It All Goes Back To Zero

Eight weeks in the bank and feeling as good as ever.

Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.

—Bruce Lee

Southern Sons - Heart In Danger - This week’s banger.

New Week, New Opportunity

It’s funny how Strava is a really visual representation of a week. Today starts week 9 of my block on the road to ‘I’m Still Standing’ in March.

I think Strava is a great tool for social interaction, and a good way to interact with other people who might have the same interest as you, or to hype up friends who are also going through a challenging stretch in their training block.

But, it’s also a good tool to see what you’ve done, and the fact that every week we just start from zero again. Sure, you could’ve had a bad week, but it’s one week in say a 16-week block it’s around six per cent of your total body of work.

It puts into perspective that if you can nail even the other 13-14 weeks it’s likely you would get a score of eight out of ten or even higher.

Since December 2nd, my birthday, I’ve laid out probably my most consistent eight weeks of training that I can remember and I have a few theories as to why it’s happening.

1. Coach - I have a 1-on-1 coach in Justin Hiatt. It’s the first time I’ve had a 1-on-1 coach who is providing direct, weekly feedback on what I’m doing. To have a level of insight like this is invaluable. I didn’t realise it previously, but I was completing programs before, but I wasn’t thinking about how I was completing them - I was either doing workouts at threshold every time and then wondering why I was always so wiped.

2. I’ve been able to sleep properly for the first time in two years. I can’t tell you how good it is being able to do this! Getting more than six hours of sleep a night has been an absolute game changer.

3. I’ve thought more critically about what I’m eating. How does what I eat help my workouts, am I also eating enough of what I enjoy on a regular enough basis? One of my favourite things has been having a rest day on Sundays and being able to go on brunch dates with my wife, Cassandra.

4. I also think that experimenting with my fueling during my runs and trying to nail down what works has been great. I got a sweat test last year through Elevate, and it provided me with valuable data about how much salt I lose during my runs. This is something I haven’t given to much thought about before, but in the past two weeks I’ve been using salt tablets to try to replace the amount of salt I lose per hour, and what a difference it feels like!

Kowen New Year’s Resolution Race Report

So different to last year. Plan was to not exceed zone 3 threshold (160 heart rate) until after Amangula. It became a waiting game, but some strategically timed caffeine and saving myself due to the threshold limit, saw me run home that last five kilometres at a pace I'm super stoked with, especially the finish.

14 minutes faster than last year and the total effort across the half marathon completely different, and the feeling after so different.

Alex Noon and Michael Thompson are always good to see! I got such a buzz seeing coach Justin Hiatt early on as well as Jillian Mitchell Kevin Dodd and Nicole Siddon.

Some good kilometres early doors with Gabi Quezada who looked strong all day coming in well under her target.

Holding it together early

Rollercoaster has been my arch nemesis for a while, finding some time to dance with Rachel Burns, and get some words of encouragement from Thomas White was really good.

Ended up carting up some kilometres with a woman called Beth, she said I wasn't wearing enough pink, and that there was still room for pink socks and shoes.

Got a picture with Helena Michael and good to see Prue.

Clearly not under any time pressure

I had my best climb up Amungula and then a really solid run home where I was 40th fastest, which when you consider where I placed overall I'm stoked.

Even seeing Coast to Kosci winner Allie Corripio was epic, and gave me a nice push to get home faster!

Feel fresh post race like I left quite a bit out there, sodium I nailed. Fueling having a Pad Thai two hours before the run seemed to work, fueling and caffeine during seemed to work. A lot to take out and move forward with.

So good to see everyone out supporting one of the great events on the calendar!

Why Slowing Down Feels Good

I’ve been doing the majority of my training for the backyards in Zone 2, with a quality session/Elevate session and the long run allowing my heart rate above 140. But, I hear you say ‘if Zone 2 was soo good wouldn’t everyone be doing it?’.

Well, that depends. For some people that have seen what I’ve been doing and tried to replicate it, they say it’s boring. But, personally I can easily say the benefits for me have been obvious through increased pace, and increased stamina.

I asked Chat GPT for five key benefits of Zone 2 to help strengthen my case and it came up with the following:

• Improved Aerobic Base: Zone 2 is the sweet spot for building your aerobic system. By spending a lot of time training at this intensity, you're increasing the efficiency of your cardiovascular system. This means your heart becomes better at pumping blood, and your muscles get more efficient at using oxygen, allowing you to sustain higher intensities for longer.

• Increased Mitochondrial Density: Zone 2 training boosts the number of mitochondria in your cells, which are responsible for producing energy. More mitochondria mean your muscles can produce energy more efficiently, reducing fatigue during more intense efforts.

• Fat Utilisation: Training in Zone 2 helps your body become better at burning fat as a fuel source. The more fat you can burn, the less reliant you are on glycogen (carbohydrates), meaning you have more energy reserves for higher-intensity efforts like sprints or hill climbs. This helps improve your performance at faster paces.

• Improved Lactate Threshold: Although Zone 2 is a lower intensity, it plays a role in improving your lactate threshold, which is the point at which lactate builds up in the blood. By training at this pace, you're increasing the speed at which your body can clear lactate, allowing you to run, bike, or swim faster without accumulating fatigue.

• Consistent Endurance Progress: Because Zone 2 is sustainable over long periods, it allows you to accumulate more volume in training without risking burnout or injury. More training volume generally leads to better endurance and faster times, especially when combined with higher-intensity efforts.

I would say I’ve experienced all five. Since training in December I’ve dropped four kilograms, and I’ll get a true feel for my lactate threshold when I do a time trial tomorrow, but the last five kilometre run I did was in the low 30 minute mark.

Question Of The Week

What do you think about during your long runs?

Some people say that a long run is boring, but I think it’s only boring if you’re focusing on the wrong things.

With that in mind I spent a long part of Saturday’s long run thinking about what I was going to have for brunch with Cassandra.

I had my best run of the block, so maybe, just maybe that was the trick? But keen to hear your thoughts.