Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Mike Carroll Post-Race Interview: 2025 UTA 100km
0 Plays2 seconds ago
We're joined by the UTA 100km 2nd place Mike Carroll to chat about his preparations for UTA and how the race unfolded. Mike shares an overview of his journey through trail running to date, dives deep into his training for this race and more generally, and discusses the balance of training, life and family!
***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/soundroll/tropicana License code: MFJHTO0ZMVHA84WI
Photo credit: @itsjaclee
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction with Mike Carroll
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello and welcome to this special episode of the Peak Pursuits podcast. ah Today I'm very lucky to be joined by 100 men's second place, Mike Carroll.
00:00:34
Speaker
are you going, Mike? I'm good Brody, thanks for having me on. Yeah, thanks so much for jumping on. I know you've got a busy life and um I'm sure you're back into busy duties now, the weekend's over.
00:00:47
Speaker
um how did you pull up after the weekend?
Post-Race Recovery Discussion
00:00:50
Speaker
um Pretty good. I was, you know, tired always after running 100Ks and um having the young family. It's a bit of a shock to just get straight back into it. um But, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.
00:01:08
Speaker
Interestingly, still fairly sore. and not sure why this year. um More recent ultras I've done, I've been able to recover pretty quickly. But this one, yeah, I'm still hobbling around a bit.
00:01:20
Speaker
Yeah, okay. Okay, well, we're still, we're Thursday after ah Saturday race, so it's still still pretty close, I guess. um Yeah. You deserve to have a little bit of hobbling.
00:01:31
Speaker
um I might come back, circle back to the the family stuff because I think that's ah sort of a key part of your build-up and and how that's fit into the picture.
Mike's Ultra-Running Achievements
00:01:39
Speaker
But um we haven't had you on the podcast before, so ah might give everyone a quick little rundown of who you are and and then we'll go through a little bit of your journey. Yeah.
00:01:50
Speaker
But Mike, you've had some pretty fantastic results in the ultra space over the past few years. The one that I remember seeing you first at, and and it was mostly because that's probably when I started doing trail running a bit more, was in 2022 you were at the Brisbane Trail Ultra and ran the 110k course there and I just remember as being like a really fast time I think you averaged like six minute k's and to me back then that blew my mind that people could run 110k's at six minute k's so um that's when I first remember you but you've had a slew of
00:02:23
Speaker
Results since then in 2023, you were second in the 100K at UTA, so, you know, no stranger to the podium at UTA. ah First at Buffalo Marathon, ah fourth at UTK 50K, and then in 2024, had your first go at a miler, was it, at Tarawara, is that right? first mile Yeah. And you came third place there um and then also came third at Buffalo 42 which wouldn't have been too long after that um so yeah a lot of fantastic results across the year you've been at six foot track a lot um lots of different races um one thing that jumps out for at me Mike is there's been times where I'm like I think Mike's gonna have a really great race here and for some reason I've like before you the weekend I was like oh Mike hasn't had his like amazing race but like looking at this series you have had a lot of amazing races but I guess you've also probably
00:03:19
Speaker
maybe you you you would think as well had some races that you weren't as happy about um over that
Balancing Running with Parenting
00:03:24
Speaker
time. Is that sort of what your journey's been a bit like? You sort of just put yourself out there a lot and you've had some that are stuck and some that haven't?
00:03:30
Speaker
um Yeah, I think when I first got into the trail running scene, I was pretty consistent with my race results. i um I've always, I don't think I play it safe, but I've always,
00:03:46
Speaker
I think one of my strengths has been pacing and generally, you know, that that leads to fairly solid result. um And, yeah, up until our first child, I was having good results. And yeah um ah think I think pretty much the results of certainly last year were linked to just being a parent, you know, first-time parent and yeah yeah and any parents out there would know dealing with childcare germs um is pretty interesting.
00:04:24
Speaker
and And so, you know, that's part of it. And so I've just learned to deal with yeah with that in the last little while. um So, yeah, certainly last year um was a bit of a ah bomb out, but I really enjoyed my training last year. um I've been lucky to be consistent. I think that's what I've always seen is like you look like you're training so well and then obviously, like you said, there's the challenges of being a new parent and that can sometimes mean it hits the wrong time for race day. And in training, that sort of smooths out into terms of maybe don't have as good an end to a training week or something like that, but when it hits on race day, it's a whole different ball game.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. And you kind of know it too, even in the race itself. If you're not, I think in Buffalo about six weeks ago, I thought I was okay and then 20Ks into a 100K race, I was ready to stop. They're usually the signs that I know something isn't quite right.
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and obviously that's a ah quick turnaround to come back to to UTA. But yeah, we'll we'll circle back to that in a moment. But for me, I don't even actually know. Yeah.
00:05:40
Speaker
Can you take us right back to when you first started trail running or ultra running and how did you get into it? Yeah, sure.
Transition to Trail Running
00:05:47
Speaker
um So like when I was really young, I loved running, like in primary school and stuff. And i to some extent, thought I'd peaked when I was like 10. I made it to nationals in cross country and um went to high school, loved running and athletics and all sports there um and just found that I didn't have the speed. So I don't yeah I stuck with the longer distance races.
00:06:11
Speaker
um And then during, like, uni in my 20s, I was a bit of a, like, weekend warrior. still enjoyed the running and I do it for kind of my mental health now and then.
00:06:22
Speaker
um And I remember thinking about trail running a lot, but to be honest, I didn't really get into it until my mid-30s. um I moved up to Armidale and I used running basically to get,
00:06:38
Speaker
back into some health um and just started with Parkrun up there and it really built from nothing. Like I was always thinking about running, but the actual doing it and hadn't started. And so um it was just one Parkrun after another. And then I slowly built up from that and went to my first trial race, I think was at Glowworm Tunnel in the Blue Mountains.
00:07:07
Speaker
um And I really just caught the bug from there and it became something that I loved and um researched a lot and I've always coached myself. So I've just really kind of thrown myself into it and and loved the process of it.
00:07:25
Speaker
So it's had a very kind of slow build up until now. Yeah. Yeah. So when was the glowworm, for example, like when was that when you started? Oh, so that was, so that was, i think, 20,
00:07:39
Speaker
17 okay yeah and then had some friends in armadale who had talked about uta and six foot and i'd actually run six foot a long time ago when i was at uni 2006 2007 yeah um off not much training and i just did it with a as an old school mate of mine um but yeah it wasn't yeah 2017 I basically got in really got into the consistent kind of signing up for trail races.
00:08:15
Speaker
2018 was the first time I had a go at the UTA 100. Yeah, nice. So you sort of jumped straight into the longer stuff um when you sort of first started doing more of the serious trail races. you didn't do anything over the shorter distances?
00:08:31
Speaker
um Well, 2017 did ah um few Did a few kind of half marathons, like on the roads, and few local 10k races, did the Glowen Tunnel.
00:08:45
Speaker
um And I'm just trying to think if I did anything before UTA. um Maybe not. I think I was just inspired to have a go at that longer distance.
00:08:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But since then, I really enjoy the shorter distances too, so I don't really feel like I'm biased to one. Yeah, yeah, definitely. You've had a go at some shorter distances over the years.
00:09:08
Speaker
Yeah. Do you see yourself as being, at the moment, being like that sort of 100km longer distance, your sort of best? And is that because that's your sort of physiology or is it more that because you started in your mid-30s, you sort of, that to be competitive, you felt like you had to go those longer distances?
00:09:28
Speaker
I think I'm just... in I don't think I would think that one is um better
Training Focus and Race Preferences
00:09:38
Speaker
than the other. um Yeah, I ah just enjoy the training really. I don't really think, oh, how am I going to go in these? I just enjoy getting um kind of improving lots of different aspects um of my running. Amazing.
00:09:54
Speaker
I do enjoy the chat like the challenge of the 100 kilometres. And now that I've done a few, I try and remind myself I can still such a big thing to go and run 100 k's whereas you know rather than slipping into the fact oh you know i want to play swell or yeah i want run under this time and anything but that is a bit of a disappointment like yeah it's still i still need to bring it back to the fact that i'm enjoying it you know the privilege and the opportunity to be able to do the longer distances um and
00:10:27
Speaker
In saying that, I still have lots of plans. Like, I'd love to still enter shorter races and I find it interesting. The older I get, um you know, i I'm still relatively quick to, you know, I'm probably the quickest for me that I've ever been.
00:10:45
Speaker
Maybe that's just because I started a bit later and I'm not comparing myself to my 20s. Yeah. um But it's fun to to see that progress still. Yeah, it's really cool. So, yeah, I'd I'm keen to do some more milers, that's for sure. yeah I really think that the short distances like half marathon, trail running and the marathon distance are really good fun and I'll be enjoying those when I can.
00:11:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's really cool to hear that you're sort of, you're not slowing down in terms of your speed. You're sort of hanging on to that, if not getting better at this stage. So that's that's really cool. Is there anything that you do in your training that's like, are you specifically trying to hold on and develop that speed? Is that something that you're working on or is it something that's just happening because of the training that you're doing?
00:11:33
Speaker
um It's probably something that I'm conscious of, but I've but always have been. So I've always tried to incorporate things. doing a lot of strides and quicker running that doesn't take too much out of me. So, yeah, just shorter strides and maybe emphasising a little bit more power okay as well and strength. um Yeah, we've got a really cool run group in Canberra um and we train a lot up at the Arboretum and, yeah you know, lots of lots of cool little single tracks up there and steep
00:12:10
Speaker
little short steep ups and downs and it's very much power based doing short short intervals. So keeping that consistent I think is key but not not really overdoing it. not I don't feel like I need to really do lots and lots.
00:12:26
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. ah That's probably a good segue into maybe the training block and into into this year um or into UTA. um ah definitely sounds like ah from what you from what you're saying that you enjoy the process, so you enjoy the training.
00:12:41
Speaker
um And I know i was speaking to James over the weekend and he was saying, and I think maybe we talked about it on the on the preview that you seem to sort of tick ah tick a lot of the boxes when it comes to training in terms of you're looking at all the different things you could be doing.
00:12:54
Speaker
um Was there anything different about this block that you did or was it a pretty standard and a block for you into into UTA? yeah um It was a bit uncertain just because of um events and and what was going on before UTA.
00:13:13
Speaker
um I think the the last time I had a really kind of, obvious training block leading into a race was um Kosciuszko-Myla last year I'd been a bit crook after UTA last year and I just felt like I just wanted to have no pressure you know just to do some training and have a slow kind of five months kind of leading up to that race and that really was like five months kind of with that race at the end whereas this year was a little bit more
00:13:45
Speaker
like other years where I'd bounce from race to race. So I had plans to do six foot. and So my training was looking at six foot, but then looking at um Buffalo 100K as well. Because originally I thought that I might not do UTA because the due date for the baby was pretty close.
00:14:06
Speaker
um And then six foot was cancelled. So... but just kind of continued and pivoted to ah building up for Buffalo.
00:14:16
Speaker
um and then when Buffalo didn't go so well, I only made it to 50K, so I suppose the blessing there is that I didn't have 100K race in my legs. um I thought but's let's just continue as if I'm going to do uta and we'll just see how we're going after, um like, safe arrival of a baby. and And yeah when that happened, we'd I just sat down with Ada and and we said, um you know, there's no, we've got some support from family, you know, let's just go up to the Blue Mountains. And i I'd trained as if I was going to do it rather than not trying thinking, oh, am I going to make a decision?
00:14:57
Speaker
yeah So, yeah I had probably um maybe four weeks of really good training to to lock in for UTA. And that was coming off a really consistent base over the last,
00:15:11
Speaker
like years, I've been really lucky with injury. So I've had really consistent block after block. So for me to have five or six weeks to be able to prepare for a specific race, I can usually get a lot out of myself just because I've got the base already there.
00:15:29
Speaker
um And, yeah, I mean, Canberra's great for training for UTA. I think we've got such good trails around here and um you can get quite specific to the course.
00:15:41
Speaker
um So that would have helped for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you said you had a um ah good four-week block in that sort of final lead-up. I just having look at Strava and it looked like were pretty consistent through ah February March as well with some some big weeks of training. Yeah. I was just looking at ah looking at a couple of weeks. It looks like that you sort of maxed out at,
00:16:08
Speaker
I don't know, 14, 15 hours of training, which was about 160, 170 kilometres with a lot of 5,000 to 6,000 vert. Is that sort of your max training load or is that pretty standard in your blocks when you're sort of building up to these big races?
00:16:25
Speaker
um Yeah, I think um generally for the last few years that that's about right. um yeah I really probably wouldn't try and stay there too long.
00:16:36
Speaker
yeah um At those distances, it's more like a um kind of a compensation week, you know, doing yes yeah some good stimulus but not to overdo it.
00:16:47
Speaker
um But, yeah, that's about right, maybe one or two weeks there. but And then generally, yeah, like I think over 12 hours of running generally a week.
00:16:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And then some of those sort of bigger weeks. Yeah, yeah. it' so ah yeah um really I'm really, so interested in how everyone responds to training differently. And over the years I've just found that that that that works for me. But I know lot of people can can do amazing things, you know, 10 hours or even less.
00:17:20
Speaker
So, yeah, but that's just how I have seemed to structure things. Yes. Yeah, yeah. not no. it's um I think I've looked at your training before and like the just use some of your training sessions, but I've never looked, I don't think I've ever looked at um and sort of how many kilometres you do per week or hours per week. But um yeah, it looks from Strava, you had a very consistent period from say post-UTA through to Cozzy and then little bit of up and down over over the of the Christmas and summertime and then and a nice block through Feb, March, which would have set you up, I think, well for that but final block into UTA. Yeah.
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I generally just, over if I'm not injured, I just like to keep running. Like I know that some people really have an off season and and um I think if I'm taking care of myself throughout the year and being, you know, since like resting enough, I've just found that I don't, it's not like um maybe it would be good for me, but I
Exploring Heat Training
00:18:21
Speaker
just don't want to. I just like running throughout the year I can and that's, yeah. Yeah.
00:18:28
Speaker
um that's just what I've done for the last few years. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, nice. Well, I'd like to throw in that you also ah appear to have some very, like, get quite scientific about what you're doing and already getting a little bit of that with layering the speed work and and and sort of thinking about when you're doing those bigger mileage weeks.
00:18:50
Speaker
um But I can see you do a bit of heat training as well. Do you do that sort of year round or is that something that you've started recently? um I think I started at maybe 2023. Okay.
00:19:03
Speaker
um So after UTA that year, I jumped at the opportunity to go to Chamonix for the CCC. um And, you know, we don't obviously don't have much access to altitude here.
00:19:21
Speaker
And I think I just read and learned that but some heat training can be – um a good stimulus and can actually help you in in altitude. if you eat I mean, if you can't get to altitude, it might be the next best thing.
00:19:35
Speaker
And so that's when I started doing a bit of it. And ah' I've done a bit of it since. I've probably done more lately, just maybe just jumping on or just getting reminded about it, possibly jumping on the bandwagon too.
00:19:53
Speaker
you know for these things appeal to filter down was gonna say you you sound like you're ahead of the curve because there's a lot of chat about heat training in the last six months in running yeah they've been talking about it a little bit longer but um sounds like you're ahead of the curve and now you're sort of firing back up as everyone gets going on it yeah like i don't think i fully understood um yeah i just thought you know here's some people that i respect or and that are dabbling in it that think that this is what's happened and um and yeah it's certainly we seem to get all of the information that trickles down from the pelotons i'd say and um they seem to lead the way um so i've gone from you know doing hot bars and now like i'm the cliche put on the puffer jacket and get on the treadmill like i'm yeah i' doing a bit of that i don't have one of those core
00:20:49
Speaker
heat sensor things, but I'm actually thinking of getting one. Yeah, I was going to say, is that on the bucket list? maybe they Maybe they'll listen to this podcast and they'll send you a sensor. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:00
Speaker
We've got a bit of prize money on the weekend, which is Maybe I invest in that. So do you do your heat training mostly indoors then on the treadmill just rugged up?
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um And you've got a treadmill at your house? Yeah, so when we had Willow, um my daughter, um Ada, my partner, the deal was because I do a lot of the childcare, she bought me a treadmill, which was so cool, and I just felt like it paid for itself instantly. So I'd go, Willow was sleeping, i'd go I'd get some training done just with like the walkie-talkie sitting next to it.
00:21:39
Speaker
yeah and And I actually i've really enjoyed running on a treadmill even before we had Willow. I don't know what it is. I think it's that I know that it's consistent. You can compare workouts.
00:21:53
Speaker
um And I just I don't get bored on them. Like I can do a long run on a treadmill looking at a big ball and it's fine. Whereas I totally understand that that's not for some people because I can't get in the pool. Like I can do two laps and I'm like how long to go and So I really, yeah, I still use the treadmill a lot.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah. occasionally Occasionally, even if it's kind of nice outside and I want to do something specific, I'll still get on the treadmill. um yeah I worked out the other day, you can actually, because mine goes up to 15%, but you can, if you jack it up with the car jack a bit more and put some blocks under, I got i think I got to 20%. So, um yeah, I mean, it continues all of the, you know, all the trying to chase these little one percenters.
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no, that's really cool to hear. And that, Yeah, I think I can – I used to hate running on the treadmill, but i i would I'm not sure about long run, but I agree with the doing sessions on there. It can be quite nice sometimes because, like you said, you know what you're – it's very consistent. You can compare it really easily.
00:23:00
Speaker
um There's less sort of factors that you don't have to to worry about. There's less things that are you trying to control for. So, yeah, it is quite handy and in that regard. and And particularly with the heat training, probably it's easier to do it than going outside in the Canberra cold.
00:23:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just went for a run before just to test the legs and it's right like it's pouring down here and cold and miserable. So, yeah, I mean, the treadmill is great sometimes.
00:23:30
Speaker
It's good. Yeah, nice. Well, my next question sort of links in with we'll we'll get on to the race and get there in a moment. But um also in your training, because it links in with the race, i imagine maybe you're looking closely at your nutrition and and your hydration in terms of what
Race Nutrition Strategy
00:23:46
Speaker
you're getting in. Do you do a lot of training for that? And was there certain numbers that you were working towards in training that you then went for in the race? Or was it a bit more by feel?
00:23:56
Speaker
um No, don't. i plan I try and plan it as much as possible, just learning from past races um and over the years um just trying to increase or just understand what what works for me.
00:24:12
Speaker
And, um yeah, so ah been able to consume or try and consume, yeah, over 100 grams of carbs an hour. And I think on the weekend I'll probably average maybe 115, 120, which is a fair and a lot more than i would have done in previous years, and that's just from the training.
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, one thing I do notice, i'm I have to drink quite a bit. So it wasn't that hard on the weekend, but I was still doing like a litre, like kind of a litre an hour. So that's something that I've got caught out on at UTA before. Like ah so many times I've filled bottles at streams and thought I'd had enough.
00:24:55
Speaker
Yeah. And I know everyone's slightly different with how much, hydration they need. But, yeah, Tarawira as well, I drank a lot, and I think that that's why i did okay there was because I was really just concentrated so much on nutrition and and hydration because it was my first mile, and that going to be a big factor.
00:25:21
Speaker
So every race now, like, I prioritise that just to give myself the chance to then, you know, utilize all the training and things I've done because yeah you can go pear-shaped if you just get that wrong.
00:25:35
Speaker
But it's tricky. You know, some days it's just not going to go down well, but it went down pretty, it was pretty good for UTA this year. Yeah. And are you using um a mixture of sort of like carb mix in your in your fluids and gels or is it all coming from gels and sort of food? um It's kind of switched around a bit over the years. So at the moment,
00:25:59
Speaker
um I did kind of alternate between Tailwind and Goo Octane. And so every hour I'd have a a bottle with 60 grams of carbs of either of those in it.
00:26:12
Speaker
And then I'd have SIS gel, which was 40. And then I'd have a caffeine maybe one every two hours or hour and a half. So yeah that was bumping ah buing the average up over 100. The number up, yeah.
00:26:29
Speaker
Yeah. so So if you had a drink mix in one bottle, did you have just plain water in the other one? or um So I'd have two, but that had last me two hours.
00:26:40
Speaker
Yeah, okay. I carry a belt too, but purely because I need extra – I can't really just go away with two for a lot of these points. So I'd have an electrolyte, just 500 milligrams of sodium.
00:26:56
Speaker
I've never got a sodium test done, but it seems about right, but maybe I should get one done because I know that that can vary a lot too. yeah But I generally aim for maybe kind of the average doesn' thousand milligrams of sodium per litre.
00:27:10
Speaker
yeah yeah and i guess it's ah if it's working it's working but yeah maybe something to put on the to-do list it's it's on my to-do list yeah i feel like those they're always it takes a while to to come around but yeah yeah awesome uh right well that probably leads us quite nicely into the race and um you were saying um that in the in the final lead up you had um had a special uh a special day or it's an exciting news was it sorry is it son or daughter yeah so here you go a son you get awesome yeah we didn't know we didn't get um we did not know it was going be a borough girl um yeah and same with willow so it was a good surprise um but he was born on the 29th of april okay
00:27:59
Speaker
yeah Fantastic.
Race Preparation and Family Support
00:28:01
Speaker
And and then how to how did that work out with you sort of getting up the race? You sort of started to touch on it before in terms of you had some family support that made it possible, but how did that actually logistically work with you getting up there to the race and whatnot for the final days?
00:28:15
Speaker
Yeah, so Ada's folks live in Sydney, um so we thought we'd just go and base ourselves there, and so we went up on the Thursday. um And I went up by myself on the Friday Thursday I just found the last-minute hotel room. Yeah.
00:28:33
Speaker
And so I actually got quite a good sleep night before. I'm notorious for not getting a good sleep night before these races. I think the Brisbane race where I saw you, I'd been in the habit of watching the Tour France and I had to get up at three or something to catch a bus.
00:28:50
Speaker
And so at like 2 o'clock I'm still wide awake and I basically didn't get any sleep that day. So I know if worse if worse comes to worse, you know, can You can have a day's running without sleep if you've slept pretty well up until that point.
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But I was stoked to get a good night's sleep the night for UTA this year. Yeah, it's always a good feeling. I feel like you've got to have one or the other. You've got to have the the backup of the sleep banked and then you can get less stressed or the night's sleep before the the race can be really quite a nice little sort of positive mindset boost at the start of the day.
00:29:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I was battling the first week was just probably pretty standard for a new one. And then um i think it was about three nights before we left, Ada gave me like the pass to go into our spare bedroom and that was just gold because I was i was struggling.
00:29:47
Speaker
yeah mean, we were both struggling. yeah And then I think I got about three nights by myself, which was like the best crew person kind of yes yeah frozen check us to make yeah so that's um i think without that i would have really struggled so we can credit we can credit a lot of a lot of your race to ada then oh 100 yeah 100 yeah so yeah we had the family in sydney a ada just came up on the day i really i saw her really briefly at um queen vic and then at the finish
00:30:24
Speaker
Yeah, I saw an amazing photo of ah you and and your daughter at the finish line. ah Yeah. That pretty cool. Yeah, and my mum and dad, they came again. They've been every year that I've been to UTA. um Yeah. ah they were there again, and my sister, Zan, she's run the 22 before, but she just came up this year um to crew, and she was amazing. She kind of took the reins.
00:30:50
Speaker
And, oh yeah, it's pretty funny. she's very She wanted to do it well, and she did it. really good job yeah awesome yeah big team effort all right well how about you tell me about your day how was it like go through your race a little bit and and and what because a lot can happen in nine hours and 48 minutes what what was the day like um so like to be honest at the start I knew I was fit but I'd had kind of three big races in a row that just didn't go to plan and so i didn't have a lot I didn't have
00:31:25
Speaker
ah huge amount of confidence yeah it was it was almost like can I just get through the first 30ks and not have anything go wrong and so ah didn't want to take too many risks early on um seeing um seeing xiajin run out pretty quick that was fine kind ah kind of you know, I wasn't going to be the person that was going to go and run at that pace. You know, that's just... Did you even get an urge or was it just never thought... possibly if I hadn't been in that conservative mindset, it might have been something that I would risk and have a crack. um
00:32:13
Speaker
But I've always probably done better just... um It's not like you ease into a race, but I kind of like my heart rate just to build up rather than going out super hard and then yeah trying to, like, um you know, bring everything down. a much prefer to start pretty steady.
00:32:30
Speaker
And I even let um Matt and Rhett, you know, just go a bit ahead. ah could see them, but I was totally fine just to be at my own pace for that, you know, running on narrow neck. Yeah.
00:32:44
Speaker
And... It wasn't, yeah, probably um probably about 25Ks in I thought, so far so good. You know, I got to some hills. I'd i much prefer running on hills and got to those first few hills and felt pretty good.
00:33:02
Speaker
um And I think I moved into second um heading over to the first six-foot checkpoint. yeah And I didn't really make a move at all. It was just where I felt comfortable.
00:33:14
Speaker
And so that was a good sign. um Yeah. um But, yeah, i mean, did you want to know anything specific about the race in general? Because it's all a bit of a blur to me.
00:33:27
Speaker
And I know that... When you came into Six Foot, you were in second there. So um and there there was a pack of of guys behind you that probably at that stage weren't too far behind, including Rhett and Matt and George and...
00:33:42
Speaker
Benji, even a few others that were all still able to get you again. Were you were you comfortable at that stage? Did you think you sort of had second or was it later on that you you started to be like, no, I've got this? Like were you still thinking about the guys behind you or were you we sort of just sort of moving on your own pace?
00:34:01
Speaker
I was more, I wasn't, to be honest, I wasn't thinking about places at all. Like I felt, oh, it's, you know, it was a bit of a confidence booster to know that I was in second.
Race Strategy and Pacing
00:34:10
Speaker
um Yeah. But I'd really, and like my races, I'd just broken it down into segments. you So i had some time splits that I know over the years I've just got better and better at some of these segments.
00:34:24
Speaker
And um to me, getting to those, feeling okay is great. Whether there's people around me or not, I didn't, I wasn't too worried because if I was going to run, you know, consistently throughout the race,
00:34:41
Speaker
um yeah they're going to have to run a really good consistent race too and if and if we're racing near the end that's great but you've got to get there first and so those early stages of a race are really just take care of things and try not to be too reactionary because you just burn matches and um i found it if yeah if you let it get to you or try and you know put some put a gap on someone at 30 k's into the race um For me, like personally, I don't, it doesn't really work.
00:35:16
Speaker
But I know, you know, some some of these races now, it's just certainly the international races at the 100km distance. They're so fast and those things are important. You often see people make a break at 20, 30km and then that is the kind of the difference at the end.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah. um And I'm not sure how much, maybe Shushing, know he went out quick and probably could have fair bit of timing to us early. And I'm not sure if he just chipped away at that lead. I mean, just can slowly continue to build that lead. Maybe we had did have some segments where it wasn't being extended, but maybe that's something for me in the future too, if I really want to um risk something or or try something different.
00:36:03
Speaker
But that' this year, that's that's kind of how I approach the race and I always have those like feelings at the end of the race, even though it's not gone great and it was amazing. i still kind of thinking, oh, could I run quicker here or done this a bit better?
00:36:21
Speaker
oh But generally it was a as it yeah pretty solid race. Yeah, nice. Do you remember any sections between, say, Six Foot and and Queen Vic, maybe that sort of middle part of the race where things were going really well or things got really hard? Like was it or was it all pretty stable through there? You kept a pretty solid pace pretty solid, pretty consistent or was there any ups and downs through there?
00:36:52
Speaker
It was pretty good. i Because I had these time splits, I got a bit confused heading um t between Fairmont and Queen Vic. um I didn't realise but I think the course must have been twigged a bit because I'd turned up at Queen Vic about 20 minutes lower for that segment than I thought. and And usually if it's one or two minutes, oh, that's fine, you know. um And it was muddy and, you know, the course was a little bit slower because of the mud.
00:37:21
Speaker
um But that was a lot, so it just confused me a bit. um But I knew that, you know, I hadn't kind of lost time or gained time to anyone else, it was all relative, so it didn't matter. Yeah.
00:37:36
Speaker
but maybe someone else would know. By the time I get to these stages of the race, and I've done it so many times, I should be able to describe it all by name, but I'm just hopeless. Yeah, yeah. like that city You have a good excuse that it's, what, 70, 80K into your race.
00:37:53
Speaker
Yeah. Did you know what the time gaps were, like, around Queen Vic or at the Fairmont as well? Like, did you know how much time you had back to the third and fourth, or were not, you didn't have that information?
00:38:04
Speaker
I... i I think i I didn't have it too much. I actually rang Dad heading up Kadumba, which he worried about because the last few races when he's got a call, it's been bad news.
00:38:17
Speaker
But this one is just to check was just to check what the time differences were. And um because I just felt i felt i felt pretty good going up Kadumba. I was a bit bit slow going down. i was pretty sore in the quads. And so I thought I don't.
00:38:36
Speaker
I was probably four minutes slower going down there than 2023. um But as soon as I got to the climbs, I i just felt the best I've ever felt at that point of the race.
00:38:47
Speaker
And it so heading up there, I knew i could ah knew I had a pace that I could keep to the end. um And I thought like I'd be fun to pick up Willow at the end. So I just rang Dad and said, do I have enough gaps so I can pick up Willow at the end? amazing.
00:39:06
Speaker
rather than get there and then, you know, see someone sprinting behind you. Yeah, yeah. Everyone's worst nightmare to have someone with them on further steps. Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's tough racing someone up those steps, yeah.
00:39:22
Speaker
Yeah, nice. and And, like, coming into the finish, knowing you sort of had a great day out there, probably it sounds like for you, like, the second's great, but it's mostly about having a race where you're really happy about it.
Emotional Race Finish
00:39:35
Speaker
um How was that when you sort of come across the finish line running running with Willow for that last bit? um was it Was that a pretty good feeling? Yeah, yeah, 100%. It was um kind of a mixture of like all the UTA or race experiences i've had. It's kind of fun with the family and friends that you have there.
00:39:57
Speaker
um So I had kind of the relief of running 100Ks, finishing, and seeing Willow you know, the people you love and then but also just that feeling of that you've executed what you thought your training would do and and that's the feeling that I've had in the past is that you do this training to be able to turn up and execute or to to run in a certain way that you want to and I had that feeling that, oh, yeah, this is where,
00:40:28
Speaker
this is kind of how I thought I would run with this training. So that's that's really cool. from Yeah, I can imagine that's an amazing feeling. And i remember I remember personally when I looked at the results, I was like, ah, yes, this is this is the race we know Mike can do when he when he has a good day. So, yeah, it was really good to see and I was really happy to see come in second there with such a strong strong run. um Yeah, it was great.
00:40:53
Speaker
Thank you, mate. Thanks. um after the race, ah any like reflections or anything that happened then or just sort of soaking it all up at the finish line? um Yeah, i just got to um kind of celebrate a little bit with the family and they were all, I think they were all really pleased too because they'd known that the last year had been tough with races.
00:41:20
Speaker
um Yeah. So I think they were all aged as well. And, um yeah, got to do a drug test, which was pretty cool. I've never done a drug test before. I was trying to find you and I thought that's where you might have been. I was there. I missed you finish, but I was there around shortly after, but I couldn't find you and I thought you might have been in drug testing.
00:41:38
Speaker
That's pretty cool. Yeah, that was pretty cool. and That's the first time. So I always think that that's a pretty big compliment. yeah if you get a drug test. Yeah, and cool to see that they're doing it there as well. So that's a yeah big shout-out to UTA and UTMB for doing that at the race.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, nice one. um And it sounds like you've you've been sort of having a bit of a rest this week and i' sure you're not rushing back out there, but is there anything that you're now sort of looking at for the rest of the year or are you sort of just sort of soaking it up for now and see what happens later in the year?
00:42:16
Speaker
Yeah, I'm bit unsure what's next. Like I've usually known kind of I've been itchy to put something back on the
Future Race Plans
00:42:24
Speaker
calendar. But at the moment I might just slowly get back into training and um and not and, you know, not know what I'm going to train for. But I mean just running, staying fit and and um continuing on.
00:42:43
Speaker
I'd love to go back to the COSY. at the end of the year because I grew up in Cooma so yeah okay to have that race there now it's pretty cool and last year was going last year went really well I just capitulated a bit after the break that we had yeah um ah it's not like it's unfinished business but I'd love to go back and do the miler there again and have another go um And six foot has been postponed until September, I think, so I'm still looking that.
00:43:16
Speaker
Nice. And there's a few, oh, there's lots of little races here in the ACT that will be available just to jump in if I feel like it.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yeah, nice. And other than that, i might I'll probably be thinking about what else I can when I start running again. i think that's where. A lot of people, well, I certainly do kind of dream up what I can enter in on the run. Yeah, the dreams start flowing when you start running again. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:43:49
Speaker
Amazing. Cool, awesome. Well, Mike, it's been so good to chat to you and amazing to hear you. a bit about you and and your story and and your training block and then the race. um So thank you.
00:44:00
Speaker
I did say 20, 30 minutes and we've done 45. forty five So thank you for ah bearing with me and listening to all my questions. um And thanks for joining us on the podcast. And hopefully we'll chat to you again sometime soon, maybe end of the year um after the miler if you head back there.
00:44:17
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks. Thanks, Hase, Brodie. No worries.