Run Culture Podcast

Today on the Run Culture podcast I chat to two of the Run Culture Owl athletes I coach, Bevan Does and Pete Dutton! These two athletes have trained together all year! Their friendship and consequential growth has extended on and off the track! Both started the year wanting to ‘try new things’ and they continue to stay true to this motto! Thus, emerged the sub 70 project at the Gold Coast half marathon! A chance to independently travel and fend for themselves and explore! This chat is about the build up, the race, the experience and what exciting new things lie a head! Bevan and Pete will likely always remember the sub 70 project. Life is all about trying new things to better sculpt your sense of self and the life you’d love to lead.

Today's podcast is a great lesson for any runner who has plateaued for a long time and feels like they never will improve again!   Up until 9 months ago John Dutton had not improved in the marathon for 10 years.   Last weekend John broke the 2:20 barrier at the 2023 Gold Coast marathon. This is his second PB in 9 months over the distance. John has now shaved a whopping 6 minutes off in 9 months!   We all have our barrier! Some kind of goal, that drives us and tantalises us, can we do it or is it a step out of reach?   I've known John personally for many years, we have run together and run against each other. We have spoken many times about breaking the illustrious 2:20 barrier in the marathon, this has been a barrier that John has dreamt about breaking for his whole running career.   John is a father of 2 boys, he is a full time plaster and has run more than 20 marathons or ultra marathons since 2005.   So, how has he done it? Well, listen in, as this conversation between two running mates, is full of wisdom! We hope the stories and learnings shared might help others learn faster than what we have!!!! Thanks for giving me the privilege to share this fantastic marathon story on the Run Culture Podcast John!

Excited to share my latest podcast episode featuring return guest; Tom O'Halloran (physiotherapist & founder of Mechanics of Movement)! Continuing on from our chat on Episode 31, we dive deeper into the importance of skill acquisition & coordination in the running world. From baby deer to humans, we explore how we learn to move & optimize performance. Don't miss our chat on attention, feedback, coaching vs teaching, degrees of freedom, functional variability vs nonfunctional variability, invariant movement and many anecdotes! Plus, we unveil our collaboration - the 'Run Stronger' app, designed to enhance running performance & prevent injuries. Check it out via Mechanics of Movement IG bio! #RunningSkills #RunStronger #PodcastEpisode

Today, Run Culture Owl Head coach; Dane Verwey and athlete; Pete Dutton, reflect on: -Dane's recent 3rd place at the 2023 Brisbane Marathon over the weekend. -Pete's last 4 months of racing. -Pete and Bevan's Gold Coast marathon build. -How the rest of the Run Culture Owl squad is progressing and the injury woes. -How do you decide what training to do and what schedule to follow? How do you know when to push on, modify or rest? I hope you find this coach-athlete discussion insightful and potentially it gets you to reflect on your own running journey in some way!

Today on the Run Culture Podcast I chat with Rob Neylon, one of Australia's most promising distance runners of the early 80’s and a former trainee of the legendary Percy Cerutty. We talked about Percy's innovative and at times controversial methods, as well as his Stotan philosophy. As a runner myself, it was inspiring to hear about the mindset and training required to achieve peak performance in distance running. So tune in, there's a lot today's world could learn from such a key figure in our sports history.

In this enlightening episode, we sit down with Tom O'Halloran, a physiotherapist and founder of Mechanics of Movement. Tom shares his journey of becoming a specialist in biomechanics and skill acquisition, emphasizing the importance of coordination in running, which is often underappreciated. We dive into the concept of motor learning and skill acquisition, discussing the constraints-led approach and its nuances. Our conversation then flows into the new ‘Run Stronger’ app, a collaborative effort between Tom and myself (released May 1st), which combines strength and co-ordination exercises aimed at improving one’s running performance and injury prevention. Tune in to learn more about how to become a better runner and take your training to the next level.

Today on the Run Culture Podcast, I sat down with John Nicolosi (Head of Melbourne Athletic Development). John is an experienced Sprints coach of the MAD Track Team (which contains multiple National champions, as well as Olympic and Commonwealth Games representatives). He is an experienced Physiotherapist and was also a former sprinter himself! With a shared passion for participatory knowledge, John and I open the chat by delving into the importance of having 'skin in the game' when it comes to improving your perspective and knowledge in life. John then shares his insights into what distance runners can learn from sprinters biomechanically, before discussing the ‘Constrained Led Approach’ - a powerful technique for changing an athlete's running technique over time. Whether you're a running enthusiast or simply interested in the science of movement, this episode is not to be missed! I really enjoyed this chat with John and if you did too and are interested in checking out more of his work, go to his podcast: ‘Lateral Think’ or reach out to him at: Melbourne Athletic Development on all socials (including Tic Toc thanks @Mia Gross)

For those of us residing in a society that prioritizes; productivity, extraction, speed, and efficiency, this episode of the Run Culture Podcast is a must listen! ."....certain non-western societies don't use the adjectives; efficient, rapid or fast, as words to describe expert performance, they actually use words like; cautious, slow, attentiveness and responsiveness. These slower adjectives are used to describe what it means to be an expert hunter...." They understand the idea of uncertainty, they take time to attend to the rich contextual ebbs and flows of information in front of them and they patiently wait for the right moment to act. I chatted to Dr Carl Woods a scientist and researcher at Victoria University in Melbourne who enjoys exploring the concepts of; learning, knowing and skill from an ecological and anthropological lens in sport. We discuss: -That we live in the 'information age', where there is an excess of 'second hand information' everywhere, we have a test for this a test for that, a strategy for this and all this tech spitting out all kinds of data...Universities teach courses in siloed and reduced methods and reward an encyclopedic like recall of information as expertise... Yes, 'second hand information' can be useful...but I am also seeing a lot of un-embodied/disconnected and disempowered runners as a result. -The importance of 'inhabitant knowledge'.....which is gained through exposure and 'primary experience', this can't simply be replaced by 'second hand information' eg. what a textbook/test or Instagram post says. -Embracing 'uncertainty' and 'the wisdom of not knowing', 'Being prepare but not planned' -Slow down and attend to the environment around you, be a 'wayfinder'. -What defines mastery/a skilled performer or expert? ....the humility to say; 'I don't know' or 'I am unsure', openness, lots of exposure to a certain environment and context, to resonate with their surrounds, to 'look, feel, hear and smell' better, to know what to pay attention to- what to 'stretch towards' and when to 'wait' and be patient.

‘Thinking, through making and doing’ vs ‘Making, through thinking and doing’  “Making through thinking is when a person starts with a fairly formed idea of what the final product is going to look like and then they work towards ‘matching’ that product in their mind to what they actually create. However, it is suggested that the more skilled craftsperson actually ‘thinks through making’ so they think while they're making, they don't start with a fully formed idea and then simply work towards passively creating what it is, it emerges through real perceptual alignment with the ebbs and flows of the materials that they're working with.” -Dr Carl Woods Today, I chat to one of the Run Culture Owl athletes I coach; Pete Dutton. It's his 5th appearance on the podcast, so if you enjoyed hearing his story then be sure to checkout Episode: 26, 25, 15 and 89. In this episode Pete reflects on his recent 5000m PB and how it emerged through becoming better attuned and aligned to his own ebbs and flows. “I think it's funny when you look back at it, it’s not like we definitely knew and that's running for you, there's no definites, you just got to keep trying and this is one of the seasons where you just got it right. You have tried a lot of different ways and and we've learned because of that…..It's hard to like single out one thing. Sometimes, it just seems like we are never going to have the result we aspire, then some sometimes you just sort of get a glimmer of hope and things start to click and we certainly had a season like that for you!”

Today, on the Run Culture Podcast I was incredibly fortunate to chat to Shawn Myszka.  Adhering too tightly to an idealized model can hyper constrain one's ability to adapt to a dynamic world. Many runner's would benefit from having more 'exploration and play' in their practice. This can enhance the; variability, creativity, ownership, authenticity and adaptability of one's actions.  Over the past 14 years Shawn has worked exclusively with over 100 NFL players as their; 'Movement Skill Acquisition Coach'. He runs an educational group called ‘Emergence’ ( www.emergentmvmt.com) that produces fantastic courses and blogs about the complexities of learning motor skills. He is also known as 'The Movement Miyagi' on twitter.  Thanks once again Shawn for an enlightening and enjoyable chat that many runners will benefit from listening to!