The Champion Within
This is a series with fascinating and inspiring people, and what it takes to be the best you can at whatever your endeavours may be.
We will learn from others as to how they have handled themselves in their own pursuits, and so that we can apply to ourselves.
We’ll talk about the necessary support and how important it is, to have the best and appropriate systems around us, so that we can be the best possible. We’ll discuss aspects of ourselves that we can all develop.
This is a show with inspiring people, including musicians, artists, athletes, medical specialists, business entrepreneurs and more…in the pursuit of excellence.
I’m Jason Agosta, a health professional and former athlete, and I'm fascinated in people’s stories, my own involves developing certain attributes over time, but also things that were not done well or were significantly missing.
Join me on The Champion Within in discovering that everybody has a story, and everybody has a message.
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The Champion Within
Ep.11 Gemma Maini: Marathon Triumph, Balancing Life, Parenthood and Running
Buckle up, dear listeners, as we traverse the thrilling journey of Gemma Maini, the victorious debutante at the Melbourne Marathon. Feel her pulses as she navigates her newfound life as a mother while also training for the marathon, and discover how she managed to stay patient and in control. This episode is a treasure chest of wisdom for runners and non-runners alike, brimming with insights into Gemma's training regimen, how she balances her intense training with parenthood.
We continue the journey with Gemma as she shares how she rediscovered her rhythm post-baby and the valuable lessons she took away from her Melbourne Marathon experience. You'll be intrigued by how she tweaked her training with her coach to keep up with her busy schedule, and the strategy she adopted to manage her own expectations. Brace yourselves for a heartfelt tale of resilience, determination, and finding balance amidst chaos. This conversation is a testament to Gemma's indomitable spirit and her mastery of the delicate balance between life and training, serving as a beacon of inspiration for all those juggling multiple roles in life.
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Welcome back to the Champion Within, where we speak to fascinating people with inspiring stories. I am Jason Agosta and I have a cracker of an inspiring story for you today. I am joined by Gemma Mani, who has just finished her first marathon last week and had also finished first place here at the Melbourne Marathon and I know that for so many people listening others would have done the same but also for so many people who are contemplating a running event or doing a marathon at some point. Hey, gemma, how are you? Thanks for joining me?
Speaker 2:Good thanks and thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pleasure. And I have to ask you to start off with over all these years, did you always envisage that you'd step out and do a marathon at some point?
Speaker 2:No, I never. I always laughed at those people that ran marathons and was like I'll never do that.
Speaker 1:Why, why?
Speaker 2:It wasn't until last year, after I just had all the, I went and watched the Melbourne Marathon and the vibe was so good that, yeah, at the end of it I said to Matt oh, I'm definitely going to run Melbourne Marathon next year. So up until then it was never, never on my radar.
Speaker 1:And how old is your first child, because that's part of the story.
Speaker 2:He turned 16 months on the day of Melbourne Marathon.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, yeah, yeah, that's huge, yeah. So if I go back to when I saw you running around this area, where I am on the peninsula, and we ran into each other and we started chatting, I was on the bike, you were running. That was about 10 months ago, yeah it was.
Speaker 2:It was only would have been six months old, yeah, and it was just finally starting to get some good consistency back.
Speaker 1:That's right, Because I remember our first chat when I rode past. I said, hey, did you run Zadopeck last week? And you said, no, I just had a child six months ago. I'm just getting going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it wasn't fit enough. It was sort of I contemplated it. But yeah, I haven't raced yet, so no, definitely wasn't quite ready.
Speaker 1:But I think one of the things I said to you was, if we think about the last 10 months, that we've sort of spoken a little more, you have put together an enormous training block of consistency and high mileage, which was the best preparation you could have had.
Speaker 2:Oh, it really was. I've been really lucky. I didn't really get any sickness. I was really nervous about all going into daycare and me being constantly sick. I was lucky we sort of avoided that and yeah, I guess just listening to the body, I avoided any serious needles as well. So probably the most consistent I've been in years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you become better at this, then? Have you Listening to your body and, just you know, taking it a little bit easier when you've had to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I think the few years before I had Oli I was trying to push when my body was probably saying you need a bit of a rest. I think we're all guilty of at some point. But in hindsight, looking back now, I was definitely overdue for a break. So I think, yeah, having Oli was that force break my body definitely needed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it is quite interesting, though, when we look at all the studies of best performance in cross-country skiing, cycling and distance runners, that you, you know, the best performances are always following like a really long, extended block of six months plus, and you managed to put this together beautifully.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I probably had. Yeah, but over a year of solid training, so that was good. In the last six months, yeah, probably some of the highest mileage I've ever hit consistently. So, yeah, probably never felt so fit in my life, which is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good, isn't it? So, you went into the marathon in really good shape, but it also is obviously a huge platform to extend from here on as well. So have you got plans from here on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we hadn't really thought about it until after Sunday. It was sort of we weren't sure how it was going to go, if I was going to enjoy it, if I was going to finish and say I never wanted to run another one again. So we're contemplating now what to do from here. We're looking at one in Japan early next year. Yeah, so we'll see what I get into. And yeah, it's sort of a lot of the entries have already closed, so it's sort of playing a bit of catch-up.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, right, and I'm pleased with a view to trying to stretch it out to hit an Olympic qualifier possibly.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure I'll hit the Olympic qualifier, but definitely looking at world champs in two years' time, that's sort of the goal, yeah. So we'll see where the next one leads, and hopefully I can run fast enough. That puts me in good contention.
Speaker 1:Did you have a vision or a plan of pacing at around about two hours 35, which is what you ran last Sunday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, leading into it, yes, I'd only really done one proper half marathon. We thought 235 was the initial goal and then, leading into it, I started sort of exceeding some of those paces in sessions. So we were debating between 233, which is what I wanted to run, and 235, which was probably more sensible pace for a debut. Yeah, so Matt and Dane had a bit of a conversation behind my back and they decided on starting at 235ish pace. Yeah, so anywhere between 233 and 235, I would have been super happy with. So, yeah, it does run to be consistent and was really stoked to run 235.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's huge, huge debut. You know you've run 235,. You've also won the event as well, I mean it wins a win.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was very unexpected yeah yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you did tell me that you went off. You started a little conservative.
Speaker 2:I did. Yes. So the first 5k they wanted me to run slower than our goal pace, just settle into it, which I'm actually really grateful for. And hindsight I know, dane turned to me probably three or four k into the race and he's like, how are you feeling? And I looked at him. He was like, honestly, I'm not feeling as good as I thought I would After the taper and the carbo load and whatever. I thought you know, come race day it would feel a bit effortless. But yeah, running those first 5k I felt not amazing, so I was panicking in my head a little bit. But yeah, come 5, 6k, I warmed up into it and it didn't cross my mind again.
Speaker 1:I was going to say, was that just getting warmed up and getting? Into the rhythm of it, it just took, you know, 15, 20 minutes to get rolling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so they. I only did a five minute warm up and one stride. Usually I do a 20 minute warm up and a few stools and strides, so definitely went into it and not warmed up. And they told me to treat the first 5k as a warm up. But yeah, it took me by surprise. I thought I'd start and I'd be raring to go, but it was the opposite for the 5k.
Speaker 1:Do you think that's good advice? But people who are going to listen to this and who are thinking about running a marathon, do you think that's great advice? To start just a little conservatively and just find your rhythm.
Speaker 2:I think so definitely. You can lose so much at the end of the race if you go out too hard, so starting conservative definitely pays off in the long run. I know the best bit of advice I got given literally on the start line, which changed my mindset, was from one of my friends in South Australia, jacob Cox, and he's like I like to treat the first 5k as a warm up, like I like to start feeling a bit rubbish. Knowing he'd said that literally about three minutes before the gun went, I just kept repeating that in my head and I was like it's okay. Jacob said you should feel rubbish in the first 5k.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I told, yeah, I told athletes, I coached that that's what's going to happen, but I wasn't mentally prepared to actually experience that myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so tell me about after that, though, what happened through the middle part of it, and, remembering this is your debut marathon, how'd you feel in? The middle of it.
Speaker 2:After 5k I found myself in a really good pack. We were still probably hitting a little bit slower than I wanted, so I kept trying to edge my way off the front of the pack. My pace kept telling me to slow down. I listened to him till about 10k and then I was like I'm done, I've just got to go a little bit faster. And then we just found ourselves I guess we stretched out a little bit found ourselves in a new little pack and I just sort of switched off and been a home course. I knew so many people out and about, so that's a good distraction. Having watched Melbourne Marathon maybe five, six times before, I sort of just knew where I was and it was really just fun, Like I'd always just cheered. So, being on the course, I just loved it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right it's had fun and didn't really think about much for the middle part, until we got to about 30, 32k, yeah, and we just finished watching the live stream and you can see my facial expression just changed once we hit that point. I stopped smiling and waving at people in the crowd and the game face on at that point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that's when it all starts. We always talk about at the 30, 32k mark, don't we? So what happened then? Just tell me about it, because that's when it all kicks in and there's a bit of pressure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it kicks up a hill right as you're supposed to kick it down, as they say. But yeah, once we hit that point, I guess I kicked it down a little bit and the pace sort of came a bit effortlessly because they'd been holding me back for so long. But yeah, it was enjoyable. Like still, I was waiting, waiting for it to really start hurting. I was expecting it to happen around the tan, which it did, like those few hills Really how far around was that?
Speaker 2:35, 36k, probably a kilometre long hill right as it started to pinch. Then there's a good downhill, then you go up again and then down again. So yeah, those undulations right at that end part of the course. Yes, I still was hitting, the splits are a bit faster.
Speaker 1:But feels strong, though you did have plenty of running in your lead. You look like you had plenty of running in you and I did.
Speaker 2:So. I sort of I guess I don't like to think of the outcome, I guess during the race, but I sort of knew at that point that I had a good chance of winning if I didn't mess it up. So I guess I eased back on the uphill a little bit just to run safe and then gave it a little bit on the downhill to make up for time. Yeah, it's yeah. Those, those upheels were definitely challenging at that point in the race in the wrong, in the wrong, six or seven kilometres.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I know everyone experiences that and I was expecting it, so I guess being mentally prepared for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, OK.
Speaker 2:And I guess I could just reflect back on all those silly long runs I'd done and it's like I've done this before I can do it again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Yeah, I think I said to you. You know, being on the morning to Peninsula here in Victoria, I think I said to you there's nothing like being Peninsula fit.
Speaker 2:Oh, 100 percent. There's no flat ground in anywhere. I've lived, so I know it's not a bit of a joke isn't it, but everyone talks about it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So tell me, if you started conservatively and you felt so strong towards the end, did you feel, or have you, you know reflected on this, in that there may have been a little bit more in the tank?
Speaker 2:Definitely, although I just watched the live stream and my face tells a little bit different than what I was thinking at the time.
Speaker 1:And feeling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I definitely finished and the first thing I said is oh, I want to run again. I think I've got a couple more minutes in me. And then I was watching the live stream and I was grimacing a bit early than I thought I was in my head. So definitely I felt in control. I think the grimace was just coming because I had to work harder for the pace that I was running.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Definitely finished feeling. I guess there's horror stories about how you should feel at the end of a marathon and I didn't experience any of that, so definitely think I have got a couple more minutes in the legs, but we shall see.
Speaker 1:Do you think I mean, over these years of running five and 10 and cross country and all those events, do you think you might have found your event?
Speaker 2:I think, so I probably had more fun in that race than I've had in a long time in a race. Yeah, I just never envisioned myself being a long distance runner, but maybe I should have started this a while ago.
Speaker 1:And I mean I mean a lot of people talk about this but also postnatally about coming back stronger and you know there has to be some hormonal influence in being able to handle such high mileage after your first or second child. I mean, have you felt that or like have you sort of experienced differences?
Speaker 2:Or I definitely feel more aerobically fit than I've ever been. I know initially, yeah, like I'd heard the same thing. And I know initially I started back and I was like aren't I supposed to be feeling amazing after having a baby? And it took me so long to find my groove again. So I'm in little setbacks from just feeding or like so back from holding Oli that I was just feeling like God I don't think this applies to me Probably took, yeah, good six months. I know when I saw you I was finally finding my groove again, so you're just going to be patient, but it definitely clicked in. I feel like the kilometers have come a lot easier and some of the paces have come a lot easier than they have in the past. So there's definitely something to it.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's physical or it changes your perspective and you take a bit of that pressure off yourself. I know there's more important things in life now, like your family is more important than your own goal. So yeah, I don't know if it's the mental aspect or the physical aspect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you did say to me on that note that you're a lot more chilled out now in the last 12 months or so than probably what you've ever been and had good perspective.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I used to put a lot of pressure on myself and probably focus what I wanted to achieve more than focusing on the process.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you used to get caught up. Yeah, in my own head a little bit.
Speaker 1:So what? Just putting the pressure on yourself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, obviously no one else cares how you go, but I definitely used to put a lot of pressure on myself and used to lack being in control of everything, and I think when you have a child, you can't control everything. You can't control when they sleep or when they get sick, or, yeah, there's so many things that you can't control anymore. So I've just learned to go with the flow a bit more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so we often talk about that, about. You know it's been such a high level where you do have to save that energy and not be anxious and you know, sort of worry so much about all the little things that really are, at the end of the day, quite, you know, inconsequential to what you're doing and also really minor, like you said to your family or whatever else is happening to you.
Speaker 1:It's amazing as endurance. You know people. It's pretty easy to focus on the little things, isn't it, and just get caught up and waste so much energy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I guess that was a really valuable lesson in race week. So I did wake up sick on the Tuesday or Wednesday of the marathon and panicked. I had a maybe five minute cry Like I can't believe this has happened now. I haven't been sick the whole Mara prep. I didn't set a panicking, I chilled out like in the past I would have stressed until race day. I knew there was nothing I could do. So yeah, I napped and yeah, I ended up getting over it, obviously in time.
Speaker 1:So you, sound like you things in perspective. Yeah, that's great. You also sound like just talking about this, about yourself. You have just recognized differences.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like between now and the past, and that is maturity.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I suppose the family side of things puts that in perspective, doesn't it? Yeah?
Speaker 2:And I had one race this year. That reminded me the hard way.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just of yeah, I guess what my priority should be or what I should focus on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:So I yeah, the one bad race I've had all year, I guess put all of the lessons I should have learned and had learned. It all went out the window and I had a shocker and went back to my old self. Yeah, learned to valuable lesson.
Speaker 1:But I think that's the thing, isn't it? If you recognize your differences in growing, that's enormous, just being having that awareness and now you can launch into other events from here on as a better person, better runner, and hopefully it all comes together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely I'm not one of those people that will ever. I guess I've learned I need to smile on the start line.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to give you death's jazz. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Remind myself that I'm there because I enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Yeah. So one thing about the marathon there's so much time that so many things can happen, like you can feel really bad for 15, 20 minutes, half an hour. Then all of a sudden you feel amazing and then you know maybe you miss drinks or you eat too much or whatever. There's so many different aspects of it to sort of nail and get right On reflection. Now can you look back on that on last week after winning Melbourne Marathon and sort of think oh, you know, I could have done this better or that better. Has that happened for you yet?
Speaker 2:Not really. We practiced the feeling part of it for months because I was really anxious about having like an upset stomach or not being able to control things. So we practiced as much as we could. So I did feel like, I don't know, you could control it a little bit better on race. So we practiced having however many gels in a long run or a session, or practicing the drink handoff, or we tried to simulate that as much as possible. So, yeah, there was less chance of things going wrong on race day and we definitely came up with strategies for if things did go wrong. So, yeah, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you went through a rough patch, we'd sort of come up with things to shift my perspective, so focusing things like my breathing or my arms, just giving myself small goals that I could control and getting myself out of those bad, bad moments. And I know, up around the tan I have pictured Oli at the top of the hill, sort of just to shift my perspective again, because that part probably hurt more than any other aspect of the race.
Speaker 2:But yeah, just having those strategies up your sleeve and practicing as much as possible, I think helps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. You've obviously got amazing support around you. I mean, you know, when I spoke to you and your husband, matt, it was pretty clear that there's a hundred percent team effort of not just you two or three, but there's a lot of other people behind the scenes who have sort of helped you with this, and I think people forget that too, that all the little tiny things that happen behind the scenes as far as support.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely, especially when you're trying to balance work, family training, like it can be pretty selfish at times. So having family that step up and look after Oli when you're racing, or just yeah, everyone, friends, family it's a massive team effort for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah it's not just from New York effort, I mean, everyone else has to sort of displace their little goals or whatever they have on, don't you? Just sort of to keep the train moving in the right direction and not miss a beat. Yeah, so, where to now. We're in the summer here in Melbourne or coming into summer in Melbourne in Victoria. What happens now in the next few months?
Speaker 2:Yes, so I'm heading up to Noosa in a couple of weeks. We'll see how the legs recover. I'm going to do Noosa Bolt just for a little bit of fun. I've always wanted to do it.
Speaker 1:Which is how far?
Speaker 2:5K. So, we'll see what happens there. I have no expectations, no goals to see what happens. I'm not really sure how that'll feel after a marathon, but I was going up already so I thought why not, let's?
Speaker 2:just have fun with that one. But yeah, now thinking ahead to a Japanese marathon early next year, probably do Zadapek 10K later this year and then, yeah, just try to get a solid block of training in the legs. Yeah, I said to Matt I'm a bit anxious about doing that in the heat of summer, but I know the heat adaptations can help a bit.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we'll just hope to see what happens. The recovery side of things is crucial, though, isn't it? Over the next few weeks, what happens apart from that 5K at Noosa, like how much do you back off as far as your total mileage?
Speaker 2:Oh, I've barely run this week, I've just done. I did a bit of a shuffle Monday. It was sort of more of a walk than a jog, and then I've just done short 30-minute jogs a week just to keep the legs ticking over, and more just because I love getting out there every day. So it's sort of, yeah, just being for fun this week. Next week will be much the same and then slowly just start increasing the kilometers and the intensity again. But yeah there's no point building unless you've recovered.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2:As much as I might be saying I'm ready to go again, which I've come home the last few days like, okay, I'm ready, oh that's good though, isn't it?
Speaker 1:It is, but that's one thing about being super fit and really strong is your recovery is the great indicator, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I was really anxious about how I was going to pull up. But yeah, aside from a few black toe nails and a bit of a sore foot, I've pulled up really well.
Speaker 1:So I was going to say I mean, how have you pulled up and is it like your body pretty good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, monday obviously it's a bit tender. I know I couldn't sit down and then get up and chase solely around that day. That was a bit challenging. But yeah, aside from that, every day's just got better and better and the energy levels are coming back too. So that's been really good. Just prioritized sleeping eating to make up for Sunday.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And yeah, just letting the body recover, put on a few kilos again and then go again.
Speaker 1:Well, did you lose much weight?
Speaker 2:I actually didn't weight myself.
Speaker 1:Perfect.
Speaker 2:I probably did drink about four litres after the race. I got drug tested, which is never what you want to have happen after a marathon, knowing how dehydrated you can get, but I definitely think that actually started the recovery. So a blessing in disguise.
Speaker 1:I've got to ask you and other runners who might may be listening when we talk about training, shoes and surfaces are always what come into play. The things that people can change are always what they want to know about. So, down where you live a fair bit of your mileage, maybe on dirt roads or single track and things like that have you recognized there's a big difference between training on the natural surfaces and then you go out and race on the road? As far as sawness or does it feel different for you? And if you were going to advise someone, what would you say?
Speaker 2:Definitely think mixing up the surfaces is really important, one for recovery purposes. I know if I ran on the road every day I'd probably pull out really sore. Yeah, it definitely helps. Yeah, just pushing in the joints a little bit. Yeah, I guess, training on some of the hills that we've been training on over Arthur's seat and, yeah, red Hill, I pulled up Sora from those initial runs that I did after Sunday. So yeah. Okay, yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1:That's tough as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is, I know, the biggest run we do. We start up Eaton's and Shergold's no one will know where that is but it's pretty much a 20, 25 minute climb straight up, which is a tough way to start the run because you're already sort of pretty tired by the time you get to the top, which I think in the marathon like you sort of built up fatigue and then you were running over hills for the next two hours and then finishing down the 20 minute hill, which I always found really challenging. I'm not a downhill runner, my stride has always been really long, so to me I find the downhill challenging.
Speaker 1:It's thumping harder.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:The impact.
Speaker 2:Condition, the legs for the back end of the marathon, because I was used to feeling a bit beat up towards the end. So yeah, definitely, building in hills different surfaces, it changes your stride a little bit too, which for me is a good thing. I know my cadence is always better on the trails because if I overstride on the trails I roll my ankle all the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It just sort of helps, naturally. I guess fix your stride a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it makes it fun as well, like you don't want to run off the track, and there's that. I think. The big thing is, there's less repetition, isn't there, which is what I think, what you're touching on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 1:There's less repetition on your body which is a really big deal. Yeah, because you see people like grinding away on the concrete and it's like, oh my God, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so even when we leave, I know there's a lot of concrete bypass but a lot of dirt roads. So, I already get a good mix in each of my runs, whether it's half an hour or whether it's 90 minutes, so to try to get a mix of both in every run.
Speaker 1:Just while we're speaking, can we go back a little bit? You said that you started to feel a bit of a pinch or so at 32 in the last 10k or so, but it sounds like you came home and again just to repeat that you came home really strong and had plenty of running in your legs. Well, I think you said you came home in a negative split.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which on the Melbourne course is hard to do because it's all up. I guess there's more hills in the second half.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Have you practiced this, have you practiced that in training? Just like winding up your longer runs, like from getting quicker and quicker.
Speaker 2:Naturally we did that as a group. We didn't necessarily plan it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Definitely we did a couple of long runs where we just do like a 16k warm up into a bit of a far leg into finishing at Marrape. So unintentionally sort of practice starting easier. But yeah, otherwise just having people sort of tell me to slow down in sessions. I was facing myself in sessions. I know my first few marathon sessions I royally stuffed up. It was supposed to be at marathon pace and the first rep I was probably 10 seconds okay faster under, and then you've been on turbo, haven't you?
Speaker 1:You have to pull yourself back.
Speaker 2:I have it's just a foreign, I guess training for faster stuff. You used to just go in gung ho from the start. So it was a big learning experience for me, pacing wise.
Speaker 1:How many sessions in the week do you do that are more intense?
Speaker 2:Or we sort of rotated. To start, the Marrape will probably doing three sessions a week one week and then two sessions a week the following week. So it'd be like three shorter sessions and then one, two sort of bigger sessions and as the Marrape would sort of continue, that just ended up being two sessions a week, but they got me here.
Speaker 1:And those sessions you do, as you said, that has become longer and longer, like the interval sessions you were doing.
Speaker 2:They become decent, yeah, yeah, 20k of 1K on 1K off 10K, or like faster than Marathon pace, slower than Marathon pace sessions, or yeah, just finishing a long run with 20 minutes of a fart like, and then a 10K effort at Marathon pace, yeah, all of those sorts of things which terrified me at the time and I'd be nervous about it in the week leading up. But there's probably very good mental practice as well.
Speaker 1:Did you change your weeks at all Once you locked into a regime? You just kept the same thing happening, week after week, month after month.
Speaker 2:No, we changed it. We're a little bit flexible. I know, like one week I got tonsillitis so we sort of shifted stuff around or, yeah, just depending on our schedule. So If I had a session and I knew it worked better on a Wednesday so I don't work Wednesdays We'd sort of shift things around based on our schedules a little bit, and I think that's where it really helped having Matt coach me living with him. Yeah, we could sort of discuss that and plan it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on our schedules, or yeah, yeah, the sleep is going or whatever. So it was sort of changed and I know a couple of times you changed my week the week of which I don't like change yeah, through me a couple of spanners, but yeah, sometimes it was, or I, we would figure out like, oh, we actually need to do more of this type of training, or yeah, okay as we went you sound like you have Simplified yourself in the way you think about your running.
Speaker 1:Definitely and you also sound like you like, both Matt and yourself, a simplified running into this Melbourne marathon, and that's probably been Demonstrated with your massive block of training. You've kept it pretty simple, changed it here and there, but I mean, I think your answer is you've given a, had a few changes here and there, but hardly, and you've met a massive block of training which is extraordinary, which is, you know, as I said earlier, is a massive launching pad. You sound like you've just like got a fantastic regime.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, so that's something we will. Yeah, probably. You is moving forward like we've both learned a lot, so it was really fun, a fun journey, and you're both learned a lot through it.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, it's a massive day for your both, and congratulations to both of you and everyone around you behind the scenes and the little guy too. Yeah, obviously, huge inspiration. I've seen you out with him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he watched the live streaming. Couldn't quite figure out why I was on TV what you were doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, like what's mum doing on there, oh my god, she's up on the live screen for two and a half hours.
Speaker 2:He did not point it out.
Speaker 1:It apparently the whole time, which is cool, but well done to both of you, and you sound like you're in a really nice place afterwards Recovered like finished well and recovering like beautifully. Yeah, yeah, which is so important and that comes from, like, I think, a huge amount of mileage and a body of work. So well done in just doing that, because that's the big.
Speaker 2:Thing. Really it really is. Yeah, it takes months and months of preparation, which a lot of people don't see they don't get it, do they?
Speaker 1:and I think you know you? I mean, you know what I'm doing week to week. But people come in and they're always like I'm gonna run Mel marathon. It's like you know two months, do you know ahead of it, and it's like hang on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you got to build the place up and it's yeah, it's just the small things like strength training or you sleep and recovery and eating, and yeah, there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Well, I think you and I had that chat too, didn't we, about the balancing act.
Speaker 2:Exactly A lot of things behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:You got work, you got your child, you got your family life at home with you. You know Matt and yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Matt runs and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Hey, thanks for joining me on Champion Within. I really appreciate your timing coming on so quickly as well. So good and lovely to see you cross the line last week with your head in your hands in disbelief.
Speaker 2:It looked like that anyway.
Speaker 1:But it really looked like you finished full of running and so strong. It was so nice to see.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it still is, I guess, sinking in a bit.
Speaker 1:So yeah, amazing effort. But, as I said, the amazing effort comes well before you know race day.
Speaker 2:So Exactly, yep, that's the fun part of it.
Speaker 1:Congratulations, and this is just the start.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll see what happens from here.
Speaker 1:I think you found your event, in my opinion.
Speaker 2:I do too, but we'll see. Hopefully the next one is positive is the first.
Speaker 1:Jam, thanks for joining me and we'll speak again soon and make sure we catch up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sounds good, thank you, Thank you, see you soon. Bye.
Speaker 1:I should also say that Jam and Mani has been a two times Australian representative at the World Cross Country Championships. Great messages for anyone who's contemplating and doing a marathon or has done a marathon. Some great tips to pick up from there. There'll be more information in the show notes and if you'd like to follow or support this show, you can also find the details in the show notes as well. I'm Jason Agosta. Thanks for listening to the champion within and I'll be with you next week.
