Cheeky Run Club
Cheeky Run Club is a social running podcast and community - an unofficial meeting place for the everyday runner. Each week we'll dive deep into a topic that keeps amateur runners up at night. Let's rebrand running 🍌
Cheeky Run Club
10 lessons from Issie Hume's debut mara
HELLLOOOOOOO friends!
We’re back for season 8 of Cheeky Run Club – and we’re kicking it off with fan favourite, Issy Hume.
Issy competed in her first marathon in Melbourne a few weeks ago and came FIFTH !!!! We had to get her on and chat about the ten lessons she learnt from her training block, to race day and beyond.
We also have a big catch up after a weeks away, and tease some very exciting news coming up!
LINKS:
- Check out our latest Substack, ‘Are ice baths good for your immune system?’
Follow us wherever you get your podcasts + Instagram, TikTok, Substack, Phoebe's Strava + Anna's Strava, and join our Strava community
Music produced by Hugh Raper & logo design by Michael Cotellessa. Podcast edited by Kiara Martin.
Follow us wherever you get your podcasts + Instagram, TikTok, Substack, Phoebe's Strava + Anna's Strava, and join our Strava community 🩵
Music produced by Hugh Raper & logo design by Michael Cotellessa. Podcast edited by Kiara Martin.
Jakey Run Club recognizes that every day we live, work, and run on Aboriginal land.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Welcome Welcome to Run Club, the social running podcast, and community for your everyday amateur runner. Hello Phoebe
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Anna.
Anna (intro/outro audio):and hello listeners.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Today we are interviewing friend of the pod and fifth place Earth in the Melbourne Marathon on her debut
Anna (intro/outro audio):Woo hoo.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):And we're interviewing Izzy about the 10 things that she learned training for her debut marathon. And throughout the block leading up to it, which was such an enjoyable chat. can't wait for you Allall to hear it, but before
Anna (intro/outro audio):I am excited to hear it because I was stuck at the airport and missed the chat.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):I know. It was so sad you couldn't come. You were having too good for time at the airport.
Anna (intro/outro audio):I was honestly having so much fun in terminal two or three of Sydney Airport from where you'd rather be.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah. exactly.
Anna (intro/outro audio):we tell the listeners about a little. Something we have coming up.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):We should. Yeah. Well, although all we're telling them is that we are going to
Anna (intro/outro audio):Oh yeah.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):tell them. Yeah. Because we do, we actually, we have one of, I would say, our biggest, most exciting announcements. Actually, sorry, can I say this too? To, of our biggest, most exciting announcements ever.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Huge. If true, which it is so huge.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):groundbreaking, exciting, listeners, you should be absolutely. We should be really excited, but we can't tell you this week. We are hopefully gonna be able to say it next week. One of the things is if you like myself, have completed a big event over the last couple months, you're feeling a bit run down and worn out and sick of you know, these always training for something. then
Anna (intro/outro audio):Or if you are like myself and you're just not really, you don't really have. anything on the horizon you want to, but you're just not really sure.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):yeah. Then we, We've got something for you.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Woo Woo. So Keep your eyes and ears peeled. my friends.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Keep your eyes And ears peeled. And then the other announcement. Are there any clues we can give for the other announcement? No,
Anna (intro/outro audio):no, I don't think so.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):the other one, you're just gonna have to hang tight for. but before we get into that, We are gonna do our best and worst runs of the last couple of weeks because we've had a little break. Um, Anna, kick me off with your worst run or running related experience.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Gosh, this is really hard because I feel like I've just had such fun times the last couple weeks. I will
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah, give us a, give us a bit of an update. what have you been
Anna (intro/outro audio):Yeah, so I, well, I've been running each week for the last couple weeks,
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Huge.
Anna (intro/outro audio):is crazy. but I've been joining in on a couple of people's sessions, which has been fun. I. think I've run one time I ran 13 kilometers. Um, which was crazy and just been having a really good time. I am an unfit little gal, I've been to Lord how Island with my whole family, which is first family with three generations because my little niece. My 14 week old niece Rowe came, we went for my dad's 70th birthday and I signed my brother, my dad's and husband, Dave and myself up for this hike up the mountain there. It's called Mount Gower, and it is so full on, I think it's only about 12 kilometers return, but you have to do it guided and. the final, I think it, I think it's 1400 meters. You gain 700 meters of
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Oh,
Anna (intro/outro audio):it's just ropes. Like you're, yeah, yeah. You just say like, well you're not attached to the ropes, but you hold onto the ropes and pull yourself out. So it's actually more of an arm workout than legs. So it took us, I. think, over one and a half hours to get one and a half Ks. Like I, Oh no, sorry, it was over two hours. Yeah, it was
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Oh, that was, that fun though. Like it sounds quite fun with the ropes.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Well, it was heaps of fun on the way up. I I don't know, I feel like climbing up stuff, it's quite challenging and it's physically hard. but like, I quite like it, but I realized, I don't know if it's like an age thing, but I kind of struggled on the way down.'cause I was genuinely scared.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Really?
Anna (intro/outro audio):Yeah, because a lot of the
phoebe (intro/outro audio):so you, you, then went back down that same
Anna (intro/outro audio):Yeah, you had to go down Y. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And it's'cause you're sort of in the rainforest at this point, so it was quite slippery, the rocks and the mud and then you're just sort of on these. Ropes and it was really breezy as well. and the footing, it's not as though there was clear footing or anything. So quite a lot of the time you're kind of just like going back and then just hoping that soon your foot will hit some solid ground in a sense. And I think as well, because I'm obviously not really used to that kind of stuff, I don't know. I feel like you would be good with this stuff because you are a bit of an extreme hiker.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Oh
Anna (intro/outro audio):But the view at the top was amazing. If anyone is like thinking of maybe going to Lord How Island, I highly recommend. It's like two and a half hours from Sydney. It kind of, what I imagine Jurassic Park to be like back in the day without the
phoebe (intro/outro audio):stunning. It looked so beautiful.
Anna (intro/outro audio):anyway, what was your worst run or running related activity over the last few weeks?
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Last two weeks, I, I'm gonna give it a general worst. I feel like all of my runs have felt so bad still
Anna (intro/outro audio):Like they could be your worst.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah. not in this, in the spiritual sense. I've, I've enjoyed them all, but my physically, I still feel so rubbish. but now, yeah, actually almost three weeks on and I still just I tried to do a session this morning and I was like, my legs just don't want to, they're not interested in pushing.
Anna (intro/outro audio):yeah. but I mean, it's only three weeks.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah.
Anna (intro/outro audio):like really not that long.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):I feel like, I remember when I did a marathon a couple of years ago, and it was the first marathon I'd done in ages and ages, and I remember vividly that it took me three months to feel good again. And I remember being told that was super normal, but now I don't. I feel like the expectation now. I, maybe it's with super shoes, everyone doing super shoes or that, I don't know. The expectation seems to be that people bounce back so quickly and they're back like sessioning or doing speed work or feeling good so quickly and so it can feel a bit like, oh my God, why am I still
Anna (intro/outro audio):Why? Yeah. Yeah. I kind of think it's a, I don't know. I feel like it would kind of be cool in a way.'cause it's well, your body has done something massive. The fact that it's taking that long to recover, I feel like it should be respected I don't know. I, I, I feel like. Obviously it's frustrating, not feeling good. Um
phoebe (intro/outro audio):I actually think I've, I need to be a bit more don't think about. Not comparing myself to others, not that there's anyone, not that there's any one person or any real person I'm comparing myself to. I just have this sense from social media that people tend to feel really good within a week or two post marathon, which I actually don't think is probably reflective of how most people feel. So yeah, I just feel like physically tired,
Anna (intro/outro audio):Yeah, I remember, I mean I've only done one marathon and I like couldn't really run for the six weeks beforehand'cause I had a sore knee. So I arguably, I mean I didn't really trained for it, but that was the Melbourne marathon. And then I remember at the start of the year. I was at still absolutely rubbish. Like I couldn't, I could barely do a session.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Really. Okay. So
Anna (intro/outro audio):like over three months.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):months. Yeah. Okay, perfect. Well that's, that was also my experience. and then after Berlin last year, I pretty much had a month off. I barely ran for a month and I was traveling, and so I have been like. I have been not putting pressure on myself. I've had heaps of days that I've meant to have been running where I've just been like, oh no, I'm just gonna sleep this morning. And, you know, do something different, to try and give my body what it needs post marathon. But I'm just excited for running to feel a bit easy again.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Like nicer. Yeah.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):hard hard right now.
Anna (intro/outro audio):how, honestly, I feel like you appreciate how like running is hard.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah,
Anna (intro/outro audio):It's actually
phoebe (intro/outro audio):is so hard. But tell me about your best run of the last couple weeks.
Anna (intro/outro audio):I've had a couple of best runs, but notable would be to, so we often do a lot of sessions around Albert Park Lake,'cause there's like a little bit of a road circuit around there and often you do sort of longer sessions around there and, and we normally do them towards the end of the week and I, I feel like especially when, because I haven't been running for and like doing sessions for a very long time, I feel like I've realized like in hindsight that they're kind of like my favorite runs. Like it's towards the end of the week.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Mm.
Anna (intro/outro audio):you do a big session a lot of the time you like run quite far as well. And I just love them and I quite often take Ted for a walk around there. and I've been like looking at this track'cause I used to run around there literally every week.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah.
Anna (intro/outro audio):literally since July last year, I just haven't been there once. anyway, but a couple of, I've now been there twice. A couple weeks ago I joined in, with our Spanish correspondent NAS on her session, and then I did, so the week after with another couple of girls and I was, there's just something, so I don't know, it felt, it like weirdly felt quite, a bit reminiscent, even though I was doing it, being like, oh my gosh, this is.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Oh, you used to
Anna (intro/outro audio):is what it's meant to be kind of thing. This is what I used to do? and it was just so, I mean, Yeah. I spoke before about how I'm a bit unfit, but I just like couldn't give a stuff. Like it's just so fun to be running and then like getting your heart rate up and just like, I don't know, it's like something quite freeing about it. So I have just been loving those Albert Park sessions. I mean, I've only done two, but I'm really, really enjoying
phoebe (intro/outro audio):they're your best. Yeah.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Well, what's your best or run or running related activity over the last few weeks?
phoebe (intro/outro audio):My best is a running related activity, and that is Pilates generally. okay, I feel like during the marathon block I've realized this, but it was too late to sort of do anything about it, which was I've been consistent with my gym and that's awesome, but I work a like specific set of muscles in the gym and was just totally neglecting the kind of core and stabilizing muscles and all those other good stuff that Pilates really targets. and even then in the gym, I pretty much only work glutes and. Hammies and quads and calves so I feel like my upper body was getting super weak and I was really excited to do some more Pilates. And so yeah, the last couple weeks since Melbourne, I have been getting right back into it and it's so good.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Oh, that's, so it would be really, because I feel like it's a bit of a mixture of strength and mobility, which I feel like post marrow would be ideal.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Yeah. and it's good. I, you know, when you do your first few Pilates classes when you haven't been for ages and you feel how weak you are, but I know that. I've been here so many times before, so I know that once I
Anna (intro/outro audio):it gets better.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):for a month or two, I'll be able to, like, there's so many exercises that I literally can't do right now, or I'm doing like the lightest weight or, you know, not able to do any of
Anna (intro/outro audio):They're like easiest variation.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):exactly. I'm kind of looking forward to being like, okay, I know if I keep doing this once, well, I'm gonna try and do it twice a week in the lead up to Christmas, It's just a tricky thing.'cause two Pilate sessions and a gym session a week is a lot on top of running. But I think if I'm running, I, I only wanna be running, like, I wanna be running a bit less so that I have time for that strength stuff. So I'm actually really, looking forward to it. I'm feeling like it's a good mix up to be like, okay, stop and focus on my strength alongside my running for a little while.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Yeah, Especially when you're like, running's feeling a bit hard and everything. I feel like it's good to focus on other things. I remember I, a sports doctor that I saw ages ago told me that. you would be way more resilient and also faster at running if you ran less, but did gym more. And I was like, yeah, fair. But I just like running.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Oh, just like running. That's the thing. That's the thing.
Anna (intro/outro audio):It's just so
phoebe (intro/outro audio):I'm sure it's true. I do feel like running. You can, there's never really a time where you feel like you're covering all your bases. It's always
Anna (intro/outro audio):Yeah, there's always
phoebe (intro/outro audio):feeling better or doing more strength or doing better recovery or training harder or whatever it is. Like you just can't tick every box. But I feel like it's nice to have different, almost like seasons where you focus on something different and you're like, okay, I'm gonna build out this thing now I'm gonna build out this thing. All right, so main topic this week as we alluded to up the top is I should say that I am going to be interviewing friend of the pod, Izzy Hume, because Anna couldn't, Anna just didn't rock up to the interview, which is pretty rude actually. no, no. Anna got, um, stuck at the airport and wasn't able to make it. You had better things to do. Um,
Anna (intro/outro audio):steal gluten-free toasted sandwiches from the Qantas Club without being a member.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):that is so grim. regular listeners of the pod will be very familiar with Izzy. She's joined us on a number of, episodes before. She's a fan favorite. and Izzy just completed her first ever marathon at Melbourne Marathon. She came fifth In a time of 2 38, which is just absolutely wild and beyond. Above and beyond that. She also just had An amazing block and I feel like the best attitude the entire time. And at the back of this, she's sort of written up her top 10 learnings and reflections everything that she learned, from the block, from the race itself, from everything that sits around training for a marathon for the first time. or I would say not even for the first time, I've trained for many marathons and I still learn so, so much from these lessons. So hope you all enjoy.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Woo. Can't wait to listen.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I'm here with Izzy. Hello Izzy. Hi. Hello. So good to have you here. I'm so excited to hear about your lessons. I thought before we get into the lessons though, I mean, as you know, we usually start off with our. Best and worst runs of the week. But obviously I wanna give the listeners some insight into how your race actually went at Melbourne Marathon. So we thought we could do best and worst kilometers of the marathon.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:like this. I like this little mix up. So the best and worst. Oh, it's so funny'cause you do think Every kilometer of the marathon is its whole own journey. And like I'm like, how can I break it down? How can just two kilometers tell the story of the whole thing? Um, but I will do my best. I think it's a bit cliche to say this, but I think I think it was 35 kilometers in Melbourne famously has that hill that goes
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah, the back of the
ZOOM0013_Tr4:the back. At the back. And I just remember like by this point of the race, it got really quiet as well. I had a really good pack for basically the whole, the whole first probably 30 K in a really good pack. And then when you come back up towards the city, there's so many people around. Yeah. And then the marathon peels off. By this point, the two other girls who I was kind of running with, like the girl who came third and the girl who came fourth, they had long gone. So that dream was dead. And then I was just with my pacer and me. Shout out to my pacer. He was so
ZOOM0013_Tr3:good. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:so it was just the two of us were going up that hill by far. My slowest K like, it was just hard to, it was just a bit hard
ZOOM0013_Tr3:a mentally tough, you're like, okay, I know I'm nearly there. Could you see? Was anyone coming up behind you? No.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. No. It was just, it was
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Well, so that's also hard to motivate
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Oh my God. But my pacer said to me at this point, I think it might be, was three, about three miles to go. Is that, would that make sense? About 5K, three
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think at the end of the hill.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:yeah, and he could obviously just see the pace was just like plummeting. He's like, come on, is he three, three miles, one for Riley? Who's my coach? One for Joe, one for you. I
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Aw.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:was like,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Oh my God. It was
ZOOM0013_Tr4:God, it was so,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:actually inspiring.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:literally, I was like, take aback, mid raise. I was like, how did you just come up with that just then? Were you planning that? You wait, you waiting for me to be in a really dark place to whip that
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Yeah. He knew you
ZOOM0013_Tr4:He knew you needed it. He knew I needed it and it really got me through. Yeah. But still the worst K
ZOOM0013_Tr3:That's Tough Hill. I can imagine that would've been tough doing it by yourself, not being surrounded by
ZOOM0013_Tr4:people. Yeah. Well thank God for Finn. Honestly. Imagine
ZOOM0013_Tr3:if you were legit intimately by yourself. So when you were coming up from Beach Road all the way to Anderson Street, were you also in with all the half marathoners?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:and Finn, love of my life was like parving a little path for me out. Yeah. Running on your eye, coming through
ZOOM0013_Tr3:No way. That is so good. That
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I know
ZOOM0013_Tr3:helps so much. Okay, so that's your
ZOOM0013_Tr4:that was the worst,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Well,'cause I reckon
ZOOM0013_Tr4:is that your best one? Shut up. That is so sm
ZOOM0013_Tr3:It's like, I'm not gonna say that.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:no, I actually listened to your recap and you're like the hill. So easy. People talk about how easy, how hard that hill is. It was so easy. I was like, shut the fuck up. Rub it in.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I actually, yeah, did find it. Really Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Not all of us. Positive, negative
ZOOM0013_Tr3:the, yeah. I remember someone saying, you just got a park run to go with five Ks to go. So at a similar point. And it was like the best, I think in a marathon when you finally get to a stage where you can kind of like count down. Yeah. And it's not eight Ks still to go or
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah, I never thought, oh my God, I'm not gonna finish this. Oh my God, this is so hard. It was more just how fast am I gonna do it in? Yeah. And yeah, it was just like, this is just as fast as I can go. I wasn't stressed or anything. I was like, oh, this is as fast
ZOOM0013_Tr3:No. This is as fast as I, this is all I've got. I, that's what I reckon when we talk about like the mental slog of a marathon, so much of it is just when you're like that, you're like, I know I'm gonna be able to do it, but how hard can I push myself? And that's really good that at least in your mind you're like, I know that I was, I gave it everything that I could. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:no, I said to myself, I remember saying to myself, so I was in the pack and then, yeah, Millie Clark, she broke off and she went and I just could not go. Like I didn't have the legs to go with her. And so often when I look back on races, I am like, oh, I should have gone. I wish I made a move. I did that. I remember clocking to myself in my brain saying, Izzy, do not beat yourself up about this.'cause I'm living it right now. And I'm telling you, this is as
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Yeah. I, yeah. That, that is very helpful. Yeah. What about your best K?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I think the best K has to be the last one. Yeah. Because it was just, I, and I actually felt so much better by then. By 40 KI felt good. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't jelly or anything. It felt so strong. Just thought I'm doing it. Yeah. I'm actually going to do it. I think I got to 40 k. I was like, let's fucking go. Yeah. We are gonna finish this. So good. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:So did you finish strong? Like do you feel like you picked,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Um, it picked up The last 5K was definitely the slowest, but the last 2K picked up, picked back up and weren't, weren't nearly as
ZOOM0013_Tr3:you kind of enjoyed them
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. I'd had a lot of fun at the end and then I finished strong. I came in strong and Yeah. Yeah. Felt good
ZOOM0013_Tr3:that's so good.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:and yeah. How can that not be the best one when it's your first ever marathon and you
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it's guaranteed best one guaranteed pb. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Well, maybe not guaranteed for everyone, but,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:well, so Yeah, true. But if it's your
ZOOM0013_Tr4:If you really hate it,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it's your only one, then by default it's still your best. Yeah. True's also your worst. True,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:True, true.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:so how did you perform relative to your goals?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I would say I didn't hit my
ZOOM0013_Tr3:AA
ZOOM0013_Tr4:AA goal pace wise. Um, I wanted to run two hours 36. Yeah. And I ended up running two hours. 38 kind of high. Yeah. Which like in the margin, you know, that's fine. I think for your first one
ZOOM0013_Tr3:first, that's,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:given, given as many incredible, given how many things can go wrong. so I was really happy when I finished and I went into it knowing that was the a, a, a goal. And then you had like your B goal, your seagull, your dig goal. And I remember thinking, oh, I probably would be a bit upset if I was like north of two
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm. But
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was really happy when I saw the time. Yeah. And I was just like, yeah. So happy to have it done. Felt good, nailed it, like executed. But then probably since then, probably the 48 hours afterwards I was really happy and then I started to be like, oh, but where did I lose those two
ZOOM0013_Tr3:minutes? Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:and especially because. and obviously then the other goal was like podium always yeah, but I never wanted to have that as a goal goal because that's out of your control. You can't,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it does feel a bit
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you know, like that's completely outta your control, who, who rocks up and how well everyone else runs. But then when I went back and I realized that there was only like, the second place basically was my egg all time, ah, I was more like, so had I executed everything perfectly
ZOOM0013_Tr3:And maybe you could have
ZOOM0013_Tr4:had Exactly. Yeah. But again, you never know.'cause if I, if I gained on them, they
ZOOM0013_Tr3:might, they might've
ZOOM0013_Tr4:legs. Like, you never, you never do actually know. But then I started to really be like, okay, what? I was training for 2 36. I thought I was good for that. My coach thought I was good for that. He normally knows what he is talking about. So like, I'm kind of more interested in what went wrong, you know? Okay. Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Okay. Well tell me if this is gonna spoil some of your lessons, but does it, did it leave you with the hunger to do more marathons? Oh, hell yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Nice.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Immediately I was like, what am I gonna do next? Oh, that I really wanna do Melbourne. I loved
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it. It, yeah. Yeah. It's such a good event.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:so much
ZOOM0013_Tr3:fun. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Which I also think I should say at the top, because I was, we we're gonna get into the lessons and as I was looking at these, I was like, gosh, are these make it sound like I had a really bad time or something because the lessons
ZOOM0013_Tr3:lessons are gonna focus on what you can learn and improve
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Like I didn't learn, oh, I love running.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah, yeah, yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I already knew
ZOOM0013_Tr3:yeah. I see, I
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Goes without saying. Okay. Goes out saying overwhelmingly positive, but
ZOOM0013_Tr3:you had a great time. Yeah. Fantastic time. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And I saw you actually, the highlight of the whole thing was seeing you
ZOOM0013_Tr3:the, oh my god,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:my god. That was the best.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:That was such a good
ZOOM0013_Tr4:yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. It was so good. It really Consolidated the event in my mind it was just like such a nice moment because, I mean, we've spoken about this on the pod before, but it can be quite a, like almost a lonely experience being at the finish line, even though there are people everywhere. You're like, yeah. You're like, I have so much emotions right now. And nowhere for it to go.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And you look at these people who you kind of, you guys were in trenches together, so you kind of get it, but you are not gonna hug them. Like
ZOOM0013_Tr3:you're not gonna hug him. That, I mean, maybe you could, it'd be a bit weird, but Yeah. You stuck around for so long waiting for me. Yeah. which I'm
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you make it sound like it was like an hour. No, it was,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it was a
ZOOM0013_Tr4:was easy. Easy. But I was worried. Worried that they were gonna move me along. They were trying to move me
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Well they moved us along.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was stubborn
ZOOM0013_Tr3:quickly. I was like, don't spoil our beautiful moment, please.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:they let you have a bit of a moment and then they're like, all right, next, next lot.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:on. but yes, I'm so excited to hear your lessons off the back of your debut marathon. Yeah. So hit me. What's your first
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay, so we've got 10 lessons. So the first one is preparation equals confidence.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm-hmm. And I
ZOOM0013_Tr4:just think looking back at the start of the block, this is kind of over the whole block where I was the most nervous or the most stressed was at the start. In those first few weeks I couldn't remember. I was traveling at the time and I was traveling with some friends who were also doing their first marathon and was just so unsure of myself. I was like, can I do this? I felt really nervous about it. Stressed, yeah. Like I dunno if I'm gonna be able to do this, this is gonna be really hard. And then just closer and closer, we got to the date, just gradually got more and more confident and by the time it came around, like I wasn't nervous at all. I was really excited, but I genuinely wasn't nervous for the race.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:much of the nerves at the start do you think was the unknown of the whole block and how long it was gonna be and how hard it was gonna be and
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah, no, I think I was maybe more scared of the race itself than the block. Yeah. I was excited to get into the training. I thought the training was going to be really fun, but I was worried for how much it was gonna hurt. I thought the race was going
ZOOM0013_Tr3:be, yeah, hurt.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:hurt, like I can't imagine running that fast for that long. But yeah, by the time it got up to it, I was like, no, I've run. Because then by the end I'd run 38 Ks and I'd done parts of it at, race pace and all that kind of stuff, eat faster than race pace. And I did it and I finished it and I was like, okay. It was just a couple more Ks than that.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:do you think the math on itself was as hard as you at the beginning of the block thought it was going to be?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:physically no. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Wow.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Not at all.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mentally, spiritually,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:into it. Yeah. Don't spoil my later lessons. Yeah, yeah. no, physically it was.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:was much
ZOOM0013_Tr4:easier than I thought it was
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Wow. That
ZOOM0013_Tr4:run five, I didn't drive. Maybe that's where the two minutes went. I
ZOOM0013_Tr3:the two minutes went. No, but it goes for show, at the start of the block. How much, I guess, yeah. I guess to an extent when it is an unknown and when you don't feel prepared, like I wonder if you'll feel ne less nervous going to the next block, thinking ahead to the race.'cause you're like. I know that if I do the preparation, I will be able to run on the day
ZOOM0013_Tr4:yeah. I think so. And I think it's a really good, I'm really glad that to look back and reflect on that because I think even just remembering the change in mindset from before to now or to the start of the race going into whatever the next challenge is. Like whether it's a PB goal for a 10 K or a 5K, that seems kind of out of reach and tricky. I'm like, no, but remember that sent out of reach and you did the practice, and you did all the training and then it was completely achievable.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:it's a good reminder that if you have a goal that's coming up and it's, you know, 6, 8, 10 weeks away, you can do it. It's probably, you're probably setting your goal the perfect level. If it's a little bit scary, seems a little bit stressful, but you know you've got the steps to achieve it. Yeah. So yeah, I was glad to kind of reflect that and like what a good feeling it is when you have that moment that you realize you're doing something that previous version of yourself was scared of. I didn't think
ZOOM0013_Tr3:crazy. That's such a rare moment in life. Yeah. And marathon's like the ultimate version of that. Yeah. I feel like there's points in the marathon where you think back to like you at the start of the block and you'd be like, whoa. here I am. She was
ZOOM0013_Tr4:such a baby. She was.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:a baby. She was such a baby. And eat. You're,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:You're, yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Let's do number two.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:the second thing that I learned through my marathon training was the value of having a North Star or a mantra or a saying that gets you through the entire
ZOOM0013_Tr3:block.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Because we've spoken about, and like you've talked on the PO a lot about mantras for a race specifically. And I think it may be just because the marathon felt so unique in that it was like a discreet training block. I wasn't racing as much during that period. It was really, everything was angled toward this one particular goal. Yeah. And so I actually found that having a mantra or something to come back through throughout the whole block was just kept me centered the whole time. And keeps, yeah. Keeps the motivation up and keeps, keeps you going. Yes. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. I remember us talking about this when it was, I think it was gonna lead up to the marathon and I was still saying my word for the marathon. And then you were telling me about that you'd have this basically one word that had carried you through the block. Are you gonna say what your word is?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:It's really late.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:It's not. I actually love it. And then give your explanation for it as well. It's
ZOOM0013_Tr4:well. I was not gonna say, I was like, I can get a word. Oh no, we can. We
ZOOM0013_Tr3:bad.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I've been outed. Okay. So my word was
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm-hmm.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:which bear with me. It had a double meaning for me because I thought, when I think of something that is built with integrity, something that is really well made, I think of something where no corners have been cut. It's been really well designed. It's been built with the best materials. It's been put together thoughtfully and carefully. It's robust. It's like, like structural integrity of the thing. So that's what I wanted my marathon block to be. Like I said, I wasn't trying to like reinvent the wheel or do anything crazy. I just wanted this really well constructed block where each individual piece was well made. And I think that really got me through the Wednesday long run for some reason. You know, like that felt hard, but I was like, no, this is a key. This is a key building block, you
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And then on a smaller scale as well, when I'll be in a session and I was. It was getting to the last rep, whatever, and the pace was dropping. I was like, no, I want this session to be like built with integrity. I want the
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. The pieces. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:proper and good and together. And then in an emotional standpoint as well, when I wanted to drop out of the block, because we were laughing, I was like, have some bloody integrity mate,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:integrity, have some dignity.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:You're not gonna stop. Like, come on. yeah. So I just found integrity. I don't know how it came to me, but I found that word just really got me through the whole block. Yes. And because you can't, if something is, has integrity, it's like you can't have like one shit week. You know what
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I mean? Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:That's not, that's not built with
ZOOM0013_Tr3:That's not built with integrity. That's not built with integrity. Although, how would you have dealt with that if you'd like gotten sick or had a niggle or
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay. So this was another way that it really helped me because whenever I would come up against a mental challenge or a mental block or an emotional challenge, I thought, how would a person with integrity act in this situation? And I felt
ZOOM0013_Tr3:felt like
ZOOM0013_Tr4:whenever I was projecting, like my insecurities onto other people or I was, having negative self-talk or anything like this, because I think that a person with integrity is like the person who, you know, it's a version of yourself who you are kind of trying to be like the best version of yourself, who maybe you don't, you're not that person all the time, but that's who you want to be. So I think that if I had gotten an injury or a ni, it would've worked for me.'cause I would've thought it would've stopped me from spiraling, I think. Yeah. Because mentally the person with integrity, they just take the
ZOOM0013_Tr3:They accept it, they
ZOOM0013_Tr4:listen to their physio.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:You know? Yeah. I wonder if that'll come back. I wonder if I've used it too much that it won't work for me in the next block. But it really worked, but it didn't
ZOOM0013_Tr3:you'll need a different theme or
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Different theme for the next one maybe. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:but I feel like it's, it is so good because of the same reason that in a race it's so good to be able to come back to something. I actually feel like it can simplify the training block
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Mm-hmm.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:When the block can feel so overwhelming and hard and it's like, all I need to focus on is this one thing. Mm-hmm. gives you something to focus on. It's the same with a block. When it stops you getting like really overwhelmed by the whole thing. It's like, okay, all I need to do is, let's say you had integrity. Let's say it was joy or something. It's like, actually that's all I need to bring to this session.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I think yours is really good as well in your good enough, good enough. Like you had that, that was your focus,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And I think you need to sit at the start of the block and think about what you wanna get out of it and Yeah. It helps you bring back to center because you could have very easily gotten caught up with Yes. You know, doing too much. Yes. And doing,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:need to like yourself, know yourself and then be like, what do I need? Yeah. What energy do I need?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:It would be unique to each person and probably unique to every, every single racer you do or every single block that you have.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. I love it. That's such a good one. It's so practical. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Okay. My number three is rest and recovery is just as important as the hard
ZOOM0013_Tr3:work. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. And I feel like conceptually, I knew this before, you hear it so many times and people listening are probably gonna be so bored of
ZOOM0013_Tr3:hearing that. Never. But
ZOOM0013_Tr4:But this was something that I learned in my bones doing the block because I had this probably the first two weeks I was still in Melbourne and it was probably the busiest two weeks. I've had just so much
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I remember you were so flat out.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Completely flat out. And I got through it and it was fine. I think when sometimes when that happens, you don't even
ZOOM0013_Tr3:realize
ZOOM0013_Tr4:that you're just going the whole
ZOOM0013_Tr3:time. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And then I had two weeks completely off work, traveling. And then I went back to working part-time remotely and traveling. So I was in Europe for most of my block. the difference, it was day and night. Like I cannot tell you the sessions themselves. I mean, you guys did your episode on the mental load, which I think that obviously played a huge part in it. But to go out and do a Friday session that was 24, 25 Ks, then just come home, eat, recover, chill, do whatever I needed to do and I probably would work a half day in the afternoon and then do whatever I was doing on Saturday. I think life was just slower when you're away. I was good as you by Sunday, go out, do 30 5K, no worries. felt so fine. Not one of the sessions. Or even those like Wednesday long runs felt mentally hard either. Like I didn't struggle through them. I
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You were so like
ZOOM0013_Tr4:them mentally fresh. Yeah. I was so, so, so fresh and I just felt indestructible. Like you could have chucked anything at me and I would've been able to do it. I didn't feel tired from the block until maybe the last week where it started to kind of knock me. But yeah, I could not believe it. And I think that's, having learned that lesson, I'm obviously not gonna be in that luxury of
ZOOM0013_Tr3:position. Yeah. So how will you carry,'cause I'm thinking also of our listeners, most home would be full-time work or whatever. Like how do you think you're gonna apply that in your next block?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I mean, I think you can't avoid those busy periods. Like they're inevitable. I think. Understanding why the training is feeling hard or maybe why you are not able to achieve the splits or the sessions or hit the sessions that you are. Probably just having context to actually understand, oh, it's
ZOOM0013_Tr3:because yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I had this stressful day at work yesterday, even if it's just mentally stressful, which I think you, um, mental load episode did so well at unpacking, giving yourself the grace and understanding that Yeah. Even though that was stressful, like even though, or maybe I didn't run yesterday, but I actually did a lot other stuff, that's why I'm tired today. Yeah. and then also just there are ways that you can incorporate deep rest and deep resetting into your days, like meditating properly and I think properly unwinding. I also probably have a tendency to try to do heaps on the weekends and I wouldn't consider that I would feel lazy maybe if I was at home. I probably feel bad about it and I would never have joined the dots and realize that just even going out and socializing heaps. Is affecting
ZOOM0013_Tr3:yeah. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I think it's just knowing information is everything. Like information is power. So I think having that knowledge at least, is good. But yeah, I couldn't believe how different I felt just for being able to
ZOOM0013_Tr3:rest. I remember you saying that while you were over there in the period that you weren't working, you were just like, I can't believe how easy running is feeling. It's just like so crazy to think about. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was running obviously further every week than I ever had run. Like bigger weeks than ever. Bigger sessions than ever. Longer runs than ever. Harder sessions than ever. And it felt easier than the stuff I was doing before that because just from not having anything else on. I know. I know. So, yeah. Maybe it's also just give yourself some grace. Like if you look at the prose and the, you're like, how are they doing that? It's because they have, they rest in
ZOOM0013_Tr3:They rest, they're nailing their rest. number four.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:The hardest work is the most rewarding. So lean into it.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm-hmm. Okay. Go
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Go on. Okay. okay, I can give you one example where this is just like illustrates the point so much. So I had this, long run, I think it was probably two weeks out. I had like my 30 k long run and I was just so over it. Like I, I think I was luteal maybe about to get my period,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:yeah, yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:if, you know, you know, it's not, I just had no motivation for this one particular run. It was towards the end of the block as well. So I was starting to feel tired and I had this one 30 K run. Which wasn't even far compared to some of the other ones I'd done. But I just didn't wanna leave the house. It was in the uk. The weather was miserable. I was going out along this out and back bus way, which is just so ugly. It was a straight line for literally 25 Ks,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:straight. Wow.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:out and back, nothing to look at, no one to talk to. And I just, I've, I've been, I had been doing most of my long runs with no headphones, so I did the same thing. And the first 10 Ks just slogged through, did not enjoy it at all. And I remembered literally getting to 10 Ks and I wanted to get my phone out and text Joe, my partner. and just be like, this
ZOOM0013_Tr3:sucks
ZOOM0013_Tr4:This is so hard. I can't, I feel like shit, this is awful. And then I just remember having this moment being like, why would you do that? Like, what do you want out of that? Do you want him to give you sympathy? Do you want, do you think it's gonna make it better? Like, do you think he's gonna feel sorry for you? Like you completely chose to do
ZOOM0013_Tr3:this? Yeah. Why?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Why are you not enjoying this? just sit with it, get through it. You've done 10 Ks. So I was like, okay, lap the watch. Yeah, clean slate. Let's do the next 10 Ks. Let's just see if they can be a little bit faster than the last 10 Ks did. That got in a bit of a rhythm. I was like, do you know what? That actually wasn't so bad. Now I've only got 10 Ks to go lap the watch again, go home getting even faster. And by the time I finished the run, I felt so good. Like I was running really fast. It felt really easy. Felt oh, I was so proud of myself. Yeah. And then I got home and Joe was like, oh, how's the run? And I was like, oh,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:ah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you'll not believe. I felt like shit. And then
ZOOM0013_Tr3:the turn around.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I think that the temptation was definitely there to just be like, okay, I'm going to put headphones in. I'm gonna pacify myself. I'm gonna try and distract myself from how hard this is. and then whatever, I'll get through it and I would've finished the run and maybe. It would've been fine. It would've been like a seven out of 10.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Six outta 10 I would
ZOOM0013_Tr4:run that I would've
ZOOM0013_Tr3:tick the ball. It's just like exactly a
ZOOM0013_Tr4:But instead because I forced myself, it's like you forced yourself to have the really terrible time. Then you forced yourself to get through it on the other side. Yeah. And I had like a 10 out of 10 experience by the end. I was so proud of myself. I was so stoked that it was finished. And I think that that also, you're so present, like illustrates okay. Again, giving you confidence for the race. Yes. I was like, even if there is a hard patch, last time I did that, I just pushed through and it felt, I felt good five Ks later. So that can happen again. Like it's so valuable. and yeah, I had, I had plenty of sessions like that where, you know, the first third of the session you think, oh yeah, am I gonna do this? I'm gonna do
ZOOM0013_Tr3:That is awful. Lesson you learned, isn't it? Is like you can feel really rubbish at the start. Mm-hmm. And actually like 15 Ks in warmup. Yeah. And all of a sudden it gets
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. I think that's common with marathon training. So Yeah. By saying like that, lean in, I mean like feel it, like let it feel hard, let it be shit. Acknowledge how bad it's feeling, but just sit with it. Stay with it. Don't try and distract yourself out of it. Yeah. go into it and then you'll come out the other side and you'll be a better athlete. You'll be better prepared. You probably will actually have really good
ZOOM0013_Tr3:experience. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:the end of it. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I feel like you have to be quite brave to do that. I reckon there are so many runs I had where I, I would put headphones in'cause I'd be like, oh my God, screw this. Or B I'd like stop. I had some like really grim runs on, especially on the Gold Coast and it was so hot and I was like, I just need to stop and like walk to that bubble and get a drink. Yeah. But like it made it so much harder I reckon stopping all the time.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was gonna say, because you were doing good enough marathon training and I
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I
ZOOM0013_Tr4:doing integrity
ZOOM0013_Tr3:These are two, two different versions of how to
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Like Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:and honestly, I, but you know what, it's funny'cause I actually wrestled with myself a bit over the good enough framing because I I liked the idea of pushing myself. Yeah. And it was like the antithesis of that. It was like, stop pushing yourself.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:but that's a challenge in itself.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. It was like pushing myself to not push myself.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay, so we're up to number five. The marathon will exasperate whatever you're feeling. So protect your energy and your mindset. Complic. Okay. This is like the, we're getting to the race
ZOOM0013_Tr3:now. Yeah, yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I'm doing a bit
ZOOM0013_Tr3:of a, yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:vibe. Yeah. So this is actually something that, uh, Steve Moti did say to me in the few days leading up to the marathon, which, and he
ZOOM0013_Tr3:A name drop. Yeah, I was, take
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. I was hanging out with Steve. Um, he was, he used the analogy of say you hear someone gets a blister or
ZOOM0013_Tr3:something like that and they
ZOOM0013_Tr4:then they, they don't finish the race. And someone might look at that and think, well, you had a little blister and that it was a marathon. Like you trained for this. You're gonna do it. And you're like, you don't understand how this little bit of friction can really be the unraveling of. Whole race, you know, regardless of everything that you had and everything that you trained for. And so I really had that approach in the few days before the marathon, even the week where I was like, blinkers on, like, I'm going to be really positive about everything. I'm almost just not letting any negativity infiltrate. Yeah. Um, because you just do need to go into the marathon with 100% confidence, 100% self-belief. Any little doubts or what ifs
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:They'll become bigger and bigger and bigger. Yeah. During the race, as soon as it starts to get hard, if you have any of that doubt on the start line, that's probably
ZOOM0013_Tr3:what's gonna, yeah. during the rest, it's like, what's the narrative that you've told yourself almost about?'cause I, I hear this all the time and I mean, I probably did this a bit inadvertently, but you're almost like, make excuses for yourself in the lead up to be like, oh, but I've been sick, or I've haven't trained that, or whatever it is. I haven't had a great block. Like, it's almost like setting the narrative in your head so that when it gets hard in the race, you can be like, oh yeah, well that's okay
ZOOM0013_Tr4:yeah, you're like soft launching your
ZOOM0013_Tr3:experiences. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:the day before
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Literally. And I don't think it's kind of hard.'cause I feel like that approach probably worked for you because you genuinely had a really strong block. Yeah. And you should have been walking into that feeling nothing but confidence. Yeah. And whereas I guess it's not, maybe not that helpful if you're like, oh, I actually was injured or sick for a bit of it. And like, I'm aware. There's an awareness piece. It's almost like, oh yeah. Being aware about exactly where you are, but not Yeah. Too aware. I think
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I think that maybe it's adjusting the goal, being realistic about the goal,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:But then if
ZOOM0013_Tr4:but then if you have a realistic goal. You should be 100% competent that you can do
ZOOM0013_Tr3:that. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:So maybe you've had an injury or you have been sick, or you've had whatever it is, and the goal changes. And then if you've set your goal
ZOOM0013_Tr3:realistically,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you need to be 100% on that
ZOOM0013_Tr3:goal. yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:if You can't be 100% on the goal, maybe it's not a
ZOOM0013_Tr3:realistic Well, although it depends how ambitious of a goal you're setting.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:You've gotta be, you've
ZOOM0013_Tr3:gotta be, you gotta have an ambitious one, but then also one that you're like I, or it's more about your game plan. Yeah. Should be really confident that like, this is my game plan. Yeah, definitely. And even if things do fall apart on the day, like it's not helpful to preempt that in your
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. If if it falls apart, it's gonna fall apart. You can't stop it. It's coming for you. Yeah. Next one.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Um, wanna say about that. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you didn't, I feel like, yeah. This one's not hitting for
ZOOM0013_Tr3:not hitting for you? No, no, no. It's hitting, it's hitting except for the fact that I'm like, I just dunno how realistic is that everyone's gonna be walking able to be like 100% confident in the lead up. I feel like it's also more about you are extremely positive person. I feel like it's almost about like what do you, what do you need in that week? Yeah. And protecting your, the energy that you need and that you wanna bring into that, um, race almost. Yeah. And maybe that will be a bit different for everyone depending on like their specific goals. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Maybe it's not even about like a, the confidence thing. Like when I say protect your energy, I mean from things like that,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:It's like don't let yourself spiral down whatever pathway. Yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And you've just gotta stick for only retain information that is going to serve you
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:for the race and in those days and you know, anything that's like pulling you away from that ultimate goal. Yeah. You've just gotta get
ZOOM0013_Tr3:rid of it. I like
ZOOM0013_Tr4:just gotta get
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You just gotta get rid of it. That's really good.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:convinced you
ZOOM0013_Tr3:on the you convinced me. I'm in. I'm in.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I mean, okay, so lesson six. Mm-hmm. Lean into community and accept help. Mm-hmm. I think that I can be one of those people, actually, I'm getting better at this, but historically, those people who like go to someone's house and they, you refuse a glass of water
ZOOM0013_Tr3:you
ZOOM0013_Tr4:don't want to be in imposition. But, I think that the marathon was so good because I did wanna just do as well as I possibly could, and I was being offered so much help and it just taught me the value in just like letting people help you accepting help, you're going to do so much better. You know, there's no, what pride are you trying to protect by being this stoic individual who doesn't need anyone's help? Or just remember that if someone offers to help you, it's because they want to help you.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:not, you're not an inconvenience to them and. I think if it wasn't for the fact that I really wanted the marathon to go really well. Yeah. And I was like, okay, cool. What can I do to make this goal as well as
ZOOM0013_Tr3:possible? Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I maybe would've stuck to my old ways of trying to do things by myself a bit
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. But you almost had like a bigger goal that's subsumed that. Yeah. And almost like forced you out of that comfort zone to be like, okay, yep. I will accept this. Yeah. Whatever. In whatever form it is.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Which is, yeah. So nice about the marathon. Like it's, yeah. This is, this is why it's like this challenge that you've never
ZOOM0013_Tr3:had to do.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:and it it pushes you in interesting and strange
ZOOM0013_Tr3:It does.'cause I almost feel like there's an equivalent of that, being a bit gentler on yourself. Mm. Which I think comes under the same umbrella for people, or yeah, being a bit more forgiving or a bit more like, okay, you're not up to that. Or I'm gonna let myself chill out on this day, or whatever it is. And not always feeling that pressure to constantly be doing things and always be productive and always X, y, z. It's almost like for this period of time, I'm trying to. I know that I've got this goal and I need to like, be okay with giving up some of the things in pursuit of that. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like it is a good exercise ground to be like, okay, what, what am I gonna need to change about the way that I'm currently treating myself or the people around me that's gonna allow me to, get there and feel, or might be like accepting some more help for someone else might be getting off your own back and like letting
ZOOM0013_Tr4:yeah, yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:being like, okay, I'm gonna stay in this night, or I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask this person to help me out with this, or whatever that looks like.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. And it's a trait that you, it's so weird that you need the, like you said, the bigger goal. Yes. To then give yourself permission almost. Yeah. To do something that's good for you and that like, why have I been refusing this? Or why have I been so hard on myself? Why haven't I let myself, you know, take the rest or whatever. Yeah, yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:yeah, yeah. That's, that's such a good, right, and it's a, yeah. I feel like that's a classic, that's a classic example of how marathons can teach you things that you can then go away in life and continue to
ZOOM0013_Tr4:use. 100%. Okay. This one is kind of related.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm-hmm. It's actually
ZOOM0013_Tr4:actually so funny. So I was telling you before we, before we started recording, I've just been so emo lately, like just cry about everything. I
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I thought I might have seen you tearing up earlier in this episode. I
ZOOM0013_Tr4:really? About what I.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I can't remember. I was gonna call you out and then I was like, that's so brutal. You
ZOOM0013_Tr4:No, I have been crying so much lately and I cried. Maybe that should be the, maybe that should be the lesson. I don't know if it's from the marathon. I was so
ZOOM0013_Tr3:my God. It actually might be, was crying. We're attributing it to your partner, Joe, being away. But
ZOOM0013_Tr4:maybe,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it's actually, maybe you're fine about that.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I wrote this lesson down like two days afterwards with like tears like
ZOOM0013_Tr3:down Oh.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Like this one really hits and now I'm reading it. I'm like, it's not that deep.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:that deep. Come on. What is it?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:It just says believe. Choose to believe the kind things people say about you.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Oh, is he? That's And it's actually more beautiful to know that you were crying. I'm really
ZOOM0013_Tr4:This is so This whole podcast. I'm gonna look back and be like, the fuck. Shut up. Cute. Um, no. I think that also what I was saying in the two lessons ago where I said the marathon will exasperate how your feelings, so you need to You know, try and be confident. Yeah. And like confidence. It's like a cloak sometimes that you're putting on, you know? And, it's like a verb. Like you have to be confident. You have to choose to be confident. It's not just something
ZOOM0013_Tr3:that, that you are Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:your fingers and you are confident you have to, yeah. It's, it's an action and sometimes feels hard to just conjure that up yourself, and I think that if you can't get that confidence yourself, like just read your messages.'cause there'll be so many nice things
ZOOM0013_Tr3:that people send.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:said to you and so many things. People saying, I'm so proud of you, like, you've done all this amazing stuff, you can do this. And it's very easy to read messages like that and have it wash over you.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:your birthday.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:your birthday, people send you nice things and you're just like, oh, of course you're saying that it's my birthday or whatever. Yeah. But if you sit, sit with it, like let, let those nice things sink in. if you're struggling to. Build that confidence or feel good in the days before the
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Oh that's such a nice one.'cause you're so right. I feel like people do. The people around you who know how hard you've trained are generally so proud of you no matter what. Yeah. And it's almost like it's really easy to dismiss that and be like, guys, you don't understand, like, I've gotta get this done. Mm-hmm. Whereas it's like, probably those people don't even necessarily care about the time that you do it. They're like, you've done so well, you've had such a great block, you've worked so hard, whatever that looks like for you. And then that's what's important. Like you've, you've done the hard work, Yeah. And yeah, it's sometimes it's easy to brush that aside
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Or even your non-running friends who just, they don't even fully get it, but they're like so proud
ZOOM0013_Tr3:you. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you're doing this amazing thing and they're like in awe of what you're doing.'cause you probably think it's pretty run of the mill by the time you've. Done this, or especially all of your, when you're talking to people who are also doing the marathon. Yes. You're all doing it and then other people are really like, yeah. They're just proud of you and it's really sweet.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:matter to
ZOOM0013_Tr4:No. Yeah. Yeah. So
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I remember when Jess Stinson was on the podcast and she was talking about the, voice note she got before the marathon from her little daughter who was just like, run fast mommy. And like, they're just so happy to see you
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Exactly. Yeah. The mom, the daughter's like, oh, I saw you around, um, 2 38 instead of 2 36.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Why?
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Like imagine. Oh, I love that one. That's so nice.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay. I think that might be the last emo one.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:More emo please. Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay. Number eight, the taper is fucked. That is like, no one gave me enough warning, but I would say. Treat the changes that, that, again, related to the earlier ones. Mm-hmm. Treat the changes that you are experiencing with like an open curiosity to understand maybe why you feel so awful. But don't give weight to them. Don't get attached to those feelings. don't, we were saying, use that
ZOOM0013_Tr3:don't let them mean anything. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:them mean anything. Let it wash over you.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:So how did you feel in the taper?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Oh, just
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm, so awful. The whole taper or the car blow
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I think from starting the carb. Oh, it's hard to know. So I was a bit jet lagged as well. I got back to Australia the Friday week before, so not two days before the marathon, but the week before I was sleeping. Okay. I think I was. Yeah, I got over the jet lag
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Well Well I remember you did initially. Yeah. You initially were like, I have just like not, I've just been
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was so
ZOOM0013_Tr3:but then I feel like a few days later it really hit you and you weren't, you
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:yeah,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:So yeah, I lied. I got in Friday night, I saw you Saturday morning. off the back of like eight hours sleep on Friday night. And I was so smug, I felt so good. And then on Sunday I went for a run and we were gonna hang out and I said, no, I've never felt so terrible in my life. I'm going to
ZOOM0013_Tr3:It was a big one. 80.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah, it was a big one. 80. So yeah, I felt I probably had a bit of a crash and then, tried to get back into routine. Not running. I actually learned when I'm saying this, treat with open curiosity.'cause I was just chat GP ting, every single tiny symptom I had. I was like, why is this? and one thing I thought was so interesting as to why people feel so terrible in their taper is because your body is so used to running nearly, I was running nearly 20 Ks a day on average for the last few weeks of the block. And then you just go to do nothing. Like your body is expecting this thing to happen. You have all this adrenaline in your body, it has nowhere to go again. You're just eating so many carbs. So your blood sugar's really spiked. Like your body is just so confused. You're
ZOOM0013_Tr3:gonna feel a bit off.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:gonna feel a bit off, felt really off. which I think people said you would feel off. People say the taper
ZOOM0013_Tr3:is tough,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:but I, I think I was just a bit surprised by how much I struggled
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it. Yeah. It's like you don't really know what that means. that. It's gonna be tough. Yeah. I couldn't imagine until you're kind of in it.'cause you're right, it is. It is like emotionally tough almost. Yeah. Because you've got a bit of angst. Yeah. You've got that anticipation, you've got that that just, that almost like stress that you're maybe used to running off. Mm-hmm And it just is it feels like it's all accumulating and accumulating. Yeah. You can just like unleash it on race day.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:yeah. Well that's so interesting.'cause my next one was running a marathon is the easiest part of running a marathon. That is my lesson number nine. Like going out and running 42 Ks
ZOOM0013_Tr3:easy, Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:piece of piss compared to all of the other stuff that you have to do. All of the mental gymnastics you have to do to get to race day, feeling
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:and not put too much pressure on yourself. Not you know, not live up to your expectations. The expectations you are putting that you think other people have of you. The comparison you have with other people. Yeah. Just keeping your head. Yeah. Those are the
ZOOM0013_Tr3:hard part. Yeah. And also just, yeah, how hard training is and how many early mornings and how like, just like mentally brutal it is. Yeah. I completely, I feel like all my long runs were harder than my marathon.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Do you mean the race, like the running
ZOOM0013_Tr3:itself Yeah. Like Yeah. You
ZOOM0013_Tr4:felt worse during those runs than you
ZOOM0013_Tr3:didn't Definitely. And just like the, not even, yeah, the runs themselves, but also just like the head noise and the lead up to them when I was like, oh, I'm so tired. I'm gonna have to do this run and whatever. And like, I'd be so exhausted during and afterwards. And then the race itself, I mean, it helps when you have a race that goes well. Like I think if you hit a wall, if you had probably hit a wall, a massive wall, 25 Ks in and limped home for 15 Ks, then maybe you wouldn't be saying, saying it, but like, assuming as you say you've like done the prep, you've got the confidence you can like get the race done. It's almost like you're training under so many constrained conditions. You've never, you're not car blowed, you're not slept, you're not tapered. Yeah. That the race itself is actually just so much easier. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Which is funny'cause my coach did say to me earlier in the block, he said. The whole point of marathon training is fatigue resistance. So I had that in my head
ZOOM0013_Tr3:well.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Whenever I was feeling really tired, I was like, no, I'm supposed to feel tired. And I'm going. And even if it's you know, 10 K jog, it's 10 k jog off the back of this huge session yesterday and a run before that and a
ZOOM0013_Tr3:few weeks have accumulated.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:it's kind of, you're almost stimulating what the 35th
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:might feel like. Yeah. But I also just found, and maybe again, it was unique to the position that I was in where I, was really trying to not let the kind of competitive nature of the race
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm-hmm.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:getting, getting my head as well. I think it's like, it was very unique position. I've never really been in a situation where I cared or not cared, but the place where I placed in the race was going to be so
ZOOM0013_Tr3:consequential. Yeah. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:like I'm, I'm always just running for myself and I still did really wanna just run for myself, but I found the discipline required almost just to keep. My mind on
ZOOM0013_Tr3:track Mm.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:harder than the discipline to get out and do the run.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Oh,
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Does that make sense? Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:It does. It definitely does. I mean, yeah. And I do feel like everyone would have their own, version of
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Like
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Like that was your head noise in all lead up to it. I feel like everyone has their own thing that they're like stressed about, about the block or the race
ZOOM0013_Tr4:itself. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:and that can take up just as much energy as the actual training
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Or even if it is just that week of that taper, like we were saying, not freaking out and not getting confused and almost burning yourself out just from stressing about
ZOOM0013_Tr3:being Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:you know? Or the example I had where I was saying I had a freak out'cause like, I didn't like the way that I looked two days
ZOOM0013_Tr3:before. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:the race. Yeah. It's having like, again, that, that's like a discipline that's required
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:not go down that garden path. Have the
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Not gonna
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Kind of mental hygiene almost. Yeah. Emotional hygiene to,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:it's cool to be able to show to yourself that you can just kind of choose to not focus on it. Yeah. You know, it's
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And again, if I didn't have one goal that I was so obsessed with, I probably the goal of the marathon was bigger than any of the other stuff.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Give us your, wait, are we at number 10?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:we're at number 10.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:us your final one.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:this one is just, just to send it out. If you hated all of the other lessons and you didn't take anything else away from them, you can take this one with you. Do not put gels in your bra. That's my final lesson. Oh
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Oh God, yes. I've seen them fall out from
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I have scars. I literally still have scars on my breasts.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:my God. So you, I do not understand how you've done this. You're like Sorry. You are an elite runner. You've got bottles that are being put out on the elite section. How are you chucking?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:don't know
ZOOM0013_Tr3:your, because wait, where else are you supposed to put them
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Well, that's the thing. There's no pockets.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You should have got one of those little running belts.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yeah. Yeah. I had no pockets and I didn't even need the gels they have. Yeah. Like you said, I had bottles, Which I drunk, and they have gels on the table, and I had like four gels in
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You had four. And did they just do so much damage? Could you feel them during the
ZOOM0013_Tr4:much damage? I don't think, I can't even remember now. I think I was aware of them, but I didn't realize how
ZOOM0013_Tr3:don't until, let me guess. You got the shower?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Yes, the pain of the shower and I also. I have chafing stuff and I put the chafe,'cause I get, I get chafing like on the brass strap. Yes. That's the most painful one for me. So covered up. But yeah, the gel. And then I did actually eat a few of the gels and I think the packets were
ZOOM0013_Tr3:open. and you put them back in. Oh, no, no, of course. No. But yeah, then they, then you're getting like
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I had like deep wounds.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Oh.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:one tiny little thing
ZOOM0013_Tr3:over. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Ks. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:I have in my, so in this marathon I had, shorts with so many pockets. It was fine In, a previous marathon, I put heaps in my bra, but I, sorry, I probably put one or two in my bra. But I, the way they did that is I put them around the back and I laid them. Like horizontal. So they, yeah, and it was quite secure there. Whereas I feel like at the front there's a little bit more going on.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:a little bit of jiggling.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:So you still have scars
ZOOM0013_Tr4:scarred. My legs have recovered.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You like covered.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:but my chest has not.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Your chest has not. But it sounds like emotionally you've very much covered and you are, you're excited to do another marathon at some point in the future. Yeah. Like I almost feel like that's the main thing. You're doing a marathon for the first time, you just wanna leave excited to do another one. Yeah. And
ZOOM0013_Tr4:So excited.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:oh my God, I'm dreading that entire thing. Like you've got lessons, you've got things you'll improve. Yeah. But you'll be back.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I know. I'm so, I'm so excited. Yeah. I'm excited for the block as
ZOOM0013_Tr3:well. Yeah. I
ZOOM0013_Tr4:love, I genuinely loved everything about it. I loved the challenge. I loved every week hitting a new pbe, basically like doing a long run and being like, oh my God, that was my longest run ever. It was so much fun.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You remind me of me when I did my first round.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:my debut.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:my did. and what is next for you? What's next
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Oh, I'm going to be running hopefully, I mean, I think so Zape in December, which is the National 10 K
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Mm-hmm.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Mm-hmm. I will be, my goal last year was not to get double lapped.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay. And I think I didn't,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You didn't?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:but if anyone saw me, I think this is a
ZOOM0013_Tr3:good, I watched, I was
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I, I'm actually so proud of myself for always running pec and always coming like dead last and being I think within 200 meters I'm off the front of the pack and it's pretty, yeah. Off. I'm off the back of the leaders
ZOOM0013_Tr3:She goes
ZOOM0013_Tr4:within 200 meters
ZOOM0013_Tr3:two meters. I'm off the front and then within 800 meters I'm off the back. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:But I think that that's, yeah, really proud of myself for the way that I run Zik because. It's so exposing as well, being on a track and running. Like everyone
ZOOM0013_Tr3:And so many people watch
ZOOM0013_Tr4:so many people watch and it's like, yeah, national 10 K. So afterwards all the men round and you've got literally
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Olympics
ZOOM0013_Tr4:like Lauren, Ryan, rose Davies. Oh yeah. Leanne
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Izzy about Doyle. Yeah. The best. The big dogs.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:And I'm just like, please don't let me
ZOOM0013_Tr3:how sick that you get to be on a start
ZOOM0013_Tr4:literally. Yeah, no, it's so much fun. You're in the cool room with them and you're like, what is going on? This is,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:and what is the transition from marathon training to 10 K training looking like?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Um, I actually haven't got my November program
ZOOM0013_Tr3:yet.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Mm. Yeah, back doing more speed work and I think I've been doing a bit of cross training as well, just to kind of ease out of the marathon. But I imagine a bit more track work, some speed work, hoping that the base is there. Oh,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:oh, the base. Is there
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Strength training?
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I'm gonna go to the
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You're gonna go to the gym because you were told you are half as strong.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was told I was half as strong as I was meant to be by my physio.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Someone needs to sit me down and tell me that as well.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I was like, there was no, there was no light. And I'm such a teacher's pet. I was like literally pushing as hard as I could and I was like, how'd I do? She's like, oh,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:not good. And
ZOOM0013_Tr4:I don't think,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:that's all you've got. Is it okay sweetie?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:That's okay. Could you got one more in you? Oh, that's okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:So have you done a gym session yet?
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Not yet. I've been away.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. Okay.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Don't look at me like that.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Well just'cause we ran together nearly a week ago and you were like, I'm gonna do gym. I'm so
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Okay. I'll go. I'll go this
ZOOM0013_Tr3:weekend. Okay. Yeah. Sounds good. I've
ZOOM0013_Tr4:it out loud now,
ZOOM0013_Tr3:You've said it out loud. Well, Izzy, thank you so much for
ZOOM0013_Tr4:thank you so much for having me.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:your wisdom.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:Truly an honor. I don't take it for granted that I get invited
ZOOM0013_Tr3:back here. Well, we don't take it. We don't take it for granted to get you on here, sharing your wisdoms and your learnings with us
ZOOM0013_Tr4:My lessons. Hopefully there's at least one
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Yeah. And maybe the next one will be 10 lessons from, from last place. Zak.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:it.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Not last place.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:do you know what's so funny? Sorry. One, one more. You know when people always like, someone's gonna win it. Why not you like, you know that motivational quote. I'm like, someone's gonna come last. Why not
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Why not you? Hey, you need to embody that 100% confidence that you had
ZOOM0013_Tr4:confidence. Yeah.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:None of that head noise.
ZOOM0013_Tr4:No head noise. Actually I have no head noise. I know that I'm gonna come last. It's gonna be fun. fade to black. Thanks.
ZOOM0013_Tr3:Bye. Um.
Anna (intro/outro audio):I hope you all enjoyed those top 10 tips from Izzy's first marathon. we really appreciate her coming on and sharing the knowledge that she has gained over the last few months.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):And make sure you tune in next week for our massive, massive, massive announcements. Hopefully, I'm not misleading you and hopefully we will be able to say it next week. but it'll, I mean, it'll also be on our socials and so on, so get excited for that. But otherwise, so nice to be
Anna (intro/outro audio):I know, and I am excited to record IRL next time.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):I know. Oh, but, um, oh yeah. We didn't even say that. You're a Noosa right now. Anna's
Anna (intro/outro audio):yeah. No one needs to know
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Oh, they didn't, they did not need to know. I don't need to know that. So
Anna (intro/outro audio):I don't need, alright. Can't wait to be in your ears next week. We will speak to you then.
phoebe (intro/outro audio):Bye.
Anna (intro/outro audio):Bye.