You Can And You Will

Sharpening all the tools in the shed.

Always do what you are afraid to do.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome To 2025, It’s Almost February

Yes, Happy New Year, is it frightening to think we are almost 16 days into the New Year? Strange. I was only just finishing off my second plate at lunch on Christmas Day an hour ago.

I wasn’t going to goal set this year, then I realised it would be good to have something to roll towards, see my rolling goal is to get into and finish Coast to Kosci by 2027. That means like in baseball I have 36 months to achieve that goal, one month and has gone by since I set that goal, and while it seems like I achieved a lot - 265.5km run in December, marking my third biggest month of the year, and biggest since March 2024, the reality is that one month in journey only equates to about 2.7 per cent of time in the scheme of a 36 month goal.

Pretty cool perspective aye?

Does it mean I’m going to rest on my laurels? Not really. I actually saw this morning the qualifying criteria for Coast to Kosci now asks for a Backyard Ultra (A) Qualifier to be 200km. Essentially you have to finish 30 laps of a Backyard Ultra to be considered.

Does that change this year’s plans? I don’t quite know yet, initially it was going to be 100 kilometres at I’m Still Standing in Sydney in March, and then go run 100 miles at Dead Cow Gully in June to give me a chance of entering the race this year. That will no doubt be a conversation with my coach and if the plan changes, then I’m ready for what comes.

Zone 2

It’s been quite fun getting back into a routine of training, but something that has caught the eye of my friends in Zone 2 Training. Essentially, Justin my coach notified through going through my runs over a couple of months that I was doing everything in tempo/threshold. This can perhaps be a common mistake for people who aren’t looking deeply beyond their distance and pace.

Basically doing your training at that level puts you at risk of burnout and injury (I suffered both). So the majority of my training except for a quality/or elevate session and my Saturday long run will be done in Zone 2.

Can I just say how much of a difference it has made in the six and a bit weeks already?! From going to having not that much confidence in my body to now feeling like I’m getting back to a body that finished Ultra Trail Kosciuszko in 2022, it feels really nice to be running with confidence.

But, it has come with some giggles. Friends talking about how slow Zone 2 feels when they try it, I guess that’s the point? It’s not meant to feel hard, but people calling it boring has been quite a laugh.

It is what it is right, I know in my heart that this feels right for me, it’s not for everyone, but if you want to hear why Zone 2 can be a game changer? Check out David Roche and how it took him 18 years to be a sensation at Leadville.

That’s All There Is There Isn’t Anymore

Sorry for just the short blog without any colourful pictures. I’ll post some next week (yes this is me committing back to the weekly blog).

I’m looking forward to Kowen New Year’s Resolution Run this weekend, and if you’re heading out there I can’t wait to see you!