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Episode 44: Tarawera Predictions, Heat Training, and Alex Hunt wins Coast to Coast!
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Welcome to Episode 44 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This week’s episode is hosted by Brodie Nankervis, Vlad Ixel, and Guest Host Maddy Reynolds! Listen in to hear what Maddy has been up to since we last heard from her before the team give their Tarawera predictions and discuss poles, heat training and much more!
Finished off with some great results for the week at:
Coast to Coast - https://www.coasttocoast.co.nz/2025-resultsfed332bb
Wentworth Falls Trail Run - https://tempus.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16516&RId=401&EId=1&dt=2
Podcast About Poles Mentioned in ep: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Pzg8UImBDQGGvQNs6f95f?si=eVzBpbs4RImccgVQI5oEXA
UTMB Live Coverage of Tarawera: https://live.utmb.world/tarawera/2025
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Vlad: @vladixel
Brodie: @brodienank
Maddy: @maddyreynolds98
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 44 of the Peak Bishoots Podcast. My name is Brodie, one of our regular hosts and today we've got an exciting episode. I'm joined by one of our regular hosts, Vlad. How are you going Vlad? Hey Brodie, yeah, doing well. Doing not too bad.
00:00:26
Speaker
Fantastic. And we're lucky enough to be joined again by ah one of the ah step in hosts and someone who's racing this weekend at Tarawera, Maddie Reynolds. How are you going, Maddie? I'm very good, Brody. Thanks for having me on. It feels nice to be called a semi-regular host. Thank you. I think is this your third time on the podcast? I think it is. Hopefully not the last.
Maddie's First Experience in New Zealand
00:00:50
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully. Well, it's been great to sort of hear about the races you did last year and, and, and recap afterwards. I think we, we also got you on after. Um, so it's going to be cool to listen this time on, uh, how you feeling going into a race? Cause you've got the 50 K at tower are coming up this weekend.
00:01:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. The 50K is going to be on Saturday. So kind of in tape a week at the moment. um Got over to New Zealand last Thursday. So just kind of been checking out the course this week and meeting some people who are also racing and kind of getting familiar with the area because, surprise, it's actually my first time coming to New Zealand, believe it or not.
00:01:34
Speaker
Um, I've never been here before. Yeah. Um, so you've been to Europe, but not to New Zealand. Exactly. I've literally traveled to way more countries overseas and I have, even in Australia, I've, I've never thought that I've never been to Perth either. So that's how you know, missing match.
00:01:53
Speaker
Fantastic.
Episode Overview
00:01:54
Speaker
Well, we've got a great episode coming up. We're going to hear from me and Vlad just quickly about where we're at. And then Maddie's going to run us through what she's been up to over the last couple of months and the lead in to Tarawera. And then we're going to cover, ah do a bit of a preview of Tarawera and talk through some of the favorites and and what some of our predictions might be. We've got a couple of listener questions, a few race results, and and um that'll be it. So yeah, looking forward to it. Vlad, maybe you can start us off. You're in the final stretch before heading over to India soon.
Vlad's Half Marathon Challenges
00:02:26
Speaker
Yeah, nine days away from that. But um um yeah, two days ago, yeah, Saturday, um I did a half marathon here in in Western Australia in Busselton and had probably one of the worst races I've ever had because of humidity and heat. And we are going to talk a little bit about heat and humidity later on. But
00:02:47
Speaker
um Yeah, really weird how my buddy just wasn't able to operate in hit and humidity, even though you know we've been having a really hot summer and I felt like I've been getting used to the hit and the humidity. Well, a bit more of the hit. It's not that humid in Perth, but yeah, that morning was really humid and yeah, really struggled and technically ran the slowest half marathon of my life.
00:03:13
Speaker
um which was a bit disappointing. I didn't really type it for it, but um yeah, was a bit disappointed after that race, just not being able to fully push.
00:03:24
Speaker
um But yeah, not too worried about it. I've been doing a bit more trail running, so hopefully I'm going to be better on the trails than what I am on the roads. But yeah, I am looking forward to chatting a little bit about more about Hit and how my experience with Hit training, maybe I'm doing it all wrong and that's why I got it so wrong on the weekend.
00:03:45
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. ah Yeah. pretty is Like reflecting on the race, is that, is that the main thing that you think was the the issue or was there anything else that you've sort of identified after the weekend that
Training Adjustments and Heart Rate
00:03:56
Speaker
may have contributed? I hope it's done issue. Um, I mean, probably maybe the other thing is that I don't have enough intensity like on the road, like midweek. Obviously I do my two key sessions and they've been going quite well. I've been getting a bit fitter, ah um, and faster on the track. Um, threshold is.
00:04:15
Speaker
is going okay um you know with my threshold heart rate zones. Let's say I have around 170, 173. I can hold 320s, 320 per K quite comfortably. And then on the weekend, my average heart rate was 177, which is quite high for, I know we talked about it a few weeks ago, but it's quite high for a half marathon for me.
00:04:43
Speaker
um But then pace wise, I guess three 25s or something like that. So yeah, I think while I'm hoping that that increase was from the humidity, um because I can't think of anything else. The only thing that I am going to change is probably put a little bit more effort.
00:05:04
Speaker
into some faster, well, not faster, but like more steady, um is easier runs midweek. So I think that now that I live in the hills, I still like, let's say I would do a one hour run, but because I get like two minutes of uphill, three minutes of downhill, two minutes of uphill kind of running. Um, maybe I'm not holding like the right effort for like long enough. So I'm going from 140 heart rate down to 120, then back to 140 down to 120 where like, if I did the same kind of 60 minute run on the roads.
00:05:39
Speaker
I would be on like 140 for a whole hour. um So that's the only difference that I see from my training now compared to like a year ago. I did this race a year ago as well and ran like two minutes faster. um And like I literally did that race.
00:05:55
Speaker
um Came drove home, which is a two and a half hour drive and did like a 15k run and then the next day another two hour run um So it was a lot fitter last year, maybe a lot more road running But yeah, I feel like maybe because I'm not getting enough of that Consistent zone to well, I guess the the higher range of zone two in my training and Maybe I'm losing a little bit of fitness because of that. What do you think? that be it What was the temperature like compared to last year? Was it, was it hotter? It was just more humid. So last year was like a 40 degree day. Obviously it starts at 630. So it's only like, you know, kind of 25 when you start, maybe closer to 31 when you finish. Um, this year was probably two or three degrees cooler, but the humidity
00:06:43
Speaker
last year would have been 20% where this time would have been like 85%, maybe 80%. So like fairly humid, um yeah not Asian standard, but like for pair standards for sure. Yeah, i think that I think that's probably like part of it, especially when talking about heart rate creeping up and and and probably like doing a doing like what you aiming for sort of threshold heart rate. And and if the heart rate is creeping above that,
00:07:12
Speaker
too much for a bit of time, then it's very easy to lose lose time, I think. So potentially maybe the humidity plus that bit of heat that was there, it helped to let the heart rate creep up a bit more and even just a couple of beats higher. Like when you're pushing on the edge, I think in a race situation like that, um like two minutes sounds like a lot, but I think that can happen pretty easily and when the when the conditions are not not as good. I know like I hear people talking about like if it's hotter than like 14 degrees, it's no good for a marathon. So I think maybe it sounds like pretty tough conditions and yeah, there's a whole heap of different variables. I wouldn't necessarily think that like the training has made you less fit, maybe like just the stuff behind, um like not just like the immediate stuff, maybe it's just like a bigger block going into last year's because you were training for the marathon at this stage last year. where Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
00:08:09
Speaker
So maybe, I think if you're training for a marathon, you're probably in slightly better shape for a half marathon than if you're training for a ah trail race. And even then, like if you did 71 last year, it looks like you did about 73 this year. Um, if you did 71 last year in marathon training, if it was a cooler day, you may have run like a really quick time, like 68 or something like that. I don't know. So maybe it was just last year you were just really fit, uh, for that sort of road running. Um.
00:08:39
Speaker
Two minutes sounds like a fairly reasonable difference if you haven't been focusing as much on road racing, which when you last you were focusing on math on. So yeah, I don't know. Maybe. What do you think about running? um Like, because obviously we don't have any big climbs in Perth. So all I get is kind of like a little bit of uphill, a little bit of downhill, a little bit of uphill, a little bit of downhill for like an hour. So my heart rate actually does a lot of kind of from 140 down to 120, 140, 121. I'm thinking I might need to push the downhills a bit more to keep my heart rate a bit more steady to get those kind of like
00:09:14
Speaker
140 heart rate um average, at least for the run, because I do feel like I got really fit from living in a flat city, a bit like, you know, I live in the hills now, like the Perth Hills, but before that I lived right in the city. So like literally every single run was around 415 pace, 410 pace, and there was 140 heart rates.
00:09:39
Speaker
beats per a minute for me, um where now I do all my runs kind of on this rolling trails next to my house, um but I'm not getting enough time, maybe at 140. So when I'm in Europe, I feel like I can sustain my fitness because I usually like run uphill for 45 minutes and then run down for 25 minutes. And I'm still getting like 45 minutes of, yeah, solid. Yeah. pretty Really like highs on to heart rate. And then a kind of recovery, um, effort downhill where I'm not really getting that with those small Hills here in Perth. So I thought like there that could be also,
00:10:17
Speaker
an option because we are going to talk a little bit about hit training down
Upcoming Trip to India and Heat Training
00:10:22
Speaker
down this episode like as we go with this episode. But I have been doing a fair amount of hit training, so I thought I should be a little bit more adapted to hit in general. And obviously, it's been a hot summer as well, so I was expecting to be fairly comfortable in the hit.
00:10:38
Speaker
But yeah, I was a bit surprised. I'm obviously like, yeah, kind of like not too worried about it, but um yeah, definitely been asking myself some questions on that long two and a half hour drive back to Perth. I can relate to that. um i Yeah, look, I think it probably makes sense that there is like We can, if you if you are spending more time running that downhill stuff and you're not at as high a heart rate, um like that's maybe good for say long ultras, like if you're doing 100K race, but maybe it's less relevant too.
00:11:16
Speaker
doing a half fast, half marathon. So I think that there's probably, there probably is something to that. You're accumulating less time in zone two. And if your body, like, cause that's the thing when we, there's zone two is such a buzzword now. Um, and we're talking about it a lot, but when, when you've got like elite athletes probably spend, we don't spend heaps of time.
00:11:35
Speaker
uh, or the pros like the real pros don't spend heaps of time at zone two because they can run really fast at zone two and it beats them up a bit. But if your bodies can tolerate that amount of zone two and now you're doing less of it, then potentially that means you are a little less fit than you were this time last year. Yeah. Yeah. But it also might mean that you peak
Brodie's Cycling and Training Balance
00:11:55
Speaker
later in the season. so Yeah I'm gonna try that a little bit and and spend a little bit of focus a little bit more on that heart rate even if I do trail runs and like trail runs around here I'm gonna try and push the downhills a little bit more just to keep that heart rate a bit more and not a bit higher and not let it drop too much.
00:12:14
Speaker
Yeah, and I guess I'll find out in about six weeks. fun All right, well, yeah, we might um talk a little bit about the heat later on um in the episode as well and and chat about some heat training. um But I'll do a little rundown of what I've been up to so I've still been Just on the bike this week, well, no running, done a little bit of swimming. um So yeah, did some, a couple of big rides, ah three bigger rides in the week. Did one where I did a little bit of threshold work, um which was fun, upper climb in the Dan Nongs. And then, yeah, a couple of other big rides, and including a big one yesterday, another sort of four and a half hours.
00:12:58
Speaker
1700 meters of climbing so that was good lots of climbing on the bike. I think I did about 15 and a half hours of riding About a 400 K or just over and just under 6,000 meters of climbing on the bike. So Yeah, it's been good um And also been in the gym quite a bit. I did about five and a half hours in the gym. So solid week of training It's pretty easy. Are you still planning to race?
00:13:28
Speaker
30th of March. I think that's unlikely now. So I won' i definitely won't do a long race then. um I was thinking about running KMR 46K or that was on the plan say late last year. That was what I was intending to do. um Now I probably won't race at all that weekend, although I might race maybe a 10k race at either down at KMR or at Buffalo. um But yeah, I'm not sure ah it's worth going down to Tassie just to do 10k, but we'll see. I don't even think I'm going to be quite ready to run 25. Like I might get through a 25, but I don't really want to stand on a start line where I'm just getting through a race. and
00:14:08
Speaker
I think um I'm hoping to get into UTA 50. So I'd rather just put that on the map and and work hard to that. um So yeah, unfortunately, probably not going to be racing end of March on one of those sort of two big races that are on the same weekend. um But yeah, hopefully we'll be on the start line of UTA 50 in May. So yeah, that's sort of where I'm working towards now. And physio is pretty confident I can I can do that, hopefully. so um and What about threshold on the bike? like What kind of heart rate are you holding for that? Yeah, i'm sorry like a couple of sessions I've been actually able to get up into my running threshold heart rate zone, um but I think that was when it was hot. so Again, like we were talking about, my the heat was contributing to my heart rate creeping up.
00:15:00
Speaker
Whereas last week I went out, it wasn't as hot. um I'd done gym the day before, so my muscular power was probably limiting me and I couldn't quite get into my low threshold zone. So I'm doing sort of high 160s, low 170s, but averaging about 166, 167 for the 10 minutes. So it's not too bad, but I'm really having to work for that threshold. um Definitely limited by muscular power.
00:15:26
Speaker
um on on on on this week's, but in previous weeks, like earlier and earlier in January, I was able to sort of get up into sort of high 170s, which my threshold running zone, while it probably needs to be updated, I work off sort of like up to 184 because that's off my testing. I did some testing in 2022.
00:15:47
Speaker
um So that's sort of where I work up to in running, like that's matt sort of top top end of the zone. um So yeah, I'm probably a little bit off that, like the highest I've ever managed to get on the bike is like 185, like really going for it. um So yeah, it's definitely harder to get the heart rate up.
00:16:05
Speaker
But I can sort of manage most like ah I'm trying to get up to sort of higher ends of zone two for most of my endurance rides um And it's it's even worse than running in terms of like you talking about Running downhill like when you ride downhill your heart rate just plummets because you've got you're not putting it out any power um so It's yeah, it's it's hard to sort of maintain a consistent heart rate But it's sort of just trying to do as much work in those higher heart rates as I can really What kind of whats are you pushing for those threshold sessions on the bike? yeah so i I'm about to fall down the slippery slope of buying lots of things for my bike. um I'm looking at some like expensive wheels and then the other thing I need to get is a power meter because I don't have a power meter. say i think that's probably I think a lot of cyclists, I don't know the world that well, but um
00:16:56
Speaker
They use power a lot more than they use heart rate um or they use they use power quite a bit. um And so I don't have that measure to to sort of aim for. like that I was doing the session, the three by 10 minutes with like a cyclist friend of mine and she was she had some like specific power ranges that she was aiming for.
00:17:15
Speaker
um So she was sort of just targeting that and and whatever the heart rate was, well whatever the heart rate was. um So yeah, I think that'll be something I look to purchase soon, but I think they're like 500 secondhand, $500. So like, they're quite a pricey purchase. So um I've been just doing the cheap man's wats and going off heart rate. But as Strava says, I do. Well, well I was riding with her and she was doing like 230,
00:17:42
Speaker
to 240 watts, I think, on the road. She was a bit further up the road than me, but she also had a bit of bike, so I don't know. She's pretty good. So maybe 200, low 200s? I'm not sure.
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think a power meter would help a little bit yeah with kind of just understanding effort and heart rate. When I did triathlons, I could really push a lot of power and now getting back on the bike, like you know I'm really struggling with pushing power. like um Even zone two cycling for me right now is not that comfortable. It's getting a bit easier, um but yeah, it's not that easy. I'm not not anywhere close to the power that I was pushing before.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah it's some it's definitely something that I would like to do and and like a bigger reflection of mine in being that like I'm super keen to get back to running but I'm absolutely just loving the
Maddie's Eye Surgery and Training Focus
00:18:34
Speaker
cycling as well. so like It's nice, I'm feeling like at peace that the running will come when it comes and even if it doesn't come back to exactly where I want it to be. like really are just like pushing myself and moving through nature. So there's other fault other ways of doing that. So that's been a nice feeling. Like I have no doubt that I'll be back running and hopefully running competitively. But um it's a nice feeling to have that back up and know that like, yeah, if I never run again, it's not the biggest disaster. Like cycling is actually really fun. And there's probably other things that I would also enjoy. So
00:19:06
Speaker
Yeah, that's been quite um quite nice this week. I've sort of come to that realization. um But yeah, lots of cycling. Hopefully a little bit of running the end of this week. So we'll see. I'm seeing the physio on Thursday. um And yeah, we'll see what the plan is moving forward. But yeah, the Achilles is definitely in a way better position as well. Like all the rehab stuff is feeling really good. Like all the dynamic stuff I'm doing is feeling really good. So um yeah, I'm feeling pretty positive about everything at the moment. So that's good.
00:19:35
Speaker
Um, but yeah, uh, so well, someone who's been doing some really exciting things and, um, ah I dunno, maybe just doing a lot more running than me at least, um, is Maddie. Um, Maddie, you've been back in Australia since late last year, was it? Um, and sort of doing some, some pretty fun training, training like a pro or training as a pro really. ah trying to at least. um Yeah so I came back to Australia on the 1st of January. I actually celebrated New Year's Eve on the plane coming back to Australia on Qantas. It was a very anti-climatic New Year's Eve that's for sure.
00:20:18
Speaker
um but Usually the cheapest flight. I was going to say, I think I've done that once before as well, and it must be because it was a cheap flight. And and it wasn't even that cheap. It was still like, honestly, close to $2,000 one way.
00:20:32
Speaker
So I think I just booked really late. Don't follow my advice by booking late. I think it's Christmas day. Next time, just book Christmas day. That's the truth. Yeah, I just i like my life a little bit too much to be traveling on Christmas day.
00:20:47
Speaker
um But very similar note to um to you, Vlad, on the topic of heat training, because I um got on the plane in France in negative 10 and got off the plane in 30 degrees in Sydney.
Altitude Training in Oberon
00:21:04
Speaker
So that was a little bit of a shock to my system. um But yeah, i've I've been smashing out a really good month of training all in January. i um I've been training up for Tarawera 50k, which is coming up this Saturday. um But I wanted to come over
00:21:23
Speaker
about a month and a half or six weeks beforehand um because I knew that the heat and the the climate and and humidity was going to be a big factor for me in this race. um So I was actually super lucky and my squad in Sydney run crew with my coach, Benny St. Lawrence, he um He always organises a running camp that goes for three weeks ah that starts on the day after Boxing Day and goes until about middle of January. um And every year he holds it in Oberon, so up the very top of the Blue Mountains near the Jenolan Caves.
00:22:01
Speaker
in New South Wales. um It's an epic spot, like awesome trails. um They're really nice, wide, flowy fire trails, but you can kind of get a similar type of altitude to what you get at Falls Creek. I don't think it's quite as high as Falls, but it's about 1300 meters is where we sleep.
00:22:25
Speaker
um and we do some runs that are a little bit higher up. ah So it's not crazy, like it's nothing that I was doing in France obviously, but um it's pretty good for New South Wales. ah It's probably one of the highest points other than going to Cosiosco in New South Wales. So it's it's good training. um So I did two weeks um of the training camp from January 1st through to January 17th, which is over two weeks actually.
00:22:51
Speaker
um But yeah, it was awesome. It was also a nice way to ease into um the heat of coming back to Australia because being up in the mountains, it's a little bit cooler, um like wasn't nearly as cold as France, obviously, but It would hover around um like the 25 degree mark most days, which wasn't too bad. um But oh my gosh, I remember the first tempo session that I did. It was like a 10k tempo around this this hilly um loop. And I got about 2k in and genuinely felt like I was going to be sick. like It's the worst I've ever felt in a run in my entire life.
Acclimating to Australian Heat
00:23:31
Speaker
So yeah, i I fully agree with you, but I think like out the climate and heat can play a super big factor because I felt really fit in France. Like I was doing some track sessions and doing like K reps around the track in splits that I've never done before in my life. Like I felt like I was in very good shape. And then coming over to Sydney, I just could not keep up. I felt flat. I felt lethargic. I felt sick.
00:24:01
Speaker
um And I think yeah mean ah ah think the only difference is that I've literally went through the whole summer in Perth and um not really and you've got the excuse that you did come from Europe and minus 10 degrees and I've been running in Perth in like 35 degree heat so I shouldn't struggle as much but yeah.
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah, that's a fair point. um yeah But I think from the research that I've done, it normally takes about 14 to 16 days to o' like to get your body acclimatized to the heat. So honestly, it kind of took me the entire training camp when I was when I was there. um But this training camp I tried to be a lot more conservative with my running. um This is the third time I've done the training camp with the run crew squad and um last camp I came away with a stress fracture in my heel. I was just I think running way too much and getting caught up in
00:25:01
Speaker
um Just kind of the lifestyle in the mountains and having more time to run and kind of over trained a little bit So this this year I really honed into the cross training I did I did some good weeks running. I was averaging about 125 to 130 K in the in the two weeks um Which is the most I've run in in a while um But that I was supplementing it with either going to the gym in the afternoon or um going for a swim. So i I used to swim heaps when I was a kid, so um getting back in the pool was actually really nice and therapeutic. I think swimming is a really nice way to do cross training. Cycling is awesome as well obviously, but I think swimming is just kind of a very different form of aerobic fitness.
00:25:49
Speaker
that I think really supplements um the running really well. It's like a different type of breathing and yeah, it's just kind of, it feels more of a pure form of recovery to me than getting on. Yeah, definitely. um If I was going to choose a cross training form for like an easy day and i've I've been doing it actually, I don't cycle every day, I'll do a swim because it like, I agree. it's And I actually think it's better for like if you were running lots, I nearly think it's better than cycling. Like cycling maybe is good to add in as like zone two, but um I think swimming is really good as that sort of like really easy heart rate, but it's it is actually a really hard aerobic stimulus, like especially if you're not that good at it like me. And I'm sure maybe because you're good at it, you can get a lot out of it as well.
00:26:35
Speaker
Oh, but I i agree. like I was doing a lot of it um last year when I got injured. As every runner does, I kind of think that hopping the pool will go on the bike. So I was doing a lot of swimming when I got injured and noticed that I picked my fitness up really quickly with the swimming. but I hadn't done it since being injured. So it it had been pretty much ah a year since I'd been in the pool. And um oh, my God, the first couple of sessions were hard. Like, your shoulders are really sore. My upper body was really sore. um But I think you build it up quickly. And it's I've enjoyed it as well, because I think with running, you kind of reach a plateau where it's hard to progress unless you you know tweak the one percenters. Whereas when you get into a sport,
00:27:21
Speaker
that you kind of start at a really low base at and you see yourself improving quite quickly. it's It's pretty fun. So it's also a nice mental trick to be like, oh, I'm improving in a new sport. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When I had my stress factor a few years ago, I mostly swam because I was worried about cycling being a load on on my foot. um And I came out of that pretty fit. So yeah, I think that I think that the aerobic side of it can be can really help. Obviously, it's maybe not going to add lots to your sort of weight-bearing muscles, but um I think the aerobic side of it is pretty beneficial. and and Therefore, because you're banging your legs up and running, it's quite a good one to match with like a hard running training week, I think.
00:28:01
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I was really enjoying the swims. I was doing about two to three swims per week and then trying to go to the gym three times a week as well. I've been really trying to add a lot more gym sessions into my program recently because I just think, especially for women, it's super good for building bone strength and um like I get low iron levels quite easily. So I think you know, trying to maintain that side of things has been really good for injury prevention and then just feeling stronger on the trails. Like I actually feel better climbing on the trails because I feel like my muscles are just better adapted to strength and being able to propel myself faster up um steep climbs and stuff. And and also for descents as well.
00:28:49
Speaker
um My weakness is probably descending so building up like strong core muscles and strong quads to be able to um manage really hard steep downhills. um I also plan on racing Buffalo and I am terrified of the 10k descent that you drop about a thousand meters of ah very quickly and that's I think I'm gonna need a lot of gym sessions to manage that one.
00:29:18
Speaker
Yeah, maybe some big downhills as well before, just a couple. Yeah, yeah yeah nice. um So yeah, a couple of questions about the last few months. It sounds like it's been really fun and I've been pretty jealous watching you up in Oberon doing that training camp and I've seen Benny run that in the in the few years before. um um I might get you to run through a training week in a moment, but Maybe give us and a bit of an idea. Is it a particular reason why you chose Tarawera? Is that the main reason you're back? Or was it the Tarawera-Buffalo combo? Or like what's the main motivation to come back and and race again in Oceana?
00:29:55
Speaker
So actually, the main reason why I came back is because I needed to see an eye surgeon.
Dealing with Blindness and Vision Restoration
00:30:01
Speaker
um I don't know if you guys know, but I'm actually blind in my left eye. um I only found out this week on your Instagram. I had a big accident two years ago with a contact lens in my eye.
00:30:15
Speaker
um And yeah, for two years I've been only operating with one eye. ah So it's made trail running really difficult. Like depth perception is very warped. I don't see rocks and roots very well. um It's okay running in Australia, like in the Blue Mountains, because the fire trails are not too technical.
00:30:35
Speaker
But in Europe, like as you both know, it's just a whole new level. like It's so technical, there's so many rocks and roots, and it's almost just impossible to do some of the downhills. And I actually just felt like I was putting myself in pretty dangerous positions. I was falling over heaps and getting injured. so um But putting aside running, like the quality of life, I just want to be able to see out of my eye again. But um for two years, like I was told by doctors that I couldn't get, it like there was nothing that could be done to fix my eye, um apart from like all these wacky surgeries that didn't sound very appealing.
00:31:10
Speaker
um But then when I was in France, I came across across a um a contact lens specialist yeah in Sydney who told me that he could custom design a contact lens for me that potentially could help me see, but I obviously had to come back to Sydney to get it fitted.
00:31:27
Speaker
um so that was really my main reason for coming back to fix my eye and get my eye sorted. And um then whilst I was here, I thought, you know, may as well maximise the trail racing season and tick off a few races. um And yeah, I chose Tarawera because it is a beautiful flowy trail. um I've done some runs out on the course now and it's just magic.
00:31:50
Speaker
like It's my first time in New Zealand and I i think I could live here if it wasn't so far away from the rest of the world. like The trails here are so beautiful. I feel like I'm in a Jurassic Park. It's like big, big, firm trees and um huge forests. But then you go into these beautiful um like areas where it just opens up into these gorgeous lakes. like it's It's a magical course. um And there are some awesome athletes who are going to be competing as well, as we'll probably talk about later on in the pod.
00:32:23
Speaker
um And then I chose Buffalo. I was going to go home to France. I say home. Uh, I probably shouldn't say that my parents wouldn't be too happy with me calling. fla Second going back to France. Um, but I, I wanted to stay around to do Buffalo because I've just heard so many amazing things about that race. Everyone I speak to just speak so highly about it. They say that.
00:32:48
Speaker
You know, so the single track team put on such a good event and the atmosphere down there is unreal. um And I've also never been to Bright and never never run in that area of Victoria before. So um I'm really keen to do that one as well. So both of those races look look like a lot of fun. Yeah, amazing. That's cool. and And I think I saw from your Instagram that the contact lens was successful or at least at least helping. Is that right?
00:33:18
Speaker
it has been a bit of a roller coaster of emotions. So the contact lens I picked up last Friday and it's perfect. Like 2020 vision, my it's back to normal. It's actually, I still can't believe that it it worked. I'm a little bit, I don't know, it feels surreal. I went on a couple of runs and it feels,
00:33:38
Speaker
like the most amazing thing. I can see the leaves and like detail of things. But then I saw every night I have to take out the lens and put it in a case in a solution. And um yeah I woke up this morning and took it out of the case and the contact lens is broken in half. Oh, no. And like these one lens is three thousand dollars and custom made like it takes forever to manufacture this lens.
00:34:09
Speaker
So, I don't think I can get another one made before the race. So, I'm ah pretty pretty torn up because now I've had a taste of like what it's like to look out of two eyes.
00:34:22
Speaker
um yeah Now my brain is also going through a bit of a confused stage where ah like it had obviously adjusted to using one eye and now I've shown my brain what it's like to use two eyes. Like for the last couple of days, I've just been like living with this this contact lens in. So now I'm kind of having to readjust again to only having one eye. And I went on a run today um and felt really unwell. Like I felt like I was going to throw up actually mid run.
00:34:51
Speaker
So i you have insurance on it or like do you have to buy a new one? ah Luckily, it's under warranty. So I don't have to. Yeah, I don't have to pay for another one. It's just a matter of like when how quickly they can get it made when you can get it. yeah damn So actually quite lot damn club is um is in New Zealand. So.
00:35:12
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. They, they've said potentially by Friday, but to not get my hopes up. So maybe the day before the race I get it, but otherwise I'll be running blind one more time.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, okay.
Future Racing Schedule and Excitement
00:35:24
Speaker
Well, I guess it's, I guess on the positive side is that hopefully given that you've been doing it for two years and if you do a couple more runs this week that your brain will sort of switch back onto it. And then if it does come, then it, it's a, it's a quick, it's a straight in and you know that it sort of fits straight away, which is good. You don't have to sort of wear it for a couple of days before it starts working. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Good points.
00:35:47
Speaker
Well, all the best. I hope it ah hope it works out. um Anyway, I'm sure without it, you'll still have a great day out there. We know that you've raced really well last year. um And yeah, the trails there I think are nice and smooth and flowy. Hopefully not too many tree roots.
00:36:05
Speaker
um But can you tell us a little bit about what your plans are for the rest of the year? Like what's on after Buffalo? You head back to France and and what's on the cards for the rest of the season? So I head back to France and then my next race back is Transvolcania, which I am super excited about. It's basically this race on a volcano in an island called La Palma. um I'm doing two races. I'm doing the VK, which I'm really keen for because I've never done a VK before.
00:36:35
Speaker
um But i I really like uphill climbing. So I thought, may as well give that a go. um And then I'm also doing the half marathon. um So there's a daybreak in between those two events. So those I'm very excited. Nice. That's my favorite race of all time. So I'm really jealous. It's so good. And that island is so amazing.
00:36:58
Speaker
And that VK is, um it's pretty much like the final downhill of the main race. And yeah, I don't think it's like super hard, like climbing wise, cause it's a bit longer, right? It's probably like five, five and a half K i think for the thousand meters.
00:37:13
Speaker
Yeah, six guys. So yeah, it's a bit more runnable, but yeah, it's so beautiful because you start right at the beach and um yeah, go straight up on this um exposed trail. So you pretty much see the whole thing. You see pretty much the beach, the hallway till you get right to the top. So it's really cool. And people, you can see other people as well. So um it's like a, switch it's like our longest switch back ever, but it's all exposed. um But yeah, i I really want to go back to this race.
00:37:40
Speaker
If, if only Perth wasn't 50 hour flight from there, I'll be back. every Um, yeah, ah this that's by far my favorite race. Like that's my UTMB. Like the way I look at that race is I guess how most people look at UTMB. Um, this race is just so special and yeah, so incredible. And I'm just happy that it's like back to where it was a few years ago. Cause it kind of dropped.
00:38:05
Speaker
um But I think now added us being the sponsor of the government coming back in um This race is really special. So yeah, anyone looking for a really cool race on the off the coast of Africa like do this one Oh, now you've made me super excited. Oh, it's so good. Now, I want to go. Maybe I should have. We've got to go.
00:38:26
Speaker
yeah I have heard that there's maybe a couple of other Aussies going as well. I don't think they've announced it yet, so I won't i won't drop it here, but hopefully there's ah there's a few there that we'll get to watch in action as well. Oh, awesome. Yeah, cool. Nice. And then anything planned for later in the season or it's a bit open? Like, is it, are you looking at World Champs or are you looking at something at UTMB or not sure? I've got most of my season planned. um So after Transvaucania, I'm then going to do the Trail Championships in France. We don't have this in Australia, but in France, they do have a specific race that you have to do if you want to qualify for their World Championship team.
00:39:07
Speaker
So I will be taking part in that race. Obviously, I can't qualify to be in the French team. I'm not a French resident, um but it's still a massive race that a lot of sponsors and spectators go to. And it also is an opportunity to race against some of the best.
00:39:25
Speaker
trail runners in France. um So that's also taking place just outside of ANSI. So it's very close to where I live in France. So I thought may as well do it. It's a 33K race with quite a bit of, I think it's like 3000 meters of classic and European. Yeah, that would make sense for world champs as well. Because world champs is pretty steep. Technical.
00:39:49
Speaker
um So yeah, we'll do that next. um Then I'm going to do another UTMB race called St. Jacques. It's ah another race in France. It's a 50K race. um If Tarawera doesn't give me an entry into OCC for 2026, I'm hoping that that could be my way of getting an elite entry into the 2026 OCC. um So I'm trying to give myself a few options. um But then after that, I'm planning on doing OCC, which will be kind of like my main objective for the year. um I think that does rule me out, unfortunately, for entering the World Champs team. But maybe looking at... it Unless you want to run the mountain distance. Yeah, which I i would consider entering as well. I mean,
00:40:42
Speaker
I think i actually not remember that i might be think that's the case. and don't think there's I don't think there's an unracing period for the mountain distances. No, I think it's just the short and the long trail distances where you can't double up, which makes sense. I mean, they're both quite grueling and long races themselves. You want to be in peak form going into those.
00:41:02
Speaker
Um, yeah so yeah, my world champs is a bit of a question mark at the moment. Um, but I think I will end up finishing my season at, um, a race called La Tompliere. It's, I did, I did it last year, but I did the 36 K version of it. This year I'm planning on doing the 80 K, which will be the longest I've ever raced in my entire life. And I'm a little bit terrified, but it's also kind of the most famous race in France outside of, you um, UTMB, obviously.
00:41:32
Speaker
but it's the oldest trail race in France. It celebrated 30 years last year. Um, and it brings out some really good competition. Caitlin fields, I won it last year. Um, and it looks like such a beautiful event. So I. And if you win, you get, you get that Christmas decoration on your. Yes, you do the famous Christmas. Sounds like a fun year and lots of like, I guess, local racing for you, which is pretty cool. Like you, you moved to France so that you had that on your doorstep and you're making the most of it, doing some, some cool French races.
00:42:06
Speaker
Oh, I think that's the cool thing about being in Europe. Like you're literally in in the middle in the middle of everything. So I'm keen to maximize that. Nice one. Awesome. Cool.
Tarawera Race Preview
00:42:16
Speaker
All right. Well, on the back of that, we did talk about Maddie running.
00:42:21
Speaker
tower this weekend and we thought that we might go through the races that are happening um and some of the fields. um So Matty's running the 50K, which is ah quite a quick 50K. Do you know how much climate has, Matty?
00:42:39
Speaker
just over a thousand. So it's pretty quick. Yeah, okay. So it's pretty pretty quick. I know they've run some some really fast times in the in the past. um So yeah, in the women, ah the highest ranked athlete is Bianca Tarboten from South Africa. um So she's got the highest UTMB ranking. um And then there's ah we've got a bunch of Australians running, including Maddie,
00:43:06
Speaker
um We've also got Trish McKibben racing um and Lauren Rook also racing. So good luck to those Australians. um And then there's a few, and also a few other runners as well. Corinne Malcolm, although I think maybe Corinne's dropped down to the 21. People may have heard of Corinne before. She does a lot of sort of like commentating and podcasting and and whatnot in the US. um And I think she's there to cover it. and I think maybe she's dropped down to the 21, but still quite a competitive field. How do you think you're going to go, Maddie? Are we going for first? yeah I don't know about that. I think there's going to be some pretty steep competition. um but i'm assume There's probably plenty that aren't in that list as well.
00:43:50
Speaker
I actually, I would prefer to be in a race where there's really good competition versus yeah where I feel like it's going to be me running solo. um I don't know. I think you race better when there's good people who show up and um I think that's just where you learn and you develop more as an athlete and a runner. Like I don't think we should be shying away from competition and entering events where there's going to be the best people in the world. So I say the the more people that come the better. So I'm super keen to race against these girls, particularly Bianca because she doesn't race too much outside of South Africa.
00:44:24
Speaker
Um, and I think this is her first 50 K from, I, I met her yesterday. Um, and she told me this is her first 50 K. So I'm really excited to see, to see, um, how everyone goes. I think, yeah, some good. Is she, is she on the Terrex team yeah or is she quite a new addition? Cause I think this is one of the Terrex, Terrex do like a team races where.
00:44:49
Speaker
Like they travel, they do go to races as team throughout the season. And I think Tower is one of their races. So there's a bunch of Adidas Terrics runners. So yeah, cool to see her there having such a high ranking person because sometimes the Tower where I feel can be really strong Australian and New Zealanders and not many from international, but this year is like lots of international runners. So it's cool to see. A lot of people from the US have come over as well, not necessarily in the 50, but a lot in the 100. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
00:45:20
Speaker
um And then in the men in the 50K, it's a headline by Hayden Hawkes. He's probably the favorite going in. ah Also racing against some Terrix runners, Robbie Simpson from the UK, who I'm sure will be a challenger for Hayden. um Daniel Osands from Spain. um And then there's a couple of other, some other, there's plenty of,
00:45:44
Speaker
high quality runners, Mark Ollebenadez from Spain, Dylan Bowman from the United States, I think he's also there covering ah the content for Free Trail Podcast, Michael Voss from New Zealand, the highest ranked sort of Oceana athlete, I think, unfortunately, robby so Ronnie Spark pulled out. um So yeah, the 50 in the men's looking pretty pretty competitive, lots of international runners. Any picks for that one, Vlad or Matty?
00:46:16
Speaker
I think you've got to go with Hayden. He's such a class athlete, isn't he? I mean, he's he had such a good season last year. um And he came over to New Zealand about ah two months earlier than the race to train with Dan Jones. So he's looking in pretty good shape. um But I mean, Robbie is also a class athlete.
00:46:39
Speaker
so Yeah, I think yeah so I'm going to go with Robbie actually, because Robbie's a really good road runner. Yeah, it's going to be, that's going to be an interest. Yeah, Robbie Simpson was at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, I think, for Scotland. Yeah, around 217, obviously on... before the super shoes and all that. so I think it's a really good kind of fast trail runners. Both of them are. so Yeah, and they was I'm sure Hayden could run pretty quick in a marathon as well because he's an incredible runner as well. So yeah, that's going to be a good showdown I think in in the men's. And Daniel Osands is no slouch either. So I think that's going to be a really
00:47:17
Speaker
fun race to watch. um Unfortunately, you won't probably see that one unfold, Matty, unless you're up there with them, maybe. Hey, watch out, guys. hey I'd love to see you beat Hayden Hawkes. That would be amazing. Given that I will be like 30 minutes behind Hayden Hawkes, I think it would be incredible if you were up there. First Australian female ever to beat Hayden Hawkes. Well, who knows? Who knows?
00:47:44
Speaker
ah might happen, that would be cool to see. Then probably the biggest race of the weekend is the 100K because it is a golden ticket race for ah Western States 100 this year. So it has been golden ticket in the past, I don't think it was last year, but it's back as a golden ticket race this year. um So the top two men and the top two women get an entry ah to Western states which for those who don't know is is usually a ballot system really hard race to get into but they do have this ah They do have a way of elites getting into the race by winning or placing it several races in the lead-up As well as I think some entries to those who did well at the previous year So there's probably a bunch of these runners that are chasing that golden ticket um so
00:48:34
Speaker
Yeah, well, I'll list them out because there's there's a lot. um In the females, we have Ruth cross ruth Croft and Caitlin Fielder from New Zealand. They're the two highest ranked, which is really cool to see as well. Two local, well, I don't think they live locally, but two women from New Zealand being the top ranked as is cool to see. um Then we've also got Helen Minoforkina from the US and Aludin from the US.
00:49:02
Speaker
ah Lin Chen from China, although I think she ran Black Canyon on the weekends and may not be running. Anna McKenna from Australia. Lottie Brinks from the US. Beth McKenzie from the US but lives in Australia. We know one UTA 100 last year.
00:49:20
Speaker
ah Sorry, still going. Juliet saw a guest on the podcast late last year after doing really well at UTK. um She's also from New Zealand that lives in Australia. Nancy Jiang from New Zealand, a strong New Zealand runner. Lucy Bartholomew from Australia to finish off that list. So that's an incredible list of women. yeah Any thoughts on on that race?
00:49:45
Speaker
That is a tough one. um I think it's going to be a really interesting shakedown between Ruth and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is a brilliant 50k runner um and she did start transitioning into more long stuff. Like she did the the Tom Plié 80k at the end of last year. So it will be interesting to see how those two go. um I would have to say that they're probably my pick for one and two.
00:50:10
Speaker
um But then like we've got some awesome Aussies running. Anna McKenna, Juliette Soule, Lou Spatholome. Those are brilliant, brilliant athletes. So I think those girls could also be top competitors for um podiums at the 100K as well. and they're And they're all such lovely girls. I really hope we can see some good results from them too.
00:50:34
Speaker
Definitely. And I think they've all been like those three probably out of the field. I've been following the most because I see them on Strava and whatnot and they've all been training really well. So um yeah, it'd be exciting to see what they can put together. I know Caitlin Fielder ran I think the 50K. It was the last year of the year before and she was like not far behind the man. She ran really fast time like 3.45 or something.
00:50:57
Speaker
three forty something 340 high in the 50K, so like an incredible time. um So yeah, I think she'll be she'll be hard to beat, but we know how good Ruth is. So yeah, that's going to be a good battle. Fantastic. And then in the men, ah also a really deep field um and full of internationals.
00:51:18
Speaker
So, in ah again, the leading man, the highest ranked man, New Zealander, Dan Jones, which is really cool for the New Zealanders to have um both the highest ranked female and male in the 100K. I think that's really cool to see and it sort of shows how strong some of their runners are um internationally.
00:51:39
Speaker
um Tibbo Baronian from France. I see he's been in New Zealand for a little bit training and traveling around, so he's also running. ah Adrian McDonald, who I think maybe you're staying with at the moment, Matty, and maybe you can give us a rundown whether he's going to win or not. Hu Zhao from China, Ryan Montgomery and Cody Lin from the US. Cody, I think, has been in Australia training a little bit. I've seen him running with Anna.
00:52:08
Speaker
um Marcel Hoch from Germany, Gabriel Klein from the US, and Hiroki Kai from Japan. They're the highest ranked men. So again, a really deep field, um and I'm sure that it's going to be a ah great race.
00:52:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm super excited to see this one actually. um Dan is obviously a local boy, knows the trails really well. um So I think he's going to be one of the top competitors to watch out for, but he does already have an entry into Western states. So his performance here doesn't really have too much of a bearing on the golden ticket result.
00:52:45
Speaker
um So I guess putting him aside, yeah Adrian, um he is a class athlete. He's won Leadville two times. um He's just a brilliant, brilliant runner. So he's also looking in very good form. I've been staying with him in in an Airbnb for the last couple of nights. um So yeah, he's he's racing really well. um But also T-Bolt, I think, is someone to look out for. um I live right around the corner from him actually in Ansi and we have the same coach. Dan. So yeah, he's he's going to be in good form. I think ah he also came over a bit earlier with Marianne Hogan to do some training. So he should be pretty acclimatised to the heat. um But you know,
00:53:32
Speaker
Frenchies are really good on technical terrain. It will be interesting to see how he goes on something quite runnable. um That is the only comment that I would say about T-Bolt. So yeah, I think it's going to be an epic race. I'm super excited for this one. Yeah. And then the other one, I think, I think Cody Wynn could, he's had a really good result at UTMB. He's just moved across to Terrix from Scott. um He had run well at Western States a few years ago, I think. So,
00:54:00
Speaker
Yeah, it'll be a good, to see interesting to see how he goes. um But yeah, looking to be a really exciting race as well.
100 Mile Race and Competitors
00:54:10
Speaker
um And then that brings us to the 100 mile race. So they also have 100 mile at Tarawera. um in the women highest ranked is Hilary Allen from the US, um Naomi Brand from South Africa, Konoko Izumi from Japan, Kimono Miyazaki from Japan, and Katie Wright from the UK. They're the highest ranked female runners. I can't say I know
00:54:39
Speaker
them that well. I know Hillary is a North Face athlete. um Okay. but I don't know the other the other girls there. um Yeah, I guess I'd have to go with Hillary. Yeah. Yeah. And then in the men, we have um again, another New Zealanders the highest ranked Sam Harvey who um held. I don't know if he still holds the Backout Ultra world record. Very well known for his Backout Ultras, but he was also the winner at UTK Mylar last year. um So he's he's shown that he can do really well in sort of 100 mile races as well.
00:55:21
Speaker
um He's the highest ranked runner and then the next highest ranks are, we've got a few Japanese runners, Hiro Kazu Nishimura, Hajimi Mamba, and Yutaro Yoko.
00:55:37
Speaker
I hope I didn't butcher those ones, I probably did. um And then Ryan Whelan also from the UK. So yeah, there's some some highly ranked athletes as well. I think maybe the 100 miles, maybe not as deep this year, because the 100 Ks, Western States, golden ticket again, but still, I think it'll be a good race. It'd be cool to see if Sam can win another 100 mile and on home
Born to Adapt Event
00:56:02
Speaker
soil.
00:56:02
Speaker
Yeah, there's going to be so much cool racing that's happening this weekend. um Another really cool event that's actually been happening in New Zealand whilst I've been around. Have you guys heard of Born to Adapt? No, not a book. Yeah, it sounds it's actually awesome that um like Tarawira and stuff are getting around it, but it's it's trail racing for like disabled um or people who have lost a limb. Either they're born without a limb or they've had some sort of injury where they've lost either a leg or an arm in some form of accident. um But I'm staying with Adrian. We're staying with two guys um who fall into this category.
00:56:44
Speaker
um And last week on on Saturday, they they held an event. um It was like a collaboration with Born to Adapt and the Pekiwai Hunger artificial limb service. And it was just awesome. It's an organization that's kind of focused on creating events for disabled people all across the globe. um But they try and expand the social awareness around disabilities and to foster a space where everyone can have access to the power of movement and community and to experience the outdoors. um It was founded by an athlete called Zach Friedley. um If you follow him on Instagram, he's called the Trailblader. But he's an adaptive athlete from Northern California. we We met because we both were running for the on team.
00:57:33
Speaker
um And yeah, they did a collaboration with um with like Tarawera and the New Zealand people. So um an adaptive athlete here called Matthew um Bryson, who's the Events Coordinator with the Pekeiwa Hunger Organization. He's an absolute legend and he basically was in charge of bringing Born to Adapt to New Zealand. um So this year it was the second time that the event was held.
00:58:00
Speaker
in New Zealand um and it's actually the first time that Born to Adapt has been held outside of America. um But basically people came to run like as many laps as they can't they they could around a about 1.8 kilometer loop.
00:58:16
Speaker
So kind of like a bit of a backyard ultra. um In the redwoods, which is part of the Tarawera course, all of the races go through the redwoods. um And, you know, people from all walks of life could could attend, both disabled and non-disabled people. But it was just the most beautiful event because it kind of showed that everyone can come together and celebrate the power of movement and um an organization called Rapid Relief which is a worldwide NGO came to support the event and provided lunch for everyone after we'd all finished running. um So it was super cool because registrations this year were like two times what they were last year um and they they opened up and a separate track as well for all the wheelchair athletes. um So I think it's
00:59:05
Speaker
it's cool that we're seeing trail racing enter into this other world and showing that you know all athletes can get on the trails it doesn't matter what you look like it doesn't it doesn't matter what your you know um physique is or if you've got two legs one leg like everyone can do this this is a sport for everybody it's about community. um So yeah I think Tarawira is really the first race to really get behind helping to promote something like this. So yeah, although there are events happening this weekend.
00:59:39
Speaker
um There's heaps of cool stuff going around New Zealand at the moment. And Born to Adapt um will happen again back in the US in May. um There'll be another race ah with Born to Adapt at the Broken Arrow and the Mammoth Trail Fest. But yeah, if anyone who's listening to this pod is interested, go to Zach's Instagram um to learn out to to learn a bit more
Support from Bix Nutrition
01:00:03
Speaker
about it. So it's the Trailblader on Instagram, but he's always posting stuff about it that's really cool.
01:00:08
Speaker
um But yeah, I just thought that was something I'd talk about as well for anyone that was interested in getting around and supporting it because it's such an awesome cause and it's really cool to see all these athletes coming out and it was a really fun event to be a part of. It's really cool. It's cool to see and cool that seeing it outside of the US as well that it's expanding like globally. So yeah, nice one. Very cool.
01:00:34
Speaker
This episode is proudly supported by Bix. Bix is an Australian nutrition company which offers both active and recovery electrolyte supplements. um They also have performance fuels and now the big 40 gram gel. I've been enjoying using the 40 gram gel out on my bike rides and find that it's incredibly easy to get down. So it's a fantastic product. The consistency is really good and I've been enjoying practicing using that one out on the bike.
01:01:04
Speaker
We've got a special deal for Peak Pursuit listeners. If you head over to the Bix website and use the code PPP at checkout, you'll get 20% off all of the Bix range. So get over there, order some stuff and keep showing up. Awesome. um All right. Well, we might move on to listener question. um Now, I think... Yeah, let's do this one quickly. um So we have a question come in from Annika who is doing the Golden Trail National Series and she's never used poles before and she wanted to know what ah if we would recommend or we've seen people using poles for the Donna double race, which is the first race um or down at KMR in Tassie.
01:01:53
Speaker
um Vlad, I don't know if you have any thoughts. Maybe I can start and and we can get to get to you, given that I've done the two races before.
Strategy of Using Poles in Trail Races
01:02:01
Speaker
Yeah, sure. I mean, I've used polls a tiny, tiny bit before, but um yeah, I've never done those races. So maybe we'll start with you.
01:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, cool. Well, I did a little bit of research today because I've actually listened to a podcast on this before and I was like, oh, what's this? I i remember listening about this and I wanted to make sure I got it right. um So if anyone's interested, there is a podcast um on the Coopcast, which is run by ah Jason Coop. He's a trail coach in the US, but he does it with one of his episodes. We can put it in the show notes um with, I can't remember the guy's name.
01:02:38
Speaker
Oh, there it is. Nicola Giovanni, who's a researcher who's done a lot of research on looking at um the use of poles in trail running. um So yeah, if you want to have a listen, go there because that goes like a deep dive into it um and it goes through the research that Nicola has done. But yeah, in terms of using poles,
01:02:59
Speaker
um from a maximum performance, a maximum effort that goes for say 30 minutes or under an hour like a VK. Polls seem to be beneficial because if you're going at a maximal effort, you're at max energy cost anyway. And the polls will, ah did show an important improvement in performance. So that's like an hour uphill or 30 minutes uphill. I think it was may actually maybe like a 20 minute uphill.
01:03:26
Speaker
um And then Nicola also did some more research after that to see um at a submaximal what the difference was. um And he sort of had some different findings at different times, but essentially my take on it is that for submaximal, so when you're not doing like an all out effort, um that poles will increase the energy cost um and may not sort of make a huge difference in your time to do a specific ah distance uphill, um but
01:04:02
Speaker
He also did some research on seeing if it decreased the amount of ah force required by your muscles and and found that there was a difference in using pulse. So whilst the energy cost was higher, it also decreased the load that your muscles took. So my summary of that and this may or may not be right but this is my interpretation of it um is that poles are probably good for short races uphill that you can use them efficiently because that's sort of step one is like can you use them efficiently um and then maybe for long long races and I think maybe the middle distance races like the 20 to 50k or the 20 to 40k the sub ultra ones is maybe the bit where maybe they're not as useful
01:04:48
Speaker
um because you're not going maximal and you're not going truly sub-maximal maybe and the energy cost is maybe higher than what the performance benefit but maybe for longer races like over four or five hours, um saving your legs a little bit early in the race might be beneficial. So that's sort of my interpretation of it. So if we then apply that to the Golden Trail races which are about 20 to 30 Ks,
01:05:12
Speaker
It probably depends on how long you're expecting to take. um For me, at both those races, I didn't use poles and I probably wouldn't because again, they're like a two-hour race so um I don't feel like I need to necessarily save my legs and they will actually probably increase the energy cost of going uphill.
01:05:30
Speaker
um And for Warby, I think maybe it would be a bit easier to use them. The trail would allow you to use them. um But Tassie, I think there's lots of varied terrain on the climbs. So you probably find that you might be putting them away, getting them out, putting them away, getting them out. And there might not actually be as much of the climb that you can efficiently use the poles for. so My conclusion would be maybe if you're aiming to run Donna Double in three to four hours, it might be useful for to use them for the climb, or three to five hours, it might be useful to do them, use them in the climb and then put them away for the downhill. um But maybe less useful, it came out, that's sort of my my thinking. um I don't know if I summarized that well. I did a deep dive. I don't know a lot of thinking about this today, so you can probably tell.
01:06:18
Speaker
but do you think but yeah think I think it really comes down to how much you use it in training to really be effective in racing. like Don't forget that a lot of the Europeans ah use it in races, especially longer races. They might ski in the winter. um They probably have it on half of their training runs, so they're very good and in using them. and i think If you don't use them much, um even though they could be helpful, um you might actually be slowing yourself down because it just doesn't come natural to you. So I think you need to use them quite a bit in training for for them to really
01:06:56
Speaker
um payoff i' used I've used them a few times in in a few 100k and 50k trail races, even though I felt like they are useful at times when I am hiking up. Overall, I just didn't feel too comfortable with them. and kind of gave up. um But I think, you know, if you lived in like really in the Alps in Europe and you are training for some really long races, that could be really beneficial. And most people today would do UTMB with them. But you don't see too many people use them for short races. But then again, you know, I think and the flip is you start seeing people use them maybe in a VK, but then they stop using them at anything past a VK until like the really long races is probably where you generally see people using them.
01:07:45
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. so they So, yeah, some really steep VKs, yeah. So, I think like the 3K VKs, you know, the 33% VKs, but then, you know, the VKs there are like a bit longer, like, um you know, 5K VKs or 6K VKs, not many people will use them. So, i've I've seen some research which goes a bit deeper into more like inclined percentage where they yeah pay off. And I think the steeper it gets, obviously, the more useful they are.
01:08:14
Speaker
um Yeah, I think I summarize what Nicola was talking about, but I think it may it may even you may even be thinking of one of his papers, but it was like the the the inclines that were was like 25 29 and 34 were the ones that were when he did the treadmill stuff that it was more beneficial to use the poles. Yeah, so I think when it really gets steep they are useful, but then you just got to think of like your race and like how many 20 plus percent minutes you're going to be using them for. So I don't think that that useful, you know, like in a short race, if it's 10, 15% incline, but yeah, um, I just think there's a couple of variables and we don't see that many, many people use them in Australia because we don't really have crazy long climbs. Um, and people are just not really using them. Um, where like in Europe, people use them for skiing and then use them
01:09:08
Speaker
for trail running in summer. so um Yeah, and I think our climbs in Australia can be pretty technical, like like more narrow tracks and more roots and rocks and that sort of stuff. So sometimes can be a bit trickier to actually, like ah some ah particularly our long sustained climbs. Not many of them are sort of wide open, like some of the VK routes in in Europe, um so yeah, it can be harder to use the poles. And I think the other thing I'd say, let's talk a two to four hour race. It's why if you're using poles, it's possibly harder to, like if you're using them efficiently for the whole climb, it's harder to feel while you're doing that as well. Like it's harder to take in nutrition while you're using your hands for poles. So there's a consideration there. But look, if you're looking to finish in three to five hours and you think it'll help you out the climb, save your legs a little bit, then possibly it's for something like Don or Double, it might be useful.
01:09:56
Speaker
um Kmart maybe less so but potentially also useful but yeah as Vlad said you probably want to train with them and if you can't train with them lots like you can't get out to a climb where you can actually use them at least doing gym work that mimics that use, so doing some like yeah retraction type exercises, like um ah like row type exercises, and then doing a few specific sessions where you actually get the poles out, like at least a few. But if you're doing that background gym work, then you'll have the, hopefully have the strength or the specific strength to maybe utilize them. But yeah, it's it definitely, if you're gonna use them, you should practice with them and probably do some strength work.
01:10:38
Speaker
Mattie, I don't know if you've used polls before. Any thoughts? I've never used them for a race in Australia, but I've used them a lot in Europe. um I find... I haven't used them for a shorter race than 50K. I've only used them for a 50K or above, but they're so helpful. like I don't think I've erased OCC without them.
01:11:01
Speaker
um I think they do take a while to get used to just from like a technicality perspective I was trialing out with a few different pairs I was using black diamond at the start which kind of um have a bit of a band that you wrap around your wrist.
01:11:18
Speaker
um But then I transitioned into using a Leckie pole, which I really like the Leckie poles. They've kind of got a gauntlet that you put on your hand and it clips into the pole. So you don't necessarily have to hold on to the pole to be attached to it. um It kind of clips into your hand. um I really like the Leckie poles. I think that they're super easy to clip in and out.
01:11:42
Speaker
um But yeah, it takes a bit of practice even just figuring out how to pack them away efficiently and put them into your bag. So if you're going to use them, I would say do most of your long runs training with them, even if you don't think that you need them for the particular long run that you're doing, even just like practice the motion of, you know, unfolding them, folding them back, putting them in your pack, taking them out, um because there is a bit of work that goes into doing that. But they're really, really helpful. Like they save your legs.
01:12:11
Speaker
four um for descent so you can descend faster and you can attack the flats faster um and particularly if you're out there for a couple of hours like it really saves you in the back end of a race as well so um ah at a piece of advice that I was told was to not be afraid of taking out the poles at the beginning of the race.
01:12:32
Speaker
um Because, you know, taking them out at the beginning of the race kind of just preserve preserves your legs for the end of the race. So, you know, you're supposed to feel fresh at the start. That's the point. But um the poles can kind of be ah an assistance to make sure that you continue to feel good throughout the um the extent of the entire race. So um like even at OCC, there were people who were whipping out their poles in the very first climb. So yeah, i i I think they're awesome. I would definitely do um lots of races with them. I haven't done the two races that you mentioned in Australia before, so I can't really comment on whether poles would be good for those races or not. But um yeah, if you're going to use them, I just say practice, but I think they're a great tool.
01:13:21
Speaker
Yeah, cool. Nice. Awesome. Any last thoughts about Paul's vibe? Otherwise, do you want to attack hate? You ready to attack hate?
01:13:34
Speaker
All right,
Heat Training Methods and Discussion
01:13:35
Speaker
give us your question. What ah what do what do you want? yeah This listener question comes to you from Varexul. Yeah. um So like obviously obviously, if you go on Strava right now and follow a little bit of the Tour de France, everybody is doing HIIT training.
01:13:51
Speaker
um So I've been, I kind of started I guess in September last year where I did the main protocol that was I guess the start of all of this, um which was 50 minutes, five times a week for five weeks. um And what I would do is is literally just put on two pairs of pants, a jumper and and a winter coat and go for a trail run for 50 minutes. um So I pretty much did that for four weeks. um Second, so I almost finished that protocol. And then the second last run, it was getting a bit warm in Australia. It was October in Australia in Perth. So it was pretty warm. And that second last one, my heart rate just went up to like 160. Probably got a bit of a hit stroke from it.
01:14:39
Speaker
I was feeling okay with the heat training. like ah I couldn't really say if I was getting much fit or not, um but I felt like that run really set things back and for a whole month I was not feeling great. So then I was like, all right, maybe I should do a little bit of like passive heat training to get used to um you know running in a heat suit because it is pretty demanding.
01:15:03
Speaker
like you know, running or cycling with a Hitsu that I've done a few times, it is really, really hard. um Obviously, sitting in a sauna is a lot easier. So the past few weeks, I've been trying to do three sessions a week where after my easy runs, I'll just jump in the sauna for like 15 to 20 minutes. um And I'm kind of wondering, like I know that David Roach does a bit of both, like, could you get the benefits of just one? And a lot of athletes just do passive,
01:15:33
Speaker
um I don't know, I feel like I just want to experiment with a couple of things um before I kind of make my own conclusions. But my plan is to do a little bit more of um passive hit and then maybe try and combine the two. um Yeah, I don't know what you guys think, what you if you guys do it. I know that everybody does it right now, but again, like five times a week,
01:16:00
Speaker
Um, you know, in a heat suit is not easy. Even if it's only three times a week in a heat suit is not easy on top of your everyday training and, um, normal volume. But what do you guys think? Yeah. Have you done any, um, heat training, Matty?
01:16:15
Speaker
I was doing a little bit back in France, but it wasn't to the extent that you have been doing Vlad. I would just, um and I actually got this tip from Sim, um but I would go and do a hard um workout session.
01:16:32
Speaker
And then I would finish my session or finish the cool down um outside of a sauna. um There was like a center that I could go to kind of close to where I lived. And then I would try and spend between 20 and 30 minutes sitting in the sauna. And the sauna was, I think it was 90 degrees or 95 degrees.
01:16:54
Speaker
um That's really hot. It was freaking hot. My heart rate like continued to stay pretty high from the um the run, like it wouldn't ever come back down. And after 20 minutes, I was properly cooked.
01:17:07
Speaker
um what would you you know like Obviously, it's a bit hard to measure it, but like do you know what your heart rate was at ah guess like last 10 minutes of that sonar session? so My heart rate normally is pretty low. My resting heart rate hovers between 35 and 40 beats per minute. um During a session,
01:17:30
Speaker
it wouldn't get up to more than like 160. That's kind of like the highest that I see it get up to in a session. That's when I'm like pushing really hard. um And then this is wristwatch or is this with a strap? This is my wristwatch. So I don't know how accurate this is. I've never worn, I really want to get a KOROS band actually. um Yeah, you should, they're really good. Yeah, I've seen a lot of people wearing them. um So yeah, take these like figures with a grain of salt, but yeah. um during the cool down my my heart rate would normally get to like 115 120 but then going back in the sauna it would get back up to like the 100s um yeah which yeah i mean i've obviously heard of like all right yeah i mean i know that david roach does kind of like um hot tub and he would just stay till his heart rate is gets to about 110 um but yeah um
01:18:27
Speaker
I know a couple of athletes that do passive heat training, not after a session. So after an easier run, um, cause it is obviously not easy on the body, but it could, I guess also work after a session, but it's almost like a double session, I guess. Um, if you are staying there for 30 minutes, 30 minutes at 90 degrees is a really long time. I was only doing it after sessions because I,
01:18:53
Speaker
Try and take the approach of keep your easy days easy and your hard days hard. So I thought that, and like maybe this is, there's no science behind what I was doing. It was just like, I knew I was coming to Australia in training and going to be running racing in a hot environment. So I was trying to acclimatize as quickly as possible, but, um, yeah, I was just trying to like make my hard session days really hard. And then when I'm doing an easy recovery run to be able to like properly recover and relax afterwards, rather than.
01:19:24
Speaker
Like continue the stress on my body by spending another 20 to 30 minutes with my heart rate elevated But i I don't really know the science behind that. Yeah, so there's two different ways of looking at it is like adapting to heat um which doesn't take that long so I think that you could have got that by literally just um doing 10 minutes, 15 minutes at even 70 degrees. But there is also the benefits of increased plasma in your blood. um So that should effectively increase red blood cells. So I think that's kind of where a lot of the athletes are coming from, not really kind of adopting the heat because that doesn't really take that long. I think that
01:20:13
Speaker
few sessions, like a week of like two weeks of what you were doing, um you know, would have got you about 50%, 60% there. um But there's also the benefits of like year round, heat training. And if you follow Killian, for example, you would see him do an hour bike rides five times a week um with his heat suit. So that's something that he started doing. And a lot of people are looking at that year-round heat training rather than kind of few weeks on, few weeks off, kind of like altitude that a lot of athletes do altitude training. They'll go for their camp for a few weeks, come down, um go back up again, when now they try to they they see a lot of benefits from like year-round heat training and pretty much most of the professional athletes are doing it right now to some kind of extent. I know some of my friends who are
01:21:06
Speaker
um professional, very elite. I've been doing it for a bit longer, um but it was always passive when now it's this combination of active plus passive or just active. Active, I mean, like hitsu training, which is a lot different than the sauna. It's a lot harder, especially if you're doing it outdoors in the sun. um But yeah, what about you, Brody?
01:21:31
Speaker
Yeah, like I haven't haven't done any because I've only started really sort of hearing about it a lot in the last sort of four or five months. um And I've consumed a lot of content in regards to heat training. So I'm very excited to sort of get in and give it a go soon. But like, yeah, I think just in the context of me spending a lot of time bike riding and and and that takes a lot of time that I haven't had the sort of time to sort of easily add it in and and I think particularly like it's not exact heat training but just training over our summer is to some extent heat training so I think like yes we could be putting in a lot of extra effort now and doing some specific heat training but I think we get some very baseline
01:22:16
Speaker
heat training just from training through the summer um and I've just by logistics been out on the bike in like 35 degree heat and it's you get a bit of more air convection than you do when you're running so but I still feel like Um, that I'm still getting that heat. Um, so yeah, I, I'm keen to get into it a bit more. Um, I think like one thing to mention that we happen is like, be careful if you're listening to this and you want to have a go, like be really careful because like people have died doing, uh, especially the hot bath type heat training. So you just want to be really careful with what you're doing. And.
01:22:55
Speaker
If you have any heart issues, definitely talk to your doctor or anything like that before you before you sort of jump into this because it is a huge stress on the cardiovascular system. um Even in my physio work, if we get people in the hydrotherapy pool, which is only 40 degrees, we have to get clearance from the doctors to like make sure that's okay. so like Just be careful with this stuff. like It seems very... ah chill and not nothing too big a deal, but heat is quite a bit of a stress. So you just want to be careful. That's probably one thing I'd just preface. um But yeah, I would also point out there's many other ways that you can improve your fitness. And that's kind of like, I guess for me, it's
01:23:36
Speaker
You know, I've kind of been on a very similar level for the past few years. so I am looking at ways that I can improve my fitness. so I am trying it, but obviously like, you know, there's ah like, you know, like if you're only running like eight hours a week, just adding an extra hour of training over a few weeks will probably be a lot more beneficial than running with a jacket in the middle of summer in Australia.
01:23:58
Speaker
um yeah Yeah, and possibly better for your long-term health as well. I think like the heat training stuff, where we're very focused on the performance benefits, but it's probably not like heaps of looking at like what's the health, long-term health effects. And I think like we know that training is to some extent like over over training definitely is not healthy for long-term health and like high levels of stress is not good for long-term health so like just consider that as well when you're thinking about it obviously if you're pushing yourself or you want to get the most out of yourself i'm not saying like even the mid-packer shouldn't um should you know like
01:24:32
Speaker
They're not performing well enough to do this. That's not what I'm saying. But like Vlad's saying, there's other things you could potentially look at first. um And then like, look, if it's something you enjoy doing, if it's something you enjoy doing the sauna and or you enjoy having a ah hot tub or whatever it is, like a it's a you can do it. Just just be careful with it. um And I think that's the one thing I've noticed in the last particularly month or so is like to start with, this was the pros doing it. And now it's like everyone.
01:24:59
Speaker
everyone's doing it like down to just your normal everyday person on Strava's having a crack at it. So yeah, it's interesting to see how quickly it has proliferated, but that's because it is it can give you that like the the research is pretty damning in terms of like the but the benefits you can get from it if if you do it well. um So yeah, I think you've already covered pretty much like how you could do it.
01:25:25
Speaker
um And I'm keen to try out some of it. But I think one thing is that I'm interested to see a little bit more come out about is I think mostly people are tracking it with heart rate and by feel when in reality, like the heat training, the the stimulus that they're looking for is like the raise in body temperature.
01:25:45
Speaker
So i think you I think on the back of this, we'll also see like a huge and there's probably already been a few out on the market, but there'll be a really big increase in monitors for temperature, I think, um because the the who the companies that are doing this sort of stuff are going to see the demand for it um because it's going to be more accurate than your heart rate in terms of seeing whether seeing whether you're at the right stimulus. um But yeah, I'd probably suggest start start slowly, don't do anything too drastic, a good way to do it um in terms of an efficient time.
01:26:21
Speaker
time way to do it. You don't have to do it for very long. um But if you do it after you've been exercising, then your body temperature is already up. um So if you do it immediately post, you don't need to do it for as long, which means possibly the stress is ah is a bit lower. Because like if you just passively, you haven't done any training and you just go to the sauna or you go and jump in the hot tub, you're going to spend the first part of that increasing your increasing your heart rate or increasing your but sorry increasing your body temperature from your baseline body temperature. Whereas if you come back from a run, your baseline temperature is already elevated, so you don't have to sort of spend as much time in in that heat. um So that's why I think that the research is incredibly, like a lot of the protocols, like that protocol like you described Vlad, that is the one that I did in the research,
01:27:10
Speaker
of the five by 50 minutes. So that's quite a lot. Yeah, that is a lot like that. is um yeah I wouldn't suggest people need to do that. Like I think like, if you're really interested to learn more about this, the person I've been listening a lot about who's very sort of open with what he's doing is David Roach, who you have mentioned um his his podcast, some work or play like they there's a few episodes where they dive into it and and they're continuing to talk about it because it is an evolving space um and he's even got this YouTube series on his on his way to Western states now where he's doing heatsuit training and he's talking about it so um yeah I think yeah he's he's a good person to listen to but there's like he's something like 15 to 20 minutes is is a really good place to start potentially just after a
01:27:58
Speaker
after some sort of exercise. And I don't think it needs to be a session because even a session like you're going to cool down after your session, you're probably not going to go straight from your 6.1K straight into the sauna. So doing it after an easy run versus after a session is probably not a huge difference. I think Maddie's point about the stress of the day is is important to consider. So like you still want to be having an easy recovery day, but it could be on a zone two run day or something like that. Like it doesn't necessarily have to be after a session, um but it will be added stress to the body. So do consider that when yeah you're looking at your week and you haven't just done like your body hasn't
01:28:35
Speaker
isn't looking and thinking you've done seven hard days because on your two recovery days, you did 30 minutes in the sauna and therefore your stress was really high for those days. So yeah, it's it's important to think about where you plan it. But after the initial phase as well, I think you can maintain it with just one, possibly two sessions a week. You don't have to be doing five sessions a week and I wouldn't even start with five. I think something like three a week for a few weeks and then back it off to the maintenance phase. It does maintain really well, but it also does detrain to an extent really fast. So like if you don't do it for a couple of weeks, you will sort of lose it, but then you also probably get it back. So it's important. It's an interesting one because even David Roach is saying like he did it right up until Leadville because he didn't want to lose, he didn't want to detrain. um And it is really
01:29:24
Speaker
responsive and I've even heard people say that like when they're coming into a race, they consider maybe doing it on their rest day or their really easy day going into the race or some of their easy days going into the race because it in it maintains the blood volume stimulus. um Because when we don't run, running is is a way that we get that blood volume stimulus. And if we don't run because we're tapering for a race,
01:29:50
Speaker
um strategically using some heat where you also recover from the heat, but you can use it to sort of maintain your blood volume going into a race as well. So that's an interesting, I think that area will be really interesting to see how people approach it this year as well. Cause this is such a new and evolving space that there's going to be lots found out, I think in the next 12 months.
01:30:12
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that I went too hard on it with the five times 50 minutes for five weeks. And I've learned from that and now kind of like stepping back and doing 15 minutes passive. And then I'm going to try and see how that goes for a few more weeks and then try and find like the balance between them. um And it could be just literally just putting like long pants and a jacket on for my cooldown after a key session, um you know, even if it's ah it's a 20 minute cooldown, so I could get some benefits from that as well, even if I do that once a week together with one or two sonar sessions a week. um But yeah, 50 minutes, five times a week was definitely tough. And like I said, I felt okay till that one run that my heart rate just blew up and I feel
01:30:59
Speaker
like Yeah, you have to be careful. yeah And these study designs, they're trying to they're trying to generate enough of the stimulus so that they can actually see some sort of effect. so they're probably always going to be on the to start Sometimes they're going to be on the longer end of what's actually required so that an effect size shows up in their results.
01:31:20
Speaker
um So yeah, you don't have to follow the study protocols in this regard. But yeah, I'd suggest being careful and if you're really serious about it, go and talk to someone who's doing it or has done it or a health professional to be guided through it if you really wanna have a crack at it. um But yeah, overall just be careful with it um because it is a it is somewhat of a dangerous stimulus. So yeah, you wanna sort of look after yourself and health comes first.
01:31:50
Speaker
Awesome, all right, well, good discussion. Hopefully, yeah, we'll probably, I'm sure we'll have more to chat about this in the future and and it sounds like Vlad's gonna have a
Coast to Coast and Other Race Results
01:31:59
Speaker
look into it. I'm i'm definitely gonna be thinking about it in the next and next few months as I get back into running and it as it gets colder, um maintaining some of that stimulus. um We have a couple of results to quickly shoot through um before we finish up. Thanks for listening in. It's been a longer than expected episode, I think, and thanks, Matty, for hanging around.
01:32:20
Speaker
Um, I might just, I'll just pull up a couple of results we have for this week. So, um, the first one, not so much a trail race, but, um, just wanted to give a shout out because there's a Tassie trail runner who did it really well. So coast to coast in New Zealand, which is a multi-sport race. Um.
01:32:41
Speaker
across from one side from the west coast of New Zealand, west coast of the South Island, New Zealand to the east coast, um cycling, running, kayaking, more cycling, um full day race um was on. And ah Alex Hunt from Tasmania, um trail runner, but probably more multi-sport athlete, but very good trail runner just because he's a very good multi-sport athlete.
01:33:09
Speaker
He got the win and he's been chasing this result for a few years now including spending a long time before last year's race and this year's race over in New Zealand preparing with his family. His partner is actually Maggie Lenox who we've had on the pod before and they have a daughter so they've sort of sacrificed a lot to be across there and put in a lot of prep and um he just missed out last year. He came second um and this year he got the win. He was the first Australian to win the race in 32 years. So the New Zealanders have been dominating um and Alex has put in incredible effort. um So yeah, I thought that was a really special result worth shouting out. um Have you heard of Coast to Coast before, Matty, Vlad? Scotty Hawker, who I ran with a little bit in Perth when he used to live here 10 years ago. I think that's how he got into endurance sports.
01:34:07
Speaker
Yeah, okay. it it was always in new zealand Yeah, I think it's a massive event there and he always was telling me about it. um But yeah, it it is a long one, right? Yes. Yeah. So Alex, well I'll just quickly shoot through the the two winners that Alex Hunt won the men's 11, 29, 20. I think the record is 10, 34. So yeah, decent, decent result from him, but he had some depth.
01:34:31
Speaker
some really fast times. I'm sure the weather affects this one quite a bit. um And in the women, Deborah Lynch from New Zealand was the winner in 1306. So really not that far behind 90 minutes over that sort of long distance. So yeah, impressive race. The females race was tight, the males race was tight. um And they have a lot of sort of like team events and two day events and whatnot as well. So it's ah it's a big event on the New Zealand calendar.
01:34:56
Speaker
Yeah, actually a bit of a fun fact. Alex has done this event quite a few times and um his wife is Maggie Lennox, who was the um Australian representative to go over um for Australia for the Golden Trail Series final in Switzerland last year. Yeah, fantastic. yeah And they're lovely they're lovely people, Maggie and Alex. So it was very cool to see. I've raced Alex a few times in Tassie. um He's an incredible trail runner as well. So, yeah, it's very cool to see.
01:35:27
Speaker
um the dedication and and and sort of sacrifice both of them probably put into this result. So yeah, good on good on you Alex, well done. We also had ah the Wentworth Falls trail run, um which was up in the Blue Mountains.
01:35:44
Speaker
um So this was a 16k course um and just wanted to give a saw this one of note because Elijah Gosby who won in one hour 2058 which is a pretty speedy time for 16k's in the Blue Mountains. um He got the course record and and one and he's 17 years old. And I think um maybe Maddie, you've done some training with Elijah. He's part of Run Crew. Yeah, he's part of Run Crew trained by Benny St. Lawrence. um He's an absolute gun, like an up and coming kid. He's been running super well, training really hard. So I think it's all paying off and he's starting to put up some really, really exciting results. um So, yeah, massive congrats, Elijah. That is such an awesome effort. um And we can't wait to see what you do coming up.
01:36:34
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And hopefully he's, we can keep him in trail running because he's also run 846 for 3k, which is a pretty, yeah, well, on the, on the track running world, this at this time, maybe you can wise running such amazing times. It doesn't, it doesn't sound so fast, but that is an incredible time for a 3k for a 17 year old. But yeah, um, looking forward to seeing, uh,
01:36:56
Speaker
seeing Elijah at some more trail races this year. He was second at UTA 11 last year, so I'm assuming maybe he'll be back at UTA this year. um The other results there, second place was Dean McNamara in 129.28 and third was Quintin Gill in 130.21 and Quintin was um If you remember, he was a UTK 100K winner last year, so and running a shorter race, probably maybe part of some training for some races coming up. It was good to see some competitive racing there. And then in the women, um Emily Brunt was first in 1 hour, 38.52.
01:37:31
Speaker
my I don't know if I'm going to say this right, but I'm going to say Marika Walsh, 139.56, and Anna Pillinger in 148.08. So that was ah races up in Wentworth Falls.
Upcoming Trail Races Announcement
01:37:49
Speaker
And that, I think, ties us up for races for the week coming up. We've got Tarawera, obviously, so we're looking forward to that, looking forward to seeing Matty race. A couple of races in Australia as well, so hut-to-hut ah in ah up and around Mount Buller is on.
01:38:04
Speaker
Yabaroo, Trail Ultra, Southeast Queensland Trail Series, again, Hinn's Dam, and Sydney set Trail Series at Manly Dam. So a few events starting to get more and more events on the calendar each week. So it's exciting to see, but yeah, definitely Eyes on Tar, we're Eyes on Rotorua this weekend, um and good luck, Matty. Hope you have a great race.
01:38:29
Speaker
Thanks Brody. Thank you. Yes, I'm super excited. um Super excited to see everyone out there as well and to see some friendly faces and just relax and enjoy the week now until until Race Day. Yeah, definitely. Cool. All right. Well, I think that's us for the week. Thank you all. Thanks, Bud. Thanks, Matty. See you guys. Thanks, guys. Good luck, Matty.