The weeks are ticking along

What was a new week and on the Podcast - BEVE WITH BENN - EP7 stringing together for better outcomes ahead.

In case you missed Travis at Young Street Hotel in Carrington (IMAGE BELOW)

We discussed last weeks training sessions, details on Strava. Monday and Wednesdays strength session at One Tribe fitness. Tuesdays Deek Quatres and the Thursdays hilly circuits, as well as the mobility and Sunday long run.

Link to listen - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5nBBLAlyi2tZmZlv1i0hKd

Next weeks session ahead have the usual strength components and the on for speed its 1km reps with a twist and the Trails has tempos on fire trail. Later in the week is the Bright Running Experience.

Friday - 20k - Harrietville - Mt Feather Top

Saturday - 20-30km around Bright, with some technical climbs and downhill

Sunday - Hilly 15k Tempo Run

Plus some social post drinks and food to refuel and hydrate from the training and exploring :)

The weekend saw Newcastle's H Events hold the half and marathon. Great to see lots of runners enjoy the day and their races. Well done to everyone that raced.

Some more races ahead are below,

Alpine Challenge 22nd April - 30-60-100-160km events
Bottlebutt Bash Trail Run 23rd April
Sydney 10 - 7th May
UTA 11th May 11/22/50/100

RACE RESULTS

Newy Half

Male - 1st - Vlad 1:13, 2nd - Ben Maunder 1:15, 3rd - Matt Gore 1:15 (5sec difference)
Female - Regina Jensen - 1:19, 2nd - Katherine Gambell 1:22, 3rd - Georgina Beck 1:26

Newy Marathon

Male - 1st Bayden Westweller 2:30, 2nd Ben Harris 2:43, 3rd Josh Mcnab 2:47
Female - 1st Lexi Gilmore 2:54, 2nd - Stephanie Auston 2:59, 3rd Madeline Heiner 3:00

INTERVIEW

Adam Moore - Newy Marathon

What went well?

Had a good weeks preparation, lots of sleep and eating well so was felling good going into it. Also had a good plan which gave me confidence. Managed to do an 8 minute PB.

What didn't work or went bad?

Started to get tired legs and heart rate started to spike after 34km which may have been because I went slightly harder than goal pace.

Who did you overcome the challenge?

I’ve got other events coming up so didn’t want to burn out so just held back a little bit for the last part of the race and ended up still finishing on target and feeling reasonably good.

What was the best part of the event?

Had 5 mates doing the race as well including 3 first timers who all finished well so was great to be a part of that and have friends and family cheering on the side. It was a nice relaxed vibe

Did you celebrate?

It’s Dads birthday so a pub feed and a couple of beers which went down very well!

COLIN MINTER - HALF MARATHON

What went well?

Sticking to my plan. Pacing was consistent and my finishing time was spot on.

What didn't work or went bad?

Not sure what happened at 17k but I started to fatigue and hurt and my legs felt like they’d had enough. The last 2k was hard.

Who did you over come the challenge?

Kept reminding myself that I am on track and telling myself that this is what the last section feels like. So just feel the experience of finishing when you’re hurting.

What was the best part of the event?

The first 15k. I was running within myself and sticking to my plan. I felt good.

Did you celebrate?

Lunch with a few friends who also ran the half. We sat around swapping war stories

RUNNING EXPERIENCES

UTMB MT Buffalo 21st April - 23rd April

Friday PM - Harrietville - Feather Top Mountain Summit - 22km out and back

Saturday AM - Mt Buffalo Stampede 20-42k Course

Saturday PM - Bright Brewery + River

Sunday AM - Houn Hill - 15km Tempo with 350-400m elevation

SUNDAY SOCIALS

This Sunday we were out at Wakefield, for options of 15-40k runs

Brett, Oli and myself started at Wakefield out to Mt Faulk Rd through Heaton to reach a total 40km, good session for the UTA coming, Dannille went from Wakefield - Heaton for a 15k loop, and Anissa, Pete did reps on Wakefield Range road, will done to all, a solid session to continue that build for what's ahead. Look out for next weeks options.

Sunday Runs - All welcome (Mt Sugarloaf Loop)
UTMB Training Sessions coming up

COACHES CORNER (RUNNING DOWN HILL)

Sync your breath with your footsteps in a regular pattern that keeps you feeling relaxed and your movements fluid.

Pay close attention to your breath as you run, consciously drawing the air deep into the lungs for three beats (footsteps), then exhaling for two beats.

This 3:2 pattern–where the inhalation is slightly longer than the exhalation–alternates which foot hits the ground at the beginning of the exhalation, which is when your core is weakest. This uneven breathing rhythm more evenly distributes the landing impact stress across both sides of your body.

This is especially important if you have one side of your body that is more chronically tight, sore or injured, because it’s probably taking the lion’s share of running’s impact. But the 3:2 breathing pattern evens out the imbalance.

Breathing mindfully and in a consistent rhythm is also very mentally calming and focusing.

And that is no small benefit, since you run your best when you feel completely confident in your ability to meet the challenge ahead.

Narrowing attention to just your breath focuses your mental energy on the present moment

The key is slowing and deepening each round of breath so that the diaphragm is fully engaged. This diaphragmatic breathing pulls oxygenated air into the lower lungs and triggers the relaxation response, which elicits feelings of calmness, control and focus.

Inhale slowly, extending the belly outward. This helps draw the breath into the lower lungs and extend the diaphragm. By fully inflating the lungs, you’re also taking in the maximum amount of oxygen possible with each breath.

As you exhale, the belly draws in and the diaphragm moves upward.

Since it may feel “backwards” to breathe this way, practice belly breathing while walking before using it in workouts until it feels more natural.

Put it Into Practice

Practice these two aspects of mindful breathing separately at first, for just a few minutes at a time. Then try both the 3:2 breathing pattern and diaphragmatic breathing together for longer periods of time, say 10 to 15 minutes at the start of each run.

It may feel challenging at first, but at the muscles in the rib cage expand to accommodate the fuller, deeper breaths, it will feel easier and more natural. Try this first on flat terrain and downhills first (when your heart rate is low) before using on your hilly runs.

Running Down Hill

Getting the legs to roll under your hips / and not pounding the quads and over reaching with your stride

- Helps the legs get use to moving faster

- Helps with stride and teaching your body to flow better and legs roll under the hips / allowing the body to move forward more efficiently

- Fast Feet / Taking the load off the knees and the quads / pounding the knees constantly downhill is not going to help long term and can cause injury (not strengthen the quads)

- Relaxing your upper body / shoulders back and down, letting the arms move by your side to help keep balance and keep tall and upright to help the legs roll through

- Breathing also is important as not to be tense and hold your breath (common when your trying to focus)

Down hill Running - Breathing

Sync your breath with your footsteps in a regular pattern that keeps you feeling relaxed and your movements flowing

Pay close attention to your breath as you run, consciously drawing the air deep into the lungs for three beats (footsteps), then exhaling for two beats.

This 3:2 pattern–where the inhalation is slightly longer than the exhalation–alternates which foot hits the ground at the beginning of the exhalation, which is when your core is weakest. This uneven breathing rhythm more evenly distributes the landing impact stress across both sides of your body.

This is especially important if you have one side of your body that is more chronically tight, sore or injured, because it’s probably taking the lion’s share of running’s impact. But the 3:2 breathing pattern evens out the imbalance.

Breathing mindfully and in a consistent rhythm is also very mentally calming and focusing.

And that is no small benefit, since you run your best when you feel completely confident in your ability to meet the challenge ahead.

Narrowing attention to just your breath focuses your mental energy on the present moment

The key is slowing and deepening each round of breath so that the diaphragm is fully engaged. This diaphragmatic breathing pulls oxygenated air into the lower lungs and triggers the relaxation response, which elicits feelings of calmness, control and focus. Inhale slowly, extending the belly outward.

This helps draw the breath into the lower lungs and extend the diaphragm. By fully inflating the lungs, you’re also taking in the maximum amount of oxygen possible with each breath.
As you exhale, the belly draws in and the diaphragm moves upward.

Since it may feel “backwards” to breathe this way, practice belly breathing while walking before using it in workouts until it feels more natural.

Put it Into Practice

Practice these two aspects of mindful breathing separately at first, for just a few minutes at a time. Then try both the 3:2 breathing pattern and diaphragmatic breathing together for longer periods of time, say 10 to 15 minutes at the start of each run.

It may feel challenging at first, but at the muscles in the rib cage expand to accommodate the fuller, deeper breaths, it will feel easier and more natural. Try this first on flat terrain and downhills first (when your heart rate is low) before using on your hilly runs.

Remember the breathing for both up and down (in through your nose and out through your mouth / nice and relaxed and use to get into a rhythm (especially downhill to avoid stitches / deep breathes into your digram)
Relaxed shoulders and arms - hands out by your side to help count balance while rolling down the hills
Letting go of the body with a tall posture / head up and straight to help the legs roll under the body
Feet landing under the hips / rolling around like a bike to encourage the legs to move faster and get the legs use to moving faster / also avoiding too much load on the knees, help transfer the load evenly throughout the body
Downhill helping with speed work and increase in cadence
Hold good posture - tall and letting the arms drive through - elbow swinging straight back not across the body, squeezing the shoulder blades, with your head to again encourage the knee lift and drive forward.

ATHLETES QUESTIONS

Pace Calculate your Training and Race Pacing

VDOT - VDOT Products | V.O2 (vdoto2.com) Calculate your paces for racing and training (doesn't really work for the Ultra Distances though but it will equate to your runs on the same elevation

5 QF’s WITH BENN (quick facts) Brett Bancroft

Favorite Race Experience? My Favourite race experience is a tough one. Its hard to go past my first 100km at UTA in 2019 with my wife crewing me, seeing my family through the day at different aid stations and then my wife at the finish line – or my first 100 miler earlier this year at Tarawera which was an amazing experience with Benn and the SNL crew.
But I am going to say my favourite experience was pacing my mate, Jezza, in the GNW miler in 2021. We ran through the night and at around 4pm, Jezza hit a very low point and didn’t think he could go on. We tried a bunch of different things around Fuelling, hydration, caffeine, changing clothes to get warm and just kept moving and focusing on looking for the positives and remembering why we were there – and, as the sun came up, he started to come good and by the time we got to the end of my section, he was running stronger than when we started and he ended up finishing the race in 6th place overall and 3rd in his category. It was a big learning for me that, no matter how low you get, if you grind it out and never give up, you can turn it around, come out the other side and do things that you didn’t think were possible.

Race you want to do? In terms of trail races, Western States is the one I most want to do just because of the history of the race and also because, as a more runnable miler, I think it would suit my strengths more than a race like UTMB. I have been entering the lottery for the last 4 years. So fingers crossed I get the chance one day.
Berlin Marathon is the other race I really want to do. The main attraction is probably that it is the fastest of the six majors and I just think it would be an amazing place to run and a chance to run in the same race as the best in the world. Hopefully I get there while Kipchoge is still racing.

Best Learning and Running / Training Tip? I have already talked about my best learning – to always remember that, no matter how low you get, you can turn it around and come out even stronger. Just focus on working through the problem, identifying the solution and then executing it.
Best training tip – As we all know, consistency is key. So my tip is don’t be afraid to take it easy at a session or pull the pin if you have an injury that could worsen or a niggle that could turn into an injury or you just feel like you need some recovery. As long as your being honest with yourself, it is much better to miss out on one session than to do the session and then miss out on the next 3 or 5 or 10.

Favorite Session of the week? My favourite session would be the long run where you can just settle into an easy pace and catch up with mates and have a chat for a few hours – unless, of course, your running up the hills from Wakefield or at Heaton, and then there’s probably not a lot of chatting going on.

Fun Fact / Something about you? My favourite food is chips and ice cream – either separate or together – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it – plain chips with vanilla ice cream. It’s pretty good.
Oh, and I can juggle.

Thanks for joining in on the week that was and see you all next.