Run Culture Podcast

Be a fly on the wall in our coach-athlete end of year debrief. I really enjoyed this episode personally as a coach, as it displayed just how much both athletes really have grown on and off the track during 2020. I also feel we cover some interesting ground and there are a lot of topics that will reverberate with a lot of runners. Both athletes have had very different journeys over the past 2-3 months, Pete has been out injured with a 3rd metatarsal stress fracture, where as Damien has been lapping up PB after PB! However, as you will see often we can learn as much about ourselves during times of hardship as we do when we can't put a foot wrong. My favourite part of the episode was when Damien opened up about some real heart to heart discussions we had had, as 'athlete' and 'coach' and how important these had been to buying in and believing in what we were doing! I also loved the part when we attempted to hypothesize 'Why Pete got injured?' This is such an important process post injury, so that we can better avoid the same mistakes in the future. We also briefly detail how the rest of the team are tracking. If you enjoyed this episode be sure to follow the   team's progress heading into 2021 on the 'Run Culture Owls' Facebook page.

Today on the podcast I was super fortunate to chat to Stephen Haas. Stephen has worked for Total Sports Management for the past 10 plus years. He is also a high level distance running coach of many athletes including the Under Armour sponsored professional running team; Dark Sky Distance, based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Prior to the recording of this podcast I hit Luke Matthew’s (top Aussie 800/1500 star and Total Sports Management athlete) up for a couple of hard hitting questions to throw at Haas. Thanks Lukey! Prior to becoming an athlete manager and coach, Stephen was an incredible runner himself having run for the University of Indiana in Bloomington, where he was a big 10 Champion at 5k and a 3 time All American who broke a few of Bob Kennedy’s school records! Out of college Haas ran professionally for New Balance running 13:33 for 5000m, 28:20 for 10,000m and 2:18:45 for the marathon. This interview is a great insight into the life of an athlete agent and this side of professional running. Thanks Stephen Haas!

Return guest of the Run culture podcast; Brodie Sharpe is back again this time talking all things Pain. Brodie is a fellow running physiotherapist, host of ‘the Run Smarter Podcast’ and owner of the ‘Breakthrough Running Clinic’. This episode is one that I urge every runner who has struggled chronically with running injury and pain through out their career to tune in to. The common misconception: ‘I have chronic pain because there is still tissue damage that hasn't healed yet.’ Is False! In this episode Brodie and I attempt to educate as many runners as we can, on why this is so. This episode is littered with personal and clinical anecdotes from Brodie and my experiences as running physiotherapists regarding injury and the subjective nature of pain. Why do we get pain? Where does pain come from? Pain intensity is more reflective of the contextual factors at play behind the running injury ie. ‘How threatening is this situation to the runner’s belief system?’ It is a myth that pain severity correlates with the degree of tissue damage incurred. Our beliefs drive our behaviours, our actions, our goals, they help determine the life we live. Are our beliefs about ourselves and our worlds completely true? Or do we need to sometimes delve a little deeper and ‘work on’/challenge ourselves? Identify and challenge those self limiting, maladaptive beliefs, thoughts, emotions and behaviours. If you liked listening to Brodie sharpe his podcast can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-run-smarter-podcast/id1494778818 If this episode gets you thinking and you want to know more about this topic/ area then please don’t hesitate to contact me on the Run Culture socials for further information.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to catch up and chat with close family friend, former 1988 Australian Ironman Triathlon Champion, 2 time Kona finisher(with a best place of 23rd), 1990 Commonwealth Games Aussie rep, 4 time Australian masters cycling Champion and full time cycling and triathlon coach at Trivelo Coaching; Gerry Donnelly! In this episode we discuss Gerry’s triathlon career, his early days, how he navigated his way through the early years of the sport of triathlon. My favourite part of the conversation was listening to Gerry reflect on what he learned from his own triathlon career, which included; just how important a balanced approach to life and training is and how his personal performance improved once he started to value rest and recovery! If you are interested to find out more about Gerry Donnelly be sure to go to; https://trivelocoaching.com.au or listen in to the ‘Get Fast’- Trivelo coaching Podcast.

Today, I had a chat with full time Kiwi triathlon and running coach; Craig Kirkwood (www.ckcoaching.co.nz). He is the coach of Hayden Wilde (a triathlete with a real podium chance come Tokyo Olympics and Sam Tanner a young 1500m superstar!). Craig was a 2:13 marathoner himself and was the former assistant coach to Kim McDonald a former athlete manager to the best Kenyan athletes of the mid 90’s to early 2000’s. I quiz Craig on this incredible experience, the US college system, his own marathon career and what he learnt, his coaching philosophy, drugs in sport, how Hayden and Sam are currently travelling and much more. Personally, it was great chatting to someone with so much experience at the top end of this sport and hearing his stories, thanks for a ripper interview Craig!

This is the 50km Lockdown Challenge Podcast Race Wrap! (the 11th and final episode) In this episode; Dion, Dane, JD and Apples reflect on their race day performances, discuss the ins and outs of what went into organizing the day and what a 'win' Sunday was for the Melbourne running community as a whole! They thank 'the village' of people that supported the event, announce the winner of the 'race prediction' contest and discuss what their next running goals are for 2021? The idea for the 50km Lockdown Challenge started out as a mere crazy idea in the middle of Metropolitan Melbourne’s COVID lockdown but on Sunday it ‘actually’ became real! Despite windy and wet conditions, the unfatigable Dion Finocchiaro was a cut above and  became the new and very deserving Australian 50km record holder; running 2:50:49! Dane, was personally pretty darn satisfied to also go under Mark Tucker’s old mark by 87 seconds; running a 2:52:20! JD went through the marathon 19 seconds shy of his Pb and hung tough to run 2:54:29, slicing 5 minutes off his old 50km PB. Apples (the birthday boy) defied his preparation and hung on till 30km, then jogged in a 2:33 mara. He was an invaluable team player! The incredible amount of support this event received from the running community will forever be appreciated and remembered! Special mentions must go to the people below, as without them, the race just wouldn’t have happened! Sarah Davis (AV official) Richard Davis (AV official) Susan Schnaars (AV official) Stuart Schnaars (AV official) Josh savage (AV official) Peter Villani (Tomato Chip Timing) Simon Forer (lap counter) Scotty Orchard (GM) Karen Mickle (GM/AURA official) Des Waldron (Utility/jack of all trades) Jeff Wright (lap counting) Sean Verwey (lap counting) David Overend (Drinks station) David Wilson (Drinks station) Nathan Fenton (Runner chats/MC) Pete James (Runner chats/MC) Damien Clark (Fb live) Peter Dutton (lap counter) Simone Brick (lap counter) Clint Perrott (helper) Tim bowman (Took over 4000 photos today, including the brilliant ones above!) Chris Smith (Zero plus sports Beers) Barry Thomas (Zero plus sports Beers) Bec Black (lap counter) Jeanette Reyes (lap counter) Box Hill Athletics Club for allowing us to use their great track, on top of being so accomodating and easy to work with! Liam Adam for his meticulous pacing for 30kms. Jess Dunsmore for pacing till 21kms all in lane 2, rolling a 72 min half. He had poise beyond his 21 yrs of age. And of course every single other man and his/her dog for coming out and showing their support and excitement for this wicked sport! What a special day Sunday November the 29th 2020 was!

With just 5 days till Raceday, this is the ‘Pre-race’ Episode of the 50km Lockdown Challenge Podcast! On this episode; Dion, Jd, Apples and Dane go over; -Dan Andrews latest announcement and what it means for the event. (further clarification to come during the week!) -Their COVID Safe plans for the event. -The long range weather forecast predictions for race day. -Their recent training weeks. -Their taper plans. -Their final race day tactics/pacing strategy! ...and Dion also interviews Barry Thomas one of the main guys behind the zero plus sports beer and the Australian Sports Brewing Co, who have been huge supporters of our event! The boys would also like to personally thank everyone who has got behind this event during the COVID19 lockdown, they hope that others have been inspired to set crazy goals, stay motivated and get creative during this unprecedented time! Hope to see many of you there on the day! And if not, be sure to follow along on Sunday with the online tracker and fb live event!

Dane opens the podcast with an enlightening chat with newly minted 50km WR holder CJ Albertson. They discuss how he found running 125 laps of the track, his rapid rise to being one of the best marathoners in the US, his amazing ability to recover from weekly hard long runs, what he’s excited about in the future (be it a sub 2:10 marathon, representing his country at the highest level possible and ultra marathons). CJ really has some great advice when it comes to balancing structure and flexibility with training, the value of doing training or races that excite you and the importance of having a really balanced/happy/fun lifestyle outside of running. (Turn the volume up for this one, the sound is just a little soft at times). Then it is once again over to; Dion, John, Craig and Dane! They cover all the progress they have made from an event organisation point of view, such as; -The application for an IAU Bronze label event was successfully approved this week and so the event is now officially recognised as such! -Tomato chip timing is officially onboard, which will allow live online tracking throughout the event compared to Mark Tucker’s current Aus 50km record. -There will be a Facebook live feed of the event on race day. -John’s super shoes (Brooks Hyperion elite 2) currently sit in Florida awaiting shipment as he nervously awaits to see if they arrive before race day. -Next weeks episode will have the boys discuss race day pacing strategy/tactics and the final details that everyone needs to know about the event. -Final Covid safe measures will also be able to be clarified by November the 22nd. The boys then answer a listener question and then go on to discuss their training weeks and how they are tracking with just 2 weeks to go till their Aussie record tilt! Thanks once again to the Australian Sports Brewing Company for throwing their unwavering support behind the boys with this challenge and the podcast!

Welcome back to Episode 8 of; 'The Lockdown 50km Challenge!’ This week, Dion, John, Craig and Dane, go over their training weeks and how they are tracking with just 3 weeks to go till their Aussie record tilt! Thanks once again to the Australian Sports Brewing Company for throwing their unwavering support behind the boys with this challenge and the podcast! Dane starts off the podcast with a huge thank you to all the listeners that came forward and helped us find some amazing track officials for the event! Sarah Davis is to be the events official track referee. Her husband Patrick, friend Stewart and his wife are also qualified officials that will help out on the day! The four volunteer officials we have enlisted above all need to go on after our race and help out at further Athletics Victoria Track meets later that day, so the boys also announce that the race start time has been brought forward from 7am to 6:30am Sunday Nov 29th, to make this possible. In general the efforts of officials and volunteers don’t get enough recognition or thanks in our sport, I mean without them we wouldn’t have an athletics meet, it just wouldn’t run. The process of organising this 50km challenge event and communicating and liasing close with officials has certainly highlighted that they are some of the ‘quiet legends’ of our sport! Tomato Chip timing is all but locked in for the event and Dion chats about the latest Shoe regulation update! All going well with COVID19 restrictions, we look good for a 50 person crowd on the day at this stage! In terms of weekly training developments: Dion ‘the Hulk’ clocked his second straight week at 211kms for the week! Which included a mid week workout of 5km reps and a 50km Sunday long run with a fast finish! After a couple of inconsistent weeks John ‘the beast’ Dutton was awoken again! Clocking a 166km week, 45kms more than last week, Including 50 plus kms on Sunday and a 60 min Kenyan fartlek on Friday. Earlier in the week, John also channeled a bit of former marathon great; Charlie Spedding. John did one of Spedding’s favourite fartlek workouts: 32kms of speed play. John recites a paragraph from Spedding’s book to listeners explaining why he loves this workout so much! John also explains, after chatting to his mentor (Mona), that he will now hit a couple of weeks of shorter/faster stuff before he tapers. Well done JD! Craig strung together another good week, collecting 8hrs of running (including a 32km Sunday long run with JD), another 6hrs on the bike (including a 4hr epic- up and down Mt. Dandenong 3 times, on Cup day). Craig outlines that it is unlikely he will run the full 50kms (given how training has progressed) but he continues to try to see how fit he can get to help the other boys with their record attempt on the day! (Before retiring to some sports Beers) After one of the biggest weeks of his prep and a quite a lot of volume over the the past month or two; Dane had a week where he planned to change the focus a little in a bid to hit a fast 10km timetrial with his training squad, the Run Culture Owls. Dane was rapt with his and his fellow Owls’ form, he now plans to have one more big specific week, before a 2 week taper into the event. He also talked about Stumpy Gully Rd again and how it tragically even featured on Jess’ Birthday! The guys finish the show answering a listener question about their personal eating habits, diets and how good or bad they are!? If there are any further listener questions please send them through to either Craig Dion John or Dane via their socials. The boys would love to answer them on next weeks show!

Run Culture Podcast Episode 80: The Lockdown 50km Challenge Ep. 7. Welcome back to Episode 7 of; 'The Lockdown 50km Challenge!’ This week, Dion, John, Craig and Dane, go over their training weeks and how they are tracking with 28 days to go till their Aussie record tilt! Thanks once again to the Australian Sports Brewing Company for throwing their unwavering support behind the boys with this challenge and the podcast! Dane issues a call out to any keen listeners of the podcast that know any qualified athletics officials that would be keen to help, to get in touch, their help to get this project off the ground would be so appreciated! Otherwise communication and progress on all moving parts continues to steadily progress in the background- the boys talk about this at the end of the show. We all have gained a far greater appreciation of the inner workings of an athletics event because of this process! In terms of weekly training developments: Dion ‘the Hulk’ Finocchario continues to clock ridiculous mileage; a whopping 211kms for the week! Which included; a ‘triple’, a 2:48 marathon- pacing some of his evolve run club runners, ‘selfies’ in his beloved Braeside Park and some busy days now that he is back as a massage therapist given the reprieve in Metropolitan Melbourne’s stage 4 Lockdown! John ‘dark horse ’ Dutton had a ‘mixed bag’ week. Clocking just 27kms for the week till Friday as of the Christmas rush at work, he stacked his weekend with a crazy 84kms including a leg of the Victorian Ultra Runners Relay! Craig strung another good week together, running 90.88kms and collecting 6hrs on the bike! He now plans to slowly focus more on increasing his focus on his running as he hit a confidence building long run on the weekend. He continues to try to get in the best shape he possibly can for 4 weeks time! Dane, hit his hardest and most specific week of his preparation. He nailed a marathon workout over the weekend that his dad in fact suggested he try! He plans to hit a 10km timetrial next week with the Run Culture Owls, then one more big specific week, before a 2 week taper into the event. If there are any listener questions please send them through to either Craig Dion John or Dane via their socials. The boys would love to answer them on next weeks show!