The Catch Me Up Episode

This episode is a full catch-up on everything that’s been happening behind the scenes.

From hitting sub-20 five weeks in a row, to PB’ing across multiple distances, to preparing for the Sydney Marathon — and then stepping off the course with a high hamstring tendinopathy injury.

I talk openly about:

• Losing momentum on socials

• How my run streak shapes every decision

• The mental toll of ongoing pain

• Why I’m still getting up and running 8 km every day

• The moment everything unravelled mid-race

• And the quote that reminded me I’ve got unfinished business

Sydney 2026… I’m coming back.

#runningpodcast #marathonjourney #injuryrehab #mindset #connectingthedots

Transcript

0:01

I've been wanting to do this video for a while, and it's a bit of a, I guess it's a bit of a catch up video and, you know, I, I enjoyed putting a lot of content on the socials and I did it for me. I think it was just my way of, I don't know. I don't know. I gave it no thought. I enjoyed putting so content out on socials. I think it was proud of me. Um, maybe that's part of it. I think I, some of it, if I was being funny, I liked the, you know, to make people laugh or smile. Um, and sometimes I just, sometimes it was a bit of a gloat'cause I just, I'm doing these things I never thought were possible and so I was having fun with content. Um, and. Well, I've been a bit quiet and I guess this is, and I wanna get back to that'cause I used to get some energy outta doing that, but I feel like I've gotta explain what's been going on. Um,'cause I was, you know, um, when I turned 49, um, I had this desire to do connect the dots and interview somebody every week and, uh, on a podcast and, you know, jump it onto YouTube or wherever I was putting it. I think I was putting it on podcast and, um. And I got, I, I, I got, I think I got, so there was supposed to be 52, 52 weeks of the year for, you know, one week, one every week. And I think I got to 47, 48, something like that. Um, but we'll get to that Ntic. And, uh, and then I think around the middle of last year, knowing that, you know, I was going to turn 50, um, I, I had this desire to think about some of the, I I. I think my mind was starting to go, Hey, you gotta start thinking about some of the physical things you wanna do before you get old.'cause you know, I, at some point you can't keep getting better. And I was worried that 50 was, you know, a, a, a bit of a point in time in relation to that. And so I reached out to Coach Carl that I'd started to, you know, get to know, uh, who's similar age to me. Sorry to dub you in there, Carl. Um, and. You know, he was, he was one of those coaches that was Yep, I get you a run streak. You know, we've gotta work around that. And we set out to do that, like we, we did, like, we were very mindful of my run streak, um, that, you know, on a, that an off week, I still ran eight kilometers a day, 56 kilometers a week as a, as a rest week. Um, and, uh, we gave it a crack. And so it was meant to be project 2020 weeks to get me under. 20 minutes at Park Run. And it had been a long, I mean, I joined the Road Runners three years ago with that goal. And I think on the weekend I joined the Road Runners. I, I ran a, um, I think it was about a 1922 and, and, sorry, I, I ran a 20, 22, 20 minutes, 22 seconds. And I just, I, uh, I, that was all gassed out and then I joined the club and then we get talk, you know, everyone talks, you know. Gold Coast marathons and long runs this, and long runs that. So that was like, that was gone. And I got into, you know, running these other distances and um, and I think by the time I started with Carl, I was really struggling to sort of run a, a 2130. Um, and, uh, and so off, off we went and, um, we found new ways to fail at things is what I certainly quickly understood. Um. Lost a shoe in one of them. And, and what we found out was, uh, as much as we were trying to accommodate me being a run streaker, um, that's it. It, it, we, it drove me into the ground of tiredness. I finished the end of last year just tired. I was, I was tired and then I was a little frustrated'cause we couldn't get the. You know, we couldn't get, I think the best all out I did was a 2014 or something like that. Um, so we, you know, we were pulling it down, but just it wasn't there. And then we had, I had Christmas off and we came back to it with a fresh approach. And there was a couple of things that we learned was, you know, let's knock, you know, we changed how we approach strength training. Um, we put in there some longer runs, we did some little tweaking to accommodate my streak and, um. And, and you know, obviously the six months of what we were doing was building a base. It just, it hadn't quite come to a, you know, outcome yet. So with some, with, with some arrest, some tweaking, the base we'd built, um, we were off again. And, um, and I was really, I didn't know how it was going. And then, uh, a week before I turned 50, I just, I think I'd, um. Wanted it that bad. I just went out that Saturday and I just held on for Dee at, you know, for everything. And I, I can't remember the first time I did it. I, I, I'm sure it was something I, I, I'm, I think there was more than 10 seconds gap in it. I'm, I'm sure it was a 19, you know, 45 or something like that. It might have been 1942 or something like that. And, uh. And I couldn't have been happier, couldn't have been happier. And, and so for the next five weeks I ran sub 20 minutes. Um, and, uh, yeah, five weeks in a row. So, so I, and I think I got it down to like a 19, one of them I got down to like a 19, 20 or something like that. So I was really, really stoked. I got my half marathon time down to 88 minutes. Um, uh, my 10 KI got, you know, 39. 40 or something like that. So I was pulling them all down 15 kilometers. You name the distance except for the half. Uh, so except for the full, we were pb them all and I was having fun and I was just, it was, it was great. I mean, I had to focus on it. So that's where my weekly podcasts, in terms of connecting the dots, just as I got towards those last few weeks of doing it, I just, I didn't have time for it.'cause I just, everything was. Focused on my running and hitting some goals with turning 50 and stuff like that. And so we, I, I'd, I'd. Uh, earlier in the year, this year, I'd signed up for Carl's trip to Sydney for the Sydney marathon because, you know, somebody in the world made it a, the seventh major of the world. And I thought, well, there's now a major marathon. One of the seven major marathons in the world is now in Sydney. So I gotta go. Right? Gotta go because I might as well PB there'cause I, I don't like that distance. And my PB. Was my debut marathon from like four years ago. It was three hours, 45. I hated it. I mean, I hated it. And I did content at the time about how I hated it. It is, you know, I, I hated it. Um, and, and I hated it that much while I was never doing another one, except that I hated it that much, that I thought, I better go back the next year, do it slower and see if I can't enjoy it. And turns out I, no, first lot of data was right. I hated it. Just hated. So I went, went back the year after, did three 50. Three hours, 50. And just, I, I hated it. And so I was like, that's fine, that's done. No more, no more marathons. And then they made Sydney a major and I'm like, you know what, just one more. And because I'd been doing all of this, you know, running in the lead up to it, I thought I can, um, I can probably go PB this, you know, like, and so we started doing some training focused on that. And somewhere along the, the training, um. Is when I, you know, I did my 88 minutes half marathon. Um, I rocked up to park, run up, you know, on one of the weeks that, uh, I was supposed to give it a squeeze and I did an 1847. So all of a sudden I went from being a sub, you know, couldn't, couldn't get sub 20 to, and that's the other thing, a lot everyone keeps telling me. Uh, once you get sub 20, you just keep going. And I'm like, that is that just, that is not true. That might be true for other people. It is not true for me. There is no way that with all how hard it's been to get to close to sub 20, that when I get there, I'm gonna keep going. Like, that's just not true. And it instantly became true. Um, so, you know, um, certainly probably wasn't smart to do, you know, five sub twenties in a, you know. Um, in a row. Um, but with the break and then going back to the training with Carl and then going for it on a, um, on the prop, you know, on the right week I was meant to 1847, so all of a sudden I was a sub 19 park runner. So that's pretty cool. Um, and so. Training was going really well. The long distances were going well, we're getting, you know, I was going for Sunday runs, running, you know, sub five minute pace. Um, it was feeling good, you know, stuff like that. I'm like, oh, this, this could, you know, I could do a three, three hours, 30 at, uh, Sydney, this, this might, might be all right. And as the training progressed, we were like, well, I think we could probably do three hours, 20. And, you know, and then we're like, well, you know what, three hours fifteens looking pretty good. And if it wasn't for, in the last. Little lead up to Sydney with there being a, um, niggle of my, uh, hamstring going on. I was running, I was, I ran from Caboolture, I ran from home to Redcliffe one morning, 33 kilometers. It is, if anyone wants to know from my place through Morayfield Deception Bay Road to the Redcliffe markets 33 K and about 28 kilometers into it, I did one of those things where you trip on the Bitman'cause you don't see the rise and your Superman and you, you know, give your hamstring a little bit of a. Flexing a twin, and that sort of never went away. It was all right. I had to go see, you know, Kelvin, the magician at the, um, You physio. And um, and it would come and it would, you know, like it was, it was, but we had it in control, we thought. And, uh, and so we rocked up on the, on on, I mean, and I was telling everyone, I'm gonna Sydney to pv, like just the plan A was like sub three hours, plan B was like three. 3 0 4, 3 0 5. Plan C was three 10. Plan D was three 15. Like, you know, my PB of 3 45 wasn't in this alphabet, so I was going to Sydney to PB no matter the outcome. Um, and, and off we were. And, um, and, and so it was, and like you do, you watch those, you know, your A, B, C. Sort of drop down for some people, like, I guess some people can go out and do their plan a um, and so it was really cool for sort of like the first five kilometers to watch my race predictor say two hours, 56 or two hours, 59. And that was pretty cool. Um, and, and you know, and then I sort of settled in to three hours and four or three hours and five. Um, and, and by the time I sort of settled into a bit of a rhythm at 3 0 8. 3 0 9 prediction. I, I could feel my hamstring was just, I'm, oh, this is gonna be a tough day in the office. This is, this is, and I think by the time I'd got past 10 Ks I'm like, oh, this, well, and somewhere between 10 and 15 I was like, oh, this is actually gonna, this, I'm gonna have to, you know, dig deep on this. And I, I think I reached into my pocket and got some Panadol out and some muren and I chewed them down. And then, um, I'd started to slow up by the time. I did a half marathon distance, uh, I'd started to slow off a bit and, um, and, and, and, and I think that I, I mean, I still managed to cross through the half marathon in, you know, an hour, 30 something, an hour, 34 maybe. And um, and then by sort of 22, 23 kilometers in, uh, I think I was starting to realize that I might not. Make the whole distance. And so I had to spend a couple of kilometers trying to figure out what that looked like. And, and it's, I think it's a bit like when you're doing running, um, math, when you're doing running math, it doesn't work. You can't math, you can't, you know, like if I've got a kilometer left and a kilometer go and you just can't math, well, the other thing you can't do is make big decisions about stepping out of a race. I'd never done that ever, ever, ever. So, um, at 27.8 kilometers. With the three hour 15 pacer still behind me, I stepped off the course and that was that. Um, and the pain stopped instantly. Um, and the tears came and outta nowhere. Like I just wasn't expecting that, just instantly. I was just, and it just all, I think every emotion I've ever had for my entire 50 years came out. And, uh, so I'm sure that was pretty. Um, and that was that I stepped off the course, which in hindsight, a kilometer more and I might have screwed myself more. Um, that was when, was that the end of August? I think. End of August. It's now, you know, December one. Um, I haven't taken a running step since that didn't hurt. So I've been doing just my eight ks every morning, my 56 kilometers a week. Um, and I've. I mean, I've always had a love-hate relationship with running, but I mean, you know, it, it does great. It does it, it's great to undo the stresses in your head. It, uh, gives me, you know, that physical release. It does so many things. Um, I've never not enjoyed running for this period ever in my, you know, my 11 years of journey of running. I've never, it's never been like this. I, I wake up in the morning reluctantly, I, I lay in bed reading the news, just I'll read another news article. Um, I used to, you know, whether it was a podcast or music or something like that, I, I, there was always a way for me to, well, I'll do this on my run. Even if I didn't feel like running, I'd be like, well, you know what? There's this other podcast I wanna listen to. Yeah. That, none of that, I just, I don't wanna run tomorrow. I don't wanna run tomorrow. And, and that's, um. That's been new for me to have to do for a couple of months now. Um, we're doing physio. We, you know, it's, it's, it's high hamstring tendinopathy, I think if I've said that wrong. High hamstring tendinopathy. We've gone and got a scan. Um, uh, there's lots of other, you know, big words being used. I'm doing everything. We've done the exercise, we are doing the exercises. I think I started doing them too much'cause then don't, it started getting worse. So I've backed off and. It's feeling a little better. And when I say better, it still hurts every step. Um, I can't, I can't run long distances. I can't run fast. It hurts. Um, and, uh, I'm just, you know, yes, I know for something, the, the run streak has given me so much for a decade, and now it's, um. Problematic. I just gotta give it a bit more time because it is important to me. My priority for 11 years was my run tomorrow, and it still is. It just, I'm not looking forward to it. Um, that's the only thing that's different at the moment. And, um, I'll get there. Uh, it was funny when I. I heard a quote years ago, and I, it's one, you know, sometimes I hear quotes and I'm like, I like that quote. It doesn't really resonate with me, but I like the sound of it and you put it on a mental shelf in your head. And, um, during the run or during the aftermath of the run, um, I stepped off the course and it just, it was like, it instantly came back to me and it was, um, I haven't come this far to have only come this far. And, uh, so. I think I knew then that, you know, whatever happens at some point, I've got unfinished business. I don't wanna do a marathon again. Um, but I didn't fi I haven't finished this one, so, um, I'm gonna Sydney next year. I've already signed up. Got it. There was a, I think there's something called a ballot. Yes, I've got it. I'm going to Sydney. I have unfinished business, um, which is the, you know, um, gonna be. Problematic. If I'm still running like this, we'll fix it before then, anyhow, I just, I felt like I wanted to do a bit of a reset, like the reset that I want my body to have. I'm tired, my body's tired. I think when your body's in repair mode, it's tired and it's just, I'm tired, I'm sore, and it, you know, screws with you a little bit. Um, but we do the hard things, don't we? We do the hard things. Because we want what's on the other side of them. Um, and I had such a great year in the lead up to the Sydney, and I think maybe overcoming this will be the greatest running outcome I get. I hope's I push on, right? Anyhow, as I said at the beginning of this, part of this was about me filling the gap from when I was doing a lot of content. To not, and maybe this will help me reset and I can go back to being a bit of an idiot on the socials and posting some of the fun stuff, some of the serious stuff, some of the stuff I've learned about running, uh, and just going back to a life of sharing the things that I find interesting. I'm, I'm curious by nature and I love sharing some of those things. Uh, on the socials and I hope you enjoyed my little catch up, or at least gives you some understanding. Uh, so yeah, I think run day's. I think I'm up to 4,215. Uh, I'll run tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it. Um, but I'm sure Kelvin and I will figure out a way that, uh, I'll get that back. Um, the pain will go away. The speed will come back, the enjoyment will come back. And, and uh, for a guy that, um, took up running not long ago in terms of distance running, not long ago, uh, he went and did a um, I think it was sub three hours 30. Uh, so maybe he'll go back next year and I can run with him.'cause I'm, I'm not chasing that sub three hour stuff that can, that, that's, that's something for non run streakers with good hamstrings. And, uh, I'm not one of that. Anyhow. That's, that's my story for now. See on the socials, we're out on the running track. I'm running about, you know, six minute 30 pace at the moment. Um, scuffing my shoes. It's fun. It's good. Zone two training. I ah, thanks for listening to me.