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Episode 69: Pack vs Belt, Phone Map vs Watch Map, and an Aussie Gold Medal at Youth SkyRunning World Champs!
12 Plays17 minutes ago
Welcome to Episode 69 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Vlad Ixel, Sim Brick and Jess Jason and starts with the crew discussing their weeks, including some gear chat (belt vs pack) and navigation chat (watch vs phone). Jess recaps her race at Canberra Trail 100 relay, Sim gives an update on her overseas health mishaps, and Vlad begins his Euro trip in explore mode.
Then there is a big list of results this week - starting with a huge Gold Medal for Patrick Clark at the Youth SkyRunning World Championships! Then hear about some ripper races in QLD, Tassie and SA including the one of a kind Great Pyramid Race.
Results
Border bolt: https://results.sportseventservices.com.au/results.aspx?CId=16287&RId=6473&dt=2&top=3&EId=2
Great pyramid race: https://results.sportseventservices.com.au/results.aspx?CId=16287&RId=6471&EId=1&dt=2&top=5
Rainbow beach running festival: https://results.sportseventservices.com.au/results.aspx?CId=16287&RId=6472&EId=1&dt=2&top=5
Tolosa half: https://www.webscorer.com/racealldetails?raceid=399906&topn=3
TRSA Mount Crawford: https://eventstrategies.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=90&RId=611&EId=6&dt=2
Youth SkyRunning World Champs: https://www.skyrunning.com/2025-youth-skyrunning-world-championships-ranking/
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts' Locations
00:00:10
Speaker
and welcome to episode 69 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick coming to you from ah beautifully sunny Lake Annecy today which is very lovely to be looking at and Vlad Ixl is joining me, also from overseas, but I hear less on the sunny side for you, Vlad. Yeah, I'm in um rainy, cold Austria. It's been a um yeah weird start to the ah European summer trip.
00:00:38
Speaker
It's been really wet and cold, but apparently next week it's going to get better. Is it colder than when you left Oz? Like, is it that whole annoying, hang on, I thought I was at least getting slightly warmer?
00:00:50
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, Perth is probably a little bit colder in the mornings and at night. But yeah, I did like a run here and it was probably about 10 degrees when I started. And once I got to the top, it would have been like two or three degrees and wet and raining. And I had to turn around because I got so cold.
00:01:07
Speaker
um But yeah, similar weather, similar, similar weather to Perth. Damn, damn. That is not what you want when you're getting on a plane over to
Jess Jason's Race Experience
00:01:15
Speaker
Europe. from a eurowin you
00:01:19
Speaker
Apparently not. And that other voice is the one, the only Jess Jason, who is still holding down the fort for now in Oz because you do get over here eventually. um How's life going in Oz, Jess?
00:01:31
Speaker
Yeah, good. um Yeah, I feel like last couple of days it's been warm, like a toasty 15 degrees. I went for a run out in the sun today, so that was nice. I feel like we always start this with weather chat.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's fine. That's fine. Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm good. I'm happy. I'm a little bit sore. Did a race on the weekend and went pretty hard.
00:01:57
Speaker
Ah, yes, of course. forgot about this. Exciting times for to hear all about that. Yeah. Good stuff. Good stuff. Well, considering that you've just mentioned it, I reckon we start with you,
Relay Race Challenges and Strategies
00:02:10
Speaker
Jess. Give us the rundown of how your week went and the race um and yeah, what the results were. Because I haven't even heard or seen this one. I didn't do the research.
00:02:23
Speaker
So talk us through it. Yeah, it turns out it's um like a pretty big event in Canberra. So, yeah, my week started out pretty normal. um So I was coming off like a three and a half hour run on the Sunday.
00:02:37
Speaker
um Did a track session on the Tuesday, which wasn't too bad. We were doing 800 metre reps, which felt... um kind of a lot nicer on paper than what we've been doing like compared to mile reps. um But they were fast and yeah, I'm just like really struggling with that kind speed at the moment. um I feel like maybe this year because I've only really done like longer races,
00:03:04
Speaker
um I'm just feeling like I'm not really able to like hit those faster speeds that I probably have been able to um in previous years. But I'm sort of okay with it because I'm i'm training for a 45k race. So it's fine. Like I just kind of like go at my own pace and at a pace where I know that like I'll be able to bounce back.
00:03:26
Speaker
the next day and still be able to go on like a trail midweek long run and stuff like that. So just joining in with the group and trying to keep up that kind of running economy speed work stuff. um Yeah, but that was sort of my only session of the week because i was doing like a mini taper into the race on the weekend.
00:03:46
Speaker
um And the race was the Canberra Trail 100, which is won by the Sri Chinmoy um event organizers over here um and there's a solo or a relay option.
00:04:00
Speaker
um So i had sort of gotten together with a big group of people that wanted to put relay teams together. um So we had one all men's team, one all ladies team and one mixed team. um I was in the mixed team with three other guys um and we had sort of like a goal as a group to like win each of the relay categories. So um And I was on the last leg. So um fun i really wanted to do the last leg because it's sort of it it was actually the shortest leg, but it had sort of the most vert over distance. um So i was like, yeah, I'll do that one. like
00:04:35
Speaker
It sounds fun. It was like around madura um Mount Maduro and Mount Ainslie. which is some trails that I'm like pretty familiar with and um I really like running around there. so i was like, yeah, that sounds fun. um And yeah, we actually like had a baton as well. So we had to run with a baton for the whole. The whole way. Which was interesting. I like, I was running with a belt as well. So I was like trying to hold my water, trying to hold the baton. It was a bit much.
00:05:04
Speaker
Wait, like a full, as in the same size as you would have for a track 400 meter relay. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Running 24K, holding that. I'm through the mountain.
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah, normally with these sorts of things, it's like like even across country because of the distance, it's like a little thing that you wrap around your wrist and Velcro on that's what i was expecting that's what i was expecting and i think everyone else was as well and then we got on the day and i was like oh no there's a baton and i was like even if i picture someone running through the trails and they're holding like a meter track baton that is very funny to me that's and A sight. I can just also, i don't know why my head does this, but it just imagines you fall over on the trail of the bat and the baton goes flying and you're squalorized because you dropped the baton.
00:05:57
Speaker
and la Yeah, I like, I sort of started um and my, so the third runner came in maybe like 10 to 15 minutes after um the mixed team that was in the lead so i was like I've got a little of a rabbit to chase but it's a bit of a stretch but I was like oh I'll keep it in mind so that like because it's kind of a weird format because like you just go off on your own and it's like they don't close the roads or anything like that so it kind of just feels like you're going on like a long run time trial sort of thing so it's like it was nice to have someone to chase as like something that would like push me along the way
00:06:34
Speaker
um Yeah, so I sort of started like pretty fast. I was like, yeah, it was kind of I was excited because I wanted to like go hard, but um I probably didn't expect like because I hadn't really run like the route before and there was quite a few like little hills that I didn't expect at the start before we got to the first big climb.
00:06:56
Speaker
so I was like, oh, I'm already like feeling it a bit. My heart rate's going up. I'm trying to like juggle this baton and my water. um And then I started getting a bit nauseous, which I think is definitely from like stress and anxiety. Like I'm used to that feeling. um But I was trying to use like some of the techniques that I've learned to keep that at bay.
00:07:14
Speaker
um And I was just like trying to breathe and then um got to the first climb. And it's kind of like this little steep single track, like probably the most technical part of the race. um And was running up there and then there was a guy just like doing his long run.
00:07:32
Speaker
Like, he was like, are you in a race? I was like, yeah. And then I was like, how long does this go for? And he was like, oh, you're almost at the top. So I was like, thank God. um And then you sort of get to the road and it like flattens out a little bit. But I was kind of just like feeling like I was working pretty hard um and feeling a bit nauseous. And then all of a sudden i was like, oh, i need to vomit. And Um, yeah, i did a little bomb.
00:07:55
Speaker
Um, you're like the queen of mid race bombs at this point. on engine bombs Like you just, you're going to handle this sometimes for some people that like really puts off their whole race. I feel like one of your superpowers is just like, ah, get a little voice off I go.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah, it's pretty frustrating to be honest because like my legs feel amazing and i I don't feel tired but it's just like this weird reaction. I think it's like my brain's kind of, yeah, it's like some weird thing where my brain's gone, oh, no, this is what we do when it gets too much.
00:08:26
Speaker
um Yeah, yeah. But it's annoying. I'm trying to like stop that. But, yeah, it's a work for it. But, yeah, soon as it's soon as it's over, like I'm fine. um So I got to the top of the first climb.
00:08:39
Speaker
um feeling amazing. And then it comes to the descent and the descent is like one that I love. I've done it um quite a few times now and it's just like a steep, quite a steep fire road with like some like loose rocks and stuff. And I think I've gotten a lot better with those sort of descents. Like I feel like I just go pretty fast.
00:09:01
Speaker
um I didn't really, I didn't look at my paces or anything, but it feels like I'm not like scared anymore, if if that makes sense. Like I'm not breaking. um kind of just like flowing. um So that was nice. I was actually feeling a lot better on the descents and the climbs in this one. So that's a new feeling for me.
00:09:18
Speaker
um Nice. And then, um yeah, like running. So once you get to the bottom of the descent, you sort of like cross over to Mount Ainsley over some more like smaller rolling
Gear Preferences for Running
00:09:30
Speaker
hills. And that was when I saw and the late Helena.
00:09:35
Speaker
um She's, a trail runner that's done, um, like some of the ultra trial events, um, well-known trail runner in Canberra, um, who was running for the other mixed team. So, um, overtook her, gave her some words of encouragement. Um, but then I was like, yes, we're on here. Like I'm going to try and go for the win now, um, which was fun.
00:09:57
Speaker
Um, And then, yeah, I felt really good from there. Like got up the second climb. I think I got um the Strava segment up there, which I was really happy with because that kind of shows that you've like paced the race well if you can get a Strava segment like in the last climb of the race.
00:10:12
Speaker
yeah And then it finishes with like a 3K descent down like the main walking track of Mount Ainsley, which is pretty hectic because it's it's fast, like it's a paved um kind of like staircase so you can get moving down there. I think I was running like four-minute Ks and there's like all these families coming up for like their Sunday walks and they're like, what the hell are you doing? Like scared for their lives and I'm sorry.
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, and then I'm just like sprinting down Northbourne Ave trying not to um get hit by any cars and then, yeah. yeah I think I um got the course record as well. So i was pretty happy.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah. Nice. This race sounds like an absolute adventure. to joy I do love little like races that almost don't feel like races, but they are races. It almost like sets you up.
00:11:09
Speaker
mentally for, I don't know, being able to push or something, something weird about that. um But, no, that's amazing. That's so good. that And so you were Trail Mixed Emotions. Is that the name yeah of your? Yeah.
00:11:21
Speaker
Nice. Trail Mixed. Yep, I only just got there. So does that mean because you won 904.34, which for damn good time. Yeah. But won by like... he's a damn good time um yes but you won like 20 minutes so does that mean you did it like 35 minutes faster like if you got the baton little bit behind yeah I went pretty hard I think I was taking it a lot more seriously than most people I think most people were just doing it as like their Sunday long run and I was like tapering in like this is my race before worse I love that yeah
00:12:01
Speaker
And I think I was like only two seconds off the fastest male time over the course on the day. So over your section, you mean? the Yeah. Over my section. Yeah. Nice.
00:12:11
Speaker
Yeah. So was happy. Yeah. i was really happy with that big confidence boost. Oh yeah. Cause the top all male team did it in eight hours flat. They had to be taken it fairly seriously. Yeah, i um so they were part of our, like, big group that we um formed the teams of.
00:12:27
Speaker
um Oh, yeah. Yeah, they were all, like, quite good runners, like – 15 to 14 minute 5K runners. so Yeah. Nice. And did your did your crew also win the females?
00:12:39
Speaker
Yes, yeah. So in the women's team we had Chana, Bridget Lunn, Cecily, who's another great runner, um and Rachel, who was one of the guys' partners.
00:12:54
Speaker
Nice. Nice. Yeah. So they were the bloodthirsty brotherhood. Nice. Yes, yeah. But I think, yeah, they like the solo runners did really well as well because the male came in like not long after I finished.
00:13:11
Speaker
So that was pretty cool. Yeah, so 10 hours 20 for the first. yeah I think the solo went off um before the relay teams, like half an hour before. but um Yeah, yeah. Nice. I mean, it's a pretty fast 100 because it's like there's a lot of bike paths and like um paved sections and like fire roads and stuff. So I reckon it'd be a pretty good one if like anyone's came for like their first 100 and you get to like see all of the mountains in Canberra. so there you go nice way to explore yeah it was one on the solo side by ben wilson just to quickly shout them out now in 10 hours 20 and on the women's side by cassie cohen in 11 hours and three minutes so yeah definitely some fast times but and yeah how does does does doing this like does this give you confidence leading into the next block of training yeah i think so um
00:14:06
Speaker
Yeah, I felt super strong, um like pretty sore ah still and it's Tuesday but like not terrible. Like I'll be able to do a session on Thursday or Friday. So, yeah, I'm happy.
00:14:20
Speaker
um Got what I wanted, good confidence boost and a tester for um like I wore the shorts that I'll probably wear for Worlds, the ones that we were given as part of the uniform.
00:14:32
Speaker
So they have like an in beltt inbuilt belt into them. um so yeah i was happy with those I did um I put the bottle like my bottle in the front which I think it's probably better in the back because when it's in the front it kind of like hits your belly a bit um but yeah no happy with that yeah do you ever find and Vlad this is question for you too do you ever find um and this is more for longer races anything with a belt I built it belts built into shorts I find a little little better but when I'm wearing a belt
00:15:04
Speaker
um say for a long run after like four hours or so I do just find i don't know the pressure on my hips from the belt becomes a problem or like yeah like even just on my TFLs maybe I'm wearing it wrong but at the same time it's the where it like doesn't jump up and down on me and it feels really really comfortable but then I get to this point where I'm like okay I don't like the pressure but anymore um I don't know if you've done any long runs with your belts Jess where you've had that or Vlad you've raced really long yeah like the Bix belts are pretty good they're the only other ones that I've used um and I find there's like no bounce in those so Vlad's done pretty well there
00:15:45
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely feel them sometimes, but I always go like a size tighter, so there'll be less bounce. I really like the TA shorts as well, but I feel like they start coming up like on your stomach a bit, so they start like going a bit higher up.
00:16:04
Speaker
um Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it's not perfect. but Yeah, I find I'm, like, in this battle between I don't want any pressure on my stomach, so I wear the belt, like, around my hips, but then I find I get sore, like, muscles in my hips from the pressure after a really long time, which puts me off wearing a belt for, like, even if I had a bunch of support for, like, a much longer race, I'd probably put a pack on over a belt. And I see people racing 100Ks or 100 milers in belts, and I'm like, how do your hips survive? Yeah.
00:16:35
Speaker
Maybe it's just me. I would definitely prefer a belt over a backpack. I'm not a big fan of running with backpacks. I love running and, like, having not having the vest around my, like, ribs and lungs, it just makes it so much easier to breathe.
00:16:50
Speaker
wear quite loose. I don't know. But don't you feel like it's an extra layer as well? Like a like it helps with the heat as well. Yeah. Yeah, like if it's really hot, I definitely don't would prefer not to have the pack on.
00:17:03
Speaker
But then at the same time, actually, if it's really hot, the pack I find really useful because I pack it with ice. So then I find I've got a whole bunch of this massive ice on my back and you can get a bit in the front. And then I find that actually for core temperature is even better than not having it on.
00:17:19
Speaker
Like when I raced Thailand, I was cold the whole time because of my pack. I also had like a kilo of ice in the damn thing. But... Yeah, but that's obviously not that easy logistically to get ice in training runs. and No, no, yeah, in training. This is like if the race logistics allows.
00:17:37
Speaker
um I don't know. I think I'm just a more of a pack person. and There's always going to be that argument, I find. Well, not argument, but there's always the two groups of people. um Yeah, i thought I remember when um I was first getting into trials sim and um you were like showing me the handheld bottles with the straps. Oh, love them.
00:17:56
Speaker
yeah I can't deal with that. Like I hate having things in my hands the whole time. So I don't know. I feel like everyone's different. yeah Yeah, I can do that handheld maybe for like an easy uphill.
00:18:08
Speaker
um But yeah, going downhill or racing, it's not like having anything extra in my hands. But yeah, some people do really well with them, right? ramy but Yeah, yeah. older race of yeah I've raced with handhelds. I even like I still have Solomon had these that have and I still got have have like three pairs of them these gloves and you put on the gloves and the gloves have straps to hold 250 ml bottles.
00:18:32
Speaker
So just little bottles in each hand, but they're like strapped onto your hand via these gloves. And then I've raced two bays and I've raced a bunch of races with them back in the day. Haven't done it in a while because it requires quite a lot of stops.
00:18:43
Speaker
But you have like 250 mil just sitting in each hand, but you don't have to grip it because the gloves gripping it. It was possibly a very weird contraption, but I loved it.
00:18:54
Speaker
um Then it was right there for drinking. Didn't have to do a thing. But, yeah, this is where kit on trail races and that is very individual. because you'll find the mix in every race you go to. you And you see like a lot of people in like really long races because the amount, the like the increased amount of nutrition and hydration today, they have a pack and a belt as well.
00:19:16
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I've seen like a lot of people. I was tossing up doing that for CCC. I still am a little bit because we don't get any crew for the first six hours or more.
00:19:29
Speaker
like the first 55K, you can't see anyone. And as someone that doesn't eat from the aid stations, like I now have to carry 600 grams of carbs as well as all the mandatory kit, like I i can refill water.
00:19:42
Speaker
um I think I have figured out a way to do it I did do a tester that does work with just my pack um because I still carry quite a small pack trying to shove everything in. um so Like I don't want, i don't like the really big ultra packs. Like even when I'm packing everything in for CCC, my pack is technically a six-litre pack, um but everything's packed down really tight.
00:20:04
Speaker
But, yeah, I was actually thinking about doing that, Vlad, where I had the belt for the nutrition stuff but then that's also why I was asking the question about how do you stop it hurting your hips because I'm like I don't think my hips would survive but maybe I could do it for the first six hours and then you get crew yeah you get three crew points but it's like 55 and then like a few 10 15ks later and then one more um 15 like three in a row and then you're solo again so anyways the logistics Yeah, also the mandatory gear kit for the world champs came out. So the the first thing that I'm kind of reading through it, I'm like, is this going to fit in a belt?
00:20:44
Speaker
um Which it might be pretty tight because we've got to carry like an extra layer of long sleeve and long pants for the short trail. Really? double and The double up there is what gets you.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah. and um Because that plus a jacket. Yeah. And a
Navigating New Trails with Technology
00:21:04
Speaker
jacket, yeah. And obviously the blanket and a phone. So it's like could fit, but it's not going to be comfortable.
00:21:11
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So probably some testing on in a few weeks. For that length of race, you kind of want to be comfortable. I think I've also just had too many times where things have popped out of belts on me. And I'm like, I really, it's really annoying if that happens. It always happens on a downhill.
00:21:25
Speaker
Then you're going back up the hill to pick up whatever you've dropped. Yeah, you don't want that. Oh. The joys of logistics. so Fun.
00:21:35
Speaker
um Well, congratulations, Jess. That is brilliant recap to hear. I'm excited for you. um And yeah so you're just taking the first half of this week, kind of chill, and then getting back into it?
00:21:46
Speaker
that Yeah, I'm planning on doing a session later in the week. So yes. Nice. Nice, nice, nice, nice. Awesome. Well, Vlad, throwing it across to you because you, when did you travel?
00:21:59
Speaker
I feel like we haven't spoken in what, two weeks now. So somewhere in that time you ended up going from Australia to Europe. Yeah, it's been a week. So yeah, I left last Tuesday, arrived on Wednesday. So yeah, it's been a couple of runs here. My quads are on fire. um Yeah, quite a lot of downhill. So I'm definitely feeling my quads now.
00:22:20
Speaker
I am racing this weekend. So I'm going to try and take it a bit easier for the over the next few days. um But it's just so much fun arriving to a new place going on Strava, looking at and any peaks that you can reach or any uphill segments.
00:22:33
Speaker
um and just running up so yeah it's been kind of like trying to I haven't done any sessions just really trying to explore um but yeah it's been wet and slippery and muddy which hasn't been too you're sort of person that when you just go into that explore mode though you essentially end up doing sessions when you feel good and get excited about a downhill or an uphill or something like you just end up pushing harder at times.
00:22:56
Speaker
Yeah, definitely, but a bit less structured than probably what I should be doing. um But it's just been so much, like, you know, you look out of the window and you see a peak and you go like, can I actually run up there? And then you go on Strava and try and see if there's a route or a segment or, um yeah. Have you gotten any segments?
00:23:16
Speaker
No, no way. I don't try and get the segments. I just try and follow the segments because i know I don't really want to get lost. Yeah. Yeah. I look for the segments just to run them.
00:23:28
Speaker
And then also I can get a ah rough idea of how long it might take. um So if that, you know, 1200 meter climb, you know, the the record is 50 minutes. I know that if I go a bit easier, might be like an hour 10 or an hour 20. So it gives me like a rough idea of how long my run is going to be.
00:23:46
Speaker
And I just went back to my favorite run up and run down, um which is not great, for the I guess, for the for racing, longer races where you do up, down, up, down a few times.
00:24:00
Speaker
But yeah, I'll probably start being a bit smarter about training from next week after after that race. Yeah, it's six weeks, but it's going to come around pretty quick. And we have the UTMB X-ray in the middle. So that would be like a whole week of not much running.
00:24:16
Speaker
um yeah yeah what's the race you're doing it's the cat um ultra one of the utmb races 25k with 1800 meters of gain um nice down the past two years it's been wet and slippery those those two times that i've done it so yeah hopefully it's going to be dry this year nice speaking of this is a fun probably a fun little topic that might help some people even when they stay in Oz and just go to new places.
00:24:47
Speaker
um But speaking of like finding a Strava segment and then wanting to run it and not wanting to get lost, how how do you follow, like what's your process of navigating? Like in terms of how do you get it from seeing it on Strava, either onto your watch or actually navigating in real life?
00:25:04
Speaker
Yeah, you can obviously sync it to your watch, but I just have the app open and even on airplane mode. So I usually run with my phone on airplane mode, um but the blue dot keeps on moving. So yeah, I just kind of try and stay on the dot.
00:25:18
Speaker
So you hold your phone the whole time? Sorry? Like in your hat you hold your phone in your hand. Oh, no, I mean, I just open it like every, if if I feel like I don't know where I'm going, then I get my phone out. But usually, i mean, those segments are uphill segments. So as long as I'm going up, I know that I'm in the right direction.
00:25:35
Speaker
um And a lot of the times they are marked as well in, you know, being some kind of a peak. So there'll be a lot of signs and they do mark um the trails really well here in southern Germany and Austria.
00:25:47
Speaker
Yeah, yep. Jess, what do you do to navigate? A bit of both. Yeah, a bit of both. like um Usually just with the phone, like same as what Vlad does. But um sometimes I'll put it on my watch if I feel like um I don't want to like stop as much.
00:26:05
Speaker
um But, yeah, I don't know. The watch can be annoying because I find – I know if I'm doing something wrong, but I find – um If it's like a place of like really low reception, sometimes my watch doesn't like um update quick enough for a turn and it'll just miss the turn.
00:26:23
Speaker
um And sometimes it just says I'm like off course even though I am still on the course. Yeah, that'll be your watch's like GPS where it's picking you up versus where the map is. Ideally that doesn't happen. Yeah, I don't know. I find my phone's a lot more accurate than when I put on my watch. Yeah.
00:26:43
Speaker
Yeah. Fair, fair. Well, yeah, i'm ah I'm the person that, and this is for anyone that wants to do this, I'm the person that will always put it on my watch because I hate getting my phone out to navigate and I find...
00:26:56
Speaker
well, especially if you're running around in rain and stuff, Vlad, they're the times yeah I get real lost if I'm trying to rely on my phone because I can never get my phone to work. So then I need it on my watch. But um the process I always go on is sometimes I'll just look at the Strava like on my computer and then use my Suunto app to sort of map it along and around.
00:27:16
Speaker
And then it just goes straight onto your watch. Or you can on Strava, it lets you sort of download even, I think it even lets you download segments, but you can sort of, map on Strava, download the GPS, GPX, and then upload that to your watch.
00:27:30
Speaker
um And I find, well, for me, when I'm navigating, especially overseas, I find that the most useful. um Same as you would do for a race. But, yeah, it is annoying if, like, my my watch, I don't have...
00:27:41
Speaker
current watch, I don't have any trouble with it going like off route or something like that. But I don't, I make sure I don't turn on, like it doesn't tell me when to turn. I just have a line to follow.
00:27:52
Speaker
i don't want like it to tell me because it does do it either early or late or like not at the right time. So I get what you're saying there, Jess. And then I have had watches in the past where like, even I've had it during a race where it beeps and it goes, you're off route. And I freaked out that I'm off route when I'm not, it's just the tree cover makes it look like you are a little bit.
00:28:13
Speaker
So yeah it's a little bit of finesse. um But I find you, even when it like says I'm off route, I can normally at least see that I am a little, that I am still where I want to be and stuff. But yeah, don't navigating for exploration purposes when overseas or just a new place in Oz if you don't want to get lost.
00:28:33
Speaker
Yeah, obviously there's the old school, the phone, but um yeah, you can put on your watch for most people. Yeah, it's definitely a lot easier putting it on your watch right now. Like you can sync it pretty quickly.
00:28:43
Speaker
um And yeah, you can Yeah, I can do it mid-run. Yeah, yeah, you can. Yeah, I mean, um I would do it for um like if I'm trying to do like, you know, a complicated loop or something like that.
00:28:55
Speaker
But usually I just go out and back, like keep it as simple as possible. i actually really like running out and back. Just makes it so much easier mentally. Fair. I'm a loop person and I'm a loop person that gets lost very easily if it's not on my watch.
00:29:09
Speaker
Because I'm also the person that when i used to rely on my phone and not my watch before I knew that I had this ability to do this, um I would plan a loop, have it on my phone and then be too stubborn to stop and get my phone out and end up lost, even though I had it fully planned.
00:29:25
Speaker
So I'm trying to bypass my brain in this process for me. It needs to be should be coming out in back person. Yeah, I should be coming out in back person based on that, yes.
00:29:36
Speaker
But alas, I believe I'm always going to be a loop person because I want to see more stuff. So... say Fun little interlude. But um so your week in Austria, Vlad, what what stats have you got? Like how much running did you get done in a travel week? I actually managed to get 12 hours, which i was pretty happy with considering that um the day that I left last Tuesday, ah didn't do too much. And the day that I've arrived in Germany, I only did 30 minutes.
00:30:07
Speaker
And then another travel day here where where we did like a long drive, um didn't do too much. So, yeah, outside of that, managed to get 12 hours, um which
Training Plans and Health Challenges
00:30:20
Speaker
was kind of good. Not a crazy amount of elevation because the first part of the week was still back in Australia, about 5,300. Still good amount of elevation. Yeah.
00:30:28
Speaker
so a good amount of elevation yeah Yeah, no, really good. No, no, really good. But like those I can still get those numbers like back in Perth if I try to.
00:30:39
Speaker
um Hopefully, I can get few 7,000 meter weeks here in Europe um to get ready for that crazy um course for the World Champs. Yeah. What do you um think your longest long run will be in the lead up to Worlds?
00:30:54
Speaker
I would like to do at least two or three five-hour runs probably. Yeah. I just personally, I operate well when I do long runs and a lot of time on my feet.
00:31:04
Speaker
Um, so those runs might not be like super hard or they'll probably have a little bit of effort towards the end, but I just feel like personally, I need those long runs and I'd rather get them in like not too close to the race, but rather five to four weeks before the race.
00:31:23
Speaker
So I'll definitely try and do a couple of five or six hour days out on the trails. Yeah. Nice. What about you, Jess? um So far, the longest I have in my program is three and a half, but I haven't got my program for like the whole time yet.
00:31:40
Speaker
um So I might do a four hour one, but I think I'm the opposite. Like prefer to do, I prefer to just make sure that I'm recovering. And I think I'm still like a bit scared about like making the start line. So I'm just going to play it safe.
00:31:56
Speaker
Smart move. Smart move. We need to bury the bury the hatchet on that one for getting to the race um in the first place, um which I suppose is a decent segue to the update of where I'm at.
00:32:11
Speaker
Thankfully, feeling possibly like I will make the start line at least of CCC. um But yeah, my week was interesting to say the least.
00:32:22
Speaker
I think my total activity stats include one 8K run and a four hour hike and an easy bike ride. So, you know, big week.
00:32:34
Speaker
um But essentially what panned out for me was when did we record? We recorded Monday, must have been. Jeez, it's all the blur.
00:32:45
Speaker
um But, yeah, obviously being told that I had post-biral fatigue on Sunday, um i was like, cool, we do as little as possible to try and recover from this.
00:32:56
Speaker
So I still did have to travel from Poland, where I was, to Annecy, which obviously travel isn't hugely restful, but I was, like, catching Ubers everywhere instead of walking. Like even it was a K and a half.
00:33:13
Speaker
from sort of where I was staying to the airport and it was like, okay, we can Uber it. It's fine. Like I was just kind of sucking up the extra costs of catching cars everywhere to minimise my activity.
00:33:25
Speaker
Cause I did still feel pretty damn horrible. I was like constantly dizzy, still had like weird heart flutters, heart palpitations and like heartburn and all sorts of things going on.
00:33:37
Speaker
So yeah, and essentially I made it to Annecy and I finally was like, cool, arrived and got to my comm, pretty much just went to bed when I got to my comm on Wednesday, which was, I think I got in at like 2 PM into my comm.
00:33:55
Speaker
And then instead of like getting better with rest every single day, I was feeling worse. So I was like, this is like, odd and annoying um but we'll see what happens and ended up Wednesday night I was just up all night with horrible stomach pain like couldn't sleep had mum and dad on the phone at like 3 a.m 4 a.m Aussie time trying to figure out whether whether I needed to go back to the hospital or not and I was like ah swear I swear don't know what's going on um although I have
00:34:31
Speaker
I said I don't know what's going on, but it was like this weird conundrum of I have had stomach pain like that before because 10 years ago i had severe reflux and I had stomach ulcers.
00:34:41
Speaker
I've had surgery for reflux that's meant to prevent it, but that was a decade ago now. Yeah. It wasn't completely unknown to me, but at the same time it's been 10 years and it's never been paired.
00:34:53
Speaker
Last time, anything I had was never paired with like dizziness and lightheadedness. And I was really like my eyes were sensitive to light and like all the other things were like throwing me off of going, but it's everything at once now. So what's actually happening? um So, but being that I felt worse when I lay down and I was like, okay,
00:35:16
Speaker
that is maybe this, all this chest pain and everything is just reflux again, which is sad because I have had surgery that's meant to fix that, but apparently that might not be working anymore.
00:35:28
Speaker
um So I started, I found some over the counter, um and like a low dose over the counter version of like, it's called Nexium. It's just an antacid kind of tablet.
00:35:41
Speaker
um and this was where I was I was all I'd organized a doctor's appointment to go see the Solomon doctor I'd spoken to my doc in Oz and it was like this whole like trying to figure out what was going on which the biggest clue was that after a couple of days of taking two like after only two days of taking two tablets of NXIVM um I was wasn't by any means perfect but I was better and things were improving and I'm like okay here's a big clue that And this pain in my stomach was very, like in my belly, was very isolated to stomach. So i'm like, okay, we've got gastritis pretty much was what I came to the conclusion of, which then was again, i came, instead of taking two tablets, I took one tablet for a day and I got worse again. And I was like, okay, we're properly, like this is at least giving me some answers.
00:36:35
Speaker
Um, so I did in that time, ah somewhere in that way, I think maybe by Friday, day I don't remember. I did an 8K jog. Like the running felt, my legs felt amazing, but just with the dizziness, I was like, I can't keep going. Like I don' can't run until I'm not dizzy anymore.
00:36:54
Speaker
Um, so yeah, managed a bike ride because I had Matt with me finally when he arrived and managed to hike, again, feeling a bit better because I'd had the NXIVM.
00:37:05
Speaker
Then yesterday was the day I finally went and saw in person the head doctor of the Solomon um international team. And ah so like, it didn't take long of him looking at me and poking my stomach to go, yeah, you've got severe gastritis.
00:37:21
Speaker
And apparently... What happens is because your stomach can get so inflamed and there's the vagal nerve connection and the vagus nerve, which inhibits the stomach and a lot of other things, um it irritates the vagus nerve, which then causes all the vagal symptoms, which is the dizziness. It's the lightheadedness and the heart palpitations because the heart palpitations are really throwing me off.
00:37:44
Speaker
Because I was like, my heart is actually like beating in my throat and fluttering and doing all sorts of funky things. um So yeah, essentially, I found out gastritis can actually cause everything else that's been going on via the lovely vagus nerve, um which it's nice to have like an answer again.
00:38:06
Speaker
um And now I have a prescription dose medication pantoprazole that I get to take and it will Like knowing that this is the main problem, it's a good one because you go, well, here's a medication that's going to really help.
00:38:19
Speaker
And it's just a matter of go by symptoms. It also goes, well, your heart's fine. We've had that many tests on my heart and we now know what the problem is. So I'm kind of cleared on that front completely.
00:38:31
Speaker
And... Yeah, I'm semi hopeful that now that I'm taking the good stuff that's going to help and we know exactly what the problem is. um And it also it explains the sudden chest pain in the race as well because I was obviously i was taking in gels and all those sorts of things and if I was getting really bad reflux and the gastritis was causing problems, I know for me that I actually feel it quite a lot in my chest.
00:38:59
Speaker
So at the time, I didn't have any prior clues to say this is my stomach. So that's why I was a bit freaky. But um now it's like every time my chest hurts a bit, I'm like, ugh, reflux, I hate you.
00:39:12
Speaker
um But yeah, that that's me for now with the hope that I do get to at least um start, me and Matt have had booked in for months, the TMB hike.
00:39:26
Speaker
which is the full lap of Mont Blanc, 170Ks, although we are now factoring in many shortcuts via gondolas, et cetera, to do the TMB hike starting this Thursday, so in two days. so um So the drugs have three days to work to get me to able to hike all day.
00:39:46
Speaker
ah But I'm hoping like originally the hike was meant to be this like gap in between massive weeks of running. Um, so i was going to, this week was leading up to Thursday was meant to be a really big running week.
00:40:00
Speaker
Then I do hiking for six because we're doing the whole thing in six days, which I think is like 30 Ks a day or so, um, of hiking. And then was meant to have another week and a half of really good training off the back of it.
00:40:13
Speaker
Now it's looking like this hike essentially is going to work as my rebuild, um, in a way, which could go great. could mean I'm just very slow off the back of the hike and a week and a half of not doing much running.
00:40:26
Speaker
um But it is what it is at this point and I'm going to just work with what I've got, I think. And I can at least do the hike because honestly having to cancel that would have been another freaking blow to the guts and it's there's no refunds on any of the chalets or and other the um there anything we've booked. so I'm very glad that I still get to do that.
00:40:52
Speaker
And I am going to go for a run today ah after this to see how that feels again, because I'm not dizzy. was amazing, actually. I went and saw, so I saw the Solomon doc and then they have their osteo there as well.
00:41:04
Speaker
And he did like, as soon as he pressed on sort of my diaphragm and my stomach area, he was like, oh, no movement. And I'm like, yeah, no movement. It's like tight and sore.
00:41:15
Speaker
um But he did all these adjustments to my back and then straight away sat up and I'm like, I'm not dizzy. For like the first time in days, I'm not dizzy. What did you just do to me?
00:41:26
Speaker
And please, how do I keep doing that? ah And, yeah, he explained that like the parts, there was parts of my spine and stuff that were a bit out of whack. And then as he adjusted it and then also he released off the diaphragm at the front and a few things that would have been adding to the vagal nerve irritation.
00:41:44
Speaker
And then it was like within a space of 10 minutes, I improved so much. And I was like, okay, your magic. But also it again sort of showed what the problem is.
00:41:56
Speaker
I was like, had I known that this was the problem, I would have gotten whatever the adjustment you just did a week ago. um but But alas, um here we are a week later.
00:42:07
Speaker
And Yeah, I suppose that's my update. I have no idea, absolutely no idea what this is all going to mean for CCC at this point. Like, ah do I now have confidence I can make the start line? Yes.
00:42:18
Speaker
Am I shattered that I'm going to possibly not be anywhere near as fit or healthy or able to push as I want it to be? Also, yes. But life does this.
00:42:31
Speaker
So don't know. We'll see. So you're going to take the antacids for the next couple of days and then? So gastritis like this takes a while to get on top of. So it's actually it's two weeks of a big dose of antacids every day and then another four weeks of a lower dose.
00:42:49
Speaker
There is also a bunch of other things that if I was in Oz I would get. There's things you can get that like slippery. o um If I can find it here anywhere I will get it. But little like herbicubles.
00:43:00
Speaker
herbal things that can certainly help in terms of coating the mucosal layer of the stomach. um But it's that it's reducing acid load in the diet. um So you're trying to just be very kind to my stomach.
00:43:15
Speaker
Essentially... uh yeah that might be the i just have to like have a bunch of alkaline food with the coffee and then the acid is still low so you know anyway i don't know if i want to give myself a headache again with the withdrawal we're in a bit of a conundrum there but essentially it's like gastritis is just my entire stomach is inflamed so it's trying to reduce inflammation in the body and but anti-inflammeds are not going to help. Anti-inflammeds are actually bad for the stomach and can cause this.
00:43:49
Speaker
So, yeah, the way of doing it is reducing acid in the stomach as much as possible, which long-term you really actually don't want to do because it affects digestion. Like it affects a whole bunch things.
00:44:00
Speaker
It affects your iron absorption and stuff. Yeah, yeah. Like for all I know, this could have been like slowly simmering away in the background and that's why I was low iron before I came. Like it's why – I was like a little more tired as well because i wasn't absorbing food as much.
00:44:16
Speaker
um Like, cause other thing that was really hard over the last week is while it was really bad, I could hardly eat. And then I was like, well, now am I just dizzy? Cause I haven't eaten like, and like what's causing what here now? So now that I can eat again, I already feel better on that front.
00:44:33
Speaker
So yeah, I'm hoping it's a fairly quick improve from here. The fact that I could hike, And my heart rate was perfectly normal and everything felt fine on Sunday. um And that was like we did 13Ks with 1,000 metres up and down. So it wasn't a gen – like it was slow but it was also hills and stuff and I still can get some of that conditioning in.
Simone's TMB Hiking Plans
00:44:57
Speaker
um So, yeah I'm confident I can do something.
00:45:03
Speaker
um don't know. Have you had gastritis, Jess? When you messaged, I wasn't sure. um That's what my doctor thought that I have been going through, like with my family and stuff.
00:45:16
Speaker
So i was taking the same medication as you for the two weeks. But, yeah, I'm not sure. i Yeah, the test result hasn't come back yet, so I'm still waiting to. Do you know what they were testing for?
00:45:27
Speaker
A whole bunch of things, like yeah um bugs and, like, stomach bugs and um gastritis and, like, stomach inflammation. um yeah h pylori is the name one main one they look for in the stomach in terms of causing like ulcers and stuff like that um which i had the test for i spent 360 euros on blood tests this week it's great oh my god really good that's only like 4 000 australian dollars not that much Yeah, something like that.
00:45:59
Speaker
something like that I am trying to put a travel insurance claim in to hope I can get back the because I then add the cost to the hospital as well. So it's been an expensive week of travel, but it's it was one of those things where because we just didn't know what was wrong, it's like get the blood, like i want you want all the blood tests to check the pancreas, the liver and all of the other things as well to make sure.
00:46:27
Speaker
And then obviously so many blood tests to check my heart. Anyways, it's been a week. But fingers crossed, it gets kind of better from here. And I'm very happy that I at least get to go hiking about the mountains and give my body a time, hopefully, to recover um while doing that.
00:46:47
Speaker
It's probably almost a good thing that I can't launch straight back into hard training. Yeah, that's true. How many days does the hike go for? Six days. Is that a fully organised tour or is you guys just booked chalets?
00:47:02
Speaker
No, we just book um we just booked the ones. We were fairly late in booking. And so when you're trying to do the TMB, there's websites where you can go in you can see what's available. And our schedule kind of got dictated by what refugios we could actually get into.
00:47:21
Speaker
um so we are shortening... day one in the way that we can add that on to day six if we feel good enough to do it. The last part, like we're starting at a different point just to make the first day easier.
00:47:35
Speaker
But we do have a massive thirty seven k day with day two hiking. Um,
00:47:42
Speaker
on day two hiking um because that was the only two in that area. There was only two places that had any beds left at all.
00:47:53
Speaker
And that was the distance between them. So we have one massive day um and then ah but a few like 30K days instead. and it's Actually, it's a massive segment of tourism that goes to Chamonix and the towns around is that oh yeah so many of them now like it's yeah it's become like ah a must-do thing for a lot of hikers well it's spectacular like the scenery and everything we are doing um provided the trails are fine we are doing like a few of the detours that go instead of sticking quite low to the valleys they go over the like coals and the mountain passes um but
00:48:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's just, it's so well set up for it because essentially we are hiking, but in our backpack, all you have to have is your food for that one day and your clothes for the trip.
00:48:46
Speaker
Because as soon as you get into the place, they feed you dinner, you then get a bed, obviously, and then they feed you breakfast. They give you lunch for the next day to then put in your pack to take off with you.
00:48:58
Speaker
And you're good. Like you don't have to, you don't have to take any like cooking stuff. You don't have to take tents. People can do it that way. And people do do it that way because it's a lot cheaper.
00:49:09
Speaker
But just in terms of being able to do a through hike, how we're doing it, it's super lightweight packs and you just get to enjoy the mountains for a day, get there at the other end. Someone's cooked you a hot meal.
00:49:20
Speaker
They're catering for my gluten-free the whole way around because they're used to doing it now for so many tourists. And Yeah, the setup's amazing. When I was looking into it, i was like, okay, I can see why people do this.
00:49:31
Speaker
They do normally do it. I think the traditional is like 11 days instead of 11 or 12 days. um And we're trying to do it over six, which when we booked it, Matt promised me he would be up for. And I'm hoping we can drag him around because for a while there, we were wondering who, which one of us is going to be the rate limiting factor.
00:49:52
Speaker
um But I still think it might be him.
00:49:55
Speaker
What's the price difference between doing it like on your own, like you are doing it and compared to like doing it through an organized tour operator with a guide? Good question. Very good question. um I haven't looked into too many of the tours.
00:50:11
Speaker
I think I saw one that was maybe 9,000 euro or Obviously, you've got to get over here. Ours so ours is costing the price.
00:50:24
Speaker
it's It's interesting because you go through three countries. The French chalets are quite cheap. They're like 50 euros a night. ah The Italian ones are around 70 euros a night. We only have one night there. And then we have two nights in Switzerland and they turn out to be like 80 or 90 Swiss francs a night. So yeah.
00:50:43
Speaker
so Those nights get expensive, um but that's essentially if you were to just to do it and the way we're doing it over five nights, they're your costs.
00:50:54
Speaker
Like that would be the entire, that and um you pay about 15 euro or 15 Swiss francs a day for the lunch that they pack you. But you can do that. we You can get food elsewhere if you want it or pack more food.
00:51:08
Speaker
um So you can keep the lost costs quite low when you're doing it yourself. Our costs will go up a little bit because we're taking essentially every available, there's not that many, there's only two, maybe three available gondolas and they add about 20 euro a pop.
00:51:26
Speaker
But on the whole, in terms of what we're trying to do and the services provided, like year it's pretty cheap and the I imagine you could probably get a guide one fairly competitive rates at this point because so many people do it.
00:51:42
Speaker
But I'm not sure how many do like a six-day version. A lot of them are 10, 11, 12 days. Yeah. um And you have to have them booked so far in advance if you want to get all the main because there's like the very the main stages which have specific refugios that they stop at.
00:52:01
Speaker
Yeah. And those ones you will book out really quickly. We're staying in like offhand ones that are like between normal stages and stuff. because And how different is that to the UTMB course?
00:52:16
Speaker
um it's It stays a lot higher um at times because it goes into less towns. Because UTMB, there's a few places where it has to route differently in terms of just to get to an aid station.
00:52:30
Speaker
um But there's certainly parts where the the the interesting thing with the TMB is, yes, there's a traditional route, but there's a whole bunch of options you can choose. So I haven't even looked at the UTMB course but to see which option I'm taking.
00:52:43
Speaker
But I do know that there the CCC course um is different out of Cormier, but the CCC course is also different in terms of the UTMB course. We have a different loop out. um But I think out of Cormier and all the way to Champagne-Lac, it would be,
00:53:00
Speaker
and even possibly the Triont, it would be the same. um ah But then the TMB route itself goes all the way up to Brevant, which UTMB doesn't go anywhere near because UTMB goes along the valley um through Les Uches and then up and over.
00:53:18
Speaker
um whereas on So flagier from Fliger, which is the final climb in UTMB, the TMB keeps going up quite a lot more. um So it stays a lot higher on that side.
00:53:30
Speaker
um So, yeah, similar-ish, but if you ask me, the hike is probably just more scenic because you're staying out in mountain huts and you're not trying to duck into places where they can have aid stations, et cetera.
00:53:42
Speaker
And I guess technically a bit less elevation. ah No, from what I can tell. um From the UTMB map. As in UTMB has less or TMB has less.
00:53:54
Speaker
Well, if UTMB has to go up and down to towns a bit more, it should have a little bit more. It's got 10,000 meters of gain.
00:54:03
Speaker
No, I think TMB still has that or more, maybe 11,000, depending on which route you take. yeah Because you go higher at times um than UTMB does. So you gain it all back.
00:54:17
Speaker
um It's, yeah. Both of them do a lap of the mountain just in very slightly different ways. Like you could do the TMB just by hiking the UTMB. um yeah But I think from what I could tell, there was times I was like, oh, why would I want to do that when I can stay in the mountains um and hike along different trails?
00:54:35
Speaker
Yeah. Anyways, I can report, I won't be on next week because I'll be in the middle of the hike, but I can report back in two weeks what it is exactly like. And yeah, it is meant to be sort of a lifetime kind of experience thing. And there's so many of the trails around the mountain, um especially on the Italian side, I haven't seen.
00:54:52
Speaker
So this was my way of checking the course as well because I haven't seen ah good portion of the CCC course. So um yeah, I'll be checking as much of the course as I can, just very slowly and not running.
00:55:05
Speaker
um ah Well, at times I might try and run if my pack lets me. Depends on the weight of the pack. Sometimes I think it can be deleterious to like try and run with a pack that's too heavy. um but Yeah, should be some good strength training.
00:55:21
Speaker
Yes, exactly. My legs will at least be strong. I don't know what the fitness levels will be like and I don't know what my running capabilities will be, but I will be strong. And like I still did have such a good block up until process Well, it's been with the travel two weeks of not great.
00:55:37
Speaker
So, yeah, we'll see. Did you purposely like schedule this hike in as training for CCC? Yeah, it was meant to be. So it was meant to be like I had in my block because it start we start on a Thursday.
00:55:52
Speaker
So I sort of had a big Monday, Tuesday running, easy Wednesday, and then six-day hike. But one of those days, um instead of following where Matt will hike, I was going to extend it to follow the CCC course and just try and either hike or jog a little bit as fast as I can.
00:56:08
Speaker
And that so that was just one of those days. But it's still 170Ks in six days on feet. So I was like, well, that still seems like good-ish training to me. um And then because we end on like a Tuesday, so then I had the rest of that second week to sort of run.
00:56:24
Speaker
And i was like, this seems like it fits. um So, yeah.
Race Results and Highlights
00:56:30
Speaker
you I mean, I'm sure if you are feeling better, you can just, Matt would just hike and you just run out and back out and back out and back the whole life.
00:56:39
Speaker
We've already joked that that might be.
00:56:44
Speaker
That would be the most annoying thing. Yeah, pretty much. Although it might come in handy because you have to get to the shallot to the um places you're staying every night by 7pm for dinner. um And so on our really long day, I'm like, I may have to run ahead and just tell them we are alive and we are coming. Please save us food.
00:57:03
Speaker
ah So there may be a bit of that. But Matt did say if i have failed to if I have to run ahead to get to the place, then, yes, I must run back, get his pack off him and then go with again.
00:57:15
Speaker
So we'll see. will see. But anyways, that's my recap. It's thankfully at least a little better than last week. So we'll pray that better that um it keeps improving.
00:57:30
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:58:00
Speaker
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00:58:19
Speaker
And with that, let's get back to the show. Now, taking us to results this week, we have quite a few results. So exciting times. um Seems that Queensland was all over it in terms of races um down in Tassie.
00:58:33
Speaker
They had the Telosa, but I'm going to start off with just really exciting result in terms of Aussie overseas. And that was from the youth sky running world champs, which happened in Italy.
00:58:47
Speaker
um We had Patrick Clark. Actually, i should check what Aussies might've been there, but this was the one that was sent through. So Patrick Clark on the youth A category,
00:58:58
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure what the different categories are because there's A, B and C. and But in Youth A, he won the vertical kilometre, which was 3.8K with 1,033 metres climb.
00:59:12
Speaker
So he got gold there. And then in the Sky Race, which was two days later, he came third. So he got bronze. And that was 23 Ks with 2,226 metres.
00:59:25
Speaker
So some brutal stats. But the combined results of coming first in the VK and third in the um Sky Race meant that he won. He got gold in what they call the combined youth world champions.
00:59:40
Speaker
So we have a world champion as of these were over the weekend, um August 1st and August 3rd. So... Yeah, Aussie world champ at sky running.
00:59:52
Speaker
Love that. Definitely, like, not a surprise given, like, how he ran at Buffalo. Like, he's just so good at the climbs and, like, because he's so young, he's just going to get better and better. Do you know how old Patrick is? i was trying to look this up. um He's still at school. Like, Mikey's his teacher.
01:00:09
Speaker
Mikey DeMantis. Yeah. yeah
01:00:14
Speaker
That is great. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure what year. I think maybe like maybe 16. So like year 11 or something. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Still, what a result. absolutely Like it's just exciting for future results as well too. Hey, but.
01:00:29
Speaker
Yeah, for now, Patrick, if you are listening, and his dad, I think it was, well, Troy Clark on Instagram did send through the results. um And, yeah, so I'm hoping if not patrick if Patrick isn't listening, at least his dad might be. And, yeah, congratulations, Patrick, and celebrate and enjoy the win for now.
01:00:51
Speaker
ah So that's unless, Vlad, do you have any other overseas results you've seen? I haven't seen haven't really seen too much, yeah. Cool, cool. Jess, do you happen to have the Telosa results open? I'm just springing this on you now.
01:01:07
Speaker
I can open it now. We had, oh, Maggie Lennox taking out the ladies race. So she came first in 1 49 and then Gemma Blackfield second in 1 hour 55 and Hannah McRae was third 1 hour 57. So some big names there.
01:01:28
Speaker
um and hannah mcrae was third in one hour fifty seven some big names there um And then in the men's we had Gerald McPherson, the first man, in one hour 35, Charles Gunn in second in one hour 38, and Alex Hunt in third in one hour 38.51, so about 40 seconds um behind Charles.
01:01:56
Speaker
So good racing there. Nice. And both Alex and Maggie on the podium, so two... The partner's there and this will be Maggie's first race after giving birth.
01:02:09
Speaker
oh that's amazing. Back in March. It had to be March because she brought little three-day-old Harry to Kunanyu.
01:02:18
Speaker
Yeah, and that's that's a really um solid win as well. She won bye like over five minutes. so yeah. Yeah, I wonder that there's every chance that was a, I could be giving her this and it not be true, but I think I saw something maybe about a course record possibly.
01:02:36
Speaker
um But either way, it's a very, very strong run from Maggie and bodes well for her return from postpartum. So exciting times.
01:02:47
Speaker
ah Now up in Queensland, few quite a few results um that went down because there seemed to be three relatively big races up there. First up, there was the border bolt, um which I think literally runs between the border of New South Wales and Queensland along the trails there. And the the There was two races, the 31K and the 22. In the 31, it was won on the men's side by Daryl Hill in 2 hours 35 and on the women's side by Ella Heinegger in 2 hours 59.
01:03:23
Speaker
Then there was the 22K, which on the women's side um was fairly stacked because it was won by Joanna Hepton, who people may remember that name from winning BTU, so it's good to see Joanna.
01:03:38
Speaker
um again in Queensland and she won by quite a way in an hour 44. um In second was Regan Ellis in one hour 53 but then in third was Megan Coffey in two hours and six who people may also remember from UTA being the winner of the Mylar.
01:03:59
Speaker
um So yeah cool results there in that 22k on the women's side and then the men's Eddie Keough got the win in an hour 40.
01:04:10
Speaker
ah In second was Sam Pearce in an hour 42. And actually in third male, he was an hour 40, it was Brad Aird in an hour 44, 28. So he was three seconds behind Joanna, which means Joanna was first female and third overall.
01:04:25
Speaker
So very, very strong running there. Then I'm going to take us to the Rainbow Beach Trail Festival. um Now, this one is one for the ladies because in terms of the results, because in the marathon, the first four outright were female.
01:04:45
Speaker
um And that was Halshilt came first in 3 hours 29.12. Beth McKenzie was second in 3 hours 36.38. beth mackenzie was second in three hours thirty six thirty eight Zoe Manning was third in 3 hours 38.15. And I'm also going to shout out Ella McCartney in 3 hours 40.30 because I know she was up there running with them for a lot of the race.
01:05:10
Speaker
But, yeah, the girls on that one. um Then on the men's side, Neil Uri got the win on the men's for 3 hours 49. Kyle Wilmot, second in 3 hours 52. And Chris Beasley, third in 3 hours 53. Wow.
01:05:24
Speaker
three So nice and close there. But did you see much of this, Jess? i was ah loved following along. I think Beth was sharing the story of how there was full four women as the first four across the line.
01:05:35
Speaker
Yeah, she was just like, looked like she was just out on a Sunday long run with the girls. I know. But um yeah, no, it looks like a beautiful course. Like, yeah.
01:05:49
Speaker
lot of sand. Yeah, definitely a lot of sand. Yeah. you' did Yeah, you'd hope so. Yeah, Melissa, like I had a look into her results. She's like crushing it. um She seems to be an ex-triathlete and you mostly does trial races in Queensland. But, yeah, it'd be good to see her venture out um to some other races a bit further south and see how she goes against some of the other runners. But, yeah.
01:06:20
Speaker
Well, yeah, she was super strong in this one already. I think every run she's put together is of like even if you just look at the time, it's super duper strong, especially this year. So well done again, Mel.
01:06:33
Speaker
um Now one more race, which I think you might know a little bit about, Vlad, or you seem to have at least looked a bit into, ah which happened up in Queensland, was one that I didn't know exist called existed called the Great Pyramid Race.
01:06:47
Speaker
So, Vlad, tell us tell me what you know about it first. Oh, no, don't know that much. um how You know a little bit. ah Yeah, I just saw a picture of this crazy pyramid-looking mountain um up in North Queensland. And, yeah, Billy ran it and Josh ran it, Josh Chuck, so they finished first and second.
01:07:05
Speaker
um Josh used to live in Perth and move to to Queensland. But, yeah, it looks like a pretty cool race and pretty close to a VK. Yeah, so as far as I can tell, it's 3Ks flat into a 3K climb.
01:07:19
Speaker
um that climbs 922 meters in 3ks into a 3k descent that also drops 922 meters into 3k flat.
01:07:31
Speaker
um So it looks wild. Like even just the um just the elevation graph is, yeah, really cool. But the gradients near the top, so I'm looking at, I could only find the Strava of... um Matthew Romano, who he came third.
01:07:50
Speaker
um So for the results here, it was Billy Curtis in first in an hour 23. I think that was a course record. Joshua Chug second in an hour 25. And then Matthew Romano third in an hour 30.
01:08:01
Speaker
um On the women's side, Rebecca Gibbs first an hour second an hour 48. And Rebecca Elliott third an hour 54.
01:08:12
Speaker
But yeah, when I found Matthew Strava, it ah based at least based on the Strava stats, the first K of the climb climbs 218 metres, the second K 244, and then the last K 377. Whoa. So even Matthew Romano, who came in third male, that kilometre for him was a 19-minute kilometre.
01:08:36
Speaker
Wow. It must be like lots of crambling. I assume so. i don't know. But just looking at these stats now has me going, oh my gosh, i have to try this race.
01:08:47
Speaker
Yeah. that yeah Because then then it's a but you just bomb straight back down the same way you went up. So you turn around and drop that. So which, yeah, like when I'm looking at the gradients on um Strava, there's parts of the descent, like ascent and descent, that are like minus 42.2%, straight into like minus minus like yeah fallen off a cliff um on the way back down.
01:09:18
Speaker
But, yeah, that looks like a cool race and 12K total, so fairly short um on the whole distance. But at the same time, I didn't know that a race like with that much climb, I don't know, and descent in such a short distance even existed in us at this point. yeah So it's up in um Cairns, I think. Is is that right, Vlad?
01:09:41
Speaker
It's not it just like under Cairns, so not that far from Cairns, but yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I saw when I was looking it up, there's like news articles in the Cairns post and stuff. So was like, okay, it's got to be somewhere nearby. But yeahp um yeah, cool to see Billy out there.
01:09:58
Speaker
And yeah, a wild looking race. Got to go check it out. a Good um training for him going into Worlds. Yeah. Yeah, especially for that steepness. so And, yeah, it wasn't too, what, that wasn't, the distances weren't too far between the podium at all. So, yeah, good run by Josh Trug there
Episode Wrap-up and Future Plans
01:10:18
Speaker
as well. um now last results because these ones were from TRSA, the last ones to call it out this week. They had their run at Mount Crawford.
01:10:30
Speaker
ah Big thank you to Brett Merchant. He's the one that's been feeding us all the results and some inside info from South Australia at the moment. So anyone that does want to do that, feel free to hit up our Insta DMs. it It makes life a little easier.
01:10:45
Speaker
um But, yeah, apparently it was just a perfect conditions day for the Mount Crawford run. And in the 24K, it was won by Nick Muxlow in an hour 43.
01:10:56
Speaker
And the women's side Ava Clayton got the win in two hours Oh, wow. Two hours, 17, 10. ah ten Then in second was Ada Baranoff in two hours, 17, 28. And third was Brogan Baraglia in two hours, 17, 39.
01:11:12
Speaker
So 30 seconds between first and third on the women's side in the twenty four k and Second in the men's was Tom Madden in an hour 45. And then third was Andrew Heitman in an hour 46. So they do a damn good job of getting competitive close racing in SA.
01:11:30
Speaker
um So exciting there. Then just quickly, the 17K was won by Clay Smith on the men's side and Megan Semzak on the women's side.
01:11:44
Speaker
I'm talking about SA, maybe just a quick shout out to Fraser Darcy who ran a 5K PB the other day, 1413. So looking pretty fit for Sydney Marathon followed by the world champs, which should be pretty exciting if he gets his mountain legs right.
01:12:03
Speaker
Well, he's been clocking like 210K weeks, week wake after week, or close to. Yeah. um If you hear his training, he's on the FTK podcast at the moment um and he details all his training and it is wild um what he's managing to do at this point.
01:12:24
Speaker
But yeah, I think he's been over 200Ks a week for weeks. um Definitely fit. ah Definitely. Yeah. It'd be interesting to see like what um the mountain running courses are like, but I just wonder like if you're so super road running fit, it could be like frustrating jumping into like a technical race and like not moving fast.
01:12:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think the uphills would be okay. The downhills could be, um, yeah could be like, you know, the point that he slows down a bit or other like good, really good road runners slow down a bit, but I don't know.
01:12:57
Speaker
I think, um, Fraser is pretty strong generally as well. Yeah. i do as well Yeah. yeah We'll see. We might have to, we'll have to get him on before, um, we'll get him on before world champs to see how the transition goes between the two.
01:13:11
Speaker
Um, And then how he's feeling because when is the end of August? I think he mentioned that he might be, um, going to Europe for a couple of weeks before Sydney.
01:13:23
Speaker
Before Sydney. Yeah. And then back to Sydney and then back to Europe. Yeah. So I'm not sure if that's still on the cards for him. But yeah, when I spoke to him after Gold Coast, that's what he said, that he's going to go to Europe for a couple of weeks and then go back to Sydney.
01:13:40
Speaker
I guess Sydney was a paid trip for him because he did really well last year or the year before. Yeah. And then, yeah, he's going to go to Spain. Interesting.
01:13:53
Speaker
Man, so much of what Fraser does intrigues me. I'm like, okay, yeah and I now need reasonings behind this. Please help. um But no, he's always got he's always got a good answer, although seems to pull from ah many different coaching philosophies, which I actually love.
01:14:08
Speaker
um I'm all about the vibes-based pulling from many areas training. So anyways, I think that ties up our our episode for this week. What have you guys, Jess, what have you got coming up?
01:14:20
Speaker
Anything exciting in the next little bit? um Not really. Oh, I got some new shoes to try, which I'm excited about. um Fuji Speed 4s. Nice.
01:14:32
Speaker
New shoe day is always a fun day. Yep. Yep. exciting and Vlad what about you what you've got the race this weekend and that's in Australia yeah we're doing the expo and then um the race on the Saturday and then drive down to Italy as well so yeah should be fun nice couple of days nice nice awesome yeah and just a very long hike for me and hopefully continuing to improve so that ties up it's our episode yeah yeah um
01:15:04
Speaker
That ties off our episode 69 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. Thank you so much, everyone, for listening. As always, we are always open for feedback, questions, results, anything, of the above.
01:15:16
Speaker
yeah, thanks heaps, guys. We'll speak to you next week. See you, guys. See you.