Accountability Corner
Embark on an adventure with Darren, Morgan, and Chris, the dynamic trio steering the ship at "Accountability Corner." As passionate OCR enthusiasts, they're on a mission to share their expertise and enthusiasm for obstacle course racing with the world. From sharing insider tips on overcoming training plateaus to demystifying the complexities of race registration and gear selection, no stone is left unturned. Whether you're a seasoned competitor hungry for fresh perspectives or a newcomer eager to dip your toes into the muddy waters of OCR, these hosts are here to guide you every step of the way. Join them as they peel back the curtain on the electrifying world of OCR, revealing stories of triumph, camaraderie, and boundless adventure.
Don't miss out – tune in and discover why OCR is capturing hearts and minds around the globe!
Accountability Corner
#45: Life Updates: Healing, Accountability, and Motivation
In this engaging episode, we delve into the realities of training while navigating injuries, addressing the unique struggles athletes face in staying motivated. The conversations touch on personal experiences, illustrating the emotional rollercoaster that accompanies setbacks. We discuss how important it is to cultivate patience as athletes and find new ways to stay active and accountable when the usual routes are blocked.
Join us as we navigate training adaptations—from cycling to strength workouts— while still maintaining a commitment to the sport we love: obstacle course racing. You’ll hear about practical tips on accountability, how sharing goals enhances motivation, and personal reflections on the inevitability of injury in every athlete's journey. Discover how unique approaches, such as the intriguing mention of knitting, can not only provide comfort but also serve as creative outlets to ease stress and refocus during recovery.
Packed with insights, this episode invites listeners to consider their own accountability practices, encouraging a community spirit where we share lessons learned and motivate one another. Don’t miss out on discovering ways to keep training during injury setbacks and how to embrace the journey towards healing. Tune in, reflect, and reconnect with your passion for fitness! Be part of our journey, and please leave a review or share your experience with us; we’d love to hear what keeps you motivated!
Welcome to the Accountability Corner, where we talk about everything obstacle course racing, from staying disciplined in training, affording the sport, signing up for your first race and, more importantly, how the sport is growing around the world, with your hosts Morgan Maxwell, chris Shipley and Darren Martin.
Speaker 3:So this is episode 45 of Accountability Corner and today I'm joining my lovely hosts. How are you both?
Speaker 2:That's a good start. I like it. What was that like? Yeah, it was alright I think people were wondering what's going on.
Speaker 3:That was like a thinly energetic snap.
Speaker 1:No one, no one. In this whole entire I keep spitting chocolate. No one in this world is as energetic as Finley Greenleaf.
Speaker 3:No, especially on a podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, do you guys want to? See something interesting. Oh yeah, I know obviously listeners can't see this, but behind me, yeah, I'm going. Obviously listeners can't see this, but behind me, yeah, I'm going to currently show the guys something interesting for the free game.
Speaker 3:Darren has picked up a bit of paper. Can you see? Darren is unravelling the piece of paper.
Speaker 2:Look at that.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, nice. Well, it's a bit blurry, but yeah, he's got a blurred screen.
Speaker 1:Oh, right, okay.
Speaker 3:Darren is now showing us a piece of paper that is blurred because he's got a background blur on. It looks like an episode of Crime Watch.
Speaker 2:Is something ready for the 3K?
Speaker 3:So listeners watch out because the 3k, we have something coming, yeah, but we don't know about because it was blurred.
Speaker 2:But we are trying, we have said it, we've said it we're going to try and see more of us and we're going to try and make um the most of I don't know just some of these races. Make them a bit more prestigious, make it look a bit more professional and, with our sponsorship of the 3k, that's exactly what we're going to try and do. Bring that, bring that spectacle to it even though it's spectability with spectability and specta, spectal ability.
Speaker 2:Should we, um, do you know what we haven't done in a while? Because this episode hasn't? We haven't got a guest on? People always assume we've got guests these days, but not not this time. We should do a bit of admin. We should thank everyone that is a member of our patreon because obviously we launched it and they were just so honored that actually people have, people are actually patrons and even though we aren't giving that much of exclusive content currently, we, we are, we are very grateful and it does help us with, uh, you know, admin costs and whatnot. Yeah, and ships, have you had a? You probably haven't. But uh, mo, are you probably seeing that I've set us up on a strava strava leaderboard?
Speaker 3:I saw this strava um, yeah, the group yeah, so yeah, you can.
Speaker 2:You can join us on strava as an accountability corner group. Who's currently? Who are members of that group? It's quite a few members in that group.
Speaker 1:So look, we've got 17 members and who's putting in the work at the moment, then gone, who's top of this?
Speaker 2:list. He's putting in the most work. So look oh I don't even know how you look at it. Stats Is it on stats?
Speaker 3:Oh, here we go, go group and then go stats and you get the leaderboard.
Speaker 2:Who do you think is at the top?
Speaker 1:No, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:Oh, hang on, We'll talk about this in a minute. Chris Shipley's got seven miles this week. I know Whoa we will in a minute. Chris Shipley's got seven miles this week.
Speaker 3:I know we will get to that. That's a good one. Do you know what I look? At this quite a lot, because me and my uncle, look at it for a bit of a joke. I'm very low this week.
Speaker 2:You are we're doing this the wrong week.
Speaker 3:We should have been doing this a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2:Tamar is currently down 18 miles, this week that's pretty impressive. Nice Good, trevor Maxwell Shout out Barry Buchanan, alex Young and fifth is actually Christopher Shipley.
Speaker 1:I'm fifth. Yeah, god, it must have been a slow week for people this week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've got some members on there on there.
Speaker 1:so, yeah, people putting in the work we set it up to, you know, get a shout out and stay accountable, as is this podcast I think it would be a good idea if every now and again, we click on it and we have a little run through see what workouts people have been doing yeah, or if you've done a good workout. Comment to us on Darren's Instagram and then we can go and have a look at it and see what work you've been doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it'd be good to see what workouts people do differently. Especially in this time of season, people are mainly focusing on running or focusing on different sports, but it's interesting when we start to see the obstacle course racing, long runs come in or the technical sessions, like seeing what people are doing.
Speaker 1:Can't wait to see when people start getting a little bit specific.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's good. What other, what other admin pieces have we got we? We we've, we've sold a a massive number of t-shirts, have we no?
Speaker 1:we haven't. No, they're not. They're not flying off the shelf, then they are not flying off the shelf.
Speaker 2:So yeah, just in case people don't know, we do have merch available, as is the uh advert that goes on in this uh podcast. But yeah, just head over, give us any feedback on merch as well. Let us know if there's other pieces you want, or even if just give us honest opinion if it's just too pricey, because we've done it through printed um, so we don't actually purchase all the all of them. They do it, it's done per order, so it's a little bit more expensive. But if we do get more interest maybe we can purchase some and see what, see how many we can sell.
Speaker 1:I think if you started to take up knitting, maybe we can do some knitwear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all that time I've got.
Speaker 1:Yeah, knit some beanies, maybe I could do it.
Speaker 2:I'm not running that much these days, yeah, while you're on the bike, you could do some knitting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, be like Tom Daley, does he do knitting? Yeah, tom Daley's a big knitter, did you not?
Speaker 3:watch the Olympics. You must have seen him at the side of the diving, didn't you watching?
Speaker 2:and he's like knitting away oh, never seen that it helps calm people's nerves okay, is that a new technique we're going to start in OCR yeah, knitting, maybe that should be a new obstacle rather than laser shooting.
Speaker 3:We just get down to a table and you start like weaving a little jumper.
Speaker 2:Yeah don't give people ideas man, a different kind of kind of weaver practice. The weaver on our cards, um, I suppose we um we also haven't really spoke about since, since it got launched is that yeah, we are, uh, we are, a main sponsor for the 3k series ships.
Speaker 1:You've been down helping nuts build some obstacles yeah, I've been down there again putting some uh some tubes and fittings together. Nothing too technical for the long one, because obviously it's a long. Well, it's not a 3k race, so it's not 3k, but for the long one, um, yeah, not putting anything too technical because people have got to go around four laps, so it's just going to be a grueling tough thing, but for the 3k coming up it's very adaptable, so we should be able to change things up quite a bit and make it a really exciting race yeah, and we'll do a.
Speaker 2:so I hope people liked our preview episode of tartan warrior. It seemed we we tried to make it as informative as possible. We'll do the same for the next one, being nuts. Maybe I'll be the guest. You could be the guest, definitely yeah, because we might have enough of Dave. We don't want too much Dave in our life, do we? Yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah, wayne, will be too many swear words, wayne will get us banned.
Speaker 2:And what else have we been up to in the free case? Obviously you're supporting with building obstacles. Mo's helping us build our course cards. So that's out there now. Hopefully people like the course cards and what they bring. Bit of a summary of what to look out for on the race. What?
Speaker 1:are you doing?
Speaker 2:Darren. Oh well, I'm glad you asked. I am supporting and helping with Dave on some little bits and pieces that you're going to start to see at the courses in the 3K. Keep it out, I'm quiet, yeah. Yeah, try to make this look a bit professional and supporting, hopefully helping with a bit of how we're going to record as well.
Speaker 3:Nice, basically long story short. There are some big things coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but let's dive in today a bit. We spoke about this as a bit of a life update, a little bit of a chat. We haven't had a nice just chat in a while about how things are going through this training winter. There's been a lot going on of guests, but not a lot of us.
Speaker 1:Don't switch off just yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and they're gone Right Ships. What's going on with you?
Speaker 1:How's training going? I'm an injured puppy, as you are as well. Things aren't looking too good on the western front. I've got a bad toe, haven't been able to run, but that does not mean that I have stopped doing stuff.
Speaker 2:I've managed to stay accountable just about we, we all have a couple of weeks of uh, wallowing in pity, but then we get back on the horse, don't we like? I feel like you're back on it now, you're.
Speaker 1:You're finding a way around it well, that's it, because right, I'll, I'll give the. I'll give the little story. So after christmas, when I got back off holiday, I did a run. Big toes started hurting. Foot swelled up really bad along the side. I sent you pictures, didn't I, darren? It was red, it was swollen. I couldn't get my boot on at work. So I had to take a couple of days off work, which is very unlike me anyway.
Speaker 1:But went to the hospital. They didn't really give me much inclination of what it was said. It could be some tendinitis or gout or something like that, but they didn't really test anything. They just sent me on my way and told me to take some ibuprofen and take some rest. Did some rest in that, not as much as I probably should have done, but uh, went back to the hospital to get it checked out by the doctor properly and got some tests done. Looks like it's just moderate arthritis at the moment. So just yeah, that's what it is and I'm learning how to get around that at the moment, just changing my training up, making sure I can still do some bits of it. So I'm still not able to run, but I'm just about getting back to being able to run and I'm just looking at how I can change my training to accommodate an old man foot, not an old man foot.
Speaker 2:How long did it take you to start to get a bit motivated?
Speaker 1:Well, after I was annoyed, frustrated and angry that I'm getting older and my body's starting to wear away, it took about three hours. Because then I was like, what the hell am I doing sitting here in self-pity? I'm a, I'm a, I'm an athlete. Um, it doesn't matter if I'm going to be stuck indoors sitting on the bike for hours on end, why am I giving up training? Because if I give up training right now, then what's the point of doing anything? Because that's that's who I identify as I identify as a, a person who works out, tries to get the best out of my body, no matter what what's happening. And if there's something wrong, then there's ways to train around it and I can get back on the horse and do something like that and what give us a bit more details.
Speaker 2:What have you been? What have you been adapting and overcoming the injury?
Speaker 3:yeah, I want to know what some of these sessions are yeah wow, it's very scientific.
Speaker 1:So instead of running, I've been doing this really really complicated thing right where you don't put any impact on your foot you just sit on an exercise bike and you spin the wheels around.
Speaker 2:That is scientific.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it turns out you can still get training in without actually having to run.
Speaker 3:Are you?
Speaker 1:changing the pace. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Is it just like one motion?
Speaker 1:No, no, no. So basically I am doing the same sessions. Well, I am now that I was doing running, but on the bike. So during the week, easy, a couple of threshold sessions once a week and a long ride on the weekend. Well, I say long ride on the weekend.
Speaker 2:Well, I say long ride, an hour and a half-ish. So have you been doing it by?
Speaker 1:have you adapted to be doing it by time? That's exactly the same as what I was doing when I was running time. Yeah, time.
Speaker 2:So you state that's your target. Is time to say you've completed a workout? Is there any heart rate or or speed changes in this work in the workouts?
Speaker 1:only on my threshold sessions, because obviously that's the only one where, in normal training, my heart rate will be heart weight, heart rate, heart rate will be changed, so like because I only do a threshold session once a week when I'm training in this part of the year anyway. So this part of the year, one session a week just doing threshold yeah, long threshold, grindy stuff how's that sound? Though I'll tell you what else I am doing. I'm getting super, duper strong because, I can still lift.
Speaker 2:How are you doing that?
Speaker 1:you can lift what lifting isn't affected one bit no, no, apart from I can't do um, I can't lunge off the forefront. That's about it.
Speaker 2:Well, that's I'm getting that's positive yeah I'm getting well strong.
Speaker 1:I look so good in the mirror good a bit of filling out yeah, clothes are ripping off me at the moment. Yeah, good, honestly you wait.
Speaker 3:So more questions. I've got more questions about the bike. We're going to delve into this. So, on the bike, are you chasing heart rate on your easy days or are you just letting it be what it is now, usually sticking to about 140 on the easy days? How do you find getting that on? Do you feel like you have to work harder through the legs to get 140?
Speaker 1:it's more of a harder because so you, I can either spin on quite a light resistance, spin fast and get to like 140, but then my cardiovascular system is working a bit harder than the effort, or I can turn up the resistance, but then I'm not really getting a cardiovascular feel, I'm getting more of a resistance feel. So I'm kind of working it in the, in the middle, right, yeah, do you know? So like it's not too much resistance, so I haven't got some breathing, but it's not too little resistance, so I haven't got that feeling of like breathing and I've got some resistance, so I'm not too little resistance, so I haven't got that feeling of like breathing and I've got some resistance.
Speaker 3:So I'm not just spinning the wheels really really quickly, yeah, that's my only thing with the bike is sometimes I end up feel like I'm working harder than I am to chase heart rates because I feel like I can't quite like if I just spin normally I'm at like 110, because if I want to be at like 130 140 is I have to actually put a bit of an effort in.
Speaker 1:I actually quite learned something yesterday, right? So if you like, you can do like a threshold thing with your efforts and if you cycle really, really hard and then get that heart rate up and then whack the resistance down but spin and try and keep your RPM around the same but lower, you can keep your effort the same but more breathing. So it's more of like rather than a.
Speaker 2:I think I get it, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, that kind of makes sense. So like.
Speaker 3:So spin on quite a heavy resistance, but fast, and then take the resistance right off. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, but then keep the rpm the same yeah, so then you?
Speaker 1:then you start breathing heavy, not breathing heavy, you breathe more, but your legs are just going over so your heart rate stays on the legs, yeah yeah, your heart rate stays the same sort of thing, but you're spinning the legs around, so you're more of a rather than a. Do you know?
Speaker 2:right. Yeah, it's less strength based because it can. Yeah, a bike can feel quite strength-based at times if the resistance is too high.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like my legs blow up or my lungs do on a bike one thing that baffles me about what you two have just spoken about is 140 on a bike. Like I can't get my heart rate that high. I know you're gonna say I'm not working hard enough, but like just I can't, I can. Never my perceived exertion is just so off on a bike. I'm either full out and feel like I'm gonna blow up or I'm at like 110. You're using a strap. No, I'm using my wrist.
Speaker 1:All right, then you can't. Can't argue that fact. Okay, you can't, though, because the the on the watch doesn't, especially when you're cycling, because you're sitting down, aren't you?
Speaker 2:what's that make a difference?
Speaker 3:yeah, it just does okay, science I mean there might be something there to that, but I don't, I don't know, I don't know if you know where your wrist.
Speaker 2:A wrist heart rate is messed up completely is when you do burpees or any sort of activity where you've got wrist movement, because it seems to just really not recognise heart rate at all.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's also when it's like I think there's just such a big delay sometimes.
Speaker 2:Oh, massive delay. I've noticed that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, If you look at obstacles training, if you look at when you go into an obstacle, things that like more mandatory, based on like if you went around the proving grounds as hard as you could and then went for a run, my heart rate doesn't show on my watch being higher Like the. Obviously there is a delay anyway, but I feel like the delay is like even more so on the wrist.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I would say as well. Then there's a lot of straps that have had like updates now and the accuracy is almost spot on for most straps a lot better because before my old strap used to pick up my cadence instead of my heart rate, I've bought a new one and it's actually working really, really well, more accurate so you'd say a bit of advice if you're, if you're injured or you you're used to running, if you're, you know your perceived exertion of running, you know what you're gonna hit.
Speaker 2:Your advice is that if then you go to a bike is to get a strap heart rate monitor so that you could you can work out your perceived exertion a bit better, because you might not know it from my very, very non-qualified yeah point this is.
Speaker 1:This is all up in this is all our experience from my, yeah, from my experience, I would say it just keeps me able to work at an effort that I feel is comparable to what I would be doing running nice, because at the end of the day, I have got no fucking, oh no bloody clue you can swear, I always put this podcast as explicit, because I just never can remember if most sworn or not but it's true, I don't think I'm not sure yeah, I don't really have any idea of how it is.
Speaker 1:I'm just trying to get something that's as close to what I would feel as in running, as I would do. I mean, all I know is I'm not running, so I'm not going to be getting the impact, and that's probably as much as I don't want to be getting at the moment. I want to be getting everything else to feel like I'm running.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've noticed that ships of the impact bit is the the only piece of the puzzle that you can't mimic and you can't train for. Everything else can feel amazing if you cross train on a bike or a rower, but you can just never prepare for that impact. Yes, you can do weight and help with the strength to take the impact, but it's the taking the impact. That's the actual thing that you just can't get away from when you're not running.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I was going to say, because I've been doing a lot of strength work. A lot of the strength stuff that I've been doing prior to getting on the bike is to mimic a lot of the sort of impact I'd get from running. Well, actually, not mimic the impact, but make myself you so I'll be good at getting impact when I go back to running.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it sounds good. Chips, you found a way around it. You found a you've. You've come out of like a bit of a bit upset. Obviously, anyone would be that they can't do the thing that they love and they can't train the way that they used to, especially with someone of routine like you. Once, once the stick to their routine. You've just found a new one now wants to stick to their routine.
Speaker 1:You've just found a new one. Now I've just changed the route. Oh, it's actually exactly the same routine. It's just on a different method.
Speaker 2:Nice, I'm glad that you're back. Well, you're back training and you will be back. It just maybe the message also ships that you probably need to remind yourself. Which I know you have said to yourself is probably that you can't rush it Like it's not yourself.
Speaker 1:which I know you have said to yourself is probably that you can't rush it like that's yeah. Patience has been because you've got. The thing is when you get a new injury, especially when you find out something that could be like quite prolonged and with you for like quite a while and I know a lot of our listeners are aging athletes as well and they all have experienced these things, and I've spoken to many of the people in the ocr community that have dealt with things that are really hard and patience seems to be the key because we are older and we do need to take care and think about how we're going to go about things because we don't bounce back. We're not like mo where we can grow another arm back and cuts it off. You know we are getting older and it just takes a little bit of while to recover, yeah, and it doesn't that.
Speaker 2:That time it takes you to get back, though, doesn't make you any less of the person that you will be once you are back. It's some sometimes you think that you're like weak and you're getting old and you're getting, you're past it, but it's not. It just takes a little, just a little bit longer. The only thing it does do is that you're constantly when you're past it, but it's not.
Speaker 1:It just takes a little, just a little bit longer. The only thing it does do is that you're constant. When you're getting older, you constantly think, oh, this could be the last year I could be doing stuff. So you are in, especially if you've got goals a lot of our listeners got goals and if you've got goals and you want to make them goals and and do them and succeed in them, it's really hard when you get something put in the way that makes that goal either seem unobtainable then or could possibly be unobtainable forever, and it just makes you like rethink that, oh, it's so important to try and make these goals, but maybe I haven't done it and I can't do it, and it just that's. That's when you get upset. You just, you just uh, and it's a race against time. Sometimes it feels like it's a race against time because you want to succeed in these things so you can either move on to a new goal or have a new thing to do, but you know it just it's like a step back yeah, but you'll get it.
Speaker 2:You'll do it. It's just tough. Yeah, it just takes them. Just meet the goalposts need to move slightly, like they're not not going to move completely. It's going to take a bit of time, but also it gives you. I feel like you should embrace the moment when you need to do something a bit different in the routine, cause it actually opens your eyes up to different ways that you can actually train and different ways you learn more about your body as well, cause, like myself, uh, I've been stretching so much and doing different stretches that I'm finding ways that I that makes me feel so good the next day, like different types of stretches that I've just never done before. But suddenly I'm like, wow, there must be tightness there, because I feel amazing the next day and I've learned that through this process, because there's something up with you at the moment as well, isn't there?
Speaker 2:Well, we'll go, we'll go on to, we'll do a, we'll do an injury sandwich. So yeah, that's a great idea, We'll go injury, then we'll go, uh, mo, and then we'll go me.
Speaker 1:I'm not. I'm not looking forward to hearing this.
Speaker 2:No, take us. Obviously, we always ask you about Sheffield, but I don't really care about Sheffield right now. I care about training. I want to know what's going on. What did you do when you moved to Sheffield? Training wise? That's a big decision.
Speaker 3:I'm leading you, but I can't. Yeah, I don't know what I did training wise. I probably had a week off when I got to Sheffield.
Speaker 2:No, do you just want me to tell you?
Speaker 3:or no, I know what you're getting so well. The first thing after my week off was I found the nearest great running club that had people that were fast. That was kind of my one thing when I was looking through I was looking at like results and looking at I was basically stalking members that I could find. I was like, right, I want to find a club that has at least five people that are faster than me. Uh, and I found a club with about 10, maybe even more, so that was handy, um. So yeah, that was like week two of Sheffield was finding the club and then starting with the club and then, to be honest, that's probably been quite a big needle mover for me because it's kind of like I'm now with fast people all the time and it's the one thing I've always kind of missed because I've always trained on my own or with people that aren't as quick.
Speaker 1:Walk us through. That day you turned up at this club.
Speaker 3:Oh, so we did, and bear in mind I'd had a bit of time off training so I wasn't the fittest, but my first track session, so we did. I can't even remember the workout, I think it was. It was really simple, it was only, like I don't know, 8 by 800. It might have been 10 by 800, something like that, but with 60 seconds recovery, which, to be honest, the 60 seconds recovery is what messed me up the most. But I think I did three or four reps at 800, just hanging on for dear life, and then I basically had to do. I didn't give up, but I basically have to then do 400, so I'd rest extra, let them do the first lap and then I'd join for the second lap.
Speaker 3:And it was the most humbling experience, especially someone that's quite competitive and likes to want to win, especially. I mean you shouldn't because it's training, but even in training I'll try and win, win the reps, um, and not being able to even get close to winning the reps and being dragged along like I remember. There was one of the 800s where it was literally like I felt like my legs were just stuck on ice or like stuck in snow, like they were just not moving and I was watching the pack get further away and I was like I'm literally trying my hardest here and it was yeah, it was quite a bit of a kick up the ass that I needed it doesn't happen as much now, which is nice, but that was a good start to my Sheffield journey but that was a good, a good start to my Sheffield journey.
Speaker 2:How, how did you feel about? Obviously you basically couldn't. You had had to join him halfway through their training just to keep up with them at like the latter half of that session. Yeah, but did you feel? Did you feel like because this isn't your sport that you felt a bit better about that, or do you think it's still? You still wanted to compete with them in that, in that environment?
Speaker 3:I think I had the excuse because the first, the first rep went really well and I was quite near the top and I was like this feels good, and I was looking at the pace. I was like, yeah, I'm in and around where I'm normally, maybe a little bit quicker, um, but then I think they got a little bit quicker as the reps went on, which didn't help. But also my fitness wasn't there. But I think I I used the fact that I'd had a bit of time off, because I'd had about a month off training properly up until that point. So I think that in my head it was like, oh well, that was supposed to happen, like if I came back quicker than I hadn't joined the right running group. So I think that kept me kind of yeah, kept me grounded. I was pissed off. But I remember walking away and I was like, yeah, this is, I need to do something about this it was like the torches.
Speaker 3:It was like anyway, oh yeah, yeah, you know that can't be the new kid on the block, and then people just expected him to get like walked over yeah, well, I think I probably I don't know if they'll say this, but I might have pissed, pissed them off in the first couple of reps because I'd say I was running quite close to the top and I was like, yeah, feeling good, and maybe I think then they were like, no, we can't just let this little ginger southern kid come and show us how to run this kid with no heels, yeah so then they were like they put the speed on me.
Speaker 3:So that was kind of intro to running in Sheffield or running track in Sheffield definitely do you think that's kind of intro to running in Sheffield or running track in Sheffield?
Speaker 2:definitely. Do you think that's not even intro to Sheffield running?
Speaker 3:That's an intro to running for you. It's an intro to running in a club that you're not the best at, so even the club that I went. So I was running for Bedford, near where Milton Keynes was away from. So I ran for them for a bit in like near where milky is, where we're from. So I ran for them for a bit and again it was I kind of walked in there without kind of sounding too big-headed but I was already the quickest. So it's like, okay, this is quite comfortable and I was being pushed in workouts because they were still quite quick, but I could always like I kind of controlled the paces if I needed to. Um, whereas this is the first time it was like, oh, you have no control here, you can either hang on or you can give up which I think I needed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. And how has that changed your training? Because winter training, as we've spoken about in the past, is an opportunity to build the engine, to build, maybe, work on different weaknesses, strengths in obstacle course racing. But I feel like it's changed your perspective not focusing on obstacle course racing and just being in that running environment. Is that right?
Speaker 3:yeah, it kind of. That's literally basically what happened. It was like because what I normally do in the winter is because there's not much obstacle stuff on, not even like video footage or races happening so I'm not even engaging in obstacle racing and I do try to switch off so that when it comes to the season I don't get bored quickly. So it was kind of good, because normally what happens is I switch off in the winter. I then then my training gets really I still train, but it gets a bit lazy and it lacks a bit of purpose because I can't really be arsed. And then the season comes around, I get smacked in the face.
Speaker 3:In my first race I realise, oh shit, I need to up my ideas. And then I train hard, whereas this year it's been like, oh, here's this new shiny little focus, and so I did like the cross-country season with them and I did like I've done those different road races and it's been like, okay, these are some things that you can just get your, get your teeth into a bit, and I don't have to be in peak fitness. That's the other thing, because it's not my thing. I'm not thinking I need to peak for this race, I'm just training through them and using them like training sessions. So I'm not peaking too early still. But I'm not thinking I need to peak for this race. I'm just training through them and using them like training sessions. So I'm not peaking too early still, but I'm still getting good amounts of training in.
Speaker 2:So how's your training adapted then? Because my perception of a running club is they're just constantly doing speed work. Obviously, I know that's a wrong perception, but you don't want to be doing lots of speed work in winter because you don't want to be sharpening the axe before it's needed. Actually, I must say I saw, I heard the best metaphor ever by bracken the other day on the running public. Shout out to them is about, I think I know what you mean the crop?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, yeah, don't harvest your crop. Yeah, that was a good. Or it's grown, yeah, I, that is, that is the best metaphor ever.
Speaker 2:Um, basically, don't harvest your crop yeah, that was a good. Or it's grown yeah, I, that is. That is the best metaphor ever. Um, basically, don't harvest your crop before it's grown. So build that winter engine, but don't be harvesting it before it's needed. And that means don't be going out there trying to do short, sharp, smart workouts that are too fast, too too much for you, before they're actually needed in the season. So that goes back to maybe my question is you mo like, how do you feel your training has changed this year, this winter, towards that?
Speaker 3:um, I mean, I'm a proponent of speed work all year round anyway. So, especially for me mentally, I need a speed session a week, and it doesn't even have to be like as we get into the season I might up the intensity and do more sessions, but I need at least one speed session because I just get bored if I've not got that in my training. I also think it just keeps me ticking over and keeps me running well, especially because we do a lot of trail running. It's nice to come back and actually work on my run mechanics and feel what my legs feel like just running fast, because obviously it's a very different feeling on the trails. Um, so I always keep that in anyway, which, so that hasn't really changed. It's just maybe the intensity might be higher than normal, but I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. I think it's what my running probably needed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what's your week looking like? I'm guessing, because I'd like to know some strength training, what you're doing in there at the minute.
Speaker 3:So I'm not actually strength training that much. I'm doing one kind of specific kind of S&C session for running and obstacle racing. And then I've just started doing an extra kind of upper body session, um, only like 30 to 45 minutes. Um, I do it on my recovery day because I actually feel like I don't know what it is about it, but doing a strength session I feel quite good the next day afterwards. Um, and it's not long, it's not, it's nothing impressive it's not long, it's not it's nothing impressive.
Speaker 3:It's normally like just five by fives just working some real strength, and also because I haven't got the access to obstacles, it just keeps me engaged with barbells and gripping things and moving things, and so I've added that in and then the rest is just running. That's all I've.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just run and with trail running you're doing that because you're doing cross country.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then obviously I'm next to the peak, so I've got access to some really good trails. I have been a bit lazy recently just because of work, so I haven't actually I've been able to get on trails probably once or twice a week. I want to try and up that a little bit, um, but yeah, improve once the weather gets better.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's the thing, and it's like even now it's there's a trail that I can get onto from my house, so it's not like it's not accessible. It's literally like a mile and a half down the road. But if I'm running when it's dark I just can't be bothered to faff around the headlight lamps and stuff, so I'd rather just stick on the roads. And the thing is there's enough hills that are keeping me distracted. At the minute around sheffield you don't really have to chase hills on the roads. So that's, that's keeping me busy nice.
Speaker 2:So what? So you're focused on running, do you? I'm excited for to see how your season progresses, because this is a complete change to what you've done in the past.
Speaker 3:You've yeah, the other thing I would say as well, we're going back to like joining a running club and being around top runners that are really like good level is it just makes me realize I can do so much more. Because that's the other thing is we always use this excuse like, oh, we work, so we can't. We can't run or train, do as much as we can. But then hero, and how they approach stuff and things they do to get their mileage in and they're hitting like 70, 60, 80 mile weeks, some even a little bit more, and they're holding a job as well. So it's like it gave me a bit of a kick up the ass to stop making excuses why you can't train. There's ways you can do it as well what are you telling yourself, mo?
Speaker 2:what? What are you learning from them?
Speaker 3:um, this is a motivational episode.
Speaker 2:Let's's motivate us.
Speaker 3:I mean it's things you know and things you should be doing, Like, if you're doing a double day, commute to work, If it's accessible, just run to work Like it's not, it doesn't. You don't need to make it a big thing, Just get the run done. It's also just time management, Like you just have to be so good with your time management and I've never been good.
Speaker 3:Yeah well, I've never been good at that and I'm still not great at it, but it's just like like looking at him Strava and watching him getting up at like five in the morning or like getting their training and they're getting two sessions in and, yeah, I just find a bit more motivating to be like oh yeah, I can do that like I'm just being a bit of a pussy yeah, it's always good to surround yourself by people who are doing the work and doing the things that you need to be doing, because it does influence you to do the right thing.
Speaker 1:That's why. That's why we all hang around with people we hang around with. It's why I don't hang around with drug addicts and drinkers. They're not motivating.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's the thing being like in milton keynes. Obviously I had you around me, darren, but that was it. Like there was no one really else. That's top level putting in the work. It was just us two and it was kind of like you're in this little bubble of, well, we're putting in work. But this showed me a whole other side where it's like, no, you can really put in some work if you want to, if you're willing to try and actually do the work.
Speaker 2:I think that's really good to hear, because that's when you say about you put yourself in the right circle to motivate yourself. It's why people listen to this podcast at times as well. They want to hear this information. They want to feel like they're a part of the community that puts in the work, doesn't give excuses, has the right time management, messes up and gets injured, but gets back on the bike like it's an environment where we, we thrive. Success like success thrives, sorry, so that we can make sure that we just want to do what we love, that we're passionate about one thing. If you're passionate about it, make time for it. It's not about you know, you see all these uh podcasts and uh messages on instagram like you need to be a better man, you need to get up at five o'clock, have a, have a like cold shower. It's not. It's just that if you're passionate about something, don't be afraid of it, give time to it and just give it everything like go for it. Yeah, if you love it, you do it well, that's it.
Speaker 1:There's only one thing you'll ever be upset about, and it won't be like the failure of doing it.
Speaker 2:It'd be the regret that you didn't actually try yeah, I I was when, when I first said that we should do an episode of us catching up and getting a bit of motivation for one another, I was envisioning that we would basically be able to put our like a montage of our voices over a video. You know, like you know, do this.
Speaker 3:I hate all that shit. I'm going to put your voice. That's what I was trying to get out of you, mate.
Speaker 2:What you just said a minute ago. I'm going to put that across like a.
Speaker 3:You know I'm thinking like a black and white image of you running.
Speaker 2:Yeah do the work. Yeah, drink your black coffee.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean that's great, that's really motivating.
Speaker 3:I'm definitely not that side of the world yet. I'm'm still very much eat what I want, do what I want, but just with a little bit more focus. I was actually did. You see, I think, what Hunter McIntyre was saying on Instagram. I find it hilarious because he was on about basically athlete diets and he was like all these influencers that are putting like these what I eat in a day. He said, if you compared that to actually what most athletes eat, it's complete opposite.
Speaker 2:And I was like, yeah, it's so true yeah, I like a bit of honesty to the approach of it. Like we all mess up, we all don't get up, we don't run like my. I said to you I wanted to come on this podcast to be quite motivating and feel like, oh, we're absolutely smashing it, we're getting back on it. Season's about to start, everything's good but everything isn't good. But I feel like just grateful for what we can actually do. I guess that's where maybe I'm coming from. Like today I was meant to run but I just ranted about my treadmill not working for like half an hour before the podcast. But and I haven't ran, but I am upset about I haven't run. But actually I should just be thankful that I get to come on a podcast with you to talk about it and I've got tomorrow to train. Like lauren was like, oh, you can train tomorrow. I'm like, no, it's consistency over time, not binging and catching up.
Speaker 1:But one day, those, those life problems always get in the way of that consistency. But we can't, everyone can't let them get. You can't let those things get on top of you no, you gotta let them pass.
Speaker 2:You know, you know you're going to put in the work, you know you will do it. You're not. This is these things come up not to give you an excuse, but they come up to give you um, I don't know challenge you, to challenge your motivation towards what you actually want to do.
Speaker 1:If you're a full-time athlete, getting paid for it as your job, there's a different story. But if you're the Tom, dick and Larry, like we are, you shouldn't let Bobby do that, yeah.
Speaker 3:I think actually, going back to Sheffield Quick, that's actually another change that I've made as well. Well is, I am notoriously a bit of a binge trainer. Like I can miss this session this week, so I'll just put it in this day and or I just add some miles on to this run and that I've stopped doing and pretty much any of that, unless it's really necessary. Like all my training is day by day, like obviously we just had the troop race at the weekend and I was supposed to have track yesterday and I ran in the morning and I was like, yeah, this doesn't feel great. So actually I was like, right, I'm not gonna train, I'm not gonna go to track.
Speaker 3:But then in the past what I probably did is then done some speed work today, but instead of that I've gone right today's always my rest day, wednesday's always off. So it's like, well, I'm going to stick to that schedule, take an extra rest day and then get back to training. It's not about kind of trying to fit things in and catching up, because I think actually that's where you get. You can start fucking yourself up as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah that would, if we just can say, run in public again. But if we were going to let them know about a topic to talk about as a training Tuesday binge training actually be a quite good one yeah.
Speaker 2:I think we're all guilty of that, aren't we? That it happens in different scenarios. It happens in a very motivated scenario where you feel like you can take on the world and train like every day, every hour, and add on like a couple of hours a week Cause you, you just feel amazing. Or it happens in a place where you haven't trained and you want to catch up, so you start binging it all and then, yeah, it's weird, isn't it? It comes in, it comes and goes, and we all go through that.
Speaker 1:I think we've all binged quite a lot of motivation and then you're all of a sudden you're like you know, you start overdoing it and training too much, wanting to train more, thinking that you've got to catch up on the training that you missed because you was ill. That's a big one.
Speaker 3:The sickness catch up yeah, just got to remember and then you get more ill or ill again, yeah, yeah, over trained and yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:It is that consistency over time is the thing that wins, even if, even if you've missed a few, if you've consistently trained and put in the work, then yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna move the needle, but then there also becomes those. You really need to get into the understanding of what that consistency has looked like. If the needle isn't moving, because you might just be plateauing and actually just going through the motions, there needs to be some sort of spice in there, as we've always said yeah, because that's also not an excuse just to go.
Speaker 3:Oh, I heard them guys say that on the podcast. If I have a day off, don't I don't matter if I don't train for the rest of the week. No, still do your training. That's not what we're saying. But if you have a day off, don't beat up about it. But then also don't try and fit it somewhere else if, if it's not manageable just day by day, but make sure the next day you are trying to get it done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, listen to Mo, because he is qualified.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he is motivated as well.
Speaker 1:I'm like this.
Speaker 2:Motivated Mo.
Speaker 3:They were not very good at obstacles.
Speaker 2:Found that out, weren't going to say no. But that comes back into what you just said, mo, and maybe you didn't know if you wanted to talk about that, because you, you like, actually like hunter mcintyre, actually, he, he gets praised for very, being very specific in blocks. Um, what's it? When you block training I forgot the word uh periodize when you periodize training and get very specific and ignore the noise, you can get very good at one thing and move those and build those blocks as the year goes on. You're building a massive foundation of running at the minute with that sprinkling of uh strength. But that strength is is, I'm assuming is very simplistic, just pure, like, just keep the muscles engaged, not not oh yeah, I'm just ripping the barbells around and yeah doing you know what kind of five by fives so you're not going to be great obstacles in a minute.
Speaker 2:But we've talked about it before specializing and getting specific into a race. It happened, it can. It can happen quite quickly if you've got a consistent base of their mechanics and you've got that yeah, I mean I also don't think I'm gonna have to do that many obstacles.
Speaker 3:The same amount of obstacles this season at all. I think that's the most I'm going to touch obstacles for the rest of the year, so I'm not really put off by it now, now that I've been really nice and said that about Mo, but he was terrible obstacles at the weekend and I've never seen him. Well, I was great. I was great at mandatory obstacles.
Speaker 1:I really, I really really wanted to see what he was like, because I know he hasn't touched very many obstacles and I love seeing it when the rust is all on you, because it's so weird that first session back when you can't, you're just like, oh, hang on a minute. You're just not used to having. Your neurological pathways aren't connected at the moment. They just need to be like replugged, didn't they?
Speaker 3:it's, I mean, the obstacles itself were fine until 10 miles. But it's my obstacle endurance, that's just gone like soon. But by that point we'd probably done at 10 miles what 100 obstacles? So there's no like. Yeah, it's a lot, yeah, it's more like I say it's more than I'd have to touch anyway, but it was just like.
Speaker 2:Until then, I was like why is this so easy?
Speaker 3:I was expecting it to be hard and I was like, oh, this is, I'm moving, well, but then it was just like suddenly oh, I can't grip anything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I trained with Finlay on the Thursday before and he was exactly the same. Yeah, he ripped and everything. And I was like Finlay, why are you ripping? He's like, well, he's actually done probably mirrored training to yourself over winter. He's done track and not done. A lot of obstacles Well, actually hardly any, hardly any. So yeah, it's gonna happen. Get rid of the rust.
Speaker 3:Right, there are some obstacles, yeah, yeah mr knees let's see, let's put this injury sandwich together injury sandwich.
Speaker 2:I don't think it's anything different to what. Maybe we spoke about the learnings of what ships, what you've done, but obviously I've had a bit of a knee injury and it's it's been the. It's taken me off of running longer, longer than I've probably ever been off running. What a month and a half. And yeah, taking away the thing you love and the thing that makes you feel that you've got purpose and progress towards what you're training for is a bit of a bit of a bummer yeah but what, what?
Speaker 1:you're training for is a bit of a bummer, yeah, but what you've been taking, what have you been doing? You've been having a daily diary of taking accountability for your actions, haven't you? Well, I tried to. It has gone down a bit here.
Speaker 2:Okay so I can actually rationalise why it stopped. So I started to do a daily diary of accountability because what I was doing, I was going, I was rushing the process, my knee was hurting and I was still, and then, whenever it felt fine, I was going out and doing a run, and then I'd be like then four miles into it I'd have to walk home another four miles because I'm an idiot. So that was just stupid. And then so I wasn't doing the work, wasn't doing the admin, and so thought no, I need to sort this out. So that daily accountability tool was me just making sure that I was making a promise to myself to actually don't be an idiot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a great reinforcement to the world, isn't it? Not to the world? Sorry to yourself. If you put that out there, it means you've got to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we get lost in the scroll of other people's shit on instagram and everything. Why don't we use it for ourselves, even though no one's looking at it or might be looking at it? You, you kind of? You kind of think people are going to look at. It's kind of like that placebo effect I'm not giving myself anything but accountability. That people might be assuming that I'm going to look at. It's kind of like that placebo effect I'm not giving myself anything but accountability. That people might be assuming that I'm going to go for a run or not go for a run, and that's that really helped me to get past the recovery and that meant that all the days that I put accountability up, I wasn't running and that basically rested my knee and now I'm back running, so that that it it. Yeah, that's why it hasn't gone up again, because I don't need it.
Speaker 3:Like you, should use the tools when you need them and I don't need to keep posting anymore, because it allowed me to to stop running and actually rest and do the admin and I really enjoyed the concept of it, though, and I think maybe it's something we should all, even if we did it for a month, like an accountability month, like I was thinking, oh, maybe I could do this. This is because it's just like a training diary, but you're keeping yourself exposed to the world on a platform that you know a lot of people see. That's probably your most viewed platform out of all your social medias and all your life, so it's the one time that, like, actually a lot of people can see what you're doing, even if it is 20 there's name. Another time when 20 people see exactly what you're doing yeah it doesn't really happen.
Speaker 3:So I think as a concept it was great. Yeah, maybe you should have.
Speaker 2:Sorry, no no, no, carry on. I was gonna say maybe I should have sorry Shep, see you go. No, no, no, carry on. I was going to say maybe I should have continued it, but I think the moment you don't feel like you need it is the moment you probably should stop doing it.
Speaker 3:I don't know, yeah yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, if you mentally don't need it, it's like well, actually then, is this taking more of a toll, because I'm putting pressure on myself getting these posts done?
Speaker 2:yeah, and what it helped me to do is not just the rest period, but also if I said I was going to go on the bike for an hour. You have when your ships your notice when you go from running to a bike. You can't just like assume, oh, I've done a good workout on the bike, I've done half an hour, I'll come off. Now it's like no, you need to do the full hour, you need to go in there and it's very boring, very monotonous. So if you've promised yourself you're going to go in there for an hour, you stay on for an hour Like I don't know it was holding that accountable as well. There's some science to this.
Speaker 1:Oh, could do some science. Yes, yes, there is some science to this. Now there is something in the brain that happens in the hippocampus or somewhere, that when you actually say that you're going to do something, or you tell someone, it sends off these things. I think it's like an ft, something or other, and that makes it actually happen and it makes you more committed to do it and it sends off like a response that is all to do with, like the stress hormones and stuff, the dope effect. I don't know. I was listening to it on this book called the dope effect lately. It's all in there no dose effect, sorry, the dose effect it.
Speaker 2:It comes back to also the same thing as manifestation as well. If you manifest something, talk about something, that something is more likely to come true because you, you're, you put your energy in that direction and that's what you foresee happening. So you, you, actually, you actually try to make it happen.
Speaker 1:And the same thing happens with accountability yeah, the mind is the most powerful tool we got in training. If we don't use our mind to stimulate our bodies, then we ain't going to be doing nothing. So use these tools and tell people, tell yourself, tell friends, tell Instagram, tell Facebook, tell, uh, my space, tell them that you know that you've got stuff to do, and then you'll you are more likely to do it. It's all about building that routine. Building that, that, uh, that routine building that thing to just make you do stuff.
Speaker 2:That is why we started the podcast and we were thinking when we first did it, it was like that could be a kind of cool concept of a community where we try to keep people accountable. Oh no, not keep people accountable but help people to have a forum to keep themselves accountable. So I haven't, yeah.
Speaker 1:The forums still exist? Yeah, they do. Yeah, such a great way to have, like well, information why don't people just tell us how they're staying accountable?
Speaker 2:I don't like listeners like tell us what is keeping you accountable right now. What are you doing? Like that them diaries I was doing was in a moment that I needed to stay focused for for my injury. But let us know what you're staying focused on, what you're staying accountable towards. Put it out there in the open. No one there's no judgment here, like even if it's in a new jumper stay accountable to it positive reinforcement yeah, and a kick up the ass as well, we can give that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we all need it at times. Well, we could all need it all the time, like Mo, like you're. You're absolutely rolling through motivation right now, but you're going to need a moment to be like right, I need to go track, surrender outside Whoever's horrible. But I've said to everyone in the world don't go track today. You'd always go, you would not go.
Speaker 1:yeah yeah, definitely yeah, oh, nice one. Yeah, really elaborate on all that no, but it's true.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree no, actually that also, I think if we really like started to delve into it, that's probably another reason why my training's been so well. It's because now I'm living with kiara, it's like if I'm going for a run and I'm telling her, all right, I'm going to be out for an hour, if I come home before that was up, I'm like, yeah, it's like, well, that wasn't an hour. It's like, oh shit, yeah, that wasn't an hour. You caught me out here, so it's almost that like you don't want to get caught out, yeah yeah, go on, get back out, finish what are you doing back?
Speaker 1:she likes the hour of peace.
Speaker 3:That's it. So she's like this is lovely that is.
Speaker 2:That is such an awesome thing as well. That is the same thing that I was doing for instagram. Is that, yeah, it's telling someone what you're doing and then you have to you not have to do it, but do you feel judged that if you don't do it, or do you have to rationalize why you haven't done it? Because if sometimes, if I come in, like especially when I was out, lauren would say to me why are you going out, your knees hurting? I'll be like, no, it feels fine. I went out four miles and walk home and she's that that four miles took a while. I was like, yeah, my knee hurts, like you, idiot. And then she's like told you, yeah exactly, but so.
Speaker 2:So whenever I went out after that, I was like I'm going out for one mile and then I'll come around the house and I'll be back if it doesn't hurt. And she's like don't go out, that's just stupid. She's like no, no, that's fine.
Speaker 1:So you're always telling so hard, though. I mean, even when my foot was going, like raffi was doing the same thing. She was like I'd go do some like lifting or go on the bike, and even going on the bike at that time was making my foot sweat up and I'd get off it. And she'd be like why is your foot worse now that you've got arm and arm? No, no, no, it's nothing, it's all good.
Speaker 3:Nothing to see here.
Speaker 2:It's nothing, it's fine. But it did get to the point that if I was going, when I was going to go for a run and I knew I was going to have to rationalize it to Lorna, I was like no, I'm going to go on the bike, that's just yeah. Because it made me think that if I need to, if I need to find an excuse for this, it's not the right thing to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's the thing Deep down. You know your excuse is full of bollocks, like you always do every time you make some sort of excuse or some sort of I don't care who you are like, unless it's an actual, legit excuse you know it's absolute bollocks. I used to with your injuries. You actually are on the other end of the spectrum where you've now got the perfect opportunity to rationalize, not running, like if someone said to you why aren't you running? You can't run and you probably shouldn't be trying to tell them why you should be running, whereas I've got no injury. So if I was then trying to make it, oh, I've got, uh, this little I don't know thing at five and um, it's now three. I can't run because, yeah, what a revelation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you can run, you should be running, but if you have an injury, don't run.
Speaker 3:Got training to do, you can still do something oh yeah, yeah, not running doesn't also mean not training yeah, if you haven't got an injury, it doesn't if no.
Speaker 1:So if you've got an injury, it doesn't mean no training, it means you still train in a different modality or you just go out and get some exercise and do something that just make, because doing something will always make you feel better, no matter what.
Speaker 2:There's no such thing as a bad workout.
Speaker 1:No you need that dopamine, oxytonin, serotonin yeah yeah, oxytonin serotonin yeah, there's one more, there's one more I thought you was gonna.
Speaker 3:I thought that sounded like a little rap coming along there it's dopamine, oxytonin, serotonin, and then it's an eve.
Speaker 1:I can't remember what that one is. What is it?
Speaker 2:I don't know, I leave you for these things.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to get things a lot better with my science.
Speaker 2:So what we've taken away from this conversation is that we've got a lot of things going on training wise ships. Actually, when we went into your training know what you're doing, mo? Lots of running track work, very little strength, I think for me, I'm doing a lot. I was doing a lot of bike, which I actually liked. Seeing the the cardio numbers go up like doing like 10 hours a week of cardio was amazing because I was on the bike more. But that's, do you know? That's what told me that I can do 10 hours a week of cardio. So when I'm doing, when I do a run that and I've done my run miles for the day and it's only been 40 minutes and I know I need an hour I'm going on the bike for another 20 because I'm doing it reminds you that you can.
Speaker 1:You don't always have to you don't. It goes back to us our strava accountability corner thing. Just because you're hitting high mileage on the mileage doesn't necessarily mean that's what you need to be doing. You can or, especially if you're doing a lot, you can get that training in by doing other bits and it reminds you that you know it doesn't always have to be running in higher mileage no, mix it up that might just set you back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, mix up. I know. Yeah, I know now that as well, with my injury, that I'm not going to be able to do the amount of running that I was trying to fit well that I had set myself to do at the beginning of the year. I wanted to hit more mileage this year than I'd ever hit before because I was running well off it. But now I know I'm just not going to be able to do that now I'm I'm excited to for this year to be hitting high cardio hours.
Speaker 2:That's where I'm going to look at it, rather than running miles.
Speaker 3:I've just changed my Strava so I no longer see, because before I had it every week I would see like miles, whereas now I just see time and I include everything in there. So on, like your weekly overview, not your necessarily. The top bit saw my training log. Rather than saying, right, like mileage, it says time. Oh, I like that so much better because then, because I was kind of getting chasing that while I was getting ultra motivated, I was also then thinking of ways to get more mileage in, but then I thought actually that's probably not what I need. So I've been looking at ways to, yeah, trying to get more hours in, but not basically. Basically that's the other thing being around people that do in 70 mile weeks. I almost instantly want to jump to that, but it's like I don't think that's probably the best idea. So how do I almost mimic that but not run all of it?
Speaker 2:I do think cardio hours are more accessible than mileage. I know that obviously contradicts a lot of coaches that try to get you on a certain mileage a week, but especially when you're working life trying to just fit everything in, it has been a lot more, a lot easier for me to be looking at hours rather than miles. Well, I've had to, because it's I've been out.
Speaker 2:If I looked at miles I'd be doing like one so I looked at if I did all my hours, though, because I could add work to hours but yeah, the thing is, sometimes you should be counting that, especially if your, if your heart rate which it probably would do ship sometimes it won't be going above 90.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like 110 most of the day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that should be counted, it's the same as like I track my spin class. So I'm like that's cardio, free cardio for the week.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And technically I'm working, but I'm on the bike and my heart rate's probably about 140, so it's like well you both should be tracking that, just to be careful as well.
Speaker 1:You all, you both know that I may, I may like, if I have had a really hard day, like a really really hard day, I won't train yeah, um, the only difference my training to you two probably.
Speaker 2:Oh no, you said you're doing a lot of weights, but I do one strength session on a Monday which is about an hour and 20 minutes, which has a 25-minute Metcon finisher. Because everyone knows me, I love like a Metcon sort of circuit workout.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's the best thing ever. I love those um. And then also have rumble on thursdays, which I've been quite religious going to, which we've been doing a lot of um, strength and conditioning warm-ups, uh, kind of like mo used to do them long, horrible warm-ups which they've been happening. And then we're doing simulation training and then we've been doing competitions afterwards, whether it's like rope climbing for like you go, I go for like half an hour. So yeah, it's been quite intense but it's good. I feel like it's helped. My obstacles were feeling good at the minute. Is that similar? How many? How many strength sessions you Chips?
Speaker 1:I'm doing one, two, three, three a week, but they're 20 minutes Well, 25 minutes. Well, 25 minutes for two of them. And then on a Friday it's a longer one and I add some extra bits and pieces.
Speaker 2:So going around the room, then, the two of you, what pieces are you missing that you're going to start putting in?
Speaker 3:More specificity in terms of obstacles. So I'm going to start looking at, coming into the season, it'll probably be every other week, just for time and to make it more simplistic, but getting down to the barn and just getting on some obstacles, I probably I've got some attachments left at my parents. I might bring up that I could just stick on a pull-up bar as well and start doing more kind of pull-ups and things on attachments, just to get used to weird grips as well. Um, but yeah, and maybe some more compromise running, but I don't know how much I'm gonna need it yeah, I'm just taking my time.
Speaker 1:I'm just about running on the treadmill now, but I can only do sort of at an incline, at a nice slow pace, and I think I'm just going to maintain that and then see when I can run a bit faster. Because the trouble is I can't push off of the toe. That seems to be the only issue. I can't push off it. I can sort of plod but can't push off. So just need to maintain that and take my time, not push off until I feel as if it's properly ready or able to do it. I don't know, we'll see how that goes and then just carry on training the way it is. Just take my time. I haven't got nothing to rush around for. I can't just go. Yeah, be clever about it, don't want to be set back.
Speaker 2:So you're not going to try and get spicy or anything. Your, your, your. Main thing you're putting in is almost like a bit of a not a blocker, but a bit of I don't know just holding yourself back a bit. You know, yeah, putting the reins on a little bit.
Speaker 1:It's quite good, though, because whilst I'm on the treadmill, I'm practicing a lot of nasal breathing as opposed to breathing through my mouth, with the nose which is quite good because obviously I'm keeping everything quite slow and that this gives me it's given me a chance to try something new, because apparently, if you breathe a lot more through your nose, you can open up the airway passage by doing that whilst you're exercising and plus, it's so much better for everything else when you breathe through your nose nice and and then I'm gonna um, hopefully next week I need to get and put a bit of spice in speed work I haven't done.
Speaker 2:I've been back running now for two, three weeks. So I'm gonna speak to dave about I think it's in the it's in the schedule next week but I think might push that to the following week and do that in two weeks' time. But I do need to test out the old top-end speed a little bit because I haven't done that in about three It'll be two months. I haven't done that in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in how many weeks? What? When do you want to do?
Speaker 2:that Two weeks' time. Okay, yeah, so it'll be two weeks before tartan. Yeah, I get you, I feel you. Yeah just want to feel it, don't you? You do want to feel fast. It's a confidence booster rather than a training booster. I think yes.
Speaker 1:Sometimes with those sort of knee injuries. That's pretty good sometimes because you seem to do that speed session, especially if it's a muscular thing, and then all of a sudden you're like I ain't even got no knee problems.
Speaker 2:No, I didn't. I didn't feel it on um. So the best run I've had in ages mo was actually the troop race. That's the best my knees felt it was. It niggled a little bit, but it. What I was saying to lauren the other day is that it it niggles, but then it doesn't get worse, it gets better during the run, which is a sign that I'm stretching and rolling and the admin's actually working. But what would happen if it was injured? It would niggle and then just literally make me stop running. But I did 10 miles on sunday, so that wasn't bad, not too. Not too far away from your average lap pace, but you did.
Speaker 3:You both went on a much longer yeah yeah I mean, we, we were moving them first two laps as well and I was like, because I don't think finn planned to do the whole two and a half, so he went out quicker and I was like, I was like my running's feeling good, so I'm just going to stay here, it feels alright. Then I kind of thought we've got two and a half hours of this. This is going to be a bit of a long one. Then we did slow down because it was like we realised both of us then that this is too quick.
Speaker 2:You did do the two and a half hours, didn't you the full? Yeah, Ships only did the hour and a half.
Speaker 3:I think we did the hour and a half too, don't?
Speaker 1:worry, don't worry, I've checked it out oh, okay, I looked yeah.
Speaker 2:I was on there. I was on there looking.
Speaker 3:Julie might have done two and a half as well yeah, it's still amazing.
Speaker 2:There's only like two or three of us that ended up doing the whole thing yeah and cool, I think the whole thing yeah and oh.
Speaker 2:I think I think that was a good training life update of where we've what's going on and also, hopefully, some good takeaways for people to use for their training if they're going through injuries. Um want to mix things up. We talked about track, talking about racing with people that are much quicker than with you, taking your time, not binging consistency, motivation. A lot of science shouted out our patreon, well, shouted out that we've got patrons. We haven't actually haven't shouted out the names of the patron. Maybe we we start doing that as well. You know, since, since not these podcasts, patrons seems to do that at the beginning they will get something special at some point.
Speaker 2:You reckon what will they? Get.
Speaker 1:They'll get a scientific book signed by me.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm sure they're going to love that.
Speaker 3:Are you going to release something? A science of shipley book coming soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, here's a last in question for you both, that you can help me out, okay, and this this goes back to. This is going to summarize the whole episode. Is what we just talked through, right, it's 8 20 now. Yeah, I haven't ran today and all I'm thinking about is the fact that I'm missing out on a six mile run. Would you leave it for today because I've had a good week and I can go back to consistency tomorrow to rumble, or would you go out and do a six miles now? What time?
Speaker 1:do you usually go to sleep about 10 o'clock? Go get your run done.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'd go get your run done if you, if you feel like, if it's built in the schedule and you're not missing it for your knee, you're just missing it because you sat on this podcast, you, I think you should go get your run done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if it's not affecting your daily life. Like if it's not going to affect anything else, like you're going to get good sleep tonight. You're still spending time you've eaten already, then yeah, it doesn't necessarily have to be six miles anyway. Just get out. For what's six miles? Do you take 40 minutes?
Speaker 2:Yeah, get out and get something done, basically Cool. All right, I'm going to go Nice. I like that yeah, all right, and I'm going to eat. Look on Strava.
Speaker 1:They'll be there. That's it. Stay accountable. Put those be positive. No, send positive reinforcements to yourself, to your friends and to everyone else that doesn't care, but it'll make you care, and if you've made it this far in the episode, I want you to.
Speaker 3:Obviously we'll be listening to this on the weekend, so it'll be Saturday Dan is. It is Wednesday today, so Dan would have listening to this on the weekend, so it'll be saturday. Down is wednesday today, so darren would have gone for his run on wednesday. Go back on strava, see if he's done his run and then, if you did make it this far on the episode and you've seen he's actually done his run, you need to then comment well done, darren okay, and then we'll comment well done to everyone at nuts as well, because this will come out on on nuts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah good luck to everyone. It's going to be wet, muddy, or. If anyone's driving to nuts listening to this, just be aware that it is super muddy. But you shouldn't be. You're not parking in the mud, so it's all good. But, yeah, the course is very damp and you got some some good. You got a good day. Got a good day. Yeah, they've been really working hard down at nuts this year. They've got more numbers. It's it's. It's getting back on the up really good all right, have fun.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna go run. No run, right. See you later, guys. See you later laters bye. Later Bye.
Speaker 1:Bye.
