Tales from the Valley Podcast

Tales from the Valley - Episode 7 Ft. Barry Keem

We had the pleasure to get a huge running name in the Illawarra Region on this week. Barry Keem joins Russ and Sam. 2:21 Marathoner, 100km Australian Team Representative, Ultra Runner and Super Coach, we hear about Barry's eclectic and lengthy running background, a number of marathons he's won and his transition to the ultra space. Baz tells us about his current training leading into the Sydney Backyard Ultra this weekend.
Sam strings together a few runs finally though proceeds with caution still treating his effected Tibial Stress and mixing in cross training. He has hopes that some residual fitness shines through on race day as he looks to tackle the half.
Russ continues with the ups and down coming down with some illness prior to his current race, however he finishes the week on a high inspired by all of his mates running Canberra Marathon Festival over the weekend.
Tim Winterflood takes us out with Extension of you.
 
Find links to Barry's socials and coaching below:
https://www.teamkeemcoaching.com.au/
 

Tales from the Valley Podcast - Dan Squires

Sam speaks with Dan Squires, a UOW alumni now living in Ireland. Dan has his own podcast 'The Back Straight' recapping and reviewing the running results over in Ireland.
Only having run for a short few years, Dan has some very impressive PB's ranging from 16:38 for 5km through to a 2:39 marathon in less than ideal conditions at Dublin a few years ago. Not only has Dan been successful on the roads but has taken part in a number of long distance events so is quite experienced when it comes to longer trail events.Dan runs us through how he fell in love with running and his move from Aust to the UK. 
Check out The Back Straight Podcast here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-back-straight
Follow along with some of Dan's running content here too:
https://www.instagram.com/dansonlyrans/
 

Tales from the Valley - Episode 6 Ft. Josh Engel

Josh joins Sam and Russ this week as he laces up for Canberra Marathon the week after next.
Josh has impressive PB's ranging from 9:18 for 3k through to 2:41 for the marathon, and is hoping to gain more experience at Canberra to execute in the marathon. He tells us about his solid training block, nutrition and also about his luxurious running wardrobe.
Sam gives us some sad news who is stuck in the moonboot as his shin turned out to be a stress reaction, though he's in good spirits and is doing his best to maintain fitness primarily on the elliptical (unfortunately he's dropped down to the half marathon at Christchurch). Russ strings together more good training but isn't fully confident due to his knee holding him back a little. Josh runs through some impressive marathon specific training and talks about his taper strategy for the next week. 
The WTC boys fire in some good questions to Josh which results in some sophisticated chat about "Cafe approved kits".
 
 

Tales from the Valley Podcast - Paige Penrose

Sam gets the chance to chat with Paige Penrose. Paige has an exceptional trail resume with wins in the UTA 22k, the Takayna 26k, The Buffalo Stampede and the UTK 27k. 
Paige is currently in the US studying at the University of Nevada and competing on the track. Paige talks about the differences training in the US versus back at Stanwell Park, including training at altitude and what she's learning training on the track. 
Paige has ambitions to race in some longer trail events as well so starts to consider what training intensities work for her and what that looks like from a nutrition perspective.
 
We also hear about Paige's sponsor 'The North Face' and how they focus on quality and honesty with their athletes. 
 
Follow along with Paige's Training via the links below:
https://www.instagram.com/paigepenrose_/
https://www.strava.com/athletes/43408658
 

Tales from the Valley - Episode 5 ft. Karen Blay

Karen joins Russ and Sam this week. Karen walks us through her long and successful running career which includes a number of Australian Records in the 55-59 and 60-64 categories. She will look to add the remaining records to her collection in Hobart in a couple of weeks and also looks to break 3 hours at Gold Coast Marathon this year.
Russ starts to string together some solid training and roll into Christchurch Marathon, cracking 100km for a couple of weeks now. Sam continues to string together Marathon Sessions and high mileage but has looked forward to a day or 2 off and a down week as he has developed a shin splint.
Stick around for the end as Sam speaks with Jon Holmes the Event Director for Christchurch Marathon for an overview of the course, expo and major sponsors of the event.

Tales from the Valley Podcast - Katie Mahoney

Sam gets to chat with Katie Mahoney. Katie moved to Australia from the US so gives us a lot of great insights to running over there and the College track experience, as well as an interesting background on how she got into running.
Katie has a number of impressive PB's across the board include 7th place at Melbourne Marathon in 2022 with a 2:46, and she runs us through her typical training structure and coaching relationship.
Katie and Sam chat about improving on their Beer Mile times being the current Wollongong Champions, and also delve into discussion around recovery, nutrition and strength.
Katie has her sites set on Gold Coast Half Marathon in July and potentially joining the Run Shellharbour Festival for a hit out in April. Follow along with Katie's training here on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/37030419

Tales from the Valley Podcast - WTC Handicap Champs ft. Mitch Ryan

Sam catches up with Mitch Ryan to get a recap of the WTC Handicap Champs last weekend. a Mile, 5k and 3k race took place over the weekend. The event went off without a hitch due to a lot of effort in coordinating through a lot of different people in the Wollongong Running Community. Saucony, Capital Brewing, Coast2Mountain Running and Bailey Nelson all helped out from a sponsorship perspective. 
A great weekend with a lot of PB's being run, Wollongong is definitely a good place to live if you're a runner right now.

Tales from the Valley - Episode 4 ft. Brad Croker

Sam and Russ get the chance to sit down with a real big dog in the running industry Bradley Croker. Crokes grew up in Mollymook and didn't run so much as a kid, but was inspired by the 96' Olympics and picked up running casually on the treadmill. Fast forward Crokes is a co-host on the Inside Running Podcast and has had a very successful running career with a 2:17 marathon and impressive PB's all the way down to the 800. 
Crokes runs us through some beautiful running trails between Ulladulla and Batemans Bay, in fact was humbled on a few long runs by the Ulladulla Rats club when he was younger. We get to hear a bit of detail about Brad's greatest achievements including the Lake Biwa Marathon, Sydney 10 and Christchurch Half Marathon. He then gives us an overview of his experience winning the Christchurch Half Marathon a few years ago, though acknowledges the course will have changed when Russ and Sam head over.Crokes updates us on his slow build back to fitness after being diagnosed last year with Ventricular tachycardia. Russ continues to struggle getting back into training with a pinecone jumping out in front of him during his run and starts to lean towards an approach of jogging his way back to fitness and stripping out the intensity. Sam stacks together 2 solid training weeks both of 118km, honing into marathon pace despite the humidity and caps things off with a very solid long run in Bawley point after celebrating Amelia Berry and Jake Tranter's wedding. 
The guys cap things off with an overview of the Canberra Marathon course given a large Wollongong contingent are running this, with some wise words from 2 previous 3rd place getters (guess which 2 hosts). A big shout out to Charl Jansen Van Rensburg's 2:40:41 result at Osaka Marathon coming very close to his A-goal. If you haven't already check out Inside Running Podcast via the link below:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0XNi1i6IdT2TJBc8uwy2IY?si=5c42817cae9a4403
Also support the Sam and Russ's Fundraiser for the Little Miracles Trust via the link below:
https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/tales-from-the-valley-podcast-race-christchurch