Tales from the Valley Podcast

TFTV ft. Joe Mallat

Sam & Katie sit down with Joe Mallat, who’s had a breakout year on the roads. Joe’s dropped his 5 K to 16:43 at Sandon Point parkrun, clocked 34:55 at Sydney 10, and finished 2nd at Shellharbour Half in 1:21:54.
A former basketball and rugby player, Joe dabbled in cross-country through high school but only recently found structure after joining JT Running. He credits the group’s training environment and guidance from coach James Tunbridge—who just celebrated one year of JT Running—for his rapid progress. Joe now has his eyes set on a sub-33 10 K and a strong marathon debut.
We unpack training weeks from all three hosts:
Katie builds mileage, tackles a sharp VO₂ Max track set (400/300/200s), and rolls through 4 × 6-minute tempo efforts while exploring strength work for her knee.
Sam logs a fast 1 K + 300s session and a surprise set of 2 K reps on Saturday.
Joe mixes running with swimming and gym, plus some snappy 600 m and 300 m intervals on the track.
☕ Café Kit of the Week: Vomero Plus shoes, Shokz Over-Ear Headphones, and Way of the Hero Half Tights🏃‍♂️ Round the Club News: A look at the Kosciuszko Ultra Trail weekend and congratulations to Robby Jay, first winner of the Run Havoc voucher!

TFTV ft. Brad Milosevic

Sam & Katie sit down with Brad Milosevic — the podcast’s fastest marathoner yet. Brad lives in Canberra and in 2015 pulled off something wild: winning both of Australia’s biggest fun runs, taking out City2Surf in 42:12 and the Melbourne Marathon in 2:16:00. Over the next few years he chased the Olympic qualifier, ran another 2:16, and represented Australia at the 2017 World Championships.
Across 2017–2018 he rewrote PBs from 3000m through to the Half Marathon, crediting much of that rise to training in Ken Green’s stable with a strong group of high-level runners. Brad also shares his “phone book” analogy — years of consistent training stacked together so you might rip out a few pages, but you can’t tear the whole book.
After one last shot at a fast time at Lake Biwa, Brad moved into a new career as a primary school teacher. Now he runs for fun, though somehow finds himself back in sub-16 5km shape off a few weeks of jogging and jumping in with Phillo Saunders’ group.
Katie builds steadily with a 97km week and some conservative track work. Sam is in Sydney running 70km with a couple of solid sessions in daily trainers. Brad recaps four jogs.
Café Kit of the Week:Adidas Evo SLAvocado Zinc sunscreenSinglets / Tank Tops
Round the Club Shoutouts:Brad shouts out the Girraween Athletics Club where it all started for him.Sam reminds listeners of the monthly $100 Run Havoc Gift Voucher.

TFTV ft. Cate Giason

Sam & Katie sit down with rising talent Cate Giason, who works at Run Havoc and has just wrapped up school with plans to study something in the sports world. Cate already owns some incredible PBs — 4:53 (1500m), 10:16 (3000m) and 7:08 (2000m steeple) — and she’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Cate shares how she first got into running through her family and Kembla Joggers at age eight, her first ever track race in Year 8, and how she now balances training for Triathlon under coach Ben Bell.
She takes us through a full training week:• 2k threshold efforts• Jogging & cross-training• Track workouts• A Sunday long run• Plus her hit-out at the GONG5000
Sam puts together his best 543215 session yet, DNF’s the GONG5000 at 3km due to chest tightness, and then redeems the week with a strong Sunday long run. Katie is officially back — 91km, track reps, and her debut Mona Fartlek (5.3km).
Café Kit of the Week• Foam Roller• Neo Vista 2• Asics Megablast thoughts• Zooper Doopers

TFTV - Men's Mental Health Chat

Inspired by the vulnerability of our past guests, Sam, Stefan Deane-Smith, and Rohan Laurendet sit down for a raw and honest conversation about their own mental health challenges — and how running has both supported and complicated those experiences.
Rohan also hosts The 11th Hurdle podcast, where he explores mental health and performance with incredible depth and empathy. You can check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3PhiwHspaGGke77HEkYca4
This episode includes discussion of distressing mental health themes, so please take care while listening and consider whether it’s the right time for you to tune in.

TFTV - GONG5000, Yoga & Giveaways

Sam and Katie catch up on the podcast and dive into fresh ideas for the new year — including the expanding partnership with Run Havoc. It’s shaping up to be a big 2026 with more episodes, more collaborations, and some new concepts brewing behind the scenes.
Katie drops a huge training update with an 83km week, highlighted by a brutal 12 × 200m on / 200m float session and some smooth, controlled tempo work on Friday.
Sam checks in with a 58km week, featuring 6 × 1km on gravel at 3:30–3:40 pace, plus an 18km long run alongside Jack Ratz, rolling the Run Shellharbour course and getting a feel for the terrain ahead.
Café Kit of the Week
Cans of Energy Drink 
A vintage Tempo Training article from the 80s

Café Kit of the Month (Ep 1)

Sam sits down with Riley Kilham for the first instalment of our new monthly segment.Riley has generously thrown in a $100 Run Havoc voucher for one TFTV listener each month — absolute legend 🙌
This month we dive into Riley’s training week — including some spicy continuous track work and pacing his mate to a 1:25 half at Husky. 
Shoe of the Month:Nike Vomero Plus (early contender for shoe of the year 👀)
Nutrition of the Month:Pillar Performance Triple Magnesium
Apparel of the Month:Never Running Race Singlet
Big thanks to Riley and the crew at Run Havoc for the support 💥

TFTV ft. Hamish Simpson

Sam catches up with Hamish “Kerns” Simpson, fresh off 30 loops at Reds Backyard Ultra (203.7km).
Hamish has lined up at Reds three years in a row, but this year looked different — after linking up with super coach Barry Keem, he’s built consistency, structure and serious momentum. The results speak for themselves with PBs across the board this year, including 17:58 for 5k and 3:08 for the marathon.
Hamish breaks down the physical, emotional and nutritional demands of Backyard Ultra racing, and how he’s refined his training across multiple attempts. There’s no time to feet-up though — he’s rolling straight into the Kosciuszko 100-miler in just four weeks.
He also shares a peek into a peak week featuring:
Backyard simulation loops
32km Kiama Coastal Trail long run
Hard 3km effort + 6km tempo
Sam recaps his own week logging 57km, nailing the workout but battling through the long run.
Segments this episode
Café Kit of the Week
Vomero Plus review
City Cave magnesium float
Round the Club shoutouts
Run Huskisson podium recap
And of course — huge shoutout to Barry Keem.

TFTV ft. Jack Caldwell

This week, Sam & Katie chat with up-and-coming triathlete Jack Caldwell.Hailing from Eden on the Far South Coast of NSW, Jack has been training from a young age. A naturally strong swimmer who also shone in school cross country, Jack eventually combined both strengths—adding cycling into the mix—to discover his talent in triathlon.
After playing a range of sports growing up, Jack began racing Sprint Triathlons throughout high school. Earlier this year, he claimed the Men’s Junior Title for the Oceania Region in Devonport—clocking a blistering 15:15 5K off the bike. He also boasts a 14:56 PB from a Sydney workout, and fondly recalls defending his Panboola Wetlands parkrun course record.
Jack was all set for World Tri in Wollongong, but a pair of stress fractures and other setbacks have forced some recovery time. He’s now building back gradually, with eyes on moving to the Gold Coast in 2026 to train full-time.
🏋️‍♀️ Training Weeks
Katie hits 3 x 1K off 90s (3:20 splits) plus some 400s off a 200 float. She’s taking a weekend off with suspected iron deficiency, rounding out at 63 km for the week.
Sam clocks 43 km running across four sessions and 105 km cycling on the off days.
Jack shares a look at a massive training week from when he was fit—30 hours total, including 30 km swimming, 63 km running, a 5K PB, plus gym and cycling.
☕ Café Kit of the Week
Japanese U-Turn
ASICS Metaspeed Ray
Heavy Lifting
🏆 Round the Club Shoutouts
Matt Hauser — for taking out the World Triathlon in Wollongong
Reds Backyard Ultra — huge props to everyone clocking some wild distances out there!