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Episode 56: Fraser Darcy on Back-to-Back Marathons
368 Plays23 days ago
This week on Peak Pursuits, we’re joined by guest host Fraser Darcy, who’s fresh off a massive fortnight, backing up a huge PB and 2nd place at Ballarat Marathon with a win at Adelaide Marathon just seven days later.
Alongside regular hosts Jess Jason and Brodie Nankervis, we dive into how Fraser pulled it off, his training philosophy, and how road racing can translate to trail success. From high volume weeks to trail specific sessions Fraser walks us through what’s been working and what he’s learned along the way.
We also check in with Jess as she sharpens up her prep for Ultra-Trail Australia, and Brodie shares a refreshing update on his achilles injury recovery logging a solid week of running
We wrap up with race results from across the country and overseas, including:
- SkyRunning Ueda Skyrace – Simone (5th), Blake (9th)
- Kunanyi Trail Series – Organ Pipes
- Nail Can Hill Run
- Hamilton Island Hilly Half Marathon
- Ikara Ultra – Flinders Ranges
Whether you're a road runner curious about trails or a trail athlete looking to mix things up, this episode has plenty of insight!
Don’t forget, use code PPP at checkout for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram to share your thoughts, questions, and trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Follow Peak Pursuits: @peakpursuits.pod
Follow Jess: @jessjason
Follow Brodie: @brodie_nank
Follow Fraser: @fraser.darcy94
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!)
License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 56 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. um Looking forward to a ah great episode this week. I'm going to be joined by Jess Jason again. Jess, how are you going?
00:00:22
Speaker
Yeah, good, thanks. I just started a new week, um starting my taper for UTA, so that's always nice. um Yeah, nice. Excited to talk to you guys, excited for the guests that we have on tonight.
00:00:35
Speaker
Yeah, so we've got a very special guest. We spoke to him a few ah months ago, we're still, our two other hosts are a bit aloof at the moment, so we've been getting some guests on, which has been very fun. I've been enjoying it. um But this week, we're very lucky to be joined by...
Fraser's Marathon Achievements and Insights
00:00:52
Speaker
Fraser Darcy, who has had a very busy two weeks. um We all, well, I'm sure we spoke about it last week on the episode about his fantastic run at Ballarat Marathon.
00:01:02
Speaker
And if anyone was watching closely, Fraser decided to back it up and go again this weekend at the Adelaide Marathon. How are you going, Fraser? I'm going pretty well. Yeah, a little bit tired mentally, but otherwise pretty happy with my last two weekends. So thanks for the invite onto the show. And yeah, looking forward to chatting a bit of trail running and bit of road marathons and how it sort of relates, I guess.
00:01:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Last week, yeah we shouted out a few trail runners ah on the roads doing different races. um But now you've done two road marathons in a row. Maybe yeah you've become a road runner. what's We better be careful.
00:01:40
Speaker
Yeah, i like like i think I do love trail running still and I train half the time on trails, And it relates well, but the the reason I sort of got into road races the last couple of years was because of the competition so that I could find more competition and then find more speed and then take that to the trails.
00:02:00
Speaker
And it's actually kind of made me enjoy trail running a lot more just on my easy runs because the roads are very busy. It's very busy when you go for an easy run in the parklands, whereas the trails are still sort of number one, like switch off and enjoy ah running.
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Well, I'm excited to get into it a bit. um We'll maybe chat about Ballarat first, being that was sort of the big one. And when we spoke to you last, you were...
00:02:28
Speaker
yeah do we speak We spoke to you after Mountain Running Champs. So you'd just done Mountain Running Champs and then the next big thing was Ballarat Marathon. um How was the training block um from there through to Ballarat?
00:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, it was pretty good. Like that Mountain Champs week, I sort of dropped back to 125 Ks for that week. And then i had five or six weeks to go between then and Bowerat.
Training and Special Block Techniques
00:02:53
Speaker
And um i guess a couple of key sessions was i did a half marathon and and ran training. There did a long run, which involved a bit of a progression and that turned out to be a marathon.
00:03:07
Speaker
And then there was a special block day, which um involved a set of 10 Ks in the morning and then a set of another 10 K in the afternoon and then 10, then some one K repeats.
00:03:21
Speaker
um And that was something that I just was really keen to try. And I guess the approach I had to that was just like experiment. And it almost felt like I was doing some sort of trail adventure, which is, I guess, how a lot of trail runners sort of approach climbing up a mountain. they just like, so they don't know how long it's going to take or what it's going to be like.
00:03:42
Speaker
um So I was able to use that mindset into the special block and just sort of get the first get the morning done and then do the afternoon and just really like enjoy seeing what would happen.
00:03:53
Speaker
um And then I pulled up well from that. And I knew that once I did that and I had a few more long runs and good sessions, I sort of knew I was ready for Ballarat and just excited to to get in the race.
00:04:04
Speaker
and um Yeah, awesome. Before before we get to the race, I just want to i just want to talk about that special part because that that literally blew my mind. i was like, what is going on? This is crazy.
00:04:15
Speaker
Yeah. If anyone wants to go and have a look, you you wrote in a fair bit of detail about your day and and what you did and how you were feeling. um But what what inspired the special block in terms of putting it in in the program for the marathon instead of sort of just doing sort of standard marathon sessions that all the other roadrunners are doing?
Race Challenges and Strategies
00:04:36
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I've always been studying like different runners and what they're doing and and that's how I've learned about running. Like a listen to how you guys train or how people train on other podcasts and just like to sample different things. So the special block comes from um Renato Canova, is a European coach.
00:04:54
Speaker
Your coach is elite Italians and Kenyans um and the idea is that in a marathon, you need to rely on utilizing all your fuel resources when you're fatigued. So if you can do a big day of training off not much at marathon sort of effort and make sure you're getting, recruiting all your muscle fibers throughout the day when they're tired, then come marathon day, it's kind of easier.
00:05:20
Speaker
um And yeah, it was just like really just a bit of an experiment just to see if I could do it and, what it would feel like and if I would give it to other athletes that I coach to do it.
00:05:34
Speaker
I think you you do have to be quite experienced. A lot of trail runners would probably do it pretty easily because they know what it's like to do five hours of exercise in a day and stuff like that. But, um yeah, most recreational runners would probably need to build up before they attempt something like that.
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. and And I thought it was interesting in your special block, you um you ended up running a bit faster than than sort of what you'd planned going in because you you felt really good and and you did a bit more of maybe the trail running and just vibed it a little bit and and went off feel.
00:06:06
Speaker
um Do you think that worked well? was it Was it that your marathon effort or your marathon pace was actually ended up being faster than what you thought it was or or was it that day you just felt particularly good?
00:06:18
Speaker
That day just felt particularly good. I think in the afternoon it was sunny and it wasn't very windy and... Yeah, I just felt good. And I think that's really important in running. And that's something that I've learned from trail running. Like you just got to enjoy running and and listening to music. And I get pretty frustrated at the people I train with who just like follow the program like it's a textbook and then and don't understand why they're like not having fun. And it's like, well, when did you stop and have fun with your running? When did you do something? Yeah, yeah. So I think that's what trail runners understand. Like they just, yeah, send it down a downhill or...
00:06:54
Speaker
you know, go run up a mountain. Like, yeah. Yeah, definitely. Great. And um the big question before going into chatting a bit more about Ballarat, what was harder, the special block or Ballarat?
00:07:07
Speaker
um Probably Ballarat. Yeah, I think the special block was easy because... like I didn't have any pressure on myself yes yeah in the days leading up. Whereas the hard thing about racing a marathon is you taper for the whole week and you just sit there like questioning your whole life decisions and what time you're going to run and what time everyone else is going to run. And, um,
00:07:29
Speaker
yeah what's what it's all going to feel like is it all going to go well why are you even doing it and i don't really cope well with that yeah most people yeah yeah so the special box a bit more fun yeah no it looked like a little to be honest it looked when i saw that i was like that looks harder than running any race i've ever done but i'm just think i'm not as fast as you so the speeds look crazy to me yeah um But, yeah, no, that's it was it was very cool to to see the process. and yeah, like I said, if if you want to read more about that, head over to Fraser's blog because, yeah it's really cool um to have a have a look to see how he was training.
00:08:03
Speaker
um Jess, do you have any questions before we talk about Ballarat? ah Yeah, like I'm interested to hear about the race. I'm just going through your training at the moment. It looks crazy. Like you didn't have a single day off after Ballarat in between your two marathons and you went straight into Was that?
00:08:22
Speaker
17k run at 411 paces session or was it just is that your easy run pace uh no that was that was an easy run with Jess Stenson I'd run with her on Wednesday mornings okay yeah that was funny I was almost going to run solo but then Jess appeared and uh when you run with Jess you run like four minute k's so yeah you run jess's so yeah wow that's just yeah crazy like you must be so conditioned um i i was a little bit worried uh at the end of that run i was like oh maybe i went a bit too fast there i still wasn't i still wasn't committed to racing two marathons
00:09:05
Speaker
then either like I really didn't decide until Friday so yeah all right well maybe maybe let's hear about Ballarat first um I I'm keen to know like did you have a time in mind for Ballarat of what you were aiming for or a place that you were like how did you approach the race was it a time-based or you're trying to race for a position or or what was that what was the goal going in Bit of both.
Personal Records and Goals
00:09:29
Speaker
It was probably more time-based. Like I wanted to run under 220. I wanted to take that before. Cause that's something that like, um remember when I got picked for the world champs team and I was looking at, um, other people racing in the events and you're like, that guy's got a marathon PB of 218, 216. And you're just like, man, like, can I do that?
00:09:47
Speaker
And so that's kind of the whole process of trying to get fast on the roads. And so i wanted to take that off. Um, and I trained with Jacob Cox a lot and he's run 219.03. ah three And he's always beaten me in every race we've ever done.
00:10:01
Speaker
But I thought I could get him, get his marathon time. so I kind of had that in my head um to run sub 219. And then looking at the field, I sort of put myself maybe fifth or sixth going in of like, okay, maybe my PB wasn't fifth or sixth, but I thought I could come in the top five, which had prize money and would pay for my trip essentially.
00:10:25
Speaker
So yeah, basically I got together with Brady, Trellful and a few other guys and just we organized to go out at 2.19 pace. So um yeah, I knew it was going to be a combo of racing for the time and also racing everyone else. That was a massive pack that you guys are in. Like I was surprised that that many people were sort of committed to that pace early because there must have been a lot of people that kind of like booked their marathon a bit and went out too hard.
00:10:53
Speaker
Yeah, interesting discussion point there ah because it was also the half marathon people. Oh, okay. So that was the 70-minute group and the 220 group.
00:11:04
Speaker
We were being away by the 220 pacer, ah Steve McKenna, and um you know how it's a very fine margin of if you're going 219 and then there's 220, you're only going to be a few seconds a K difference after about, you three Ks.
00:11:20
Speaker
So... We all kind of it mixed in there, which was dangerous because we, yeah I guess we went a bit slower through the first 15 Ks than we probably should have. And they went a bit faster through the first 15 Ks than they probably should have.
00:11:33
Speaker
So, yeah, contentious point Yeah. Yeah, okay. So was the was the pacer going more to like somewhere halfway between 219 and 220? Yeah.
00:11:43
Speaker
and yeah yeah Yeah, okay. Which was good for me because it meant that all i did is I switched off and I just said, look, I'm racing Brady, Dean Menzies and a few other guys like Rhys Edwards was up the road, um Alex Harvey was up the road.
00:11:58
Speaker
And Kayla Blake was up the road, so I was like, well, this is the race for fourth, fifth, so just switch off and race these guys. And it was really fun having a big pack because it was like it's like our long runs at Runners One, like you're just like smack talking with people for the first 15 Ks. and It was a little bit...
00:12:17
Speaker
ah poor, I guess, in the event, the drink tables. You got like 30 guys in a pack. You come to a drink table and there's like one table. And yeah, I kind of stuffed up a bit and someone's hand came out in front of me and I like collided into a few people at one of the drink tables. But um that was all in the first 15 Ks and it was pretty like, didn't have to think too much. It was just rolling along at 318, 319 average.
00:12:42
Speaker
three nontane average But then at 15Ks, Dean decided to finally pick up the pace a bit. so um he did that at a point where...
00:12:52
Speaker
We were goingnna about to go into the headwind around the lake, which was a little bit interesting, but he's older than me and he's faster than me and I wanted to beat him. So I thought he's making the right decision, so I'll just go around with Dean. and And then he let me he let me take the pace when we got to the headwind section, so that was I happy to do that because I was like, well, he made the move to to leave this group, so I guess I'll take the like set the pace here. Yeah.
00:13:18
Speaker
um And then, yeah, then we got through halfway and 69 low, which is, yeah, sort of bang on that 219, 218 pace. um But I guess the the practice of running ultras, you sort of just know that halfway of marathon is like nothing. Like you need to be real relaxed still because so much can go wrong.
00:13:39
Speaker
I was tapping into that mindset. And then, yeah, Then Dean dropped off going up the hill that's in the course and I was a bit unsure as to whether I should sit up and wait for him to sort of keep some company for 30Ks or just keep going.
00:13:54
Speaker
And I decided to keep going. um There was a guy on a bike that I have no idea who he was and he he gave me some really good words of encouragement. was like, you're looking real good, man.
00:14:05
Speaker
was just like, cool. I just love that about road races because you do have that um ability for someone to to ride next to you and just have no idea who this guy was but he just sort of set my race up um and then yeah we kept i kept rolling along um and i was making ground on alex harvey who eventually don't know if he finished um and then reese edwards is further up the road but but The second half is all pretty straightforward, really. I just kept running my pace, waiting for Dean and other people to catch me um and sort of always having something in reserve.
00:14:45
Speaker
But then um they ah didn't catch me, so I finished in second. Did have race in your sights at all throughout the race? There was one turnaround at where saw him and he was um He didn't look at me and I was like, I wonder if he's hurting and he's just trying to like, um but he was doing pretty well.
00:15:09
Speaker
I think he'll run, um he's running Gold Coast Marathon in a few months and I think he'll go pretty well. Yeah. Yeah. It would be interesting to know how I would have gone if I went with him at the start.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah. He's only 90 seconds in front of me, which is yeah not that much of a difference. Yeah. yeah yeah but he did it all solo pretty much after so yeah i feel like if um you're able to run as much as you did straight after like i feel like you've got more room in the tank to go faster so that's really exciting
00:15:42
Speaker
yeah yeah damn that was um it was pretty cool and what what time did you end up running you came you came in second what was the exact time 2 18 35 two eighteen thirty five Yeah, and that was like a four five-minute PB? Three-minute Three. minute pb three Yeah, nice.
00:15:58
Speaker
And and so the PB was from Sydney? Correct, yeah. Which is a slower course? Yeah, yeah, slower course, but s Sydney was probably better. I had company until 35Ks.
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah, okay. you'll eat women so Set up a bit better. So you think you can go a bit quicker then? I think I could go a bit quicker on a flatter course. If I'm going to do Sydney again this year and if I was to run sub 220 at Sydney, I'd be pretty stoked.
00:16:27
Speaker
Yeah. Because that race will just be like top five Australian race. you Yeah. And this year there's ah there's a bunch of prize money for Australian only as well. i imagine there'll be a lot of like good marathon runners there, but...
00:16:41
Speaker
Well, it's interesting because the prize money announcement received a lot of good media attention about like, oh, how great is this for Australia? But like I won 10 grand last year coming second and the breakdown this year is 10 grand for third.
00:16:55
Speaker
So it's really one extra spot's worth of prize money that's been added in. It's 35 grand for first, which is great. Yeah. But second is then 20 grand, I think.
00:17:07
Speaker
Yeah. So could be better. It'd be cool if you can share some kilometers with Kipchoge as well. why yeah that's luck that's pretty cool that he's coming.
00:17:20
Speaker
ah yeah Except Kipchoge is still running 205, unfortunately. i think I think when it was announced, we thought, oh, maybe Kipchoge is done and maybe he's going to run like 215 when he comes. But he's still running quick.
00:17:32
Speaker
I have a feeling he won't go at it at 205 pace. Yeah, probably probably not for Sydney. When I got to sit on the in on the interview that he did with um all the media when the announcement came out and all he kept saying was like, he it like you can't wait to see the kangaroos and the people that we had for.
00:17:51
Speaker
I get distracted. Yeah, but you need to take him for a trail run beforehand. Yeah. Yeah. He's going to see any kangaroos in Sydney probably. ah um That's pretty cool though. Like this result, I think like like Dean Menzies has had some some, he's one of like Australia's best marathon runners, like not top, top, but like the next the next tier. You've definitely sort of cemented yourself in that sort of next tier and of ah marathon runners, which is which is pretty cool.
00:18:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's good to know that like I could go to a Melbourne and sort of be competitive yeah for Gold Coast. And there's time bonuses at Gold Coast. If you run sub-220, you get $500 no matter what place you come.
00:18:35
Speaker
it's kind of nice. Yeah, nice. Very cool. Awesome. And then um we've touched on it already, but a few days later, you're running 411s with Jess Stenson and then a few days later, you're running Adelaide Marathon.
Back-to-Back Marathon Experiences
00:18:48
Speaker
Yeah, so I was pretty unsure about doing the double um because Steve McKenna was also potentially going to do the double too and he's a former pro triathlete and could be could do anything really.
00:19:04
Speaker
and But I also didn't want someone to win Adelaide Marathon in a time that I thought I could run um even despite being fatigued. Yeah. And then, like, to be honest, you look at what happens in the trail world, like Sim and Blake, they raced on the weekend and they did, like, three, four-hour races, like,
00:19:26
Speaker
And, yeah, so it's like it always happens in the trail world and the road world. We just seem to have these ingrained beliefs about everything. And you're like, well, maybe we could challenge that and find out. And so, again, similar to the special block, it was a bit of an experiment because I knew could run at knew could at and i knew i could run ten ks at three thirty s but I didn't know if I could run the marathon at 330s. So I was like, where is the sort of line of where it gets difficult?
00:19:56
Speaker
And it was probably like 38, 39 Ks. Yeah. Cool. And I guess it's like, oh, sorry, Jess, you go. so sorry jesse you go Like how did you feel differently to Ballarat? Like did you did the fatigue come earlier on? oh Mentally i was pretty done by about like 10 or 15 Ks.
00:20:17
Speaker
It's like thinking about it is as well, another factor is like this is my fourth Adelaide marathon and like – it's the same thing every year. It's me and other guys running out the front.
00:20:30
Speaker
So like there's nothing exciting about it anymore for me. So like, yeah, I really ah was just trying to run with the the guy that I was running with, Tim Hewitt, who's from the NT, and just trying to chat to him and and keep my mind distracted for the first 20Ks. But then I knew that I would have to run a little bit by myself um and break away from him.
00:20:55
Speaker
Also because I just like, um you know, part of you part of me like loves running by myself and so that's why I like trail running because you just go by yourself and i was like, all right, I'm going to have to get some alone time here because it's a busy event and there's lots of people to talk to before and after. And if I don't get some alone time, like I'm probably going to go psycho. Yeah.
00:21:15
Speaker
so I did that from like 23 Ks. I sort of got a gap up a hill and I was like, okay, it's time to put the foot down here. um And then, yeah, it got to 30 Ks and I was still in front and I knew I had a lead. So I was like, all right, you can't lose this from here.
00:21:36
Speaker
so just get yourself to the end. And then that's when it started to get even more mentally draining. Yeah. But yeah, I was able to just get through it and just tell myself like it's just more training. um And it was nice.
00:21:49
Speaker
The finish was a little bit different this year, which is good. So it's nice to soak that in a bit and get a better finish than has been in the past. But physically, I felt pretty good. And and that was a good thing about doing adelaide ah doing Ballarat because I could check in with myself and go, well, physically, I feel better than I did at Ballarat at this point. So I know I can finish. um It's just mentally like when is this going to end? Yeah, yeah. yeah Yeah. The course looks super windy as well. Like towards the end it looks like you're doing lots of different turns and things. How did that how did that feel?
00:22:25
Speaker
ah Not great, yeah. it's It's a good like I guess race course because you get so many opportunities to look at where second and third are but to So not only is it windy, but you're running up the back of half marathoners and 10Kers.
00:22:41
Speaker
And I have the luxury of a lead bike. I say luxury, like, yes, they're clearing the path for me, but for like an hour, they're just ringing their bell and yelling at people. It's very it's a bit annoying.
00:22:55
Speaker
Yes, gets a bit annoying. The poor guy had a crash though, so I don't want to like rag on him too much. Yeah. Yeah, it's an interesting course. Like I highly recommend coming over and doing it. I'm not paid to say that by the South Australian Roadrunners Club, but like it is an interesting course.
00:23:13
Speaker
So if you're going to run if you can run a marathon at Adelaide, then like go to Ballarat or like a better course and you run like five minutes quicker without trying. Yeah. So how many marathons have you done now?
00:23:24
Speaker
I think that's like eight or nine official. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And um like, what have you changed since your first one? Like, like fueling wise, strategy wise, like what's different?
00:23:39
Speaker
um When I first started, I probably didn't i didn't use gels and I didn't, and this is like for trail running as well, like I didn't use gels up until about three years ago and didn't rate like electrolytes. I was pretty lazy.
00:23:51
Speaker
um But now, yeah, now I've got like a good system of having a gel every 5Ks and um I make up a mix of Staminate and Hydrolite. because that's cheap, even though it says on the, like, hydrolyte tab bottle to not mix it with electrolyte drink. um Someone, maybe there's a smart listener out there that can explain to me why you don't do that, but it seems to just be get me the same numbers of, like, what's in a precision um sodium thing. So, like...
00:24:23
Speaker
yeah like it's It's good now that I've refined my process of like, okay, I start my carb load on Thursday night. ah My taper always looks the same. And then also the recovery now.
00:24:35
Speaker
i know like what I can experiment with and how quickly I can come back. Because last year I did Adelaide and then three weeks later I did Sydney. So I sort of did have a bit of an experiment like this last year and I've just refined it even more.
00:24:49
Speaker
yeah But I'm not saying I'm going to run a marathon like three days next year after another marathon. Like just keep refining it. Yeah. Back to back. So one gel every 5Ks, does that work out to be – what are you doing 5Ks in? Is that 16 minutes you're doing 5Ks? So you're doing like three, yeah four gels an hour, four gels an hour?
00:25:11
Speaker
ah No, it'd be like three three gels an hour, three and a half. Yeah. So, yes, I had six gels. Something 90 to 100 grams an hour, roughly. Yeah. had six gels and about 1.25 liters of fluid. Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:25
Speaker
yeah um And I'm just using the winner's gels because, one, they're, again, cheap from Woolies. And, two, I think it's pretty nice to put out a gel that says winner on it.
00:25:37
Speaker
yeah I'm the winner. I didn't have lot of people get on the winner's gels recently. And I used to have – I had them, like, way back, and I remember them taste really bad, but s supposedly they taste a bit better now.
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah, I find them great. like Yeah, okay. Should try them out again. Yeah. And you can get it. They're the best, the only really thing you can get at the supermarket, aren't they? either Like, Joe's wine. Yeah, they're very tricky to get. You can't. I go maybe, it takes me like two trips every marathon to find them because I'll go to one supermarket and they won't have the lemon-lime flavor. They'll be like sold out and have the berry flavor.
00:26:11
Speaker
And so then I'll have to go to another supermarket and they're like tricky to find new supermarkets. Yeah. So you're a lemon and lime only kind of guy? Yeah. this is One caffeine one. But I didn't have a caffeine one this weekend because I couldn't be bothered.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. There you So do you coach, like, so you self-coached? Yeah, so like I'm part of Runners 1 and so when I can and when because we have to take the sessions and put sort of put signs out but I can jump in the sessions and the sessions are all set by Riley Cox.
00:26:48
Speaker
So we might do like a 1K rep session and I'll sort of just manipulate it to whatever I'm focusing on but then all the rest of my running is all coached by myself, like the long run and the easy run quality and stuff like that.
00:27:05
Speaker
Yeah, and do you coach other athletes? Yeah, so i got to – that's like my only work at the moment is coaching other people. So coach a fair few people and a mix of trail runners and road runners that we have in the group um with a mixture of abilities as well. So it's good. It keeps me interested and engaged.
00:27:25
Speaker
Would you ever get any of your other athletes during the back-to-back marathon? ah ah Only if they – ah emailed me lots of times and displayed a measure of uh training that could facilitate uh that meant they were able to do it yeah without hurting themselves yeah yeah can come through in a number of ways but they have to be keen enough to basically handle the punishment and the the the failure if it doesn't come off yeah
00:27:57
Speaker
Because that's what, like, yesterday i was happy to not finish and be seen as a failure, which I think is something important that you need to prepare, like, be set.
00:28:10
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know, Brody, you might have read my blog already, but I watched The Dark Knight Rises this week. And there's a scene where the sort Batman has to climb out of the pit, but he can only do it the way that the child did it without the rope. So he has to like be prepared to die to climb out of the pit. Have you guys seen The Dark Knight Rises or am I just talking about I think I have. It's it's been a while though.
00:28:36
Speaker
and Yeah. That's the first one, isn't it? The first one of like the new... It's the third one. Oh, is it? fine Oh, with Bane. Yeah, it's been a while. um that's probably cool yeah I hope there's like a thousand listeners right now being like... I'm sure there is.
00:28:53
Speaker
Yeah, the whole story is that you have to be prepared to to risk failure to um to get what you want. And like Killian had um thing of this like kiss or kill but don't know if you've ever heard google a kiss or kill killian johnette he had this like paragraph thing that he used to put up on his door um kiss glory or die trying so there's a bit interesting inspiration for everyone yeah sorry sorry i haven't read your blog but like the main the main reason behind doing the double marathon and like
00:29:33
Speaker
not like fully resting in between, is that is it like mental training or is it like ah you do you think like the physical ab adaptations are just going to be like insane for like the next marathon or like your trail running races as well later in the year?
00:29:49
Speaker
I'd say both and also the third reason of like, well, there's a couple of other reasons. So, yeah, like good to just experiment and see if I could do it. Mm-hmm. Two, if I could do it, well, then the like obviously if I pull up well and recover well, then it's going to be a good stimulus and I'm going to get fitter and I'm going to be more efficient as a runner.
00:30:10
Speaker
Yeah. ah Three, I'm going to win $2,500 prize money. Yeah. And then four. You don't go anywhere for it. Yeah. the next The next time I race a marathon or a big event,
00:30:24
Speaker
and I'm, you know, 35 Ks in with someone and running next to them and they look at me and they go, that geez that guy ran two of these things. Yeah. Like the way we look at Rhys Edwards right now, we go, well, Rhys is great runner. Like he can do that easy.
00:30:39
Speaker
what it Like what could he do if I pushed him really hard? So it's kind of like, you know, don't F with me because I can do another one of these next week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. but maybe if i've revealed that now that that doesn't work and now we all know yeah but still it does it just show like pretty good um it shows that your your body can tolerate a lot of load which you need in a marathon especially the back end of ah a hard marathon so i think yeah they know that you're trying to trick them and trying to scare them they probably could still be scared yeah
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's super impressive. It's just, yeah, like not many people would be able to pull it off. And I think like I've, yeah, I've heard that like you're a big mileage guy. So I think that probably comes down to the amount of cuing conditioning that you already have from like the weights that you've stacked on. So like I don't think everyone listening to this should be going out and doing stuff like this. But just like keep in mind that Fraser's like a well-conditioned runner. He's been running for years. Like um he's built up to be able to do this stuff. So yeah.
00:31:42
Speaker
um yeah it's super impressive it's a good disclaimer there's only a few people I think there's only a small few people that can do this and those more few people have to have trained a lot and if you look at Fraser's training for the last six months you'll see what he needed to do to be able tolerate this so yeah it's pretty it's pretty cool i'd be interested i like i think i agree with all of your benefits the only one i don't agree with is i don't know if it's a good training stimulus like i think it's a i think it's a cool thing to have achieved but i i i don't know if doing the second one would add anything to your like long-term fitness in my mind but that that's just i just wanted to play devil's advocate well no it's a good discussion because you think well ah like where does the limit end okay because we do
00:32:27
Speaker
you know, three-minute heel reps on Tuesday. and if I can do three-minute heel reps on Wednesday, is that good to do it two days in a row or is it better to do it on Friday? Like, so there's always that discussion of where you place the workout to get the most benefit.
00:32:42
Speaker
And seven days is just seven days because that's the working week. You know, that's what a whole marathon is like. Is it better to run it 10 days later or? Yeah. I guess I'll have to do it more times to work out, experiment.
00:32:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. No, it's very, very interesting, very cool. And um yeah, it was is when it popped up on my Strava on Sunday morning, i was I was quite surprised because I didn't know you were doing it and I thought it was pretty
Future Race Plans
00:33:09
Speaker
interesting. So yeah, it was it was cool. um what's What's next for you? I think you were saying before that Sydney might be the next thing. Like is there anything before then that you're going to do?
00:33:20
Speaker
uh so launceston half is in four weeks and i'm gonna do that and then basically that gives me like a good block between ah then and sydney marathon and so there's there'll local races that'll do on the weekend it's like training runs um but yeah then sydney and then hopefully in this in between the time i'm talking to you and the next couple of weeks i'll find out if i'm picked in the world championships team and I'll find some similar races and workouts to sort of get myself ready for that but those will be the two big goals for the next three four months yeah very cool um are you going to be chasing a half marathon pb in launceston
00:34:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be an elite race this year and it's always an elite race domestically, but there's going to be a bit more depth at the top end and ah Jacob, my training partner, and and another mate are going down. So going to jump in with them and, um yeah, because of the half marathon PB that I set a couple of a month ago now, that was done on like a bike trail out in Clare all by myself. So I'd be just interested to see if I can run a little bit quicker with a group.
00:34:29
Speaker
um i think launceston's known for being pretty fast so yeah at least the 10k i don't know where the half marathon course goes but i think it's also fast yeah it just goes further over the river and launceston beautiful town so any you laestton listeners um listeners i like your town i'm coming to visit yeah cheer him cheer him on so if you do get selected for worlds that when will you start to focus on trail more then i'll probably go to like three sessions a week after launceston and then yeah make one of those sessions a trail specific session yeah and one of those like a long run session and then the other one just a whatever session um because enjoyed i enjoyed when i did that at the start of the year and i had like uphill tempos um at cleveland that was just really fun and really good and
00:35:25
Speaker
um So I'd just be adding in things like that and trying to find the local trail running SA races to sort of train with as well. And then just find Strava segments too.
00:35:38
Speaker
I think that's a method of training that I haven't exploited enough of just trying to like get better times on Strava segments. yeah I think that works particularly well for um trail running.
00:35:49
Speaker
i don't know how I don't know if it's as useful for road running. It's a bit more like lock-in. but And you can overdo it if in Strava ah for for trail running. But you're right. like if Some of my favorite sessions are like on segments that either I've chased the crown or it's my own one and I just want to see my own PR ah that I want to see how I'm going against it.
00:36:09
Speaker
Yeah, because it's like climbing. Like that's what you do in climbing each week. You just go to it um like random piece of rock that has a random grade on it and you try and get better at it and then you tick it and it doesn't mean anything to anyone. And it's like, isn't that what Strava is to runners?
00:36:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. so No, it definitely has a time and a place. like yeah um Yeah, I feel like you could make a session out of a long run by just like doing some hard uphills. Yeah.
00:36:39
Speaker
That's what Michael Kernighan does. He pretty much he just runs, just tries to get as many segments. He's he's like known for having lots and lots of segments. and And if you look at his Strava, he'll talk about like how many segments he got back that day.
00:36:51
Speaker
yeah so he He loves it. um So, yeah. And just don't come to the Dananongs, Fraser. Maybe stay away from There's no good segments there.
00:37:03
Speaker
Do you do much strength in your training program, Fraser? I do a little bit, yeah, maybe one session a week that's like proper or I'm going to lift heavy and then two other sessions where I sort of piss fart around.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah. yeah cool And is that like designed by physio or do you just make it up? ah Make it up from what I've seen.
00:37:28
Speaker
Other people do. Or like my sister's physio and so she sort of gives me suggestions of exercises to do because I'll get like a little niggle and she'll be like, oh, you need to do this because this part of you is weak.
00:37:40
Speaker
And so then I'll do that and then something else will become weak. Yeah. It's very highly scientific. Do you like to do your strength session like on a session day or do you do it on an easy run day?
00:37:55
Speaker
ah The easy run day. Wednesday is generally like my lift hard day. um Yeah. And then my two other days, like Monday, i do like, so I did some mobility this morning, like 20 minutes.
00:38:08
Speaker
And then I'll do something on a Friday or a Saturday, depending on how tired I am on the Friday. Yep. And it also depends on like a Saturday. I might do like, we have our trail sessions. Yeah.
00:38:19
Speaker
of couple of times a month. So if I'm doing a trail session, I'm probably not gonna do a strength session later, but I might do some core work. and
00:38:28
Speaker
oop Very nice. Cool. Awesome. Well, I'll be excited to see how the next few months go. First, hopefully get named on that team and then, um yeah, we'll say um see what happens in those road races and whatnot.
00:38:42
Speaker
um Jess, you're gearing up for UTA.
Jess's Tapering and Brody's Training Progress
00:38:47
Speaker
How's it going? How's the last week been? Yeah, really good. um i yeah like I had a little bit of a niggle in my back, um which I noticed after a long drive back from the Blue Mountains last Sunday.
00:39:05
Speaker
um it wasn't really a running injury, it was more like a... sitting injury but it was kind of like getting to me a bit because obviously I sit at a desk all day at work so it was just it wasn't really getting better.
00:39:18
Speaker
um So I just felt like a little bit awkward in some of my sessions um throughout the week. ah But ah luckily, and got some treatment and released all the back muscles, so I'm feeling a lot better now, which is good.
00:39:33
Speaker
um And I'm going to go see the physio after this, so hopefully I'll be all good after that. um But yeah, last week I... got another two sessions and like a solid long run in So Tuesday was um a track session with Philo Saunders group.
00:39:51
Speaker
um we I was actually have a sort of, most of the athletes in his group do like shorter distance since running, like 800 but I have guy um that i have a guy um why His name's Whitey. He's training for a Gold Coast Marathon. So sometimes we do like longer sessions together, which is nice because we're about the same sort of pace. um So we just did like a 2K marathon.
00:40:18
Speaker
And then we did four 600s and then another 2k. So the 2ks were sort of like 330-ish pace, I think. um And the 600s were around 5k pace for me, which is like 320, 325.
00:40:32
Speaker
twenty three twenty five um so yeah, that was solid. Like I felt a little bit awkward in my back, but I felt like... everywhere else was feeling good. like i felt I didn't feel much fatigue from the Sunday long run, which was nice. um So yeah, feeling like pretty fit and strong.
00:40:49
Speaker
And then Friday was just another um one of my hilly tempos that I've been doing. So I did quite a few of those in the block for Buffalo. um and Leading into Buffalo, I was doing sort of like 50 minutes worth of tempo intervals with like sort of jog rests.
00:41:09
Speaker
um But I haven't sort of gone up to that volume. So I've just been doing about 35 minutes um around this sort of hilly loop. um on Mount Ainslie.
00:41:19
Speaker
the loop probably gets about 200 or so meters of gain in 9k, which isn't heaps. So I sort of want it to be like just runnable hills that sort of make it a bit harder than a flat tempo. um And then I sort of just finish with like a stair climb up to the top of Mount Ainslie, which is um more just me wanting to practice getting the stairs in and like tired legs.
00:41:43
Speaker
So yeah, I felt really good on that session. It was one of those days, like really nice autumn days where it's just like the sun's out and it's like cold, but like nice, like I was still in a crop top, like it was just perfect running weather. So that was lovely.
00:42:00
Speaker
um is that a is that at all like a straight tempo is it like a broken tempo? No, it's like broken up, so... um This one was three by eight minutes into one minute faster and then one minute jog and then finish with a five-minute tempo. um Yeah, okay.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah, so it's always it's usually always like broken up a little bit. um Yeah, nice. Which is good, yeah. Yeah. Do you use that loop a lot for the tempos?
00:42:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's really hard. Like, I probably, in the future, I'd probably, like, um rotate it, like, every fortnight um because I found leading into Buffalo, like, it was probably making me too fatigued for the long run on Sunday. Like, I was just, and especially with the heat, like, it's just so hard doing yearly tempos plus heat.
00:42:59
Speaker
I think I was just cooking myself a bit too much. So I think, yeah, in the future, i might... um do that every second week or so. um The only reason I ask is when I used to do like just trail running sessions, are the only way I'd get feedback on how fast I was going is because I would look at my watch and be like, oh, I'm at this post at 20 minutes. so I must be going well.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah. whereas Yeah. Like it's a bit hard if you've got like different intervals to do your tempos with. but um Yeah. I found it like with these sessions at first because I was coming from like a road running background. It was really hard to let go of like what paces I'd like to be running as a tempo. Yeah.
00:43:41
Speaker
um And like at first it was sort of like, oh, whatever, like it's just by feel. And my coach, when he programs it in, he's like, um he puts like an RPE score. So for tempos, I think it's like six out of 10 and then thresholds are eight out of 10 or something.
00:43:58
Speaker
um But then once now that I've done that loop a few times, I find myself like going and checking that I've done like the same paces that I did last time, which is yeah a bit like- be Australian segments on there, wouldn't there?
00:44:11
Speaker
Yeah, there's segments as well. so me so I was definitely, like, overreaching in a few of my sessions before Buffalo, but that's okay. I feel like I'm – like, I only do two sessions a week, so, like, I think it's okay to have one where you're, like, pushing yourself a little bit. But – but Yeah, yeah i think just learning, still learning like how to balance um trail specific sessions with like I'm still doing track sessions and um yeah, just balancing like the fatigue that comes from different types of training. You obviously weren't too fatigued after this one because you did two and a half hours pretty nicely yesterday.
00:44:52
Speaker
Yeah, I felt pretty good on Sunday as well. um Just ran with a friend around Mount Ainslie again and Mount Madura. um So you can make a like pretty nice loop with a couple of different peaks um and there's like different trails that can take to get to the peak.
00:45:08
Speaker
um So that was fun. um Yeah, just felt really strong. I got like a lot of... i was practicing fueling that day and it was super easy because it's cold now. so I got like at least 90 grams per hour in and felt super good, like still really strong at the end. And yeah, I think like just the change in weather has made a huge difference to how these long runs feel and like how you pull up from them. So it's been nice not feeling cooked after.
00:45:39
Speaker
um Yeah, nice. And is that the, were you doing your sort of nutrition plan for what you're going to do at UTA? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I'm still, I still feel like I just don't, like I'm still just going off like what people say you should do. Like I don't really know like salt wise and like fluid wise, like what I personally need, but just, I feel like, yeah, don't know. We'll see. I'm still learning. So think it's- As long as still experimenting, then- Yeah.
00:46:11
Speaker
Oh, that's great. Yeah. Because you'll get close to the answers that you want. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I'm getting better and better with it and like more in tune to what I can get down. so yeah, yeah, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to UTA.
00:46:27
Speaker
Very cool. What's the next yeah two weeks? um So I've started tapering this week, so I won't do a track session tomorrow. I'll just do like an easy run with a few surges. um And then i will do another tempo um Friday. i think it might be slightly less volume again.
00:46:45
Speaker
um long run will only be like an hour and a half, I think. um And then I'll just do one session in the week leading up to UTA and just freshen up a bit. Yeah. yeahp Nice. Nice.
00:46:56
Speaker
It's all coming around quickly, isn't it? It's going to be honest very soon. Yeah. Nice one. Have you been going, Brody? Yeah, Brody's week. One of the best weeks. Yeah.
00:47:07
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. It's all coming to us. Last week, I... last week Thank you. Thank you for those people who reached out to me last. I actually had a few people message me and say and just sort of share some of their similar experiences and and um and whatnot, which was um which is very nice of them. So thank you to those people. But um I've actually had a great week. So it's been good. It it turned around a little bit. I think... um Yeah, it may have been some of ah what i ran at Easter was probably a little bit of a stimulus that's now sort of am now sort of adjusting to that and and and has made the running a little bit better this week.
00:47:46
Speaker
And also, I think just leaning back into volume a little bit um has has helped. um So, yeah, I've had a pretty good week. I think when we spoke last week, I got out for my sort of first sort of longer-ish trail run.
00:48:03
Speaker
um I did 90 minutes and and sort of went after some steep climbs. So, yeah, I decided to stick with that because it seemed to work quite well.
00:48:14
Speaker
um And I did another two runs this week where I, yeah, went after some climb in the Dandenongs and and ran for i ran for an hour and 40 on...
00:48:26
Speaker
Wednesday and then I did two hours on on Sunday. So yeah, it's been pretty good. I think it responds, it's been responding fairly well to the volume, but I think it's sort of just, it's all just coming together a little bit more, but that's because of the work I've been doing.
00:48:43
Speaker
um So yeah, I was happy. It's been a much more positive week. I got to catch up with Lockie at the end of the week and we chatted about where we were at and maybe that both of our expectations and and was maybe a little bit not as realistic as we thought. Like when we spoke in February, I think I said last time we were looking at UTA 50 as being a possibility and and that was probably a little bit ambitious ah based on sort of the three months off and and how bad I'd sort of put myself the Achilles in position at the end of last year.
00:49:16
Speaker
um So, yeah, I think it's all been very positive um I also jumped on the Stairmaster again, and that seems to be a really good stimulus. It's like a bit better than running. I don't really have any symptoms on it compared to running where I have like these sort of minimal type feelings whenever I run at the moment, but we're sort of accepting of that.
00:49:37
Speaker
um But the Stairmaster has been really good because... I can get a good workout on that and and not really have any symptoms. so um And it's a bit more bang for your buck than riding.
00:49:48
Speaker
um Whereas back in February, I don't i couldn't do the Stairmaster without symptoms. So, yeah, I've definitely progressed. um And stairs are obviously very relevant for trail running and climbing. Yeah.
00:50:01
Speaker
um And I even had a go at running on the Stairmaster this week. I mean, Chris Jones, who's a trail runner from the UK, he does a lot of sessions on the Stairmaster and I was talking to him asking, like, how do you do a session on the Stairmaster? He's like, oh, just run. And I was like, what do you mean you run?
00:50:18
Speaker
And he's like, yeah, just run on the Stairmaster. And I was like I didn't know you could run. I've only ever sort of hiked on it or like walked on it. Yeah. And it is a bit tricky to run, but it is possible.
00:50:29
Speaker
I only did like some one minute efforts. um Whereas he does like some like five, six minute thresholds. I don't know how he does that. um But yeah, maybe I'll get a bit used to it. And even the running on the Stairmaster a bit more.
00:50:41
Speaker
There's some very minor symptoms because I'm running versus when I'm just hiking on the Stairmaster. um But yeah, it seemed to be pretty good. So that was fun. um And, yeah, I had a pretty good weekend to to finish it out. I saw Lachie on Friday and we talked about some things that I want to work on in the next sort of few weeks.
00:51:03
Speaker
um So my strides are going to become some sort of stair sprints, ah working on sort of speed, ah like how quick I can get leg turnover, like trying to hit every step.
00:51:14
Speaker
um So was sort of like a bit of a stride type stimulus. so um So I had to go that on Saturday, did 60 minutes um ah with with Kate, Sarah and Katinka and then did some stair sprints, which was pretty fun. um And then I did the Stairmaster in the evening plus my sort of rehab gym session.
00:51:36
Speaker
And then on Sunday, I did the two hours and it's ended, pulled out really well from the weekend. So yeah. yeah it's all it's all looking up but i'm trying not to get too too ahead of myself but i'm definitely in a much better position much sort of better yeah headspace this week i guess i've got a complete 180 from last week so that's awesome what do you think made the difference um Well, like, again, this whole journey is lots of ups and downs and it's sort of like riding a roller coaster a little bit. So I've got it. I think now I've got a better perception of acceptance of that as well.
00:52:10
Speaker
um And I think I mentioned a little bit last week about thinking a little bit more about – um accepting that and I sort of think about it when when Fraser was talking about how like in his sort of marathon stuff is sort of like accepting that it's going to hurt.
00:52:27
Speaker
um And that that's that part of it. um And I think that's really important. So, yeah, the the mental side, like the symptoms have been better. So that helps.
00:52:38
Speaker
um But, yeah, I think I've got a better perception of where it's at now as well. And, and yeah, it's still a long way from where I want to be but um I'm starting to feel more like a runner again, which is nice.
00:52:51
Speaker
Is this a week that you'd be happy to just repeat for four, five weeks in a row? Yeah, so i actually before Easter I'd sort of done this. Like I'd done 50Ks roughly, about four hours of running. I think it was maybe a little bit less.
00:53:09
Speaker
And I repeated that for like four or five weeks. ah But the stimulus sort of changed a little bit in terms of I did more outdoor running. It started mostly on the suspension treadmill. Then I went to some more just treadmill without the suspension.
00:53:22
Speaker
Then I went to some more outdoor running. I did some more orienteering. So I still progressed through that time, but I didn't increase the volume too much. And I think I'll probably do similar now. um I'm going to add in.
00:53:35
Speaker
ah like these stair sprints. I'm going to add in a little bit of intensity, like ah a few flat sessions. Just try them out a little bit, a little test the waters a bit. um But yeah, I don't I don't intend to keep building uh more and more like I did 66 this week and six hours which I think is pretty good and I probably want to stick at that for the next three or four weeks and then maybe I can then jump up again um but yeah it's it's slow but I'm also feel like I'm tired today after the weekend so
00:54:09
Speaker
I haven't felt that from running for a while. So it's a nice feeling to feel fatigued and like it still doesn't feel like much like the the training. I don't think doesn't feel like groundbreaking, but um yeah, it definitely it's it's now back to the level where it actually fatigues me to some extent because I haven't done as much running.
00:54:29
Speaker
um So I feel like I'm getting training effect from it, which is cool. Yeah. um yeah Whereas I felt like before now was just rehabbing to be able to run. this last week has sort of felt like it was actual running training so yeah I think that's a big step yeah no it makes me think of um as a coach coaching people when they return to running and they start to get to a week like you've just put together where it looks like a normal training week and then I give them a few more weeks at like their normal training load and then
00:55:01
Speaker
When it's about time that they can increase, that's generally when I'm getting an email from them being like, hey, like I'm feeling really good now. What do you think about increasing my long run? it's like, great. Yeah. Now you also feel that way because you're obviously getting bored about the training.
00:55:15
Speaker
So obviously at the right level where it's like you push through that the tiredness, you push through the any pain and now you're like ready to go on to the next level. Because i think that readiness to want that next training is an important part of being ready physically for that training.
00:55:29
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I'm still a bit hesitant about doing ah session, but I did do one before Easter and it actually was OK. Like I just did a mini session. So I'm going to have a go tomorrow and just see how it goes. And if I feel like it's too much, then I'll probably just go back to more volume based and keep the volume, keep the gym,
00:55:49
Speaker
do some like stair sprints some more stem master that sort of stuff and if i feel like the session didn't feel helpful i might delay it a few more weeks um but yeah doing a bit of trial and error as well because the longer this achilles has gone on the more unpredictable it's become so it is a bit more trial and error um but yeah definitely feels like i'm moving in the right direction which is good ah thanks for so you go Did you end up getting a spot at UTA? oh No, I actually don't. So I was going to do a shout out. If anyone has an 11K entry, um I would love to run in the 11K because it's what I think I can do. Otherwise, I'm just going to do some running when I'm up in the Blue Mountains, which I'm also super pumped about just to get out there and run on some trails.
00:56:36
Speaker
Yeah. I got ah did get off of the spot in the 20 and I didn't completely turn it down until I had a ah spoke to Lockie.
00:56:46
Speaker
We spoke about the pros and cons, ah more cons than pros probably, and then I did the weekend just to get a vibe on what it felt like. um But I didn't even feel I didn't want to.
00:56:59
Speaker
When I spoke to Lockie, I thought about doing like a 15K hard on the trails and see how it felt, see if I could do the 20. um But I decided it just wasn't worth it. Like it felt like it was going to be too much of a pushback. The 20K course is fairly runnable.
00:57:15
Speaker
Yes. In terms of like down Kadamba and then up the other side, there's a lot of running to be done. Whereas the 11K is sort of like this technical across the top of the cliffs and then you go down, run underneath and go up further. Like it's short.
00:57:28
Speaker
It's probably a little less. You don't open up as much. yeah And again, if it's if it's sore, I can just jog it and enjoy it. Whereas the 20, I'd feel like I want to race it.
00:57:39
Speaker
um Yeah, okay. So I'm trying to get in because I'd love to do an event up while I was up there. Like it'd be very cool to, it's always fun to like pin on a bib um But yeah, if I do the 11, I won't be taking myself too seriously. I'll be sort of going by feeling.
00:57:53
Speaker
I might end up running really hard if it feels good or I might jog um or I might not be running anything and I might just go for a few runs. But I'm super keen for that. And there's so many people going to be up there and a lot of friends and And as a teammate from Solomon, Claire's running the miler.
00:58:12
Speaker
So she needs a bit of hand a bit of a hand with that because it's going to be a big endeavor. um So I get to be involved with that as well, which will be fun. um And we're going to do couple of things for the podcast, hopefully a few interviews and whatnot. So yeah, it'll be a good weekend regardless.
00:58:26
Speaker
But um yeah, not not the 20, unfortunately, I would have loved to. It's going to be epic. I think the 20, there's some fast boys running that and girls. So, yeah, it's going to be very fun to watch.
00:58:38
Speaker
I would have loved to run it, but i just it's ah too risky, I think. It's very exciting. As a listener and someone not going to UTA, I'm looking forward to... like refreshing five different races on that weekend yeah yeah i reckon the 20 maybe for you in some time in the future fraser would be good like race is pretty like run it run it some demons at uh blue mountains I raced Hounslow the last time. yeah. It's a much different race to Hounslow. So different.
00:59:09
Speaker
Yeah. Lara Hamilton put on a Strava that it's like the ultra fire trail race or the ultra stair master race. That's the two parts of UTA 20. It's like it's fire trail and then it's stairs.
00:59:22
Speaker
Yeah, there's not even that many stairs in the 20, like compared to Hansler. Yeah. I'm talking about Strava segments. Maybe I'll just like, if I don't get into a race, orll just have a crack at the Ferber steps, um Strava. Yeah. but sure sure I don't know how the segment goes on that with GPS. It probably messes up, but it'd be fun to like try and do Ferber as quick as I could just as like a little hit out. And stairs are generally pretty good for me at the moment. So, yeah, that'd be fun.
00:59:48
Speaker
Yeah. that'd be cool. Nice. But yeah, all things are moving in the right direction. So yeah, it's good it's good news, which is which is cool. I feel like I can ah can talk about things on the podcast now and be a bit more interesting. So that's good.
01:00:02
Speaker
um Anyway, any any last questions for anyone before we might cover some results and then finish up? Nope, all good. Yeah, let's let's jump into the results. All right. So yeah first off, cab off the rank. We're going to hear a little bit more about this what looked like stupidly crazy race on the weekend in Japan, um the Uita Sky Race that both Simone and Blake were running. um they Hopefully, maybe you've had a chance to listen to their recap of the Malaysia race as well as they talked a little bit about this race and course recce.
01:00:39
Speaker
um But yes, this race was in Japan. It was... twenty six 26k with 3,000 and some people got over 3,000 meters of climbing and descending.
01:00:53
Speaker
So it's just stupidly steep both directions. um So pretty much the whole race they were running up or down very steep gradients.
01:01:03
Speaker
um And, yeah, i really enjoyed watching the Skyrunning Instagram page. They were sharing some stories of some parts of the course, and it just looked crazy.
01:01:14
Speaker
So that was a very cool race to to sort of experience watching just on Instagram stories. um And Simone and Blake are going to talk about it a bit this week, so we we won't go into...
01:01:28
Speaker
too much depth, but their results was that Simone came fifth in the women's race, ah which was very impressive. um did It's a really long race. Simone did five hours and seven minutes, so that sort of shows how brutal that was.
01:01:46
Speaker
um And Blake Turner, he came... no Ninth, I believe, yeah. So he ran four hours and 10 minutes um for that race. So the winner in the men was Rui Ueda, who's a very a well-known Japanese runner, and he's he's very good over this sort of terrain.
01:02:07
Speaker
He ran three hours 33, which is pretty fast for the for the race, but still not super fast for a 26K race. um And he won by nearly 20 minutes over...
01:02:20
Speaker
to Tsubasa Fuji in second, ah who ran 352.31, and Marcel Hoch from Germany. ah He ran 355.53. So that was, yeah, second and third we were a bit closer.
01:02:35
Speaker
And then a lot of people in early fours, so it was all a bit tighter from there. um And then in the women, first place was Takayoko... I don't know how to say her name.
01:02:47
Speaker
Simone in that said it. Takako... Takamuyura, probably said that very wrong, sorry, um from Japan. She ran really fast and a really impressive time. She ran 4.19.55.
01:03:01
Speaker
um So she wasn't that far behind. She was like she was breathing down he's his neck. um And she also won. She won by over 20 minutes over Iris Pesse from France, who won the race in Malaysia.
01:03:15
Speaker
And then Suzuhu Kusada from Japan was third place in 4S53. So, yeah, Simone wasn't too far behind third and fourth. um But, yeah, beat a big win for the two Japanese runners um and, yeah, a pretty crazy race that I would love to go and do one day. It looks like absolute bonkers, but it looks like a cool race to put on the bucket list,
Simone and Blake's Performance in Japan
01:03:41
Speaker
I reckon.
01:03:41
Speaker
It's interesting that the first... one by 20 minutes in each gender like that. is yeah It's impressive. Like I think Rui Ueda one of the best and probably Takamura as well. I don't know as much about her, but Rui is probably one of the best Skyrunners in the world, but also in Japanese races I think he's very good um just because he's trained on that sort of stuff. So I think the two Japanese runners, and I think those two are both very well-known Japanese runners as well,
01:04:16
Speaker
um So they did have benefit to them winning by 10 minutes. or five minutes, but they've won it by 20 minutes. like They've ah demolished them. Yeah, I don't know if I've ever seen ah Japanese runners go out easy in anything, though. it Trail racers or road racers, they're always going hard.
01:04:33
Speaker
I raced Rui in in Korea last year, and I wouldn't say I raced him very much because he was gone within about a K, um and he flew up a 40% climb. um So, yeah, they're very good athletes.
01:04:48
Speaker
Yeah. But, yeah, did you see any of the pictures or the footage, the videos? Like it was crazy. I saw the picture of the video of Simone crossing the line and her expression.
01:05:00
Speaker
There's two weeks in a row where Simone's looked very cooked crossing a finish line. Yeah. But she's done a hell of a job. to Both her and Blake have ah had done a great job to sort of back up two two weeks in a row um on such tough courses. So, yeah, good on them. And flying the Aussie flag over there is very cool to see.
01:05:25
Speaker
Hopefully we get a few more Aussies there next year. Would you do something like that, Fraser? Or does sound like too crazy for you? ah Yeah, it's too crazy for me. hey I know my limitations.
01:05:36
Speaker
Can't run three 18s. I couldn't cope with that. Yeah, it's it's pretty intense. It's a different as a different sport, really, that stuff.
01:05:47
Speaker
Yeah. um Cool. I'm also going to take us to Tassie. So we had a ah bunch of um Aussie races as well we'll go through now. um I'll take us to the race down in Tassie, which was part of the Kenyany Trail series.
01:06:01
Speaker
um It was the Organ Pipes race, which sort of runs across the front face of Kenyany. um Pretty cool little course. I reckon if you're ever in Tassie for – and it works out to be there for one of these Kenyani Trail Series races. um They look like very good races to be a part of.
01:06:19
Speaker
So, um yeah. Anyway, in the men, we had David Bailey, who seems to be the king of the Kenyani Trail Series. He won in 104.34. Second was Piotr Babas in 107.25.3.
01:06:31
Speaker
ah second was piota babi in one ah seven twenty five point three And third was Joseph Nunn in 107.25.7. So they've say they've gone down to the millisecond in a trail race, which is pretty pretty fun. The sprint finish it looks like.
01:06:50
Speaker
Don't know about that one, but yeah, that looks very tight. And then in the women, we had ah Grace Lennox in first in one hour 2017. Karen Hill in second in And anthea mesmer in one hour 25 flat so yes some pretty tight racing but yes maybe more of your liking um fraser the one hour race yeah perfect for me and the organ pipes is nice i like that area yeah i reckon there's a few techie bits in there but some nice runnable bits as well cool jess i think maybe have you got it up there you're going to take us to nail can hill
01:07:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah so now can he run. um You've got the full can which is 11k then the 4k which is the half can.
01:07:45
Speaker
um I don't know too much about the course, like I don't know how much vert there is but i can see that there's a track slash cross-country roadrunners that made the trip over to Albury where the race is held.
01:08:02
Speaker
um So Paige Campbell took out the ladies race um and she's an amazing and well-accredited runner from Canberra. um She's had some amazing results like in the cross country. I think she's...
01:08:16
Speaker
probably been on the Australian team for World Cross. um some I get confused between her and Holly, but both just amazing runners and she's sort of returning from injury. So i think this is probably her second race back since um her injury. So she's tracking really well and got the win by almost a minute there. So super strong run.
01:08:39
Speaker
um And then Catherine Dowie, so she's another really strong cross country track runner um from Melbourne. She was in second, um about a minute behind Paige. So that's an awesome run from her as well.
01:08:53
Speaker
um And then in third was Belinda Daw. So she was third at um the Buffalo 10K. So she loves that sort of 10, 11K distance on the trail. So well done to those ladies.
01:09:06
Speaker
Yeah, it was cool to see Belinda be in the mix there, really. Because I think this is, I think now Can Hill is quite a runnable trail race, more of sort of like fire roadie type race.
01:09:19
Speaker
um So yeah, Belinda's done pretty well to be in the mix with those really impressive runners. Yeah, definitely. um Cool. And then in the men, we, in first place, we had Alec Franksy.
01:09:34
Speaker
uh in 3825 so i haven't heard of alec before but i've definitely heard of patrick stowe was in second place um he's another road runner um that's made the trip over to the race um and he was 39.43, so a bit over a minute behind Alec.
01:09:54
Speaker
um And then Joshua Hudson was in third in 41.52, so couple of minutes behind there. But yeah, looks like there was strong fields in both men and women, about 200, mid 200s for both genders, which is good to see.
01:10:13
Speaker
Yeah, this one this one definitely looks like it's in your ballpark, Fraser. I reckon can you put this on. Yeah, well, this one historically has been raced by Steve Monaghetti. He set the court record there. And, yeah, so if it's good enough for Steve Monaghetti, it's good enough for anyone.
01:10:29
Speaker
Yeah. and didn't Didn't the town put prize money on as well? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it's quite a it's got prize money and it's quite a community-run event. So, yeah, it's pretty cool.
01:10:42
Speaker
I did we want to do the half can as well. Oh, I reckon we'll skip that one. Okay. Cool. So we also had the Hamilton Island Hilly half marathon.
01:10:56
Speaker
um And I saw Cecilia Mattis doing a lot of promo for this one. and looked really cool. Like Hamilton Island looks pretty special, so cool place to do a half marathon.
01:11:07
Speaker
um but In the women, we had Amy Salzberger in first place in 2 hours 17. And three minutes behind, we had Francesca Bellancini in second.
01:11:20
Speaker
um And then Cecilia was third 2.25.
01:11:26
Speaker
So pretty close between those three ladies, um which is good to see. And then in the men, we had Sam Deramudi in first place in 2 Hours 02.
01:11:39
Speaker
um And then Paul McKenzie in second and Zuhair El-Ukumi in third and these Two men were very close um together. So second was in 2.13.17 and third was 2.13.58. So separated by a few seconds. So a bit of a close race there.
01:12:03
Speaker
Yeah, nice. It looked like a cool race too. I coached someone that did it and just when you see races pop up on Strava and you just see like the map, you go, oh, it looks cool. It works its way around the island and gets some elevation.
01:12:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. and yeah It's always one I've looked like wanted to maybe try and do one day. So it looks cool. Maybe i'll try and maybe we can um put our hands up to be ambassadors next year. I'll say Peep with Sheets podcast. He flies to Hamilton Island. We'll be there.
01:12:33
Speaker
That'd be nice. I think it's my turn now. We go to Yeah, yeah. Over to SA. Quick history lesson on this race. It was originally 10 years ago, maybe. It was the Hubert 100.
01:12:48
Speaker
And it was run by an independent event company And then through COVID that had to cancel. And then Ultra Series SA sort of picked it up and did their spin on it and turned it into a rational South. And then they, it's ah it's very difficult to run an event in the Flinders Ranges because the road quality and reception is just ah minimal.
01:13:10
Speaker
And they decided not to run it. And then a South Australian based event company based out of Murray Bridge, which does a few triathlons and road races and trail running. They have the Federation Ultra Trail in August.
01:13:24
Speaker
um They picked it up and they renamed it Icarus Ultra, which Icarus is the name of Wilpina Pound, which is one of the most impressive things in South Australia.
01:13:37
Speaker
It looks like a volcano crater, but it's actually the geographical remnants of an ancient mountain range. um And the ah for all the ge geographic geographical history buffs out there. um Some of the earliest forms of life on earth ah present in the Flinders Ranges in the rock formations there.
01:14:00
Speaker
So if you like trail running and you like rocks, get your way to icar or we'll we'll pin a pound. And anyway, in the in the race, so that should set the the picture up that it's a bit of a tricky place to get to, but it's like a destination race.
01:14:14
Speaker
So there wasn't many people racing um and they had a fun run which was a short event, ah fifty k fifty mile ah a a and 100 miles. So there is a distance for everyone.
01:14:29
Speaker
It's very small, so it's kind of looked like a really fun um community style. Lots of pictures of people smiling. It was flooding my feed. um Starting in the 100 mile, I'll just go through the winners.
01:14:42
Speaker
Bradley Peach ran 22 hours and 35 minutes and Ali Gosling ran 30 hours and 16 minutes to take out the women's.
01:14:53
Speaker
And there was five women that completed it and 15 men. And in the 100K, we had Ryan Bonifin in 11 hours 33 and Adeline Hilbig in 14 hours 15. In the 50 miler, which is 80Ks for those not good at maths, Brodie 9 hours in 12 hours 7.
01:15:14
Speaker
and rebecca booma in twelve hours seven And then in the 50K, I think probably the run of the event, considering the the time to distance here, we have Ben Burgess in four hours, 37, and then Ella Allworth in six hours, eight, which is also a pretty good run. And that was the deepest event. They had 42 runners in the fifty k so that's that's uh 24 women versus 18 men as well in that one so more women running which is cool yeah good spot 50k um and i think ben i saw on ben's um socials he actually popped up or i don't know if it was any strava maybe it was on his strava um that he wanted to run sub four hours he was he wanted to sort of shoot his shot or pop it out there that he was going after it but i think it was pretty warm pretty hard yeah it was it was warm over the weekend and
01:16:09
Speaker
The 50K route, that still goes up over um paint a pant over Tandera Saddle and that that's a little bit technical. Yeah, yeah. as Someone who's lived in Korn, which is only an hour and 15 away from Wilpena Pound and been up and down that, that's,
01:16:26
Speaker
That would be good going if someone did that. Yeah. I thought under four hours sounded fast and I was like, I don't know what the trail is like. but um Yeah. Everything else, like if you look on the and the route, like the section that sort of runs parallel to the mountain ranges, yeah perfect fire track.
01:16:41
Speaker
Yeah. And then the section inside the pound, perfect fire track. But joining those is a, yeah, kind of rutted out single track with rocks. yeah okay yeah nice cool looks like a cool event i've been to the flinders rangers for orienteering before it's very cool place in the world uh pretty remote so nice uh destination for people to head to someday i reckon definitely cool all right well yeah coming up next week we don't have a whole heap i guess it's uh Maybe in the lead up to UTA, not as many events on. There's a couple I saw. Spring Shore Mountain Challenge in Queensland.
01:17:18
Speaker
Margaret River Ultramarathon in WA, which I think is relatively big on the calendar over there.
Margaret River Ultramarathon Preview
01:17:25
Speaker
One of the biggest trail races in WA. It used to bring like a pretty good calibre of athletes. I remember there one year...
01:17:32
Speaker
maybe before covid when like anna mckenna flew over for it yeah um and maybe blake hose but yeah cool yeah i think um the winner of the adelaide marathon women's race actually potentially doing it um and backing up so bit of fraser style there that kate baker yeah kate baker so she's a wa local I'm not sure if she's doing the full or there's also a marathon distance. So I think she won it last year. So um yeah, it'd be good to see how she goes. And then Brendan Verrier, another friend of the show, is doing the men's race, the full. So good luck to him.
01:18:14
Speaker
Yeah, this is very cool because it goes the whole coast there, doesn't it? Like that whole like pointy out bit of WA. It's on the Cape to Cape Trail, yeah um which is like an iconic one. A lot of people try to get the FKT there.
01:18:30
Speaker
And it's like notoriously sandy. So it's, yeah um there's no like big climbs, but there's a lot of sort of up and down sand dunes in like soft sand.
01:18:41
Speaker
um which is very like it's super hard um that's really hard yeah yeah it's really hard how much of the race would we be on beach like for the 80k like how but ah like most of it yeah like really are you running on beach a lot yeah i think the finish kind of there's like a section where it's sort of like a forest they go inland and it's kind of like like it's less sandy but it's still kind of like sandy trail um But yeah, most of it's on like literal beaches with soft sand or like rock hopping along like, um, like beach rocks and like rock faces and stuff. So it's a beautiful, beautiful part of the world, but, um, pretty hard running.
Transvolcania and La Palma Race Highlights
01:19:25
Speaker
One other race that's happening this weekend um overseas this time ah is Transvolcania, which is – I always forget where Transvolcania is. It's on one of the islands near the Canary Islands, but I don't think it's the Canary Islands. It's like Vlad's favorite race, so he'll be like listening to this being like, how how do you not know? It's on La Palma.
01:19:49
Speaker
Oh, there's a Netflix show about La Palma. There you go. um I think it's a fantasy or fiction. um Anyway, it's on the island of La Palma. It looks very cool um on Strava because I've been having a look.
01:20:02
Speaker
ah Charlie Hamilton is racing and he's just arrived. um So if you have a look at his Strava, you'll see um the island and it sort of shoots from the coast straight up.
01:20:15
Speaker
um to a big volcano uh which is very steep and very high up so it looks very cool um i believe charlie is running the ultra distance which i think is let me just get this right i'm pretty sure it's seventy five k 73k um how much climb is it not telling me uh looks pretty hilly though so it climbs up to 2400 from sea level um with a few other bits and climbs along the way as well so um and i think i believe it goes across the the island um which is a pretty cool way to do a race point a to point b um
01:21:04
Speaker
So, yeah, good luck to Charlie who's running that. um I think Maddie Reynolds was supposed to be running, but unfortunately she's not running. And that's all we have for this week.
Conclusion and Technical Farewell
01:21:13
Speaker
Unfortunately, I've lost Jess and Fraser right at the end there.
01:21:17
Speaker
Thanks a lot to Fraser for joining us. It's been a great episode. um And ah we'll see you next week.