Stories
How to Handle a Mid-Race Cramping CrisisA sudden calf lock, tightening hamstring or twitching quad can turn a controlled race into a problem within seconds. In an ultramarathon or trail event, the…
GPS Watches Built for Triathlon and Ultramarathon DistanceA reliable GPS watch quietly becomes the most important piece of kit in an endurance athlete's drawer. It tracks the kilometres before dawn along Brisbane's…
Why I Run on an Empty Stomach for Fat AdaptationI began running before breakfast because I wanted to understand how my body handled low fuel availability. The experiment was simple: wake up, drink water,…
Planned and Spontaneous Training for Better EnduranceEndurance training sits between two competing needs. A plan gives direction: it helps a runner build volume gradually, place hard sessions with care, and…
Race report: finishing a triathlon with a flat tyreThe plan was simple: swim steadily, ride conservatively, then run within myself. It was the sort of pacing strategy I had used in training around Melbourne,…
Mental focus in a 12-hour endurance event: a practical guideTwelve-hour events have a strange, rolling rhythm that reveals what the legs and lungs are hiding. The kilometres are long enough that fitness gets you to…
How To Set Realistic Goals For Your First UltramarathonYour first ultramarathon is less a test of heroic speed than a project in managing time, effort, food and uncertainty. The distance may be 50 kilometres, but…
Trail Running in the Rain: Gear and Mindset for Australian TrailsThere's a particular sound when heavy rain hits a eucalyptus canopy along the upper Kedumba valley, and it is the sound of every runner on the trail…
Carb Loading Before A Big Race: What Actually WorksCarbohydrate loading is often treated as a giant pasta dinner, but the useful science is more precise. The goal is to increase muscle glycogen, the stored…
How to build a support crew for a hundred-mile raceThere's a moment somewhere around the eighty-kilometre mark of any hundred-mile race when loneliness arrives like weather. The spectators thin out, the…