Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Targeting The Ticket Episode 3!
329 Plays19 days ago
Welcome to Episode 3 of Targeting the Ticket, our series covering the Golden Trail National Series in 2025. In this episode Nathan, Bridget, and Toby discuss how their last few weeks have been including the national Mountain Champs for Nathan. Hear how Bridget feels ahead of Buffalo 20k, Toby ahead of the next stop on the GTNS Kunanyi Mountain Run, and Nathan's season plans!
Thanks for joining us on Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod and share your thoughts, questions, or your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Nathan: @nathanpearce_
Bridget: @bridget_lunn
Toby: @lang.toby
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/moire/new-life
License code: VJ9EPZM2AQUSWRXL
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Recent Events
00:00:27
Speaker
Hey guys, thanks for chasing us to stop. Joining us on Targeting the Ticket, episode three. We currently have woken up quite early for this podcast, so the day before Kinyanyi.
00:00:41
Speaker
and I'm joined by Bridget and Toby. um And we're going to just sort of go through um what our past few weeks have been. how I went at national champs and how Toby's lead up for KMR has been
Bridget's Recovery and Training Adjustments
00:00:56
Speaker
going. So ah think we will dive on into what Bridget's been up to since Warburton, just to check in how her training's going, if there was any issues post-race or how the recovery was and if she's yet sort of focused now on um coastal ascent. So Bridget, how's your last sort of three weeks been?
00:01:19
Speaker
Yeah, they've been pretty good. um A lot of recovery, I think. um As I, I don't know if I mentioned this, but in the lead up to Wilby, I had sort of two separate niggles that interrupted my training in the first sort of two or three months of the year.
00:01:37
Speaker
um But after Warby, I've been yeah like completely fine. It's been really
Buffalo Stampede 20K Preparations
00:01:41
Speaker
good. um After the race, I took two full days off, um and I think that's really good. I know you guys sort of went straight back into training, but for me, having two days off was really good just to make sure I was recovering properly and not um sort of going to bring back either of those niggles.
00:01:59
Speaker
Um, and I also dropped down to normally I do three like main training sessions a week, um, but I dropped down to two. So just the Tuesday and Friday, um, just to make sure, yeah, things were going well. Cause yeah, obviously only having three weeks in between races is not very much.
00:02:19
Speaker
Um, when the races are sort of too two, two ish hours was long. Um, yeah, so I got in was that three, three main sessions in that time. Um, and then a half session on Tuesday just to taper back down.
Maintaining Race Momentum and Strategies
00:02:33
Speaker
yeah, it's definitely a bit of an awkward time period because it's not long enough in between the races that you can sort of gain any fitness or like get any better at anything.
00:02:45
Speaker
Um, but it's still long enough that you could definitely lose fitness. So you're just trying to sort of do everything you can to stay afloat. But, yeah, no, feeling good. I'm feeling tapered at the moment, ready to race tomorrow.
00:02:58
Speaker
i think it should be fun. um So I'm racing Buffalo Stampede tomorrow in the 20K. um Yeah, feeling good. Yeah, so obviously dropping down so that two sessions, yeah, as um you sort of touched on, yeah, Toby and I tried to sort of get our legs moving as quick as possible after Warby. I probably – And now I regretting that decision and because I didn't realize how yeah how much that sort of downhill does take out of the legs and and then getting back into the swing of things, trying to get those legs turned over um because you you sort of need to, um especially when
Benefits of Track Training for Trail Runners
00:03:39
Speaker
you've got a race in three weeks. so You don't want to sort of um stop that momentum that you've got going. So.
00:03:45
Speaker
With now those two sessions, are you sort of going to look at doing that across winter or are you sort of going to go back to the year three sessions? um I'm not too sure. I've been playing with the idea of other either going back to three sessions or sticking with the two sessions but making my long run sort of more intense. So whether that's making it longer, faster or actually including some intervals.
00:04:12
Speaker
I know, Toby, you've spoken about doing that yourself. um with your long runs. um So yeah, i'm not sure at this stage what I'll do. Yeah, beautiful. So will you sort of look to do that sort of Tuesday, still the intervals and then your Friday more threshold or you sort of... yeah yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. I like going to the track on Tuesdays and sort of running with everyone.
00:04:35
Speaker
It's feeling like I'm a little bit faster because when you're running on the trails, it's sort of hard to feel like you're fit or fast. I don't know. Maybe that's just me. But when I'm on the track, I have like a, I can tell exactly how fast I'm going and how good I feel and things like that.
00:04:51
Speaker
um So it's really measurable. And I like that. Yeah. Yeah, i think I think being on the track or doing anything in those sort of intervals, it sort of teaches you to sort of be young be comfortable in those uncomfortable situations kind of thing. So, um yeah, anyone out there that sort of,
00:05:09
Speaker
is a trail runner.
Logistics for Buffalo Stampede
00:05:10
Speaker
um If you sort of want to improve that sort of uncomfortable feeling when you're sort of up on the flat and that sort of thing, yeah, I would always recommend sort of jumping on the track and um unlocking that little bit of extra speed there. So that sounds... Yeah, it also takes away excuses too because you can't say, ah I was slow because I was going uphill.
00:05:31
Speaker
You got nothing. Exactly. You're pretty accountable on the track. so So tomorrow, um have you sort of made the trip down so far or is that today?
00:05:43
Speaker
um No, so we drove down yesterday, um just left uni early. And yeah, so this will be the most time I've spent at a race location. I think I'm going to be here three nights in total.
00:05:57
Speaker
um So a bit more of the race experience than normal,
Reflections on Recent Races and Learnings
00:06:00
Speaker
I think. I'm looking forward to it. um After my race tomorrow, I'm actually volunteering at one of the aid stations. um and It's a pretty big aid station with lots of people. So I'm actually um quite looking forward to that.
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And, like, yeah, with Buffalo Stampede, it's a very big sort of social event as well. um And being in Bright, it's great location for a big event. yeah like i um yeah, I'm looking forward to sort of seeing the results and um obviously a bit of a court bit of a course change this year for the it?
00:06:32
Speaker
Yeah, they've actually made it quite similar to Donna in the end. um This year it is just sort of a really steep uphill, ah bit of a rolling hill situation on top and then a really steep downhill.
00:06:44
Speaker
um So maybe I will have absorbed some training from racing Donna a few weeks ago, maybe not, but yeah, I should be mentally prepared at least. Yeah, awesome.
00:06:55
Speaker
Well, that sounds good. And, yeah, can't wait to sort of see how those results fly in. And, and um yeah, hopefully it's a great weekend for you. Thank you. Beautiful. and As Toby's the only one racing at Kunyani this weekend, um I thought I'll jump in before him so we can sort of get a full...
00:07:16
Speaker
race rundown or debrief, not debrief, but pre-brief from him. So i'll I'll sort of jump into what I've done over the last three weeks. So as I sort of touched on before, um after the race at Warby,
00:07:32
Speaker
after ah race at warby i um Yes, try to sort of get the legs moving as quick as possible because the following weekend I had national champs. So the legs were a lot sore than I first hoped.
00:07:50
Speaker
um And then being in Adelaide for work as well that week, most days were sort of sitting in that mid-30 range. So ah think... um lack of recovery from Warby and sort of the travel of being away for work and and then also staying on the weekend for
Nationals Race Highlights
00:08:10
Speaker
the race on Sunday. i um I didn't have a great national champs, unfortunately. and I think you sort of, these results can sort of um wear you down and sort of be sort of a negative. But I think over the years, I've sort of come to realise these results do happen and and you can't let them sort of
00:08:31
Speaker
paint who you are as such so you sort of don't want to make the excuses but you sort of look back and you sort of see where you could have probably improved and and maybe um racing warburton off maybe a week's decision i probably shouldn't have done that but hey um had a great result at warburton so take the sort of positives out of the situation and And Nationals was, yeah, I always knew it was going to be a pretty quick and gnarly sort of race. So I think a lot of the boys, Brodie and Brodie,
00:09:08
Speaker
had touched on sort of what the course was prior to the race, but it was a very, very quick um pace race with Aaron and Fraser, who ended up first and second still um after going the
Handling Disappointments and Future Focus
00:09:22
Speaker
wrong way.
00:09:22
Speaker
um I think Fraser averaged three thirty four s on a trail race so it was a it was a pretty um high intensity sort of race so we sort of started up on a ridge line and worked our way um past the wildlife park there in cleland and then up to sort of near the the base of mount lofty um up there but as we sort of working our way up the climb there was a a cross and an arrow that was sending us off course to what everyone thought we'd needed but when you've got a cross in an arrow pointing you one way you sort of go oh well maybe had a slight deviation of the course so yeah fraser and aaron sort of kept steam rolling along and michael kernahan was just a bit ahead of me and then i was with um
00:10:14
Speaker
Ethan and a few other guys. but Me and Ethan and some of the other guys, was just yeah we were we were arguing, going, do we go back? Do we keep going? Do we go back? And we stopped and had a bit of a tea party to sort of come to the decision. And we all just turned back and I yelled out to the boys ahead. And I think they heard or I think they just sort of they also came to the senses of, yeah, this is this isn't right. So...
00:10:41
Speaker
we all turned around and sure enough, there was a big pile of people at the bottom of this climb just sort of scratching their heads, not knowing what's going on. So, which these things happen.
00:10:54
Speaker
um I, it, sometimes they're out of the organizers hands. So there's yeah no no issues there. And everyone sort of um had a laugh that after after the race anyway.
00:11:08
Speaker
I think there was a few hot words straight away, but I think after after all, um the results never really got hindered either. So, which was the good thing. so straight after that we yeah you climb up the probably the steepest part of the race and um and then from there on for about or almost upwards to 10k it's it's pretty fast pace um just some real small undulating hills but lot of sort of some technical down some far road down but it was quite rocky as well so you sort of had to keep keep a word of um of the ankles and i think that's ultimately how fraser
00:11:50
Speaker
got the edge on Aaron. um Aaron sort of rolled his ankle in the last sort of quarter of the race Fraser took advantage. So... But yeah, so ultimately I had a bit of a stinker ending up in sixth. But um as I said, I'm not going to sort of let it paint me, ah paint who I am and sort of where I'm at as well with my training. I think ah knew I knew was sort of a bit underdone um for this, for that race and and also um being able to recover after Warburton.
Balancing Work and Training
00:12:25
Speaker
So
00:12:26
Speaker
up onwards and upwards and um now i've sort of got my eyes on uta i've got a bit of a break now between races which is nice not i'm not sort of needing to have a week rush or a three-week rush to sort of get myself back into race fitness but um yeah That was what I sort of got up to over the last sort of three weeks. And now, yeah, I've dragged Bridget and Toby out of bed real early because I'm in Sydney for a work conference. So, yeah.
00:12:59
Speaker
yeah the The show goes on with all the the work travel, but um yeah just trying to said balance the training in between that, is it it gets tricky. I was able to sort of get out for a session on Tuesday around the Bridges Loop here in Penrith, and then um the last two days I've been on a ah treadmill.
Golden Trail National Series Changes
00:13:20
Speaker
um it's it's teasing to be this close to the blue mountains and not being able to get out on the trails there but um yeah when we when you're limited for time and limited for daylight um yeah you go to the normal resources of the treadmill so beauty So that's sort of what I've been up to now sort of deep dive into what we're sort of here to talk about as well.
00:13:46
Speaker
um Targeting the ticket. So the next round. So round two of the Golden Trail National Series is coming up. and Before we sort of deep dive into the race, I want to sort of get the thoughts on both Bridget and Toby about some of the sort of the constant changings of what um the qualifications or what what the sort of the end results are going to sort of result in at the end of this sort of series. So ah think we i think it was sort of Monday um monday or Tuesday sort of
00:14:23
Speaker
an instagram post come through from golden trail saying now it will be the top three um sort of result getters um by the end of the final will get given a ticket to go to the final, but there's still a bit of um and ah-ring about if that's going to be fully covered or if the winner will get a flight accommodation, that sort of thing. And then um second and third will just get given event entry. So I'll point this to you, Bridget first. So what was your thoughts on this?
00:15:00
Speaker
um I mean, it makes it hard to make plans. Obviously, the series has already started, so changing some of the rules a bit confusing. um i think lot was Is it true that last year, second place also got a ticket that was unpaid?
00:15:18
Speaker
it It was. So i think... There was a few sort of discussions around in the background and I know Tinka ultimately, yeah, she got a ticket into the final.
00:15:30
Speaker
um Unfortunately, suffering an injury um late in the process, but, um and then I believe Tate didn't take the opportunity. So the that was sort of spoken about after the results.
00:15:45
Speaker
So that was sort of a, yeah, like, it is a bit confusing. Um, and then for this to sort of come out, as you said, sort of after a result's already sort of been put down, um, does it change?
00:16:00
Speaker
I think for us, it's fine because we've gone, we've put a good result down. We couldn't do much more than what we've already done so far, but, um, Are there other runners out there that now look at it as plausible opportunity but probably can't get to KMR and won't be able to compete in those two sort of core
International Competition and Financial Support
00:16:22
Speaker
races? So it changes it up, I think, for for the three of us.
00:16:27
Speaker
I think it looks like it's a bit of a positive. um I don't know, Toby, you've sort of got a little bit of a grin on your face at the moment, but what's your thoughts on this?
00:16:39
Speaker
on this oh think he might be frozen we might have a ah frozen toby so maybe i' i'll i'll change this back to you bridget so yeah i think realistically it doesn't change anything for us you know we've already um kind of commit to the series um we've already got some good results in ah But yeah, I guess looking at sort of the rest of the people who might want to be joining the series, I think maybe if they looked at it, if they did it last year or they just looked at it the start of the year and they saw, well, it's only first place that gets the ticket, you know, why why sort of bother entering? um So yeah, maybe there's a few people that would have joined um that are not currently in the series, but
00:17:27
Speaker
yeah i like Overall, it's never a bad thing offering more more prizes, more tickets, more things like that. um It would be nice to clarify whether that does include um flights and accommodation because obviously that is the main expense. you know It's not actually that hard, I think, to get a ticket, but it's living in Australia. We have to go great distances to be able to race. I think um yeah that would be extra beneficial.
Event Support Clarity
00:17:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So we've got Toby back now. and but As i was sort of touching on Toby, like ah when you're frozen there, you you you look like you had a little bit of a grin on your face. So what's your sort of... um thoughts on this top three, um sort of receiving a ticket and hopefully and ultimately receiving flights in a comm as well.
00:18:21
Speaker
um So do we know if it's the top three that are receiving flights yet? We don't know. this is obviously, as we've just touched on, that these things are changing every week by the sounds of it or by the looks of it. So we it possibly might be accommodation.
00:18:39
Speaker
I just don't know if the flights will be included. I think... um especially with how it's already, it's it's been pitched originally last year and this year being you need to win to get that golden ticket. So I can understand if first is still going to receive the full package and then maybe second and third So we'll get the offering of, yeah, coming to compete, accommodation, being a part of the event as well.
Promoting Trail Running and International Exposure
00:19:08
Speaker
But yeah, flights, I just don't know. So let's say flights aren't included at this point. Yeah. um Well, I think that's sort of similar to what they did last year, where it's like the first person got the full ticket. And then think second place, they were like invited to come along, like to have the entry.
00:19:27
Speaker
Um, which I think is quite a good thing. Um, like if they do want second and third to go as well, that's, you know, really good opportunity. Um, I'm not sure how many people will take that though.
00:19:41
Speaker
Um, cause last year it was only the people who did get the golden ticket who went to the event. I think it's definitely a good thing that they do have the opportunity to go and compete at the final.
00:19:54
Speaker
Um, Yeah, it'd be interesting to see. Yeah, there's never going to be a bad thing, right? If people have the capacity to go and, you know, fund their own way over to the event and make it like a big Team Australia thing, I think that's awesome.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And that's the thing. I think... opportunity what we're all here for so being able to be offered more opportunity to be able to sort of excel out running as well to be able to compete on that world stage i'm lucky enough to and you yourself toby we've been lucky enough to sort of be in that position and and we know how much um um we it takes to sort of compete on those levels as well. So being able to get given these opportunities to be able to go over, race with the best, um it's what we need here in Australia because, as Bridget touched on, we're very far away from the rest of the world um and we we're such a large country as well.
00:20:58
Speaker
that not all the time do we get to compete with the best in our own country, let
Kunyanyi Mountain Run Preview
00:21:04
Speaker
alone the world. So i think um being able to sort of send it a team over creates that morale, creates the hype and creates a little bit more sort of, hey, to the younger generation or to anyone that's sort of in the sport that sort of always looked at it as more of a hobby or more of a sort of a,
00:21:25
Speaker
a weekend sort of activity rather than hey there's actually some good opportunity here um it's something i enjoy and something that i can travel the world with and fair and see how I go against the best in the world. So I think, yeah, ultimately this is a great decision.
00:21:45
Speaker
um We'll wait and see what it entails. But I think um just sort of giving that golden ticket to that first place is, it's pretty cutthroat um when you've got some good guys sort of fighting for that position as well. So,
00:22:02
Speaker
But yeah, let's sort of get into the weekend. So KMR, Kunyanyu Mountain Run, 25k, pretty gnarly technical terrain in some parts, um some beautiful sort of rainforest sections in others. um Toby, how are you feeling?
00:22:20
Speaker
um I'm definitely really looking forward to it. It was by far my favorite race last year, so I'm quite excited to get back into it. um Post-Donner, I think recovery was a bit rough for me. I think definitely getting back into it too quickly definitely sort of slowed my recovery, I think.
00:22:41
Speaker
is Yeah, i tried running on the Tuesday after Donner, which was you know only one day off. And then I sort of started trying to get back into I think I tried to do a session on either Thursday or the other Friday, which didn't end up going well. So I think definitely I tried to get back into running too fast. and I think that sort of slowed down my recovery.
00:23:01
Speaker
So i haven't really felt that great until about last weekend. Um, that's like when I feel like I've actually recovered from the race. So yeah, but this week I've been feeling pretty good, so I'm excited to see it.
00:23:16
Speaker
um think it'll be a very interesting race. um There's going to be, you know, a lot of good guys running, so... mariency yeah it looks like has a pretty good field especially for yourself as well i think there's you've got your your leos who ultimately is flying um probably the fittest well between him and fraser probably the two fittest trailruners in the country at the moment so
00:23:47
Speaker
it very interesting to say um how he goes on sort of some of the technical stuff because i do see haven't seen much if he has been doing too much sort of um trailpeific training but ah do know he's been doing a lot of um sort of miles a lot of faster stuff so and ah sub thirty sub fifteen um yeah on the same days it's pretty incredible so i think he's going to be a tough ask but ah
Pre-race Excitement and Onsite Experiences
00:24:20
Speaker
you just never know especially at kenyoni having that sort of technical part um fair bit declining as well um you just never know but i think that sort of um next group or sort of that sort of other level of runners which yourself everyone's sort of getting to that high benchmark now and i think it's going to be quite interesting sort of towards that top end um which these events are sort of ultimately that's what these things are for trying to get the best
00:24:53
Speaker
um and a bit of depth um to come to these races so even if you'll sort of back in fifth place or up in first you're still fighting um for positions and that sort of thing and which yeah is awesome so you're in sydney currently um flying down to today that correct yup flowing down today to hobart yeah beautiful and you staying close to the the racear or just sort of in the city there
00:25:25
Speaker
um but she got a place that's really close to the but i think it's like five hundred meters away from the start line so that's really convenient getting to the start in the morning especiallyly it ah think especially when you you do travel the day before ah think um it's handy if you if you haven't sort of gotten yeah head around the full surroundings as yet just to be able to walk down to ah race start and then especially after the race as well right it's always nice to just be able to quickly pop back to to the hotel but
00:25:57
Speaker
ah feeling think and because yeah this race that's still up near that brewery isn't it the is it cascade yeah real yeah sort of like up on the hill near beautiful so what part of the race you sort of most most looking forward to um aan coming up to the summit like that's always really nice does it zigzag track up the the stairs there yeah it's a little out and back what you have to do to get the very summit of the mountain
00:26:29
Speaker
um it's a really cool trail it's really nice views um and you also sort of get a like gauge of where you are place i guess because you sort of you go up to the summit and then you turn around ah you you run past everyone is again so you can sort of see how far in front people are ah far behind people are as well see' sort of like can see where you're placed before you actually go into the the real part of the race the descent um so i think that's quite
00:27:01
Speaker
an interesting thing to have that we didn't have at do when i did it two years ago i think that was it's a nice little element of the race right because it is ah very long climb and there's a lot of twists and turns so if you do have that you might even be fifty metres behind something you just can't see um that forehead so i think yeah that that top part quite a cool element and if you are good at to sending um yeah it's it's good to sort of be
Conclusion and Well-wishes
00:27:32
Speaker
like okay
00:27:32
Speaker
ah can reel them in now so um yeah beautiful ah don't know if we've lost toby again ah feel like we have now i was i was just sort of going to go back and sort of bridget's sitting outside at the moment because she's she's staying in a um share house so she didn't like want to wake up anyone in the house so but the weather looks so blonde out there and yeah um people could probably hear some of the magpieses chirping in the background but how's we looking for tomorrow um
00:28:03
Speaker
yeah well apparently this would be a bit of rain tomorrow so they have made the waterproof jackets mandatory for the twenty k um yeah i think the the weather range is something like ah fourteen to twenty or something like that like pretty cold and also not like very narrow range throughout the day um i think it' would be the coldest run i've done in like six months because it's running in the afternoon in canberra it's been like you know high twenty s like thirty s every single time so i've definitely been sort of accidentally
00:28:36
Speaker
hate training um so yeah a bit of a bit of cooler run tomorrow um ah haven't really prepared for that but i guess that just means maybe i run a bit faster who knows yeah beautiful and yeah it's but it's been sort of down in victoria the last sort of ah we've had a very consistent hot summer um but just the last couple of weeks that sort of morning's been ah bitually and which is nice i think ah autumn to my to me is sort of the best
00:29:10
Speaker
running um seasonin just because of you can get those nice twenty five degree days but the mornings they've got that crisp air in the morning and once you sort of warm up into the the run it' sort of yeah comes into its element so um just having a little look at um hobart's weather for tomorrow but yeah they're thirteen degrees sort of around race time and um i'm sure enough thirteen degrees down in hobart um probably means minus five at the top of can yeah that sounds pretty cold
00:29:43
Speaker
um yay ah ah saw there was a video up there the other week where um was almost like a polar like sort of um ah sort of wiking off the poles and stuff like that so hopefully it's not like that for but toby up it and canan you but um i'm sure we find so beautiful i think that's us for this week we will be back recording um pretty quickly after toby had his race and then also bridget
00:30:16
Speaker
at the buffalo stampede so good luck bridget and you hopefully yeah i think after as you touched on after warburnden um thatll be sort of a good sort of training run to know where you're going to be at for tomorrow um and hopefully with a little bit less verd as well you might be able to use your speed at the top there across the rid line actually yeah so yeah obby toby yeah unfortunately has an um joined us back on but we'll both say yeah good luck to him and wish him good luck so hopefully he can
00:30:52
Speaker
keep our momentum going in the um go trail national series and getting another podium because i think that's now our our goal no one and um finish off the podium your brush and then we can all secure one of those top three spots beautiful um thank you for joining us guys and we will be back shortly thank you
00:31:30
Speaker
the