Show Notes
The Gold Coast Marathon is done, the legs are cooked, and Courtney is already quietly looking towards another marathon in November.
This week, Liam and Courtney unpack what proper marathon recovery should actually look like — from the science of damaged muscles and suppressed immunity to Michael Shelley’s far simpler philosophy: go on holiday, have a beer and let the brain switch off.
They also reflect on a huge Gold Coast weekend, the messages from runners who used the podcast to get to the start line, Haftu Strintzos’ record-breaking run, why Australia might be in a golden generation of distance running, and why our best athletes still need bigger stories and personalities around them.
Plus: is Gold Coast now officially Australia’s fastest marathon, what identity should Melbourne own, the rise of matching run-club outfits, a new capture-the-flag race concept, Tour de France chat, and the dream runners Liam and Courtney want on the podcast next.
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Courtney's been within 30 seconds of his predicted time at the Gold Coast Marathon, Bridge to Brisbane and the Melbourne half, so he's 80/20 against flying to Kobe to run a time he already knows. Liam ran the Blackall 100 21K after hosting Birds of Tokyo, a 9pm drive to Mapleton and four hours' sleep in the back of the car.
Noosa Triathlon is 11 days away, so we’ve pulled the best of coach Dan Atkins from last year’s Road to Noosa series into one episode, in race order. Dan is an Olympic coach and coaches world champion Matt Hauser, and he takes you through the whole course: reading the ocean and getting through the surf, swimming wide of the turn cans, spinning the first 10K of the bike, getting down Garmin Hill, running the first KM 10% slower, and the food, sleep, race breakfast and Saturday jobs for these last 10 days.
Courtney ran 1:16:37 in the Nike Melbourne Marathon half, with a negative split and second in his age group, and insists nobody cares about the second bit. Both of us met Eliud Kipchoge: Courtney got his structure question answered on the finish line at the MCG, and Liam's phone tried to answer for him mid-Q&A.
A fitness influencer with 530,000 followers rode the back of a bike at 38km in Berlin and posted a PB. Courtney reckons the brands should be checking who they sign. It's Melbourne race week. Courtney's still not sure he can hold a half marathon flat out, Liam has a question loaded for Eliud Kipchoge's breakfast, and someone has just done 35 laps of Nerang's Goat Loop, 245km in 50 hours.
Liam opens with an apology. His DNF tax went down like a lead balloon, and his wife says he doubled down when Courtney called it.