Top 20 Running Related Podcasts

Some days running can feel like absolute bliss, you’re in the zone and it’s almost like a spiritual experience.

Other days it can feel just plain boring, monotonous and very hard-work!

That’s where a good podcast can come in handy.

Thankfully there are plenty of running related podcasts out there to educate, inspire and keep those legs ticking over.

Here’s a list of top 20 (in no particular order) so you will never get bored on a run again…!

A weekly podcast by 3 fast runners, for all runners. Brady Threlfall (2.19 marathon), Julian Spence (2.14 marathon) and Bradley Croker (2.17 marathon) talk distance running news, training, review running gear, check in with guests and cover races in a relaxed format.

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Running and coaching tips for beginner and advanced runners with Coach Jason Fitzgerald. Featuring guests like Nick Symmonds and Shalane Flanagan, listeners will learn how to race faster, stay healthy, prevent running injuries, and get stronger in this informative and fun podcast.

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The Physical Performance Show exists to inspire people to achieve their physical best performance through candid interviews with the world’s best and most inspiring physical performers. The show's host Physiotherapist, Best selling Author, and accomplished athlete Brad Beer delves into how top physical performers achieve success and the highs and lows of the journey in getting there.

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World-renowned sports scientist Professor Ross Tucker and veteran sports journalist Mike Finch break down the myths, practices and controversies from the world of sport. From athletics to rugby, soccer, cycling and more, the two delve into the most recent research, unearth lessons from the pros and host exclusive interviews with some of the world's leading sporting experts. For those who love sport.

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A weekly conversation between two mid-pack runners learning to master the art of running while life gets in the way.

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The Morning Shakeout, hosted by athlete, coach and journalist Mario Fraioli, explores the lifestyle and mindset of some of the worlds highest achievers. One of the most informed and opinionated voices in the running world, Mario brings his ability to tease out what drives and motivates someone to his podcast.

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Each episode, I deconstruct world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art, etc.) to extract the tactics, tools, and routines you can use. This includes favorite books, morning routines, exercise habits, time-management tricks, and much more.

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Talking all things ultra and trail running. Ryley & Tim are ultra runners from Adelaide, Australia.

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Some of the best conversations I've ever had have taken place while running with others. Over the course of several miles, the conversations are allowed to flow freely and cover a variety of topics.

And that's what I try to do with my podcast.

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Welcome to The Trail Runners Experience. Conversations about trail running by trail runners. Includes training tips/advice and personal race experiences.

Hosted by Daniel Farrugia and Ashley Druve

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The Physical Preparation Podcast is designed to help trainers, coaches and athletes take their performance to the next level. Featuring some of the brightest minds in our industry, we'll dive in to deconstruct smart training, and help you or your athletes maximize results!

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Coaches Steve Magness and Jon Marcus team up to bring you an insider's view on coaching. Taking you inside the thoughts and conversations that usually occur behind the scenes. They bring a diverse background having both worked with athletes at the collegiate and professional level. They hope to bring a mixture of science, old-fashioned wisdom, and a touch of philosophy to help understand the process of coaching and maximizing endurance performance.

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1 Physiotherapist, 1 Massage Therapist

2 Die-Hard runners

We talk about anything and everything related to runners. Running tips, injury prevention, guest speakers, a lot of banter and a heap of fun.

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Tell Me Your Tales is a conversational podcast. It's a raw chat where Brady Threlfall (2:19 marathoner and school teacher) talks with people he finds interesting, wise, successful and/or inspiring in one way or another. The guests vary. Sometimes they're elite runners and sometimes they're people from the Echuca/Moama area. The content is hopefully something you'll enjoy.

Everyone has a story and in Tell Me Your Tales we hear them.

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Whether you are training for your first 5k or have been running for decades, The Conscious Runner Podcast brings you the information you need to take your running from ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY and feel FANTASTIC while doing it.

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British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) is a multi-media information portal that provides original research, reviews and debate relating to clinically-relevant aspects of sport and exercise medicine.

The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform.

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In The Rich Roll Podcast, vegan ultra-athlete and #1 bestselling author Rich Roll discusses all things wellness with some of the brightest and most forward thinking minds in health & fitness, including world-class athletes, doctors, nutritionists, trainers, entrepreneurs & artists.

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From beginner runner to advanced marathoner,
join a training community with world-class coaches and get fit, stronger
and faster

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Who can I trust for the best running tips? How do I make myself mentally tougher? How do I stop comparing myself to other runners, and instead, build my confidence? And of course, How can I get faster while also enjoying my running more? Welcome to The Running For Real Podcast where we will answer these questions and many more!

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Spotify playlist @ 180 steps per min

Have I missed any running podcasts you find useful? Let me know in the comments below.

How To Run Your First 10k

Guest Post written by David Dack (fitness blogger and running expert).

Thinking about running your very first 10K but nervous because you have zero running experience?

Fret no more, my friend!

Running a 10K without stopping is a great target to have. The race is 6.2 miles. Don’t get intimidated by the distance. It’s a goal that only requires a pair of running shoes, and can be done anywhere.

It’s also good for you. Training for a 10K as a complete beginner can rev up your exercise routine like nothing else.

You can also train for the distance with zero running experience—as long as you train the right way. That’s where today’s post comes in handy.

In today’s post, I’m sharing with you a complete 12-week beginner 10K program that will take you from being a complete beginner to a 10K fanatic.

But before I do that, let’s first discuss some beginner runner tips and guidelines. These what you’ll need to set you on the right path toward success.

Walk First

If you’re really out of shape and/or haven’t exercised before, it’s always wise to introduce some movement to your life before you start any form of intense training, especially the 12 weeks training plan shared below.

Your early workouts on the program are around 40 minutes long.

So, if you find it hard to walk for that length of time, you’re not ready for the program.

Nothing can kill your 10K ambitions like an injury. That’s why it is critical to assess your fitness ability and train within your limits.

Here’s how to proceed. Build walking endurance first. Your goal is to build enough endurance to be able to comfortably walk for 60 minutes or over. To get there, start by walking three to four times per week, slowly building your walks up to longer than 60 minutes each.

Once you can briskly walk the entire duration without panting for air, you’re ready to tackle the 10K training plan.

The Walk/Run Method

Never run a mile in your life? Don’t worry.

Your first few workouts should be a mix of jogging and walking. This is what’s known as the walk/run method in the fitness circles, and it works very well to build stamina without running the risks of injury or burnouts.

The walk/run method uses intervals of low intensity running as well as walking, steadily building your confidence and endurance.

This simple method lets your body gradually acclimatize to running, allowing your muscles to recoup, which helps you prevent the risk of soreness, injury, and overtraining while making your training more fun.

You need to do it right.

Run slow enough at the start of every session so that you don’t feel completely drained at the end.

Don’t hesitate about taking breaks neither.

As you build endurance, spend more time running—or jogging—while taking shorter and fewer walking breaks.

And most importantly, remember to incorporate as many walk breaks as needed, especially during the first few weeks.

Don’t push your body more than it can handle; otherwise, you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Take Rest

Aside from staying sedentary for the rest of your life, probably the worst thing you can do is to ignore your body ‘s needs for rest and rejuvenation.

For this reason, make sure to include recovery days each week and focus on recovery practices as much as you prioritize training.

I’d go as far as to say that recovery is as important as the training itself.

Good recovery practices include:

·      Sleeping at least eight hours per night

·      Stretching

·      Foam rolling

·      Nutritious diet

·      Rest days

The Plan

The 12-week plan is super beginner friendly and assumes that you have zero running experience. It has been crafted to get you round your first 6.2 miles race, hopefully with as fewer walking breaks as possible.

You’ll train three days a week on this 12-week plan. Make sure to space out your training days to allow for recovery. For example, you might choose a Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday schedule. It’s up to you.

Start each session with a 5-minute warm-up that consists of a brisk walk. During your first few sessions, you’ll be running and walking for similar lengths of time, but by week four, you’ll be spending more and more time running while reducing the frequency and length of walking breaks.

Sure, the 12-week plan is more ambitious than the typical couch to 5K, but that doesn’t mean that it’s out of the realm of possibility—even if you haven’t run since high school and/or completely out of shape.

Month One

Week 1

Session I – Run 1-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat seven times.

Session II– Run 1-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat eight times.

Session III– Run 1-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat nine times.

Week 2

Session I– Run 2-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat five times.

Session II– Run 2-minute. Walk 90-seconds. Repeat seven times.

Session III – Run 90-seconds. Walk 1-minute. Repeat eight times.

Week 3

Session I– Run 2-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat six times.

Session II – Run 2-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat eight times.

Session III – Run 2-minute. Walk 30-second. Repeat ten times.

Week 4

Session I– Run 2-minute. Walk 30-second. Repeat ten times.

Session II – Run 3-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat six times.

Session III – Run 3-minute. Walk 30-second. Repeat six times.

Month Two

Week 5

Session I– Run 4-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat six times.

Session II – Run 4-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat eight times.

Session III – Run 5-minute. Walk -minute. Repeat six times.

Week 6

Session I– Run 5-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat eight times.

Session II – Run 7-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat four times.

Session III – Run 7-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat six times.

Week 7

Session I– Run 8-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat four times.

Session II – Run 10-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat three times.

Session III – Run 10-minute. Walk 1-minute. Repeat three times.

Week 8

Session I– Run 12-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat three times.

Session II – Run 15-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat three times.

Session III – Run 20-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat two times.

Month Three

Week 9

Session I– Run 25-minute. Walk 2-minute. Repeat two times.

Session II – Run 30-minute. Walk 2-minute. Run 20-minute

Session III – Run 35-minute. Walk 3-minute. Run 15-minute

Week 10

Session– Run 30-minute. Walk 3-minute. Run 15-minute

Session II – Run 35-minute. Walk 3-minute. Run 15-minute

Session III – Run 40-minute.

Week 11

Session– Run 45-minutes.

Session II – Run 50- minutes.

Session III – Run 55-minutes.

Week 12

Session I– Run 50 minutes.

Session II – Run 25 minutes. Walk 5-minute. Repeat two times.

Session III– Run 60 minutes.

About the author:

David Dack is an established fitness blogger and running expert. When he’s not training for his next marathon, he’s doing research and trying to help as many people as possible to share his fitness philosophy.

Check his blog Runners Blueprint for more info.

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5 Times When Stretching Is Not A Good Idea

“I can’t understand why I’m getting injured so often.

I always stretch before I exercise.

I’m confused!”

A phrase I hear in the clinic on a daily basis.

Just to clarify, in terms of ‘stretching’ we are talking about holding a static muscle stretch.

Optimising mobility, (especially around a joint) is another thing altogether and can be a very useful way to prepare the body for the demands of sport.

Knowing where and when to perform joint mobility exercises and foam rolling can be invaluable - but we’ll talk about that another time.

5 Times When Stretching Is Not A Good Idea

1. Right before a training session/race

There is a growing scientific argument that pre-exercise muscle stretching is generally unnecessary and may even be counterproductive, increasing the risk of injury and decreasing performance.

Researchers have shown that static stretching reduces strength by about 5 percent.

Certainly not an ideal way to start a race, where you will be placing big demands on your muscular system, and creating risk of overload and injury with a weaker muscles.

In terms of performance, a study of runners completing a 1 mile run - those who stretched before hand were slower at running the mile by a full thirteen seconds.

And this study found that runners had who stretched before had a higher rating of perceived exertion during their run.

Stretching aims to loosens muscles and their accompanying tendons.

But in the process, it makes them less able to store energy and spring into action, essentially creating a temporary reduction in available capacity.

Instead of static stretching, focus on a proper warm-up involving running at an easy pace for 10-15 mins (aim to break a sweat) and gradually layering in sport specific drills.

You can tune your body by activating the specific stabiliser muscles that may be required in your sport and create joint mobility where you need it.

Dedicating some time to stretching and mobility work (Yoga, Pilates e.t.c) during the week is a very good idea, just not right before you exercise.

If you need some help with your warm-up routine, just let us know.

2. When you have a painful and irritated tendon

For example if you have hip pain, (often when the hamstring and gluteal tendon have become irritated) - many people intuitively try and ‘stretch it out’ to get some relief.

Stretching can sometimes make you feel better temporarily.

But it’s not until later (often that night) that the pain is becomes a problem.

Aggressively stretching tendons irritates them by compressing them and this can delay the healing process.

The most important thing for tendons is to gradually increase their capacity and tolerance to load, via a graduated strengthening program under the supervision of a Physiotherapist.

3. Chronic lower back pain

Research shows people who focus exclusively on stretching their lower backs actually had a greater risk for developing back pain.

This comes back to a bigger picture view of the body and the role of each segment (see The Joint-by-Joint picture below).

We can see the main role of the the lower back is to provide stability - the core from which the rest of the body can move freely.

Stretching the lower back may feel good temporarily, and there is absolutely no issues with adding stretching to your overall program, especially if it makes you feel good.

But stretching doesn’t build capacity and if you have ongoing back pain, you will need to develop a program of building core strength and capacity to help in the long run.

Getting the balance right between mobility and stability is the trick for lower back pain.

To get you started, check out a 6 Minutes To A Supple Spine routine that you might find useful and you may want to try a KIN Foundation Class.

4. To try and improve your hamstring flexibility

The primary role of the hamstrings in walking and running is to eccentrically control the landing of the foot.

Eccentric refers to a type of contraction where a muscle lengthens while contracting.

Whilst it is important to have adequate flexibility, the actual more important job of the hamstring to have enough strength and capacity to walk and run properly.

If a muscle doesn't have much capacity to contract when needed, it will most likely get overloaded. 

When it gets overloaded, it's muscle fibers contract and knot up, limiting flexibility.

For a runner, strength and stability trumps flexibility everyday of the week.

Hang on a sec...I thought stretching was a good thing!?

Stretching the hamstring in this position, you are actually making the hamstring weaker and sending confusing mixed messages to the brain about what the function of the muscle is. 

Anytime your brain is confused, it's going straight into fight-flight mode and will want to tighten everything up to protect it.

Intuitively stretching feels good and it often does give some short term relief. 

But in the long run, with continued stretching, the hamstring becomes weaker and more likely to become overloaded and tight.  Then you've got yourself into a real pickle. 

The hamstring, once locked down, becomes an inefficient blob that hampers everything you try and do.

Our first step in making friends with the hamstring is to stop making it angry, so no more stretching. 

For more info on how to become friends with your hamstring - please click here.

5. Your sore neck

If you have neck pain, a first line of treatment that many people try is stretching.

But being over-zealous with your neck stretches could potentially do more harm than good.

With too much stretching, we can run the risk of irritating the vertebrae, compressing the discs and pinching nerves.

A general rule of thumb is that your neck stretches should be gentle, never feel painful and avoid pushing to the extreme ends of motion.

If you have any uncertainty in regards to cervical stretches you are currently performing, schedule an appointment to ensure that your neck does not become a pain in the neck.

In the long term, performing exercises to improve your neck and shoulder strength can be more useful than only stretching.

Maintaining good cardio-vascular fitness is extremely important, as well practicing appropriate stress reduction techniques and having a good ergonomic set-up (and not always looking down at your phone!).

Have you any questions about stretching?

Please leave any comments below…

And if you have any ongoing niggles, please schedule an appointment to come in and see us.

We can get to the root cause of your problem and get you back on the fast track to doing what you love.

My journey to a sub-20 min 5k

Author: Dan O’Grady (Physio from Adelaide, Australia).

Follow on Strava

8:51am Sunday 4th August 2019

I’m sitting slumped on the steps of the Torrens Parade ground in the heart of Adelaide. I’ve just done something I didn’t think I was capable of - especially at the tender age of 40 - that was to crack 20 minutes for 5k.

That may not be all that impressive, but I’ve never been an overly competitive runner.

I grew up playing footy and discovered the love of running in my 30’s. After overcoming some serious injuries to my knee, hip and spine, the focus generally has been to use running as a means of staying healthy and maintaining a solid physical foundation.

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Download Dan’s 12 week sub 20 5k plan HERE

Going back 12 months, I had set a sub 20 min 5k as my main goal for 2019.

I wasn’t all that keen on doing a marathon in 2019 - with 2 little kids around the place I didn’t want a race that was all consuming that takes too much time from family life.

My main motivation?

I was going to be turning 40 mid-June and thought a sub 20 min 5k had a good ring to it.

Perhaps it was my version of a ‘mid-life’ crisis - an opportunity to set some PB’s while there was still time.

The plan

In late 2018 I ran a 21:53 at the Glenelg Classic - so I clearly had a lot of work to do!

I certainly knew how NOT to improve my 5k, and that was to simply focus on running more 5k’s.

My ‘training’ for the 5k traditionally was to run a hard 5 km every month or so and see what would happen.

Almost every time without fail, I would go out at a decent pace, get to 1k feeling great, 2k feeling a little shaky and by the 3rd 5k completely spent.

I’d spend the last 2k limping home full of lactic acid wondering what went wrong.

To give myself the best chance for the sub 20, I realised I needed to change my approach from a goal focused ( Figure 1 - running more 5k’s) to a process focused (Figure 2 - getting the right mix of key workout sessions, race strategy and recovery).

This meant I saved my 5k efforts for when it really counted, trusting that by focusing on the process would end in a successful outcome.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Summer Trail Series

Over the 2018/19 summer I did my first Summer Trail Series, which provided a nice focus to keep some mileage in the legs.

No doubt, the additional hills helped build some leg strength which gave me a good foundation for the year ahead.

Early on in the year, most of my workouts were at a very ‘easy’ pace - which generally involved a walk/run combo. This enabled me to build a solid volume base, without stressing my body with fast paced workouts.

Getting a Running Coach

Being a big fan of the Inside Running Podcast, I was intrigued to hear the stories of the hosts and their guests week in and week out. It was great to hear their passion for running and much thought they put into their training and racing. I had never fully appreciated the intricacies of running, in the way they talked about it.

No doubt some of their knowledge and passion started to filter in and when Brady mentioned he was looking for runners to coach to a sub-20 5k PB I was keen to get on board.

After a good chat about my running history and plans, Brady got me on a well structured program.

It was fantastic being set up with a personalised training plan and it meant I could focus 100% on the running.

Brady introduced me to some really good training philosophies and I learnt about some key training sessions, that I hadn’t done much of before such as the progressive tempo runs, lactate threshold runs and fartlek work.

At school, I mainly played football, tennis and swimming. I never did little athletics where you learn about how to develop a structured training program and learn about the key sessions required to progress fitness.

So having Brady as a guide was incredibly beneficial - and helped me gain some confidence and momentum in my training - something that Matt Fitzgerald talks about in his excellent book RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel.

I think one of my main mistakes before getting a coach was to push myself a little too hard during my training - leading to overload and a boom-bust cycle of niggling injuries.

In terms of the sessions, the Mona Fartlek was a real game changer for me - with the intense interval work really showing up my weaknesses.

I was OK at doing some quick intervals - but I used to walk or stand for the recoveries.

Instead, the Mona Fartlek demands you jog / run the ‘off’ periods at a half decent pace.

My first Mona was a bit of a disaster - as I didn’t even know how to set up my Garmin GPS watch for workouts, so I was constantly looking down at my watch pressing start/stop.

I went out way to hard in the first few intervals - and paid for it in the second half.

The Mona really taught me about proper pacing and not going out too hard too early.

I had a solid two months of training with Brady’s program - and found my fitness improving dramatically. Towards the end of April, I had a trip to Melbourne over Easter and managed to pick up a nasty flu - that everyone seemed to also get at the time.

Being pretty motivated - I probably didn’t rest as I much as I needed - and the flu / cough seemed to get worse and not better.

I was feeling a little burnt-out and needed to take a break from running in the short-term to get myself healthy again.

After about a month of little to running, the 5k was pretty much off the table, and I wasn’t too fussed about pushing my body for the immediate future.

In June we had a family trip up to North QLD - and with the warm humid weather, I started to get some more energy back and got back into some easy jogging.

I had also bought a book, Run Faster by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald.

This book really simplified the process of training for the 5k - and gave some key sessions such as:

• Building endurance with a fast 10k

• performing 5 x 1 k at goal pace (1 min jogging recoveries)

• weekly hill sprints to build leg strength

Queens Birthday Turkey Handicap

In June, I felt like my fitness had improved quite a lot - and I felt ready to give my body it’s first 5k test. This race was set up by the Harriers Running Club - and involved predicting your race time, and then the winner was the person who got the closest (without using a GPS watch).

I nominated a 19:59 time - and ended up running a 20:23.

My thoughts going in was that running by feel - and not stressing over my pace by looking at the watch every 5 seconds may play to my advantage.

I started out pretty strong - probably too strong as usual (approx 3:50 pace) and by 3km I was cooked.

The last 2 km I could feel the lactic acid taking over my body and even my arms started to cramp up (weird!), due to the hydrogen ions that build up in your body when you’re pushing beyond your limits.

After this experience, I had some more hope that the sub 20 min could happen this year (especially if I got my pacing right from the the start). But I wasn’t 100% and had almost resigned to leaving it be for this year and giving it another crack next year.

That’s when I heard about the Fitzy’s 5k coming up in a couple of months - a run that I had done with my brother in 2015 as I was building up to the NYC marathon.

I had also been getting some inspiration from running coach Greg McMillan who gave a really enlightening talk about how to tackle the 5km. He highlighted some key factors leading to a positive race, you can check it out below.

One of the keys from Greg’s talk was setting up the race with a proper warm-up prior to the race.

For the 5k, there is no ‘warm-up’ period as such - you’ve got to ready to hit your race pace as soon as the gun goes off. In my training, I found it did take me quite some time to get warmed-up - sometimes up to 45 minutes. I found that if I didn’t warm up properly, then when I started the 5k, my heart rate would really skyrocket and I’d feel really anxious because I could hardly breathe!

Greenbelt 10k

Two weeks out from my 5k attempt at the Fitzy’s 5k I decided to run the 10k at the Greenbelt running festival. I ended up running a 43:53 - a time I was happy with, but at the same time, didn’t fill me with a huge amount of confidence to go sub 20 5k.

There were quite a few rolling hills along the course, and I think I was having a slightly off day - it felt like a pretty hard 10k and I was really tired at the end of it. It probably set me up pretty well for the 5k two weeks later.

Final week before the Fitzy’s 5

The week before the Fitzy’s 5km I came across this podcast interview with Craig Mottram.

I had known about Craig Mottram, but never knew how incredible a runner he was until listening to his podcast with Brad Beer. And he is surprisingly tall - 6”2 (I have always felt slightly out of place being a taller runner, so knowing this was a bonus).

Talking about his mental toughness - he described himself as the ‘King of Pain’ and encouraged to work hard and don’t be afraid to test your boundaries.

Craig mentioned in the podcast that Ron Clarke said to him that you’ll the hardest kilometer you’ll ever run in your life is from 3 to 4 km in a 5km race. That’s when you start to doubt yourself about maintaining the pace and staying strong until the finish.

That was good to know that I wasn’t the only one who really struggled with this part of the race!

Watching Craig in his Commonwealth Games race (above) was pretty inspiring - his confidence and belief in himself to the extremes was amazing.

Mindset
A couple of days before Fitzy’s 5k - a new research study came out that I saw on social media (thanks Michael Nitschke) - talking about the way you talk to yourself.

By simply changing from ‘I’ to ‘You’ can influence your physical performance e.g.

• I —> YOU can tolerate this

• I — > YOU can keep going

• I —> YOU can deal with the pain

• I —> YOU can go flat out now

• I —> YOU are going to finish strong

I was keen to test out this small tweak in self-talk to see if the research was accurate.

August 4th - Fitzy’s 5k

Admittedly we had absolutely perfect conditions - it was cold and sunny (around 10 degrees), no wind and wide roads.

How The Race Unfolded

0-1k - First 150m was uphill and my pace was 3:50 so I had to be really disciplined not to push myself too fast. Turning from North terrace into a long downhill along King William Street and picked up some nice momentum. Had the Garmin set up to beep me if I went out of the 3:50 - 4:00 range. At 1 km, I had a beep that was telling me I was going too fast, so backed off a bit more.

1-2k - I was holding myself back at 3:55-4:00 pace, even though I felt like I could have gone way faster. Quite a few people over-taking me at this stage, and I was desperate to go with them, but knew I’d pay for it later in the race. As Greg McMillan says, as you maintain even pacing through the race, your perceived effort will ramp up significantly towards the finish. Started picking up some energy from over-taking a bunch of runners.

2-3k - Felt good, ran past the Women’s and Childrens hospital and was focusing on some deep diaphragm breathing and trying to avoid sub-consciously holding onto my breath, which I have a tendency to do when the going gets tough. Focused especially on the exhale and blowing off the excess CO2. Tried to keep the stride efficient and strong.

3-4k - Around the Uni ovals - felt solid like I was at my limit, but didn’t feel terrible, still something in the tank for the finish.

4-5k - Picked up the pace a bit - Garmin had me averaging 3:58, so I felt comfortable that I was on track.

Towards the last 100m, someone yelled out if you sprint you can get a sub 20.

I was a little surprised, but had no time to really think, but I could see the big clock ticking away above the finish line and absolutely sprinted my guts out to cruise through the finish line with a time of 19:59. The last 100m was at about 2:53 pace - something I don’t think I’ve done before!

I was pretty pumped to achieve the goal. It was over and done with so quickly - I didn’t even get a chance to really think about it - I guess that is a good thing - getting into the zone.

Looking back - it’s been a fun and challenging goal to get the sub 20 for 5km. It certainly makes life interesting having a goal and working towards something every time you go out for a run.

The 5k is a really interesting test of fitness. I would say that the training to get the sub 20 has been actually harder and more focused than running the two marathons I’ve done.

A few random things that I think helped me on the day:

• good tapering over preceding 2 weeks - reduced volume but maintained (or slightly increased) intensity

• in the few days before the run big focus on core e.g. plank endurance holds. As I wasn’t running as much, I found this a good simulation for dealing with ‘uncomfortable’ sensations and pushing yourself through

• had a long warm-up 45 mins - easy running + some run throughs at race pace and slightly quicker

• happened to have a foam roller and mat in the boot of car - so took a couple mins after warm-up to roll out and get maximum mobility out the body (hips especially)

• listened to some cheesy motivational music during the warm-up, but ditched the phone for the actual race

• ate easy to digest, low-fiber carbs the day before e.g. mash potato, ravioli, 2 min noodles, rice crackers, lolly snakes. Not that you really need to carb load before a 5km, more about avoiding hard to digest foods

• had a gel 15 mins before race

• mantras used during the race - King of Pain (borrowed from Craig Mottram), stride - smooth and efficient, talking to myself with in the second person…YOU’ve got this.

If you got this far - as always thanks for reading, I’d love to hear from you and learn about your experience also. What helped you most with setting a recent PB? Please leave your comments below.

If you are interested, you can view my specific training schedule on Strava.

Happy running!

Dan O’Grady

Dan O’Grady is a Physio based in Adelaide, Australia and has a special interest in helping runners move better, feel better and get back to doing what they love.

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Working with a Physio who understands your body, your passion and your goals and who can work with you is invaluable to your running success in the short term and keeping you healthy in the long run. 

Dan O'Grady ( 2 x NYC Marathoner) has helped hundreds of runners quickly overcome their injuries and re-build their foundation.  Dan works with all levels of runners - from weekend warriors to elite level ultra marathoners.

Please feel free to wander about the blog where you'll find tons of helpful information to help your running.

If you'd like some more personal attention, please use our simple online booking system to make an appointment.

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Can We Do Better Than The 10% Rule?

Can We Do Better Than The 10% Rule?

The short answer is yes.

The 10% rule would be familiar to most endurance athletes (limiting increases in training load by no more than 10% per week) and while it’s a good general guide to help us build our mileage, it has some serious flaws.

The 10% rule:

• doesn’t allow for recovery adaptation weeks

• isn’t actually supported by evidence

• doesn’t give much helpful guidance when returning from a period of inactivity from injury or illness

• may not be an appropriate target at certain times in your training phase

That’s where a broader view can help us plan our training, avoiding large spikes in load that are known to increased the risk of injury.

The acute-to-chronic training ratio compares your mileage for the last week to your average weekly mileage for the last four weeks.

In recent studies with athletes from various sports, injury risk climbs when this ratio exceeds 1.3, and increases significantly when it exceeds 1.5 (see graph below with thanks to Tim Gabbett).

Keeping a regular eye on this ratio (easy if you have the Garmin connect app - see below) can help us find the sweet spot where the right amount of training is improving our performance and importantly staying injury free.

To quote Tim Gabbett, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the load you’re not prepared for”.

If you’re a numbers sort of person, read more about effective load management strategies at our ‘Creating An Unbreakable Athlete’ series.