Tapping Into Inspiration
It's in the final weeks until the Archie and I've got some big personal news to share.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
Dr. Seuss
This Week’s Earworm
Can’t believe it snowed at Mount Buller this week! Had flashbacks to Ultra Trail Kosciuszko, reminded me a bit of this gem from Crowded House. Regardless of what the conditions are next week I won’t be phased, bring it on.
Locking In My Crew For Life
Some things are best left to enjoy in your own little bubble for a while. Last weekend Cassandra and I got engaged, with the news only being shared with our family members.
It was complete bliss in a world where we have the ability to tell anyone anything at a moment’s notice, but the ability for us to just enjoy it has been special. I’d known for some time that Cassandra was the one for me, but when you’re 65 kilometres deep in an ultra and the person you love is pulling your shoes and socks off you know they’re the one.
I’ve been so blessed to love someone that has embraced my running journey, and at the same time allowing us to have our own adventures along the way, I love her dearly, and I think now that we’ve been able to enjoy the news ourselves, it’s now time to share it with the broader world.
Monday Motivation Heroes
November 21, 2015 started like any other day for 14-year-old Elijah Arranz, a highly talented junior runner, he was in Goulburn skydiving. His instructor that day would be a former Special Forces commando by the name of Antonio (Tony) Rokov, 44.
Everything was going smoothly until a gust of wind caught the parachute, causing it to collapse, around 15 to 20 metres from the ground. In a split second decision, Tony shifted his body taking the full impact of the fall, trying to give Elijah the best chance he had at surviving.
He died. Leaving behind his wife and young son, he was posthumously awarded the Star of Courage, the second highest level of the Australian Bravery Awards. At the same awards Lindt Cafe siege victim Tori Johnson was also awarded the Star of Courage for his extraordinary bravery in 2014.
An example where life can change in an instant, so close to the ground two lives changed forever. Tony in his bravery, gave Elijah a chance, completely unselfish. Elijah suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, jaw, face, several breaks to his pelvis and ribs, as well as being left with a severe traumatic brain injury.
Elijah has had to learn how to talk and eat again as a result of his traumatic brain injury. His progress in the face of adversity ha been inspiring and as recently as last year he crossed the finish line at the City to Surf with the help of his Personal Trainer Joey Cormick.
Which brings me to Harry Muir and Jakob Wiley, two blokes my brother plays footy with who came up with the idea of running a marathon in honour of Elijah, to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charity, who helped looked after Elijah following the accident.
They’re great athletes, but running a marathon isn’t just your everyday walk in the park, but the guys set out on Saturday after a couple of weeks of training, and finished just over four hours later on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.
The lads have so far raised more than $8,000 as they hope to raise $10,000. I was fortunate enough to share the last couple of kilometres with the guys, and I could see the determination they had to finish for a friend who had worked so hard in his recovery.
Inspiring stuff fellas, you can donate to the boys here.
Self Validation Is All You Need
The last couple of weeks has been incredible after launching the Peak2Soon Podcast speaking to two legends of the sport in Rob Mason and Pam Muston who I greatly admire, but it was one post that caught my eye on social media.
The post talked about normalising runners who just enjoy it as a hobby and are not trying to go faster, and enjoy rest days. The concern of the post was that the sport had started to feel like ‘hustle culture’ because people are always signing up for races, and that’s it’s okay to just… run.
I agree with it to a point, but I also think that you can actually have it both ways. You can enjoy just running and also events, and I know for some people it’s simply not possible. The cost of events, particularly for runners that have families can be costly and actually be a barrier for some people participating in races.
For others parkrun is where they spend their saturday and that for them it’s where their enjoyment from running or jogging or hiking or however you want to move comes from. My point is at the end of the day whether you run for enjoyment, you enter races, or you’re simply there to improve yourself, the only person it should matter to is you.
For those with coaches, it may be a little different, but the only person that can give us true satisfaction in our running journey is ourselves. At the end of the day the decisions we make are our own, and in my opinion a marathon or ultra or even a run coming back from injury without the fanfare is just as hard, if not even more rewarding then one where you get a medal put around your neck.
But as Pam Muston told me this week “we run because we enjoy it.”
Training For The Week
Monday: Rest Day, a bit of stretching and recovery.
Tuesday: Three kilometres to the start the week, simply wasn’t feeling it at all, so set out in the morning for some easy running.
Wednesday: 15 kilometres in Zone2 at my favourite place in Mulligans Flat. Felt really good after almost an additional day of rest through barely running Tuesday.
Thursday: Solid intervals with Elevate, the best I’ve probably started a term, and really happy with the way I’ve bounced back from UTK.
Friday: Running For Resilience, set out for an easy kilometre to warm-up before sitting on the tempo for the rest of the five kilometres, felt really good and happy my body enjoyed sitting at the higher heart rate without any issues.
Saturday: A really fast five kilometre effort for me. 24:05 which I’m stoked with, thank you
for the push!Finished off with 15 kilometres with the lads finishing off their marathon.
Sunday: Easy Sunday morning with the Lazy Glutes, nice trek around Mount Painter and Black Mountain, some nasty little sections that could bring you unstuck, happy with the 16 kilometres in the bank!
Totals: 68.3 kilometres, 8 hours and 15 minutes, 1,204 metres of elevation.
Good start to the taper period for The Archie, really just took the handbrake off the elevation for now, and added a bit more speed work this week to try and find the balance going forward with the Zone2 efforts.
Feeling really good and actually close to four and a half kilograms down post UTK, I know that’s not a determining factor, but it shows to me I’m working hard, and finally found the balance with my food, which has been an endless frustration for me.
My 2023 Calendar So Far
The Archie - 18th February
Gumbaby - 23rd April
Sri Chimnoy 12-Hour - 25 March
Kowen Winter Trails Marathon - 18 June
Sri Chimnoy Canberra Trail 100 - 10 September
Potential Radar:
Bright 4 Peaks
Stromlo 50
Bondi2Manly
Great Southern Endurance Run
Ultra Trail Kosciuszko 100
Poutinerest - my own Neverest Challenge
Completed
Kowen New Year’s Resolution Run - 2:49:30
Congratulations ‘little’ brother, I’m so thrilled for you both! How beautiful is it to find your person in someone so beautiful who’s also your best friend. You deserve all the happiness in the world 🥰
Congratulations to you and Cassandra, so lovely! 💕 And so special to keep that to yourselves for a bit!
Good luck with taper, I’m hating it 😂