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Episode 13: Results of the week, UTMB Anti-doping and Pre-Race Nutrition
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Welcome to Episode 13 of Peak Pursuits, the ultimate podcast for trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Simone Brick, Brodie Nankervis, and Vlad Ixel. Join us as we dive into training updates, trail running news, race results, and more.
Start - 21:40 :- Training Week Updates
We kick off the episode by running through our training weeks. Vlad starts us off with a recap of his race in Switzerland, as well as describing the rationale for his run with 2000m of vertical loss! Brodie recaps his last training week before the World Orienteering Championships, including a sketchy ridgeline run, and touches on how he is feeling going into the races. Simone gets back into training post BTU, capping off a steady week of jogging with a fun 20km hilly loop with over 1000m of vert.
21:40 - 37:40:- Trail Running News
Next, we cover the recent announcement of the UTMB group antidoping policy, and discuss generally the issue of doping and its management in trail running.
37:40 - 51:00:- Listener Question
We then answer a listener question from kj.runs.again - “What is your pre-race day nutrition?” Our hosts share valuable tips and strategies they have used in the lead up to races of varying distances.
51:00 - 1:07:00:- Weekend Race Results
In the race results segment, we cover the domestic trail race results for the week, including Perth Trail Running Series Jolly Jumbuck, Lakes Trail Festival, the new North West Trail Running Series in Tasmania, and Mt Misery Trail Run and Ultra Adelaide in SA. We then cover awesome Aussie performances in the Val D’aran and Trail Verbier St Bernard UTMB races in Europe.
1:07:00 - End :- What’s Coming Up
Lastly, we provide a rundown of the trail running events to look out for in the next week and wish Brodie luck for the World Championships and Vlad for another race in his calendar in Austria!
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!
Brodie: @brodie_nank
Sim: @theflyingbrick_
Vlad: @vladixel
UTMB Anti-Doping Announcement: https://utmb.world/news/annoucement-anti-doping
UTMB Anti-Doping Policy: https://utmb.world/Anti-doping
Perth Trail Series: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=358020
Lake Festival: https://tempus.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16516&RId=388&EId=1&dt=0
North West Trail Running Series: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=358046
Mt Misery Trail Run: https://eventstrategies.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=90&RId=545
Ultra Adelaide: https://my.raceresult.com/297964/
Trail Verbier St Bernard: https://verbier.utmb.world/race-results
Val D’aran: https://live.utmb.world/es/aranbyutmb/2024
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): [Trendsetter by Mood Maze](https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter) License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
Transcript
00:00:10
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 13 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. Lucky number 13. My num, my number. My name is Simone Brick, and I am here still stuck in Oz, but not for much longer, but joined by two nomads currently. I've got Vlad Exel on the line. Hi, Vlad. Hey, Sam. and brodie naervis hey sim how are you going hey v now big show coming at you as usual we are going to finally touch on some news that's probably a little older now but
00:00:46
Speaker
something that we wanted to dive deep into which is the new utmb anti-doping policy not that that progress with the sports making there. ah We've got results from Aussies around the world and some really cool races that have happened locally. And the usual rundowns of Vlad was the only one that raced this week. So, usual rundowns of our week. We'll start with you, Vlad. How was it? Yeah, it wasn't too bad. It was yesterday. So I'm currently in Verebier in Switzerland. um Did the 27k with 1700 meters of elevation gain yesterday. The Explorer, the kids's the kids distance as they call it here. So actually the race was hit by a bit of like wild weather.
00:01:31
Speaker
pretty much the whole of Europe has been struggling this summer. So the 140k got cut to like 60k, the marathon got cut, I think the 70k got cancelled. So yeah, it was a bit of a mess for this race. Luckily, the kids raised the 27k race um wasn't affected. which is pretty much all in altitude. So, Vibier sits at 1500 meters above sea level and the whole race you pretty much, you know, climb out to altitude and stay in this altitude. It was pretty fun, except that obviously the trails were super wet, muddy and slippery. So, sort going a bit of snow? Yeah, a lot of snow. Yeah, if anybody's seen that video on my Instagram, there was a lot of snow running.
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah, which is a bit of a challenge when you spend most of your time running in Perth. It's been weird because all my races in in Europe so far have been slippery and wet. But yeah, it's a weird summer that they're kind of getting here in Europe. Yeah, a bit different. um So I didn't do too bad till that last 2K where it's all slippery, um single trails where I just slowed down and got overtaken by two people to finish fifth
00:02:51
Speaker
yeah yeah off the poingium Yeah, I think like that slippery muddy trails is something that they have always struggled with. um But yeah, a little bit disappointing. But yeah, over it now. Now it's like sunny in Vibier today. I wish that was the case yesterday. It's always like that. When you race, it's always wet and miserable. And then the next day is like perfect conditions. um So yeah, a bit unlucky there. But overall had a good week. Came off Chamonix. where we did the Mount Blanc marathon. though So that was a big expert for us. That's three days of 15 hours. um So I was really tired after that. I didn't even do the 10K race that I signed up for. did on So this Monday, so so it's a week ago, Monday, I did a long run in Chamonix, a three hour long run just to kind of try and get some strength in the legs. And then- On a Monday of race week.
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, that was my only chance. That was my only chance. So yeah, not ideal five days before but kind of yeah, I mean, I still have so many races to go then I just got to make the most out of it. um So I went up the VK went yeah, did um two and a half thousand meters of downhill running to try and kind of condition the legs a little bit. So I think the difference to me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I have to smash my legs to get a bit stronger. I think the difference that last year when I came to Europe, I started off with the world trail champs. So I had some like longer running in my legs and then from there I went to short races where like this week I went
00:04:37
Speaker
You know, at this, sorry, this year I went, I went into like shorter races. So my legs feel a little bit weaker. So I might be fitter in my VO2 max is better than last year, but my legs are actually a bit weaker. So I am trying to like, get them a little bit stronger. My plan for tomorrow is actually there's two gondolas up here. So if they're beer, I can go up. about 600 meters and then run down almost 1700 meters nonstop and then get another gondola up to where I am. So it's kind of like a downhill special sit session that I'm going to try and do tomorrow just to kind of get the legs even stronger on tired legs.
00:05:18
Speaker
But yeah, overall, it's it's a bit of a a bit like a bit hard with the expos, but I can't complain. I'm literally in one of the nicest places in Switzerland, probably one of the most expensive towns in Switzerland for a couple of days. yeah when yeah You had the long run Monday, what did you have between then and then obviously the race and like when was the travel? um So yes, we had a big drive. Well, not a big drive, sorry. It was only four hours, three hours with all the stops, but drove down on Tuesday and then did some easy running here. and Nothing too long because we have to get ready for this expo here. um yeah Some of those expos like here in Europe go for like 12 hours and
00:06:04
Speaker
But like with the setup, with taking everything down, it becomes like a really long day. So even though the expo was and nine till nine, literally had to leave the house at 6.30, got home at 10. So it's a pretty long day. And yeah I definitely felt it in my legs yesterday. But again, I wish running was my full-time job. But it's not. So I just have to keep reminding myself that there's you know that doesn't pay my bills. It's more like a and nice hobby to have. But in the end of the day, those expos are a bit more important. So I can't listen those just for a better result. So yeah, a little bit disappointed with yesterday. But yeah, like I said, I'm still out here in Europe. And I'm sure there'll be a lot of people that would be happy to be where I am.
00:06:55
Speaker
I reckon that's an insane run off the load that you've put in your legs and the mental physical load of all of the Expos like that is I could not do a 12-hour day on my feet and then race the next day like that's hard yeah yeah no absolutely and I think it's also like the kind of like the travel and like going to new Airbnbs and all that, that kind of stuff. Yeah, plus like, you know, unloading the car and loading the car every time. It's probably like even harder than the Expos. Pretty much when I get back to Australia, I can be like a full time house removerless with all the strength that I'm building here. It's good that you do work without having to think about it.
00:07:37
Speaker
Yeah, exactly, exactly. It's a lot of lifting, lower back strength. Nice. That's good. Well, well done. ah Another very, very solid result in a very big race. So it's freaking awesome to watch how much you're able to back all these up. um Probably a smart move, not to be the 10K by the sounds. Yeah, that day I just woke up. So that's still an expert day, but I thought the race is early in the morning. I can maybe do it and then go to the expert. But yeah, I mean, weather in Germany wasn't amazing as well. So yeah, it's been a weird, um summer here in Europe. But also wanted to mention that even yesterday, like the level of the race was so high. So I did that race last year. And yeah, the amount of people that showing up to the shorter races, they were running from Kenya, there was a running from Kenya, in the marathon distance. Yeah, the level is just insane. And there were like three UTMB races this weekend. and So many.
00:08:33
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm just yeah, I mean, like the last few years, the shorter races in Europe are always like a little bit less competitive. But this year, it's definitely not the case. Everything is tough. There's no easy wins in Europe anymore.
00:08:51
Speaker
It's good, it's good, rising tight, rising tight. But it's good, solid week and hopefully on to, do you have another race coming up? Yeah, so this Saturday, so this week, 20K with 1,200 meters of gain. Eight hour drive to back to Austria. Gotta get some stock of Bix because we sold out most of our stock. Yeah, so that was a positive, but now gotta go and drive to Munich and get some more stock. And I thought, yeah, I'm gonna race Saturday, so yeah, five days quick turn around. Nice, looking forward to it. But someone else with a big race coming up, a very big race. Brody, how many days is it now? Yeah, the race is on Friday, so it's, yeah, it's getting pretty close now. Got, yeah, four days. Yep, so. Yeah, damn, how's the lead up been this last week? Yeah, pretty good, actually. Like, it's hard to get the balance right as sort of lads
00:09:49
Speaker
talking about there, like when, when you're an athlete and you're working at the same time, like it's, it's hard to sort of fit in, fit in the training. I have the reverse problem now in that I not usually in the situation where I have this little to do. So I have more time for training. So. That said, it's a benefit, but it's also tricky balance to make sure you don't do too much. yeah So I'm sort of getting used to that. I didn't purposely do it, but I've done more Ks this week, I think, than like it's my second highest week in in many months, but that's more because just I've had a little bit more time, a little bit more recovery time. I've done a bit of like slower, easier stuff as well. So I'm not too worried about that, but I am very just keeping an eye on it. And obviously now it's just just a taper.
00:10:35
Speaker
But yeah, it was a pretty good week. I got some orienteering training in with some of the big national teams earlier in the week and on Tuesday. um So training with like six or seven of the best countries. And we did some like mass start training to simulate the sprint relay, which I'm going to be running on Sunday. And that was really good. I was able, like there was no, there was only good teams there. So it was like a very, like a very elite group of people to be training with. um And I managed to somewhat hold my own in the mid pack, which I was really happy with. So yeah, that was good feedback that things are ticking in the right direction. um And then we actually got away from Edinburgh. We've been in Edinburgh for about five or six days and we got away from Edinburgh for a few days before coming back for the final sort of preparation days just to sort of clear the head, get some mountain air. So we headed up to
00:11:34
Speaker
the Scottish Highlands and just did a little bit of touristing. I saw that. That looked insane. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. like we that was That was on Saturday. So on on Friday, I did a session up there and actually felt really good. I did a just a threshold session just to sort of get the legs ticking over. I find in orienteering, it's like you don't you don't get the legs ticking over for an extended period of time. So you can start to feel just a bit sluggish maybe when you're moving at pace. Yeah. So did a, yeah, five by six minutes. And yeah, I was running probably as quick, if not quicker than I ever have in a threshold session and feeling comfortable, heart rate controlled, legs a little heavy, but like generally feeling pretty good. So.
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, that was really positive feedback that I'm in a really good spot physically. And yeah, and then Saturday was sort of our like, Maybe it was a little bit too much for six days out from World Champs, but we did. Nah, filling the soul, filling the soul. Yeah, exactly, yeah. and i was really I think it was important. like i like I obviously love running on the trails as well. And like when you get stuck in stuck in the rhythm of thinking about this orientarian, it's all consuming sometimes because you can do so much preparation yeah that it was nice to sort of get out. um So we did it as a hike. it's called
00:13:02
Speaker
of the Anakiga Ridge and it is the, it's it's it's ah it's written as the the narrowest ridge on the British mainland. And it's, they have this thing over here in Scotland and and maybe in the UK called scrambling, which is sort of like above hiking. And then they have three levels of it. um So it's essentially like, you have to use your hands. Like scrambling means you have to use your hands. Yeah. yeah This one was a level two, I think. but it was like, yeah, it was really narrow. So it was like a 8K ridge, 800 meters up onto it. And then it was like at times just like a meter wide and you were just like climbing over rocks and stuff. So yeah, it was pretty, pretty crazy. We had a good maybe 400 meters of thinking, should we be doing this? Because maybe maybe maybe this is above our ability level, but yeah, we got through and it was pretty, yeah, it was an amazing experience. I would recommend it.
00:14:00
Speaker
to people to try, but make sure you're well-prepared and make sure you do it on a day that's dry, because it got a little bit wet and it was pretty sketchy when it got wet. Yeah, I love those sorts of things. Those adventures, sometimes, yes, they can be a long day on feet, but thed address like not even the adrenaline, just the satisfaction off the back of it. I feel like you can feel better afterwards than before. so Yeah, yeah, I don't think I'm gonna forget that one for a while. So yeah, no, it was pretty cool. And then yesterday we'd come back to Edinburgh and I planned to do and another sort of technical training to sort of shake the legs out, get my heads back into it. So I did that last night down near where I'll be racing on Friday, the edge of the area, essentially. So we're not allowed into the actual area, but there's a training map that was just adjacent. So I was trained on that area as
00:14:55
Speaker
probably the most relevant area. yeah So that was good. And and the legs felt legs felt pretty good. A few sort of small technical areas that I've been thinking a little bit about this week and how to sort of hope that that doesn't happen on race day. But yeah, it was ah overall positive. So yeah, a good week really. um I'm feeling pretty confident about next week, about this week and Yeah, I've done what I can, I think. So what is, we'll be, we'll see what happens. Nice. World champs incoming. Yeah. It'll be good. It'll be good. Good luck for it. Yeah. I'm excited to see the recap. So it's just Friday, then Sunday. So you're all done by Sunday. Yeah, for me, yeah. Friday and then Sunday. So Friday's the sprint individual. So there's qualification in the morning. I have to be in the top 15 in my heat. There'll be three heats. So I have to be top 45 essentially.
00:15:51
Speaker
And then i if I go through, there's a final in the afternoon in the Edinburgh ah City Centre, which will be wild, because it's like crazy busy in there. So it's it's it's going to be a spectacle, that one. And then on Sunday is the sprint relay. So I'm running yeah in in that team with a sort of so two men and two women. so And then I'm technically done by then. and And then it finishes up on Tuesday. There's another race. um yeah on Tuesday. So when you're running this in the city centre, right? Are they just random people everywhere that you also have to dodge or is like people not allowed on the course? Well, there's been a lot of talk about about this one because it's like it's an area that they really can't they can't control. They will do what they can. But if anyone's been to Edinburgh, it'll be around what they call the Royal Mile. So it comes down from
00:16:45
Speaker
down from the castle at the top of the hill and and runs down and there's narrow alleyways and stuff off either side where a lot of the orienteering will happen. But there's a lot of people around in that area yeah and they can't close the area. Like they've closed roads or limited traffic to certain roads, um but they can't they can't stop sort of people going in there. So there will be, I think there's going to be lots and lots of marshals out there trying to sort of control control the crowd a little bit. But yeah, it's interesting because if I do make it, I will probably be on the edge of the 15 just based off the the how good the field is. So I'll be somewhere between 10th and 15th and and the the fastest qualifiers go last. So I'll be going first and I'll probably be clearing the crowd a bit.
00:17:34
Speaker
So for me, if I do make it, it'll probably be chaos, which will be fast. It'll be interesting. Sorry, go on. I'm just imagining you sprinting down an alleyway and there's someone blocking the alleyway. Like there's three or four people coming back at you or something like that. It is. It's pretty, it's pretty, yeah, probably the situations probably will happen. Like training yesterday, even in the qualification area, which is going to be less busy, but but it'll be a Friday morning. So there'll still be people out and about. Last night when I was running there, there was like people going out to dinner and stuff. And I nearly, I nearly ran into a group of people because we both came around the corner at the same time. So yeah, it's it's always a bit of a hazard, but when it's a competition, there's a little bit of proactive marshalling. So
00:18:23
Speaker
um they try and sort of alert people who are just sort of standing in the way or trying to stop people blocking blocking areas where lots of runners will be coming through without trying to give stuff away as well because like if you if you really sort of like put people off on either side then you can maybe like it'll it's very obvious where you need to go to to get to the next control so like yeah it's a bit of a challenge but yeah I'd say the friday The Friday afternoon race is going to be pretty wild. um i think i'm not sure I think they can watch it. at there They're televising it free in the UK. You can you can definitely pay to watch it online in Australia. I've got a VPN, so I can watch it if it's free today. Yeah, I'll probably try and i'll try and share some links on my social media later in the week, depending on what I can find. But yeah, it should be like that race. I just want to see the chaos.
00:19:14
Speaker
yeah yeah ah It's like Boxing Day shopping in Australia. Yeah, pretty much. hey Man, that'll be cool. i could I will definitely watch that just for the seeing the chaos and when shit goes wrong. And it'll be a way pretty pretty nice, even if there's not people running into people, who'll be um and be pretty it's going to be a nice sort of visual experience because it'll be up around the castle and stuff. so yeah it's it's koby It's going to be a world champs, I think, to remember like quite a special one. so I'm really hoping that I can make it to the final and be a part of it, but yeah, we'll see what happens.
00:19:49
Speaker
We've got this. We'll be cheering. Good job. Well, good to hear that like those sessions sounded good and like you're leading in well. yeah am On my end, my week was about as boring as it gets training wise because you know race recovery. and i i I took this week as ah as a proper sort of stop gap in between that race, which is obviously which is my last one in Oz, and then my next block of training and racing over in Europe. so I actually, I jogged every day up till Saturday and I think it was by Friday. I was fully recovered and itching at the bit. So I think I did just look like my Friday easy hour was at like 4.23, which is not normal for me, but it was like, I think over the whole week, my runs just got faster and faster as I was kind of like, okay, let's go again. And I almost asked him to give me a session, but I was like, no, just,
00:20:43
Speaker
just suck it up and take an easy week for what it is and yeah I'll be getting back into it. I did do a fun, Brody you'd like the loop I made up at Mount Dandenong. It was a brand new one like I'd never done some of the trails that I ran on. It forever amazes me how many trails there are out there but I got a 20k loop with 1,150 up and down but it was all pretty smooth and had some really good mix of technical versus non-technical. So that was my one sort of actual bit of training for the week was my long run on the Sunday. And yeah, otherwise I've spent the entire week booking my trip, which it's never actually that easy. and I need need to become a travel agent after this life because yeah, it was like six hour days in front of the computers trying to book
00:21:31
Speaker
everything and cry at my bank balance going down. But that is the travel life for you. So to then get onto more exciting things, we are gonna touch on the, wow, this was announced back in, or I'm gonna say April. When did I get this email actually? ah This was announced back, yeah, in April, mid-April. UTMB announced a new anti-doping policy and some new anti-doping measures that came into effect in
00:22:08
Speaker
mid-May, and once they had it all published on their website. And this is just a really cool to see because as there has been many, many discussions over the years of where trail running sits in terms of anti-doping and who's in charge of the privately run series and those sorts of things. So to give the information as it was given to us, and i'll do I'll read through a little bit of what they've said in the initial email sent to the elites. And that is UTMB in 2023, UTMB group initiated the implementation of systematic anti-doping testing collaboration with national anti-doping agencies in finals and majors. And in 2023, approximately a hundred tests were conducted. That was just by UTMB. So yeah, not too many tests obviously, but that was them staying what had happened. But then for 2024, they,
00:23:05
Speaker
By cooperating with the International Testing Agency, they are establishing their own anti-doping rules, which are just in line with WADA. So they've just essentially said UTMB is fully in line with WADA. They've organized training webinars for race directors, elite athletes, and team managers. I attended one of those training webinars, which was really cool to see that they were putting those on to give the information out. They're assuring in competition testing at a minimum during finals and majors. Then it just says there is potential to extend these tests to other races on the circuit, which hopefully happens at some point, and then provide management of therapeutic using exemptions and results management in recordings with water rules. So they're the main four points that they've sort of outlined in their email to the elites, and then it was
00:23:57
Speaker
Not long after that, we had the opportunity to attend a webinar. Yeah, I suppose I'll just quickly say that the webinar was, I, Brodie, you might have to do the same thing I'm assuming for orienteering, but as someone that has been part of a World Champs team with AA, it was very, it was the same sort of information. It was the same sort of webinar that you have to you have to tick off and you have to do to become a part of the Australian team and all other teams, I'm assuming, at a world champs for trial and mountain running. But obviously, this is now reaching people that might not have reached that level or might not have attended a world champs, but they're an elite at UTMB. So that was cool. It was exactly the same information. It was well put. So that was it's always nice to see when things are very concordant. And
00:24:45
Speaker
agreeing with each other but yeah what are your guys thoughts Vlad? Yeah I mean I think you know I've been kind of racing for the past 12 years and I've only been tested twice and it was in the world champs in 2016 and 2017 so definitely I feel like they're not doing enough. yeah I mean I know that it's pretty expensive I know that Sky Running is trying to you know kind of get some more testing in their series as well but You know, I don't know the exact number, but it's probably around two to three thousand dollars for a full test. So it is a lot of money. And, you know, in many ways, race organizers, you know, they're doing it for money as a business. They're kind of thinking, well, you know, we can maybe not test as much. And then our revenue is is a bit bigger because this cuts out ah from ah cut cuts from our revenue. So it is kind of like this.
00:25:44
Speaker
you know in a private business. is doing a little bit to make it sound like they're trying to do a lot. But it's costing them a lot of money. So yeah, in many ways, they want to keep the sport fair. But in the other like in and the other hand, they've got to pay for it. So it's out of this. Yeah, I think it will take a bit of time before it's a bit more forced, like in athletics and stuff like that. of Obviously, I know Matthew Ramson who gets tested quite often at home in Perth. and
00:26:16
Speaker
um The testing luck you know is is a big part of what they do in athletics. I think it will take a long time till trail running gets to that point, till there's a proper governing body. Well, that's the private companies in trail running, because I will say that just to explain to people, the world, like the side of the sport, so the world mountain running cup and the world champs, Those sorts of ones that come under world athletics already, already do have testing. um I'm not sure. I don't, I do not know if there's a testing pool for trail or mountain running. Wouldn't have a clue on that side of things, just in terms of the mountain running cup races and the, yeah, or anything that's on the world mountain running association.
00:27:07
Speaker
sort of list that because they're federated, I believe this is how it works. Brody, you might know more about this through orienteering because I think it's a bit different orient and again in orienteering. But yeah, so this is just more on the side of the the private companies or the the series that are like sky running, like Golden Trail, like UTMB, because they don't come under world athletics in any way. Like the sport does, but not the series. I don't know, did that explain it? Yeah, I was going to say, the sport does, not the series. It's an odd one. It's a bit strange. I don't know the area incredibly well, but like if you look at athletics or something, I'm assuming like a diamond league or another private, let's say a private meet of some kind would still be... Diamond league is well athletics.
00:27:57
Speaker
Yeah. well Oh, so it's a world athletic series. Yeah. That is a world athletic series. Yeah. Okay. That's not a good, that's not a good example. No. Maybe. Yeah. there's i would I would imagine would still come under like in orienteering, for example, like it to me, it makes, it makes it like, I think it's still the, it's coming from this lack of having an international governing body that actually governs the entire sport. They sort of try to, but it's not quite like, They're not governing anything to do with UTMB. They don't really have a stake in that, yeah but it's still the sport of trail running. Whereas everything, for example, orienteering, everything related to orienteering, the International Orienteering Federation somewhat has a stake in. yeah so So they can regulate anti-doping across all of those things. Whereas the world athletics or the whatever, we don't actually have a world, much of a world trail organization.
00:28:55
Speaker
um Itra is sort of it, but it's harder for them to regulate because they don't have they don't have as much of a stake in all of these things. I guess it's a good thing that the private companies are and now putting their hand up to to sort of do it themselves. I not sure that and don't know if that's the best approach long-term, but maybe it'll sort of it all sort of sort itself out over the next cup coming years. but i can I would agree with Latin saying that it is a long way to go between now and where other sports are at in terms of just the regular regularness, having testing pools for athletes and that sort of stuff because testing someone at an event versus getting information from them when they're not at an event is a big difference as well. So the I think the testing pools, the regular testing is extremely important and we have athletes
00:29:49
Speaker
in orienteering, like I think there's like 20 or 30 athletes in this sort of registered testing pools. And like some people I know quite well that are are on the whereabouts list and they do have regular testing. So that doesn't really exist in in the trail running world. So it it probably, if there was people that were willing to sort of push the boundaries and and and try to improve their performance and make money by methods like this, by by doping, then you'd see the trail running is maybe an attractive way for them to do it because there's less regulation, which is scary to some extent. But it's yeah where it's at at the moment. It is that it probably, there's there's a lot of money in trail running and it's not that regulated. So yeah, it's good that something's starting. but You say there's a lot compared to some sports, there's definitely not
00:30:44
Speaker
ah huge i would take it but Like even like sports that we are as popular, like something like athletics, there is arguably still like in terms of sponsorships, probably more so than prize money and that sort of stuff. But there is people making living and there are people that are becoming very famous by being trail runners in a sport that's not super regulated. So yeah. Yeah, I'm just more saying that unfortunately, it probably is attractive. And we've seen we've seen plenty of cases like the winners of the two winners of Sierza now, or one winner, the women's winner was and the men's winner yeah was a birth of them. Yeah.
00:31:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So like there there's, there's that one, that one is a world mountain running race with known testing. So that one is definitely, I don't know, in my head I go, well, that was a and avoidable. Um, it's, so it's interesting to see how it pans out. But I will say that look it'll be always actions mean a lot more than words when it comes to this but I know that they've got to start somewhere they definitely were saying in the webinars that UTMB are looking at moving towards creating their own like the only way that they can do it is to have their own sort of UTMB protocol UTMB underwater so it's still underwater but UTMB
00:31:59
Speaker
um test like They want to do a testing pool, they want to do it a whereabouts sort of thing down the road. They're saying that this is sort of hopefully coming down the road. I know that the Pro Trailrunners Association are batting pretty hard for these sorts of things to be put in place. So it'll be interesting to see if that happens. But I suppose this was, it was even kind of put to us in the webinar as, Hey, this is the start of this, which is that part of it is good to see. Cause it has to start somewhere. And I would never expect it to go where all of a sudden everything's perfectly regulated. Cause it's never, it's not going to get there for many years.
00:32:39
Speaker
But they definitely were saying the different the thing there is though with the testing pool that it's only, if it's UTMB implemented, it's only a UTMB testing pool. So it only applies to. athletes that race their series. Now, thankfully, for the most part, a lot of athletes or most athletes race their series, but then you still would create this scenario in trail running where if, again, as Brody saying, like an opportunist might look at it and go, well, I just avoid one series and I'm good um or two series because of the world mountain running. So, yeah, I don't know where that leaves us. You're you' both right, obviously, the more is needed.
00:33:17
Speaker
But, and I think water has to be the place it comes from, I think. not obviously What would be better is that it comes from Itra. Like it's, it's, it's weird that it, like, I don't know if I've seen this in many other places that coming from a private organization is running it. Like it'd make more sense if it is under the banner of the sport. i'm Well like I hope that UTMB have talked to Etra and maybe that just didn't like they weren't getting enough or whatever was happening but like I don't know it's it still seems weird to me that it's UTMB not the sport of trail running but maybe it'll head that way in the future.
00:33:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a money thing, but I was more meaning that the testing coming underwater by water under their protocols. Cause obviously we've had, we've had circumstances and we've had series like golden trail. And I think quite and like even in cycling, the courts program being used, but yeah, obviously it's it's those sort of almost private anti doping, not anti doping companies, I don't think are helping anything. because courts were very outward with the athletes saying, no, we're not anti-dopening, we're a health program, but we can ban you, which that doesn't work, um I don't think. So I think a more, my point was, it's just good to see that this has come from a private company being associated with WADA itself and not a private company searching for another private company to do the testing.
00:34:38
Speaker
if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, I would like to see it come from Itra as well. I think that it will probably move a bit quicker as well. You know, obviously, I i think UTMB does a lot for the sport, but in many ways, it's not great if they catch people cheating, it's not great for their series, doesn't look good for them, it costs them a lot of money to do all the testing. So this might be a very kind of long project till it actually happens. It kind of feels to me like you know a lot of the Nestle and the Coca Colas of the world that's saying that, yeah, we're going to use recyclable bottles by 2025, then 2025 comes and they're still not there. and They kind of just keep pushing that timeline out and out and out.
00:35:23
Speaker
So it could yeah I feel like it could head to that direction that they are saying, yeah, we're going to start working on it. But realistically, they probably won't push too much towards it because that's going to cost the money. it's goingnna If they do catch people, it's not going to look good for their series. So I think it needs to come you know from a different governing but it could possibly ITRA. But then again, yeah, I just think like it's going to take a long time till we, and you know that when when when there is money and prizes and and sponsorships and offer, people will cheat. And it's probably happening happening in trail running. Obviously a few people got caught, but it's probably a lot bigger because there's no testing pretty much at all. I don't know if you guys have ever been tested or how often you guys have been tested. Never.
00:36:15
Speaker
No, for me personally, never. I've been tested at orienteering, but yeah, not tested in trail running. That's the closest, like I've been around a lot of athletes in Golden Trail personally for me, but they are tested by anti-doping agencies for like wider and stuff for other sports more often than they are for trail. So a lot of them are Schemo or anything like that. But when it comes to just trail runners or especially up and comers, anything like that, like it's I think more people haven't been tested than have, it seems like. So yeah, I don't know where that leaves us for now. Yeah, I mean, I think so. Yeah, I was going to say, I think that schema is going to be in the Olympics. So probably they are pushing a little bit more um towards it than maybe if trail running does become an Olympics for it, there'll be a little bit more testing, but
00:37:09
Speaker
Yeah, for now I don't think there's enough testing and it's obviously affecting us. you know It's affecting people that well people that do the right thing. so yeah I wish there was more testing and I'd be happy to get tested on a regular basis to to kind of even out that playing field a bit. yeah yeah it might It might be past my time, but hopefully it will be in time for you guys and I'll even up some playing fields for you. Yeah, that'll be that'll be damn good. and yeah Damn good once we get there. But should we moving on, we have been sent a listener question. So we'll get onto listener question now. That comes in from, I don't know, it's KJrunsagain on Instagram. Couldn't find your full name, KJ.
00:38:00
Speaker
But the question is, for all of us, what is your pre-race day nutrition? So being the most recently raced, yours might be a bit different with the travel and the chaos with the Expose Blad, but what's your pre-race nutrition for that last race, but then take us through your actual ideal pre-race nutrition, I reckon. Yeah so I think because I race quite a lot there's the important race pre-day race nutrition and then there's like just normal races so yeah I wouldn't even remember what I did the day before it was just a normal day but for races that do matter to me then what I would do is um
00:38:44
Speaker
I'll get our Bix powders, I'll put it in a big bottle, like a big two litre bottle and I'll sip throughout the day. So, you know, years of racing, it's always been like the big pasta meal the night before. So a while ago I found out that that doesn't really work and I'd rather just keep my food normal. So I want carb load, but I would rather try and get some carbs, some sugars every 15-20 minutes throughout the day. So it's a bit of like it's a bit of a commitment to kind of remember to like take a mouthful of sugar water every 20 minutes. But I do know that every time I've done it, I've had fairly good races.
00:39:29
Speaker
But yeah, I don't, I have normal foods. I could even have like a salad for dinner. Like I don't have to have a pasta. I remember like a few years ago that I would have my pasta at night and then I was like, i'm big I'm feeling too heavy at the start of the race. I would have my pasta for lunch and then have a lighter dinner. but the past probably two years it's been normal food as I would eat normally but I would get an extra four or five hundred calories throughout the day just by sipping on yeah our performance fuel, the bigs performance fuel every 20 minutes and I know there are a lot of runners or athletes that do that as carb loading instead of like a big
00:40:14
Speaker
past the meal the night before. Um, but yeah, that's definitely been working for me for the important races. And like I said, it's a bit more of a commitment and something to think about before a race, which you rather want to try stay relaxed rather than remind yourself to have a sip of sugar water every, every 20 minutes. Yeah. Nice. Nice. What about you, Brody? Yeah. Like, I guess like it depends on the, what the race is. If it's a, If it's a shorter than an hour or 90 minutes, probably more. So some like a lot of my volunteering is shorter than that. I will just do, and I do this mostly, I do this for sessions as well. So it's more the two to three meals beforehand, a slightly more carb focus, but nothing crazy. Like I would just probably choose a carb, more carb meal than I, out of my selection of meals.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah. And yeah, so for a short race, that's probably two or three meals beforehand. And I would also supplement like, like it's talking about maybe not the day before when it's those, those races, but definitely the morning of um I'll, I'll usually be sipping on like an electrolyte sugar drink of some kind in that sort of final lead up. If it's a longer race, like we're talking like most trail races, I guess over, over two hours, two hours or more. um then I will be trying to do, if it's one if it's one that I'm focusing on, not just doing so sort of a training or something like that, then I will do a bit more of a carb load, similar to what Vlad's talking about, I struggle to eat more. So I'll probably eat normally, but I will eat, so mine's for the one to two days, usually a day and a half before the race, I'll start this. yeah All of my meals will become more carb-focused
00:42:07
Speaker
I will like try and keep the same amount of protein, but not go over the top on protein and then and then drop the fat a little bit and really focus on simple carbs. I drop a lot of the more complex carbs, but I don't necessarily eat more. um I just sort of focus the carbs more and then and then I'll be drinking the rest of my carbs like Vlad's talking about. and You can do it really simply as well. like i've been and when I'm at home it's a bit harder now when I'm traveling because I can't just like carry it with me but there's you can get uh I forget what it's called I'm blanking now what's the really simple what's just the simple carb mix that's just glucose or what oh no it's no I can't even think what it's called now no it's like a chain of things anyway it's um oh it's really bugging me anyway you can get it from
00:43:00
Speaker
You can get it from most supplement stores really cheap because it's got nothing else added. It's pretty much tasteless. It doesn't have much taste. Is it like a glucose mix or something? No, it's the chained one. I'm going to Google it because it's really bugging me. Multidextrin? That's it. Multidextrin. You can buy multidextrin powder. And it yeah i've heard of people I've heard of people using it in ultras and stuff as well where where they want to swap to something a bit salty. So they put maltodextrin in stock and have like a soupy one, but it tastes savory because it doesn't have doesn't have a really strong sweet flavor.
00:43:41
Speaker
but it has a lot of carb still. So I would do the same thing as Vlad with that, and I just sip away at it all day. But I find that if I have something too sweet, I get fatigue of it. And I know that in a race, I'm going to have to also have sweet stuff. So I don't want to give myself sweet fatigue in the days leading in. So I find that that so yeah a sports dietician recommended that to me a few years ago, and um I found that really useful from the liquid side. Yeah, that's sort of my approach. I remember Aiden hubs in the world trail running champs walking around with like a bag of white bread, like toast white bread and just like like a piece of toast every like 15 minutes. So I guess that could kind of work as well. Even though he didn't have like a great race. He's like, yeah, that's what I do before every single race. So that's another cheaper way of like carb loading. I find carb loads super cheap because you're buying all this like simple food all of a sudden and no protein and the it's like the cheapest day of two days of eating, depending on if you're spending money on supplements like maltodextrin. I don't know how expensive that is or not.
00:44:51
Speaker
but But yeah, nice. So I've gone through like phases with this where I've been insanely scientific about absolutely everything I do in the lead up to a race and then a lot less scientific and just going with the flow and realized pretty quickly that getting too caught up on anything doesn't actually bode well for being in a good mental space on race day. Cause that whole idea of thinking that things need to go perfect is not is not great for me at least. So I have now gotten to the point where my pre-race nutrition I used to do, and I still would do if for whatever reason I only had one day to carb load. I don't know what scenario that would be, but if I had one day to carb load, I'd go back to doing, I'm scientific in the way of knowing how many carbs I need. So 12 grams of carbs per kilo for a one day carb load, which is a lot of carbs.
00:45:46
Speaker
Like I just ballpark it at going, I need about 700 grams. And I very, very much don't take in much fat or protein at all the day before. So my go-tos are ah hump pretty much a loaf of bread. pretty much three packets of rice crackers, like the peckish biscuits or the brown rice crackers. They're like 70 to 80 grams of carbs a pop and they feel like you're like eating air and they're not sweet. so and So you can get like salty or seaweed or whatever. So I have two to three packets of those the day before.
00:46:23
Speaker
really easy way to get it in. And then orange juice. I've just taken to the last four races I've done. I think I've drunk one and a half liters of orange juice the day before. So I'll buy a big one of those and I'll just be walking around drinking that all day. and then but ah Another very important point for me though, I am someone that like I'm celiac. I've had all the gut problems. Like I've had stomach surgery. There's all these things going on in my gut that make it a very finicky place. So I get rid of fiber in my diet from about four to five days out.
00:47:01
Speaker
So essentially I stopped eating vegetables for quite a long time into the race. Um, wouldn't recommend this for all health reasons, but, but yeah, I'll pretty much forego fiber from say it's this like Brisbane was a Saturday race pretty much from the Tuesday onwards. I wasn't eating a single vegetable or fruit. Um, I'm just eating like my lunches every day with sushi and then dinner every night was pasta or rice. And then breakfast every morning was toast with honey and peanut butter. So I actually find it quite easy to do now. I used to find it like, Oh my gosh, what do I eat if I take out all the vegetables? But now I find it quite easy, thankfully. So.
00:47:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's my lead in like before the carb load days. And then now I do two carb load days getting around the eight to 10 grams of carbs per kilo for two days in a row. And then from the day before the race, my biggest meal will be somewhere between three to five PM. I'll have two. it's And this is always going to be the way it is as long as I can get access to them. Those like 90 second microwave rices that have, they say they've got two serves in them. I think they're like, I don't even know how, 250 grams or whatever. um I have two packets of those with whatever source I feel like. So I'll truck on soy sauce or teriyaki sauce or whatever. But two packets of those with source of some kind is my like main thing the day before.
00:48:27
Speaker
And then a packet of rice crackers. I'll go to bed just after eating a whole packet of rice crackers. And morning off doesn't matter too much, but normally one piece of toast. So yeah, I feel like I eat like a kid all week. Like I eat like a little kid that hates vegetables and doesn't get much wow It doesn't look like a healthy diet, but honestly, I feel so much better if I've eaten less less living things and more like white bread, white rice, honey, peanut butter. like that's It's very simple. Don't know if that would work for everyone, though, because you can get pretty sick of it.
00:49:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think a lot of athletes are moving away from that big pasta meal before the night before the race and rather spreading it out a bit more throughout the day. um Yeah, for sure. Probably you don't see as many pasta parties anymore. Like I remember like 12, 11 years ago, like every race you get like a free ticket to a pasta party. I don't know, I feel like there's less and less of them. Yeah, there's still a couple, but there's yeah there's definitely, and I can think of nothing worse than the night before having like a massive bowl of pasta or pizza. I see people carb load with pizza and I'm like, I'm sorry, but that's not, that's not a carb load. You've got like half fat, half carbs in that meal. So.
00:49:48
Speaker
i yeah I very much, I want everything to feel like it's going to go in and move through me and I'm done. like it's It's got to be super simple for me, but yeah, I feel like it depends if you've got an iron gut or you've got a not very iron gut. The other thing for me being celiac is I'll eat almost nothing that's not out of a packet that I can read that says gluten-free. because I've been gluten one too many times before a race. Like I was gluten before my very first world champs because I didn't want to be the weird athlete when we got into the race hotel that didn't eat with the team at the buffet. And I ate at the buffet and it ruined my entire champs. So never again. So yeah, I will say, if you're someone that's racing, do your own thing. Like trust in your own, like what you need to do. It's fine. You can be that person.
00:50:40
Speaker
An experiment, like, you know, I think that it's so like a learning process to experiment what works for you. And and it might not change as well over time. Like, I feel like my nutrition in general has been changing throughout the years. 100%. I keep experimenting even but now. Yeah, for sure. For sure. And what works for your gut will just change over time. So nice. Easy done. Bringing it to results for this week. That's what we're up to. So we had our very own Jess Jason over in Perth Racing. So I'm going to start there because she's had a brilliant run. So this was the the next in the Perth Trail running series. It was called the Jolly Jumbuck run.
00:51:24
Speaker
Now in the black course, the longer one, oh, I didn't look up the distance of this, but it might've been about 20, normally they're about 20 to 21K. And we had our very own Jess Jason. She won in an hour 48, but she said it was an incredibly tight race and she had to really, really work for it because Claire Johnson was not far behind her in 149, like about 60 seconds exactly back by the end. But Claire is from Ballarat actually. So she was visiting over in Perth from Vic and went and gave Jess a run for her money. And it was, it was interesting. Jess messaged me straight after the race saying that she used my vibes from BTU where the very last c climb, she just absolutely went for it.
00:52:10
Speaker
to try and get a gap on the last climb and sort of get the win. But yeah, she was messaging me afterwards saying how destroyed she was and tired. And I'm like, yep, that sounds about right. So great run by Jess in third, also not far behind. And I think we've heard this name before on podiums with Jess was Petra Geradzian in an hour 55. Then, men's, again, names that I'm starting to get used to. Never met any of you, but brilliant runs, guys. Stuart Corfield was first in an hour 31, and then Piers Bresman, an hour 38, and Alan Bledic in an hour 42.
00:52:53
Speaker
So that was their black course. The blue course, normally around the 15K mark from what Jess has been saying. Then the women's, we had Chanavan Week in an hour 18, Nikki McPherson in an hour 24, and Renee Turco in an hour 25. Nice and close there. And then read in the men's red deck, Ditzkalski? Koutski? Sorry if I've gotten that wrong, but an hour and five minutes. Then Ronnie Hobbs, an hour six. And Dane Sproxton, also in an hour six, about 40 seconds back.
00:53:29
Speaker
That is from Perth. Then bringing it back over to the east coast, there was the Lakes Trail Festival, which is up on the north coast of New South Wales. Looks like a very cool event, although it looks like a lot of sand running just based on their pictures. So I reckon these are pretty fast times because they had 100k. And in the men's, the winner was Dave Guither Marchant in 10 hours 49. and then I'm going to give a massive shout out to the fact that in second place overall and the female winner was Marie Connor in 10 hours 54 only five minutes back so what a run and
00:54:10
Speaker
In third outright also was Melissa Robinson. robertson So she was second female, third outright in 12 hours and three minutes. Then came our second male in 12 hours and 10 minutes, Sam Thomas. Third male, Nicholas Ebel. in 12 hours 28 and third female Rebecca Dennis in 12 hours 38 so really cool to see the women and the men all mixing it up together there and looks like Dave and Marie had epic runs though they were both about an hour ahead of the next finishes so insane runs for the for the distance and
00:54:48
Speaker
what the course looks like. ah Just quickly there was also a 50k that was won by Riley Basso in four hours 50 and on the women's side it was won by Nicole Sattler in five hours 46. Brody, take us to the new trial running series in Tassie. This one looked good. Yeah, it's pretty cool little things that I think we mentioned it the other week, but they put together a trail running series in Tasmania, which there's been one probably around the Hobart area, the Kanyani Trail series, but there hasn't been one in the north. So they've got the, now they've got the Northwest Trail Running series. um And this one was in Railton. um I think it was mostly on sort of like in a mountain bike park area, which would have been really cool, lots of nice single track.
00:55:36
Speaker
So they had a 23.6 kilometer race. In the women, first was Jillian Lyle in 205.13. Very close second, Amy Lemperich in 205.50. So they were pretty close. um And in third was Amity Williams in 234. I'm going to give a sorry quick shout out here. Jill Lyle, she raced the whole Golden Trail National Series. I reckon she ended up maybe sixth, so she would be backing up off Brisbane. But she was up there. I'm pretty sure she would have finished maybe sixth, if not sixth, then she was seventh overall in the series. Yeah, cool. Well, there you go. She's still still kicking, kicking girls back home as well. The fact she raced a week after Brisbane. Yeah, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Yeah, true. It sounds like she's been listening to Vlad's racing season, I reckon.
00:56:35
Speaker
In the men, first place was Gus Tolson in 146.01. Second was David Bailey in 146.53. And third was Liam Williams in 148.37. So pretty close there. And David Bailey's not often beaten in Tasmania. He's pretty yeah dominant down there. So it looks like Gus has had a good run. I think David's maybe been a little bit sick, but still good racing there. And and cool to see that there's three guys at least three, I don't know about the rest of the results list, but yeah, it's some competitive races in the men and and the women there. Yep. Then we'll head over to South Australia and we had a couple of races there. So they had the Mount Misery Trail Run, ah which is part of the trail running South Australia, one of their races. And in the women- It's part of their series. They have a series with points as well. Yeah, it's called the On Trail Series, I think.
00:57:32
Speaker
Oh, cool. is it So is on the is it on the sponsor? No, I think it it literally means on trail, as in... Oh, on trail. Yeah, I think that's a sponsorship waiting to happen. I think so. like I couldn't find any like on logos or anything, but on the trail. Sorry. It's there on the trail series. Yeah. I can't. just like um And on series get it, get onto that one. I reckon. Yeah. There's a 20, 24 K race in the women first was Margo McIntosh in two 19 47.
00:58:08
Speaker
Second was Lauren Rook in 2.23.35, also running a few of the Golden Trail series races, I think maybe in Brisbane as well. Yeah, she was in Brisbane. Yeah. And third place, Ellie Davis in 2.36.15. And then in the men, we have a South Australian correspondent, Fraser Darcy taking the win 1.55.49, also off the back of Brisbane. So a lot of people racing off the back of Brisbane. Did you think he raced the day after Brisbane? Did he? Whereabouts? He went home and raced a half marathon, I think. He ran like 72 minutes for a half marathon the day after Brisbane because he was upset with his Brisbane result. Yeah. Like he didn't have the best day at Brisbane, obviously. And then on the flight home, I think he did a post saying essentially on the flight home, he wasn't happy with the result. And then he rocks up the next day and runs a 72 minute half. Like obviously I know we can run a faster half, but the day after Brisbane,
00:59:04
Speaker
Like, yeah, racing a lot further. Impressive, but maybe not smart. coming say Part of me is like, I feel like that's one of those moves that you go, ooh, could be done, but also congrats, like pulling that off. In the moment looks good. Yeah. Second place was Joel Kittel in 205 and third place was Andrew Heitman in 209. So. Some cool racing there in South Australia. We have one other race called Ultra Adelaide. ah So they had a 100K race. And in the men, Owen Davies had a, looks like a blinder. He ran 8.58, which is a very quick time for 100K. And won by just over an hour. So that's a pretty impressive run from Owen. Second was Jared Allen in 9.59. And third was Thomas White in 2.43.
01:00:02
Speaker
1043. 1043, sorry. Yep. And Thomas was ah closely followed by the first female, Hannah McCray in 1046. Another very impressive time there. Second was Sarah Melville in 1145 and third was Kate Savage in 1214. So that was the 100K. They also had a 50K The winner in the men was Nick Muxlow in 4.57 and in the women Sky Witcher in 6.02. So yeah, some good racing over the weekend in South Australia as well.
01:00:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. They had the the two options, the long and the short. It was cool. Now to take us overseas, I'm going to quickly run through this one because I was so happy to see Maddie A get back from injury. So Maddie Reynolds, who's just moved to France actually. So she's now living in the Pyrenees. Lucky, lucky Maddie. So Maddie won UTK 50. Last year and then she was meant to run the national series the golden trail national series she was registered for all of them but unfortunately got a stress fracture in her foot or he heel i think maybe i'm but either way she's that was a first major injury and to see her now come back she ran.
01:01:22
Speaker
The Val-de-Arran, Val-de-Arran, the Arran by UTMB, they're actually the major for Europe, so the major. So that means that the top 10 positions get their tickets to the corresponding final of the distance that they race. Maddie raced the 50K and she came ninth. So she's booked her spot to OCC next year. And it looked like real tight racing because I think seventh, eighth and ninth. So Maddie was in this tight battle with two other women and they were all within 40 seconds of each other over 50K.
01:02:00
Speaker
So that was cool to see. Go Maddy, you're back. And then in the 100K, yes, in the 100K, we had Bass, Bastion. He has been to a few world champs for Oz, would probably be known by many, many people in the trail world. But yeah, Bastion, Misud. he was 12 in 14 hours 49 for their 100k so he was just outside that top 10 at the majors but still very very and I think he was actually 11th male he was just behind the first female so
01:02:37
Speaker
Very good runs by both Maddy and Bastian in, somewhere in the Pyrenees, because it says Val d'Aran Pyrenees, so not sure, entirely sure where. Vlad, you may know, you take us to there and the other UTMB race. wer Yeah, I was in a fair beer. um Like I was saying before, thanks to all the Aussies that did come up to me and say hi. There was actually a couple of Aussies running. Few were a bit confused to kind of see the name Vlad and an Australian flag on the bib. And I couldn't go with my usual cover story that Vlad is a traditional Japanese name.
01:03:12
Speaker
but I did make i think and it actually meet James Stewart to finish 17th in my race and luckily came up to me straight after the presentations and like many European races the prizes are pretty much like pretty much like cooking like if i would have won master chef that's the prize that i would expect to get so in germany i got this massive pasta package with all the sauces and potato peelers and stuff like that this race i won like probably a kilogram of like smoked meat another race that i did in switzerland once i got like five kilograms of cheese so luckily james came straight after that so useful for the vegan
01:03:55
Speaker
So I gave him all my smoked meat and just kept the red wine, but he did well. So he's based in Canada now. He's an Aussie that lives in Canada. He's spending three months in Europe living the life going between races. He finished 17th and first in his age category in the 40th 45 h category yeah i finished fifth i got overtaken right at the end and first place in that in that race in the men's race was uh Kenyan his name was Ezekiel Roto but he's from the he's from this new Kenyan trail running team so the Milimani runners yeah they are managed by a swiss guy and they are
01:04:45
Speaker
pretty much trying to go after a couple of UTMB races. So they they had another run in the marathon. It didn't do too well, but yeah, it's kind of cool to see this new trail running team out of Kenya. You know, I kind of thought he will struggle a little bit on that technical downhill, but he managed to hold on and win that race. And it's, I mean, it's great to see. more talent coming into trail running. And like I said, also the race got a bit short and so a few people had some different results in this. We're not going to go through all of them, but yeah, just a big shout out to all those is that did make it to this race on this weekend and hopefully some better weather ahead coming up for Europe as well.
01:05:36
Speaker
Yeah, it didn't look too bad at some of them. Restonica was the other one, like if photos of that one looked pretty hot. Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna put it, so I did a YouTube video for that race. um Some of the races that I do, I do run with a camera, but I did a YouTube video for that race and I will post it probably within a week. But literally when I left my house to do my warm up at six o'clock in the morning, you couldn't see half a meter in front of you. oh It was so bad. yeah it did up so right Yeah, it did clear up a little bit, but yeah. Yeah, nice. I love racing in that. Like the more wild the weather, the more it's just like, yeah, I'm out here. I'm doing this. Like, I don't know. You live in Melbourne, you know, Perth. True. It's a bit of a different story. I read some soft paper when it comes to the weather, eh?
01:06:25
Speaker
yeah Nah, you guys get all the wind. You definitely get all the wind. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. At least it's not windy here. So even though it was wet, it wasn't windy. I actually reckon wind is the worst to run in. So I do in that way feel for all the Perth runners. I do remember the wind there. so and And I can't talk. him I was a born in Perth. So I am from there. But nice. That takes us to the end of the results that we've got for this week. And I'm going to do a quick shout out to anyone and everyone out there listening. If you see some cool results, if you see Aussies overseas, if you see anyone doing some cool things,
01:07:08
Speaker
would love to hear about it. and So we can highlight it on here. But to say what is look coming up to look forward to and to hopefully highlight next week is Elephant Trail Race in Port Macquarie. I've actually looked through this one because it looked pretty cool, but it is, it's a loop race. So they have like, there's a 25 or 26k loop or something and all the different distances just do different numbers of loops. But say like the 100 mile does two loops in one direction and then two loops in the other direction and then two loops in the first direction. It's a hard way to run but also, I don't know, chunks it up. say yeah That's Elephant Trail Race up in Port Macquarie. Then Rafferty's Coastal Run is also up in Lake Macquarie. I don't know enough about New South Wales to know
01:07:57
Speaker
how far apart those two places are. They're probably very far apart, but sound similar. Then Yu Yang's trail running festival, which is a pretty big festival for the winter trails here in Victoria. And then another one, just a cool one that I looked up and found was Goldfields Pipeline Marathon, which is in Kalgoorlie in WA. I did that one actually. Oh, really? Yeah. What's it like? Oh, it's beautiful. I mean, it's super cold in the morning. So obviously, this is winter. But like, you know, that desert kind of like coldness in the morning, and then it it just becomes this most beautiful day as you kind of run along it. It does have like a nice prize money. So I think it's about $1,500 for the marathon. And I did the 50k there, which was just an extra loop um to the marathon. But yeah, pretty fun. um Is it flat or hilly?
01:08:51
Speaker
Yeah, there wouldn't be too much elevation gain, maybe three or four hundred meters for the for the marathon, but it's kind of like rolling dirt roads, few little single trail sections. But yeah, it's a cool community event because obviously the whole community comes to the event. They also have the park run the day before that a lot of the runners do. So it becomes like the biggest park run the day before. um But yeah, cool event if anybody wants a bit of a red dirt racing experience. Yeah, that sounds fun. That definitely sounds fun. Cool. Well, that brings us to the end of that, but Brodie, you've got world champs coming up. That's a pretty big answer to the question of what's coming up this week. Yeah. Starting to feel real. Final thoughts and feelings. Yeah, like I'm feeling i'm feeling good about it. Like this
01:09:43
Speaker
This year, I guess the first half of this year, is the the main focus has probably been orienteering. Like I did some golden throw races, but yeah, the main focus was seeing if I could get into the world champs team and then obviously try and do as well as I can. and And yeah, I'm starting to, I feel up until like the last few days, I felt really confident. I'm happy with my physical shape. I felt really good technically. um Obviously the nerves start to creep in and and I think I'm feeling quite nervous about Getting into that final and I really would really want to and that's that's the big goal So yeah, I'll just be sort of working on my head space over the next few days I feel I feel confident that I can do it. So I've just got to let it happen I think but yeah, it's yeah flip it. to It's just gonna be a nerve-wracking few days.
01:10:30
Speaker
Yeah. Flip, it's just, it's just a race. You got to race as hard as you can, the better you do. Like, I think my, like, I just know that if I get too caught up on something that's like a result driven kind of thing, if I'm at any point outside that, then it can really drag you down. Whereas if your entire focus is like, I'm just going to race as hard as I bloody well can. Like, you You know, you're going to get to the end, like you're fit enough, you're good enough to do it. You know, you're going to get to the end at least like satisfied with the fact that you did everything. Whereas if you let that mental side of things get to you a little bit, it doesn't feel as good. So race hard, you're fine. that's a That's a really good point. Like the performance, like the performance goals versus is the process goals. And I think that that's the thing, like if I can have a race
01:11:15
Speaker
If I can have a race that i'm I can finish happy with and if that puts me in, it puts me in. If it doesn't, then it doesn't because sometimes, yeah, that it just doesn't go your way. the the the gu the people most A lot of the field I'm running against are really, really fast. so Yeah, that's probably my my low like my weakness is my pure speed. But yeah, focus. on Yeah, and may essentially just want to enjoy it. I've spent six months preparing for it. So I should and and a lot of time and and commitment and and now being here for three weeks. So yeah, I've got just got to go out and enjoy the experience. that's the That's the number one goal. Yeah, race hard, let go of the outcome. Look, you'll be good. You'll be good. Vlad, what about you?
01:11:59
Speaker
Um, yeah, Saturday race, so 20 K 12, well, uh, 1200 meters of elevation gain in Austria. Um, I wouldn't try and pronounce that name of that town, but yeah, can be it should be fun. with We have an expert there. It's probably a bit of a smaller event. So this express probably going to be a bit smaller. It's about 500 people running that race. So. Yeah, but a long drive to get there and then a long drive back to UTMB, Grindelwald, which it's going to be, it's actually, I've heard that a lot of top athletes have signed up to that race, which is another beautiful location in Switzerland.
01:12:39
Speaker
Another cheap town where, you know, heaps of cheap accommodation and cheap food everywhere. The amount of time you're spending in Switzerland, man. I know. That is so expensive. I know. Switzerland is next level. Yeah. I'll be right on the border in Canobio, right where you were. For a month at the end of this. Yeah, that's right. That's a good call. Yeah, that's a good call. Stay in Italy. ye Yeah, races in Switzerland, but thankfully on the border. Love that. Good stuff. Good stuff. Well, yeah, for me, it's, I'm, I'm entering a three week, three week endurance block. So I've got two very big sessions planned and, uh, I'm very much entering my phase of nothing matters, but training to me at the moment. So three weeks until three weeks today, actually, I think in three weeks today, I'll be at the airport getting ready to fly over. So.
01:13:31
Speaker
Not long left and lots to organize, but main thing for me is just get my big sessions done and get the legs hardened for Golden Trail World Series. So exciting times coming. And we're all going to be overseas in three weeks. Poor Jess is going to be holding the fort back in Oz. But yeah, we'll get all the info still. So to everyone that's listening, thank you so much. This has been Peak Pursuits, episode 13.
01:14:26
Speaker
and we will speak to you next week. See you guys.