Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Mindset, Balancing Training and Work, & Kosci 100k Prep feat. Sophie Broome | Episode 84
0 Plays2 seconds ago
In this episode of Peak Pursuits, Sophie Broome joins Jess and Brodie to unpack her journey to the upcoming UTK 100.
Sophie reflects on bouncing back from a tough DNF at UTA, the science and testing she’s used to refine her fueling and pacing, and how she’s balancing training with work. Jess shares her own build-up, the challenges of managing anxiety and hormones, and the mental strategies she’s been practicing with a sports psychologist. Together they explore the realities of long-distance trail racing—training dynamics, recovery, mindset, and the importance of arriving fresh and ready to execute on race day.
Keep listening for some trail running news and results from Cost 2 Kosci, Run Bibbulmun Stage Race, Narrowneck Night Run and more!
***Don’t forget, use code PEAK 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!
Follow Brodie: Instagram | Strava
Follow Jess: Instagram | Strava
Follow Sophie: Instagram | Strava
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Cozzy Event Excitement
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 84 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Brodie, one of your regular hosts, and this week I'm joined by Jess up in Canberra. Jess, how are you going?
00:00:20
Speaker
Yeah, good. I'm getting excited for Cozzy, about a week to go, so yeah, pumped to get down there. Just around the corner and someone who's going to be joining you up at COSY and a special guest for the
Guest Introduction: Sophie Broom
00:00:34
Speaker
week. We've got Sophie Broom on. Sophie, how are you going?
00:00:38
Speaker
I'm good, thanks, Brodie. Thanks so much for having me on this week. Yeah, thanks for thanks for jumping on. And we're excited to talk a little bit about what you've been up to recently and and also how you're feeling with COSY coming up.
00:00:52
Speaker
um We had you, we we had you haven't been on a weekly pod, but we had you in an interview with James right back in February. So if people are keen to hear a little bit more about your story and sort of that dives a bit deeper. Today we're going to focus, I guess, just catching up with where you've been since then and and and how you're feeling going into COSY. So yeah, I'd encourage people to go back there and have a listen.
00:01:17
Speaker
um But yeah, maybe we'll start with you,
Sophie's Recent Race Highlights
00:01:19
Speaker
Sophie. what What's been happening? You've had a couple of results recently. You've had a couple of mentions on the podcast and you've got a ah big race coming up.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, I always appreciate it when you guys ah mention me on the pod. It's nice of you. It's nice to be yeah involved in the talk around some of the races.
00:01:40
Speaker
um So, yeah, um since Feb, really, what have I been up to? i um I kind of came on that part after ah ran the Archie. um So I chatted with James about that.
00:01:52
Speaker
And then I had ah my next phase after that, I think was the UTA 100K where I had a really bad day. And I... dnf that one at 80ks um and so pretty soon after i finished that race um yeah we did a little bit of like going back to the drawing board and did a few um bits of testing to see like maybe where things went wrong or if there was something that i could maybe change to um
00:02:24
Speaker
yeah, try and make the next one a little bit and smoother. And so then the sites got set on doing the 100k at UTK pretty quickly after I dropped out of um UTA, just to like try and, I guess, put some of the learnings from UTA. I think when you do 100k, you always learn so much from it.
00:02:45
Speaker
And you always look back on it and see things that you can improve. But then It's a long time to recover and then it's a long time to train for the next one. And it's not something I like to do like multiple times per year. So sometimes the lessons kind of leave your head before you get a chance to sign up to the next one.
00:03:04
Speaker
So the plan yeah was to just and set the sights on Cosi with a few races in between to kind of make the build up. a little bit more fun. um And so um I raced at Hounslow in the marathon there, which was amazing.
00:03:21
Speaker
um i raced then at the roller coaster run here in the Dandenongs a few weeks ago and had a really good battle there with Demi until she left me in the dust in the last climb.
00:03:34
Speaker
And um that seems to be a bit of ah a recurring feature in the runs this year, as to be honest. Like the same thing happened to me at Hounslow where I just watched ah Julia and Steph just float up the last staircase to the finish. ah And then I jumped into the Great Ocean Trail Ultra in the, and well, it was advertised at a 45K, but it actually turned into sort of a fifty k um But that was the weekend after roller coaster.
Sophie's Training Strategies and Lessons Learned
00:04:05
Speaker
So, um yeah, I had a pretty good day there. Like I took the win there, but it was um challenging. Like I was tired from roller coaster and it was a good opportunity to get a good long run in on some tired legs in preparation for Cozzy. Yeah.
00:04:25
Speaker
Yeah, and then, um yeah, just nothing too fancy and training in training the last few weeks. It's just been about getting some of the key sort of long runs in. um Things have been a bit hectic at work, so I kind of made the decision ah week or two ago that the best thing I could do for the COSI prep would just be to arrive feeling as fresh as possible.
00:04:46
Speaker
So, um yeah, not being too hard on myself if I'm... missing the odd thing here and there just um yeah trying to recover and get the key things done um take care of myself and yeah take those lessons from UTA and apply them this time so yeah looking forward to it excited I was going to ask in there but I was I was letting you sort of continue on your train of thought but what were what if you're happy to share what were some of the things that you identified that maybe didn't go to plan or didn't work at UTA that you've sort of been working on since then
00:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, and so I guess there was a couple of like both like physiological and mental things as well. ah I think with UTA this year, there was a lot of hype around it. And there was a like, it was the first time it was a world major.
00:05:35
Speaker
There was a lot of like amazing, it was ah all the fields were amazing. And So I think I just let that, um maybe without even realizing, just get to me a little bit. And just the the execution of the race sort of went out of the window a little bit.
00:05:55
Speaker
um So that was one thing. and So I think the plan yeah for UTK will just be trying to execute like a race that I can be happy with and that I think um you know run a little bit smarter in the first half and not get swept up with whatever happens on the day.
00:06:14
Speaker
um and then i also sort of um did some testing around my um like fluid intake and salt in my sweat and things like that just to try and nail that down because over yeah but that's something that I think I've gotten away with over the like 20 to 50k distances but over a 12-hour race that's something that obviously really like comes into play so just trying to optimize some of those things and then obviously like I work in a sport and exercise sciences lab so ah we have access to some great equipment and stuff there so I like was jumping on the treadmill to do some
00:06:53
Speaker
sort of like threshold testing and things like that so that I can actually just dial in the the pace and the effort level a little bit more and get more familiar with like, oh, this pace or this, you know, and intensity feels like this and my at my threshold, I'm feeling like this. So being more familiar with running at that in the 100K races um And then the other thing that happened at UTA that and at the time I was preparing to go overseas for like a work conference.
00:07:25
Speaker
And it was just a ah similar to now. I don't know why, but for some reason, like my schedule at work just gets really busy around doing a hundred k races. And I think I was still just really trying to hit every single session, hit every long run, like just not um adapting the training and enough around the um work. And so this time I'm just trying to be a bit more kind to myself. And it's not like the, it's not even what I've done in the last 12 weeks that will come at
Insights on Hydration and Lab Testing
00:07:56
Speaker
Cosi. It's like just building up a few years of some good consistent training and like
00:08:01
Speaker
this is the like cherry on the top now so um yeah just trying to remember that i think so yeah a few different things yeah cool sounds like you've you've done a lot of different small things and hopefully it all comes together with the testing of the fluid and and electrolytes like how did you how did you go about doing that and and did it was it was it was it unexpected what you found or was it sort of what you expected that you just never actually did the testing for it Yeah, so the nice thing, but so I did it through the precision and testing that they do. Like they have a couple of days when they come down to um one of the physio clinics in Melbourne.
00:08:39
Speaker
So I just um signed up to that and I went there and um they like test the sodium concentration in your sweat. And then you also like they give you this really, really helpful spreadsheet where it wasn't super helpful at the time because and I did it in the middle of winter.
00:08:55
Speaker
And so like ah they, you know, you can type in what, um how long was your run? What was the intensity? And then like you weigh yourself before and after. And then they, it plots it all on this graph and it you can see like the predicted um sort of like fluid losses per hour based on intensity and the weather conditions.
00:09:18
Speaker
and So that's come in handy a lot more and as we're, well, trying to move into the summer months. Melbourne, some i don't know, if somebody needs to tell Melbourne that it's summer. But as we sort of move into the hotter weather um and the my sweat rates vary a little bit more, and that spreadsheet's been so helpful for just trying to dial in some of the fluid intake that I try and get.
00:09:43
Speaker
And then the ah nice thing that they told me was that my um sodium concentration in my sweat was like absolutely bang on average. So every single one of the like drink mixes and things that companies make are like perfect. um So, yeah, i don't have to get too creative with those. um Yeah.
00:10:04
Speaker
and like they just like the guy was really great I can't remember his name now I that's really bad I should try and remember his name so I can um give him a shout out but um he just was really good at just talking through like what I found challenging and um giving me tips for like um how to get the fluid in during the race um in different ways to try and like make it more manageable um over the whole whole race and like dealing with palate fatigue and, you know, like changing the concentration in your bottles to have one that's more concentrated so you can still just get plain water in and stuff like that. So just even chatting with him, even though I probably –
00:10:49
Speaker
yeah, should really know a lot of this stuff from, um, work, like from working in sport and exercise sciences. It's just good. It was just good to sit down and chat with somebody about it. And, um, yeah, just like have somebody assure you that what you're doing is right. And maybe, um, just remove that as a potential factor to something that could like derail your race.
00:11:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was it race? Yeah, it was Reese. Yeah, that was him. Yeah, he was really informative. He's, he's, uh, owns Sweat Testing Victoria, which is the, he's the only certified precision fuel and hydration tester. So he does the test for them in Victoria. Yeah.
00:11:32
Speaker
Yeah. He was who I saw. He was very helpful. Nice. Great. Sounds very scientific. And what about the testing you did in the lab? Like, did you find out some stuff you didn't know or like, was it sort of just reconfirming some stuff?
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. So like, it's, it's funny because I like, I do like threshold testing and VO2 max testing and stuff on people all the time at work as part of like research trials and um like different, and you know, like um consulting things that we have at the university where I work.
00:12:05
Speaker
And I hadn't done one since I participated in a research study back in like 2020. um And so, yeah, I always felt like I was pretty good at just gauging my effort level based on feel. And I think, to be honest, like my... um Just my overall fitness level and my like training and stuff has changed so much over the last five years that I probably should have benchmarked those things a little bit sooner.
00:12:36
Speaker
And I think maybe like going into UTA, perhaps like overestimated a little bit, like the effort level that I could sustain over the entire race and like in a hundred kilometer race, that's fatal.
00:12:49
Speaker
So um just um I guess like, being confident that you know, like physiologically I can sustain this pace and as long as like all the rest of the nutrition and everything is like, for and the like, you know, and like muscles damage and things like that is all okay.
00:13:10
Speaker
um And it was actually very beneficial because my partner ran his first marathon this year and he, i he i like he came into the lab and I did some testing and stuff on him and he executed like a perfect race.
Performance Execution and Mental Preparedness
00:13:23
Speaker
And I was like, I should have just done this on myself years ago because now you know, like, you can be confident that, yeah, the effort level is sustainable and um just feel confident that you're not going to go too much and into the...
00:13:38
Speaker
um red zone and and i think you can get long you can get a long way like without having all of that particular like testing and stuff um but like yeah and this isn't something that i'm doing like all the time but like yeah once every sort of like a couple of years just to get a good idea if things have changed a lot in that time because that's like often the time horizons that those things tend to change over Yeah, yeah.
00:14:03
Speaker
So is it that you're looking at a specific zone or heart rate or is that what you're looking at? Yeah, yeah. So it's hard to it's kind of it's perfect for things like marathon running and things like where the a lot of the variables are very consistent.
00:14:19
Speaker
So, um yeah, it can be very helpful in things like that. And maybe one of the reasons why I haven't done it. ah you know in such a long time was that so much of trail running is dependent on like the terrain and the um technicality and things like that there's just a lot more factors at play and like maybe you go you know up into a higher zone ah climbing up a hill but then you have a long downhill where you can recover and So yeah, a lot of that comes with having just more experience. um But basically I was just doing like ah ah step test where I could basically just gauge some of the, um you know, like your aerobic, anaerobic threshold and then like and ramp up into like a VO2 max test.
00:15:08
Speaker
And then and from that, just see your heart rate at each of those thresholds, because then you're You know, even if the speed is different because you're climbing up a hill or you're going downhill, you can still, like, use your heart rate as a little bit of a gauge.
00:15:24
Speaker
And, you know, i think I ah could have used, like, a bit more of a heart rate cap or something at UTA to say, and like... You're in the first 50K of 100K. You're running too hard.
00:15:36
Speaker
and You can't sustain this heart rate for 12 hours. um So it's just all – and, like, you know, take it all with a grain of salt. It's not super rigid, but just having, like, the guideline is really – I found it been really helpful. And also just for training too. Like, it's not just about the race, but knowing in your training sessions, like – and you know, keeping your tempo or your threshold actually at your tempo or threshold and not exceeding that and, and you know, grinding yourself down in training um can also be really beneficial.
00:16:11
Speaker
um So, yeah. Yeah, it's really interesting. I'm ah i'm a big advocate of heart rate. use in training and I've used it a bit in racing. We've we've actually talked talked about this topic a few times. So it's interesting to sort of just hear other people's thoughts and and what they're doing.
00:16:27
Speaker
But the 100k this time, does that mean you have like a heart rate cap that you're going for? And is that Is that aerobic threshold, lower, higher? Like where you, what are you aiming for? Yeah.
00:16:38
Speaker
So I think for this for these kinds of races, and especially because COSY has like a bit of an altitude factor as well, and like, and I don't have access to, you know, and like I haven't been able to get out of there and train on course or anything.
00:16:54
Speaker
So having the heart rate as the gauge of effort level as well will be quite helpful in that scenario because, know, um yeah even you might see your heart rate is higher and and you know you're you're running maybe at slower paces just because there's like a slight altitude component or and potential like heat component the weather is like obviously very unpredictable at cosy most years so it could be super hot it could be snowing like who knows I think there's snow on the course at the moment so yeah and that's ah always a factor too um and so I think I think it's
00:17:31
Speaker
obviously ideal and sustainable to try and stay top of like zone two just on or below your aerobic threshold. And then beyond that, it just, it just becomes like a bit of a fueling issue.
00:17:45
Speaker
um It's difficult to replace the fuel at the rate you need to, if you're like constantly going up into that zone three, and like, yeah, above.
00:17:56
Speaker
So and just trying to like, yeah, maintain the, keep it keeping a nice come comfortable zone too. um And then, you know, try and like finish strong in the second half. That's kind of the,
00:18:09
Speaker
overall goal, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds cool. yeah So it sounds like you're like, you're very focused on executing it, like a good race and like a race that you can be really happy with, maybe compared to UTA, rather than like a specific performance goal, I guess. Like, is that is that definitely is?
00:18:29
Speaker
here Yeah, yeah. I think um it's just been, i mean, like, I think the last time I ran 100K that I felt really happy with was it when I came third it at utk um the year before last, so in 2023. And then the only hundred ks that i've done between then and now was the CCC um which like was an amazing experience but also like just there were so many factors to take into account when you go over there and like you I really came away from that race feeling like there was so many things I could have done better um think and I think a lot of people do come away from those races feeling like that
00:19:11
Speaker
and And then obviously the DNF at UTA. So I felt like I just, I feel like I want to get the, I don't know, like ah the 100K monkey off my back maybe and just have a race that I can be happy with and not,
00:19:26
Speaker
put the pressure on like, um, what, and ah you know, like wherever that lands me is, is where it lands me on the day. That's all I can do is execute the best race that I can. And so I haven't really put any like time. I also haven't run this specific course. They changed the course last year, so i haven't run specific course.
00:19:45
Speaker
So I don't have like, you know, splits to aid stations and things like that because, I've also just found that I can get a little bit too wrapped up in that in a race. And then if it, you know, gets derailed, which like there's a higher likelihood that it can in a hundred K, then I get into a bit of a negative headspace around that. So I'm just trying to like keep the headspace positive during the race.
00:20:08
Speaker
um Like try and keep a bit in the tank for the second half and and yeah, like not get too wrapped up in the and time or position. and Yeah. Nice.
00:20:20
Speaker
take take the pressure off. Sounds good. Sounds good. Sounds like a good plan. Jess, have you got any any questions? been peppering her. a Yeah, well, I'm interested in your training dynamic because I thought it was really cool and like smart how you were saying like you've adjusted your training um like with your workload. um Because I think, yeah, a lot of people doesn't don't realize like how much that can take out of you and like how important it is to like preserve some of that en energy so that you're not going into these races
00:20:53
Speaker
super burnt out um so what does your kind of training dynamic look like like are you fitting in sessions on the same day each week are you having to do them solo before or after work like what does that look like Yeah. um And this is also something that like I also juggled with a lot. Like it's really hard, especially like when you're on Strava and you like can see like you like the the like and type A personality and you just want like that perfect Strava graph. And then you can see like when things are getting in the way. And so like, yeah, it's obviously like.
00:21:30
Speaker
can play on your mind. And I think I'm getting better at just being a bit more like understanding that the work side of things is a big stress. um And so typically during the week, like I'll, i do I do manage to get my sessions in most of the time on saying on the same day each week.
00:21:50
Speaker
So like ah Monday is usually a rest day, but I do bike to and from work, which is like about half an hour, just like easy cycle to and from. um And then i will have like a intervals sort of speed session on a Tuesday, which I and I pretty much do all my runs in the morning before work. So like start at six and then um head into work afterwards.
00:22:13
Speaker
Then like Wednesday and Thursday is usually like ah just an easy run, um anywhere from like 60 to 90 minutes with some hill strides. ah And then um Friday is usually like a more like long sort of like tempo session.
00:22:30
Speaker
um or like introducing some hills Saturday, another sort of easy run. And then Sunday is usually a long run. um And then, and like sometimes but when I was thinking the other day, like I've had a couple of like four, a few four and three hour runs over the last couple of weeks. And so sometimes you just feel like, oh, I spent like your entire weekend running and then like,
00:22:54
Speaker
and all of a sudden you have to go and then meal prep and then like go go to work so like um yeah and like it's it's like what most of us do but um in terms of like adjusting it I like often so it depends on what I have on at work but like often at the moment I'm running like a clinical trial and We have participants who want to come in like early in the morning before they go to work. So sometimes like the morning what like run will get derailed. And then if I'm like on my feet all day or or I've like started early, then I'll just do like a easy 45 minutes or something in the afternoon and like not get too hung up on it and like force myself to have to do the session. But
00:23:35
Speaker
like the session, if I know the session is not going to be good, like there's no point in doing it because I'm not going to like hit the intensity that I want to do. And I'm just going to make myself more tired. So I'm pretty good at adapting it on the fly. And my coach, Ben is like very, um, you know, like supportive of me to do that.
00:23:53
Speaker
Um, like I know he he knows that I know like best how I feel and, um, I'm not I'm also not a massive fan of like making things up. So like if I was to miss like my workout on Tuesday, I'm not going to like force it in somewhere later in the week to just like make up for it.
00:24:11
Speaker
um So, yeah, just like accepting that sometimes the Strava graph doesn't look perfect and and it'll actually serve you a little bit better in the long run. Yeah, I think that's definitely the mature approach and the smart approach for sure. Yeah, yeah.
00:24:27
Speaker
And, um yeah, the gym, unfortunately, is, like, the first thing to go. and I know there'll be a lot of people who, like – uh yeah I try and get in twice a week most of the time if I'm honest with myself it's once per week and uh sometimes it's just like a and we we're lucky ah we put like a little jib set up in our garage so I can just nip down there and do like sort of like 10 minutes here or there and sometimes that's better than nothing but yeah if it happens it happens yeah do you have a strength coach as well
Jess's Training and Mental Strategies
00:25:01
Speaker
No. and So I get some like strength training advice and stuff through the run crew um and through Ben, um but not like a specific like SNC coach.
00:25:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Fair enough. Yeah, I feel like it is like a lot of runners would definitely agree like strength is the first to go. and it's It's hard when you work full time. It's like sometimes you just have to save your energy for things that you need to do and work is just part of life Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
00:25:36
Speaker
And we'll see, like, I feel like this is kind of the first race that I'm really going into with this mindset. Um, like I was saying, UTA, I think I forced it a little bit too much and I had a bad day there.
00:25:49
Speaker
um and I think you can maybe get away with it a little bit more at some of the like shorter distance races. Like you don't need quite as much in the tank or like I, that's my experience. Um,
00:26:01
Speaker
But yeah, we'll see how it plays out in ah just over a week. yeah I might be eating my words, but hopefully not. Hopefully not. No, I'm sure it's for me, I think.
00:26:12
Speaker
That's exciting. Jess, you're also preparing for but next week. Different race? little bit shorter? are you feeling? How's the training been?
00:26:24
Speaker
It's been, I don't know, how when did we last talk to you a couple of weeks ago, I guess. Yeah, um it's been good. I actually felt really good like coming back from Europe. like I was pretty refreshed, had like a bit of just easy kind of running while I was on holiday after Worlds, um and then sort of got stuck back into it with yeah maybe like two or three weeks of like pretty heavy training. like I did two three-hour runs and one three-and-a-half-hour run.
00:26:53
Speaker
um Started to feel a little bit tired um in the last week or so, just like noticing um like the legs when I'm running uphill and like long runs feel a bit more tired than usual.
00:27:07
Speaker
um Sessions not feeling amazing. So I'm hoping like I'm also in luteal phase, so I'm hoping it's just that.
00:27:18
Speaker
But yeah, I'm also like, I don't know, before I decided to do cosy, I was kind of like, I was a bit concerned that I'd done, ah like, had I done too much this year um and, like, spoke to a few people about it and they thought I'd be fine.
00:27:33
Speaker
um And because I felt fine before I started getting back into training, I thought I'd be fine. So trying to stay positive, um which is all I can really do at the moment. um And I have, like, similar goals to Sophie. I just want to have...
00:27:47
Speaker
like a strong race because I feel like a lot of my races this year I've battled um like with kind of anxiety, like bad anxiety going into the race, which has affected like my energy levels. So I'm just trying to like go into the race preserving energy. um in areas that I can control.
00:28:08
Speaker
um And also like with the gut training, I still haven't really figured that out. So I'm hoping to have a solid day out gut wise. That'd be nice.
00:28:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I think sometimes like you're saying, like the training, like obviously, yeah, you're talking about your luteal phase as well. But like the training load, I guess, has been like growing, growing, growing. And now you're you're about to hit that point where I assume you sort of taper off a little bit into the race. So yeah hopefully hopefully as as you get a little bit more recovery in the coming days before the race, like everything starts to tick. And I think just at like this point in the block, you can feel like that accumulated fatigue just from the block.
00:28:50
Speaker
um yeah Maybe both those things turn around and and you're feeling very good by race day, hopefully. I hope so. Yeah, I think that's the case. Like, it's it is like so hard being women sometimes because like our hormones can just like, it affects like the way you feel, like it makes you feel more anxious and it like, it increases inflammation. So it makes things just feel harder than they usually do. So it plays with your mind a little bit. But I think just...
00:29:17
Speaker
recognizing that like that's how it is that's how the body changes um and trying to stay positive is like the best thing you can do and obviously like focusing a lot on recovery at the moment so like really prioritizing sleep um and for me i'm pretty lucky like if i need to work from home i can like do that get a bit more sleep and then just like go out for a run at midday so lucky to be able to do that um and also just like eating a lot more like getting more protein in and things like that um yeah so it should be good Jess you were mentioning about the like some of the race anxiety and stuff like that have you been working with anybody or like doing anything to try and like overcome any of that stuff over the last year or so
00:30:09
Speaker
Yeah, um I've been working with a sports psychologist in Canberra. He's a pretty well-known one. His name's Guy Little, um for anyone interested. But yeah, he's been really good. He's taught me some good techniques, which are mostly around...
00:30:26
Speaker
Trying to like not force anything. like you Like the idea is to like accept that anxiety is going to come and like these thoughts are going to come and just like recognize that they're just thoughts.
00:30:40
Speaker
um That's kind of like the big picture. And then having just like little kind of feelings and like breath work that you can go to to ground yourself.
00:30:50
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah just trying to do that a couple of times per day so that it becomes like a habit um so that like whenever those feelings come in, you kind of just like...
00:31:01
Speaker
try and train your brain to switch into that mode. Yeah. Yeah. yeah So I think it's starting to like become more habitual for me, which is good. um But it is like a process. Like I think it takes a few years to really master.
00:31:16
Speaker
um And for someone like me, that's just, I've been like, I've had anxiety for like my whole life. So it's just, yeah, it's just like getting through that um and like learning how to deal with it better. Yeah.
00:31:30
Speaker
Yeah. But I think, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I noticed at Worlds that like at the start of the race, I felt a lot more like calm and like in control. So I think that was a positive sign.
00:31:45
Speaker
And that was part of the reason why I wanted to do cosy, just like another chance to practice everything that I've learnt and like show myself the hard work that I've put in um to like the mental side someone. I imagine those those like skills of,
00:31:58
Speaker
of doing that work like around your anxiety like it's hardest in those high pressure high anxiety situations like a big race like worlds I can imagine was the hardest time to do it um so yeah it's I guess you have to expose yourself to those as well at some point and and you try and practice using your strategies in those situations yeah Yeah, it's hard as well when you're kind of in like an area where there's like a lot of unknowns. like yeah I don't know, just like yeah so many people and like yeah just to start...
00:32:33
Speaker
yeah but Yeah, yeah like your over the seats you're you're away from home without your like normal support network and everything. like That's probably... like the pinnacle of like anxiety inducing situations so think like you've put put yourself definitely like out of your comfort zone this year so yeah yeah it's good yeah no I'm yeah definitely proud of like um the progress that I've made and keen to give it another crack at um putting that into practice have you been on course at COSY
00:33:10
Speaker
Yeah, I went a couple of weeks ago um for like I did the part of the course that I didn't do in the 30k last year, um which is like the Eagle's Nest climb. Yeah.
00:33:21
Speaker
But yeah, I like I really like the course. I think it's it suits me. Definitely. more A lot more runnable than the world's course. So yeah, did for that. That's a nice one.
00:33:34
Speaker
Cool. Well, that's exciting. It's going to be cool to watch you both race and a few others race next week. um when When is your race, Jess? Is yours earlier in the week? like is it I remember Cozzy, some of the races, are they like Thursday and Friday?
00:33:50
Speaker
Yeah, mine's on the Thursday. um So is the 100K on Friday? Yeah. Yeah, the 100's on the Friday. yeah so it's kind of nice. so I think I'll be out on course on the at the 50k and like Hussie's a nice one because you can, like it's very accessible to all the aid stations and everything. So I'll come out on course and then yeah, the 100k and I think the Myla as well is on the same day.
00:34:16
Speaker
on Friday. So yeah. That was the way when I was up there. Yeah. Yeah. That's exciting. We're going to do, ah there'll be a preview episode coming out maybe on the weekend or something of early next week. So we're going to talk all about it.
00:34:32
Speaker
um There's some big, big names, including you, both of you. so So it's, it's going to be a ah good, a good race and hopefully there's good conditions up there. Yeah. So yeah, that'd be exciting.
00:34:45
Speaker
Yeah. And how are you feeling? how are you feeling Brody after triple tops and you're, you have something coming up this weekend as well, right? Yeah, so we sort of talked a little bit about
Brodie's Race Reflections and Preparations
00:34:59
Speaker
it last week. um like Quick turnaround into GSER this weekend.
00:35:04
Speaker
On the Saturday, I'm doing So yeah, I was pretty beat up after the triple tops. I always am. like it's It's a very brutal race on the on the body because it has like a beat big downhill.
00:35:18
Speaker
at the end. um Yeah. And it's a short race so you can run pretty hard. Yeah. And there's a lot of stabilizing earlier as well because it's very technical. So there's a lot of yeah tough stuff. So yeah, it took me a good amount of the week to recover.
00:35:35
Speaker
I had sore. I think I mentioned in the podcast, like I don't know when we recorded, but I was like sore all over, but it was like my ribs, like my sort of rib muscles, my back, my arms.
00:35:48
Speaker
Everything was a bit sore. My quads probably stuck around for the longest. And like, yeah, it wasn't really even just that general fatigue as well. Once all that washed out and I didn't have the DOMS anymore, I still had some of that, and like, like, I guess that metabolic or muscular fatigue was probably my blood work would have been still a bit interesting to look at by the end of the week. Yeah.
00:36:09
Speaker
um But yeah, finished, finished off the week. All right. It was funny. I did ah I did a little session on Friday to sort of get the legs turning over. And I did um hill some hill strides or like some hill sprints, but like not sprinting, sprinting, but like running them fairly hard with a lot of recovery.
00:36:25
Speaker
And they felt really good. And then I ah followed it up the same session I'd done the week before with like a 10 minute just tempo trying to run like between my two thresholds. So in like zone three and I was running it like I was like, oh, I ran 3.45 last week. Maybe I'll do about the same. Like I might even run a bit quicker because I'm feeling good today.
00:36:44
Speaker
I started out, I was like doing 350s. I was like, this feels pretty hard. And then like the second five minutes, I was doing like 405s, 410s and I averaged four minute Ks. So that was it was a good sign that I, a good reminder that maybe I wasn't fully recovered yet.
00:36:59
Speaker
um Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you didn't quite have all your quad muscles intact. Yeah. It was so funny because i felt I felt really good on the hill sprints and they were like as good as they were the previous week, if not a little bit better, but yeah.
00:37:12
Speaker
maybe that's just all I had. And it was like neuromuscularly, I was back to moving okay. But when I tried to sort of push myself for 10 minutes, it was, it was a bit harder. So yeah, I didn't do anything too crazy.
00:37:24
Speaker
I did like ah a bit of a shorter long run on the weekend. um So yeah, but I still managed to, I still ended up doing more kilometers than I'd done the previous week. So because I added in an extra run this week. So yeah, was sort of like, i' I'm on the,
00:37:40
Speaker
on the, yeah, it's a bit of a weird between the two races in terms of like, I actually did more mileage last week than I did any other week in, in the build back, but that was sort of just the trajectory of, of where I was going. And I went from four runs to five runs.
00:37:53
Speaker
Um, and I did, I didn't feel like it was like a big stretch, but, um, yeah, just something to keep an eye on. I guess when I got to the end of the week and was like, Oh, actually that was probably more K's and I was recovering from a race, like possibly could have maybe not done the five runs in the week.
00:38:08
Speaker
Um, But, yeah, I'm not like hell bent on having the best performance of my life at GCR. I'm just sort of getting there and hopefully going to run as well as I can. Like my main priority still is is is sort of the progression back to normal training.
00:38:25
Speaker
So, yeah yeah, it's the... it was a good week and yeah i'm looking forward to this weekend i'm keeping this week pretty pretty easy like i don't go too badly off like a pretty heavy taper i feel like that she doesn't that actually works not too bad for me so i'll still run this week but i'm like i will have a bit of a drop in the mileage and there'll only be three three runs before the saturday race so um i'm feeling like yeah hopefully i'll go in or feeling okay unfortunately GSER has become the same as your experience down on the Great Ocean Trail Ultra in that the 28k has become a 31 or 32k because a finish the finish has been moved a little bit. so
00:39:09
Speaker
Well, it's always better if you know that ahead of time, find. At least you can mentally prepare for it. yeah Yeah, and it means I'll probably be even more measured going up feather top at the start and and not blow myself up. So yeah, I'm looking forward to getting out there and and having some fun. Like I really want to focus on fueling well because I found at Triple Tops I was struggling a little bit with the fueling and I don't know if it's just my intensity was a bit too high or if I just wasn't used to it. So, yeah, even my long run on the weekend where only did like just over 90 minutes, I tried to fuel like full full amount. So maybe about 100 grams an hour, um which was like a bit easier than race intensity maybe. So I'm hoping –
00:39:51
Speaker
That's probably my main goal is to try and like feel well early. And hopefully that means I don't suffer too much in the last hour because it's probably going to be maybe three hours, I think, of running, which is an hour longer than I've run since I've come back and it's in a race situation. So it's getting onto the edge of what's probably possible at this stage. But yeah, I'll be smart about it as well. and look if I really have to pull the pin then I can pull the pin but um yeah I'm feeling pretty confident after triple tops that at least my body can get through it from a sort of like how my Achilles is going and whatnot so yeah I'm looking forward to it it's good it's gonna be I've never done GCR so that I'm pretty excited to sort of do a new event tick a new one off have you run on those trials before
00:40:38
Speaker
Yeah, I've pretty much done everything there except for the very last bit that they added because it used to finish, used to run up like cross the road off the Razorback, run up Hotham and then run maybe but run down to the village to finish. And they're just sort of extending it a little bit along towards Dinner Plain a bit further.
00:41:00
Speaker
um but I've done the feather top climb several times and I've done Razorback, not in a race, but I've done the Razorback many times just on a long run while I've been up and bright. So, yeah, I'm familiar with the trails. Like they're not going to be, hopefully I won't be as sore on the stabilizing muscles because they're not quite as technical.
00:41:18
Speaker
um That'll be a different different challenge. But when I was at Triple Tops, actually felt really good on a couple of smooth bits of trail, whether that was because they were the only smooth bits of trail or whether I'm,
00:41:30
Speaker
moving okay i'm I'm not sure so yeah we'll see I'm excited yeah hopefully the hopefully the um hits out at triple tops will just be like a really good stimulus and like you can recover from it over the next like few days and then yeah I'm I think you'll have a great race Brodie yeah I'm looking looking forward to it and then I'm sort of I'm also looking forward to the just being like okay i have no races until yeah to be confirmed for a long time at this stage. Like I've just, I've got nothing booked in. No, like there's a lot of things I would consider doing next year, but I'm, I don't even feel the urge to like lock anything in yet.
00:42:10
Speaker
um So yeah, I mean, I'm excited just to get back to
Running News and Recent Race Recaps
00:42:15
Speaker
regular training. Like I, I don't, really want to book something in until i'm running like 80 of what i feel like is like not my max but like is a really good training volume once i hit 80 maybe i'll think about it um with 80 where i'm moving really well but yeah i prefer to actually just get to full running i i don't feel the need to race um i'm doing this one
00:42:42
Speaker
for maybe questionable purposes. But um yeah, once I've done that one, then umm I'm excited to sort of just get back to enjoying running and and and focus, put the focus back there.
00:42:55
Speaker
Yeah, nice. Awesome. Yeah, so we'll see. We're going to talk a little bit about GCR at the very end. We'll just mention who's running. So, yeah, we'll move on to we've actually we've got it mostly results, but we've got one news topic this week. um So people may have seen I'm not sure if we covered this when it initially happened, but there's a guy from the US. His name is I don't know how you say his name, going say Michelino Sonseri.
00:43:25
Speaker
He is a North Face runner. He ran a FKT, quite a famous FKT, I think, in the US last year called Grand Tetons or Tetons, Tetons, I think maybe.
00:43:39
Speaker
uh fkt um in which he cut a switchback on the descent which was supposedly a very common switchback to cut but the the parks uh uh rangers had put lots of signage up and said no you're not allowed to cut here and so on um some people who had done the fkt in the past had supposedly cut it and well formed there was a bit of an argument of whether or not, but essentially park the Parks Department took him to court and there's been a long process since then.
00:44:12
Speaker
um That was in 2024 and it finished with a slightly weird finale. twist. Yeah, a bit of a weird plot twist where um president he got a he got a presidential pardon from uh trump to ah close it all out so yeah a bit of a weird ending but he has been sort of let off for the for the for cutting the corner um he's not and all the court cases over i think it was a federal court case and there was some stuff about saying like this is a bit of a waste of money and that sort of stuff and
00:44:47
Speaker
um Yeah, it feels like they were like maybe trying to make a bit of an example of him and then but I wonder like did it like, yeah I mean, obviously, I guess ah I didn't really hear too much about it at the time when it happened. I've heard a lot more about it since the um pardon.
00:45:05
Speaker
But I wonder, like, did it capture enough media attention in the US s to, like, come across the desk of, like, whoever the official is who's in charge of, like, managing these pardons? But, like, I can't imagine that, like, Donald Trump is, like, yeah, tuning into the Peak Pursuits podcast or the, like, free trial podcast to, like...
00:45:26
Speaker
I like how did I just like how did it come across his desk but I kind of feel a bit sorry for the guy because he can't catch a break because now I think like a lot of people are like associating him with President Trump and like I'm pretty sure his like political he doesn't like lot land quite in line with Trump. So um yeah I think he, it sounds like from a couple of things I've heard that he was almost like equally as surprised as everybody else that this actually happened.
00:45:54
Speaker
ah So yeah, pretty crazy. But yeah, yeah he said he said in an interview, um am I a fan of Donald Trump now? I mean, I 100% agree with him on this.
00:46:06
Speaker
So I think we found common ground here. So I'm not sure. Yeah, yeah. It's a very interesting way for it to to end. But um I guess maybe maybe a good ending. I don't know that i don't know the whole the whole story and and the different outcomes. Yeah.
00:46:24
Speaker
ah like I think he was facing like, um yeah, it sounded like they were trying to like um you know like i gave it gave him a fine for a few thousand dollars and like even maybe like a lifetime ban from the park and like i'm from what i've heard he's like very involved in in the park and like has lived there for a long time and so was obviously um pretty unhappy about that so um yeah it's they were definitely um yeah trying to go the whole way with it whether you agree with that or not i mean like he broke the rules
00:47:01
Speaker
But like, i think how often do try runners break those kinds of rules? I feel kind of sorry for the guy without knowing too much about it. yeah yeah yeah yeah and even just like like it's not even just the the like uh the actual thing of them trying to take him to court and whatnot but like how much attention it got how much like it's sort of been hanging over him i'm sure for a year with lots of people asking different questions and like in this interview where he was talking he said he's is still getting hate mail and that sort of stuff because obviously people have quite
00:47:36
Speaker
strong opinions about these things um so yeah it's obviously um we don't condone cutting corners and we know it is done ah but we don't yes it seems like it was maybe a bit much what they tried to do here and i guess maybe whoever not trump himself but whoever sort of runs that part of his department thought maybe it's time to settle this one Yeah, let's get this off the desk.
00:48:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. That's an interesting, interesting point of news. um We'll move on now. we've got some results from the week.
00:48:13
Speaker
So we had the run, the Bibulum, I always say that wrong, I think, the
00:48:22
Speaker
I love your pronunciations, Jodie. I love your pronunciations, Brody. So good. I think I was good at it because I try and pronounce people's names all the time at work, but I'm still no good at it. like I think I need to see a quote about it or something.
00:48:39
Speaker
Anyway. I know, I love it. It's one of my favourite parts. We talked a little bit about this one last week. um I think it's maybe changed its name. It used to be the Great Southern Stage Race maybe.
00:48:54
Speaker
and So, yes, it's ah I don't know exactly how far it covers over the entire three days of racing. Do you know how? It doesn't cover the whole track, I'm pretty sure. think it just uses parts of it.
00:49:10
Speaker
Oh, I'm not sure. the long course, mate. There's a long and short course. Yeah, but isn't it? It's like 1,000 kilometres. and Yeah, I don't think it's – yeah, so sorry. The winner – oh, can probably figure it out from the K rates, but I'm not like good at maths.
00:49:22
Speaker
The winner was Daniel Hutchins. He did the long course, the complete long course in 10 hours 40, and his K rate was 555. So Sophie, you're pretty smart. You might be able to figure it Oh.
00:49:36
Speaker
Yeah. Public maths is a hard no for me. It must be just over 100Ks, I guess, of running because that's like six-minute Ks would be 10 hours. Yeah, actually, it's definitely not the whole course.
00:49:50
Speaker
Definitely not 1,000K. That would be really fast for 1,000Ks. Yeah, so Daniel Hutchins got the win. In the men, Geordie James was in second. Sorry, I've cut away to category results and it's – here we go.
00:50:08
Speaker
Alan Williams was third in 11 hours 22. Sorry, Geordie James did 11.05. In the women, the winner was Mimi McIntosh in and third was Knight in So that was run the bibbillum. I should not have tried it again.
00:50:34
Speaker
um We also had the Narrowneck night run. This one had a couple of big names running in it. It's in the Blue Mountains. Narrowneck is...
00:50:46
Speaker
ah features in the UTA courses. Sophie would have run along it earlier this year. Yeah, I was still in it at that point. Yeah, that was pretty early.
00:50:59
Speaker
We were getting beautiful drone footage of it, I remember. It was like sunrise, I guess, when you when the 100Ks were out starting on it. Yeah, it's stunning. It's like um sort of like a flowy, like wide trail that goes like, you can see off either side, like panoramic views, it's the Blue Mountains and like the sun was just coming off. Yeah, it's it's a stunning piece of track.
00:51:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's pretty pretty spectacular. i've run out along it a few times just like a nice easy run so it's yeah it's pretty cool um there's a this race has a 24k uh out and back and a 14k out and back so in the 24k we had uh the winner was benson lawrence in one hour 37 25
00:51:46
Speaker
He got the course records, I think, from Matt Doray. i think that's who held it previously. um And maybe not actually by too much, but like really quick. I think if you do the math on that, it's just over four-minute Ks.
00:52:01
Speaker
um Or just under? Just over. Just over. Yeah, and definitely not flat. Yes. Yeah. So it's got, I think it has about 600 or 700 meters of climb in that.
00:52:14
Speaker
So yeah, pretty quick. And I mean, he was running he was running that pace. I think he ended up with a pretty nasty rolled ankle. I saw a picture of it afterwards. it It didn't look great.
00:52:25
Speaker
I don't know how far out from the finish, but. I think he said he did it at about 15K. So pretty tough. Yeah, sorry. The previous course record was 139.36. So he took about two minutes off that.
00:52:39
Speaker
um Michael Breslauva, M.D.: Ricardo Cherta, who was at GPT just last week he ran the 50 K and then the next stage as well, he came second in one hour 4544 and Alexander Matthews and third in one hour 4817 in the women, we had Emily brunt she.
00:53:01
Speaker
ran a really quick time of 2.04.55. fifty five I believe that was also a course record. The previous course record was 2.05.32. thirty two Emily's no stranger to the Blue Mountains. She won UTA couple of years ago, I think it was, 2023 or 2024. Yeah, and she had a really strong run there the year just gone as well. I think she was third. Yeah.
00:53:26
Speaker
Yes, she's very handy on those trails. Second was Alice Shaysher in 2.15.44 and third was Judith Thompson in 2.20.47.
00:53:39
Speaker
There was a 14K. I'll just mention the winners ah because again, some quick times. Michael Dunstan was running The 14K he ran 55, 36. I think maybe more of the climb is earlier. So he was also about four minute Ks, but his gap pace was something like 328. So it was a little bit faster.
00:54:00
Speaker
um So yeah, really quick quick time from... Michael, which is yeah really cool to see. We know Michael from running really long races, but he's iss run, he's run, yeah, he's obviously still got wheels.
00:54:14
Speaker
And in the women, actually, first and second were very close. so I'll give them both a shout out. Katie Morrison was first in one hour 1430. And Rebecca Gibbs was ah second in one hour 1453. So a little bit of a race to the line there.
00:54:30
Speaker
and Anyone else want to do one? I can keep rolling. I can take it. Yeah, Jesse can do this one. we also had the Strumlo Running Festival in Canberra.
00:54:48
Speaker
It says New South Wales, but I thought that was in ACT. Anyway, yeah. So there was a marathon, a 30K, a 15K and a 10K, but I think we're just going to call out the marathon, the 30 and the 15.
00:55:07
Speaker
So we had Michael Daly in first place in the men. in the marathon, um three hours 10. So that's pretty fast. um Must be a pretty fast course.
00:55:20
Speaker
Must be on the grass track around Stromlo, I'd say. That would be a very boring marathon. It's like 2.5K is that loop or is it is there a longer one?
00:55:32
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's That'd be a lot of laps. okay I want to see the course.
00:55:43
Speaker
and would then Maybe they go up into the park. Wow. That's really fast because it says it's got the marathon has 1,500 metres gain. Yeah. Three hours, ten. Yeah. um And then Andrew McConnell was second in three hours, 12, and Jordan Cowley was third in three hours, 18.
00:56:05
Speaker
And then in the women for the marathon, we had Olivia Martin. in first place in 4 hours 06. um Joazia Zakrzewski,
00:56:19
Speaker
sorry, just butchered your last name, but you came second in 4 hours 07. And third was Lizzie Mee in 4 hours 17. And then in the 30K, we heard Jonathan Gillard in first place in 2 hours 12.
00:56:40
Speaker
She's also very fast. What do we have for the... That one has 860 meters gain, which is still pretty decent.
00:56:53
Speaker
um It's saying it's on 99% path, so it must be like pretty nice surface. um Cool. And then Jordan Dennis was second in the 30K in 2 hours 20 and Joe Erksine was third in 2 hours 25. And then in the women for the 30K, we had Emily Briceig in 2 hours 21, Cherie Croft in and second hours 32.
00:57:24
Speaker
and anne marie cook in third in two hours thirty two And then just quickly shouting out the fifteen k because we had young gun Patrick Clark ah taking the win in the men's 59-13. So had thirty one metres of gain say that's pretty damn quick to go under an hour for that
00:57:56
Speaker
phphor And Alex Bate was second in one hour, 40 seconds. And Matt Lewis was third in one hour, 03. And then in the women, ah first place in the 15K was Claire Rayner in one hour, 09.
00:58:14
Speaker
Sarah King was second in one hour, 14. And Fleur Flannery was third in one hour, 18. So well done to those runners. Yeah, nice.
00:58:27
Speaker
Cool. All right. Well, we might finish with Coast to Cozzy, which was on this weekend. So a bit of a miss from us last week because Coast to Cozzy actually shows up in the road running on the trail running calendar, not the trail running because it is mostly boys is all on the road. So sorry for missing that. Although I guess if they finish at the summit, they do run on the trail at the end. So we'll call it a trail race still.
00:58:51
Speaker
um For those who don't know Coast of Cozzy, it starts, I believe, is it Eden? I think it's Eden. It starts on the coast in south New South Wales and it finishes at the top of Mount Cozzy Osco. So it's 241.
00:59:03
Speaker
two hundred and forty one kilometers i believe that's right yeah that's it yeah so it's it's a it's a it's a long race um and i guess it's got a fair bit of climbing and a net uphill so um yeah it's a it's been around for a while it's quite it yeah i think it has over five does it have but over 5 000 meters of climbing in the 240k so yeah that it's a beast yeah it's a long way so um i don't know if they
00:59:36
Speaker
I don't know if my um the my results, the final one is cut off. It does say finish at Charlotte Pass maybe. i don't know if it went the whole way. um But the winner was, ah the ah the outright winner and first mail was Ben Wilson.
00:59:54
Speaker
um And his exact time is cut off here, but I think it's 26 hours and minutes. Yeah. um And second place was Matt Killley, who ran 26.48. And third was Noelis Roelt, and finished in 27.39.
01:00:10
Speaker
So that's 27 hours and 39 minutes. finishing twenty seven thirty nine so so it's twenty seven hours and thirty nine minutes And then in fourth place outright and first women, woman, and quite a quick time, I think, from looking back at the past winners, Liv Compton ran 28 hours and 28 minutes.
01:00:32
Speaker
um So, yeah, very quick time from, from... sorry leave there I was looking at the past past winners, I think maybe the quickest time.
01:00:44
Speaker
It's a bit hard, to they haven't highlighted the fastest time, but from checking, I think it is 27 hours and 44 minutes by Ali Caripio last year. so Not too far off that.
01:00:57
Speaker
um Second woman was Chantelle Smith. She ran 29 hours 51. She was also fifth outright. And then the third lady was Patricia Bereznalska.
01:01:13
Speaker
in 33 hours and 37 minutes so well done to all of those runners and well done to anyone who finished because that is a journey in itself it looked like the weather wasn't wasn't perfect either it looked like maybe they were getting a bit of snow and um some chilly weather up there so yeah pray for us next weekend yeah yeah that's so that hopefully the weather turns around we know that it can be up and down at this time a year up on cossey so Yeah, interesting to see.
01:01:46
Speaker
So yeah, that wraps up our results for this week. We might finish quickly with a question. ah We had a few sent in. We're going to do one that came in from James Barnett. Thanks, James.
01:01:59
Speaker
He is asked, do you focus more on interval-based sessions or tempo-based sessions? Who wants to start? I can start.
Training Techniques and Upcoming Races
01:02:11
Speaker
um Yeah, personally, I always kind of have a mixture of both. I i think there's definitely a place for both in like a well-rounded um training plan. Like obviously, i well, I mean, if I'm interpreting it right, like I would consider an interval session to be more sort of like shorter intervals, more speed focused, like really like almost getting up to sort of like VO2 max level.
01:02:38
Speaker
um zones and then tempo being more like zone three, and more extended, like, you know, 10 minute um to 15 minute intervals.
01:02:52
Speaker
um That's, yeah, that's what I would interpret it as, but I know that these things get very muddled and mixed up. So I think like ah typically I would do um once per week, I would do a shorter interval session,
01:03:06
Speaker
um like on a Tuesday. And then that can be anything from like um but two and a half minute hills with rundown recoveries to like um four by four minutes or, you know, things like that that are a little bit more like VO2 max focused, like building things like your speed, your efficiency and sort of like overall aerobic capacity. And then the tempo session, like I would typically do that a little bit later in the week. So around like a Friday,
01:03:36
Speaker
with a bit of like a recovery between the Friday and the Sunday long run. And then that could be anything like um sort of like I would more focus more like half marathon effort for that, I would say. um And obviously that's helping you like um with your you know,
01:03:56
Speaker
you know, like it not to get too sciencey, but it's hard. I love getting bit too sciencey on training, but like that's ah you like, um, helping train like your, your mitochondria to use like lactate as a fuel, like you're generating lactate there, but it's like steady state. So, um, it helps with, um, training that kind of thing. Um, and like pushing up your sort of like lactate threshold from, from below.
01:04:23
Speaker
um, So, yeah, I think there's definitely room for both of them in a good training week. And, I mean, if you don't even have to fit them both into the same week, like, you know, alternating between, like, if you're just doing one session a week, then putting one interval session and then one and tempo.
01:04:42
Speaker
But I think, like, you can – Maybe get a little bit more volume with the tempo um sessions if you're actually keeping them at a tempo, which I think is quite challenging. Sometimes it's easy to go too hard on those sessions.
01:04:53
Speaker
So keeping them at like a realistic, like half marathon effort and like dialing that in with the RPE if you're doing it on the hills and things like that. So, yeah.
01:05:06
Speaker
Nice. Yes? Yeah, i think I think like in terms of what to focus on, it does um depend on what you're training for. um Like I definitely agree with Sophie in like the ideal week would include one session of each.
01:05:23
Speaker
um but where that can differ is like, for example, if you're training for like a 50K or something longer than that um and you're doing a really long long run, like a three and half hour long run on a Sunday, sometimes it can be like hard to back that up with a high intensity interval session on like a Tuesday or earlier in the week.
01:05:46
Speaker
um So that in those scenarios where you're finding you're carrying more fatigue and it can be more beneficial to focus on the tempo session because that's where you're working on the energy systems that are more specific to the race that you're doing if you are targeting a 50k or above. um And yeah, just not pushing that fatigue barrier too far by like forcing the interval session if you are carrying a bit of extra fatigue into the week.
01:06:17
Speaker
um But I'd say, yeah, if you are training for distances like 20K or less, it's probably ideal to have that interval session. um Like it's it's definitely more of a focus and I would say like you wouldn't be doing as long runs. So it's, yeah, you wouldn't hopefully be carrying less fatigue into those ah sessions that are earlier in the week.
01:06:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, nice. Yeah, I think that's a really good summary. I was going to say everyone's favorite answer is it depends. Yeah, 100%. That's exactly what I was going to say because I think, yeah, it depends so much like it what race you're training for, like if you do a periodization, like where how far out are you from the race because even if you're doing a 50K race, maybe working on some of those other – things that are less race specific you might do earlier in the block um so that and then the ah the final one that i think is also important for me is like what is your history with running like where are you coming from what's your strengths what's your weaknesses what have you done in the past like are you relatively new to running have you been running for many years like that probably makes a little bit of a difference because some people's physiology might be
01:07:33
Speaker
ah more attuned to one or the other and that that's a little bit in their racing as well but like if it's their physiology is really strong in one area then maybe you focus on a different area for for a block and try and improve those those capacities or or those those things so yeah it's a for me it's ah it's a big it depends I think like if you were trying to not get too sciencey about it I agree that it's like one of each in a training week and a long run is like pretty perfect for me like if I was just to say like a generic training week for anyone without getting like I love getting into the details about what race you're doing I do I ah do periodization with my my athletes so like it depends how far away they are from the race but if I was just to say like someone just wanted to know what what a week of training could look like
01:08:23
Speaker
um then this is probably a week of training that would suit people generally. We're always doing one shorter, faster session with that interval-based type training, one more tempo threshold session, and then then then their long run on the weekend, and then some easy running around that, but that easy running doesn't matter as much. Like those three things might be the the most important things or the priority sessions. So, yeah, I think...
01:08:51
Speaker
I don't have a specific preference. Like I prefer to run more tempo-based sessions, but that's probably because my physiology is more attuned to that. So I actually also need to focus on the shorter stuff, which I've been doing a little bit as well, even as I come back.
01:09:06
Speaker
um So yeah, it's a I'd say both have a place.
01:09:12
Speaker
Agreed. Sorry, James, you might not have had the best. You should do both, James. Yeah. I think James is probably already doing a ah little bit of both. I've i've seen it. James is running very well at the moment. So I think he's whatever you're doing, James, just keep doing it.
01:09:31
Speaker
One thing i say like this sort of stuff, like if you're if you' taught if you're thinking about like structuring, you want to get more specific with the way you're structuring things, then talking to ah a coach or a mentor or another runner and and throwing some ideas around can be pretty useful.
01:09:46
Speaker
um So you don't have to have a coach, but you can talk to another runner and ask them a little bit about what they're doing and that sort stuff. And you can you can be a bit more specific, but again, the like the main thing is like you need to train and that's like ah that's the main part of training and then the way you structure your training becomes more of a one percent but maybe it's like a five to ten percent rather than a one percent um but really it's just like doing something is is the most important thing so you don't have to stress too much
01:10:17
Speaker
cool All right. Well, I think that's all all of what we wanted to cover this week.
Closing Thoughts and Future Plans
01:10:25
Speaker
There's a few things coming up this coming weekend and then UTK the following weekend. So as we sort of mentioned before, GCR is on this weekend. We've got a few runners, a fairly...
01:10:38
Speaker
Deep-ish 28K, which I'm not too happy about, but that's one I'm doing. So in the men, I'm running. James has written here that I'm a bit net, so that was very nice of him.
01:10:50
Speaker
yeah James did the run sheet tonight. I think that was a little joke from his side. We've got Alistair George, who came third at Hounslow behind Charlie and Leo back in September.
01:11:04
Speaker
I actually coach Alistair. I think he's probably going to beat me. um and We've got Toby Lang who ran four peaks and then the GPT relay, which also Alistair ran.
01:11:17
Speaker
um And then Ian Best who recently won four peaks up in, he's actually done the exact uphill or the three of them actually have. So um they're coming to, it ah also Etienne Blomstein Jones is running as well who,
01:11:34
Speaker
um people probably heard of before i saw he was running point to pinnacle he likes to sort of get around and do lots of races i think just maybe you sometimes train with etienne yeah he's um based in canberra i get a lot of massage treatment from him he's a massage guru awesome yeah so he's running i was um sorry go was ian was ian first up feathertop four peaks He got beaten by Michael Kernaghan.
01:12:01
Speaker
but Okay. but First of those there are those. Yeah. Alistair actually didn't end up running any four peaks because he was sick. Toby, I think, was maybe third or fourth, maybe about four minutes behind ean So yeah, it'll be interesting.
01:12:16
Speaker
I think I'll be seeing the back of those three all day, but it'll be interesting to see how Toby and Ian particularly match up on on the climb. And then, yeah, there's a long way from the climb to the finish.
01:12:29
Speaker
It's true, yeah. I think it'll be a really interesting race because Ian obviously is really well known for how good he is at climbing. But then obviously there's a long way to go once you get to the top of Feathertop and you've got to keep something in the tank. So yeah.
01:12:45
Speaker
Yeah. And like, but and the Razorback isn't the easiest of running. Like, I mean, I've hiked it. I haven't run along it, but it's a bit technical and a little bit unforgiving. So it'll be interesting.
01:12:57
Speaker
definitely undulating and Ian actually ran this last year he i had an athlete running which is why it's sort of like I kept across the results a little bit um I think his result went a bit under the radar he actually says it's one of his one of his better races especially apart from purely uphill because he's known for like very uphill races and his time last year i was very impressed by so I'm very scared going into this one I think he and he ran really well last year I think he's going to be I think he'll be hard to beat uh I don't I don't i think you'll probably win but yeah anything could happen i think um yeah see
01:13:32
Speaker
so happened in the women we also have uh patricia mckibben i don't know if trish is running or not running i think she may also be on the list for cosy but i don't know no i think she is doing it i'm pretty sure she's doing it awesome she might be beating me so might be racing her up the hill um trish obviously we know she was at uh um world trail champs earlier um this is probably her first race after that i guess um yeah and then she's up against emily bartlett was another name that jumped out uh she was fifth at four peaks this year she had a really good day on the last day up and down mystic so um there is a few downhills it's a like a net uphill but there's a few downhills so yeah the interesting to see was um was emily at worlds the ship did she race in the 14k at worlds or have i got that wrong
01:14:27
Speaker
yeah Maybe I have that wrong. I think that's a different... Emily, maybe. Oh, okay. Yeah, again, I forgot. um my my as As I said with names, we might have to suss up eventually.
01:14:40
Speaker
Maybe it's a different Emily. In fact, could be a different Emily. I'm not sure. In the 56K, we have Courtney Ellis is running. She was ah third at four peaks, not far.
01:14:55
Speaker
She was sort of um on the heels of Demi and Lucy. Mm-hmm. most days so she's a triathlete i think try yeah yep it looks like she's been doing a little bit more trail running recently so be interesting to see how she goes um she's up against sj miller who was uh worlds as well so yeah um had a really sarah jane had a really good run was she she the fastest of the women in short trial is that right yeah yeah she was the first aussie
01:15:28
Speaker
And I know I talked to her beforehand actually when I was pulling out. She was she was very nice. She sent me a message um and she was quite she was quite scared and and yeah I think, yeah, she had a really strong run there so it was great to see. yeah I think we were all scared.
01:15:47
Speaker
But yeah, it was awesome to see her run really well so would be cool to see how she goes. In the men, a name that jumped out was Nigel Hill who's sort of run a lot of Victorian but also national races maybe a little longer usually so 56 will be short for him um but yeah there's a name in that one and then in the 50 mile Gillian Turnbull who I think you race maybe down at the great ocean trail ultra is that right Yeah. Yeah. Um, Jillian's a good friend and training partner. So, um, she is, this will be her first step, uh, her first step up to the 50 mile, um distance. So, um, kind of new territory, but she is really experienced in the 50 K, um, distance. So,
01:16:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think like it'll be interesting to see how she goes with this like slightly longer race. and Like I think she's going to nail it. She's very like dialed with all of her nutrition and training and everything. So I think she shouldn't have too many problems. But yeah, it's always nerve wracking to step up in distance and like into the unknown. And from 50K to 80K is a decent jump and it's a tough race at GSER. So yeah, fingers crossed she goes well.
01:17:02
Speaker
Yeah, nice. They also have a 100 mile race there. ah No, yeah, I didn't see anyone I'm particularly new, but I'm sure there's some strong runners there. So yeah, and that'll be a ah hard 100 mile. So yeah, be interesting to see how that one goes. But yeah, i'm really looking forward to getting out there and being a part of the event and seeing how it all happens.
01:17:24
Speaker
um Also this weekend we have the Adelaide Trail Runners Summer Series ah The first one of the series at Black Hill in Victoria, there's the King Valley Challenge, Southeast Queensland Trail Series, the fourth round up there in Bayview, and then the Sydney Trail Spring Series, number three, it survived. So it's really cool to see, like there's a trail series from three states happening this weekend, but there seems to be a bit more of that sort of stuff popping up, which I think is like...
01:17:56
Speaker
pretty cool for like local level competition more like you might see in other sports where you have those sort of like regular local level races so yeah it's cool to see those those events popping up
01:18:11
Speaker
sweet all right well i think that is all for us this week uh thank you so much sophie for jumping on for having me on Good luck next week.
01:18:23
Speaker
Thanks. Hope you have a really good race. And Jess, also good luck to you. We might speak to you before then, but if not, have a great race. and Thank you. And you this weekend. Yeah, thank you.
01:18:35
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah, hopefully. Yeah, good luck, Freddie. Thank you. thank I'm just looking forward to getting back up to Bright. I love Bright. So, yeah, that'll be it. Yeah, just enjoy Even if the race goes pear-shaped, I get to go to the brewery and have a beer. sir Perfect.
01:18:51
Speaker
Yeah. and Have a gum tree pie on Sunday morning. Oh, I'm jealous now.
01:18:59
Speaker
Nice one. All right. Well, thanks, everyone. This was Episode 84 of Peak The Shift Podcast. We'll catch you next week. Thanks, guys. Cool.