Because you guys were in the radio studio, just went into radio mode and I'm like Lame and Brawny are absolutely in their element here. And now we're coming back to my studio. We're going back to some serious. Things true? Yeah. All right, you good? All right, here we go in the beginning runs the Gold Coast Marathon. We are back and full compliment today. Everyone back on deck. Courtney, welcome back. Thank you.
Welcome. I, I appreciated the banter of me not being here and I thought, well, maybe I'll just stay out of it. It was a good episode, you know, Very good. Episode Take a day off. You pay the price. Benita, how are you? Good. Yeah, Yep, feeling pretty good. We'll get to how I'm feeling very shortly, but Bronte, hello the A grade student of the marathon preparation. Stop it. I'm still not writing notes in my app, which I don't know if my coach is gonna call me up on.
Someone at work called me up on it today. I said you're not writing Bonita notes. I said no. She can see how I'm tracking a lot. This is an interesting thing from a coach perspective. Well, actually, let's ask Bonita. We're 7 1/2 weeks out. Yeah. Would you like Bronte to start writing your notes? I, I reckon 'cause I don't see notes, I think Bronte's going really well.
So yeah, so there's no I she knows that she can let me know if there's anything going on and anything to be worried about, but. Exactly. Yeah, that was my reasoning. She. Didn't she didn't move one of her harder long runs to a Monday? I did, yeah. Which is great because if you need to move and then I just adjusted the week before she, yeah, she needed to let me know anyway. 7 1/2 weeks out. Yep. How do you think? Let's start with Bronte. Let's start with Bronte. How's she going?
Yeah, Bronte's doing awesome. Yeah, Look, she's ticking everything off. I think she's doing the optional runs if she wants to, but you don't. You don't always do them. She's had a few races. She's got another one coming up, but yeah, she's doing really well. She's recovering really well. I think Bronte's going fantastic. I couldn't, couldn't ask for any more for what Bronte's doing. She's doing really well. I'm even running a bit slower. I'm learning to run a bit slower, which is, but I
understand why now we do that, especially over the weekend. 27 KS at a slower pace than I've probably am used to running, but felt better running at 6:20 than I did running a lot less distance a lot faster. So I get it. I'm starting this. It's all coming together now. How did you? Because that was one of the things when we started this, one of the questions you had was about these sessions where you say, can't I just get the distance done as quickly as possible.
Well, did you notice something during that 27 K's as you slowed down? Was it you still having to hold yourself back from wanting to run faster? Or I think it was actually probably that half marathon that I did where I just gassed myself right at the very beginning and it was so unenjoyable. It was probably my least enjoyable run that I've ever done. And I just, I don't want to feel like that again. So I know that the training, the reason that we're doing is so I
don't feel like that. So yeah, it was just like a really good kind of check in of being like follow the programme. It there's a reason why Bonita is so good and why we are so lucky to be following it. And now the proof is in the the pudding. Is it getting easier? Is running getting easier? It is. It is. It's, yeah, to say 27 KS so casually and to be able to tell people that I do that now is
remarkable. And even it being able to run in different elements, I think that's what I've been really testing myself over the last couple of weeks because some advice somebody gave me is running it all. Like, you don't know what the weather's going to be like when you wake up on that day. You don't know how you're going to be feeling. So even on Saturday night, I had a hour and a half run to do. It was pouring with rain here on the Gold Coast. Yeah, but I was like, who knows?
You wake up on July 6th and it's raining. You've just got to be able to run. So 16 KS in the rain. And it was. I actually liked it. So yeah, I'm a freak now. I'm a freak for rain all in. All in all, in the last few, I'm just trying to think of the last few years of Gold Coast Marathon. It's generally rain for the half and then cleared up OK, but we've had pretty average weather for what should be a good part of the year.
Yeah, yeah, we've had we've had a lot of rain and I think too it's you've got to practise running in the rain. And I always find like wearing like a cap or a visor helps because sometimes the rain can like really hit your face. But, and even the sort of shoes, like when I was an athlete, there was particular racing flats that I used to wear in the 'cause I had more grip on the road and other shoes, they made me slide. Hmm. So it's good to practise. Yeah, just never know.
Yeah, I feel confident in it now, which is really nice, and the body feels OK. What are you running? What shoes are you running in 'cause you were having drama with the the nylon things the other week, The whatever? On Cloud Monsters, I haven't gone back to them yet because they really did give my calves a bit of a, a rough trot. I'm all in on the Zuccone's sock knees. All in sock knees. Yes, I love them. Yeah, right back on, right back on them.
But I also rotate him with the ASICS for the longer, slower, bouncier runs. And yeah, that's kind of it. Yeah. Are you any closer to picking a shoe that you'd wear or we're still, we're still in that process? No, this is what has been freaking me out this week is some of the people that I'm looking at doing the marathon with. They're all in their shoes, shopping time and I don't know what to do. I really like the Saccones. What would you recommend Monet from a timeline perspective?
Yeah. All right, so 7 1/2 weeks out, when should Bronte be having decided on that shoe? If she's gonna buy a special shoe for the race and wearing it in, doing some runs in it, what's the rough timeline on that sort of stuff? Look, I think about four weeks out or so, but it's good to have a race practise so you know you've got a race coming up. It's good to practise, but
probably not in brand new shoes. You know, like if you've, if you've worn a pair of shoes before and you're buying the exact same 1, I don't think you need more than a week to have a few runs in it and wear it in a bit. But if it's a shoe that you haven't worn before, you definitely need a few of the long longer runs just to see. I think blisters is a big thing. Yeah. And you don't want to be getting blisters in the race.
And, you know, you need to be to practise at race pace as well as sort of making sure that it feels good jogging too. But yeah, but sometimes races, actual races is good simulation to try new shoes and and things like that as practise. But yeah, but this one you've got coming up, it's only in a week, so. This one I I did buy new shoes for because it's a trail and a road run. Yeah. So what have you gone with? That's this race. This is the GC30, right? So this is the main beach? Yep, Yep.
Right. These are suckney endorphin pros. Yeah, yeah. OK. That's popular at the moment. Yeah, so these are my first like race day shoes because Yep, seen all of the bouncy race day shoes that everyone else is on. What made you choose them on I've got to? Ask I love the brand. I just really like all my runs when I wear those shoes. What is it? Zaccone or Saucony? Well, if you're Courtney, it's Zacconi, and if you have everybody else who's sent us threatening messages, it's Saucony.
Great. I love Zacconi, I really enjoy. But if you're interested in getting a relationship with them. I enjoy Saucony. There you go. I don't know, I I just really like the feel of those shoes when I run. I never feel like sometimes I don't don't like the feel of other brands, whereas those feel really consistent. And I just read that these were good trail and running shoes. That's enough, right? Yeah. And Saucony, they're, they're really good running brands.
So, you know, some of these shoe companies, they've got shoes for all different sorts of sorts of events and sorts of sports. Yeah. And I was sponsored by Saucony before my last Olympics. And. Yeah, but they were just sort of coming out then. I feel like they're really popular now. I love them. Yeah. What about what about? What about the brand? So you said, I just love the brand. Sorry, Courtney's. Gone into full blown market. No, I love it. It's nice to no doubt about
these things. Because I want to. Talk about these shoes. But my friends, I want to. Talk about? Yeah, talk a lot. I like, I genuinely like the feel when I'm running in these shoes. They just feel really reliable. I don't have to worry that it's going to make my body feel a certain way when I'm running and then also in the recovery. I just find they're really consistent with a good performance as well as the. Shoes, but the brand well. I don't know much about the brand, to be honest.
I don't even know how I. So he who? Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. Who influenced the decision? I think probably someone who I talk a lot about running with is at my at the radio session is my producer Harry, and he got into running at the same time I did and he is like a nerd when it comes to shoes. And shut up, Harry. He listens to the podcast.
He does. He really likes the podcast and I kind of go to him sometimes when I do have questions about shoes and things because he really does his research when it comes to those things. And I think it was before the GC50 last year, we were both doing the half marathon and he recommended trying ones with carbon plates in and which I didn't even know was a thing. And so it was the Zuccone Speed Endorphin 4 that I tried and was like, I didn't know shoes could
make you run like that. And it just hooked hooked me in. See What colour wave did we go? With I went black. The blacks I just went with whatever was on sale. It's usually what gets. Me it's a funny that and for for YouTube Olympians, you probably don't understand that, but I still remember the first time I ran in the carbon plate to shoot and I was like that my were ASICS meta speed and it was it blew my mind. Yeah, like it was. Oh my God, this is cheating. This how is this?
Is me doing this. I would have been at the Olympics if someone had told me about these six years ago. That's so true. That's the feeling you get as a as a jogger who suddenly puts these shoes on. Yeah. What's the feeling I had anyway? Definitely. Yeah. Well, that's good. It sounds like it sounds like you're on your way. You know what? You know what you're like. Yeah, while we're talking about your kit with your running, what the rest of your outfit? Yeah. What are you running?
What do you like running in what? Because obviously Courtney and I've talked about this previously on other episodes of the pod about running kitten for blokes, but we never had women in here to talk about it from your perspective. What what? What's your? Do you already know what you're running on race day or I? Think I know what shorts I'm going to run in. I'm like a tight shorts crop kind of gal. Haven't really had any issues with chafing Touchwood. So I think I I like do you even.
They're a really good brand. I find they're pretty safe. So I'll probably do do you even shorts and then yeah, whatever crop. But as I'm running more, I'm kind of losing weight as well, so I'm having to buy new active wear. So I don't know. A lot of the stuff I have now probably isn't gonna fit right for 42 cans. OK, yeah, this isn't about bad
thing. The other thing, the reason that jumped to mind a little bit as well, London Marathon the other week, I can't remember the name, but there was a Nike runner who was copping a lot on Oh. Yeah, the British girl. Yeah. Yeah, I read that. Yeah. Because they were saying she's running, running in bikinis. Yeah, right. And she was wearing the the bikinis bottoms or the don't know what they're described as banana, but I couldn't believe that. Yeah, yeah.
It's ridiculous. Yeah. Were they different to the briefs you would have worn? In the day. Same time, Yeah, I remember that my first time when I was at the Australian Institute of Sport, Jane Fleming designed all the Australian. Like all the clothes and the briefs were like yeah, really sort of just like G strings almost when you started running like they were sort of but that's just how they were and you run more of them and, you know, this is 1997. Yeah. People didn't say anything.
It's. Crazy. Well, they're saying she shouldn't have been running in them. Yeah, it's all that usual nonsense of people don't have anything better to do exactly than target professional athletes and what they're wearing. Goodness. So shoes. So it sounds like you got 3 1/2 weeks. Still got plenty of time to do your shoe shopping. Yeah, Yeah.
I think that that's probably I'll see how I go with these soccer knees this weekend and then I'm yeah, I think I'll probably commit to their grace day shoe if. If I if I would, I do the other thing I wanted to follow up with you on because I think last time we spoke you probably you explained at length how much you hated interval sessions. Have you done any since? No intervals.
No, that's and that's because what in other, yeah, you're harder long run because you, because you did it on a Monday instead of a Saturday or Sunday. Yeah. So then normally you do intervals on Wednesday. And what I don't like is putting that hard long run too close to intervals. So with that week, we just took the intervals out. Why don't you like? Why do you like separating them like that? Just because you need at least I think a couple of days between
that hard. So I call a specific long run between that really hard long run and something hard again. And I just think if you take too much of A risk, so say if there's only one one day rest between and rest could be an easy day, could be a rest day, could be cross training. If you only have one day rest, you're sort of pushing your body again. And I think it's too soon after those hard or long runs. And look, I've made that mistake as an athlete before and with people I've coached.
And I always think, and this is what I used to always have at least two full days easy between, yeah, the hard long run and the next session. So, yeah. So that's why I took it out for Bronte because it would have been too much that week. And yeah, it's just not, it's not worth it. It's not worth pushing it like that. So what are you doing the day after that hard, long, specific marathon session? Yeah, a lot of people, I would give rest days.
Bronte generally has rest or like it's some sort of cross training or walking. Yeah, but not like some people do jogging, like and like, it obviously depends on how many days a week people are running. But yeah. But usually it's like a rest day or cross training, Yeah. This is what do we 4 weeks into this now and I just hearing you talk about race day is like, oh wow, yeah, it's coming close.
Like hearing you talk about the shoes you're going to be wearing and the outfit and even the fact that you know, the the weight loss and that you're planning that 7 1/2 weeks now. It's like I'm going to be, you know, this many kilos lot. I don't need to have these two. It's is it getting exciting now for you? Or is it? Still 2 that far out. I think I'm, I'm quite nervous. I, I'm, I'm really intrigued to see how I perform this Sunday.
I really spooked myself I think with my half marathon performance a couple of weeks ago. I redeemed it again with the 27 K and then again on Saturday night with the 16. So I just need to chill out when it comes to a race and I think this Saturday is a it's the last chance for me to really see how I do on a race in a race environment and just hopefully put into practise everything we've talked about to make sure I don't just blow my own chance. Let's talk. Let's go into this now.
What's what's the race? What have you got? 30 KS Main beach trail and road running. OK, Yeah. Have you run this race? I haven't, I haven't, but I mean, this is where we train every Tuesday through here. So if you've got half of it literally on the road and it's good Flat Rd probably as fast as you'll find. Are you aware of the trail? It is, it's undulating in there. You, you know, even just running on, it's kind of like a cinder surface, you know, a bit of a, a
clay type rocky surface. You will get some slip in there as well. So you're not going to run, you know, I remember when I'd run up at Coomba with Michael Shelley would always say like 5 to 7 seconds per kilometre. Sometimes you could get loose on that type of surface plus out in the hills, just don't get down on the fact that you'll go slower through like like a fair bit slower through that section. Yeah, that's fine. I think I'm so ankle conscious.
Anytime I did trail running last year, I only did it for a couple of races. I was like this is not for me was because my ankles are so weak. They're stronger now, but I think I'm happy to slow. Yeah, the trail's not too bad in there. I mean, it's pretty good under foot in there. There's a bit of a little bit of sand here and there, but it, you know, I touch wood, you're not gonna have any problems with your ankles. I wouldn't say, but it is.
Well, it is unexpectedly Hillier, especially when you're tied then you believe and for some reason you run out like we do. If it's running out and back and often you run out and you have a bit of a tailwind and you think it's so easy, so easy and then you come back. It's like where did that? He'll come from you. Didn't even notice. Yes, yeah, and this will be 30 cases. This will be the longest I've ever run. Yes, but I mean, it's a great
way. I like it too, because every time you're running, it's great to have a guide of how you're going like to also know that you don't have to worry over worry about the pacing. You just run to feel run the site. You need to be holding that same kind of effort through there is what you'll be doing on the
road. And then I think the road is probably where I'm Benita will jump in for sure around the pacing because that's where I'm interested in how you then you know, even in that type of race, if there's others racing that this weekend is their lead up race. How do you approach the the the pacing between the trail and Rd?
Yeah, look, it's it's a hard one because often the race that the races that I would suggest leading into Gold Coast Marathon would just be flat right half marathons or something like that. But I always think too anything like anything around 15 K, this one's 30 KA half marathon, anything like that's just good practise. So first of all, you know you're practising what you're going to do the morning or the night before Gold Coast Marathon.
So what you do the night before this 30K practise, your nutrition practise, you know what time you're going to wake up, what you're going to have to eat and what you're going to do just before the race starts. But yeah, we're we're looking at this as a practise run. Yeah. And like, you know, that Gold Coast Running Festival one that you did a few weeks ago, although that was a bad experience, it actually, when you have experiences like that, it actually helps you learn what not to do.
Oh yeah. You know, and you don't want to get to Gold Coast Marathon, do that in Gold Coast Marathon. So it's bet that was actually a good thing for you to do and feel. And then I think you don't make those sort of mistakes again, as in, and that was just going out too fast. Definitely. So this one, yeah, like the trails is always just running on fuel. So it's not, it's nothing about
oh, what pace 625 lbs. So don't, I wouldn't even be worried it And it's it's about getting through the 30K. So it's always about thinking that it's practise for Gold Coast Marathon, but not looking at your watch and thinking what pace did I average for 30 KM on track? You know, it's not, there's nothing about that. But then when you're getting onto the road, that's when we're practising that marathon pace. But it's always even a bit slower early on. So it's, it's to be conservative
rather than aggressive. Yes. And like coming back, even on the trails, it's effort, but it's not like stressing that you're looking at your watch because one thing we hate to do a marathon training too, is, you know, you repeat the same things over and over again. So you you're looking what I do last week, can I get better this week? Can I get better next week at the exact same sessions or the exact same runs? So that's why I think something like this is good, because it's
a bit different. Too. Yeah, change it up, Yeah. Just do you have an idea of the pacing yet? That you give like. Well, any, anything around the road, I think, I think I would be very conservative early on. So anything on the road 6, we're looking about 6:25-ish for a marathon pace and I probably wouldn't be going anything faster than that, even if it feels easy. So we're just practising and holding back a. Bit meaning. So would the would the plan be? Do you use the GPS?
My much I'll use my my Garmin to to track it all and see how I go. And it's the plan then after the last one to go, OK, well, this is 625. I'm not gonna go harder. Yeah. I'd like to really, really try. I really want to aim for that 625 or 620. Yeah. So also, and it's, it's an absolute guess, but yeah.
But I mean, with this sort of a race like because it's a little bit harder with the trail aspect, I would say usually if it was 1/2 marathon, maybe we'd run marathon pace for the 1st 15K and a little bit faster for the last bit. But for this race, it's it's judging on how you're feeling. And we're not forgetting to that this is the longest you've ever run. So we don't want to put extra pressure on it pacing wise as well. So if it's a little bit slower, a little bit faster, it doesn't
matter. But yeah. We're looking at something around there, but yeah, we'll see. Look, that run you did that 27K run, I think you averaged like 603 pace. Yeah. So you did that really well. And that also sort of like AK on, AK off for about 11:50 K within the run. So you know, you're in pretty good shape. It's just. Coming to. Yeah, Yeah. So I I would be backing yourself, but also thinking that it's just a training run as well and you're putting excessive
pressure on it this. Is so exciting here, just even that thing about the fact that it's gonna be the furthest you've ever run. There's so many people out there that when they get into these programmes, suddenly they look ahead and they say I'm doing a 27, I've never run further than 19 KS or something like that. And that mental sensation of going, Oh my God, at the end of this, this will be the furthest I've ever run. And now I can tell people, yeah,
I run 30K, yeah. Exactly 27 was so uneven and a nice 30 will be good. You touched on some points I want to just quickly go back to in the preparation for this race this weekend, Bonita as a training run and clearly Bronte, he's taken that on board with the run itself. Quickly, what time are you going to bed the night before? Oh, 'cause this is a training run. This is this is homework now. Probably like I'll be asleep by 10. By ten, yeah, OK.
We're OK with that, coach. That's fine and I would think that even though I talked about this, but the night before sleep doesn't matter, but probably what time do you bet go to bed on Friday night, two nights before I think it's. All good question. So cancel the party. All those parties. Are no more doom scrolling. Usually, probably around that 10/10/30. I'm a Nana, yeah, I play paddle and that's about it. Alright. Well, you have you'd have more of a life than us. Correct.
OK. And breakfast. Ohh morning of. Morning of this is a training. Coffee. Usually just coffee. But you're not gonna eat the morning of the race. I don't usually, Benito. Definitely. Oh, yeah. What? Start practising. Really. This is a training run. Come on. Why? Yeah, 'cause we're about to run 30 kilometres. Yeah, I'll take some snakes with me. But needed step in here it's. Definitely something that we need to practise, yeah, going
forward as well. Even something like a crumpet and honey or banana, some like oats, so like cereal, but some people don't like having milk or yoghurt. You know any, any sort of thing like that any dairy products. But even toast even if you can have a piece of toast and some jam or something something you need something in your stomach especially, especially for the marathon.
But even before 30K. And I would probably eat it at least an hour and a half before you start, a couple of hours before you start, and even take a gel just before you start within the last sort of five to 10 minutes because gels are rapidly absorbing into your body and they don't, they won't hurt. OK, you at all, but you so 5-10 minutes before the race have a gel. Right. And you, I, I'd practise that even before some easy runs. You've never done that before? Yeah, I haven't.
Yeah. And you can't run early in the. You can only run on in the mornings, on the weekends. Yeah. So. Yeah. So that's I, I, I would be practising that going forward too, just just practising some nutrition. Yeah, yes, Coach. Yes, coach. So, OK, so no, because. It's hard for you, yeah, because you normally would run in the. Afternoon. I know. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah, but to this point you would have got up on the morning of the marathon and had a black coffee and gone and tried to
run. It wouldn't. You yes, and it would have felt terrible because I had for the SO. You have to try this weekend some nutrition. You actually have to eat your breakfast OK, and then you have to have a gel 510. That's fine. Warm up. Do you warm up before any of? These stretch usually, yeah, just a bit of a stretch. Yeah. And look, we'd use the first probably 10 to 15 minutes of the race as warming up. Just because this is your
longest run. I don't reckon you need to be running too much before the start. But before the marathon, we'll talk about a little warm up. But yeah, but before, before this race, I would be warming up as the race starts just because we don't want a 30K race to turn into like 35 K because I think that's too much. Yeah. That's it. I'll jump in here because warm up super important. Maybe this week we're not going to warm up but people may be racing this weekend or doing 1/2.
I think there's a Brisbane half soon as well. Like a lot of people use that as their lead up. How can, how can we approach the warm up or get a run in when you also need to get to the start line to get you? Well, everyone's worried about getting on the start line in time to get their position. I mean, it's not probably a problem you had in your but you a lot of your athletes now would have that problem. How do you approach?
Yeah, approach that warm up. Yeah, I would say just like you can use it as like I would say 5 to 7 minutes of jogging, so quite short with a few stretches and a few run throughs at at race pace. But when you try to get to the start line and a lot of people, you try to get to these corals that you know, I've had people in London Marathon where they've had to catch a bus, you know, for an hour from the city to the start area. Same with Boston Marathon.
So these point to point races. So, you know, if, if you're staying in a hotel that's sort of near the start at Gold Coast Marathon, maybe you jog a little bit, you know, from your hotel or, but when you arrive in your little corral areas, you need to have done your jog and, and your warmups. But having enough clothes on and look, you can run a bit on the
spot. But I, I think being prepared to just warm up your body a little bit, but also having enough clothes to keep warm, but not sort of stressing that you've got to be running, you know, because you have to be, you have to be ready. Yeah, fairly early.
I think, like I haven't thought of it until just now, but I reckon that's probably one of the most stressful things for probably more the like runners who are actually going for a time or of practise, warming up a lot of their sessions and everything else. And then suddenly you get to the race and you realise I can't run or I can't move for 45 minutes.
If I want to get a good spot, it's yeah, it's, it's, I think every, if anyone's listening, there's something to think about now and have a strategy around it. And maybe you have to get comfortable with not being old to run, you know, 45 minutes out, an hour out, depending on what it. Is.
Yeah, so that's a good point. And I always think too just know where the toilets are because there's so many people that they sort of get to the start area and they're like, I need to go to the toilet and then they stressfully run away and then they've got to get back in. And so it's one of those things that maybe it's something to practise as well, you know, but I think I think always with these races, you've got to always think that the first few K's are just warming your body
up. So, you know, and when you're in these big races, you can't run very fast anyway at the start because there's so many people around. So that's something that you shouldn't stress about because it's it's about just warming your body up too and just getting into. It that's a good way to think about it. Have you got your toilet strategy sorted? Toiletry is black. Black coffee. Yeah, black coffee.
Yeah, there you go, this. Is TMI but I have like very lazy bells so like it's not an issue for me unless I have too much black a. Lazy bow. So I'm really hoping that my body doesn't flip a script on the day of the marathon and all of a sudden I'm experiencing things that I don't usually experience but for now, touch what I. Mean I will send you a link after the show today of Paula Radcliffe running the London Marathon. Lazy bowels? No, she had an active bow. Yeah, under a table, yeah.
Oh my goodness. Well, look, crazier things have happened, but. Between you 2, you get up at 3:00. It's like a midday run when you're starting at 6:00 AM. Yeah, yeah, with the early radio start. Of all things. Yeah, my bad. I mean, I don't know why we're just going down this, but we're here now. You do it. We're here now. That was that was genuinely a radio adjustment for me, a workplace adjustment was the time I'd go to the bathroom 'cause my alarm goes off at 3:30.
And previously for the last how many years I was working the afternoons. So you know about my morning constitutional. What about whatever? For a time it was 830. Now I've had to bring it forward five hours. My body has had to adjust. So that's been a really big shift for me. Well, a big was a big shift. There was an F in there. It's not always a big shift. Depends on the number of coffees, right? So it's just while we move back to running briefly, Benita. But yeah, no, but it is a big
issue. And a number of my runners have talked about toilet issues, whether or not they should go on the start line and then it plays on their mind if they didn't go and they've had to go on the in the portaloos on course. And yeah. And so it's, it's definitely something that yeah, talk is, is talked about. You do to talk about. It's a big part of it. There's always and I can Noosa Triathlon the nervous, nervous
toilet visit. You think you're done and then the nerves kick in, in your body about suddenly they're about to Marshall you to the start line at Noosa and you're like, Oh no, round two. And then you look at the line, you're like, what am I going to do? Buddy betrays you. Anyway, so yeah, good luck. I hope your bells stay lazy. Well.
Thank you so much. Just on the before we move on to my nightmare situation with Bronte, she's part of this 12 week lead up. She's already run the half couple weeks ago with the Gold Coast Running Festival. Yeah, she's got the 30K race this weekend. If people are out there and they haven't got a race locked in as part of their programming, is it, is there a, is there a hack?
Is there a way around that? Can they try and simulate a race as part of this marathon, particularly if they're a first time? Marathon runner Yeah, that's and that's a good question. And I say you don't, not everyone has to race. Like ideally it's good to have a race just to practise a lot of things.
But if you don't have a race, I would look at somewhere between three and five weeks out scheduling something between 15K to like 20 K or I always think it's good to race to have some sort of hard effort that's not like 1/2 marathon or not something that you can compare it to races you've done in the past. If you're just running by yourself and, and, and an effort. So if you're gonna do a 15K effort or A20K effort, maybe you run, you know, 3/4 of it at marathon pace.
So practise your marathon pace and then run a bit faster at the end. And you know, whether you're doing that by yourself or you've got someone with you. So someone on the bike or someone to run with you that that really helps because it just helps having someone there to try to push you a bit. So yeah, so I think doing something like that would be good and, and just make sure that you have, you know, 3 or 4 days easy either side as well.
So not only I say it's good to have a race, but it's good to have that easy like training week, I guess either side of it. And that's, you know, when you do a race, it forces you to do it. But if you're just training, sometimes you sort of feel like you just got to train and train and train and you can't have any, you know, easy.
And when I say easy, you go lighter on that interval session going into the weekend where you're going to do a hard run and the hard run could be 15 K, could be 20 K, could be 12 K, anything that's a bit of an odd distance. So you go pretty hard in that maybe 2-2 days out, you do some a short job and a few strides and then you sort of not running hard again until later of the next week.
So maybe Thursday or Friday of. The next week, if you're in a marathon block at the moment and you don't have a race lined up, look at the next fortnight to a month to programme a session like Benita just described into your your week and view it as that, that race effort. Yeah, yeah, race. Practise, yeah, trade, trade race, yeah, practise everything. And you know, go legit hard in the last bit, but just make sure you're not going as hard as you can the whole way.
Well, those are if I'm a complete, I'm listening. I'm a complete newbie to a, to a degree. I don't have anyone helping me. Is there some kind of guide you can give us on what the pacing strategy may look like at this point? So we're eight weeks out. I'm going to do a practise race or a practise race or a practise long run. That first bit where I'm like, we took, what did you say? It was around half marathon pace or marathon pace. What give us some feelings?
What, what, what am I meant to be feeling like? How do I like like Bronnie the other week when she went out to run in the race? How do I know I'm going? Easy enough, or I'm in that pace you want us to be at. Yeah. Look, it's one of those things that I think it should feel like you can run that pace for over 3 hours, which is hard. I mean, that's hard to say too, but you know, you've got to make sure that you're not running at a pace that you're, that you're going, oh, I'm going really
well. I'm looking at my watch and you're going really fast. But can you hold that for three hours? And you know, is your heart rate over 150 or something like and heart rates, that's a guess. And I know you've talked about heart rate pretty. So at any point you're doing that running and you're thinking Jesus starts to feel hard, you're, you're definitely going to that, right? Yeah, you're definitely going to
that. And you should be doing like, say if you do, say, if you decide to do a 15K and you do the first 10K and it it should feel easy. And you're sort of like pushing at the last few K to get that 10K and then the last 5K is like slower. Like that's not how you want to do it. No, yeah, So yeah. And yeah, you want, you want to be going slow enough. Like you should be feeling like you're going too slow. Almost, yeah.
Have you have you heard any good cues or stories about how different marathon runners treat that first just 30K the marathon. So like Michael Shelley always used to say to me when he'd go to London Marathon, for example, he'd go for the first 32 Ki just treat it like a nearly like a sightseeing. I want to be able to take in everything going around me. And that's how he kind of knew I'm going easy enough to then kind of like run home and like
last 10K. Yeah. So he was like, as long as I want to like I should be able to identify people on the side of the road cheering for me. Oh, no. You know he was that comfortable to that Mark, Have you? I mean yourself, but anyone else you've heard? Yeah, look, I used to to think about it and this is a much boring way, but it like you're just sitting on a bus and you sit on the bus and then that's like the first 30K and then when your stops coming up, you get
ready to press the button. And then once you press the button, the red light flashes and that gets into that last 12K. And once once you're getting ready to get off, that's when you're you're in the last part. And I always think too when it's hurting in the marathon. So the first 30K should be just cruising along shouldn't hurt.
OK. But when you're hurting, think about A12K session you've done or somewhere that you've done that's like in Broad Beach or where you've tried trained and think about little points along the way that are familiar to you that not unnecessarily on the course. So you're sort of thinking about something that you know makes sense to you, rather than how much pain you're in. So you. Completely flick a switch to a new race. Nearly.
Like it's like this. Is that there's the that mark and then now here's the the next stage. Yeah, yeah, I, yeah, I never thought about it like sightseeing or, and the way I describe it to people that I work with too is about sort of just being as relaxed as you can and as bored as you you can by just sitting on a bus. I love of that. Yeah, it's a great. Analogy. Really good.
It's a great. Analogy, yeah and also thinking about people that inspire you in your life too so sometimes you could be like every 5K, think of a new person that that's inspired you in your life and then go on to the next person because I feel like you've got to break it up. And five KS are good segments because often that's where the
water stops are. But the marathon's also something that you can't kind of think back to the last 5K and go GRN terrible that five Ki wish I hadn't have done that. And you just got to forget about it and move on to the next the next block. So breaking it up like that I found was quite good as well. This is OK.
We need to mark this down, Courtney, for a later episode of this, maybe closer to the day of this special breakdown of the race specific because I loved the bus analogy, what you said about Michael Shelley and the way he used to describe his sightseeing. But I also love the idea of possible strategies to break up the race mentally because I think that's something that first timers particularly might struggle with if they're just looking to com. If they if their only goal is completion.
That mental fatigue that can set in during a marathon is real as well. I remember last year when I ran Goldie, so I was running with the 3:20 bus and I felt like, just listen to you. Then I reckon I felt like the first 28K was exactly as you described. And I think I got to the section where you went back past the start line. Oh, yeah. And in my head, I've been running really comfortably with the 3:20 bus the whole way. And I thought, I feel like I feel good. So I'll start to go a bit.
I'll start. I'll see what's there for the last 12. And I think we hit the 30K and suddenly the 3:20 bus started running away from me. I'm like, why are they accelerating? Oh, I'm slowing down. But so it that idea of I got to that point of the races you describe where the red light goes on and now the race begins and I did have anything left to give. Yeah, at that point, so. What was your mark? 30 or 32K? I would say 30K, but having said that, like I never really ran a
race like that. Like it was just something to think about. And yeah, like I my, you know, my best marathon, my fastest marathon was big positive split. So yeah. But my best one, I think I ran at Houston Marathon to qualify for the London Olympics in 2012. And that was just so even the whole way. So I can't say that I've run a marathon accelerating like I'm talking about. And so it's very hard.
It's very hard to do. But I think, yeah, you just sort of think about those things in in in that sense. Yeah, I think that has laid out in the best terms everything that I've needed to know about how to approach marathon day. I don't think I thought about that. And now it feels almost achievable.
Like I'm not, I don't want to get ahead of myself, obviously, but thinking about the 1st 30 KS in the ways that you guys have described, it makes it seem less scary because that's what it's supposed to be. It's meant to be cruisy. It's meant to be sightseeing. And that has yeah, definitely transforms, yeah, down mindset. Yeah, you don't want to be at any stage in that 30 going Oh no, this is starting to get
hard. Yeah. And I think the, the acceleration don't like we're we're talking it as if like, you know, press the booster button now and you're gonna like fly to the finish. It's not accelerating. It's just that you've got to work that much harder than to hold pace 'cause that's where. Yeah, OK. And. Yeah. Yeah, and to be like mentally focused, 'cause I feel like, you know, you don't want to be so focused at the start. You wanted to be as relaxed as you can and not thinking about the race.
The worst thing you can do is watch every K marker. I've run races in Germany and they have 1K2K all the way to the marathon and like that's what you don't want to do that is. So German, isn't it? Most German. It's precise every kilometre. We're going to tell you when they are. Yeah, No, Gold Coast Marathon. People don't ever introduce that. We don't need to know that. Let's get on to you, Lee. Well, let's hear about you. I was. I was hoping we'd avoid this for
as long as possible, frankly. So last time we spoke things were going starting to improve. And then in between then I tried that light tempo session. My calf hated it. We reverted back to simple cross training. I've been with the physio pretty regularly and day of recording I am 24 hours on from a three kilometre run. Woo at an easy tempo into a a 45 minute bike ride and the car feels fine. Yeah today. So it's pulled up well from that. So what's the plan from here, Vanita?
Yeah. Yeah, so I mean, and you did really well to just cross train for the week after that last saw and then you saw Liam the physio, Liam. And so Liam sent me an email and so, which is great because it's good to just hear a bit more about your past. By the way, Bronte, I feel like such an athlete now. I have a coach and a physio that are communitating. About me, right? No heroes. I feel amazed. We just need the psychologist now, Liam. Yeah, OK.
And my wife will get on the next email and. Yeah, and so Liam said when you can do 15 to 20 hops on each side, you're right to start jogging again. And I had a few questions for Liam. I said look, he should be running slower than 5 minute pace. Yeah, all that kind of stuff. And yeah, and Liam's like, yeah, slower than 5 minute pace. Keep the cross training up in whatever you like. So bike. So I know you're doing bike, but he said you could do elliptical as well.
Oh, cool. Yeah, so we can you hate if. You make me on the bike again. That thing is so boring. It's it was funny when you sent me that email about being once you said once you can do 15 to 20 hops. I was down at Burley Beach watching the surfing and I was with my wife and kids and I literally we're down on the beach and I just said to Alana, my wife might just hold on to his ex. And he watched me run up back to the path. And start hopping.
She's like, what are you doing? OK, I'm joining me now. I'm allowed to run because I passed the 15 to 20 hop test. Yeah, no. And that the exit was, yeah, I was on the weekend and yeah, no. And I think too, what we don't want, because we've gone backwards once.
So what I don't want to do is for you to go backwards again, because that's that really isn't really a mentally hard thing, especially when you're in this situation where you've got a race on and, you know, you're really trying to get fit and trying to get back for it. But we just don't want to take steps back. So yeah, so the plan this week, I think and which is what Liam has said as well, running every second day, increasing volume but not increasing pace.
OK, So we'll just stay with we're. Gonna stay on the easy pace in slow than 5 minutes. Yeah, so I guess the other part about it is we don't have to define it today. At what point do we set a new time goal? Yeah, because I'm in that funny phase now where unlike Bronte, whose goal is completion, I've run marathons before. So I know I can run a marathon. I am still motivated by PBS and time goals. I'm not an idiot. I know I'm not running sub three
now. I do not have the preparation to lead up all the rest of that to break 3 hours. And I'm not going to kid myself into thinking it's still achievable even though on episode 1 of this you told me it was probably going to be unachievable. That was before my injuries. She's always right, so. What she has been she's spot on. So when do you think if although can return to running and the volume stuff goes well, when do you think we start to have a look at pacing?
Yeah, look, I think when we talked last time, I said in a few weeks, so I'm probably gonna say that again just just because we've gone backwards of sure. But I think for you too, it's about getting you healthy 1st and then knowing that you can even do like 1/2 marathon because you know when you've missed a bit, but you've got a lot of background and you've got a lot of training behind you. It's about readjusting what you're what you're looking at and and staying positive.
Positive is the best thing. But also, I don't want to push it so hard that we bump up the volume so quickly that you take another step back because that that might be that you're out of the race. Sure. So, you know, we still want to be able to run. So it's just about. Yeah. And but this this stage that you're in is really hard as a runner to be going slowly because you've got this marathon in mind. So it's a really hard mentally spot to be in as well. So I understand that it's a it's
a hard. It's it is amazing to have you on board to, to talk to me about it, not understanding what I'm going through at the moment. Yeah, I'm going to ask you a question. Now, bear in mind me, we started this in the beginning runs the Gold Coast Marathon series about and I said, do you think I can run SAP three hours? And your response was it's going to be really tough. My PB was at last year's Gold Coast Marathon. I ran a 321. Do you think I'm capable of
running a PB? I think it's going to be really hard and not yeah, it's just because we've missed a bit and I just don't want to rush, you know, I would think maybe doing a marathon later in the year, we can have a real crack. And this one it's about doing getting in the race, finishing the race and and staying healthy.
All right, yeah, but but it's so hard to adjust goals when you're at this stage because it because we're only running 15 minutes, you know, in a couple of days we'll be running. Literally only running 15 minutes. You're running 30 KS this weekend. I'm running 15 minutes. How does that feel like it's mentally? So frustrating. Look, actually it's frustrating, but it's also Courtney's been a a surprising source of perspective on all this.
Like the way you've been, you haven't been able to run for what, 8 weeks now? 8 weeks and the fact that you haven't really been frustrated or you've been actually you've just kind of come to peace, come to Jesus with the whole thing I. Don't know I've gone that but. But I've, I've been really, I think I was talking to Brit the other week about this when we had Brit Kaling on from Gold Coast physio.
And I think part of it has been for me, the frustration of I described it to Britt actually off air before we recorded the podcast says, I feel like we brought in Benita, who is, you know, you know, let's compare. Let's put it in the F1 world, right? She's come in as the new race director of this F1 garage. She's got these two race cars in there in you and me. And in one, she's gotten this perfect race car that's running beautifully, doing everything.
She and the other one is a literal lemon. And she's there going what is this, a race car? Because it doesn't work. But how interesting. I'd watch that season of Drive to Survive. I've been trying to fix a a Toyota Corolla just. Call me Oscar Piastri. Oh, wow, You are Oscar Piastri and I'm Dan Ricardo. Great smile, but no one wants to give him a drive. Yeah, no, it's been frustrating.
But at the same time, the other thing, as you said a couple of weeks ago, the idea that, and it's a bit like radio really, in that if you, as long as you don't quit, you'll succeed, right? Running is like, it might not be, it's not going to be every race, it's not going to be a preparation. But if you keep running, you'll have your day, you'll have your race, you'll have your moment.
And I have very much sort of come to be OK with the fact that Gold Coast 2025 ain't going to be my marathon. It ain't going to be that everything I wanted it to be, but that's OK. And it's it's incredibly common, unfortunately, and there'll be a lot of people listening that are in the same situation as you. And you know, it's we always can't think this race is the be all and end all because there's always other races but the human body. It's just unfortunate sometimes when things.
Happen. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm actually now I don't think I've probably ever run a marathon with the running base I've got with actually, but also not putting any pressure on myself. Yeah, for like and I'm at that point now. So I think there's probably people listening to this who might be in similar situation, don't know where you're at with injury or personal situation or whatever it is. But if you're like me and 7 1/2 weeks out, you're now having to essentially throw your plans out
the window. From timing perspective, I would don't think that all hope is lost. Like I'm now looking to Gold Coast Marathon to really enjoy the run. Yeah, that's what I'm. Looking to just kind of re reassess goals and there will be heaps of people just like you. Some will reassess and come back to the half or the 10 or have to go for a new marathon.
But. This the the silver lining, the glass half full attitude towards it is I've had the injury when I have Yeah, because if I have it in six weeks or four weeks or five weeks, I'm not taking the start line. I'm just not running. So if I'm going to take the glass half full approach, it is that Yep, I've had an injury. It's it's stuffed up the plans, but I've got enough time to actually get right and and be on the start line again this year,
which is awesome. Yeah, Benita's given us a heap of great information again today. Bronte, I think I'm going to come down and watch you on the weekend, so. OK. Sunday, Yeah. So we're gonna no pressure, No pressure. No, hold on. What time's is a race? What times a race? No, I do. These are the things I look at the night before. Well. Depending on what my programme is, maybe I can come and run some with you. Come, here we go. I'll come and have a little try, although you're a headphone
runner. I am a headphone. Runner you. Are you not? No. Are you running? Can yeah, yeah, yeah. Headphones over years, yeah. Why? What? What? We talked about, we talked about that earlier. We have. I'm gonna count how many over the head headphones. Yeah, the headphone runners, you're you're a proper big headphones over the head. Yeah, active wear runner on the
front. Sometimes they hurt my right ear, sometimes I think it like the pressure builds up in my right ear and I have to take it off and it feels. Like, I think you're crazy. I think you're crazy. I think we're gonna have to change that before the match. We're. Gonna get you some. We're gonna get you something. Really options? What are my options? Oh well, there's a whole other world we can open up to you with running headphones. Yeah, no, I've just been running with what I've got.
No, they're, they're shocking nothing. Wrong with that, but no, they want to there is. Well, there is for me. I don't know. I'm like if I wore a pair of those over the top headphones. We've talked about this before. After one run, yeah, I'd never put them on again because I sweat. Oh yeah, they're disgusting. Like don't. I mean you could clone my DNA from them but no one else is using them. Well, this might OK this weekend, Bronte, your 30K run, you might.
You'll definitely get an appearance from Courtney. You might get an appearance from me as well. We gotta cry. That was so. Cute team Bronte. Hey, you're our you're our horse in this race now. Yes, you are our horse for the Gold Coast Marathon. Thank God for we need we need someone to run the marathon and. Succeed. Oh my God. The.
Pressure. Hey, if if you're a marathon runner, if you're running your first, if you're running your 5th, if you're running a time, send us your comments, send us your questions. If we can answer them, we will. If Benita, if we can't Benita, definitely we'll be able to. But tell us how you're feeling. Tell us how your prep's going and we might include some of them in the next episode. But until then, see you then. See you then.