that sort of 40, 50 K mark and that's really where your stomach went. You do have this this history of 100Ks and really, really good performances at the 100K distance. But I can imagine this would really take the fun and the excitement out of wanting to do those distances. And it sounds like that has been the case.
00:55:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. i I want to still enjoy the running. I don't want it to become a job because it's not a job. It's a hobby. And I think that's where it had started to head.
00:56:10
Speaker
um But by dropping the distance down, i still enjoy I really enjoy the 42K distance, which is why I was really excited to do Kinyani. I really enjoy the technical running.
00:56:21
Speaker
um And I had decided to do some of those shorter races. I really enjoyed Stronda last year, which was 27K, which is shorter than what I'd usually do. But it was fun for the entire race.
00:56:35
Speaker
And I finished and then we all went out for ice cream and then I watched my son run the next day and more ice cream. and it was just a really fun event versus going home, being sick all night, not sleeping, being sick all the next day. It's not just the day of the race.
00:56:50
Speaker
The recovery is so much more after those races because I'm not
Fueling, Recovery, and Personal Support
00:56:54
Speaker
fueling. If you fuel well for 100K, there's no reason to expect it to be that lengthier recovery after. Obviously, have to recover.
00:57:02
Speaker
But when you haven't fueled... the 70k of your hundred k race like literally nothing it's going to take you a really long time um to feel better so i guess that's sort of where i was going with it and um yeah with my job you know i might race cosy on a saturday or friday i think it is like i'm back in the clinic back-to-back clients on the monday ah um and there's not a lot of time to recover from that when you haven't fueled well So I actually think it's probably unhealthy for me to keep running that long if I can't fuel.
00:57:36
Speaker
So I'm going to try and get on top of it and do some shorter races this year. And then if I can, I'll go long distance. And if I can't, then I think I'm okay with that. And I'll keep doing the stuff that's fun.
00:57:49
Speaker
How do you manage the time? Because training for a marathon distance is very different training for 100k or even going further than that training for 100 mile. Does it feel like the time is there in your week to be able to do that? Or will you have to deprioritize other things?
00:58:06
Speaker
That's actually another reason I dropped the distance down is the long runs were starting to eat into a lot of family time, um which I think is but for me and to my family, it was fine occasionally. But when it was starting to look like it was becoming more frequent, it was just, um yeah, affecting other things in my life.
00:58:23
Speaker
And so I did drop down so I could try and find more balance. So yes, absolutely, it's a factor. Do you do much cross-training? No, interestingly, I am a triathlete by background. That's what I did all through school.
00:58:37
Speaker
So I have a bike. I actually have an elliptical in my garage. I do use that sometimes like to warm up for a strength session. um I swim when I'm injured. So because I haven't been injured for a few years, I haven't swum.
00:58:49
Speaker
So no, i don't actually at the moment. It's a time thing. When I injured my ankle, I did a lot of cross training and because I had the facilities in my garage, I was able to do that.
00:59:00
Speaker
um But for me, it's the time. i find cycling just takes more time than running, getting to a pool. I don't really have the capacity to do that.
00:59:10
Speaker
I don't actually get home from work till 6 6 30 and then it's a frantic make dinner get everyone ready for bed by the time that happens i might get a gym session in in my garage again there's no way i'm physically going out anywhere if that makes sense yeah the strength training side of it as well have you had to or had to or wanted to prioritize that more as you've got a bit older in your training routine I have wanted to. I'm the worst physio.
00:59:40
Speaker
um no absolutely. Super important. I go through phases of fitting it in and phases where I don't fit it in lately I'm doing a lot more okay yes yep I feel like there's a lot a lot of us that would be in the do what I say not not as I do category especially when it comes to strength ah lovely okay closing out Trish is there anything that you feel like we haven't spoken about that you'd like to or that we haven't had dived deeper in at the moment I
01:00:11
Speaker
No, not necessarily. i think it's um it's just important to just um tell everyone that it is really, you can't fit it all in. People always ask me, how do you do it all? Well, the answer is I don't do it all.
01:00:24
Speaker
I'm compromising something else to get this done. And also just to shout out, like I have so much help. I live um where my in-laws live. My mum lives.
01:00:34
Speaker
um My dad used to live here too. Till recently, I have a lot of help. I have friends who help. My husband's able help. and very supportive of my running. And yeah, without the help, I wouldn't be able to do the running at this level.
01:00:50
Speaker
um So I think I'm just very fortunate. But also, yeah, if you feel you can't fit it in, that's normal. I don't think anyone has the secret of doing it. And if if you were to leave speaking to any any parent out there, but specifically to a mum, not necessarily at the front of the field, just anywhere that is struggling with that selfish thought process about putting this time towards their running, is there any message that you would give to them?
Encouragement for Mothers and Personal Goals
01:01:22
Speaker
just think it's really important to have your own thing. i think that saved me a lot through especially the early years, it's really hard being home with a baby. And I actually had two years of maternity leave because we were in Canada.
01:01:34
Speaker
And it was so awesome. But also you can lose yourself a little bit in that. And I think having the running and the individual personal goals has been really helpful for me anyway. i know everyone's really different. So I don't think it has to be running.
01:01:47
Speaker
But I do think having your own thing that is you and isn't part of your identity of being a mum is really important. And interestingly, i You know, if you look at my Instagram, I don't, it's not a mum thing.
01:02:00
Speaker
I don't know if you've noticed that. it's just Running is my thing and it's kind of I view it as a separate thing and I happen to be a mum as well. And on my mum's circle of things, it's all about being a mum. But I do somewhat separate a little bit from running, um that it's running is just Trish.
01:02:17
Speaker
It's not necessarily because I'm a mum or, yeah. Yeah. I think that's a really important and takeaway that I think having those not necessarily completely separate boxes, but not having this complete overlap between everything can be really beneficial.
01:02:34
Speaker
Trish, thank you so much for the time this episode. It's been really lovely to get to know you more and to just hear about your story. I think there's a lot of really cool and um important takeaways for people from this.
01:02:47
Speaker
Good luck for whatever the rest of the season looks like for you. um and yeah, we just look forward to following along. Thanks, James.