GOLD COAST MARATHON SERIES - 5 WEEKS TO GO: BRONTE'S BREAKTHROUGH, LIAM'S CALL, AND ALL THINGS GELS

[00:00] In The Beginning runs the Gold Coast Marathon — five weeks to go. Courtney, you're not running the Gold Coast Marathon, but our fearless leader Benita, our coach from Lace Up Running, for those who haven't already jumped on board and sussed her out — she's currently getting her young son Max to sleep, so she'll be wandering in shortly. But we're joined by our first-time marathon runner, Bronte Langbroek, who's frankly taking the mickey out of how well she's going at the moment. How are you, Bronte?

[00:30] Off it a bit, if I'm honest — still a little under the weather. I got sick just before the GC30 last weekend and I'm still sick, which has been great, all very congested, throat and nose. But the body feels good — felt good during the 30, and after the 30, it's just been kicking this thing to the curb. Can we quickly touch on this, because it's interesting — I saw Bronte in the office on the Tuesday after you ran the

[01:00] GC30, and you were all crook. I said, well, this is what happens to elite athletes, isn't it? What happens to high-performing athletes when you start running as quick as Bronte. When I saw Bronte down at the Gold Coast 30 cruising along — I missed you on the trail, actually, you were too fast. Actually, I've got a bone to pick with you — when we spoke about what you'd be running in, you showed me a multi-coloured top. Why'd you run in something different, Bronny? To be fair, it was a blue

[01:33] multi-coloured top, and this was also a blue crop top — but something I like to do for races now is treat myself to a new running top, as a little reward. I bought it on the Saturday before the run and thought, should I text Courtney a photo of my crop top? Is that a weird thing to do? Not really, and it could have been helpful too. But when I did see you, I did shout like a crazy person — I'm on the bus!

[02:04] On the bus, yeah — throwback to imagining you're on the bus. Benita will no doubt give her own feedback on your performance, but let's talk about this being the first time you've ever run 30K. How was it? I was so happy, so stoked with it — probably my favourite run I've ever done. It was the combination of everything we've been training for, everything we've been

[02:37] talking about, mentally and physically — even waking up Sunday morning feeling crook, I don't know what happened, but the body just switched that off for the two hours and fifty-seven minutes and said, you're not sick, just keep running. It was so great, I loved it, fantastic event. You looked like you were cruising — I'm not just blowing smoke here,

[03:08] when I saw you going both ways I thought, you're in complete control, I was wondering what pace you were running. In the end you were about twenty seconds ahead of what we'd talked about — I think it was 5:57 per K on average, and Benita wanted me around the 6:20 mark, but I stayed at that six-minute pace for basically the whole race and just felt good doing it. Started there, finished there, thought, I'm not going

[03:39] to change anything if this is how I'm feeling. Hopefully that's okay, coach — well, coach has wandered back in, she'll jump on the mic in a moment. Must have heard you talking about running splits. Benita, we're talking about how Bronte continues to smash every step of this preparation — what did you make of the GC30 data? Bronte, you killed it, I was so pumped, I was waiting to see how you went, I checked all your stats

[04:09] as soon as you finished. We'd talked about going a little slower — the idea wasn't to start at 5:30 pace, so as long as you felt comfortable, and the main goal was to run a little faster than marathon pace, which you did, and you felt good. That's a really good experience before the marathon too, the furthest you've ever run — so many things you accomplished in that race, and it's not an easy race either. Does that give us

[04:39] a percentage to lock in for marathon pace off the back of it? If we look at what you said when you first started out, wanting to just run the whole way — I think we can't push it. I'm still looking at 6:25 pace. Some K's will be slower, some a bit faster, that's fine, but you're going so well — I think the worst thing we could do is put more pressure on you and change your pace to 6:15, or six minutes. I wouldn't do that, because it's your first marathon.

[05:10] I'm always a bit conservative, and you're so far ahead of where you might have been — you should have a lot of confidence after that race, but also don't feel pressure that we're going to up the ante going into the marathon. Does that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, hearing that? It's very validating — so much of this process is you by yourself running for hours, and until I came on board

[05:45] with this, that's what the next five weeks was also going to be. But there's such camaraderie in the running community, it's nice seeing everyone hit their goals. Perfect time to share this — we've had so many people comment on the episodes we've been doing leading into the Gold Coast Marathon, with Benita leading the way, Bronte doing her first marathon. Michelle sent us a message on Instagram saying she recently stumbled across the

[06:16] podcast and wanted to pass on how much she's enjoyed the Gold Coast Marathon series. She's training for her fourth GC marathon, aiming for a big PB, and having Benita share valuable knowledge has helped guide so much of her training, while listening to the entertaining conversation between Bronte, Liam and Courtney has her constantly laughing out loud. Bring on the GC Mara. We've had so many messages like that, so while we're sort of looking

[06:46] internally here with the four of us behind microphones, people are getting a lot out of these episodes. I've had people reach out too, and I think one of the things that's struck people most is how we've talked about embracing the first 30K — like I shouted at Courtney, I'm on a bus, just chilling out for the first 30K — it completely changed my mindset for the GC30. Can I ask what you had for

[07:17] breakfast? Because that was my — did you have — I took all the advice I'd been given, peanut butter and jelly toast, one side butter, one side jam, smacked together. Do we think that'll stick for the marathon? I think it will, I can see why this food-is-fuel thing makes sense, it really does help. And the gels — one five minutes before, then two or three during the run. How did you feel?

[07:48] I felt okay — I tried a caffeine one, then another, and I probably liked the one you gave me best. The Maurten? Yes, that one settled the best. You hadn't tried that before? No, never tried it before the run. Interesting — that one's almost got a jelly-like texture,

[08:19] it's got to have that thickness to it, but it goes down easily. I don't understand the full science, but the idea is you shouldn't need as much water with it. That's the idea behind it, and I really liked that. Fair enough — we've got some listener questions today, and I've done a bit of research so I can talk about what's on course, without giving direct advice. Can we talk about the next couple of weeks for Bronte, specifically, coming off the back of that big 30K?

[08:49] What are we — and this is a good lesson for people out there who might be running really well and think, now's a good time to push harder, get a bit ambitious with their goals. Benita, you've said you're not changing anything for Bronte — what's the danger if people out there start thinking, maybe I'll just go ten seconds quicker?

[09:19] That's an easy trap to fall into. With you, Bronte, you might get to 30K in the marathon running about the pace we've talked about, and then at 35K you might just start running faster naturally — there's no reason you can't run faster, but it's about not putting too much pressure on yourself beforehand. So for anyone out there thinking, I'm further ahead than I thought I'd be — still be careful, because even with five weeks to go you can still get a bit fitter, but the biggest

[09:49] thing you can do wrong is overtrain a bit and end up worse on the start line than you are right now. I've made that mistake myself — trained too hard, had my best session three weeks out, and then in the actual marathon I was rubbish because I hadn't recovered from that session. With the people I coach, we generally do the longest and hardest run about four or five weeks out, and don't really taper from then, but I don't do anything too long or too hard after

[10:20] that point. I've got a big one planned this week — what's on the cards this weekend? 32K. But because Bronte's been sick, I might push that to next weekend — we'll see, because she's still sick from last week too. But that'll be

[10:50] Bronte's furthest run yet, and the furthest of the whole prep. We'll do it four or five weeks out either way. Good point for a question we had — someone who didn't want to be named asked, how many weeks out from the race should your biggest marathon session and biggest volume week be, and are they the same thing? I think the biggest long run I'd give would be somewhere between three and five weeks out, call it four, but there are

[11:23] often races around then too, depending on what people have planned — a half marathon four weeks out would be common. So your biggest long run might land three or five weeks out if you've got a half in there, and your mileage four weeks out would be a bit lower if you're racing. But if you're not racing, I'd say the longest mileage and the biggest long run land in the same week. That's what I'd do, because generally, if you're doing a really hard long run that week, the volume's a bit higher, and the next week's usually

[11:55] a shorter, easier long run, but with a bit more intensity elsewhere in the week. My wife had a question for you, Benita — she asked how your training changed during pregnancy, and we had another pregnancy-related question too, and I said, Liam, we definitely can't handle these ones. So — did running affect your pelvic floor, and then

[12:26] post-delivery, do you have a general rule for getting back into training? Three questions in one. Did it change my training — for both my pregnancies, I hadn't had my kids yet when I was competing, so I've never run through a pregnancy. From when I got pregnant, I was running 80K a week with the running pram — with Poppy, I was running heaps — but once I found out I was pregnant, I just felt terrible running, so I switched to walking and a bit of

[12:58] strength work instead. For me personally, in both pregnancies, running just felt bad, so I didn't run for close to a year each time, through the pregnancy and after having the baby. And post-pregnancy — I've had caesareans both times — I find about four months after the caesarean I start running again. With Max I've just started, and everything feels fine, but I start with a very gradual walk-jog programme, similar to what you'd use coming back from a bone stress injury,

[13:28] but probably even more gradual than that. So the rule is walk, then run, and getting the okay from a physio who's good with pelvic floor — I generally work on the pelvic floor first. With a caesarean it's a bit different, not as traumatic in that sense, but caesareans are harder to recover from in other ways, because you're not supposed to lift things, and it's quite a full-on procedure — you're in bed for

[13:59] almost 24 hours before you can get up. So getting back to mobility is harder, and you're not getting as much sleep either — I never rush back into running, because you just don't feel that good yet. It's important to share with everyone listening that while Benita's giving all this advice, she's got her son Max strapped to her stomach, asleep in a baby carrier, right under the microphone, the whole time.

[14:29] If you're going to trust someone's advice, that's the person to trust. At the moment, the only time I've got to run is with Max in the normal pram, or with the running pram for Poppy — Max is too small for the running pram yet. So people probably see me running and think it looks a bit strange, but I've seen plenty of people manage it. Make it work. That's awesome. Do we want to address the elephant in the room?

[14:59] The big, heavy, stupid car for an elephant, hey — we're keeping spirits up today. It's an interesting phase we're getting to ahead of the Gold Coast Marathon, where I'm seeing a lot of messages — people saying, I'm selling my marathon entry, does anyone want a half marathon entry. We hit this phase every year — what is it about this five- or six-week-out mark that gets people?

[15:32] Is it mental, is it physical, is it a lack of preparation? Why do you think we get to this point ahead of a marathon and entries suddenly become available? Some people have had an entry for the marathon and just haven't started training yet, so that's one thing. Another is people starting training back in January, which is way too early to train for a marathon — I see people saying that every year, "training for Gold Coast Marathon" in January. If you're spending

[16:03] months and months training, there's no real benefit to that either — you either burn out or get injured. But there are lots of reasons — some people just aren't backing themselves. They've entered the marathon and they're nervous about what they can actually do, so they train, but nothing in that training tells them whether they can even finish it, and with no one behind them helping with their mindset, they downgrade, thinking, I'll just

[16:33] take the safer option of the half or the 10K. That's interesting, and it's exactly what I was saying earlier about accountability — you've got a group, you've got people helping you. That's one of the biggest benefits of having a coach, having someone to bounce off — you talk to Liam, you talk with your physio, you talk with Benita, and they can help put you in the right headspace to think, okay, maybe I'm rushing this decision, maybe I should do it this way, maybe I am doing too much. Without that team around you, it's so much harder, and there's so much noise.

[17:04] We're sitting here talking about it, and there are probably a hundred other versions of this exact conversation happening right now. There's a lot of noise out there, and that's where having at least one person you can make the final call with really helps. So if you're in the boat Benita just described, thinking you haven't pushed yourself enough in training and might downgrade — maybe just find someone to actually go and have a conversation with about it. If you don't have a coach and you've been doing this solo, finding someone you can chat to about

[17:36] what the next five weeks looks like could really help. I think it's really important to bounce your running off someone, or a group — that's where those conversations happen, and you need that positive reinforcement. Well, let me ask the group, then — what should I do? This is live, this is a live consultation right now — coach Benita, podcast co-host Courtney, and friend and co-worker Bronte.

[18:06] What should I do? Because the reality is I haven't been in the habit of running — the last half-decent run I went for was just over an hour, twelve or fourteen K, whatever it was, and that was about a week and a half ago now, and the calf hasn't come good since. Countless rounds of physio, dry needling, I've tried the calf a couple of times, and I've just got

[18:37] zero confidence in it at the moment. I've been living on the stationary bike, though I've actually changed my tune on that a bit — I got out on the road bike in the valley on the weekend and really enjoyed it, thought, oh, that stationary bike work's actually paying off for my fitness. But the running just isn't there. My most recent visit with the physio, Liam at Gold Coast Physio, was a pretty honest, frank conversation about whether this is even worth it.

[19:08] So, coach Benita — is it worth attempting, five weeks out, to keep pushing towards the start line? Look, the physio working with you has really helped guide things for both of us. But your calf's been sore, and it's carried on from that little trail race you did.

[19:39] We've been trying different things, trying to push it a bit, and it's not responding — emotionally, all this stuff you've been through is hard enough, let alone physically on your body. So personally, I don't think you should run the marathon. Sometimes it's hard to actually make that call, and as frustrating and upsetting as it is, you're too good — you've run 3:21 before, you're too good to just go out there

[20:09] and hobble around for six hours, run-walk-hobble, and risk being out for even longer. You'd hurt yourself more, and I've got zero interest in being out there for six hours, none at all. So after chatting with Liam, I know I'm probably not running the marathon, and that sucks — it really sucks. And I reckon there are people out there right now who've pulled out for similar reasons, feeling the same thing. What I will say, though, is that

[20:41] something you said earlier in this series has made it a lot easier — "not every race, and not every prep." It's genuinely become a bit of a mantra for me, from the episode you and Bronte and I did in the studio, talking about how if you run for long enough, you'll have your race — it's not every race, and not every prep. That's really stuck with me, and as much as I wanted to run

[21:14] the Gold Coast Marathon this year and really have a crack at it, I'm already half thinking — I've never run Melbourne before, and that could be a fun one to go down and do, and Sydney's a major now too. It's been hard to accept, but that phrase, not every race and not every prep, has been a really nice thing to hold onto. That's such a good way to look at it, and I'd suggest looking at a marathon later in the year. I've run marathons when I wasn't right —

[21:46] I ran an Olympic marathon not fully fit, and I reckon that probably ended up shortening my career, because it was just the most horrible experience. But if you're at the Olympics and someone's missing out on that spot because of you, of course you try, you push through. Here, looking at the Gold Coast Marathon, you could defer your entry, go to Melbourne later in the year. An athlete at your level, wanting to break three hours one day —

[22:16] you don't want to be racing marathons when you're not right. A lot of people run Gold Coast when they're not at a hundred percent, and that's fine for them, but you're too far away from that right now, and it just mentally grinds you down, not knowing week to week what's going to happen or when you'll be able to run properly again. I'd honestly made the decision before we started recording today not to run it — I'm not running it, that's final. But I've got to be honest, the weight off my shoulders,

[22:46] not having to think about how this week's run is going to go, how the calf's going to hold up — I'd half made that decision already, and it was such a relief. I don't have to worry about running now. You've been more worried about the calf than anything else, haven't you? It's all-consuming, running — and the hardest bit about it is actually when it goes wrong. Bronte, we don't —

[23:16] we don't cop this from me — I think you should run it, I reckon you could do it, I'm not letting you cancel just yet. Would you rule it out completely, or consider — and honestly, I hadn't thought about this until Liam raised it — would you run the half instead? Or the 10K? Honestly I hadn't thought about that, given where the calf's at with five weeks of prep left. What do you think, Benita?

[23:46] Personally, I don't think you should run anything at all. I don't want to disagree, but my honest thoughts are you need to let your body settle completely — you're still looking at walk-jogging, probably not even for another week or two. Even if you ran the half or the 10K, it'd be nowhere near what you're capable of, way slower than even marathon pace, even if your body was fine. I just

[24:16] don't want you doing any further damage, because if you want to do Melbourne later, you need to be right soon to start that prep. You don't want to push your body into a 10K just because it's a goalpost. Personally, I think you need a few weeks where you don't worry about running at all — go for some rides for fun, don't stress about a race at the start of July. But it's up to you too. The thing is, when Liam mentioned

[24:46] the half and the 10K the other day, part of me thought, that's interesting — but deep down the voice said no. I think because this all started with the grand ambition of a sub-three, the idea of just rolling around for a time that's not even close to a PB, in the half or the 10K, feels like — there's a part of me now thinking, I'll just go and

[25:17] enjoy the weekend of the Gold Coast Marathon as a spectator. I've done that before, ridden my bike around the course, watched people at different spots. So no pressure, Bronte, but you've got another member of your support crew now. It's disappointing — I've loved the messages we've had on Instagram, people sympathising with the injury and supporting you. It's been very nice. I feel like I've let

[25:49] the coach down. Like we said in an earlier episode, I feel like we've driven two cars off the lot for Benita — one's turning into an absolute super V8, and the other's a dead-set lemon with some fancy racing stickers that never really got started. You didn't even have to push it off the lot, though — it had a bit of a career before this, plenty of miles on the odometer. Good news, you're not headed to the wreckers just yet, not crushed into a cube.

[26:21] They're giving it a second life, putting it in the garage. Well, that's disappointing, but I know it's the right decision — it still sucks, gut-wrenching, but it's part of the sport. I think the biggest mistake people can make in your situation is thinking, I'll probably still be right for a marathon in a couple of weeks. Sometimes you just

[26:51] have to cut your losses and not let it get worse. But you're too good an athlete to just roll around out there — I don't think you'd enjoy it. No, I don't think I would either. That's great advice for anyone in the same situation — not every race, not every prep, and don't talk yourself into it if deep down you know. Now — do I need to stay? Am I allowed to leave? I need to go get some gels. Okay, you can be the caddy, Liam — the gel caddy.

[27:23] I want to get into the gels and the nutrition side properly. So Bronte's gone to grab the gel bag — thank you. We keep getting questions on nutrition, and I have a feeling we could sit down with a hundred different dietitians, a hundred different nutritionists, a hundred different coaches, and get three hundred different answers. So today I want to give some hard facts. We've got a message from Hugo — "hi, I'm heading up to the Gold Coast

[27:55] for my first ever marathon, along with my daughter, we're from Tassie. I'm wondering if you could discuss what the gels actually do — do they give you energy to keep running, or are they feeding your muscles to keep the legs turning over? Also, it's a bit strange that the gels are only being handed out at 30 kilometres on the course. I don't wear a running vest, but I've found some shorts with pockets so I can carry a couple comfortably." Thanks for sending that in, Hugo — Bronte's in about the same spot as you, running a little

[28:26] faster, but similar. It's great hearing your feedback, and enjoy the trip up. So, into the nutrition — I've had a look into the aid stations, and Ryan McDonald touched on this too. We had great feedback on that episode, people finding all the data on how it works really interesting. On the website it currently says more aid station information

[28:58] is coming soon, and we're five weeks out, so maybe more's still to come. But here's what we've got so far for the marathon, and we'll touch on the half after. Every 2.5K there's an aid station, but every second one is water only. The others, starting from 5K, are what they're calling refreshment stations — for the general field it's water and electrolytes, and for elite and semi-elite athletes there's a tropical-flavoured Fixx Nutrition drink,

[29:28] and a Fixx gel, but only at the 30K station, plus water. So basically you'll get fluids throughout, and only at 30K can you grab a gel. Why only at 30K? That's not how I'd do it personally — if I was in charge, I'd have gels earlier, especially if you're running over three and a half hours, or even three hours — you need at least a mouthful

[29:59] every 5K or so, with a bit of water. Waiting until 30K, I don't think it helps that much — you're already close to the finish by then, and it's what you do before 30K that really gets into your system. We won't pretend to know the exact science of absorption, but having calories, sugar, carbohydrate in you will help you run. So I went to

[30:29] Sports Dietitians Australia — this is Nerd Courtney talking now, by the way, Bronte, you might not have met him yet — and their advice on eating and drinking during endurance events is that for a half marathon or longer, having 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour is recommended to prevent muscle fatigue and maintain pace and cognition — keeping your brain feeling good, like a kid eating candy, the brain feels

[31:00] good and off they go. They recommend easily digestible, carbohydrate-rich options with minimal fat, fibre and protein — gels, energy chews, sports bars and sports drinks are all suitable choices to carry on the run. A standard 6% carbohydrate sports drink — your Gatorades and similar — at aid stations would help too. In this case we've got Fixx, and I'll go into that in a bit more depth. We're not going to tell you exactly how much to

[31:32] eat or what to eat — go to your coach, get personal advice on quantities — but the key takeaway is you need to be taking on energy throughout the run, and it's never too early to start. A 5K aid station is a great idea. On course we've got Fixx Nutrition, so at those 5K stations you're basically getting a sports-drink equivalent, and interestingly,

[32:02] it's only the one flavour — Tropical. Here's where it gets interesting, and this is just pure facts, not advice. A full serving size of the Fixx drink, as they'd mix it, contains 48 grams of carbs — for comparison, a gel is usually around 27 to 30 grams. But that 48-gram serving is two scoops, and the way they say to mix their product is

[32:36] one scoop per 500 to 700 millilitres of water. Think about that for a second — that's a lot of liquid, like a full glass. Benita's shaking her head — who's going to drink that? Exactly. On course you're getting a little cup — bear with me, I know it's a long story, Bronte, Liam's already learnt this. Say 700ml of mix gets you to 24 grams of carbs, but

[33:09] on course you're getting a tiny cup — at max that's going to hold around 250 millilitres. Even if you're lucky enough to get a full serve of that, you're only getting a quarter of the total. Essentially you're doing well to get maybe 12 grams from that cup at best — assuming it's mixed correctly and not under-diluted from a big tub on the day. Compare that to a gel, which is around 30 grams — the Fixx

[33:40] gel you can get at 30K has 29.3 grams of carbs in it, a mix of two different sugars, no caffeine. Thirty K is way too late to be getting that much energy in one hit — which is why carrying your own gels, like Benita's said, is so important. You're going to get a lot more bang for buck out of your own gels than you will from that on-course drink — if you're relying on just that one cup, you might

[34:10] arguably get a third of what you'd get from a gel. I said I wasn't giving advice, but I will now — don't rely on the on-course drink for your carbs, and this isn't a knock on the brand, it'd be the same conversation whatever sports drink was out there. It's not about the branding, it's the maths. This is an aid station — it's not a save station. It's going to aid you, but it's not going to save you. I'm trademarking that.

[34:40] I found the aid stations so stressful during the 30K that I actually skipped all of them, no water, no Fixx, because I found they took me away from my rhythm and momentum. Having my own gels with me was perfect for that. You didn't drink any water the whole time? Not really, no, coach.

[35:10] Yeah, you should, but — it's the breakfast thing all over again. If it's a cold day for the marathon, just a few sips at each station, you've got to be careful, even if you're not feeling thirsty, because it's such a long way, even past 30K. It is strange, though — when you're carrying gels with a fluid component, you don't really need to worry about the sports drink, just find water when you need it, even if it costs you a few seconds to stop, it's worth it.

[35:41] We talked about aid station etiquette with Ryan — go for the furthest cup, move out of the way after, and try to get your rubbish in the bin, help the volunteers out. I love that maths breakdown. So the takeaway for anyone doing it: don't assume that grabbing a little cup of sports drink is doing much for you — think about it before race day. The other thing, and this isn't just for Gold Coast, is it's worth knowing what's actually

[36:14] on course, because if you're relying on gels and lose access to them for some reason — this happened to me in a trail event, ran the first hundred metres downhill on a rough track and lost my gels, thought, this is going to be a long day on jelly beans — but it still worked, because you're still getting sugar in, in some form. While we're comparing exact numbers — the gels we've talked about, 27 to 30 grams — a medium banana has about 27 grams too, a large banana around 30.

[36:47] Just gives you some context for a gel. Good to know. I'm actually surprised — most marathon courses have flat Coke on course at some point, not sure if Gold Coast does, it's not in the data I've seen. But for context, if you grabbed a 250ml cup of cola on another marathon course and drank the whole thing, you're looking at around 27

[37:18] grams in that cup, plus about 23 milligrams of caffeine — a little kick along with the sugar. Now, the difference — and this is what makes a sports drink a better on-course option than something more concentrated — comes back to that 6% ratio we mentioned, how well your body can absorb the fluid. It's not to do with

[37:48] carbonation, it's the ratio of sugar to fluid. Same size cup or can of Red Bull, roughly that same 27 grams of sugar, but 80 milligrams of caffeine — a much bigger hit. It's probably closer to a caffeinated energy gel, which would have

[38:18] around 27 to 30 grams of carbs plus maybe 100 milligrams of caffeine. Is that important to have near the end? I think I had a caffeinated one around the 21, 22K mark for the 30K. Is that the right time for the last caffeinated one? With caffeine — and this is just me talking personally, not advice — it takes a while to actually kick in, peak caffeine levels can take up to 45 minutes on average.

[38:50] So caffeine before the event, to make sure you're at the right stimulant level for race start, is one factor. There's a second effect too — I can't fully explain the science, but there's something like an insurance effect from caffeine that isn't just about the brain and stimulation, something that happens in the body — someone with more of a science background could explain it better. But there are two effects at play with caffeine.

[39:23] You're better off spacing it out at intervals rather than loading it all at once — the rule of thumb is usually around three to six milligrams per kilo of body weight, but you'd want to trial that before race day.

[39:54] The final comparison — a Gatorade cup, similar size, you're only getting about 15 grams out of that, because it's mixed closer to that 6% level properly. So that gives everyone a range to judge roughly how much energy they're getting from whatever they grab. The takeaway for an average runner is: don't assume that because you're taking on electrolytes at an aid station,

[40:25] that's covering your energy needs — carrying your own gels is a significant takeaway from the maths we've just gone through. Bring your own plan, your own fuel, your own strategy, but also stay aware of what's actually on course. And it's worth checking the website for any race you're doing, not just Gold Coast — some electrolyte drinks are purely electrolytes with zero energy in them.

[40:57] If you're running a whole event assuming you're topping up on sugar the whole way and it's actually zero, you'll find out about that later on. On the caffeine thing — has anyone here tried a caffeine nap? You drink the caffeine, then go to sleep for 25 to 30 minutes, and when you wake up, it kicks in right as you wake. It's amazing, really good. It's a radio thing — I've never heard of it. Really good, I

[41:27] used to do it at uni, saw the athletes use it too. Benita, gel-wise for me — I had one 15 minutes before the 30, which was great, then only two more during the 30. But you're saying I should be having one every five? Even just a mouthful, you don't have to chug the whole thing. I generally say about every 20 to 30 minutes,

[41:58] just enough to keep it topping up your system. And try to take a sip of water with it, or as close to it as you can, near a station. That's coming from the amateur runner side of things — I used to think you had to take the whole gel every time, and it's only in the last twelve to eighteen months I've started just doing half,

[42:28] because no one tells you that you can. It's the idea that they say "have a gel," so you think you need the whole thing, but really you can have half now and the rest a few K later. At one point in a race I was running with a gel hanging out of my mouth, looked like a blue-tongue lizard in photos — that's good, though, the gel stuff is exactly the kind of thing people should be testing now, if they haven't already done a big prep race like Bronte's GC30

[42:58] to try it all out — this weekend or next is the time, if you haven't already. Everything we talked about with Benita ahead of Bronte's GC30 run, this is that phase now, and I'm excited — disappointed for myself obviously, but genuinely excited for you, Bronte. I've decided on my shoes! Should I tell you now? So, for the GC30 I didn't end up running in the

[43:29] Sauconys I'd bought — I know, some great feedback on your reasoning there. I ended up wearing my Speed Endorphin 4s, tried and tested, I know they're maybe more of a pace shoe but I just love them. But after finishing the 30 I thought, I'm going with the Sauconys —

[44:01] the Saucony Endorphin Pros. That's the marathon shoe of choice — big decision, you've settled. What colour? I'll show you — I think it's a yellowy-orange-white situation, from memory, size 7.5, in "Fog" and "Peel," the official colourway.

[44:31] How would you break in new shoes like that, if someone else is doing the same thing? You don't have to do every run or session in them — just do a few runs, maybe one of the longer sessions. Should she try the 32K in them? Doesn't have to be this week or next, but yeah, just get comfortable, even down to the socks you'd wear with them, that kind of thing. But I wouldn't run every run in them —

[45:02] once you're comfortable, save them, and then you're ready to go. They've got a good spring to them. What I can never wrap my head around is the variation in price — some shops have those runners at 360 bucks, others at 280, a pretty significant gap depending on where you buy them from. Did we ever find out — did Gold Coast end up getting a

[45:33] Gold Coast Marathon-branded ASICS shoe? Not that I've seen, not at this stage. I love the look — I think it's about as Gold Coast Marathon a colourway as you'll get in a shoe. I'm just excited you've settled on the shoe you're running in — I think that's exciting, a big part of this for amateur runners is the excitement of running in a new shoe bought for purpose. And going all

[46:05] the way back to the start of the year — another great takeaway from today for people out there: reward yourself. Doesn't have to be a cheat meal, just fuelling your body properly to do this stuff, that counts too. I love the idea of rewarding yourself through this. Too often, with the running boom right now, people get so focused on pushing, pushing, pushing —

[46:35] reward yourself, this is meant to be fun, all these challenges you're setting yourself. And Courtney, I know you feel a bit bad that I'm not running the marathon this year, because you think Kanangra broke me — which, technically, it did. You feel bad because you said, let's go down and run Kanangra, and I haven't been able to run properly since. But Kanangra was such an awesome experience, I wouldn't undo it — I've run marathons before, I'll run them again, but I'd never done Kanangra, and it was a running reward for me, going down to do

[47:07] that race. So whether it's a race you've never done before, or a new running outfit — reward yourself for this stuff. There's not much you have to buy for running, is there — shoes, clothes, that's about it. Actually, I did have something else here, I'll find it, keep talking while I look — I guess my last question for you today, Bronte — do you think I'm no longer eligible for the photo shoot?

[47:42] Oh god — this is the Gold Coast Marathon-specific photo shoot, going to be on display at the marathon? I think that means I have to decline. Can we give a shout out to Paul Harris, the Flow State Portrait Project — it's going to be on display at the marathon, in the convention centre.

[48:13] I don't think he wants a photo of a bloke who didn't get to the start line, does he. You're still on the entry list — probably shouldn't have spoken so soon if you wanted your photo. I might reach out to Paul and explain the situation, maybe he does a special section for everyone who successfully made it to the start line, and a separate, more memorial section for

[48:43] the rest of us. When you're walking through the Expo, keep an eye out — you'll see Bronte up there, and maybe me too. Make sure as you walk through the Gold Coast Marathon Expo before race day, look for the Paul Harris photography section — you'll definitely see Bronte, maybe you'll see me too. Alright, that's a good episode — please send me your thoughts and condolences, slide into my DMs and tell me how sorry you feel for me, it'll make me feel better. Subscribe, and we'll see you next

[49:16] week — well, you'll see us Saturday, but you'll see Bronte within spitting distance of the race itself now. Bronte, I'm so excited — getting to the taper, taper's getting close.