Sam and Katie chat with Lucy Holman. In just five short years, Lucy has won the Husky 10k twice in a row with a PB of 38:05 (even after getting taken out by the lead bike and hitting the deck). She also finished the UTA 100 in under 12 hours, despite tearing an ankle ligament 14k into the race. It’s clear that Lucy leaves nothing on the table when she races, and she talks to us about how she balances a busy family life with a demanding running schedule. Lucy is preparing to race her first marathon at Shellharbour in a couple of weeks, aiming for a sub-3 finish.

Katie has ramped up her mileage to 68km this week, and the HR monitor is back. Sam is focusing on time management in his sessions this week and has seen stark improvements compared to an identical session two months ago, logging 104km. Lucy is balancing travel and home life this week with some impressive progression runs and 107kg squats, complementing a solid 68km week, just a couple of weeks out from the Shellharbour Marathon.

Sam and Katie speak with Sharon Sutherland, a 2016 Bravehearts 777 participant and key organizer for the Kiama Running Club. One of Sharon’s most impressive accomplishments was participating in the Bravehearts 777 event, which required $10,000 in fundraising for the leading child protection foundation and involved running a half marathon each day for 7 days in 7 different states. The travel and physical demands were daunting, even just to listen to. Sharon has also run a handful of World Majors and talks about the remaining ones she intends to complete.

Sharon’s work in formalizing the Kiama Running Club has been successful, with just under 1,000 Facebook members and upwards of 50 participants in community runs, including Wednesday Hill Reps at Kiama, Saturday 5km from Kiama Surf Club, and a Long Run option at Shellharbour Surf Club on Sunday.

Katie runs 48km this week, picks up a new gig mowing lawns, and is staying very active while building up her kilometers nicely. Sharon eases back into training in anticipation of the RunShellharbour 10k and either the Noosa or Tokyo Marathon early next year. Sam gets back to the gym, complains about the heat during his tempo run, but still manages to put together another 100km week. We all share our experiences with niggles during our typical training weeks.

Sam, Katie, and Mitch speak with Sam Jones. Sam has very impressive personal bests, including 14:55 for 5K and 68:30 for the half marathon. Sam was involved in athletics when he was younger but found more enjoyment in downhill mountain biking. However, running made its way back into Sam’s life out of necessity during his travels.

Being self-coached, Sam wanted to remove the stress of creating his own training programs and enlisted Brady Threlfall to take the reins. Sam manages to balance a demanding job with his running program and finds that there is a fine line for him in maintaining healthy running habits.

During the training week, everyone discusses their warm-up and cool-down routines. Katie put together a 42km week, seeming to bounce back from her injury. Sam Jones balances his hectic work schedule and is recovering from some sickness, but keeps his focus on his Sunday long runs. Mitch struggles with motivation but keeps grinding, completing 102km, including an impressive impromptu Mona Fartlek on Saturday. Sam battles through Achilles and back pain but manages to put together a 100km week with two sessions and a hilly long run around Candelo.