13 Months Postpartum, She Won UTA's 100 Miler | Meg Bullen #26

How often do we set ourselves ambitious running goals without considering whether our lives can actually support the training required to achieve them? After running a lifetime mile PB of 5:42 during my current speed phase, I've been reflecting on something that goes well beyond pace, volume and performance: creating the right environment for success. In this solo episode, I unpack the relationship between our goals, values and the sacrifices we're willing to make to pursue them. We explore why comparing your training to elite runners can be counterproductive, how I've restructured my own week to balance family, business and running, and why accepting your current circumstances doesn't mean settling for less. I also reflect on my contrasting 100-mile experiences, what my conversation with Simon Cochrane taught me about the value of long-term consistency, and why raising your training floor is often more important than chasing huge short-term improvements. Whether you're preparing for your first ultra or trying to maximise the training time you already have, this episode is about appreciating how far you've come, getting realistic about where you want to go, and identifying the next logical step.

Backyard Ultra is changing and Dead Cow Gully is about to become part of something much bigger. In this episode I sit down with Tim Walsh, founder and race director of Dead Cow Gully, to unpack the newly announced partnership with Last Soul Ultra and what it could mean for the future of backyard running in Australia and around the world. We talk about how Tim built Dead Cow into one of the most recognisable Backyard Ultras in the world, why Last Soul's approach to livestreaming and social media could fundamentally change the sport, and the challenge of growing an event without losing the authenticity that made it special in the first place. We also explore the bigger questions facing Backyard Ultra as it grows. From professional athletes and prize money to drug testing, commercialisation and whether the format could eventually find its way onto major streaming platforms. Backyard Ultra has always been beautifully simple: 6.7km. Every hour. Until one person remains. But as audiences, money, production and global interest grow, that simplicity is about to be tested.

My race calendar is winding down, but October has given me plenty to think about. I start with two stories close to home: my wife, Mahli’s month-long step challenge and a client whose trail marathon lead-up went completely off plan. It left me asking "what are we capable of when training and race day don’t look the way we expected?" Then there are lactate gels. They’re starting to appear in endurance sport, and I found a study that made me wonder whether they could have a place in ultrarunning. But there’s a catch in how the research was done. Plus, a question about longer races that I can’t stop thinking about. I unpack the idea, the unknowns and the experiment I’m tempted to try myself. I also get into the adidas super shoes making headlines after Berlin, plus a shoe concept that could change how it feels during a race. How far could shoe technology go before we have to rethink what belongs on a start line? And with UTMB changing its qualification route while details for age-group runners are still to come, I ask what this could mean for the people who help make the sport what it is. Unsure why you're not getting the result you want out of training? Take my 5min Training Bottleneck Quiz

Simon Cochrane has built one hell of an endurance résumé. But what stood out to me in this conversation wasn’t the size of the achievements — it was how simple Simon makes the process sound. After 15+ years in endurance sport, Simon has developed an incredible ability to understand what his body can handle, when to push, when to back off, and how to keep stacking productive training year after year. This ended up being a proper coach-to-coach conversation about building an enormous aerobic engine without obsessing over run mileage, learning through failure, fueling huge training loads, staying composed when races get ugly, and why the fundamentals still outperform most of the shiny stuff we get sold. Simon’s a great example of what can happen when you stay curious, train consistently and give yourself enough years to find out what you’re actually capable of. TRAINING BOTTLENECK QUIZ Take the 5-minute Training Bottleneck Quiz GET IN TOUCH Instagram — @bennymatthews.coach Email — [email protected] FOLLOW SIMON Simon Cochrane — @cochranesimon Athletic Peak — @athletic.peak Athletic Peak Coaching CHAPTERS 00:00 — Introducing Simon Cochrane 02:11 — Failure, experimentation & lessons from under-fueling 10:20 — Building 20–35 hour training weeks 14:06 — What exactly is an Ultraman? 18:14 — Three Ultramans in six months 19:44 — Making extreme training work around family 22:03 — From strength coach to endurance coach 31:23 — Cross-training, run volume & building durability 35:00 — Increasing mileage without breaking down 39:35 — Gut training & ultra fueling 43:26 — The mindset required to race for 24 hours 49:08 — Longevity & still getting faster at 42 53:19 — Pacing with maturity 56:50 — From Ironman to trails, UTMB & Tarawera 60:32 — Why the fundamentals beat the shiny stuff 63:12 — Coaching in the age of apps & AI 67:08 — When extraordinary endurance becomes “normal” 68:57 — Who motivates Simon?

A bit of everything in this week's solo episode. First, I unpack my first proper “dad injury” while kicking a ball with my son and how I adjusted my running around it. That leads into one of my favourite sessions at the moment. I break down the thinking behind using faster running after a hard climbing for lactate oxidation, and why it could have a really useful application for trail and ultra runners. Then we get into strength training. I explain why I still favour heavy, low-volume lifting with my runners, why heavy doesn't automatically mean high fatigue, the importance of actually resting between sets, and how I think runners can get more out of the gym without compromising their running. Finally, Olympic cross-country skiing champion Jessie Diggins' 100-mile debut gets me thinking about a conversation I see constantly in ultrarunning: what would happen if athletes from “bigger” endurance sports came across to trails? Rather than dismissing the athletes already at the top of our sport, maybe we need to better appreciate the specific skills that make someone exceptional at each format.