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Episode 53: Vlad’s Aus Short Trail Champs Win, Snack Chat, and Sim’s Final SkyRunning Prep!
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Welcome to Episode 53 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Jess Jason and Vlad Ixel fresh off his win at the Australian Short Trail Championships in South Australia!
Hear about how Vlad’s race went down, with everything from managing the heat and pacing, shoe choices, and his newly found love of Adelaide trails. Then Jess updates us on how her Buffalo recovery has been, Sim runs through her last bit of SkyRunning race prep for her trip to Asia, and the team answer a listener question about daily nutrition and snack choices.
Enjoy!
Five Peaks Results: https://eventstrategies.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=90&RId=592
Mount Solitary Ultra Results: https://tempus.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16516&RId=414
***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!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction to Peak Pursuits Podcast
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 53 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick and I am joined by Jess Jason who is currently back home in Perth having a visit. are we doing Jess?
00:00:22
Speaker
Hey, guys. Yeah, pretty happy to
Jess's Experience at Athletics Nationals
00:00:24
Speaker
be in Perth. It's been just beautiful and ah loved being at the Athletics Nationals over the weekend. Some pretty exciting running going on there.
00:00:32
Speaker
I did see the story photo Fangirling Gout on the Instagram there for you. Yeah. i should have... Yeah, should have got more photos, but I was just like in the moment because, yeah, there was so many other like amazing in performances. But it was really cool to see like so many people um that wouldn't usually come to an athletics meet, like come for Gout Gout. Yeah, nice.
00:00:57
Speaker
And he really lapped it up. Like he did a laugh, um high-fiving everyone in the stadium, which was pretty cool. Yeah, love it as you could.
Vlad's Victory at Australian Short Trail Championships
00:01:06
Speaker
Jeez, that kid, that's freaking wild, 17. But someone who's not quite on the kid front anymore but has shown us on the weekend i noticed on the weekend that he's still got what it takes and that is Vlad Ixel who is still in Adelaide, fresh off his win of the Australian Short Trail Championships at Five Peaks. are we doing, Vlad?
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, not too bad. um Got an extra day in Adelaide because all the flights were super expensive back to Perth because of the footy. Lovely. So yeah, an extra day here in Adelaide. yes yeah recovery ah it Good Very good recovery, especially after but having your first ultra in a while. So for today's episode, we are going to hear from Vlad how the race panned out, the brutality of the heat and Yeah, just his Championship recap.
00:01:57
Speaker
And then we'll get a ah debrief from Jess on how she's been since her run at Buffalo. I've been doing my sky run and prep and I'm thankfully near the taper. And then we've got a listener question around some nutrition and few results around the country.
00:02:14
Speaker
But to get us started, Vlad, congrats. And how did you enjoy the Adelaide heat? Yeah, it was so, so hot.
Challenges and Strategy in Adelaide's Heat
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah. it wasn't fun but the trails are amazing i think that we were talking about um you telling me oh it's a lot of fire roads there's a lot of single trails like runnable single trails um yeah it's a really beautiful race because you get to see quite a lot of um the trail network here and apparently from what i've heard there's a lot more trails around here so i'll have to come back and um and do some training here because it's it's a short flight i mean it's only an hour and a half time difference to perth and
00:02:49
Speaker
um Yeah, they actually got some elevation here. Oh, they do. They do. yeah And I probably was selling them short when I said there was a lot of fire road because there is a lot of beautiful trails. I have a feeling that was the bias of at the time in my, like that was my longest race ever at that time.
00:03:05
Speaker
And all I remember is going, when is the road going to end? Or like just, that's just the the times I was suffering was always seemed to be on a fire road. So yeah. That was probably some bias there, but I was even looking at it recently and I'm like, oh, damn, I might have shortchanged that a bit.
00:03:21
Speaker
But I'm glad you enjoyed the trails because they are beautiful. Yeah, i had that in my mind while I was running. I was like, where's all those fire roads that Simo's talking about? All I've been doing is like single trails. But no, I really enjoyed it. Like yeah it was my longest race in a really long time, so my main goal was to make it to the finish line. um I got really lucky. I had Nick send me a message on Instagram saying,
00:03:44
Speaker
Um, he's like, Hey, do you want me to crew you tomorrow? ah Yeah, that was literally the the game changer for that because he just managed to get me ice at every single aid station and, um, just a handful of ice makes a massive difference if you can put it on your head under your head. And, um, yeah, that I think literally that saved me, um, because it was,
00:04:08
Speaker
Yeah, probably hit 35, 36 degrees. um Even at the start, it was already like 24, 25 degrees. And um yeah, it was so, so hot. so I knew it's probably going a slow day. um Started running with Toby at the beginning. were both taking it easy because we knew it was going to be a painful, painful race.
00:04:28
Speaker
um Just had a chat with him for the first probably 15K. um And then, yeah, because I had a cruise, i managed to get out of the aid station probably like... 10 seconds before him, 15 seconds before him and had a little gap and that gap just grew a bit more and a bit more. And um yeah, didn't really see for the rest of the day and ran solo and just tried to kind of hold back a bit. I was looking a lot at my heart rate not to overdo it and thinking about my ankles as well. So I was kind of holding
Trail Accessibility and Unique Course Features in Adelaide
00:04:58
Speaker
back on all the technical. you take them?
00:05:00
Speaker
ah did I didn't fully tape them, so I tried like, you know, like the full taping um two or three days ago and it just felt like too much. um I just did about half of that full taping and yeah, felt more stable and maybe mentally it created like an area that my mind was focused on.
00:05:19
Speaker
um Realistically, once I took my socks off, it looked like, you know, the tape was like highly sticking on anymore. But mentally I could feel it and think that kind of helps when you have that connection between your brain and an area of your body.
00:05:34
Speaker
yeah so I was a bit more careful and yeah, luckily I managed to make it to the finish line um with both ankles. um good But yeah, it's ah it's a really nice course. Like I think that you know, Adelaide with trail accessibility is, is almost like similar to Hong Kong.
00:05:51
Speaker
Um, so anywhere you are in Adelaide, you're pretty close to the trails and, um, yeah, it was a fun event. Um, unfortunately they didn't have like enough water in some of their aid stations and, um,
00:06:04
Speaker
Yeah, they had to airlift a person from the trails, I guess, because of the heat. Yeah, it was a bit of a mess there. And, yeah, it was just so, like, yeah, I can just imagine walking. Yeah.
00:06:18
Speaker
walking Yeah, it's amazing how much difference like it makes the tip in how much water a race will use. um just ah Even just five degrees in temperature will just make a huge difference. But by the sounds of it, yeah, some pretty brutal weather. i have a do Did they still have the party tunnel with two Ks to go?
00:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Good. I love that party tunnel. Yeah. I mean, it's good that you're not that far away from the finish. yeah But I was like, oh, what is this now? Like, i don't want to break my ankle now in this dark.
00:06:54
Speaker
um What is it? so It's just like a tunnel with some lights. have to be bent over the whole time you're in it, though, or from memory. Like, it was pretty, wasn't very tall, and but from at least when I ran through it, they had, like, someone had put um glow sticks the whole way down it. They had someone playing music, like, pumping in a tunnel.
00:07:13
Speaker
So it like reverberates and it's really loud. And so you run in and it's like pitch black, but also there's like glow sticks around and it's really loud music pumping. and But then i found it very strange then coming back out the other end of the tunnel and you're back onto a single trail and it's real quiet again for a couple of K um to the finish.
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think you got to go through that tunnel and it's definitely better having some lights and stuff in it. Obviously, at that point, I was already ready to make it to the finish line and um Yeah, I didn't really party during the tunnel.
00:07:47
Speaker
ah i I just went with my tiny little steps so I don't roll my ankle. Yeah. And yeah, it was nice kind of once I kind of got out of that tunnel, she goes, oh, it's only 2K. So I like, okay, not that bad.
00:08:00
Speaker
um But yeah, it was pretty close to 60K. So my weight showed 59 and a half. And I was like, oh, you should have just added, because you finish on ah on a cricket field. And I was like, oh, you should have just added like one lap of the field and sort of got to 60K. And she goes, oh, no, because it has for the national champs, it had to be under sixty k Oh, crap. Oh, my gosh. So pushing the limit.
00:08:23
Speaker
but Well, and a lot of people's watches on Strava were getting over 60. So it's much of a much less, I suppose. But at the same time, yeah. Because even when I did it, my watch got 59. Like it was meant to be 58. My watch got 59 and a half as well.
00:08:37
Speaker
But my watch was probably a little over, although most people seem to go long. um I did also have fun noticing that you took a wrong turn the exact same spot I took a wrong turn when I did it. Our Stravas at that point are identical.
00:08:53
Speaker
deep Unless it wasn't a wrong turn. There's like a little out and back. No, so I think that's the extra. Maybe that's the extra. Yeah. No, there's like, it's a very noticeable little out back. And it's like, I remember it because I missed a right-hand turn on a road and it looks like you've done exactly the same thing, but maybe. It wasn't in the peak because at one peak we had to go out and back like a very small No, it was really early on.
00:09:18
Speaker
Okay. Anyways, I'll show it to you later. It was just I thought I remembered taking a wrong turn and it was a pretty short wrong turn, but then I was like, oh, wait, Vlad's done it too. And I don't think I can see it on ah on ah some other people's maps, but maybe not.
Post-Race Reflections and Recovery
00:09:33
Speaker
Anyways. um How did the shoes go, Vlad? Because I know you were saying you were like not sure whether you wanted to wear carbon plates or not. Yeah, actually, well, they went well. um I don't think like I use them like you know correctly in the way that you know I definitely slowed down every time there were rocks.
00:09:51
Speaker
um Ideally, you just want to keep pushing the whole time. um But I just think it makes a big difference. um So... Yeah. I don't know what shoes I'm going to wear for UTA, but I like the adidas in general. Obviously, they're not stable. So it's a bit... And like like we said a few weeks ago, it's like when you wear carbon shoes and you roll your ankles, there's no way of catching it.
00:10:14
Speaker
Yeah. It's definitely a bit more risky. Yeah. I think it's so much of a, on a course where it's ah more technical for longer, like you want to get to the finish line at least.
00:10:26
Speaker
Like, it yeah, I think when when you're running the risk of something that's going to either, yeah like, yes, the other pair of shoes, you might go, oh, I might be. 30 to 60 seconds slower in this pair of shoes whatever time you want to put on that but I trust I'm going to actually make the finish line versus a pair of shoes where you go yeah i might be faster but there is a genuine risk I don't make the finish line like for me that's a pretty easy choice if you want to make the finish at least yeah I think like the benefits to some people are like a bit bigger than they are for some other people yeah um
00:11:02
Speaker
But, yeah, it's such a hard, like, way. It's so hard to, like, make a decision. um Yeah, I think, and some people handle it differently. Like, you know, I've seen... um I've seen Stingray, the Filipino guy, you know, spring down technical trails with them. And obviously, you know, it's able to stay upright the whole time.
00:11:24
Speaker
um So, yeah, and obviously some Adidas runners don't really like them. Some sponsored athletes, like, you know, Adidas sponsored athletes don't really like them as well. I've heard that as well. So, yeah, it's a hit and miss. I'm not 100% sure. Like, I think the thing is, like, the more you get used to to a pair of shoes, you probably feel more comfortable in them as well.
00:11:44
Speaker
Yeah. um So like I wouldn't do a 20k trail race with technical terrain with them, but I would probably do like a 50k if it's like a bit of runnable in it.
00:11:59
Speaker
Do you know what the UTA course is like? 50k um ah the year that i did it they changed it because of the rains so the year that i did it was fairly runnable but i'm not sure if that's the i don't think that's as runnable as the original course no no yeah yeah the original not quite so much i haven't done the 50k but like there would certainly be parts hell going down kadumba pretty sure it still goes down kadumba Down the stairs?
00:12:27
Speaker
yeah No, down the really like the really long descent to the bottom of the forest, to Lura Forest. um I'm just trying to remember whether the 50K does that descent. But either way, like there'll be parts where, again, it might work in your favour. Then there's the stairs, trying to get down and upstairs. i' no i've I've never worn the shoes, so know if they're any good there. But they are obviously a fairly short period of the race.
00:12:50
Speaker
um But just message Charlie. He'll give you the tips. Yeah. Yeah, true. He ran with a carbon plate last year, didn't he? He wore the Nova Blast, which are like, they don't have a carbon plate, but they have like really stiff foam.
00:13:08
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Good to know. Well, there you go. he might be He's definitely done a lot of sessions and training and obviously on the course and obviously won. So he might be a man to ask.
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah, i think we're not far we're not far from getting a more stable carbon plate issue for the trails. um Obviously, like it's really early on. Like if you think of road running, they've been around since 2019 or 18 or even earlier.
00:13:32
Speaker
nineteen or eighteen even earlier yeah where on the trails it's, you know, North Face tried a bit at probably 2022 and added us, I guess it was last year. and So, yeah, I think like we are going to get some really good carbon play to choose for the trails that are more stable um yeah in the next few years.
00:13:50
Speaker
Yeah. It'll happen and it'll work for some people. But I'm glad they paid off for you in this one and it was probably a good course for them in the end. So, yeah. um yeah i think it's kind of like that course where 80 is is like fine and then the other 20 it just means that you just got a bit slower in those um 20 and yeah i guess if it it was more than 20 i'd probably consider something else um but then at the same time i was going to run with other shoes but then when i saw that toby's running it and I think I ran a 227 marathon, so I thought it could get pretty close. I thought, no, I might just risk it a bit more.
00:14:24
Speaker
I need my sprint finish shoes on. yeah Yeah. who Love it. Love it. So how's the body recovered afterwards? Like how you feeling today? Yeah, probably the best recovery I've ever had from a north truck ever.
00:14:37
Speaker
But that's because I had a gel literally every 20 minutes. Perfect. Lovely work. Yeah. In the heat, how did you find that? Because that can be hard in the heat. Oh, I mean, just a lot of water. So just went gels and plain water and salt tablets and it worked really well. I had probably the most water I've ever had in a race as well.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah, nice. Yeah. how It's kind of like, yeah, Billy's like, oh, yeah, let's just go hard on plain water. And, yeah, it's been kind of working quite well. Good stuff.
00:15:07
Speaker
Consuming more and more calories. And how many weeks do you TA now? It must only be a few. Yeah, think five weeks now. Five weeks, okay, cool. Well, good good that you've recovered well for the turnaround, so that's good.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, I managed to get go out for a nice six-day run this morning, so yeah, not too bad. Perfect. Before we move on to you, Jess, because we've been on the topic this whole time, I will just quickly run through the results. So this was the short trail championships for Oz ah and at five peaks over in w in South Australia.
00:15:41
Speaker
um Vlad did get the win in 5 hours, 10, 25. Toby Sparks, who Vlad's mentioned a couple of times, was second in 5 hours, 31. Third was Scott Cameron in 5 hours, 55.
00:15:55
Speaker
And then fourth overall was actually our first female. That was Lauren Mellett in six hours and seven minutes. And then second female was Ruth Eagles in six hours, 44.
00:16:07
Speaker
And third female was the local Lauren Rook backing up from Buffalo Stampede ah in six hours, 54. for third woman.
00:16:18
Speaker
ah So, yeah, looks like overall a fairly spread day, which was my experience at the race too, where there was wasn't that but wasn't a huge amount of um people running together.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah. So they had free waves. So actually like, um, yeah, obviously the eight o'clock wave that I was in, wasn't that big, but the seven o'clock and six o'clock waves were, um, a little bit bigger, which made, made the fact that, you know, you kind of see people the whole way.
00:16:48
Speaker
um So even though I made it ah made a first to the finish line, I could still see people probably till about 50K, which was kind of nice, you know. They kind of spread out.
00:16:59
Speaker
They move out of the way. They kind of say good luck and stuff. So that was a good thing about it. um Yeah, a few people ask, like, how common are waves in ultra races? Probably not very, very common, but I actually don't mind it um because it does spread things out and you get to see more people.
00:17:16
Speaker
yeah as frontru Yeah, definitely as front runners, it's not so bad at all. And did you say, was it Mick Kite that was crewing you? yeah Yeah, yeah.
00:17:27
Speaker
Love that because when I ran it in 2021, me Mick shared quite a few miles or quite a few kilometres of the race together. um We finished not far apart at the end. So it was a ah was my first experience running with Mick. It was great.
00:17:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny because I was like on the drive there. He picked me up at like 6.30 in the morning. I was like, oh, we did the same race last year. We did Eiger last year. And he goes, oh, wow, you did the 300K. And I was like, no, i did 16K.
00:17:53
Speaker
And he did the 300K. You did not do the same race as that man. and Same event. Same event. Yeah, I'll give you the same event, not the same race.
00:18:05
Speaker
Yeah, took him like literally 72 hours Yeah, wow. I was an hour 16. Yeah, he's a beast. Mick, we love you.
00:18:17
Speaker
Awesome. Well, passing it over to Jess, you recently had buffalo, didn't have the best recovery, got a little under the weather for quite a while, and how are you now?
00:18:30
Speaker
Yeah, um doing a lot better than week ago, which is good, but, yeah, just unluckily, um picked up a virus which yeah like it's a bit of a shame and um it's kind of like made me have to pull back a little bit on getting back into running just to make sure that like um I get rid of it as soon as possible because yeah I'm still hoping to do UTA 50 in five weeks time I just want to make sure that um the virus doesn't linger for too long good idea um so yeah I've just been easy jogging um
00:19:07
Speaker
Just being social with the running, just, like, catching up with people, not not getting the heart rate up too high. I've been doing a bit of gym, which has changed a little bit. um Yeah, just doing a bit more kind of like, high rep stuff, um which is pretty new to me. Like, I've been doing a lot of, like, heavy, low rep stuff. so I'm finding it quite hard, which I think is a sign that I've probably not done enough of it.
00:19:36
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah, just like I think um training a kind of different strength endurance in the muscles, um which is good.
00:19:46
Speaker
So, yeah, that's been keeping me a little bit busy. And then, yeah I guess like the most notable run that I went on was out in the Perth Hills yesterday with a friend, Brendan Burrier. Yeah.
00:20:00
Speaker
Which was lovely, yeah, so I was out in your neck of the woods, Vlad. Started at Les Merdy Falls, which there's still some water in the waterfall, which I was surprised about. um And it's still, yeah, like quite beautiful and green out there, which is nice to see because usually it's pretty dry this time of year.
00:20:18
Speaker
um Yeah, I think like with 900 metres of gain, so... nine hundred meters of gain so um it was nice to be like back out there I feel like um the trials are so fun in Perth like they're yeah not as brutal like in terms of that but still like techy enough so you're having fun and this nice single trail and like some nice little climbs to get the heart rate up but yeah I really enjoyed being back out there so that was good Perfect, perfect. And so do you think this coming week you'll be able to get back into sessions or one more week of sort of rebuilding before you do get back into anything harder?
00:20:56
Speaker
um I've just been advised by the doctor to take it easy this week. So i was going to get into ah session on Friday, just like a tempo. um Yeah, I think I'll just keep it easy this week, just for more week, yeah.
00:21:12
Speaker
Well, yeah, if you if you can if you can still get some kilometres in while recovering, like, you're not losing – you'll lose more fitness by staying sicker longer, really. so Yeah.
00:21:22
Speaker
think that's a good call. Yeah, 100%. Good. Nice one. Very, very cool. Well, I do hope the recovery continues steadily. um Thank you. And we can get back into it.
Simone's Training and Nutrition Adjustments
00:21:34
Speaker
um For me, I actually got a little sick this week too, but thankfully just a head cold. um But I still got in my biggest week in quite a while. I think it was 17 and a half hours.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. um, of running or slash on feet. So, um definitely getting up there. I managed to to, this is my last big week before I start to kind of taper off for sky running. I'm now what a week and a half, less than two weeks away from my first race. um,
00:22:06
Speaker
um I got in 7,500 of climb over about 135k, a lot of that on the treadmill. I'm getting quite a used to but B, sick of uphill treadmills um watching the YouTube. But ah yeah, I did...
00:22:26
Speaker
My usual like long uphill climb on the treadmill on a Monday. Mondays are quite big for me but all very easy um because I add in an elliptical and a swim and a sauna and it feels like I'm spending the whole day inside in a gym.
00:22:39
Speaker
But it does feel like it still gets me ready for Tuesday. Tuesday this week I tried, i well, I did double session again and a bit bigger. um So in the morning, I did five by 1500 off 90 seconds.
00:22:53
Speaker
And they went great, actually got started at 530s down to 510 for the last 1500, which used to be my 1500 race pace, which was kind of nice. I was like, great, we can now do this in a workout.
00:23:05
Speaker
um Just what one of those fun little things to tick off. Now, this was interesting, I found, because um Vlad, you you would have heard a lot about double threshold training. And one of in my head, I was like, one of the normal double thresholds I've heard people do in the afternoon, like say they've done six minute reps or whatever in the morning, which was similar to what I did.
00:23:25
Speaker
they would They would do like maybe 20 by 400 in the afternoon of short recovery. So 20 by 400 off 30 seconds. Now, I was doing an uphill session. um I was trying to do it at 15% because it's as steep as the treadmill I had access to would go.
00:23:41
Speaker
And I adapted it to 20 by 90 seconds on 30 seconds, jump off the treadmill, stand on the side. And I found it super interesting because i couldn't actually get my heart rate to stay up.
00:23:55
Speaker
Like every single 30 second time, every single time I jumped off the treadmill for 30 seconds, my heart rate would actually get back down to the sort of 130s, 140s. But I was limited mechanically. i couldn't go any faster for 90 seconds on 15% grade.
00:24:12
Speaker
So on your knowledge of double thresholds, Vlad, does that make it a failed double threshold or what would you do there? Because in my head, I was like, do I need to decrease the gradient so I can go faster and get my heart rate to stay high or am I still getting benefit from that 15% climb?
00:24:28
Speaker
There could have been a bit of a lag with a heart rate, but um I mean, I think, yeah I would have probably put the angle a bit lower. dangle a bit lower So the gradient a bit lower so you can get the heart rate a bit up. But then in my head, I was like, well, but all of most of my gradients that I'm racing on is steeper than this. So mechanically, it feels like I need that load.
00:24:50
Speaker
But then I'm not sure, like confusing the sessions in a way. Yeah, but I don't know if you would you would actually run, um you know, 20% gradient. True. So sure yeah, I think it would have got more out of doing it on 12% probably.
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah, fair. fact Got the mechanic. Well, obviously there's, you know, strength work and when you go at 15%. Yeah, because my heart rate was getting up, but only to about sort of by the time I got to the end of the 90 seconds, i was maybe at 165, 170 where i wanted to be.
00:25:24
Speaker
And I kind of expected as the reps went on that in the 30-second break, it would just stop coming down. And so then I would. But if you look at my heart rate graph, it is identical 20 times.
00:25:34
Speaker
where And I'm wearing a heart rate strap for this. So it just then it never stays high. And I'm like, okay, is this I'm fit? Is this that this is the wrong type of session for this gradient? Yeah, it was just a confusing one I found where I was like, I don't know I'm wasting time.
00:25:49
Speaker
I think it's a bit easier to do it on the track, like you said, 20 times 400 because you go a bit more by pace yeah because it's so short. So I think that, um yeah, probably just have to find that gradient that works for that effort. Yeah, I think in future I'll just do similar to the week before where I was doing longer hills and my heart rate was up. And, yes, I would take the short breaks, but i my heart rate didn't go down because I'd been going uphill for so much longer is what it felt like.
00:26:17
Speaker
Um, or it seemed to, cause if you look at the heart rate graph of my last one, where I was doing say three, four, five, six minute reps, um, even it would come down, but it would very quickly get back up to threshold and then stay there for the whole four five, six minutes or whatever. So think that's probably on the uphills and that was at 15% too, probably a better session.
00:26:40
Speaker
Still, I mean, you got too hard to work out, um, You know, in the same day. So it'll be a good training day. And even if you didn't fully hit threshold, even like doing stuff in zone three is super beneficial. Like I actually think I'm not doing enough work at zone three.
00:26:59
Speaker
um And I'll probably do a little bit more of it because literally that's what I was racing in. And a lot of races, you know, you do a lot of work at zone three. um yeah Yeah, that's my that's where a lot of my treadmill uphills have been, which I touched on again on Wednesday. I had a flat 20K and then an uphill um treadmill in the afternoon. And almost all my uphill treadmills, by the end, I'll be in zone three, just even if I feel like it's super easy at the start because you've been going uphill for so long.
00:27:27
Speaker
um So that... Actually, yeah, i'm looking I'm looking at your file right now. i actually think it was a good workout because you're still like, you know, you didn't fully hit... you know, middle of your threshold, but probably getting to 164 heart rate, bits per minute, sorry.
00:27:43
Speaker
um You're getting towards very, very very close to threshold. You're probably hitting it. So I think it's still, it was still a really good workout. Yeah, it was just one that, yeah. like and The breaks weren't like long enough for it to really drop down.
00:27:58
Speaker
so I mean, it means that your heart rate, average ah or heart rate was pretty solid for the whole workout. It was, you Yeah, good. I was probably like 155. Yeah, fair. fair I'll take it.
00:28:08
Speaker
um I'll take it. it worked Yeah, it felt good and I felt strong. This was the first week where it was like I'm doing a lot and I'm like, okay, feel fit right now. um That all went to absolute hell in a handbasket on Thursday when I woke up with a head cold.
00:28:22
Speaker
But it was one of those ones where I was like, okay, this feels 100% like above the shoulders. I've just got a blocked nose. And that whole feeling where like you almost need to equalize your ears constantly.
00:28:34
Speaker
Just my sinuses were all blocked up. So i still went out and did my session, which I counted this as a gym session. Don't know if it technically would be, but I was doing, i did ah my warm-up and cool-down for my actual heel session was a Glasgow rep with a 10-kilo weight vest on.
00:28:51
Speaker
And I forget how much those things like just Glasgow for anyone that's never done it, never been to Melbourne. We've talked about it a few times before. one point four k with 400 meters climb ah times it's 35-ish percent towards the top.
00:29:05
Speaker
um So yeah, doing that with the 10-keel-day weight vest. Actually, by the end of the warm-up, I was like, my legs feel shocking. Because it took an hour to get up and back with the weight vest on. um But yeah, just another. And then I practiced with poles instead of I wasn't going to do this session with poles because I am faster without them. I'm not efficient with poles.
00:29:25
Speaker
But I knew I needed to go a bit easier. And I did four Kaima reps. We've got this awesome 400 meter super steep gradient um gravel. ah called Kaima Track in at Mount Dandenong.
00:29:38
Speaker
And four reps continuous is 3.2K with 500 up and down. um So it turns into a pretty brutal continuous session there with the poles.
00:29:50
Speaker
um But yeah, that was Thursday and then the weekend um again, trying to get in just that double long run stimulus. So two hours at Fernie on Saturday, still feeling pretty shocking. So I had to go real slow.
00:30:04
Speaker
Like I was forever trying to keep, my heart rate was actually fine. Just my perceived effort was not fine for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. um was just, everything was a bit,
00:30:15
Speaker
harder than it should felt harder than it should be um so yeah ended up I finally got an effect like I finally actually did the full Glasgow um segment but it was so depressing because it took like nine almost 90 minutes longer than the week before when I didn't quite get the whole segment because of the fire so sad times there but um yeah are you practicing with poles because you're going to use them in your races I'm practicing with poles because long-term I really need to um because I know like scientifically for what I do, poles on the right terrain will help.
00:30:49
Speaker
I'm on the right gradients for them to be quite a big assistance. And yes, I'm getting so much more comfortable with them, um but I'm still on that edge of I think I'm faster without them.
00:31:01
Speaker
But I also had poles out for most of my Sunday run doing Megasaw this week. And I have this thing where like once the poles are in my hand, running with them feels like hiking with them feels much easier, but then I'm much less likely to break into a run when I would otherwise start running.
00:31:22
Speaker
um And then also i'm I am absolutely shocking at getting those things in and out of my quiver. Like that is an art form, getting them out and putting them back. And obviously while I'm still doing, I'm doing these races at Skyrunning that like they're short but they're long and I'm like, and do i don't do I want the faff of knowing that I actually hesitate to put them away because I'm so bad at putting them away and then I hesitate to get them out because I don't want to put them away.
00:31:53
Speaker
They're a bit of a liability with me at this point still and i they shouldn't be but um undecided. And this was me trying to decide, i suppose. I'll take them and I'll do some course checks and um' I'll take them out on the course checks just to see how it is.
00:32:10
Speaker
um But at this point I'm going to say that I probably wouldn't race with them would be my guess for myself. And what about um nutrition? Have you sorted out that issue yeah you were having with fructose?
00:32:25
Speaker
Yes. so unfortunately, i had like i i've seen ah finally saw gastroenterologist, had all the tests. um I'm now on a daily medication to help with gastroparesis, which I have had for a very long time. I just kind of thought it was no longer too much of a problem.
00:32:44
Speaker
um But essentially, I take a medication that just ah speeds up everything going through your system um and stops things from sitting in your gut but I am also avoiding all fructose so I've had to do a complete revamp um and the find take I'm taking an only maltodextrin or like maltodextrin is a branch chain of glucose essentially so it's pure glucose but just built differently and then or pure glucose powder ah in all of these runs I've been taking in just maltodextrin gels um and that's actually been working really well I was getting um honestly I gave up on nutrition on Sunday that became more of a hike and it was just whatever got me to the finish line I stopped at the cafe halfway for a coke and lemon squash and all sorts of things
00:33:36
Speaker
um But the week before I got in 80 grams of carbs an hour, pure maltodextrin gels the whole time. So that, and that felt fine. um So I think that'll be my go-to.
00:33:48
Speaker
It's still in some ways a bit of an unknown area for me because I haven't done that many races trying to do my nutrition this way. um But it was interesting talking to the gastroenterologist because I was like, well,
00:34:01
Speaker
I've read so much into this into nutrition about how going high carb, you need the mix of glucose and fructose in order to actually go high carb. And she was like, no just taking glucose, multidextrin, and then your gut will still adapt to taking in more and more of it.
00:34:18
Speaker
So, yeah, essentially I've had to revamp it, but it does appear to be working. I haven't felt sick on any of these runs and I'm back to getting... by no means high carb i wouldn't call 80 grams an hour that high um so but it's enough it's still quite high yeah it's enough it's definitely enough for sure um so but i think if i'm even hitting so if i'm hitting 60 to 80 in these next two races i will be happy and i'll be trying to just push that up as i get towards the longer stuff like ccc um will be the plan
00:34:53
Speaker
and what I'm trying to do. But it's very slow process. Like I've gone back to the beginning of gut training, it feels like, where I have to slowly go up again. But yes, in answer to that, I figured out something.
00:35:08
Speaker
That's good. That's good to hear. Yeah, see how it goes. But anyways, that is me. I am very happy to have reached some form of taper. um Today wasn't much of a taper at all. My taper probably begins more like, oh, I don't do a double session tomorrow. I just do easy uphill in the afternoon. So that'll be the first taper-like activity um reduction.
00:35:31
Speaker
um But, yeah, fly out in a week and scared as I've ever been for a race. So this is fun. Yeah.
00:35:41
Speaker
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00:35:57
Speaker
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00:36:18
Speaker
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00:36:31
Speaker
Head to the BICS website, stock up and don't forget to use the code PPP for 20% off. Stay fueled, stay hydrated and keep chasing those peak pursuits.
Diet and Nutrition Insights for Athletes
00:36:46
Speaker
Now, moving on to, and we've got a quick listener question, which actually the question you've just asked me is kind of on point with this. um This was actually sent in a while ago from Bridget Lunn. Shout out, Bridget.
00:36:58
Speaker
um she Anyone that's listening to this episode will be hearing from her soon on our Targeting the Ticket Golden Trail series. There'll be another episode of that dropping this week.
00:37:09
Speaker
But Bridget sent in a question ages ago that we haven't gotten to yet, and that is tips on daily nutrition, like what we eat as part of our fueling our training and on a daily basis.
00:37:22
Speaker
And she's asking it because she's looking for tips for meals and snacks to take to uni. So Jess, I'm going to throw to you first. Daily nutrition sort of, don't need to go into too much detail if you don't want to, but just in terms of like what is some of your go-to meals or snacks to actually fuel the training that you're trying to get done around work and those sorts of things? It's definitely like not something that I've nailed, I don't think, but like I think I've learnt a lot since I was at uni and I think like the biggest thing is trying to get as much like
00:37:56
Speaker
trying to get a source of protein in every meal um because that just really helps, I think, like with energy, like staying fuller for longer. I think I used to try and just have like a lot of snacks when I was at uni, like, i don't know, carrots, crackers, hummus, used to be obsessed with hummus and peanut butter.
00:38:20
Speaker
um But I think it's – Probably, like, especially if you're exercising before you go to class, like, I think having a decent meal is, like, really important on because I just – think you're able to get, um yeah, like a lot more protein in. um Something recently that I've changed a little bit is like i around caffeine.
00:38:44
Speaker
um So making sure that I eat before I have coffee in the morning um and drinking a lot of water first thing in the morning, I've found that's helped a lot with – not feeling like sick um from like I think the coffee kind of like probably makes your stomach quite acidic if you have it without food. And I also think the caffeine lasts a bit longer if you have it after food so you don't have to have the second coffee later in the day which can like mess with your sleep and stuff.
00:39:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that's probably like the extent of my knowledge on this topic. So currently what if you – didn't have long or you had to just pack a snack for work or something, what are some of your go-tos?
00:39:30
Speaker
To be honest, it's like whatever I have in the fridge, like mainly leftovers. But being a vegan, like I i would literally just take like a packet of tofu and rice.
00:39:41
Speaker
right um Actually, I've gotten into like instant soups that like have like lentils and chickpeas and stuff. um They're really easy. but um Yeah, I don't know. i'm not I'm not the best.
00:39:55
Speaker
in this sort of stuff, in this space. So, so fair. Vlad, what are some of your go-tos in nutrition? What have you learned over the years, I suppose, about how to fuel for what you've done, what you're doing?
00:40:09
Speaker
Just consume a lot of calories. So, yeah, I've been vegan for 13 years now, 14 years, so quite a while. um yeah And it's definitely changed over time. I think touching back on what Jess said about coffee, I've also made that change. that So I'll wake up, have a big glass of water, and then have a decaf coffee.
00:40:26
Speaker
um i love the taste of coffee, but then I'll have first have a decaf coffee, um then have – literally like sourdough bread with um Vegemite and avocado and nutritional yeast and then i would have my real coffee and I think that makes a massive difference with energy levels um not have like kind of waiting for your first caffeine hit for like at least an hour and a half an hour um after you wake up that really made a big difference especially with like
00:40:58
Speaker
just during the day not having like the energy dips. So yeah, for any like I know for years I used to have a coffee first day in the morning. um But yeah, that made a big difference in the past kind of year.
00:41:10
Speaker
So if you are somebody that has like energy dips during the day, give this a try. I'm not sure that would work for everybody, but has worked for me. My wife does it as well. And she said she feels a lot better.
00:41:22
Speaker
by waiting for that caffeine hit. um But yeah, usually I have, yeah, a lot of rice, a lot of tofu. think tofu is pretty easy to kind of cook and take take with you. So I do a lot of rice and tofu, a lot of hummus as well.
00:41:39
Speaker
Actually, I have a lot of pastas as well. So I know this is not talking about snacks, but generally like, you know, have lentils for dinners and yeah, a lot of salads. I probably like don't eat as much fruit is what I used to. So I used to like go through stages where I would have like 10, 15 bananas a day. That does not surprise me at all.
00:42:01
Speaker
Yeah, no, it was fine. Like for a long time, it worked really well and it probably would still work. ah Yeah, don't know, going through a different stage now. So I have, I've started having a bit more protein, but I never used to.
00:42:14
Speaker
um Probably the last two years I've started having protein shakes. So I've, I have maybe like four or five protein shakes a week. um And yeah, before that I didn't. So was pretty low on protein for a long time, but felt okay. But yeah, from reading a lot of stuff as you get older, it's probably more and more important.
00:42:35
Speaker
I don't know if it was important for recovery before because I always recovered fairly well. So I never... tried to get protein and you know went a lot like for for a good time I was probably 95% raw vegan and I was still running every day and and probably hitting 100 miles a week but yeah I don't know if I feel better with the protein now or not I just there's a lot of studies about when you get older you need more so yeah um that's why I've been consuming it yeah but there's definitely good research on that
00:43:07
Speaker
yeah but yeah usually i have like like i don't touch anything process unless it's like right next to training or a hard session um so actually start i have like um a high carb powder probably like an hour and a half before um any key sessions and i just sip on it slowly and then drink it throughout the session and then finish it off right after the session and that's something that like A lot of the guys in our training group have been doing and actually been performing a lot better.
00:43:39
Speaker
um Just getting simple sugars right before, during and right after um training. So I actually do that more and more now. That means I don't have to think too much about eating before training, which, you know, if your gut is not happy with, you know, volume in it while you do hard reps on the track, it's definitely like an easy way of getting calories in.
00:44:00
Speaker
um So yeah, I think that my snacking is actually probably just like basic sugars from the Bigg's Performance dealer. Nice. i That works too. Otherwise it's all meals. Like, you know, it's all meals.
00:44:14
Speaker
I have obviously some nights where I'm like a bit hungry at night and I might have a handful of nuts and some fruit. um But I also try not to eat too close to bed. Otherwise it definitely affects your sleep.
00:44:26
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Fair, fair, fair. Well, I'll give a slightly different perspective. um I was vegan for eight years, but with trying to combine vegan with celiac with fructose struggles is not a fun combination. So we um ahve I've had to make a big shift in my nutrition probably in the last year or two um and am no longer vegan. But that means There's a whole new world out there of ways I've had to be with my nutrition. But I will say my first tip, Bridget, specifically for you since you asked this question, my every single day of uni pretty much my lunch was leftovers from the night before because you do yourself a massive favour if you just cook double dinner and that's your lunch the next day, whatever it is. It doesn't even matter what meal it is most of the time.
00:45:18
Speaker
Even if it was burgers, I'd just make another burger for the next day. like It's so fine. Anything i'm I want to cook and i want at least two meals out of every single cooking episode that I have to do.
00:45:29
Speaker
So um double whatever you cook at night and have that for lunch the next day at uni. That is my biggest tip, um especially when unis often are very good at having microwaves and places to reheat stuff or even Jaffa lions. We had Jaffa lions and everything at uni. So go for that.
00:45:47
Speaker
um But, yeah, my nutrition, like it's probably breakfast has never changed. It's toaster English muffins with peanut butter. Sometimes peanut butter and Vegemite, which people always come at me for.
00:45:58
Speaker
But honestly, that's i love it. That's crook.
00:46:02
Speaker
I don't even care. It's like it'll be unsalted peanut butter and then salty Vegemite. You put them both on a nice hot piece of toast where the peanut butter gets all melty, I promise it's nice. Anyways, then I snack on a lot of banana bread, currently hot cross buns.
00:46:21
Speaker
um Those are some of my go-tos. Or I'll have protein shakes um now. I used to do a lot of up and goes. um The dairy-free up-and-goes for me because I still don't have any dairy, um but they have really good, easy-to-grab up-and-goes.
00:46:38
Speaker
You can have the dairy or the dairy-free. um But around training, I'll always have eaten a meal, maybe a snack, I mean, two hours before. Often that is just more peanut butter on English muffins or hot cross buns.
00:46:51
Speaker
um currently hot cross buns because they're available everywhere. But my favourite snacks throughout the day evolved from probably some more natural foods, I suppose, but now I very much am going to grab carby something that's prepped.
00:47:07
Speaker
um I will home make some banana bread when I can. um Otherwise, I just buy some good – I will still buy the vegan um banana bread from Coles. There's vegan gluten-free banana bread, which is absolutely bomb.
00:47:20
Speaker
but um But yeah, there'll be my snacks are almost always bread based at this point. And I have found that's made a huge difference for me for settling my stomach before a session. um For me, it feels better to have something in my stomach two hours to an hour and a half to two hours before, like not immediately before.
00:47:37
Speaker
But I couldn't do just a liquid carb before a session. I think I would feel hungry um too much maybe. I don't know. Just I want the food. um So I probably find I do have my three meals, but I probably have like five or six snacks throughout the day.
00:47:54
Speaker
One of them might be a smoothie or a protein shake, but a lot of them will be your carby-based things. Or a day like today with lots of training, my um snacks were also during training lollies.
00:48:06
Speaker
I just have a bag of lollies that comes to every single elliptical and uphill treadmill run with me. So because of how much time I'm training, I find that it's an easy run, sure, and it only goes for an hour. But if I'm at least fueling that run, because that run is when I would normally have a snack, I need something.
00:48:23
Speaker
um So there will be forever a bag of lollies in my bag for during sessions. Um, but I definitely do try and have just that super processed sugar immediately before or during.
00:48:37
Speaker
And then after it'll be the rice, the pastas, chicken pesto pasta is probably my favorite dinner. Um, cause it's replaced my tofu pesto pasta, but, um, things like that are going to be the more i I've always learned. it It amazes me now how much I eat now versus how much I used to eat when I very first got into running is probably almost double um of what I used to eat and I feel so much better for it. It is amazing but I'm definitely ah huge snacker and the easiest things to grab the better.
00:49:11
Speaker
so um Yeah, I think I used to have so many of those little nut balls and protein balls, like bliss balls were such a huge thing for a long time. and But I just find those, like I can't, they fill me up too much and to be fair now I can't have too much of the dried fruits or anything anyway. so But those didn't sit as well around training as just a simple couple pieces of toast with peanut butter or something a bit more simple and easy to digest. Yeah.
00:49:41
Speaker
I think I, one of the first things that happened when I saw sports dietitian was that they halved my fiber intake because I had too much fiber every single day when I was trying to have so much natural unprocessed.
00:49:55
Speaker
And I was vegan at this point in time, but the dietitian was like, all this fiber is actually stopping things moving through your system. Cause it was like, way too much. And even by halving what fiber I was taking in, I was still getting in what would be classed as a hell of a lot of fiber.
00:50:10
Speaker
And that did make a huge difference to my training and just how I felt in general and it being able to get in a bit more um of the energy that you need to actually train. So that one surprised me because I feel like It's almost like you go in as a runner to a dietician and what is normally told to people, which is the whole increased fiber, reduced salt, um not too much sugar, all those sorts of things. It's like you walk in as a runner and it's the complete opposite in some ways.
00:50:37
Speaker
Not all the time, like it's got to be time to different things. But um yeah, I also am um a person that has learned that I need to salt the hell out of my food to not get feel like i'm getting dehydrated or dizzy or like um lightheaded so a lot of salt for me because i'm prone to low blood pressure so yeah i think as endurance athletes like you shouldn't be scared of food and like you got to consume a lot of it and not not just to feel the work but also like so you have energy throughout the day like i think that that's probably one of the things that's changed since i started just feeling harder is just having more energy during the day
00:51:16
Speaker
um Yeah, i don't think people should scared and have lollies around. And yeah, especially like just before training during just consume more and more and it would make some massive difference.
00:51:27
Speaker
And honestly, when you're at uni, especially to anyone like Bridget who is at uni, when you're trying to use your brain as well as do all this training, like your brain uses so much of the glucose in our systems. It's like 20% of the glucose you eat goes straight to your brain to actually function.
00:51:42
Speaker
So I always found like that's why you get so hungry when you're studying. Like I feel like lollies were the study snack of choice as well. um But you've just got to be aware that, yeah, it's not just the training you're doing.
00:51:53
Speaker
Like life around training has to happen and it happens a lot better. Honestly, there's I don't think there's there's not many endurance athletes that train, like, not full and and not even full-time, but just at a high level.
00:52:07
Speaker
It's almost not even possible to get in too much um because you get full. Like, the number of times I've been trying to follow my dietician's plan, and I'm like, I'm trying to hit it, but I am full
Mount Solitary Ultra Results and Timing Issues
00:52:18
Speaker
right now. Like, oh, you want she wants me to have like three cups of rice at dinner.
00:52:22
Speaker
And I'm like, okay, this is actually going to take me an hour to get in, but I can do it because I know the next day then I'll feel better. um So I'm not sure there's such thing as too much when you're trying to combine a lot of things and one of them being distance running.
00:52:35
Speaker
Awesome. Hopefully that answers your question, Bridget, and it gives a few people different tips. By all means, if anyone has any follow-up questions, shoot them through. we will happily answer. um But to keep us moving along, we did have, other than five peaks, there was a couple of smaller races going on around the country.
00:52:54
Speaker
um Mount Solitary Ultra was a result I was looking up that looked definitely interesting because Sarah Levitt, has backed up. What did she do? Which race did she do at Buffalo, Jess?
00:53:05
Speaker
She did the marathon. Okay. Well, she's backed up from the marathon to go win the Mount Solitary Ultra, which is 45K and around the Blue Mountains.
00:53:17
Speaker
And that one she won over Emily Brunt in second, and there was only four minutes or so between Sarah and Emily, so 538 542.
00:53:28
Speaker
Third on the women's was Beatrice Ogilvie and she was 6 hours 32. On the men's it was actually quite close too. was ah Ronan McNally that got the win in 5 hours 18, Chris Stevens in second in 5 hours 24 and Tom Payton in third in 5 hours 28.
00:53:45
Speaker
eight Another one that I'm just having a little bit of fun tracking and, to be honest, by the time this goes out and is released, I encourage everyone to jump online and check if it's still going on because if it is, it's going to be some pretty big numbers.
00:54:00
Speaker
But ah sydney back Sydney's Backyard Ultra is currently on, still going, and they have four runners left at lap 58, one of them being Phil Gore who has gone for, I believe, what has he done, like 101?
00:54:15
Speaker
So there's every chance that if you're listening to this, um it is still going strong with multiple runners at Sydney's Backyard Ultra. ah Vlad, overseas, was there any races of note that we ah that we you were following?
00:54:31
Speaker
Oh, there's so many right now. It seems like I remember the time when the season used to this isn't just to start in May and now it's just like... Literally, there's big races all the time, except December, probably. That's what it feels like. um Yeah, there was Lake Sonoma in the US, which, I don't know, used to be a fairly big race in the US. Now there's just so many of them.
00:54:52
Speaker
um But yeah, also UTMB, Aistra in Croatia was on and I'm sure a lot of us remember that being as like a season opener for a lot of runners but now with UTMB Chianti, I feel like a lot of people went to that so Aistra was probably just a little bit less competitive this year.
00:55:12
Speaker
There was also UTMB Desert Rats in Colorado in the US and there was also Gorge Waterfalls um which was a qualifying race for the US long um long-d distance world champ spots.
00:55:30
Speaker
So the first two male and female in the hundred k got ah um red, blue and white ticket, um which is pretty much like a golden ticket, but for the national champs, for the world champs in Spain.
00:55:46
Speaker
um So that was cool to see. I know a couple of countries are going to have their qualifying races. Germany will have theirs in June. um So yeah, I think that's pretty cool. The countries are doing some spots as qualifying races.
00:56:00
Speaker
um i So was that just for the long course? That was just for the 100K and there will be a short course qualification race um coming up for the US athletes. I'm not sure which one.
00:56:13
Speaker
So they didn't do like the 30K for that same event was for the short trail? No, only the 100K was a qualifying race for them. um And, yeah, I just saw Adam um adam Peterman. Peterman?
00:56:28
Speaker
yeah Yeah, got the spot. Yeah, we want to go through all the results because there's so many of them. But um yeah, got the long course spot. um Yeah, talking about spots. I did talk with Toby while we were running. He put his name down. um Yeah, shout out to Toby who is a podcast listener. Oh yeah. We're on Team Watch. Australian team.
00:56:50
Speaker
team and Yeah, I actually had a good chat with him. um I really think he's going to be, he hasn't been running for too long. So I think in the future, he's going to be winning a lot of ultra races, super talented runner.
00:57:02
Speaker
I think like he's not fully into running as well, um which is a bit scary to think like, you know, once he actually goes in all in on running, um he'll be a very, very good runner, which is good for us. um I'm sure it would make a lot of Australian teams. Hopefully it'll make this one. I know that um I've spoken to a couple of people that put their name down for the short trail.
00:57:22
Speaker
um so yeah, it'll be interesting to see what they're gonna do. Yeah, and with nominations closing two weeks ago now, um ah should hopefully at some point soon we'll have a team.
00:57:35
Speaker
ya but Yeah, shouldn't be too far away. it would be nice if we did have a race. So like, you know, they could say, hey, we have five spots and this race you get two um automatic organizations.
00:57:48
Speaker
Because I think like, you know, the race, yeah, yesterday wasn't as competitive as what it should be. um And I think just offering, you know, even if it's one or two spots would have made a big difference and we would have seen more people come in and just give it a shot.
00:58:01
Speaker
um You know, like a day like tomorrow, the hit is a great equalizer, right? So anything can happen, like, you know, happen at the hit. Like there was a South Australian 225 marathon runner um out there that just, you know, probably could have had a good day and a shot of winning, but obviously a struggle and a hit.
00:58:19
Speaker
um Yeah, okay. So, yeah. Interesting. Yeah, it is it is. It wasn't interestingly timed and unfortunately timed in some ways, like for such a beautiful race that Five Peaks is.
00:58:32
Speaker
um The timing of it being the championship this year, or maybe in particular, but was seemed somewhat unfortunate for getting the field that it deserves um because it's after the callup after the nomination period's closed.
00:58:47
Speaker
So it doesn't have any standings for this year's world champs when normally it would win. or should that year's national champs. And then obviously it is very close to some of the bigger races that were in the period. So when once you've got Buffalo, Kunani and a number of other bigger races that are in a period for people going for world champs, something that is only a week or a week and a half out of the period, not long after those events, I think is going to always be weakened um by that, just the schedule, the date occurrence, which is unfortunate.
00:59:20
Speaker
for a championship, but at the end of the day, so many people are going for the world champs team that you've got you you have to go based on the selection criteria and the dates they give. Yeah.
00:59:31
Speaker
Surely they would notice that, though. Yeah, I know. Like, don't worry. there's There's definitely part of me going, okay, someone didn't quite think this through, at least for this year. Like, I would have loved to see Five Peaks be maybe even for next year and it's the qualification for APAC championships, um trail championships.
00:59:51
Speaker
The date is after this race and this is a qualifier. Can you imagine the race that you could put together at Five Peaks? It would be amazing. It's a great course. It's definitely... Like it's great for some people and in different parts and it's long enough that it'll spread out the field for sure and those sorts of things. So I think in future and hopefully the sport goes this way, it could be something awesome like that where we have a race.
01:00:15
Speaker
We have enough um time in advance to be told, yep, this is a qualifying race and there's two spots up for grabs or even just one spot up for grabs you're still going to get a bunch of people rocking up trying to get that spot and it'll be amazing and yes in an ideal world I think our national championships should always be in the period that allow nomination or can be put on your nomination for a world championships that to me is kind of like a duh moment of that just makes sense people but This year, for whatever reason, it didn't pan out that way. And the the way that the events were selected, I don't have, I'm not privy to any information about why that was.
01:00:55
Speaker
um But 100% talking hypothetically, I think we could in Oz now, we're in a spot where we could have some amazing national championship races where even top, like top two, top three, getting a spot on a six-person team for APAC or world champs Like I think that would yield a growth in the elite side of the sport and just some of the best races we've seen on the soil at events like Five Peaks, which are actually brilliant events for it, but just on a different time and maybe set up differently in terms of this schedule and the calendar.
01:01:31
Speaker
um Yeah, a big shout out to to the trail community here in South Australia. Oh, they're amazing. That's what I mean. They could put this on amazingly. I know they could.
01:01:42
Speaker
I was like, even when you look at the start list, there was eight females on the start list and that is not an ideal place to be in um in the sport at this point. But at the same time, I felt for them because I was like, you've been stitched up by the calendar this year.
01:01:58
Speaker
because so many people would have been there if the nomination, the selection criteria and those things actually worked in the favour of having, of championing our national championships.
01:02:08
Speaker
Like you as a national champion, ah lot ah not that long ago would have an automatic spot now to go to Welds. and But it's not set up. like It feels like we're in a slightly messy period in between um two very different periods in trail running in Australia where everything was quite separate and now things have come together. There's a lot of teething problems and then hopefully things get streamlined down the track.
01:02:33
Speaker
But, yeah, essay I love you. And to ah to all the people are listening in SA because I know there's a few of them. We've had some messages from them. You guys are incredible and it would have been an incredible event. I just wish that the whole, the calendar as a whole would have worked in your favour to put this on in the way that hopefully in future for Oz, these championships are able to be put on because it would, it could be very special.
01:02:56
Speaker
And credit to Adelaide. I think that, like, you know, the trail accessibility here and the whole trail network here, it'd be pretty easy to... I love that. Just giving kudos to the land right now.
Adelaide as a Trail Event Hub
01:03:08
Speaker
It'd be pretty easy to put in a big, like, event, you know, in South Australia. Like, I feel like... Oh, yeah. I don't know.
01:03:16
Speaker
i don't I guess Perth has got Margo River that sells out. Not a very competitive race, but definitely does really well. Where South Australia, i don't know, maybe... you could easily put a really cool event here. And I know they have a lot of cool ones, but they deserve like some, a lot more attention because I really think that the trails here are really, really cool.
01:03:35
Speaker
Yeah. Easy to get to as well. Like it's just, yeah, so easy. Yeah. East coast and west coast meet in Adelaide. Let's do this guys. Yeah. Yeah, they've got some very cool events, the the Hasten, the they've got their 550 series, which I think is a very cool thing and and a very cool initiative they've got going on. So Adelaide, we love what you're doing.
01:03:55
Speaker
And I think, yeah, just shout out to the race organisers because I've heard that they put on a lot of races for very reasonable prices where, like, you know, i ah ah entries around Australia for trail ris races are just going up and up and up. Trail running.
01:04:09
Speaker
essay Yeah, here you can do some really cool races for really reasonable prices. So well done to the race organisers here. Love your work. Awesome. Well, on that note, a very quick shout out to what is coming up next week and the races that I've been able to look up.
Upcoming Races and Listener Engagement
01:04:25
Speaker
It is a more quiet week before we get, again, busy.
01:04:28
Speaker
ah But there's Maroondah Dam Trail Runs, which is a bigger one here in close to Melbourne. There's actually a couple close to Melbourne because Sree Chinmoy Yarra Trail Runs also so on. Falls Creek Fun Run, which I've never heard of before, but given how many runners go to Falls Creek every year, that's cool to see.
01:04:45
Speaker
And then the Wild Horse Criterium in Queensland, um which I did have to look up because being called a criterium, um it is a lapped course, but it's 10.7K laps.
01:04:57
Speaker
And they do, depending on what distance you do, every time you do a lap, you do it in the opposite direction to your previous lap. So thought that was cool. um But that's up in Queensland for next week.
01:05:07
Speaker
And otherwise, Jess, you're getting back into training. Anything else on the life front? Obviously coming back to Canberra, I assume. Yeah, we're flying back tomorrow. um Yeah, I guess it'll be Easter and, yeah, a few public holidays coming up, which would be nice. I'll probably try and.
01:05:27
Speaker
get up to the Blue Mountains, maybe not next week but the weekend after if I'm feeling good, get a little course recce in. Perfect. Love the sound of that. Hopefully it goes better than the last course recce that you had on this podcast.
01:05:40
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully my knees will remain unscathed. Yep, yep, let's go with that one. And, Vlad, you're headed home tomorrow? Yeah, flying back tomorrow. Hopefully, can get back to normal training and keep building up that volume.
01:05:55
Speaker
Actually, can be happy with last week. Still hitting, yeah, almost 13 hours of running. So that was a big win. I did notice that. Not much of a taper. No, not much. And I think that works for me. I always knew that I'm not a big taper person. And um as long as the final two days before a race are a bit easier, I usually do okay. So, yeah.
01:06:15
Speaker
Nice. Nice. Well, good luck getting back into it. And to everyone listening, thank you very much. Please keep all listener questions, feedback. To everyone that messaged to say that they have listened to every single podcast, you guys are my favourites.
01:06:28
Speaker
Thank you so much for the messages because it is beautiful to hear. Sometimes, it can a little bit feel like we're just talking to each other and having no idea who this is reaching or where it's getting. So any feedback and messages that you guys send through are so, so much appreciated. So thank you.
01:06:44
Speaker
um And yeah, any listener questions, anything you want us to just chat about, let us know. Otherwise, thanks for listening, everyone. And we'll speak to you next week. you guys. See you guys.