There is something brutal but brilliant about winter in Tasmania. It forces you to soldier on, get outside, and embrace the cold. This week, I’m channeling that exact energy into a classic, old blog update.
A lot has changed since my last post; I walked away from an 11 year career stint, took a short sabbatical, went to Newcastle, started a new job, and survived a brutal two-week virus. With the sickness finally behind me and a new daily routine taking shape, I’m officially ready to transition from winter survival mode into a dedicated, structured build for my races later in the year.
🗓️ Training Update
Just when I was starting to build a bit of momentum in training I got sick…. and I stayed sick for over two weeks. It was just a cold, but it was the type of cold that drained me of all energy and life force. I knew from past errors that it is not wise to push through and train hard. So I patiently waited and waited and I slowly recovered.
My race calendar is filling for the tail end of the year. I don’t think I’ll add much more before the GPT100 miler stage race. Except maybe the 6 hour Rogaine because it looks like a lot of fun.
Now that I am recovered I am going to begin ramping up the intensity and volume with a tempo run focus for the next month or so leading into Tolosa Half. I am looking forward to structuring my training, seeing some progression and improvement. I have been consistently running all year but without my typical dedication to structured training. It’s always a challenge as a self coached athlete to prescribe yourself the work you should be doing without and biases towards taking it easy on yourself.
🌤️ Life Updates
New Job
After 11 years at one workplace I was so ready for a change. When I saw another suitable role come up I applied and got it. I am still working as a Naval Architect, doing boat design things. The new company has an office in Hobart but gets boats built offshore in Vietnam. A convenient coincidence given I am entered in a race in Vietnam later in the year. So my running holiday is going to be turning into a part work, part running holiday.
I am now two weeks into the new job and loving it. It’s similar work to what I am used to but in a new environment with new people. The change of scenery is just what I needed to get a bit more career motivated again.
Run Commuting
I was especially sick of the long commute from my house to work and back. I felt like I was wasting my life sitting in a car. The drive to work took about 25 minutes, but coming home was a gamble, it could be anywhere from 35 minutes to an hour depending on the traffic. I was carpooling so petrol costs weren’t too bad but it’s so depressing sitting in traffic.
My new job is in town, the office is about 5km from home. The perfect length for a run commute. For the first day I rode my bike in. Then I caught the bus the next day and ran home. And on the third day I ran in and ran home. I have been almost exclusively run commuting ever since. In these winter months it’s good, I can get to work without being drenched in sweat, get changed and be ready to go 5 minutes after arriving. As the weather warms up I may need to find a gym in town with a shower.
I am still spending a similar amount of time commuting, but instead of sitting in a car I am running along gliding past the gridlocked traffic. It’s an activity I would otherwise be doing anyway. So now it feels like I have created extra time in my day. When I get home from work, I am done with work and with running. Previously I would get home then have to find the motivation to get out running.
I am loving run commuting so much!! Everyone should be doing it, we could solve the traffic problems and climate change in one go!
Mountain Bike Era
A few mates are getting into Adventure Racing and training up for a big one later this year. Last weekend I went out on a massive ride with them. I was on my gravel bike and they were on mountain bikes. I survived but struggled at times. Dan had a spare mountain bike that he was looking to sell. After our big ride the froth levels were building and I decided to take it for a test spin.
I went for a night time test ride on Thursday after work. It was so much fun getting out and about on the trail at night. I ran to Dan’s from work, went riding, then ran home. It felt like a mega activity day despite just being a Thursday. I was pretty much sold and the following day I messaged Dan to say I’d buy the bike. Mountain biking has now been added to the activity repertoire.
Embracing the Bike Missions
I decided to have a rest day from running on Saturday, my run commuting was making the weekly distance jump too rapidly. I considered taking the new mountain bike out for a spin. Ziggy was planning to ride out to Seven Mile Beach to buy a coffee machine. This sounded like a good excuse for a bike ride with the possibility of seeing Neal the Seal along the way.
Ziggy also wanted to visit a friend, then catch an uber out to Primrose sands to pick up a work ute. It was an interesting linkage of random chores turned into a bike ride but it sounded fun. So we braved the extremely cold and windy conditions and rode all the way out to Lauderdale, then to Roches beach then along the cool coastal path the Seven Mile.
I wasn’t sure exactly where Neal was situated, but it soon became obvious from all of the traffic control people, traffic cones and spectators where the big blob was residing. We stopped for a look and were surprised at how enormous and entertaining he was. He’d do his call every now and then and play fight with bollards. Then just flop on the ground. It was awesome to see him in person. I can’t help but be worried for his fate, His presence and the amount of attention he draws is bound to become problematic. I mean it already kind of is, he’s loving destroying things and defying authority by plonking himself in the middle of the road. I hope they find a way to protect him at all costs, he’s iconic.
We refuelled on dim sims and chips at the servo which was doing a roaring trade from Neal watchers, then proceeded to find and purchase a coffee machine that fortuitously fitted perfectly in Ziggy’s pannier bag. Then it was onto our next stop, Ammo’s house to have a look at his microgreen grow lab. It was so cool. A next level setup to grow and sell microgreens. Ziggy continued on his way to get the ute from Primrose sands in an uber with a paraplegic driver while I rode home.
It took most of the day but it felt like a good random non-running adventure. Seeing Neal was the definite highlight. Elephant seals are amazing creatures and they are making their way up the ranks of my favourite animals list.
Random elephant seal facts I have learned in the last few days:
- They can dive to 2200m 🤯
- While diving their resting heart rate gets down to 2 bpm
- Males can weight up to 5000kg
- Their enormous snoz (known as a proboscis) is to amplify their deafening roars during mating season
- Males can lose 400kg in a mating season, ultimate weight loss journey!
- Dominant males can maintain harems of up to 100 females (typically 20-50 though)
Outopia Running Apparel
At UTA I met the Outopia team, they were super nice and gave me a couple of their shirts. They are a Chinese company that specialise in merino blend trail running apparel. I was so impressed by the quality and feel that I bought some more of their stuff. They are also going to send me a few things to review. My first impressions of their stuff is that it feels super high quality and merino blends feel so nice and soft.
Now I am getting into the winter run commutes, the merino blend long sleeve is becoming my favourite piece of clothing. It’s so soft and comfortable and warm. And I can wear it for a few days of easy running and it doesn’t smell at all.
Aside from being awesome gear with cool textiles I just love the aesthetic. It is unique and fun while looking pretty cool. I personally feel like the world of running fashion has become a ‘cool kids club’, where everyone looks like they’ve stepped out of a Berlin nightclub with their slick black tights and ironic speed dealer sunnies. Outopia’s patterns are fun while still looking good, I think the look is more of a ‘fun kids club’ rather than a ‘cool kids club’ and I know which club I’d rather be a part of.
If you want to test out their stuff and help support this blog, you can get 10% off using my code: TRAILFLOW
Brooks Cascadia Elite
While I have been loving the Tarkine Bandicoots lately, I have also been testing a pair of Brooks Cascadia Elite left to me from George while he travels the world. I’d never even considered buying Brooks before but this shoe seems like a massive phase shift in running shoe tech from their usual stuff.
It’s a carbon plated trail runner with vibram soles and matryx uppers. Essentially combining some of the best trail running shoe materials with an extremely snug and comfortable sock like fit around the ankles. I’ve only been out for a few runs in them so far so can’t say too much, but they feel awesome.
They would make a great fast race shoe for attempting to run a fast ultra. For a carbon plated trail runner they feel quite stable. My previous experience with carbon plated trail runners was not good and I sold them (Asics Metafuji Trail, would not recommend). Whereas these feel good, stable and fast. Definitely worth a look if you are wanting a really cool race shoe.
📖 What I’m Reading
The Art of Ultrarunning – Ian Sharman
Just started reading this one after seeing it pop up on social media and listening to a podcast with the author. So far it seems like mostly common sense training stuff (which isn’t that common to everyone). I am enjoying it though. I love reading and learning more about the sport and how to best train for it.
The Power Broker – Robert Caro
This is a long term project, been reading it for over a year now but keep coming back to it. It’s a classic about Robert Moses and the power he wielded over the development of New York’s highways, roads, parks parkways and public housing.
It sounds like it would be dry but it is so well written. Gives some insight into how the world works and how powerful people pull strings to get things done their way.
🎧 What I’m Listening To
All Things Endurance / What Amateur Ultrarunners Can Learn from Elite Ultrarunners with Jason Koop – An interesting listen about how the elites train and things we can learn from them.
Human Performance Outliers / The Art of Ultrarunning | Ian Sharman – the podcast that introduced me to his new book.
📣 Blog Updates
Rob from Moor Endurance Fuel Co has been generously supporting me and the blog keeping me supplied with lots of his premium sugar!! So far, I have kept this blog completely ad free, but I have now incorporated a small unintrusive Moor energy banner on each post.
Moor gels are great, they are a local company and they use locally grown fruit. Their ultra product actually provides a cheap fuelling option and cuts down on plastic gel wrappers. So many things that I can get around!!
If you want to support Rob and my blog, you can use my affiliate link to get a 10% discount.
For the first time since starting this blog I generated some income from people buying Tarkine Bandicoots using my affiliate link!!
Only took 80 blog posts to find a way to generate some income. The blog costs me about $150 a year in hosting and domain registrations and such, so it will be nice if I can make the site at least cost neutral. If you want to support my blog, then best thing you can do is buy something you need from one of my affiliate links, here’s the links:
- Tarkine Bandicoots (Code: JOSEPH18594 for 20% off)
- CYCPLUS heart rate monitor (Code: TFR for 5% off)
- Outopia (Code: TRAILFLOW for 10% off)
- Moor Endurance Fuel (Code: Trailflow10)
I am working on a few posts at the moment, I was genuinely hoping to have my Sauna plans released before starting the new job, but the time slipped away. Hopefully one day in the near future I release that post. And I have heaps more technical running stuff I want to write about, but I just struggle to find the time, it’s hard work trying to be prolific!!
🔭 Reflections / Looking Ahead
Transitioning into a new job and a new routine is always a bit of a shock to the system, but getting to run commute past gridlocked traffic makes it entirely worth it.
With the training volume officially ramping up and the blog starting to pull its own weight (thanks to everyone using the affiliate links!), I’m keen for what’s ahead. Time to build the fitness, test out the new winter layers, and keep pushing forward.
Thanks for following along!
Joseph Nunn: An avid trail runner based in Hobart, Tasmania. He loves getting out for big days on the trails with mates or racing against them.
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