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Episode 54: Fuelling The Work, Travel Woes and Penang SkyRace Preview! image

Episode 54: Fuelling The Work, Travel Woes and Penang SkyRace Preview!

E54 · Peak Pursuits
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Welcome to Episode 54 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick and Vlad Ixel in the days leading up to Sim’s first SkyRace of the season in Malaysia!

Hear about a missed result last week by Olympic Triathlete Sophie Linn, Vlads recovery from Five Peaks, and Sim’s taper, travel and course check for Penang SkyRace! Vlad and Sim then briefly discuss the field for this weekend's race with three Aussies in the running for top spots.

Our listener question this week is a follow on from last week asking for more detail on how we fuel the many hours of training and how much to take in during runs. We deep dive into our own days of food and give some of what we have found works for us.

Lastly we preview the big week of racing coming up, including GTWS, SkyRunning, and our very own Mikey Dimuantes going for a golden ticket to Western States in Canyons Endurance Runs - make sure you follow along!

***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***

Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!

Vlad: Instagram | Strava   

Sim: Instagram | Strava

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter

License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R

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Transcript

Introduction and Episode Overview

00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 54 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick, coming to you from Malaysia this time, funnily enough on the same time zone as my fellow host, Vlad Ixel, but he's back in Oz in Perth. So weird that we're on the same time zone but so far apart, Vlad.
00:00:26
Speaker
Hey, Sim. Yeah, same time zone finally, which is nice. Probably similar temperatures as well. It's like 30 degrees in Perth today. Is it as humid? How is it in Malaysia? It's bloody humid. I'll tell you that. I think it's 32, but very humid. It's like that.
00:00:41
Speaker
but I'm actually very happy with the fact that it feels like my heat training has worked because I'm not feeling it too bad, but it's definitely toasty. um yeah gonna be an interesting week that's for sure but uh race is 6 a.m so it'll be sweet and also the race i would check and we can go more into this but i checked the race course today and anytime you're up a bit higher it's actually really not that bad um we only get to about 700 and something meters above sea level
00:01:13
Speaker
but still makes a difference. um So I was noticing on the downhill, I was getting hotter on the downhills than the uphills half the time today. So um will be an interesting ah battle in staying hydrated.
00:01:26
Speaker
But I'll get into that a little later as we preview the race I've got coming up this weekend in Malaysia. But for the rest of this episode, we're going to get Vlad's recovery from his win at five peaks we've got a listener question that follows up from what we chatted about last week to do with nutrition ah there's been some cool international results and some more cool international races coming up that we're going to preview and I'm sure Vlad's always going to throw something in there that I didn't realize he was going to at some point too so
00:01:59
Speaker
Well, I might as well throw it right at the beginning because we did that and last week. And we went quickly through like the international results last week, three big races. One of those big ones, it was sorry, three big US races.

Athlete Highlights and Trail Running Transition

00:02:13
Speaker
um One of those big ones um was the UTMB Desert Rats. And we actually missed it that... um Sophie Lin from Australia finished third in the 50K, which is an incredible result because races in the US are fast and there's a lot of good runners.
00:02:34
Speaker
um But what's more special about it is that she represented Australia at the Paris Olympic and she finished 21st at the Paris Olympics, obviously an incredible athlete.
00:02:46
Speaker
um Like I just looked at her Instagram. Looks like this might have been her first trail race ever. um or maybe she's done some other ones, but this is like ah probably one of the bigger ones she's done.
00:03:00
Speaker
um Yeah, pretty crazy that she jumps into a trail race couple of months after competing in in in the Olympics. So maybe this is a ah shift.
00:03:11
Speaker
Maybe this is a... a new direction that she's going to go into. Hopefully she is. Yeah. ah more More people, um you know, doing trail races, especially from other sports. we know that the We know that the Hemmings, Eli and his partner, which I forgot her name, um that made a good transition between triathlon and trail running and now smashing it.
00:03:37
Speaker
They actually were at the same race as well. um They won the twenty one k but Yeah, maybe they convinced her to kind of come and join the race. um And, yeah, great result, obviously, third place at a 50K trail race.
00:03:52
Speaker
That's huge. Yeah. So, yeah, we missed that one last week. um But, yeah. I have no doubt that she would have no doubt no idea that we exist. But sorry, Sophie, public apology.
00:04:06
Speaker
Not that you're going to be listening. um But, yeah, I've looked just looked her up. She's got nothing else on ITRA and that ah race is her only one on um UTMB as well. So it looks like that.
00:04:17
Speaker
If that's her first trail race, well freaking done. That's bloody cool. She does have a world athletics and some very impressive times on the flat um road and track, et cetera, which checks out for a triathlete.

Post-Race Recovery and Training Strategies

00:04:32
Speaker
So fun, awesome, lovely little tidbits you find. Where did you find that? Oh, heard it in another podcast.
00:04:42
Speaker
Thank you to that other podcast for alerting us to an awesome Aussie. Yeah, American podcast um that was kind of going, oh, yeah, third place was an Aussie. And i was like, what?
00:04:52
Speaker
How did we miss that? And, yeah, had a quick look and there she was. So hopefully she does do some trail running. would be good for us. just Let's just send her a rep very random DM asking yeah what else she's got coming up.
00:05:05
Speaker
Or if it was just that sometimes after the Olympics people go a little wild, do something different. Like Alex Yee is about to run London Marathon. don't know that's road running, but I've been following along his YouTube videos. so ah awesome. like Right YouTube series for anyone that is looking um to watch something on YouTube. Yeah, excited to see him.
00:05:25
Speaker
i rice In a couple of days, it's not far away, less than a week. Yeah, it is. It's not far away at all. But bringing it back to us, ah Vlad, how did you recover? Has your week been recovering from five peaks? Body all good? or Yeah, not too bad. um Obviously, calves were a little bit sore. I jumped straight back into it pretty quickly. So, um yeah, calves were a bit expect nothing less. Yeah.
00:05:48
Speaker
Beginning of the week, first two three days are a bit tight, but then loosened up a bit, managed to get 12 hours, just over 12 hours of running um last week and capped it off with a good long run, a three hour long run and a bit of fatigue resistance at the end. So I was pretty happy to push a slight downhill 2K effort right at the end um to kind of get that leg turnover.
00:06:15
Speaker
um get the legs going on tired legs. So yeah, pretty happy with a three hour run, 36k. Nice. Metters of gain. um But yeah, good, definitely a good week, 12 hours of running. So really happy with that. And hopefully can stay on ah around that a tiny bit more for the next three weeks and then it's UTA so um yeah and only you could recover from a bloody five hour race with a 151k big gain trail child wi training week I love it yeah I think it goes back to my first 100k race ever which was 2012 yeah
00:06:55
Speaker
um yeah And I remember doing a 1K jog the next morning. So I finished at midnight and probably at 9. Why? ah got i would you go for a jog? Because thought it would be like really good for recovery. And yeah I guess I've been doing that ever since. So always always try and jog straight after a race. Well, the next morning.
00:07:17
Speaker
True. I'll go for a run walk, but the longest I'll run in that run walk after all my my really long races. To be fair, my first 100. I did six days off, so nothing. But then the other times I've did like Old Ghost 85K and some other bigger ones, I would do 30-minute walk and then I would just run for 30 seconds every now and again.
00:07:37
Speaker
think it does help um when your body can handle it. But I found I could not handle it after Thailand. like I could hardly walk the 600 metres to the cafe to eat more food.
00:07:49
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, I'm not sure. I think that obviously your buddy gets used to it. And I've heard this a long time ago. I don't know if this is true or not, but elite African marathon runners um after a marathon they would still jog the next day and then they might have like a week off um i don't know if that's true but kind of i will say a two hour to two hour 20 marathon is a bit different to six hours of racing they're going hard um you know right like i think that recovery from a road marathon is harder than recovery from a trail race obviously like you know
00:08:27
Speaker
depending on the trail race depending on the trail race the terrain and um and so on but yeah using different muscles and so on recovery is a little bit quicker um where road marathons yeah could be a pretty painful recovery um But, yeah, it's been good for me.
00:08:44
Speaker
um I've been doing it for a really long time. So I guess my buddy... Yeah, of course. Yeah, no other option. Yeah, exactly. And that's the thing. It's like you've been doing it for so long and you know what works for you. So it is perfect for you.
00:08:57
Speaker
um But it's just something that not many people would ever get to that level of being able to do that because there's not actually that many people that do trail that would run that many Ks in a week per se. Wow.
00:09:11
Speaker
Or race, how many races a year? Yeah, true. They'll put themselves through so much, but it's good. It's good. I'm excited. I'm actually really excited to see how you go at UTA.

Sky Running Series Insights and Simone's Experience

00:09:21
Speaker
um UTA is going to be a lot of fun, which random shout out while we're there that everyone on the pod is going to be there.
00:09:29
Speaker
So we are going to do something. and What as yet is going to be as about as well organized as anything we ever do and very last minute probably, like but we're going to try and make it not last minute. um But yeah, keep an eye out on our socials when we do figure out and announce what we're going to be doing at UTA since it's the first time that everyone is going to be in the same spot, which will be exciting.
00:09:52
Speaker
But that's that's a little bit away now. And i have two races to think about before then, um which are scaring the bejesus out of me in a good way, in a good way. i actually love being in this little phase of going, i'm and i find ah it' going to be it'll be interesting um what my mind does in the next few days because I'm finding it's not it doesn't feel like a normal race in none of these two um that I'm tackling because I'm doing Sky Running Series for the first time, which anyone that's been listening to the pod will know.
00:10:23
Speaker
ah But it's just it feels like I'm back to that whole the course feels like the challenge as opposed to the race in some ways. um Maybe a little less so having now seen some of the course today in Malaysia.
00:10:36
Speaker
um But, yeah, I had my last taper, my first taper week last week and it's interesting because I only ran, i think, like, 10, 15 Ks left less than all my other weeks, but it was close to six or seven hours less running because I just kept it flat most of the time.
00:10:55
Speaker
So I still got a couple thousand um climb, but compared to 7,000, that's not much. So I was amazed at, like my legs freshened up real quick, which was very good to feel.
00:11:08
Speaker
And it was only 10 hours of running as opposed to the 17 the week before. So felt like a huge taper, which really that is, that's is close to 50% in some ways, but 40% drop.
00:11:22
Speaker
um Part of that was not planned. I was meant to do a couple of extra runs, but I got a new car and then life logistics got in the way, essentially.
00:11:34
Speaker
It was just one of those weeks where like, Tuesday they announced they let me know that I could pick up my car and then I had to organise my old car to get towed and all sorts of stuff. So it was just became, even messaged him and I'm like, oh my gosh, do I need to take a break and go get all these runs done? And he's like, it's actually okay for life to get in the way. It's fine.
00:11:53
Speaker
um Because I was in my usual pre-race like anxiety going, must do everything on the plan, um to plan, which I'm not normally quite like, but geez, the two weeks before a race I am.
00:12:06
Speaker
So got coaches permission to miss two doubles um and ended up with quite a short week, which is good. And then the trip over to Malaysia yesterday, i flew and I was just like just at the point near the end of the first flight where was like, geez, this is an easy trip because It's like one nine hour flight, which I will say the people I flew with, I flew super duper budget and it was a nine hour flight with no served food and no entertainment system.
00:12:34
Speaker
So I was doing it rough on this flight, but thankfully I'm so used to flying that I was like, eh, it's nine hours. I can survive anything. um And then we're coming into land and it is like 11.45 a.m.
00:12:50
Speaker
at the time we're coming into land. And then I'm like, oh, I better get my next boarding pass ready because I had like, meant when I booked these tickets, I had an hour 40 layover before the next flight. And anyways, I get my next boarding pass out.
00:13:02
Speaker
And I realized my next boarding pass is for a flight that takes off at 12.15pm. And I'm in the plane at 11.45 with them just announcing the descent.
00:13:13
Speaker
So I'm looking at this boarding pass, having no idea what has happened or how, but going, great, I'm now missing my connection. um and there's nothing you can do about it so I just sort of and then as soon as I arrived I realised that the connection I had to catch a bus to another terminal and it was all mayhem so like I got to the other terminal at like 45 minutes after that flight had taken off thankfully they were lovely they got me on the next flight but it meant a four-hour stay in the airport while I did but was just one of those ones. I'm like, this is what you get when you pay almost nothing for your flight and go super duper budget.
00:13:51
Speaker
Don't recommend, but we got here. We did and it was fun. And then I ended up... I got here and I arrived at maybe 6.45, 7 or 6 maybe in the evening and then it was going to get dark and I had no idea. Brand new place, never been here before. I'm in the middle of Georgetown which is quite a big city and have no idea where to run and it was about to get dark.
00:14:13
Speaker
So I opted to go to the gym thinking, oh, I don't want to run in the heat anyway because I've just flown and I'm dehydrated and um I just want the 30-minute shakeout to get help my legs get over the flight and in my hotel ah get to the gym and it is beautiful it is a room that's like a glass house where every single thing is glass walls um have awesome treadmills you've got a view over the city while you're on the treadmill like it was gorgeous but I walked into the room and the air con wasn't working So the temperature in this room was like a f freaking sauna because it had been in the sun all day with no air con and it was like a greenhouse.
00:14:51
Speaker
Like I got in and I'm like, well, I'm here now and now it's getting dark. Like I can't go anywhere else for this run. And so I was boiling. It felt like running in a sauna for 30 minutes straight off the flights.
00:15:04
Speaker
So we didn't have the best start to this trip anyways, but it was, we got it done. I did the 30 minutes and I was better off for it, but I still, by the time I finished the 30 minutes, I think it was like 8, 8.30 at night, which 10, 10.30 at
00:15:19
Speaker
in Melbourne and I hadn't eaten dinner and it was just one of those travel days. But you're like, get it done, please. had to walk to a supermarket, find all the things. Anyways, Malaysia's lovely. It's fine. Malaysia's really good. Yeah, i've done I've done a lot of races and I actually love it.
00:15:34
Speaker
Good food. Yeah, some the logistics could be hard sometimes, but overall I'm sure you'll have a good stay there for this whole week that there. Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, like everything's super cheap. I will say it is places like this where i the traveler in me and then the runner in me clash and I get quite, not sad, but it's just like ah the celiac thing before a race because the entire time I'm in Malaysia, I'm pre-race or then trying to recover for another race.
00:16:05
Speaker
So I won't get a single chance to eat out anywhere. Like I'm cooking the same food I would normally have at home. Whereas the traveler in me loves walking to all the little markets and trying to find things or like random little street vendors where you can ask and you can try and get things as gluten-free as possible. But if I wasn't racing, I would be like, I'd happy to take the risk.
00:16:25
Speaker
of trying the local food and all those sorts of things. But unfortunately, me being me, i won't actually get to eat any Malaysian food whatsoever, even though I'm spending a week here. So the sad times of ah being celiac. um Asia can actually be quite hard and I'm a bit worried about Japan, but half of my luggage was food, so it's fine.
00:16:48
Speaker
The

Kailas Penang Sky Race Preview

00:16:49
Speaker
joys. But anyways, to get on to what's coming up for me, this week's race is Kailas Penang Sky Race. And that is about 2,400 up and down.
00:17:03
Speaker
up and down um I checked the last 15K of the course today and there's some long road sections for sure. And then there's sections where the trail is almost a trail most of the time, but it's attacking you at all angles with spiky trees and spiky branches and fallen trees constantly. was telling Vlad before we got on air that at one point in my course recce, I was on my on the ground, chest to the floor, army crawling under a tree with spikes above my head.
00:17:34
Speaker
um praying that they actually get rid of that tree before the race, but it wouldn't surprise me if they don't because it was rather large. But never been in that situation before. And it was downhill too.
00:17:45
Speaker
So like my feet were above my head and my head's in the dirt and I'm trying to crawl under this bloody tree down a hill while trying not to get spiked by the spikes coming out of it. And yeah, this is this is what we do. This is trail running, I suppose, or sky running.
00:18:00
Speaker
Probably a trail race plus obstacle course. Oh, honestly it is because it it's one of those trails um that you're running along and to a video or to a photo, it doesn't look that bad.
00:18:12
Speaker
But if you look closer to the trail, the entire trail is tree roots, like the really thin tree roots. You probably, I'm assuming some of Hong Kong or most Asian places tend to be a similar environment where there might be something similar.
00:18:24
Speaker
But half of the trail is just tree roots, but then the tree roots are covered in leaves. So the leaves aren't slippery, but the tree roots under them are deadly. And then it's hard. i I just found I was running along and the number of times where I'm like, okay, I'm going to fall a million times in this race because it's just you can't you can't even see where not to step half the time.
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think Malaysia generally is a little bit more wet. So I think the trails are just going to be muddier and kind of softer. where like I think some parts of like Hong Kong and and Japan would be a little bit more rocky and and drier.
00:18:59
Speaker
Well, Malaysia, you know, kind of rains there every second or third day throughout the whole year. yeah. yeah Yeah, true. Really moist the whole time. Yeah. Well, yeah, it's going to interesting. I'm very prepared to be falling over constantly and trying not to grab the spiky trees to stop the fall because I'm the but i'm someone that uses trees a lot and I learned the hard way in my course recce to not do so here.
00:19:24
Speaker
um But sometimes you just can't help turning a corner and you hit a tree and there was a few. but Thankfully, I was moving slow, but I'm like, if I'm moving at speed, I'm going straight into that spiky bugger.
00:19:35
Speaker
um So if I've crossed the line covered in blood, that's probably why. um do you have any commitments with Skyrunning being an elite? Yeah, i'm actually I'm actually really looking forward to it. So there is. We move into the race hotel, um the athlete hotel on Thursday. There's a meet and greet for anyone to come attend on Thursday itself.
00:19:58
Speaker
um The elite presentation is then on Friday. So I'm thankfully used to, and it's it's interesting, I used to look at these things that you had to attend and be so nervous.
00:20:11
Speaker
And then this time a few weeks back when they sent us the schedule and they're like, yeah, here's the meet and greet, here's the athlete presentation, blah, blah, blah. I was so excited. I'm like, yay, it's all starting up again. so yeah, I do.
00:20:21
Speaker
um it is nice. They're very good at supporting athletes here. And the i get to I think I'm sharing a room with Iris or Iris Pessy, which I'm very much looking forward to. She was one of the first international trail runners I made friends with, which is going to make everything feel a lot smoother. Yeah.
00:20:39
Speaker
um But, yeah, that for both races there'll be all the pre things that used to take a lot out of me and now I sort of have found a way. As you get used to them, I think you find a way for them to give you energy rather than take energy away um with nerves.
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah, I guess when they support you with um with accommodation, maybe some trouble, um it's kind of expected that you're kind of going to do some things for them. Definitely, yeah.
00:21:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think that I know that, like, You know, the Asian side of sky running is not as big as the European side. um They are like looking for more more athletes. And I usually get messages asking if I know any elite athletes that might want to try and do some of those races in Asia. But um yeah, I think that they definitely celebrate um those events.
00:21:29
Speaker
Not a lot more than Europe, but it just like seems like a special deal for them, um for the locals there, especially like in Malaysia. Oh, for sure. So, yeah. It's definitely different vibes, different environment. I actually, I think I prefer it.
00:21:43
Speaker
um It's more relaxed. It's way more relaxed. Exactly. yeah Partially it it's more relaxed. It feels like there's less... I don't know, just do or die kind of to it um environment. But it's also just so, the people are so lovely and so supportive.
00:21:58
Speaker
and And yeah, it's definitely not as stacked. as it Like considering the last overseas race that I did, Is this correct? Yeah, the last overseas race I did I think was the Golden Trail.
00:22:09
Speaker
fine No, Thailand, which itself was an Asian race but the then before that Golden Trail, you're standing on a start line going, um but there's every chance. I have a good day, I might come 30th. I have a bad day, I might be 60th to 80th kind of deal. Yeah.
00:22:25
Speaker
a race like this, it's a lot less daunting on that front just because I think we can go through some of the elite because they're I'm not there on the only Aussie um and we can go through some of the elite starters that they've got um because there's ah myself, Iris and then Priya Rai from Nepal, who's an incredibly good athlete. And she was, i think she won the 50K at ah Thailand that I was at, but she's ah always, always up the front of these sorts of races. On the women's side also, Betty Bergstrand, who did just come ninth at the Golden Trail race in Kobe.
00:23:05
Speaker
And she was also at the Golden Trail race. She's she's a young... young athlete, I think she was 32nd ahead of Lara Hamilton um by just a couple of places at the Golden Trail final last year.
00:23:18
Speaker
And then she was, yeah, ninth at Kobe last weekend, which... She decided not to go to China and rather come do the... time Yeah, must have. um Because, yeah, she's on the list here to being in our... um ah calm And she was on the um ah Instagram post that they've done. But...
00:23:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's and that's an interesting turnaround going from a race like Kobe to this one because that's a rough turnaround. But then I'll be interested to see. I'm going to ask her if she's also doing like the Japan race again because that would be it.
00:23:49
Speaker
mad triple um to to attempt. um But then there is some like ah some locals, Lim Siok Ha, like unfortunately I don't recognise any of these names but a lot of them run for Kailas or the fu Team Fuga, which is big in Asia, ah Li Yishii and Tahira Najmunisa.
00:24:13
Speaker
um They're the three top Malaysians that they've listed on their Instagram posts. um But yeah, so smaller smaller fields overall than I'm used to, that's for sure.
00:24:23
Speaker
But that just makes me more excited to go, okay, I'm i'm in this one to try and win it. like that's a much nicer spot to be as an athlete, I suppose, or like it's a different mindset to be going into a race with.
00:24:36
Speaker
um And it is similar on the men's side. We have two Aussies. ah One Aussie that everyone will know quite well, Blake Turner. um He's doing both this one and the Japan Sky Race a week later as well.
00:24:49
Speaker
And then a less known name, Morgan Pilly, who is Australian but lives in Italy and races a lot overseas. He races for La Sportiva. He's also here. I'm not sure if he's going to do the second one.
00:25:02
Speaker
um But the other men that I have is Rio Townsend and Benjamin Townsend, although they might be doing one of the shorter ones. ah But Marcos Isquieta, love those Spanish surnames. They also always get me. And Shoma Otagiri from Japan the top.
00:25:24
Speaker
And then Nando from Vietnam. And Yusof Manan is the top Malaysian from what they've listed. yeah. Yeah, it'll be it'll be interesting because part of me goes, I don't actually know where I'm going to end up.
00:25:39
Speaker
um Like obviously my aim will be the podium. They do say the podium is down

Cultural and Logistical Aspects of Sky Running

00:25:44
Speaker
to 10th. In my head, it's the the top three is sort of the aim.
00:25:50
Speaker
um But they do have podium and it pays down under to 10th, which is always nice. So um the support there is good, but I probably shouldn't go against them and say podium's top three.
00:26:02
Speaker
But I'll say that top three is always nice from that one. You pretty much get a trophy with your bib when you pick up your bib. I was going to say, yeah. I have a feeling. And so this has gotten a few people at times and I'll be interested to see if um that they do this again. But sometimes, and Vlad, you were saying it's fairly normal in Asia that they they kind of put the finished tape up for everyone.
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. As opposed to just the winner. Yeah. so which which to an Aussie is quite... fooling like it feels like you see a photo of someone crossing the line and there's a tape up it's like oh they won but then you look it up and you're like okay you were 20th like what's go 50th like what's going on um but yeah i'll be interested to see if they put the they put the tape up for everyone that'll be fun just to be running along and going oh i get to run through a finished tape no matter what i come Yeah, I think comes down to how much they celebrate their events.
00:26:56
Speaker
um You know, I've done so many races where they so they they you get a trophy for top 10. um You know, everybody gets a tape. Yeah, i don't know It's a good and a bad thing. um It's good because, you know, they kind of celebrate quite a lot and everybody gets to feel special for a little bit, I guess, with a finished tape, get a nice picture.
00:27:17
Speaker
But then, yeah, maybe it doesn't breed competition as much as other places where, you know, you finish the race and only the first place gets the tape. But, yeah, it's a different aspect. There's pretty big prize money for this one. and Like there's decent enough prize money. What is the prize money?
00:27:35
Speaker
ah Well, all europe all of the, sorry, all sky running races, I can't find the prize money online, but all sky running races have to have a minimum of 6,000 euro across men and women. So 3,000 sort of for men, 3,000 for women.
00:27:50
Speaker
I found there's prize the prize money for the Japan race, I found it's the equivalent of about 2,000 Aussie for the win in Japan. um And then it pays down to 10th as well. But this one, I'm not entirely sure, I will say. But there's something.
00:28:05
Speaker
I definitely heard about it because i've spoken with few people about this race. i think um it could be €750 for the win and then it goes down. Yeah, which doesn't surprise me, and which thankfully, euro to Aussie at the moment, that's a decent chunk of Aussie cash, um especially with how cheap the travel over here and everything is. But, um yeah, add that to the financial support that they give for coming and the,
00:28:32
Speaker
accommodation and everything. And it's absolutely amazing what they do for the athletes. ah I love it. um Obviously, it's appreciated ah hell out of. But yeah, it'll be, I think Blake's going to do bloody well too on the men's side. I'll be very keen to see how he's going. Unfortunately, there's no out and backs where I can sticky beak on sort of, I love when there's an out and backs and you're interested in the men's race. So you get to see where everyone is. But this one's just a great big loop.
00:28:59
Speaker
um And, yeah, I think it'll be interesting times. It'll be definitely be a matter of um management of the heat. Yeah, and I think, like, um you know, technically speaking, if they could have Sky Race in Australia that is part of the circuit, I can see a lot more Australians kind of doing the one in Australia and then travelling to the Asian ones. Yeah.
00:29:24
Speaker
So yeah, hopefully it does grow. um You know, i kind of did tell them there is probably some places in Tassie or some races in Tassie that could fall under a Skyrace category or possibly it could work.
00:29:36
Speaker
um and I know kind of Asia for sky running is an area that they want to grow because they're pretty established in Europe, but they have like a possibility of growing in Asia. And I mean, for us living in Australia,
00:29:49
Speaker
It's definitely a good thing if they could have more races or try and connect the region a bit more with some races in Australia. and Yeah, they made it they made it possible this year. So you do you have to do off your top five.
00:30:02
Speaker
results count. So because um as opposed to Golden Trail, which only has eight races and you have to do three, Skyrunning has a much bigger calendar. I think there's 25 races.
00:30:13
Speaker
um and But then because there's so many more races, you have to do five. But I do find it much easier. Like the main reason I'm doing Skyrunning this year is I've always wanted to do it. But if it's much easier to make a season just being able to go to Asia and back um as opposed to always having to go to Europe or America or just those much longer trips. So four out of my five races are going to be in Asia, like Malaysia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea. So it makes it so much easier ah to just put a season together. And then the final is in Spain. So there is a second trip to Europe there, but it's
00:30:50
Speaker
I'm only trying to get there from South Korea at the time. So I'm already over halfway, which helps. And time zones as well. I think like, you know, when you are racing, time zones play a massive role.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah. So. Yeah. Like I'm already like the time disowned, it doesn't even feel like I've changed these little, these two hours. Like you have one sleep and you're like, yeah, I'm good. um So it's pretty easy.
00:31:16
Speaker
And it's good. So to definitely recommend for anyone in Oz that wants to look into it. um It's... And it's easily combined with like a holiday as well, I think. Like, you know, you can be a one-week trip. Yeah, it can be a one-week trip.
00:31:30
Speaker
um Even if you get there a few days before, do the race and then have three or four days after. but you Pretty cool. i've got a I've got three days after the Japan race. So it's two weeks of mostly business and not doing too much for me. But then I've got three days after the Japan race. So I'm definitely doing, I've booked myself into an onsen that like feeds you tri traditional Japanese breakfast and dinner every day. So I'm definitely taking that avenue of there's at least a couple of days holiday at the end because you're there um to
00:32:01
Speaker
to no to get in there. so And talking about how it's probably a good time to go to Japan as well with their currency, I guess, dropping as well as ours. So, yeah, exchange rate is not that bad. And Japan overall is pretty cheap actually for travel. Yeah.
00:32:16
Speaker
I'm definitely finding that considering being used to going to Europe and then I'm looking at the prices of things here and I'm like, my flight here was 400 bucks. Like, oh my gosh. I literally just booked a couple of accommodations in Europe for the summer and with the exchange, I'm like, oh no. Oh, that's wild, isn't it? I've been, yeah, I've had, I booked my UTMB week stuff and everything. And it's also gone up a lot from what it used to be because I used to be able to afford those accommodate like accommodations in Annecy and Chamonix on like my budget of 100 Aussie a night quite comfortably.
00:32:50
Speaker
And now it's impossible. ah yeah You can't budget that little. Probably 200 would be like the cheapest, cheapest, cheapest for like one. Pretty much. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, pretty much. um So it makes solo travel a lot harder, but we manage. We manage.
00:33:06
Speaker
Anyways, yeah, that's suppose that's my news. I'm going to see if we can get a chat with me and Blake possibly before the race, definitely after

Podcast Content and Listener Engagement

00:33:15
Speaker
the race. um And to be fair, I could invite Iris or other people into the chat. we'll see what We'll see how we go, but keep an eye out for another, an episode dropping in between um the two races at least.
00:33:28
Speaker
for me and Blake to go through what we what happened in this race and our thoughts for Japan, which is by far the most wild stat race imaginable um that I've seen.
00:33:41
Speaker
So we'll keep you posted on how that all goes.
00:33:48
Speaker
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00:34:04
Speaker
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00:34:24
Speaker
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00:34:38
Speaker
Head to the BICS website, stock up and don't forget to use the code PPP for 20% off. Stay fueled, stay hydrated and keep chasing those peak pursuits.
00:34:53
Speaker
ah But moving on to listener question that came through off the back of last week. This one's come in from Liam and he's asked, for an intermediate runner that's wanting to improve endurance for races and training, what should I be eating throughout the weeks and before a long run?
00:35:10
Speaker
And how many carbs slash caffeine should I be consuming during? He has also asked any brands you recommend. Vlad, you're biased. But i'm I've been shopping around trying to find stuff that works for me. So we will give some ideas.
00:35:26
Speaker
But... Um, first of all, the sort of the training, which I think is actually the bulk when you talk about nutrition, like your nutrition around training matters the most because that's your day-to-day life. And that's, you're only going to get fitter, faster and improve your endurance and everything if you're fueling the training adequately.
00:35:44
Speaker
And that's not just long run day. That's like, there's good research to show that low energy availability, even in short pockets really isn't good for your body. to be adapting to training and getting stronger, faster, all of those things. So um you never want to dip into big deficits, which Vlad, with your level of training and how much you're doing, what are your main ways of like not making sure you're never in a deficit? Because you couldn't do what you were doing, what you are doing, if your body's in a deficit all the time.
00:36:15
Speaker
No, definitely not. I mean, I think like not being scared of, I guess, junk food or like really simple sugars is probably a good advice. I try and keep those simple sugars to like an hour before training, during training, and then an hour

Nutrition Strategies for Endurance Athletes

00:36:31
Speaker
after training. And then outside of that, I really try and go the opposite and go like really, really healthy to make sure that You know, I'm not just eating junk food um all the time.
00:36:41
Speaker
So yeah, do definitely feel a lot like literally now every single run um over 50 minutes, I will take some calories with me. um Yeah. You know, like years ago, like, you know, I would do three hour runs with just water with nothing.
00:36:57
Speaker
When now my three hour run on the weekend, you know, six gels and and and drink powder. um And that just means that, you know, i wake up in the morning. Well, the rest of the day, I feel good. I don't have to come home and like, look for food straight away and eat anything that I've seen in the pantry.
00:37:14
Speaker
um You know, I can actually like take my time and prepare something healthier. um So yeah, in a way, I'm just getting that, you know, unhealthy foods in a different time. So like before that, I'll run on empty, do my long run, finish that run and then you know, grab, you know, Cokes and energy drinks and chips and whatever. Like I just need calories, right?
00:37:36
Speaker
When now, when I'm fueling so much, I finish that run, you know, I'll go hard obviously on hydration and and electrolytes straight after, um maybe some protein as well. But then I have a bit more time and a clear mind to kind of make better food decisions, food choices, um which actually made a big difference for like general kind of energy level, stomach health, gut health,
00:38:00
Speaker
um So, yeah, I think that go hard on unhealthy stuff. At times, it's definitely healthy at other times. But to get a bit more, I suppose, into the nitty-gritty of things, um my first question is, does your breakfast change on long run day or is it the same as all the other days because you're already running so much?
00:38:19
Speaker
Because for me it's the same. Pretty much the same. <unk> Yeah, I mean, I got into um literally just bread, avocado and Vegemite. um really, really simple. How many slices are you doing?
00:38:31
Speaker
Three. Then I'll do my morning run um and then have maybe a porridge, a bit like, you know, some fruits and porridge. um Yeah, kind of keep pretty simple.
00:38:42
Speaker
Yeah, and I'm the same. I'll usually have um three crumpets or four pieces of toast um because they're the equivalent carbs. For me, it's trying to aim, like if you want, you can get very scientific with this of grams of carbs per kilo sort of thing. You want more around the one and a half to two if you can before a run.
00:39:01
Speaker
um And that's if you've got enough time to digest that amount. um But, yeah, for me it's like three of my gluten-free comforts, four pieces of toast ah with ah peanut butter.
00:39:12
Speaker
And I actually, peanut butter and Vegemite, and I got some support on this from last week. Someone messaged and I thank you because I'm not the only one that does this. So I knew I couldn't be the only one.
00:39:24
Speaker
love it. I'll try tomorrow. are you getting your B vitamins? you getting all the good things? Anyways, try it and let me know what you think. Try it at least once, please. um But yeah, it's like four pieces of toast, which I can digest quite quickly now. Like I can have that within 45 minutes of a run and actually feel quite fine um and still fuel the run, which is fine. But usually, so I'm lazy and it will be in the car on the way to a run quite often.
00:39:50
Speaker
um But if the runs from home, obviously not, but that'll be pretty much every day because even on a day I'm running a lot less, you're recovering from the day before um is the way I look at it. So like for breakfast, like not much needs to change because the main thing that changes for me on a recovery day versus a long run day is the long run day I'm having so much fuel during the run. I'm not getting any of that on a recovery day.
00:40:13
Speaker
because I'm running shorter, might not be fueling as much in the run, but then the fuel around runs can actually be quite similar if you're fueling enough during them, I find, just because you're not ending a run absolutely destroyed. So straight after a run for me, like Vlad says he's happy, is porridge. I'm having usually...
00:40:33
Speaker
a smoothie with some protein and some sugars in there. um If I don't have access to a smoothie, like say I've driven to a long run about an hour, I'll have maybe a couple of up and goes, um the dairy-free up and goes, because they're super easy and simple. They've got everything.
00:40:47
Speaker
um Protein shake, if I'm like just a normal protein shake, if I'm strapped for time or I'm about to just go to a cafe straight after my run, because I'll down the protein shake on the drive to the cafe and then have a full meal because there's not much point in having only protein after a run. You need the carbs to absorb the protein and you also just need to replenish your carbs anyway. So don't run into the trap of like just having ah protein protein shake with no carb source at all.
00:41:13
Speaker
after a run is definitely a recommendation and something that I changed that made a big difference to me in the like sort of hours after that and how I recovered. um Even if I used to, when I was really strapped, I used to just put like maple syrup or something in my protein shake.
00:41:27
Speaker
um it works. Anything works at that point. You should have soft drink. I would have a soft drink for sure. I would happily have a soft drink. Yep. A soft drink and a protein shake. I will do that a lot in summer, less so in winter.
00:41:39
Speaker
um But yeah, I will have a soft drink. I'll have Macca's hash browns. Love me some Macca's hash browns because they're gluten-free. So Also, I have a blanket rule of going if there's nothing, except there's always something accessible, like just not letting food, like not having excuses for not eating essentially. Like I used to do the whole something's not there and it's too hard and so I'll just go do this run anyway.
00:42:03
Speaker
um Now I will happily like go off. I'm running out of time. I've got to drive to a run. If there's a Macca's drive-thru nearby, I'm getting some Macca's hash browns or chips because it's better to run fueled than not fueled. So like It's just not just because I don't have access to the food I want, I don't let myself then not fuel enough, um which is a rule that sort of helped me a lot um over time.
00:42:25
Speaker
because And think, yeah, for people that maybe don't do as well with like eating right before a run. Um, you could just look at some high carb powders and like sip on it before you're still getting those carbs and and making sure that you have enough energy for the session.
00:42:41
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I think the biggest thing is, is definitely fuel, fuel the work, um, or before training during and after. And then outside of that, try and actually get a bit probably on the healthier side.
00:42:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Which is where like, say I've just been for a run, like my lunch will look like a normal lunch. I'll have two sandwiches. um If I'm at home and I'm making sandwiches, if I'm out of the cafe, I'll have a cafe meal, like just a normal cafe meal, but I've fueled the run.
00:43:09
Speaker
I've usually had a protein shake or something on the way there. and then just buy a normal lunch or make a normal lunch one sandwich definitely doesn't do it for me has to be two so don't know if that's normal or abnormal um but then the rest of the day like with a double I'll have make sure I'm having I'm just timing my next snack for being about an hour before my afternoon run If I don't have access to anything, if I'm in a rush, that will be lollies.
00:43:36
Speaker
um But usually it's something more like banana bread, a hot cross bun. um i'm I used to be ah and like a bit of fruit or a fruit smoothie at times or anything along those lines, as long as it had enough in it with some nuts and seeds. But I can't have too much fruit now, which is sad times. So for me, it's more the bread-based things. But do you do the same for the afternoon runs when you're doubling up, Vlad?
00:43:59
Speaker
Yeah, usually like a... pretty much like a sourdough bread with peanut butter so really really simple um yeah but yeah most of the time I'll have um you know the carb mix before my run so I'm not that i like I got a lot better um at eating and then running but I still feel like I need at least an hour an hour and a half and I don't want that last meal to be an hour and a half before I'm exercising I think it's fine if you're only doing like you know, five hours of running a week. But obviously once you start getting to, I guess, eight, nine plus a week and, you know week after week, you really got to make sure that you're feeling that runs.
00:44:39
Speaker
So yeah, I'll have, um yeah, carb mix pretty much all the way right up to um the start of my run. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. section You know, I have it right there. um You know, yes and yeah, it's more is better and,
00:44:56
Speaker
I think we're seeing it a lot in cycling right now is that they're producing so much more power, they're heavier because they're consuming so much more. um So yeah, lot of it is obviously flowing into running and we're seeing better results in all distances. And it's not just from fueling their run, but it's fueling training correctly. It's you know the day-to-day fueling that adaptations are greater. You recover quicker, you do more.
00:45:25
Speaker
you know, you're able to push more and yeah, we're just seeing better results. And I'm just, yeah, I'm just kind of, yeah. Well, I guess I can't be disappointed, but I'm just like, wow, if I would have done this 10 years ago, I would have been a different runner. Probably, you know, I would have stayed with ultra running, but I think that one of the main reasons that,
00:45:43
Speaker
um I stopped doing ultra marathons is just got so tired from doing long runs on empty all the time. um Yeah. And where now it's a different feeling when you're like, you know, you feel good all the time where, yeah, I remember i literally remember doing 70k run 60k runs on like you know a can of soft drinks and like a soft drink and two or three liters of water um yeah it's like it's cool that your body can do that but just because it can doesn't mean you should that's back then like i remember killing and going yeah i'm going on a 12 hour run with like two snicker bars
00:46:18
Speaker
Honestly, no. If you actually search for some of those old videos like um that someone needs to make, it's like, yeah, I'm doing a 12-hour run and I got two snicker bars in my backpack.
00:46:30
Speaker
um yeah which is pretty crazy. It's kind of ridiculous but not many people get away with that. ah Definitely not many people. But, yeah, i'm I'm similar for the afternoon runs now where, like, I've been doing a lot of my afternoon runs as a double on the treadmill and I will have a packet lollies sitting on the treadmill and it's only 30, 40 minutes but every five minutes I'm treating myself to a couple of lollies because, well,
00:46:52
Speaker
I'm kind of just treating myself like a rabbit at that point. Like I just ah want something to distract me from the treadmill. But also after having done it a little bit, I'm like, oh my gosh, I feel so much better the next morning now.
00:47:04
Speaker
Like I've been doing some training, like people have seen it, where I've been doing my Sundays a really long run. I'm doing a whole hour still uphill at a decent heart rate on the Monday on the treadmill before double session Tuesday.
00:47:16
Speaker
But I am that whole hour on the treadmill. I probably actually get in over 100 grams of carbs, even though it's only a one hour run, because I'm still recovering from the day before. I have a double session the next day and I feel amazing doing it.
00:47:29
Speaker
um And so it's just, there's, yeah, there's been these big shifts of, ah my endurance definitely has improved the more I have ah during runs, as opposed to always playing catch up with food after. So I'm, yeah, I'm started taking even 30 minute runs on the treadmill. If I'm outside, i won't a lot and as much.
00:47:48
Speaker
um I might take some carbs in a drink if it's hot, but um on the treadmill I definitely find it's just easy to have the lollies there. But then um dinner, again, I'm going to say is fairly normal but ah very carb-based for me. Like in most nights it'll be pasta or rice.
00:48:04
Speaker
It's very rare I'm not having pasta or rice for dinner and like more um For me, I'm always thinking my dinner is what's fueling me for the next day um or the next morning's run because breakfast, yes, it does a little bit but not as much for the replenishment there. So, yeah, I'm honestly probably having pasta four nights a week out of seven. and Yeah, you've got to have enough calories, enough vitamins, minerals before you go to sleep as well because a lot of the recovery happens when you go to sleep.
00:48:37
Speaker
Yeah. and I know some people kind of like don't have a big dinner, but I think like just make sure you have enough food and enough time between the time you go to sleep and finish that meal. um and makes sense That's something I'm bad at.
00:48:50
Speaker
I will be like eating a bowl of cereal from bed and then just roll over and go to sleep. um I find I don't think it affects me too much as long as it's something light though, like cornflakes and almond milk.
00:49:02
Speaker
like a bowl of cornflakes with almond milk, which is sometimes my, ah my evening snack. Like I, I have dinner and then I'm never not having something after dinner before bed, but it'll be a lot smaller. Like dinner would have been huge, but it'll usually be, it will have been maybe two hours or more. Cause I often eat at six might go to bed at nine, nine 30 by nine o'clock. I'm actually hungry again, even if I've had a big dinner.
00:49:23
Speaker
So I will have something at nine o'clock, but it might be some nights it's, if I'm not that hungry, it'll just be a chocolate bar. Um, But some nights it'll be a bowl of cornflakes. But I find if it's light enough, um and then doesn't bother me for sleep.
00:49:39
Speaker
No, no, of course. No, I do that as well. I could have, you know, a handful of nuts or or a piece of fruit, but um definitely the main meal I try and, you know, 7.30 would be the latest I want to finish that meal if I try and go to sleep by 9.30, 10. Otherwise, yeah, I do feel a bit of an effect on my sleep.
00:49:56
Speaker
um Yeah. Yeah, also another bit of that question was about caffeine. um I mean, I think that caffeine is great and I use it quite a lot um in races and training. but I think you really got to train a little bit for it. Um, and you know, kind of just do it on race day.
00:50:14
Speaker
Um, just get your buddy used to it. mean, my last race, literally a gel every 20 minutes, one caffeinated one, not one caffeinated one. So a lot of caffeine, I think, you know, it probably works out to be like 15 coffees at the end of that race. Um, yeah, I think I'm fairly used to it. So if you can get used to it and your body does handle it, it is a,
00:50:36
Speaker
um endurance enhancer and I think most, I would say most athletes have caffeine before races and endurance. Yeah, it can be very individual. So you want to test what A, what it does to your guts and B, there are responders and non-responders.
00:50:52
Speaker
I definitely know some people like ah the people that can have a bloody espresso and then go to sleep. I'm like the caffeine's doing something different in your body because I know a few people that can do that and ah just it wouldn't happen in my brain.
00:51:05
Speaker
No, but I think the sleep quality would be affected. You would think even though they might sleep Yeah, even though they might sleep throughout the whole night or most of the night, like that quality just is not going to be as deep.
00:51:17
Speaker
um Yeah. Yeah, I know a lot. of I mean it's a pretty common thing I guess in Europe is to have a coffee after dinner. Yeah. But, yeah, i don't think those people are sleeping too well. And if you put any type of monitor on it on them, think you'll see something. but Not 100% perfect.
00:51:34
Speaker
Yeah. But then you might also be like I'm someone that ah caffeine affects me but I need a lot more of it to get the same effect. um Like some of my track races I used to do, I would have 500 milligrams before my track race to try and get myself up for it and I wouldn't feel jittery.
00:51:51
Speaker
or anything like I'm I'm just I know I'm someone that can have a lot of caffeine um I swear by so the interesting thing about caffeine it has a five-hour half-life so it's in your system for quite a long time once it's in your system um and it needs to be absorbed so um I certainly used to pop a few no-dos before races and those sorts of things but because they have to be broken down in the stomach and then absorbed like they hit you they take a bit longer and they might cause more gut upset So I personally swear by, well, if they're in your gel, they're in your gel. They'll already have been incorporated in, in that way. So they're absorbed with your gel, but I love the Revy's strips on the tongue because they're absorbed through your um mouth.
00:52:33
Speaker
So they hit your system a bit faster um and they have their sort of, they've got different strengths of their, um they're like the Listerine strips that just dissolve on your tongue. So It's absorbed through the um membranes in your mouth a bit faster and I love those for racing.
00:52:50
Speaker
um But then, yeah, you just got to remember it's it's got a long half-life um and I think I did look up some research recently. I think it's like the There's the dose you could have before a shorter race, um which you want to have sort of maybe an hour before because it's still going to be affecting you that hour later.
00:53:08
Speaker
um And that was quite a big dose. That's what I used to do. But then for things like ultras, I i personally prefer the drip feed, um have just having my normal coffees maybe before and then drip feeding caffeine throughout a run.
00:53:21
Speaker
and with the strips, I try and time it. Let's say I'm getting to the top of a hill and the next downhill is really technical. My brain needs to be switched on. I might have the strip 10 minutes before the top of the climb.
00:53:32
Speaker
Or like I do try and time it in that way a little bit, um knowing that whatever you've taken and in the last five hours is still actually in your system a little bit. So it's affecting you for a while.
00:53:43
Speaker
um But then you need to obviously be hydrated, make sure it's not, you're not someone that it just really affects your guts. And I think that does get better over time. so Everything is practice with it, which is the same answer, I think, for when he's asking how much to have during a run. um The most recent research is essentially whatever you can handle, the more the better.
00:54:03
Speaker
um So train it up and go higher um is the way that all the research is going. A lot of our research from running comes from cycling. It's what you'll see the cyclists are doing and now more and more runners are applying it and you're seeing a lot more runners being faster, more injury resilient and all sorts of things. It certainly is a different way of feeling as we've already described. So for during your run, if you can try and get to your base of sort of the 60 grams per hour is where I'm always trying to get my athletes
00:54:37
Speaker
to the beginning and then every single long run I'm getting them to go higher and higher just by a little bit of the time um for the time that they're out there. Maybe every now and again I might be brutal on someone and give them a just a gut training run and go go slower but get 100 grams an hour even if they're not used to it.
00:54:55
Speaker
This is in training, never in a race. um But it's so that on race day you can do that. and your guts have a more chance of absorbing it. um Yeah, I think a tip for people that might not do too well with consuming carbs um on the go is try and have a bit more plain water.
00:55:15
Speaker
um i know a lot of people know that solved a lot of issues is just having more plain water. Could be electrolytes as well. Yeah. you obviously want to break those three things and really understand how your body does with carbs, with electrolytes and caffeine and seeing if one of them causes something.
00:55:33
Speaker
um But yeah, I know a lot of people that didn't do too well, but then just started having more water and suddenly it's all fine. Well, that's because, yeah, you need water to absorb the carbohydrate that you're taking in. Like it doesn't or magically go into your system without being having more fluid, which is where for some people the simplest answer is just having drink mix.
00:55:53
Speaker
You can have high concentrated drink mix. um if you're this I swore by that for years and years and years when my body was agreeing with fructose. um I loved Tailwind. It got me through six years unfazed of amazing nutrition up to um probably the max I got out was I did get 100 grams an hour at times in shorter races. In longer races, I was more at the 80 grams um in the last few years of using Tailwind.
00:56:17
Speaker
um And for me, that simplified things because I liked the taste. I never got taste fatigue from it. So I was just one of those people that could deal with not having anything solid and quite liked it. um so i'd i'd have some athletes that like the simplicity of that and others that will have the gels and then you just need a lot more water than you maybe think which requires carrying the water or having access to it but it's definitely you're going to run better if you're absorbing your nutrition and having enough water so it's worth carrying um i will say now having to go to only glucose and multidextrin
00:56:51
Speaker
and avoiding fructose. um I've just been slamming the winner's gels because they're multidextrin only and they're about as cheap as they come, but also they work. um There's not too many brands out there that make multidextrin only gels anymore because there's good science around fructose being very helpful in nutrition.
00:57:10
Speaker
So think it's like 1 to 0.8 ratio is the normal one for glucose to fructose kind of thing. um So by all means, if you can handle fructose, go for it because it's good.
00:57:21
Speaker
um But yeah, in terms of things I've tried, there's there is a few multidextrin-only gels out there, but not that many um for anyone. it just And to be fair, for some people, if you're really struggling with sugars, you can get it looked into by a dietician of like, if your body might not be absorbing something. This runs in my family. I have siblings with the same problem that don't run at all. So it's like,
00:57:45
Speaker
I just have horrible guts between so celiac and fructose. It's just my life. um But yeah, don't don't think that just because one answer doesn't work for you to get more carbs in that you're never going to be able to. I think that if if you're if you're struggling, um then it's definitely worth seeing a dietician to actually figure out what's going on in the system. And um there's a lot of like, I'm not sure, do you ever follow low FODMAP before races or anything, Vlad, or training?
00:58:13
Speaker
So pretty much um no fibre. um ah No FODMAPs. It's fibre you can still get, but at the same time, I do have no fibre before races. In training, I don't bother. But FODMAPs is slightly different. It's fructose and a bunch of other things that like you just limit a little bit more um and it can fix a lot of people's gut problems.
00:58:35
Speaker
No, I mean, before races, I usually just try and so last day, I guess, before day and a half before races, I try and stay away from fiber. um Just keep it a bit more simple in the gut.
00:58:47
Speaker
And um yeah, just a little bit of protein and a lot of carbs, simple carbs, a lot of rice. um And yeah, a carb mixed drinks, just sip on it throughout the day. make sure that I get those carbs and electrolytes in before the day before the race.
00:59:01
Speaker
um But yeah, it's also made a massive difference. Yeah, for sure. so I hope that's answered your question, Liam. I will say, try things by all means. None of this was certified nutrition advice, disclaimer. um But also, um if you're struggling with absolutely anything, there's always benefit to seeing a dietician um that's going to help, especially a sports dietitian that understands the needs of the body throughout a run and those sorts of things. Like just because you so you can see one for just a short period to try and nail things down and then you kind of know what you're doing for your body can be worth its weight in gold for those sorts of things. But that gives you an insight into what we do at least.
00:59:41
Speaker
um And I will say that i'd I love the fact that half of running is how much you can eat. Yeah. to actually keep going. So um awesome. Speaking of keeping going, the um things that are coming up next week, we did fight we did have a few races last

Upcoming Races and International Competitions

01:00:00
Speaker
week. We haven't been out to find too many results from around the Aussie scene, but overseas there was Golden Trail.
01:00:08
Speaker
which I'm always interested in. If you get a chance to follow along these things, they are awesome. I know they couldn't do a live stream in Kobe because of reception. um I'm not sure if there is one for the one coming up this week in China, but they're running on the Great Wall, which looks bloody cool.
01:00:24
Speaker
um But, yeah, the Golden Trail in Kobe was, as usual, Golden Trail style stacked. Sarah Alonzo got the win on the women's side. And I'm blanking. Vlad, help me out. Who won the men's? That's a new Bix ambassador.
01:00:40
Speaker
okay Who? Patrick. phil le one Oh, Patrick. yeah Awesome. you I saw that you've got Patrick and Philemon on Bix.
01:00:51
Speaker
Absolutely love that. They are characters, those two. um Legend. So, yeah, on the men's it was Patrick followed by Philemon, not far behind. Bogdan Damien, who's also from Romania, um he had the run of his life there for to come third. Joey Hadorn in fourth.
01:01:06
Speaker
And Rui, I think they would um shorten it to Omi in fifth. And then on the women's side, Sarah Alonso followed by Madalena Floria, Marlon Osa, Takako Takamura Sarah Wilhwit from Great Britain, who,
01:01:24
Speaker
yeah and up Yeah, I don't know if you know, but um Golden Trail signed a new broadcasting. Oh, with Disney. Yeah.
01:01:35
Speaker
so kind of So they were with Eurosports, but um the Disney bit, which owns Eurosports, is going to get them into more countries. So yeah. um I guess a good step for a good good step for them, a good step for the sport, um getting to see getting getting seen around the world a bit more, um especially as they have races now in Asia and Mexico as well this year for the first time. So, yeah, pretty cool to see.
01:01:59
Speaker
And they also released the grand final is happening in Italy. So everyone in the Golden Trail National Series that's going for that golden ticket is going for a ticket to Italy, um which is very cool.
01:02:12
Speaker
um Awesome. That was the results from the week that coming up next week, though, with some very cool races in Oz. I will say, looking up the trail running calendar for next week, Backyard Ultras, there is like three or four around the country.
01:02:25
Speaker
Like what is happening? Because we just had Sydney's Backyard Ultra last year, last week, sorry, last weekend. And there's like, there's at least, no, there's four.
01:02:35
Speaker
There's four around the country. There's Gumby, there's Melbourne Front Yard Ultra at Studley Park. There's Backyard Trail Series in Everton, which is also in Victoria. And then, oh no, maybe there was three.
01:02:47
Speaker
Oh, I could have sworn I saw four. um Maybe I'm missing one. But anyways, Backyard Ultra Central at the moment, it seems. And then also going on is ah Brisbane Trail Marathon, Bottle Butt Bash, Trail Run in New South Wales and Bright.
01:03:02
Speaker
Fun Run on the international scene, Golden Trail World Series China. Follow that along if you can. Sky Running Malaysia, Kailas Penang. There'll be a few of us there. I'm not sure yet how to follow along.
01:03:14
Speaker
um Check my Instagram for the pre-posts and I will let people know. and then Black Canyons, Endurance Run 100K where we have Mikey Dimuanti's going.
01:03:25
Speaker
for the, I think this one, this one must be a golden ticket race. It's always a golden ticket race, I believe. Yeah, this is the super golden got golden ticket race. So there are three spots for the male and the female. So that's the last one. um Yeah, six tickets on the line. So yeah, it's going to be a big weekend. And I think the 50K is probably going to be one of the most competitive 50K races going around as well.
01:03:48
Speaker
Yeah, okay, nice. but didn we um With London Marathon as well. So yeah. Oh, wait, is it Black Canyons or is it a different name? Because I'm looking up and oh, the Canyons. It is just the Canyons, not Black Canyon. Black Canyon was in Feb.
01:04:02
Speaker
My goodness. ah Too much similar. um I think it is just called Canyons. ah Yes, I am correct there. Awesome. Canyons Endurance Run. Get that right.
01:04:14
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah, follow along Mikey there. That's all going to be on UTMB Live. um I can see it there now. So ah follow along and I will be very intrigued to see how Mikey goes and I really hope he is in the run for one of those Western States tickets.
01:04:29
Speaker
Anything else you want to throw at me, Vlad? No, it's been a big week, a lot of news, a lot of things happening and probably a lot more happening next week. Yeah. I reckon.
01:04:41
Speaker
yeah it's it's It's fun. We're getting into the busy time of the year, that's for sure. many races. Yep. Clash of the seasons all around the world. Absolutely love it. Hopefully we'll get some team announcements as well.
01:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think from what I've been told, they're meeting this coming week to do the selection. um So I think the selection panel might be meeting this coming week. and This is the Oz team we're talking about for World Champs in September.
01:05:08
Speaker
um So, yeah, hopefully soon. i'm I'm going to expect it'll be more like late May that we're here, but we'll... see how we go on that front. I'll try and get some more insider info. Not sure how much insider info I can get, but the insider info I have is that I think they're meeting this coming week. That's good. Awesome.
01:05:26
Speaker
Awesome. Well, with that, thanks for joining me, Vlad. And thanks for listening, everyone. This has been episode 54 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. If you like what we do, please do give us a rating and review. It helps a lot. We really appreciate it. And to all the people that have sent in messages in the last week after saying that we don't actually...
01:05:44
Speaker
we sometimes don't hear from too many people and it's like an interesting dynamic trying to talk to people that we don't know. i feel like I know a lot more of you now. So thank you.
01:05:55
Speaker
Very much appreciated. And we will, well, some of us will speak to you next week. I'm not sure where I'll be in the world, but that'll probably be kicking about. So speak to you next week.
01:06:07
Speaker
you guys.