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14. One race, three endings: The power of patience, mental resilience and optimism with Lou Clifton
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Today's guest, Lou Clifton, is an inspiration to so many in the Australian trail and ultra running scene. Lou discovered the world of trail running in 2014 and has since gone on to grace trails and podiums both nationally and abroad. Not only is Lou an elite kick-ass athlete, but she is also incredibly kind, patient, determined, and, pragmatically and unwaveringly, optimistic.
These two conversations span two years, both fresh off one of Lou's most elusive races - The Grampians Peaks Trail 100 Miler. A lot can happen in two years, and these two conversations bookend a challenging time that tested Lou's mental resilience and patience.
Follow Lou's adventures and races on Instagram at @loumclifton or on Strava.
To hear more from For Wild Places, subscribe to our newsletter or become a member.
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to
Introduction and Acknowledgments
00:00:02
Speaker
the For Wild Places podcast. I'm your host, Hilary, and today we're joined by one of the most hardworking, humble and accomplished women in the Australian ultra running scene, Lou Clifton.
00:00:13
Speaker
Before we jump into it, I'd like to pay my deepest respects to the custodians of the country that I'm on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and acknowledge that here in Australia, we are all on unceded lands.
00:00:24
Speaker
I am deeply grateful to the First Nations people for caring for these lands we call home for tens of thousands of years and hope that we can continue to honour their ongoing care for country. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Lou Clifton's Running Journey
00:00:39
Speaker
Today's guest, Lou Clifton, is a long-time friend of FWP, having attended the Pillow the Ultra twice, as well as our 2023 Mount Hotham camp. Lou is an inspiration to so many, myself included.
00:00:51
Speaker
She came to ultra running later in life and has gone on to grace the trails and podiums in both Australia and abroad. She personifies the best qualities of the trail and ultra running community.
00:01:02
Speaker
Kindness, patience, immense dedication and an unwavering positivity. Both of these conversations, the first in 2023 and the second in 2025, come fresh off the back of one of the toughest and seemingly elusive races of loose schedule, the Grampians Peaks Trail 100 miler.
00:01:19
Speaker
From mental resilience to the patience of recovery and the constant juggle of training and work, We cover it all in these conversations. Despite, or maybe because of, the setbacks of injury, Lou is a very contemplative and self-aware person, and it was a pleasure to be part of this initial conversation with Will in December 2023. Welcome, everybody, to This Is Easy This One, for Wild Places' 20th Trail Chad presented by For Wild Places, this supported by Smartwool. My name's Will and my pronouns are he, him. I'm based in Port Kembla on beautiful Darawal land. And I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our respects to elders past and present.
00:02:03
Speaker
For Wild Places is a group of activist runners with a purpose to use our love for trails as a tool to make a difference. to protect our planet and its wild places. If that sounds like you, check us out and consider joining up today. We organise these chats roughly once a month to talk life, running sports activism with special guests. We're very stoked this month to bring you a super special guest for Wild Places member, in fact, excitingly.
Challenges and Recovery
00:02:29
Speaker
She was in her mid forties when she took up running. Apparently, i just read this, one of her Airbnb guests was planning to run 40 Ks in the Blue Mountains. And she was like, how is that even possible? Since then, she's represented Australia twice at the World Trail Championships.
00:02:45
Speaker
She came first in her age group, 17th female overall at the 2022 UTMB. Took out the Grand Slam at the Buffalo Stampede, 153 included a win at the K event.
00:02:58
Speaker
All of this on her 50th birthday weekend. She also came in at third at UTA 100 this year. She was a guest at our For Wild Places camp earlier this year, so a bunch of you have been lucky enough to already meet her.
00:03:10
Speaker
She worked for Greenpeace for many years and she now works for New South Wales National Parks. Please welcome Lou Clifton. Lou. Hi, hello. Thanks for inviting me on. but Good to see you all.
00:03:22
Speaker
Thank you for coming. I promised we'd just jump straight in to this question of Lou. We were so sorry. We heard about the rolled ankle in the Grampians recently. For folks out there who don't know, Lou was competing in the Grampians Peaks Trail, the GPT-100, until a badly rolled ankle forced her out at, I think, around 90 Ks. Lou, I can see on Strava you're cranking out the Zwift bike pretty much every day.
00:03:47
Speaker
How are you going? Much better. Obviously the week, well, the rolling my ankle in the race and um having to kind of hobble over wet boulders for eight kilometres to get to the next aid station was at two in the morning. Getting there at about five in the morning was not particularly pleasant, especially, yeah you don't mind a bit of pain in a race, but when you've got the pain knowing you're just about to pull out, it's a bit grim. I looked pretty bad. i was in a moon boot with crutches for a few days. um But yeah, it's it's starting to come good now. Just trying to keep fit on there on the bike, as you've seen.
00:04:22
Speaker
you mentioned earlier that it's not 100%, but you were feeling good about it. What's your plan for the next little while? Yeah, so I seem to manage to roll it both ways somehow. There's some ruptured ligaments and some bone bruising. As my physio said and the nurse said, you did a very good job on that. So um so it's a little bit swollen and there's a little bit of pain in there. It's not really quite ready for the impact of running just yet, but hopefully i might be able to start back in ah in a week, I'm hoping. um but I'm just about to go see some family over Christmas and I won't have my bike. So I'm of hoping thing I'll just get out for some walks and maybe try and do a few few little steps and see how it feels.
00:05:04
Speaker
But yeah, I want to be really careful. I've definitely not listened to my own advice that I give people in the past and push through injuries and then they've just lingered for a really long time. So yeah, I don't want that. So I'm trying to be patient this time.
00:05:19
Speaker
I noticed in one of your posts, you said, um ironically, the year ended in a similar way as it started with an injured right leg. um How's the knee? Like, is there any good news here? Is the knee good? Yeah, the knee's good. The knee was a bit of an interesting one.
00:05:35
Speaker
I sort of had a string of injuries. I had hamstring, high hamstring tendinopathy for quite a while. And just as that was coming good, my knee blew up in a run. That was quite an issue for about a year and a half until we discovered that I had schwannoma, which is like a tumor in the nerve sheet in my calf, in the tibial
Training and Balance
00:05:54
Speaker
nerve. So ah had surgery on that this time last year in November. I've been spending the whole year with it. Trying to get that right leg strong again, because the impact of that on the nerve was that my calf was quite atrophied and the leg was a lot weaker on that side. So yeah, that was a lot of effort this year, going to the gym and being really focused on that. I just decided that I couldn't really, i didn't really want to race if I didn't have that sorted out because...
00:06:20
Speaker
Yeah, it was impacting how I could run and race. The good news was a Grampian Peaks is the kind of, if I can get through this technical run with my knee without too much bother, I'll consider my rehab a success. So yeah, I think it has been a success. and I got to, you know, whatever it was, 85K and then rolled my ankle on the same leg. The knee was being pretty good till then. the World Trail Championship this year was in Austria earlier this year and I didn't apply to go on the team because I knew it was going to be a very technical course. I just didn't think I was going to be able to run it. So yeah, that that was the that was the silver lining. But yeah, hopefully hopefully I can get that ankle good a lot faster than I got the knee good.
00:07:04
Speaker
A lot of the comments on your post about this year were, oh my God, I'm just exhausted reading about it, let alone. You must still be feeling pretty good about the year. Yeah, yeah. My plan really for the year was just to race in Australia and do some smaller races and not spend money going overseas if I didn't feel fit enough to race the way I'd like to race. um you know You know, obviously anything can happen in a race, as we see, um but I just wanted to really focus on that rehab.
00:07:33
Speaker
And then, yeah, races at the beginning of the year, i wasn't really feeling particularly fit. My physio, he's actually in Melbourne, Dr. Christian Barton has been amazing. He had said within three months of starting your strength training, you should be starting to feel a bit better. And hopefully within six or eight months, you'll be back to where you'd want to be. And that was pretty much on the money. yeah. Yeah, after UTA, things picked up and that that gave me a a lot of confidence. Being able to finish third in that race was amazing. And it was, came third in 2017 in a faster time, but the course was a bit changed that year. But it was much faster than I expected I was going to be able to finish. So I was really happy.
00:08:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's brilliant. Yeah. Hey, just about GPT. I know yeah it's on the call who did it as well, but um I just wanted to ask about the course. Is it awesome? Our last chat, we chatted to Caro Ryan, who spent several days walking it and was raving about it. How did you find the course?
00:08:31
Speaker
Yeah, I'd done a bit of training out there. Actually, it was just before I came to the camp in Hotham. I had a few days in the Grampians, so i was pretty lucky earlier in the year, the GPT training camp and the For Wild Places camp were back to back. So I just had this like awesome week and a half where I went down to the Grampians and ran with Joseph and the team down there and did a bit of training on the course and went to Hotham and did the For Wild Places camp.
00:08:58
Speaker
camp what was amazing but yeah i done I'd run a fair amount of the course so I knew what to expect I'd done a lot of heat training because I expected it to be really hot but then it just bucketed with rain but but it's really stunning it's beautiful but yeah and it's very technical it's just still rocky so what can I say but there's um there's not a lot of fast running in it but interestingly a lot of the downhills seem to be quite well groomed when you're going from Mount Zero to Dunkeld So there are some nice flowy downhills off the mountains, but it's slow going. I love the rocky outcrops in the Grampians.
00:09:34
Speaker
Just on that note of slow going, can you tell us a bit about the prep? Like, you know, strength sessions, plyometrics. You mentioned it's really technical. Can you just take us through a bit more? This is something I'm quite interested in. Yeah,
Upcoming Plans and Strategies
00:09:48
Speaker
just how you were, what what your plan was like in the lead Yeah, I sort of broke my plan for the year and went to France to do CCC because I got a guaranteed entry through UTA. I was feeling that my knee was good enough to sort of go and do it. it was a good opportunity. I guess that was the kind of start of the training in some ways, because that's that's pretty technical in parts on a lot of elevation.
00:10:10
Speaker
I would have liked to have gone down to the Grampians and done more training, but it's just a really long way from the Blue Mountains and it's hard to find the time. But if I do again, I'll definitely go down and do a bit more training on the course. So I tried to choose routes in the Blue Mountains that were somewhat similar. There's been some amazing track work at a lot my national parks recently. So on the Jameson Valley side of the mountains, The trails are actually not really that technical, like there's a lot of stairs, but it's sort of quite smooth. It's not running over really uneven rocks and surfaces.
00:10:42
Speaker
I did a little bit over Mount Solitary and yeah, a little bit in the Grosse Valley, which is a bit more technical. I just tried to not default to easier biotrail runs because I knew that wasn't really going to help me. i did a bit of heat training expecting it to be really hot. I think it's a win-win when you do heat training anyway, even if it's cold and rains for two days.
00:11:02
Speaker
I mean, the strengths work, I just continued with my gym rehab that I've been doing for my knee. i did add in quite a bit of plyometrics to get the neurological pathways used to stepping off big rocks or jumping off rocks. When you've had pain in your knee for a while, it's it's kind of hard to do that. And then age plays a factor as well. You just get a bit less springy and less brave as we get older. So yeah, I just tried to really practice on more technical terrain and I did quite a lot of jumping, hopping and skipping at the gym, which is fun.
00:11:32
Speaker
You kind of lit up a bit there talking about national parks and the trails. If you don't mind me asking, what's your role at national parks? Are you involved in trail making? No, I'm involved more on the sort of visitor experience and tourism side. My title is visitor experience team leader. And yeah, I've got an amazing team to look after sort of schools at school excursions and national parks guided tours, commercial life at photography and events. And so I do interact a little bit with running events and other events that happen in the Blue Mountains area. The part I work for covers the whole of the World Heritage Area. So it's really big.
00:12:08
Speaker
We have a VISTA center and I do a lot of tourism work with tourism organizations. How do you balance work and all this intense training? I know it's it's kind of a hard one to answer because you just kind of do it. Do you have any tips for balancing the work life experience?
00:12:24
Speaker
It's pretty hard. I think everyone on the call probably will know. You just have to fit it in where you can. I guess the training has to be a priority. If it wasn't a priority, it would just wouldn't get done.
00:12:36
Speaker
Other things like cleaning the house, tidying
00:12:42
Speaker
shopping, get pushed to the bottom of the list. And then I coach as well. So this year I reduced my hours to four days a week to have a bit of extra time so I could get my coaching done on a Friday and Saturday. And I try and get all of that done. So on Sunday, I'll usually have a long run, but then I just don't want to work the rest of the day. So that's how I try and balance it.
00:13:04
Speaker
It's pretty hectic. My husband, Steve is super supportive. I totally couldn't do it if he didn't. He does a lot to help. Lou, I just wanted to ask, I noticed this year the plan was not to travel overseas, but then you did travel overseas. What are your plans going forward?
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah, so I've kind of planned my year around a couple of things I want to do i really want to do the World Masters Trail Running Championship, which is in the Pyrenees in September. So I only heard about this event last year and thought, well, it would really be good to do a race where I'm racing people the same age as me rather than 20 years younger or 30 years younger. That's kind of my a my A race, I guess. I've got some plans for a pretty epic FKT, which I've been talking to for while places about, which I'm hoping to do is sort of late April. And that will, that will probably take up planning and training up until April and then a fair bit of recovery. I've gone into the lottery for Leadville because that's been on my bucket list for a while.
00:14:09
Speaker
I've been in the lottery twice before and not got a place. If I do get in, I'll be managing or hopefully going to the States to do that in August and then to Europe to do the master's race. So that's kind of, that's kind of my plan at the moment. Have entered a race in Tassie as well earlier in the year, but I'm just going have see how the ankle goes. I'd entered it before I rolled the ankle. So yeah, have to see how that pans out.
00:14:33
Speaker
The answer is heaps. That's excellent. Yeah. I was thinking that wasn't very much. i'm sure there's some other things in there. This FKT sounds exciting. Can we talk more about that?
00:14:44
Speaker
So the plan is to complete the Australian Alps walking track. This has kind of been a seed in my head since COVID when everyone went a bit FKT crazy. I was doing a bit of a recce run out near Falls Creek, Alpine Challenge a few years ago. Steve was with me and we took shelter from a storm. These lightning storms seemed to follow me. And there was a young guy in the hut and he was walking the whole track. And so that was my first, oh, what is this? I didn't know that there was a huge route.
00:15:13
Speaker
So yeah I've been thinking about it since COVID. I haven't done a lot of detail planning. I've been sort of working through the book. And then when I was at the For Wild Places camp, came up in conversation and then the team there just kind of totally ran with it. And so um we're like, so when are you doing this? We're all coming to help. So yeah, that's really spurred me into, okay, maybe I should kind
Community and Conservation
00:15:36
Speaker
of get it together a bit and and try and make it happen.
00:15:39
Speaker
So I haven't done anything that big ever and it looks pretty gnarly at the moment. I've contacted a guy that did go out there and do it a year or so ago. So yeah, hopefully going to catch up with him and get some inside knowledge. I'm planning to do it supported. Originally I was thinking I'd like to be a real kind of purist and do it unsupported and take all my own stuff. But then I decided actually rather couple of things. I'd rather try and move faster and not have to carry a lot of gear. outs But also that would just be a solo mission. No one Also be involved. I think like having a team and working with a team and having Steve involved would just be a lot more fun. I've been planning to do it fully supported and carry minimal gear and have a bunch of really nice people setting up food and sleep for me at the end of each day. A lot of beers will have to be bought at the end of that one, I think.
00:16:32
Speaker
i Geography is not my strong point. oh yeah Where are you talking and point, which point to which point? Yeah. Okay. It's well, it's probably not mine just yet either, but um so it starts down at Walhalla south of Bright, quite a lot further south of Bright. And then um it goes through the ranges and finishes south of Canberra. I'm sure Cherie will be familiar with that area.
00:16:58
Speaker
There's different numbers thrown around the kilometres, depending on routes you take, but it's around 650 kilometres. I haven't looked at the total elevation, but I did look at one section that was 125 Ks with 8,000 meters. So yeah it's pretty, it's pretty hectic.
00:17:15
Speaker
I'm not sure how much running will happen. I think the end parts are a bit easier going. In that 100 Ks, you just climb Everest? Pretty much. but Far out. Is that 650Ks, is that a established trail or will you need to join different trails and tracks? It's all different trails that have been kind of joined together to create the Australian Alps walking track, but they're in different national parks and different states. So i think some are pretty well maintained and some less so. Same as in the Blue Mountains where the fires have gone through and then there's been massive regrowth after the year of rain, I think there's some sections that are really quite very overgrown and pretty impenetrable. So that'll be really challenging.
00:17:57
Speaker
How many days are thinking at this point you'll take? Yeah, good question. haven't quite figured it out. There isn't an SKT for a female supported. The fastest time is a mixed team who were unsupported or self-supported, and I think they did 11 or 12 days. The only female solo was an unsupported hike, and that was around 23 So...
00:18:20
Speaker
I'm kind of hoping that 12 day kind of period, I guess, but it could be quicker. Most of those people are carrying all their gear, but then I'll also be on my own. So I won't have encouragement and I might get lost a bit.
00:18:33
Speaker
Hopefully not too much. I'm not planning to navigate because my skills are not really up to scratch. So um I am going to take a GPS tracker. I'll have a map and and a compass, but yeah, I just want to, I don't,
00:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, I'd like to be pure about it, but I have to be realistic about my skills. Like I said, I kind of want to move fast. And I think some of the areas you really need to have one because you just, you know, that overgrowth kind of like shed high, it would be pretty hard to navigate, especially if my skills are not up to the standards of Carrows, unfortunately. Sure.
00:19:05
Speaker
I didn't make the camp, but that doesn't surprise me that for all places are pumped about it. Hill and Shane are down in Melbourne. Elle's a bit north of me. I'm actually in Port Cambler just a few hours out of Canberra. So um anyway, that'd be cool to sit towards the end. Come and join me for the end section. Throw you some trail brew and some food. I'll probably take anything at that point. You'll probably want real food at that point.
00:19:28
Speaker
yes yeah That's exciting. i wanted to talk more about, but I should hold off. We've hit half past at this point. Would anybody else like to ask Lou a question or make any comments or start a convo? Either just jump in or put something in the chat and I can read it out. Does anyone want to have a chat to Lou?
00:19:46
Speaker
I do have a quick question though, because I know that last year you do like the smaller races as well. And I guess A races, how do you decide, it wasn't it saying you were going head down to Tassie and that's with the friends doing nu event that event?
00:19:58
Speaker
yeah Do you have like a kind of criteria for training races that you do throughout the year? And you did the Pilgrim in its first year and so you did London Mountain and you kind of like getting out there to that grassroots level of racing as well, just to counteract UTMP vibes. Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
I do really like those smaller races. This year I did the the Washpool race, which is in Washpool and Gibraltar Rangers National Park. It's organized by Coffs Harbour Trail Runners. I did choose a lot of races this year that were listed with AURA at Australian Ultra Running Association because they have a points competition. And I thought, oh, that would be pretty cool. You know, I've never really focused on it. So I tried to pick some races that were supported by AURA. I also picked that race because I'd hiked the track many years ago with a friend on an overnight. It was my first ever multi-day, three-day overnight hike. And I was just totally did not know what I was doing, packed really heavy stuff. So I kind of really wanted to go back and say, oh, wow, now I can just run this whole loop. in a few hours and that was great. Lovely to be out there. And so I guess it depends on like the location and if it's somewhere that I have a connection with or I haven't been, but I'd like to see. And then the sort of smaller local races I like to support as well if I can.
00:21:14
Speaker
Have you got some races coming up next year Wild Places is events? Will you do the Pillager? Yes, we will do the Pillager. yeah Yeah, I'm not the same as you. I'm already like mentally in next year. Yeah. yeah i know Yeah, we're working on getting some dates together at the moment and it seems that the fires that were happening up there have calmed down and thankfully didn't make it as far south where we were as quite south of the state park. So I think we're good in that regard.
00:21:42
Speaker
We're hoping to get some dates together shortly so we can get it out on the calendar because we do know that the calendar gets very full very quickly. The time of year where everyone's planning, trying to map out what they can fit into the next 12 months. We're always...
00:21:55
Speaker
teen to like we were fighting the idea of doing invention escape plans this yeah but that didn't eventuate so that's still on the back burner and yeah it's just kind of looking where the different places are that people want to explore like you said and creating an opportunity um to to get out there but What we'd hopefully do as well is just a few more weekends where we do group runs like we're doing up at the Falls to Hotham over immediate period, just to do things as a group and have that strength in numbers. And sometimes when you're heading out into the Alpine, it can be a bit lonely and especially if cold, wet and miserable, you want the company to keep morale up.
00:22:33
Speaker
So yeah, we'll get you posted about the Liga. It's hard with the calendars. It's a busy time of year. I've formed a question if I can jump in and ask it. Go for it, though. The longer distance events and you're potentially not racing as well as what you would have liked to. How do you go about keeping your mental game in track and not trying to calculate? Well, if I go at this pace, it's going to take me this long. And do I actually want to keep going?
00:23:03
Speaker
I do a lot of maths in my head. i usually just do the same maths over and over again for many hours, which is like, why am I still going through this again? So I don't know.
00:23:14
Speaker
I guess like if it's not really... I know that it sounds kind of a bit sort of cliched, but it is just sort of being in the moment. The more events you do or even long training runs, the more you realize that things can change really quickly from good to bad, from bad to good. Generally, if I'm not feeling that great, I might think maybe I haven't eaten enough unless I'm sick. That's a whole other topic.
00:23:38
Speaker
Had lots of trouble with nausea, but generally if I'm feeling low on energy or a bit flat, then i' I'll try and it's usually i'm not having eaten or drunk enough, but yeah, just resetting as you go. Maybe you have a goal in your head and you see that slipping away. If there's something else you can reach for and make that your focus.
00:23:57
Speaker
I know in UTA because I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on myself. I hadn't felt super fit in the previous two races. I just wanted to enjoy the race. I wanted to run happy and that was my mantra and not sort of focus on time or place or any of that stuff and just really enjoy it. Obviously sometimes that's easier said than done, but that really worked for me in that race to have that focus.
00:24:19
Speaker
I did get a bit sick. I wasn't super happy during that section, but trying to be aware of your thoughts and let negative thoughts go if they pop up in your head and just sort of knowing that you can have some control over that.
00:24:31
Speaker
Your thoughts just come and go all the time. And you can just like notice them and let them go. i was listening to this app called Waking Up quite a bit at the time, which is ah it's kind it's like it's meditation. It's really helpful in that ah awareness of what's going through your head and trying to have some ways of dealing with that.
00:24:52
Speaker
Hope that helps. Yeah, I use that app too, Lou, and it's good because it's like the Stoics often. So it is that sense of like, yeah, Stoic wisdom, which can be very helpful in those challenging times.
Mindfulness and Strength Training
00:25:04
Speaker
Yeah, I found it really useful. I mean, I've fallen off using it a little bit recently, but I was using it a lot at the beginning of the year. And I was also trying to use it for sort of pain management as well. You know, that kind of expectation that you're going to have pain. And it's just really super interesting, thing the link between pain and your mind and your thoughts. I found it really helpful. I guess maybe it's telling that I haven't been using it so much because I've been in this pain. Yeah. Sometimes you just kind of give up and think, you know, it is what it is. I'm not going to try and be positive about it. It's just a bit stupid. I like the idea that your thoughts can just arise, you know, they're just arising all the time and then you can choose to focus on that thought and hang onto it or you can just not.
00:25:46
Speaker
So yeah, it's hard, but it's very interesting. Lou, if you don't mind me asking, i asked before about specific training around the GPT, but um I was just going to ask you about strength.
00:25:59
Speaker
I'm heading into the back end of my 40s now and not doing a great job of staying injury free. I'm trying to, yeah, work out the balance between strength keeping running fun and maintaining strength and all that kind of thing. I just wanted to like, have you got a normal routine?
00:26:17
Speaker
Like how many times you hitting the gym? Do you cycle in general or is that just a recovery thing now? Like, yeah, what what's your ah strength through routine to make sure you're not losing muscle mass as we all get on? I've been really good with it this year. In the past, I've intended to, you know, I'll go to the gym or do strength training two or three times a week, but it has been that lower priority thing that gets dropped off quite a lot. I've noticed going to the gym,
00:26:41
Speaker
This year, two or three times a week, every week, pretty much, unless I'm sort of tapering or recovering, it's made a huge difference, not only to my knee, but I've actually had no other injuries apart from rolling my ankle, which was nothing to do with it strength training or anything like that. It was just a unfortunate, you know, slippery bit of rock that was on an angle. So, i mean, I've been doing the same exercises that my physio gave me at the beginning of the year, twice a week for the whole year. so um I don't really have to think about it. I've built up the weight since the beginning of the year. I do some other stuff as well because that's all kind of, well, legs and core, but I tend to do some arm work as well and back and stuff like that.
00:27:23
Speaker
So, yeah, I think it's really important. I know that everyone says that and that it's really important for staying injury free, but I guess I've just really experienced that this year as well.
00:27:35
Speaker
Not only with the rehab, but just not having any other injuries. I don't think that you have to do a lot, but if you can get to the gym and move weights, it's really beneficial. Especially as you get older and especially for females, weight training is super important. It's just start losing your muscle mass quickly and then it's quite hard to get it back.
00:27:54
Speaker
My actually key thing was when I was doing the gym a couple of times a week and I was like permanently sore, that was kind of when I had the best stretches of not having an injury. So that's yeah that's kind of a sign for me. If I'm not sore, it probably means I'm not doing the proper strength training.
00:28:11
Speaker
Yeah, look, it it is hard. If I do a gym session and then say I have a hill session or a fast session the next day, it can really influence that. I try and time it so that it doesn't, but it just doesn't always work out that way when you're trying to fit stuff around work as well. If I do a hill session and on my legs feel really heavy because I've been to the gym the day before or night before and I'm a bit sore, I don't beat myself up about it. It's like, well, my legs are really heavy. it' Lots of lighter weight and lots of reps or heavier weight and less reps.
00:28:40
Speaker
do different things. If you're only doing it a couple of times a week, it's probably not going to make a huge difference. Shane, would you like to ask a question? Thanks, Will. Hey, lou there's been a few events in the Blue Mountains postponed or had course changes due to sort of inclement weather over the last few years.
00:28:57
Speaker
How do you see that sort of environmental impact in that area impacting that visitor experience in the next five years or so? Well, I mean, it's happening now. You know, the the parks were all closed during the the fires 2019, 2020.
00:29:16
Speaker
a lot A lot of tracks were completely decimated by the fires and the floods. And there's been a lot of rebuilding. At the moment, a lot of blue Mountains National Park is closed beneath the escarpment due to the heavy rain in the last couple of days. I think the impacts of climate change are already being felt and there are new strategies in place for how to manage visitor safety as much as possible, bearing in mind that, you know, these are still wild places. There's no control over what's going to happen. People have to make their own decisions about what they're going to do
00:29:51
Speaker
I think there'll probably be more impacts like that in terms of closures and some tracks not being able to be reopened. a lot of the events have contingency plans. Parks talked to the organisers about different options should different scenarios happen.
00:30:06
Speaker
They try and plan around it as much as possible. On the back of Shane's question, Lou, do you think in New South Wales, in terms of getting an event permit, is there any, like, are events doing enough to help?
00:30:19
Speaker
Parks have to do a lot of work, especially before the UTA to get all the trails ready and make sure they're in a good condition so they're not negatively impacted by having thousands of people on them. there events, especially like ones that probably make a lot of money like UTA, do we need to change the system so they invest more money into the landscape to assist parks?
00:30:39
Speaker
with those you know enormous amount of you know pruning and track work that need to be done before events does that happen in New South Wales because I know in Victoria like permits are pretty cheap for event organiz organisers to get the kind of responsibilities is then put on back on parks to maintain the trails Yeah, I mean, yeah, the the permits aren't really expensive um and there isn't, you know, different, there isn't really a different, there there are different pricing structures, but yeah, it kind of depends on the number of participants. So if there's a very large number of participants, their income back is a bit higher for parks.
Environmental Activism and Future Goals
00:31:16
Speaker
Most of the trails that UTA has run on have all been majorly upgraded over the last few years through a project called Improving Access to National Parks, which is a massive investment into New South Wales National Parks across the state. There's been major precinct upgrades, some major track upgrades, and a lot of the trails above the escarpment have been um I think a multi-day walk from Wentworth Falls to Katoomba has been created, which will launch early next year, which is the Grand Clifftop Walk. so luckily, you know, a lot of those tracks are there in just some really good condition.
00:31:53
Speaker
There's a lot of sandstone stairs, which wears very well and can't be damaged by the fires either. From that perspective, and then through the number of participants, that's kind of how the trails are managed. But When an event might be in a wilder place or a more remote place, I guess it just depends on where someone wants to run it in the particular Values are for that area. There may be different criteria for events.
00:32:20
Speaker
There are a lot of people in UTA, but then those tracks, there'll be far, far more people over the whole year that walk through those tracks and then then run it over those few days. Although obviously that's concentrated over a few days.
00:32:34
Speaker
and But there are participant limits in other areas. That's interesting. and You did a lot of work during the fires of 20, what was it? 2019, Has there been any recent fire activity in the Blue Mountains and how do you prepare when it has been wet or winters and probably a lot more growth out there that, you know, the hazard reduction side of things?
00:32:57
Speaker
Yeah, so on fire trained, but I'm not on the fire team, but yeah, fire management is absolutely massive in New South Wales National Parks. It's a priority. There are targets for hazard reductions. The teams try to get through those as much as they can. can be really difficult around weather.
00:33:15
Speaker
Is it too wet? Is it too windy? That kind of thing. There's significant plans around that. In terms of recent fires in the whole of the branch, which covers the World Heritage Area, there's been lots of fires popping up the last couple of weeks. But we've had some heavy rain the last couple of days. So that's that's hopefully dampened it all down.
00:33:34
Speaker
We've had fire crews out on all those fires the last couple of weeks.
00:33:40
Speaker
And going out to help other crews, so out at the Pillar go as well. Yeah, totally. It sounds like, yeah, the smoke from the fires has made Sydney's air quality as bad as New Delhi's recently, which is just...
00:33:54
Speaker
It was actually really bad here in Mount Victoria a couple of days ago. It was actually a little bit of a flashback to 2020. I just got up and could smell smoke and it was like, it was very bizarre. Yeah. Yeah. I think, yeah, after the 2020 rule, very cognizant of the exercise and the limits on what you can do outside because it's just not worth it.
00:34:16
Speaker
Lou, I just wanted to ask you were a campaigner and environmentalist before you were a runner looking at your work and campaigning history. I hope this is not putting on the spot too much, but are you able to tell us why you joined for Wild Places? Because it just helps getting people's stories because we want to convince more runners to get on board and help us protect wild places and the environment. So if you don't mind, why did you do so?
00:34:42
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Well, like you said, had worked the Greenpeace in the yeah UK for for quite a few years and was really involved in campaigns and activism and actually moved to Australia to work with Greenpeace Australia Pacific. So um that kind of, that job brought me to Australia.
00:34:58
Speaker
And I've done lots of, but in in addition to sort of activism, I've also done a lot of volunteering work over the years. And I guess after I sort of got into running, I just, um I wasn't doing anything like that because I just didn't have the time. i was having an internal struggle with the amount of time I was spending, you know, running and training and racing and um kind of not really feeling like feeling like that, that wasn't of good good use, you know, it's a very kind of selfish pursuit. um Although, you know, it's just, you know, it's great when people say that they're inspired and, you know, I hope that the sort of women in their 40s and 50s, I do give some inspiration. So that's fantastic. I just wanted to do something useful with my running and I've been thinking about it for a long time. I hadn't really figured out what I could do.
00:35:48
Speaker
I had some ideas, but I hadn't worked out what I could do with it. Then, yeah, saw the Pilliga race, so signed up for that. My first job with Parks did cover that area, so I knew it pretty well. I'd been to Pilliga Pottery and was keen to get back out there and support for Wild Places. That's where I met Hilary and... um Yeah, kind of since joined up and came to the camp and yeah, and hoping to yeah work with the Wild Places through this planned Australian Alps walking track mission to raise the profile and help for Wild Places. So yeah, I'd encourage anyone who loves trail running, loves being outdoors and loves being in nature, you know, for the cost of a few cups of coffee, you can join for Wild Places and yeah, put your running to some good use and um yeah.
00:36:33
Speaker
Here's some interesting podcasts with amazing people like Caro others that you've interviewed. And yeah, get involved, especially if you're down in Victoria, you've got lots of stuff happening. So
00:36:45
Speaker
or sure and We need to do more in New South Wales, but I have recently just signed up to do a course in Blue Mountains. So I'll be out there twice next year. I'm already planning some traction events around that. So we'll be coming to the neck of the woods the next year, which will be exciting because there's such a great community in the Blue Mountains as well. Pity not to be more present out there.
00:37:07
Speaker
Yeah, actually with what really, I was thinking about doing some wanting to sort of get some trail runners together to sort of, yeah, help with track work or volunteering. But it's a little bit tricky. It's easier said than done. Traction would be great. So if you need any help with that or you'd like me to organise anything here, I'd love to do that. So it'd be great.
00:37:26
Speaker
Done. Thanks. And it's such a good name. It's awesome. for Traction. it's Brilliant. We can thank Paige Penrose for that. She's the genius that came up with that one. Yeah, amazing. Thank you, Paige.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah. I love it. Brilliant. Just before we sign off, Lou, do you have some lovely Christmas slash holiday plans? Just going to stay with Steve's family for a few days over Christmas, but yeah, pretty quiet. I'm hoping I might be able to do a few steps of running next week. Just trying to kind of relax and recharge the batteries after a big year.
00:38:00
Speaker
Yeah. I hope you guys will have a great Christmas and have a brilliant time down at Hotham. I'm so, I'm envious. I wish I could be there. It'll be good fun. Initially I was a bit concerned about the weather, but I think at this stage it's going to be more wet than but we'll wait and see.
00:38:18
Speaker
But yeah, it'll be interesting to head back there in a different season. would love to do more stuff like this as well. A bit of a mission followed by a hub meal at the end of it to celebrate our achievements.
00:38:31
Speaker
Sounds perfect. and Yeah, exactly. We are. We are.
00:38:37
Speaker
Now we're going to jump forward two years to November 2025 hear how Lou's training, rest and recovery plan has been going and as she finally managed to shake the GPT 100 miler monkey
00:38:52
Speaker
Thanks so much for joining us, Lou. It's been just under two years since we last chatted and it's been a very jam-packed two years. But before we get into it, how are you and where are you joining from today? In my house in the Blue Mountains in Mount Victoria. How are you feeling? You're, we're just saying, two weeks post Grampians Peaks Trail.
00:39:11
Speaker
Yeah, I'm feeling heaps better actually. Last week was a bit, yeah, the post-race fatigue was real. It kind of felt worse than any other race I've done, but I think it's probably just a culmination of the year.
00:39:24
Speaker
It's been a big year. so That was your third miler for the year. Is that the most you've tackled in one calendar year? Yeah, totally, yeah. I didn't start the year saying, oh I'm going to go and do three milers. It just kind of rolled that way. The year before, I didn't do any milers, actually. So I had no qualifications for any of the lotteries or anything like that. I mean, I did try i mean i did try to, I did have a plan. I did have the Grampians race on my calendar last year, but only got 106 or in.
00:39:56
Speaker
six or seven km Yeah, I um possibly might have done like a miler in a different kind of race, like a track race or Costa Cosi. I can't quite remember. But no, I've never done more than a trail miler in a year. Yeah, that's huge. and yeah, we need to talk about GPT or Grampians Peaks Trail. And for years, it's been the race that just has never gone to plan for you from injuries, DNFs, and then, like you said, mid-race cancellations. last year, congratulations on such a spectacular strong finish. How did it feel to finally cross that finish line in Dunkeld and tick that 100 mile off your list?
00:40:36
Speaker
Well, I would have liked to have been flying into Dunkeld. Well, I could sprint finish, but the legs were seriously not working. I can't explain it. I don't remember ever having this feeling in a race before. mean, I guess it was smash quads, but it didn't feel like a painful sensation. it just felt like a muscular fatigue, but it was really hard to get my legs to turn over. So it was strange, but it was a little bit, it was ah yeah a, yeah, eight,
00:41:07
Speaker
eight eight and a half minute K's on a flat runnable trail held. so whatever I got there. So that was the main thing. Yeah, because I saw in your post-race report on Instagram that it was bitterly cold overnight and you thought that that might have been a factor in the fact that, yeah, when you got down to Jimmy's Creek, your legs just kind of wouldn't play ball. I guess, did you expect, I know the Grampians can have, like anywhere in Australia, can have a varied temperature range, but how did you find it with those warmer days and cooler, well, often freezing nights and that kind of affecting your ability to stay on track and doing weird things to your body that you just can't explain?
00:41:47
Speaker
I think it was a real combination of things. I hadn't done enough training on technical terrain being into the race. And that was just purely because it was so close to Leadville. I did make the choice to do six foot track and Lonely Mountain 50k. I had the conversation with my coach. I actually wanted to do the Lonely Mountain hundred k because it was the ultra-favorite.
00:42:09
Speaker
100K champion, like championship race, but we decided not to do that because we thought it would eat into too much of my grandpins training, having the recovery, but still sort of doing those 50K races, even as supposed training runs, but I did race them. They're both like on fire trails. So I think there was a lot of good tempo type training from those. From a fitness perspective, I think they were good training, but it didn't leave me a lot of weeks to get out on technical terrain. Going down to the Grampians to do the track work and doing a few runs was a very good decision. Going through the storm on a section that I'd run only a few weeks before was super helpful. I think I would have been freaking out a little bit because I have run that section before, but just having done it so recently,
00:42:58
Speaker
just gave me a little bit more confidence of knowing where I was going. like I always have the map. So I wouldn't have got lost, but it was quite hard to see the markers in the weather. There was a combination, I think, of just the cold, not really having had a lot of hard training on that kind of terrain to really get the muscles used to it. And then potentially just probably not not really eating as much as I should have.
00:43:23
Speaker
After Jimmy's Creek, I got my poles out and that always... um kind of limits, makes it quite hard to eat. think I ate a little bit bit less after that than I should have. I wasn't really planning to use my poles, but there was a section where you couldn't stay upright because it was so slippery on the mud.
00:43:42
Speaker
A nice downhill section, I've been looking forward to running after a rocky section and it was just not really runnable. Oh no. had to just get my poles out to stay upright. So yeah I think a combination of those factors, but yeah. Yeah, there's nothing quite like the Grampians. I grew up an hour from there and I kind of am used to the trails. But then when you go elsewhere, experiencing the Blue Mountains as an adult, you think it's a similar terrain, but it's really so different.
Reflections on Aging and Achievements
00:44:07
Speaker
So much of that race is on rocky, exposed kind of ridgelines. And yeah, especially if there's a bit of what rain, it's incredibly slippery.
00:44:18
Speaker
Yeah, coming into Yarum Gap, which was where the center of the fire, you know, the fires were centered around. And so it's been completely decimated. And so I think, yeah, with the rain and, you know, exposure of the soil when everything's kind of burnt, it just changes it. It made a section that should have been one of the easiest sections really quite tricky. True.
00:44:41
Speaker
The briefing talked about the weather forecast overnight. ah Well, more depending on where you were, but um the the storm that was predicted was a lot worse than anyone kind of knew. I could see these black clouds. I could see it look really bad.
00:44:56
Speaker
But when I was in the middle of it, it was way worse than expected. And I had all my gear, but I didn't put it all on until it was a little bit too late. I was sort of out of the worst of it when I put it on, but yeah, it was pretty hectic. Yeah.
00:45:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's hard. I don't know, not the easiest place to be making decisions and trying to know what to do. And sometimes you're like, oh, just keep moving and then I won't stop and I won't get cold. You know, there's so many different factors at play.
00:45:29
Speaker
But... Yeah, congratulations on a huge finish. How was it but going back in the Grampians after the fires that decimated that area over Christmas last year and having been there a bunch of times and seen it prior and then post fires? Were you surprised by what you saw and how is it looking now in terms of regeneration?
00:45:47
Speaker
I think it's probably a bit early with the regeneration. I didn't notice that sort of crazy regrowth that we had in the Blue Mountains after the fires, but maybe that will come. and ah It's pretty burnt out. The sections that were most...
00:46:04
Speaker
affected I went through at night in the race going through there at night. What was pretty tricky was there were just lots of very short, like little broken off branches. a couple of times I sort of lost balance with the slipperiness and the 80 kilometer winds. And you're sort of falling on these sort of sharp, but you know, burnt branches.
00:46:24
Speaker
tra When I went down for the track work, going over Mount William, the trickiest section was where it was so burnt out, you couldn't distinguish where the path was.
00:46:36
Speaker
That sort of going through that in the day, it was like, you know, there's no obvious path because all the, the, the, the bushes are burnt on both both sides of where the track was. That was all marked in the race and it was dark then. So it was easier to see the reflectors and know where to go.
00:46:53
Speaker
The fire damage is pretty extensive in particular areas. By the time the sun came up, I was sort of out of those areas. I went through the most the most burnt out areas at night and I was just really focused on getting off the mountain.
00:47:11
Speaker
in one piece at that point definitely yeah you just had your blinkers on and trying to navigate the reflectors in the dark and the wind and the rain that's a yeah yeah i'm not surprised where you lose one and it's just oh where is it i've gone the wrong way and you know the yeah the map on your watch is indispensable for that even just to have that little bit of reassurance that you're on the right you're on the right line it's so good Yeah. Oh, that's fantastic. And how is the feeling within the community of Holes Gap and more broadly with the event coming back? And I'm sure that at some points there was, you know, uncertainty around if the trails would be ready and obviously having the track work workshops that you went along to, i guess were pivotal in making sure the event could go ahead and
00:48:01
Speaker
Yeah. What was the atmosphere in Halls Gap and just amongst the participants to have the opportunity to be racing again in the Grampians? Look, I think the atmosphere was amazing. Single track such a good job. It's so well organized and every detail is thought about and the vibe was fantastic. At the briefing, the local guy that does all the weather reported on the weather and what that was good what that was looking like and all those like pre-race warnings about what might happen. Yeah. He did mention that, you know, there was a lot of gratitude that the work had been done on the tracks. Not only did that and ensure that the event could go ahead, which is really important for the community to get people in, especially after closures. But it also meant that the full GPT trail was open for walking on the weekend after the race, which,
00:48:54
Speaker
You know, I mean, that's just outstanding. It was really great that Singletrack could work with Parks Victoria and have teams of people help get the track ready to hold the event, but also support the community going forwards and having the trail open like that. And it was awesome out on the race somewhere. i saw Jackie from Parks Victoria. I think it was at Rosea.
00:49:17
Speaker
aid station and so she had been leading the team that I was on when I went to do the track work so it was really cool to see her there on the course during the race as well.
00:49:28
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah. It's such a big effort required to get that much trail open. Unfortunately parks don't have all the funding they need to make those things happen in a timely manner and but yet the community rely on the tourism and all that stuff so it's fantastic that the trail community can help keep the races going for the benefit of everyone. Yeah. You mentioned that you've got a bit of post-race insomnia and is that something you've experienced before and what does it look like? Yeah, I've experienced it quite a bit, mainly after really big races. Usually like if I've gone through the night and I haven't slept, I'll get back after a race and get cleaned up and then I'll i'll ah sleep. I'll just pass out because I'll be pretty tired. Usually sleep okay that night, but then the nights after that, I can't sleep. It's sort of a combination of things. Sometimes it's just a nervy sensation of heat. The last few times I actually, I've been pretty good with the
00:50:24
Speaker
Blisters and and and so blisters and things like that haven't really been a problem. The shoes I've worn, the Prodigio Pro, I wore them in all three milers this year. They're quite wide for my feet, which are quite narrow, but quite snug. I haven't really suffered from blisters, but it's more a pounding of your feet.
00:50:41
Speaker
There's kind of like pins and needles wiring off in the bottoms of your feet constantly throughout the night. And then your body's just totally out of whack, depleted sleep and calories and the stress that you've put it through. So i find it quite hard to sleep after a race. It usually lasts a few days. It can be pretty tough if you haven't slept during the race and then you have big travel back and then you're back at work.
00:51:08
Speaker
It can be a bit challenging, um but now since back this week, I'm feeling quite singy. I'm not sure if it's just all the Victorian coffee that I've about before could so um yeah or yeah a bit of energy coming back but i think it's also a period to be a bit careful because you feel like you're recovered but the muscles and tendons and ligaments are still covering so you have to be a bit careful yeah and just accumulation of a massive year for you as well Yeah, it's been good. It didn't start off too well with a stress fracture in my foot after the second GPT. So yeah, that that um that right foot has not gone up very well with the Grampian Peaks Trail the last few years, but all good in this one. so I think I'm over that phase. I went into it last year, not well trained. And and then after the race, you know, which was stopped at 106K, but I've been on my feet for 22 hours.
00:52:07
Speaker
I just, I just did went back to doing, you know, ah just kind of did so a little bit too much too soon. So yeah, started the year with that injury and then was told I had another injury that I should never run on again, which is a um, a tear in the posterior tendon, had some good treatment physio and, um, podiatrist treatment and,
00:52:32
Speaker
Figured that I'd actually recalled that I'd done the injury in July, but and had not had a diagnosis because I was going to Europe and I'd run and raced on it since. So just, yeah, kind of focused on the strength and got orthotics and then went into UTA Mylar as my test run. Yeah.
00:52:52
Speaker
You don't do things by halves, do you, Lou? Well, I had a Leadville entry and I hadn't booked flights or anything like that because I was worried about whether I would be able to, you know, i don't want to spend a fortune going over to the States and then not be able to race or race very well. What happened in Europe last year.
00:53:10
Speaker
So, yeah it was a test run. If I can get through UTA Milo, I'll book my flights to Colorado. And what do you know, next thing you're over in Colorado tackling one of the oldest and most iconic 100-mile trail races in the U.S. Have you been?
00:53:25
Speaker
Yeah. hilar No, I haven't. And I really wanted to know what it's like, because most of it's above 3000 meters. What was it like to run through a completely foreign landscape in terms of, you know, you're very exposed, there's huge mountains, it's none of this, you know, trees, bush. You know, it makes the Grampians probably seem like a tiny in comparison. But how was how was Leadville?
00:53:49
Speaker
It was amazing. The whole experience was fantastic. It was, you know, way beyond my expectations. Yeah, I was ah kind of a bit worried about going over to the States, actually, with the politics and where do I really want to go and, you know, kind of... Anyway, decided to go and it was fantastic. Everyone we met was...
00:54:11
Speaker
So friendly and welcoming and helpful and the whole vibe of Leadville being one of the oldest ultras and Ken and Mary Lou who created the race to bring tourism back into Leadville. So it's, you know, a topic that's quite close to my heart, really. um you know, sporting events create...
00:54:30
Speaker
Tourism, you know, support the local economy. They do this rousing speech at the briefing about good gut and determination. And it's just, yeah, it's just, yeah, it was just fantastic. Loved it. And it's amazing landscape, just beautiful landscape. And the challenge of being at altitude was amazing.
00:54:53
Speaker
was real, but also, also ah quite enjoyed it. I quite enjoyed that challenge and just sort of feeling how your body adjusts to it over time and gets used to it really affects more sinuses and you get nosebleeds, which was interesting.
00:55:11
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, definitely, you know, first few runs there and we did a lot of hikes leading up to the race. You can really feel it. You're breathing pretty heavily or struggling to breathe. We're at a thousand meters, so we didn't go from sea levels. I think that was a little bit helpful. We had two weeks before the race to acclimatize. We did a lot of hikes up big peaks, like over 4,000 meters. I think the highest we went was maybe four and a half or 4,800. And so, yeah, hiking up to the top and hanging out at the top and then trying to sort of run back down.
00:55:47
Speaker
was in my plan. It was super helpful, but I think if I did it again, I'd like maybe one more week. I think that would have made a little bit more of difference.
00:55:58
Speaker
but You were the first female in your age category and also the fastest finish by a woman over 50 by a whole hour and 45 minutes, which is just astounding. yeah yeah um ether Yeah. Oh, totally. And so you should be. And I guess it makes me wonder, Lou, like, you know, as you look forward to the next year the following years of along from that, like how does your relationship with age and and getting older evolve? Because I'm in my late 30s and every year feels like another of lay of complexity when it comes to like fitness and hormones and sleep and trying to, you know, these things constantly changing. yeah
00:56:36
Speaker
How do you approach the future? Well, I think I've passed the whole turmoil of hormonal changes. That actually happened for me quite early on in my late forties. I had high hamstring tendinopathy for um almost a year and it took a long time to get over and and I'm pretty convinced that was linked to lower estrogen levels. When I started running, I was in my mid 40s and I felt like I was the oldest runner in a lot of groups. I did the Salomon camp with Utah, I'm like the oldest person there.
00:57:12
Speaker
Every year you look back a couple of years and go, oh actually she wasn't so bad being 44. Now I'm 42, it's even worse. I just try to keep that perspective, but...
00:57:22
Speaker
ah It becomes difficult when you have an injury or something happens or you feel like you're really struggling to get over something, then you're sort of like, is this it? Is this like the all the age stuff, um kick the aging kicking in and i you know will I not be able to get past this? Will I never be able to run the way I could run?
00:57:43
Speaker
And then you sort of get past it and you have a good phase and you go, oh, this is actually not so bad. work I think you just have to ride the wave and not give up, I guess. I think um i I sort of joke joke that I have age denial. But it's kind of true. i just pretend that none of that stops at me. Well, it kind of, it doesn't, it it you know, i think that as soon as you slow down, like things change and yeah and you've just got to, you know, whether it,
00:58:13
Speaker
whatever it might be, get back into the routine and improve your skill level and you know all those things. And then it does get easier eventually. But yeah, I feel like it's easy to say if something stops you to be oh, well, that's it, as opposed to pushing against it again and seeing where you can
Tourism and Environmental Preservation
00:58:29
Speaker
get to. But I think it's just just amazing. And also in terms of trail running and ultra running, just seeing the rise of popularity within women, especially, you know, in their mid to late forties and onwards. And it's just so nice to see a lot of diversity within a starting line and being like, hang on, I can do this for as long as I, as I want, like ages, like you said, just a number. And it depends on how you feel and yeah but also how committed you are to maintaining that
00:59:00
Speaker
extremely high level of fitness and consistency, which is just astounding. Yeah, I guess, I mean, and the consistency is just so key. So when you are having those on-off injuries, which I've had probably most of the time I've been running, it's been particularly difficult. I had a pretty bad ankle injury after grampions and just getting over that and then that leading to other things.
00:59:26
Speaker
I've certainly had points where I've just thought, do I just give this away? Like, it's am I just like, you know, doubling the proverbial uphill here? like just um But then when you do get a breakthrough, it's like, oh, wow, it's amazing what can happen if you do keep persevering. i wasn't running like this when I was in my twenties and thirties. So I don't have that to compare doing different sports. Um, but I, I guess I do notice that, you know, I do get really, I do get pretty tired, especially, you know, I, i um, I stopped coaching at the beginning of this year because trying to do that and train,
01:00:05
Speaker
Rehab injuries and work was just too much and um you know possibly that's helped. Just to free up some time to do your strength work, sleep enough, eat properly. I've been using the Fuel In app. I'm not very good at it, but I'm really trying to get in the high amounts of protein that I'm supposed to have. and I try to get as much sleep as I can and recover properly.
01:00:30
Speaker
So I guess those things are probably more important as you get older. I think a lot of the younger athletes can just bounce into another race and recover quickly. yeah but yeah, like you were saying, being in the race with Bridie and going, oh my goodness, I'm 33 years older than her. but Running along together, having a chat is so nice. It's a blessing to be able to do it.
01:00:54
Speaker
Yeah, that's amazing. Since our last chat, you've started a new role as the general manager for Blue Mountains Tourism after many years at New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. Yeah.
01:01:06
Speaker
I'm sure you've been working in the tourism industry in the Blue Mountains for a long time now, and I guess I'm sure a lot's changed, but what's one thing at the moment that's exciting you about the future or things that you've got happening when it comes to the intersection of tourism and protecting nature?
01:01:25
Speaker
The Blue Mountains is an eco-certified destination and sustainability is top of the agenda for council and national parks and Blue Mountains tourism and First Nations, of course. So um i think I think we're lucky in that way in the Blue Mountains that because it's been...
01:01:46
Speaker
because Blue Mountains National Park is a World Heritage List National Park, there's deep rooted connection with conservation and the Blue Mountains being the birthplace of conservation movements, the history behind the World Heritage Listing. It's so ingrained here. i think that's a fantastic thing. And I think because it's so ingrained, it is a key message that comes through in a lot of the events that happen here.
01:02:11
Speaker
i think that Obviously Ultra Trail Australia becoming a UTMB major is fantastic for the sport and for the Blue Mountains and for New South Wales and Australia actually. um Just putting the destination on the world map and being able to leverage that promotion of of the destination as a trail running destination and being able to make sure that those messages about sustainability are are there. and And UTA, you know, work closely with First Nations as well. So that's upfront as well, that connection to country and how important it is. I think that's really exciting seeing that being elevated and always there as something that's integral to anything that happens in this area as far as events and trail running events goes.
01:03:03
Speaker
Yeah, it is such so ingrained in the culture of the Blue Mountains, which is as it should be because it, you know, it's such an incredible part of the world. And it's so exciting that hopefully more people want to come explore it through events like UTA. Yeah. And also just getting out there over summer and when it's not too chilly for for the warm weather people like myself. But yeah.
01:03:27
Speaker
Well, thank you so much for your time, Lou. It's been lovely to catch up. And before we go, I'm interested to know what's on the agenda for the next few months. Are you taking a well-deserved break or, you know, we're heading into summer season. What's on the cards for the rest of 2025? Yeah.
01:03:43
Speaker
Mostly just resting and relaxing. I think I'm feeling quite peppy because I don't have any extreme events on the horizon. I mean, I love training and I love that journey, but it it you know it is also quite mentally draining as well as physically draining. So I'm feeling quite energized by just the idea of having a break. I am tempted how pop down to Mount Buller for the Buller Run, but I'll see how go. I'm not 100% sure yet So my next my next big event will be Tarawera in February. I'm planning to go and do the 100K there. Did it a few years ago in terrible mud, so I'm hoping that it will be a nice, dry and fast, non-technical run. Just have a little bit of a break from that. And then I'm not too sure. I've gone into a few lotteries, so we'll see what happens with those. i don't really have plans for the rest of the year, so we'll we'll see what happens.
01:04:40
Speaker
Yeah, well, 2026 will be here before we know it. So enjoy feeling good and being able to get out there and not, I guess, you know, rehab and managing injuries is such a slow, time consuming process to be able to focus on the fun things and and making the most of summer in the mountains. Hopefully I'll be back for the For Wild Places event in the field. Yes.
01:05:04
Speaker
Such an awesome. Yeah, it's exciting to have locked in the date for next year already. appreciate you wearing your For Wild Places t-shirt now. Love to see it. Love the t-shirt. I know. We're thinking, were saying we need to get some more done and the Merino is definitely a crowd favourite. Yeah. Yeah, thanks for making it up to the pillie galoo and for your continued support of for Wild Places and for being just such an inspiration to so many of us. And it was a lot of, yeah, it was fantastic to see you cross that finish line and George as well and lots of other, and yeah Kate and Michael on the the camera and the video. You know, it's so nice just seeing the same people pop up here and there knowing that everyone's supporting one another, which is awesome.
01:05:47
Speaker
it's ah It's such an amazing community. Yeah, it really is. No, we're very lucky. Well, have a lovely weekend, Lou, and thanks so much for your time. Thanks for asking me, and I hope to catch up with you in person soon, Hilary.
Conclusion and Call to Action
01:06:01
Speaker
Thanks very much for the interview.
01:06:03
Speaker
And that's the finish line of our 14th trail chat. A huge thank you to Lou for being such an open book of information and inspiration. If you'd like to read some of Lou's fantastic race reports or follow her upcoming races and adventures, you can find her on Instagram at Lou M Clifton or via Strava at Lou Clifton.
01:06:23
Speaker
If you'd like to hear more from us at For Wild Places, please follow us online at For Wild Places. Subscribe to our newsletter or become a member. Being a new podcast, we also appreciate you leaving a rating or review on whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on to help more people find this podcast.
01:06:40
Speaker
Thank you again for joining us. We are stoked to have you here. And thank you to Lou for taking the time, to Lara Hamilton for our theme music, and to Nico for editing this episode. Until next time, folks, happy trails.
01:06:52
Speaker
And as always, thank you for taking the time for Wild Places.