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# Benita Willis's Final Marathon Reality Check
- URL: https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/gold-coast-marathon-series-benitas-final-marathon-reality-check/
- Published: 2026-06-02T06:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-21T01:22:55.000Z
- Description: Courtney Atkinson and Liam Flanagan on shoe tech, Gold Coast Marathon, nutrition — recorded on the Gold Coast.
- Author: Courtney Atkinson
- Tags: Episodes, Gold Coast Marathon, Running Shoes, Sports Science, Running Training, #Import 2026-07-28 20:58

*Four and a half weeks out from her final Gold Coast Marathon as an athlete, Benita Willis joins Courtney Atkinson and Liam Flanagan for a training check-in that turns into a genuine reality check. After years of putting pressure on herself before every start line, Benita's oddly relaxed this time — even as her own coaching update reveals a recent marathon-pace long run that rattled her: watching splits creep to 3:47 pace in the dark left her recalculating what's actually achievable on race day.*

*The conversation moves into real coaching territory — how to build a target pace with almost no recent race data to work from, what a proper marathon-pace session should look like, and the gap between what Benita would love to run (2:20–2:22) and what her training actually supports. Listener questions round things out: how to hold your own rhythm racing in a big pack, and whether a warm-up before a marathon start even matters. She also explains why she's racing in ordinary Adidas trainers from JD Sports rather than a super shoe she's never trialled — and reflects, briefly, on what it means to close out her elite marathon career as the Gold Coast Marathon's own ambassador.*

## In this episode

- Why Benita feels unusually relaxed heading into her final Gold Coast Marathon
- What a 3:47/km marathon-pace long run revealed about her fitness
- Setting a realistic target time with almost no recent race data to work from
- Listener Q&A: holding your rhythm in a crowded pack, and whether warming up before a marathon matters
- Why she's racing in ordinary trainers instead of a super shoe
- Closing out an elite career as the race's own ambassador

## Timestamps

- **\[00:00\]** Catching up with Benita, four and a half weeks out
- **\[08:18\]** Navigating a hip scare and an unpredictable travel schedule
- **\[11:26\]** The marathon-pace long run that rattled her: 3:47/km splits
- **\[16:37\]** Working out a target pace with almost no recent data
- **\[26:59\]** Being honest about her goal time: 2:20–2:22
- **\[29:03\]** Listener Q: staying relaxed racing in a big pack
- **\[35:15\]** Listener Q: does warming up before a marathon matter?
- **\[39:24\]** Racing in ordinary trainers, not a super shoe
- **\[45:35\]** Reflecting on her legacy as Gold Coast Marathon Ambassador

## Listen

[Listen on Spotify](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/inthebeginningpodcast/episodes/GOLD-COAST-MARATHON-SERIES---BENITAS-FINAL-MARATHON-REALITY-CHECK-e3k7e5i?ref=inthebeginningpodcast.com).

## Related In The Beginning episodes

- [Gold Coast Marathon Series — Kickstarting Training With Benita Willis](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/gold-coast-marathon-series-kickstarting-training-with-benita-willis/) — where this coaching relationship started
- [Benita Willis — Half Marathon Focus](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/benita-willis-half-marathon-focus-gold-coast-marathon-series-2026/) — an earlier check-in on her training block
- [Andy Buchanan — The Aussie Marathon Record Holder Is Coming Back](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/andy-buchanan-the-aussie-marathon-record-holder-is-coming-back-to-defend-his-gol/) — the marathon-pace session Benita references here
- [The Gold Coast Marathon guide](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/gold-coast-marathon/) — everything two full series taught us about race day

## Full transcript

Auto-generated transcript. Timestamps approximate. Hosts: Courtney Atkinson & Liam Flanagan.

**Read the full transcript** 

\[00:00\] In the beginning — Gold Coast Marathon series returns. Four and a half weeks to go, Courtney. That's come around way, way too quick. Liam, is this different for you? No. Let's say hello to the Lace Up Running Gold Coast Marathon ambassador, the coach with the most — Benita Willis. How are you, Benita? Hi, Liam — yeah, good, thanks. Great to be here today and have a chat. Four and a half weeks out — I wanted to check with you, Courtney, because it has raced up, and I'm sure there are people listening thinking, oh my gosh, four and a half weeks. Does it feel different for you

\[00:31\] because you're racing this year — does that time to the race feel even shorter? No, I just feel short on time anyway, even eight weeks out. We wanted to talk to Benita a lot more through this series — the reality is I haven't been home enough to talk to her during it. Not because you've been out training? No, all these other trips, nothing to do with training. We knew that would happen, and it has been the case. That's all well and good, but I'm relaxed. It's nice.

\[01:01\] I didn't think I'd be able to run the Gold Coast Marathon and be this relaxed. And that's probably the reason why, for so many years, I haven't got to the start line — I'd put so much pressure on it. I'd think, if I'm going to do it, I need to go out and run as a professional, run a professional time. That's completely gone out the door now. The experiment we've done — running only every second day, taking on board a lot of what Benita said last year and even at the beginning of this year about how much you would

\[01:33\] probably need to do to run a marathon — I've taken all that on board, and it's made me very relaxed. Well done, coach. Benita, how's your crew going for this? The athletes you're training — how's the lead-up been with four and a half weeks to go? Yeah, they're all doing really well, and I'm really happy with where they're at. I've got recreational runners trying to break 4:30, all the way through to an elite athlete coming out from America — Lindsay Flanagan's coming out again.

\[02:04\] Where did she finish last year? She won it — no, she won in 2022, when I was really pregnant. She had a pretty hard year with injury last year, and this year she came eighth, I think, at the Vienna Marathon in 2:28\. But kind of like what you're doing, Courtney, she had a pretty limited prep — we just wanted to get her to the start line in Vienna and run well without risking anything, so a pretty conservative build-up. We're doing a bit more training before Gold Coast. Can we ask about her expectations for this race? Oh, look, she obviously

\[02:36\] just wants to have fun. She's probably not in PB shape — her PB is 2:23 — but you never know, because she's got so many years of running behind her and she's been training really well. She probably hasn't raced much lately, though, and sometimes racing a lot really helps — in the last year or two she hasn't raced much. She is doing a race in Chicago this weekend; it's a tough course, so it won't be fast, but it's good to have a race before a marathon. So she's coming into it having done some good training, without too many

\[03:08\] races. So it's hard to say — there'll be a really good field, it'll be a good race for us, and we'll see what happens. But she's relaxed too, going into it. Her sister's getting married just after the race, so she's pretty excited to run here and then go back to Colorado for the wedding — she's been organising heaps for it. Let's be very clear, Liam — I'm not there to have fun. I wasn't around when you were racing triathlon, but I'm not sure you ever had fun competing either. I don't think the competitive bone in

\[03:38\] you is that easy to switch off — you can't. I'm relaxed, you're relaxed, but I'm not having fun. I'm not going to be having fun. I've got some races going on, and I'll get into some training — looking at who I'm up against and what they've been doing, I need some inspiration for what I need to do in the next three weeks to beat them. But yes, dead serious. Before we disappear into the Courtney Atkinson journey — you mentioned Lindsay having the wedding after the marathon. For people four and a half weeks out,

\[04:12\] the people listening to this who might be taking on this marathon for the first time — would you recommend having something non-exercise-based booked in the diary afterwards, as extra motivation? Obviously people who've got this far into their training block are motivated enough, but would you recommend having something relaxing and exciting there as almost a reward post-race? Oh yeah, 100%. We have so many people who do a marathon wherever they go around the

\[04:44\] world, or even a half marathon, and then have a little holiday afterwards. If you're spending this long training for an event you're taking seriously, of course you're going hard on the day — it's good to have some fun afterwards, and you're not training hard after a marathon. Well, you shouldn't be. A lot of runners are so focused all year that it's good to have a bit of a break, and sometimes if you're away from home you feel like you're having a break even though you're not training hard. It's nice for your family too, because you get to see more of them — you don't have to rush

\[05:14\] off to a session. She's going to Sydney for a few days, then back to Colorado — her sister's got a hens party for a few days and then the wedding. It's really good timing for that. Book it in now, people. I'm sure I've asked you this before, Benita — but back when you used to focus on one or two marathons a year, did you take a complete break from running for a few weeks afterwards? Yeah, definitely. And obviously we're

\[05:44\] talking pre-super-shoes here, so even training for a marathon back then, you got a lot more sore during the actual training. I remember getting really sore calves after those hard marathon sessions and always needing a few days to recover. So when you do the marathon itself, even if you're not sore afterwards, it's still so good to not be doing structured training for a few weeks. For anyone I coach, I don't write training for the first week — I don't think you should really be running that week.

\[06:14\] You should be doing other things, like relaxing with your family. Some exercise is fine — walking, riding, swimming — and then the week after you can do a bit of jogging, but you should definitely have a bit of a break. It's a mistake — and this often happens if the marathon doesn't go well — to get straight back into training. But that's what a lot of people want to do. Do you reckon that's changed for elite athletes and runners over, say, the past 20 years? Because I can always recall in triathlon, or even thinking of

\[06:46\] Michael Shelley when I trained around with him — it was a real conscious effort at the end of the season to stop completely, to a degree. More of a mental break than a physical one, but completely stop after running a marathon, just get out of your head for a few weeks. Is that still the nature of it now, or do you think with super shoes and the way running's going, it's just go, go, go? Yeah, look, I think elites are racing more after marathons now — even within a few weeks, I've seen some elites do a marathon and

\[07:17\] then run a 10K the next weekend and go quite well. I think they're recovering better — probably better recovery from the super shoes, but also better nutrition habits at the elite level, so they know a lot more about resting their bodies. But I think recreational runners should still take the old-school approach of taking time off, because they don't have the same recovery. They might be wearing the super shoes, but that's about it — they're probably not doing ideal nutrition and

\[07:47\] not getting as much rest. So I still think recreational runners need that break, and that's generally how I program people. All right, Courtney, enough about everyone else — let's break you down. We often get criticised, Liam, because I don't give enough information while running, so today's the day I'll give plenty. I said from the beginning I didn't want to throw Benita under the bus with my training, because I knew this was going to happen — there was no way I was ever going to commit to anything. And that's still 100% true even this week. I'm literally sitting here

\[08:18\] as we're talking, not sure whether I'm in Melbourne Thursday or Friday, or where I'm going even this week — that's the nature of my training right now. But 12 weeks ago I had another little scare, thought my hip was playing up or whatever — turned out to be nothing, it was fine. Since then, if you looked at my last 12 weeks running only every second day, I've probably averaged about 45 to 50K a week for the first six weeks. Then I took a down week.

\[08:51\] I'd gone travelling somewhere, so I took a down week and came back to about 40K — literally only three hours forty of running for the week. Since then I've put together some really solid weeks, only running three to four times a week: 68K, 74K, 70K last week — a few weeks around 70\. It'd be silly to say that's all I've done though, because on the days I've been home, every other day, I jump on the Zwift on the

\[09:21\] bike and ride for an hour. That's not just idle spinning either — I'm still putting out some wattage. I'd say it's recovery for the legs, but really good active recovery. If I'm running aerobically, like I did for the first two hours on the weekend, my heart rate's sitting between 130 and 140\. On the bike doing that recovery on the other days, I'm probably more in that 110 zone. So it's real recovery, but my legs are still working. What other information can I

\[09:52\] give you along the way? When Liam told me six weeks ago that we had six weeks to go, I was like, you're kidding — I had no idea, because I was just cruising along. I thought, okay, I've got to get serious and get some long runs done here, or I'm never going to survive. So last weekend in the forest I got through two hours just cruising around on the single track, then ran on for another half an hour or so and did a pretty solid tempo effort up

\[10:24\] a hill, and felt amazing. Aerobically I'm handling everything in the trails, and I actually pulled up really well on the legs from that this week. I went out on Sunday, even after being in a car for 48 hours coming back from Red Bull Race the Sun. But I thought, I've got to get this done this week — otherwise we're down to what, three weeks now? It's getting too close. So I did the session Andy Buchanan told me about — pretty standard by the sounds of it — two hours

\[10:55\] aerobic, then into a 20-minute marathon effort. Physically I handled that fine — aerobically I pulled up a bit sore. I ran the first two hours pretty consistently in that aerobic zone, averaging maybe around 4:15s or so — not slow, but not too fast either.

\[11:26\] But then when I went into my marathon-pace effort, I only averaged 3:47s. I wasn't watching my watch, since it was still dark, and my first thought was alarming — I'm going to have to go out at a minimum of 3:50 pace doing this, and that isn't equating to anywhere near what I'd hoped. Because 3:40 is a 2:35, isn't it? 3:50 is a 2:45\. All right, Benita, you've just

\[11:57\] heard Courtney's spiel — there might have been some excuses in there. What do you make of where he's at? For starters, I think doing a few of these longer runs is good for you. But going back 12 weeks, I heard one episode where you were saying you weren't sure you were even going to run — so going back that far, I think it's awesome that you're going to be on the start line. I don't think you're going to make any mistakes, even if you're pulled up sore

\[12:28\] from that long run, because you've cut your mileage back so much from where you started. Even this morning — in past years I would have gone and run with the boys and done a session, but this morning I jogged for an hour. I think doing those harder long runs, and I heard what Andy said about those sessions — that two-by-three-K session into the 12K — that's a pretty hard session, and you haven't done that.

\[12:58\] No, not yet. But this is what we're here to discuss, right? We had Andy on last week talking about it — remind everyone of the Andy session. He does a 20-minute warm-up, then two-by-3Ks with a stand-down recovery — I can't remember exactly how long, but it was a full stop rather than a jog-through. Let's say two minutes rest for argument's sake, then a stand-down into a 12K

\[13:28\] marathon effort — half-marathon pace for the two three-Ks, fairly hard, into a 12K. Do you reckon that would break me? I just think, for you, the one thing you're missing — and it's fine that you won't get it in this prep — but the thing you've missed over the last few years is racing much. You didn't do the T100 10K, you didn't do — so I think the biggest mistake you could make at Gold Coast is going out a little too hard, because you just haven't

\[14:00\] got that speed work in. Someone who's raced a lot, if they go out a little hard, their body handles it better in the second half — whereas you need to make sure you don't go out too hard, and you'll run really well. If you go out a bit too hard, I reckon you'll just start creating lactate in your system, so that's the one thing you have to be wary of. I'd be starting conservative — whether that's 3:50 pace, I

\[14:31\] don't know. That session — the two-hour jog into marathon-pace effort — is always really hard, because sometimes, I think I heard Andy say, you go more off feel than actual pace. I wouldn't read too much into it either way. Where did you do that 20 minutes? On the road. That's fine — I just ran up the coast and back, did about five and a half K or whatever

\[15:02\] it was — I was pushing it a bit. What was interesting — and I remember this from when you trained my brother — you were very specific about pacing then, and even with Bronte last year you gave her a range of pacing to hit. I definitely wasn't maxing out at any stage, I felt quite comfortable aerobically, but at the same time I was thinking, I'm not going to be able to hold this for a marathon. So I wonder — is that pace still too hard for the effort?

\[15:33\] Yeah — well, I don't generally give people that exact session, but I can usually tell from how they handle those harder long runs every few weeks from 12 weeks out. So by this point, three to five weeks out, we generally know. For some people I work with, I've adjusted to a slower pace than what they wanted, either because they've raced and are running a half marathon at a similar pace to what they want to run the

\[16:04\] marathon at, or they've been struggling with the pace in a specific marathon session, so we adjust. But for you, there's no data to work from — you haven't done a flat-out half marathon, or even a half at marathon pace for the first 15K and then a bit harder. Sometimes doing something like that tells you what it really feels like. What would be a good long session I could do for the purpose of getting a better

\[16:37\] understanding of what that pacing could be? Putting you on the spot there. There's a few options — you could do something like four or five times 4K, where the first 4K is at around 3:50 pace, a little slower than marathon pace, then the middle ones — second, third, fourth — at marathon pace with a 1K float between. That way you're practising how it feels off a 5K jog warm-up, so you're not too

\[17:08\] tired when you start. But having said that, the marathon is about how well you can run when you're tired, so you need some sessions like the one you did — two-hour jog into marathon pace — done while tired. But you also need one where you're not as tired, just to feel what the pace is like fresh. Would you do that one in the super shoes? Yeah, you'll have to run in them at some point. Or a race would be good for you, but you're not going to fit one in — you probably don't have time. I think Noosa was probably the

\[17:40\] last real chance. Brisbane's this weekend, but it's a bit hilly, and you're probably heading to Melbourne anyway. For someone like you, a race takes too much time out of the schedule and defeats the purpose. Another option is something like a 20K run a bit faster than marathon pace — you could treat it like a trial half: the first 5K slower, at marathon pace, then try to go a bit

\[18:11\] faster. Because if you pick a pace and can't handle it in training over 21K, you've got no chance holding it for a full marathon. That makes common sense. I set people — I've got quite a few who aren't racing — with three or four weeks out, an odd distance like 15K, 20K, or 25K, something that's not a half marathon and not a 10K, so they're practising marathon pace and going a bit faster. It's sort of like a race.

\[18:41\] But remember, whatever you do in training, you'll be fresher on race day — if it's something in training rather than an actual race, you'll always run better in a real half marathon. So whatever you run in training, you're probably in a bit better shape than that on the day, but it gives you the chance to push faster than marathon pace if you can, so you feel what marathon pace is like at the start and then go a bit faster. I've got a lot of people running half marathons this weekend — a few who did a

\[19:12\] race last weekend, or a hit-out in training. So what are we — this weekend's four weeks out, and you reckon that's the last chance? I think three weeks out's fine too — three to five, I'd say. Let's put down that marker for everyone else as well: for that last intense hit-out over distance, you wouldn't run any closer to the race than within the last three weeks. I personally wouldn't, just

\[19:43\] because you don't want to risk not recovering. For you, Courtney, I think if you did a hit-out, you'd actually find that harder than a two-and-a-half-hour run, just because you're so aerobically fit — anything a bit faster than marathon pace, you'll probably pull up a bit tired from. I feel like you've got the aerobic side of the race covered — it's more about what pace to start at, and getting some running in a bit faster than marathon pace. I know you've been doing sessions, which is fine for

\[20:13\] interval sessions and stuff like that — not as much as you'd think, actually. The quickest thing I've done is a 20 minutes at 3:35 pace, and other than that I haven't really gone under 3:50s much. Once I had a bit of volume under me, I was thinking: if I can't run aerobically for 26K, or 20K, I've got

\[20:46\] no chance running quicker than this pace — that's the most basic level of it. Aerobically I'm running along fine, muscles are holding up, and I haven't purposely done much quicker at all — I haven't even done strides, which I'd normally do, because I know how much they help my rhythm. I've deliberately avoided stressing the calves with strides on top of everything else. Not ideal, and I'm not suggesting anyone else do that.

\[21:16\] But for me, I've been ultra-conservative about everything — this is what I'm trying to work out. I like that idea of a sustained effort over a longer distance, because the way my brain works, I could go and run three or four K reps, or three-five-K reps, and with recovery I could probably manage myself through that. But to go and try to do it in one hit — that's hard. And if you do that, just make

\[21:48\] sure you have quite easy days before and after, so it's almost a week easy with that session in the middle — I think that's something you probably need to do. But having said that, because you're so aerobically fit, unlike a lot of people I coach who are never as fit aerobically — that takes years of training behind you. That's the first thing that you

\[22:18\] want as a coach — to get people to the start line. That soreness I pulled up with, probably because it was the first time I'd gone that long with an effort on the end — I walked down the stairs Monday morning like I'd just run a marathon. That's just part and parcel of it, the reality of getting into some of the harder stuff. But you also can't do too much of that, because your goal is to get to the start

\[22:49\] line injury-free — you're not going to run well sore. You'll run well if you feel good, even if you've missed a few sessions, and you start with your body at 100%. That's a big one for everyone — I watch people getting ready for the marathon week after week, and some of them say they pulled up really sore from a session, but then they go out and still hit the next one because an app tells them they have to, or whatever it is.

\[23:19\] They've got a structured session. Like I said, this Tuesday morning I'd normally go and do intervals, but I consciously thought — I was sore over the weekend, ran Sunday night, let's just jog instead. I didn't quite jog, but — three and a half weeks out. Sorry, going back to that date: if you're racing the marathon on the 4th and 5th of July, that means your final long-run weekend shouldn't go past the 13th and

\[23:50\] the 14th — that'll be your three weeks out. That's two weeks out, isn't it? No, the 13th and 14th, with the race on the 5th of July — I reckon we've got an extra weekend up our sleeve then, an extra weekend of training in you. On that note, Benita — knowing Courtney like you do, and having heard some of the data — Courtney's refused to commit to a time. What do you think he's capable of? It's so hard to know.

\[24:20\] I'd personally be conservative — something like 2:45\. I think if you ran that, it'd be awesome. How does that make your heart feel, Courtney? Terrible. But I'd — that's bloody awful, Liam, I almost don't want to go and do it now. I'd start at that pace, but you're probably in better shape than that. I'm a bit nervous about starting at 3:40, which is around 2:30\. So what pace is 2:45? I think it's about 3:53 — or 3:50, I haven't worked it down to

\[24:53\] the exact pace yet. The one thing I'm scared of — and you're right on the money — is muscularly not getting there, not having the resilience for running that far, given the pretty limited volume I've realistically done. It's not about whether I can cover 42K — after last weekend I know I can run 42K, that's not a stretch — it's about how hard I can run it. That's the whole ball game.

\[25:25\] of running in general, right? Everyone can run — I can go run a full marathon, that's no stress, I've done a marathon. But I want to race a marathon, and that's a whole different ball game. I know what you mean. I think even if that first time is 2:40, once you get something out in that vicinity, you can do another one and try to get closer to 2:30, or even break 2:30.

\[25:55\] Even looking back to when I was an elite athlete, my first marathon was 2:38 and my second was 2:26\. Did you blow up in the first one? No, but I made a few mistakes — I'd run a 67-minute half marathon in the build-up to running the 2:38\. So I went out too conservatively — that one was in New York too, a hard course. There's a lot of room to improve to that second one, which is the plan, right? Get through one, then look at getting ready for something quicker. My 2:45

\[26:27\] for those playing along is about 3:54 pace — I'm sure that sounds slow, like you probably can't run that slow. Did you say you can't run that pace? We might hold you to that. I don't want to run that slow, but — while we're on that time, I know there'll be people listening hearing Courtney and Benita describe that as slow, but the important thing we've stressed on this podcast, if anything, is that your running is your running — and we're talking right now about one of the

\[26:59\] world's best-ever triathletes alongside one of the world's best-ever distance runners, so it's a different conversation. Where would you honestly like to be? Honestly, I'd like to be at 2:22, 2:20\. Given a real background and everything, that's where I'd like to be — but I've always been realistic that I haven't trained enough for that in the last few years. I just want to give everyone the context so they can

\[27:29\] understand — Benita's thinking conservatively at 3:54 pace, and in an ideal world you're thinking 3:18 pace, which is a 2:20\. Okay — but we're not, I'm just trying to put it in context. You're talking about what I'd be happy with realistically, and that's what I'm saying. Benita touched on it, and this is the whole thing for everyone listening — I ran that pace on the weekend as a bit of a, okay, well, I'll use

\[28:01\] that as a guide for my pacing, and I thought, that's all I can do right now. I was realistic afterwards that it was quite hard, running two hours into that effort, and that's the pace I could hold. So realistically, common sense tells me, okay, put the super shoes on, freshen up, I might be a bit better, but I'm still not going to suddenly drop 10 seconds a K and hold it for a marathon. For context, Allie Lyndon, a friend of the pod who we had on who's aiming for a 2:35,

\[28:32\] that's around 3:40 pace. And 3:45 pace is around a 2:41, 3:47 gets you a 2:40\. The good news about where this is sitting is I've got a lot of people racing, including — perfect segue, actually, because we've got a question I want to put to you both, as people with experience running in packs. We got a question that

\[29:03\] came through on Spotify: hey guys, could you talk about racing in big packs? It can be difficult to lock into your own rhythm with so many runners around — what do you recommend for staying relaxed and focused on your own race in that kind of environment? With big packs — say at Gold Coast Marathon, they have really good pacers, so I'm not sure if they mean a pacing group specifically, or just running in a pack generally. Let's imagine they mean joining

\[29:34\] a pacing group with the balloon. I always think the pacers in pacing groups are usually pretty experienced, so you just have to trust they're doing a good job — usually there's a spread of a few paces around whatever they're pacing. I wouldn't try to be right at the front of the pack; I think you can relax more towards the back, without feeling like you have to be at the front in case a move gets made and you miss it. The marathon's a long-haul race, so just run at the back, but try to run on the side of

\[30:04\] the pack where the drinks are — you don't want to be missing your drinks. If there are big packs, and I'm sure there'll be some big packs at Gold Coast, you've got to be careful making sure there's space around you too, since your watch data might not be accurate in a pack. So don't stress about the exact pace you're running — just trust the pacers and the people doing the job. If it's a bit windy, make sure you tuck in behind someone, because that helps — if someone's in front of you shielding the wind, it's always good to be in a pack.

\[30:35\] So just try to maintain your own rhythm and relax. If you've got a race this weekend or something coming up, practise that — a lot of people I coach don't practise running in packs because they train alone, and then when they get in a pack it's like, whoa, so many people around. If you end up in the middle of the pack, that's just where you are. Personally I try to run at the back of a pack, but if you feel like you want to be at

\[31:06\] the front, great. I find if you're at the back you can see what's happening more, get your drinks easier, and if it's windy, especially in the first half, just relax as much as you can. I always think you relax better in a pack than running in no-man's-land by yourself. That watch point you mentioned is really important, because a lot of people listening to this, running the half or the 10K or whatever it is, treat their watch as their bible — the thing they've followed religiously throughout their training block. Then suddenly on race

\[31:38\] day, in these packs, the watch can be slightly less accurate. I don't even really run looking at my watch — when I was an athlete I didn't use one at all. But I heard Andy say that too, and it's true, especially running near big buildings — you've got to be careful, your watch might not be showing the right pace. So I guess it's a case of, if you are going to get on the balloon, pick a pace

\[32:08\] group with a target in mind and go all in — commit to the balloon, and if your watch seems fast or slow, relax and trust that the person holding the balloon knows what they're doing. That's a tough thing to do. There'll be clocks up every now and again on course, but you might only see one, maybe at halfway — the elites tend to use them most, but for people running a lot slower and out there a lot longer, the paces probably mean more to them, because

\[32:40\] they're out there for so long. I always thought it's stressful to be worrying every second of a whole race — whether it's two, three, or four hours — worrying about pace the entire way. There's a lot of energy involved in just watching your watch. We used to say this in swimming too — swimming out to a buoy, every time you lift your head you're literally slowing yourself down. So there's a happy medium between knowing you're heading in

\[33:10\] the right direction and keeping your head down so you're not fighting the water — same idea if you're lifting your arm every ten seconds to check your watch, it's probably not the best way to run, and it's stressful too. But that's just me. Some specific training questions have come through — one where Lucy didn't quite ask a question, but wanted to let us know she's had to downgrade from the

\[33:40\] full to the half for this year's race — she's really looking forward to it. Is there anything Lucy, or anyone else who's made that adjustment from full to half, should be doing differently at this stage? If they've been doing the right training for the full, they've probably got plenty of Ks in their legs, but is there something they should focus on in this last month to better prepare for the half? If you've

\[34:12\] downgraded, you're probably aerobically pretty fit, unless it's for an injury reason. I'd look at getting in a 10K or a parkrun, something a lot faster than half-marathon pace, because you've been training for a pace that's likely a fair bit slower than what you could run for a half. Doing something faster would really help — even something like a 10K where you run the first 5K at half-marathon pace

\[34:43\] and the second 5K faster — a 10K effort with the first 5K at half-marathon pace and the second faster. Or just find a 10K or parkrun and go faster in it. I always think if you're training for the marathon, it's great to do something shorter; if you're training for the half, it's great to do something shorter again leading into the longer race. Can I be completely self-indulgent here — my wife is running the marathon this year, and

\[35:15\] she asked — I loved your rundown of the race and Alana's role in you finishing it, that's amazing. Alana had a couple of questions, knowing we'd be chatting with you today. Do I need to warm up ahead of the marathon, or are the first couple of Ks my warm-up? That's a good question. I tell everyone the first few Ks are part of your warm-up into the race — if you're going to be out there for hours, you don't want to spend 20 minutes warming up and waste glycogen. I'd just walk or jog for five minutes, maybe do a few strides. You don't even need to take a gel before you start.

\[35:47\] Just make sure you're relaxed, and if it's cold like it is this week on the Gold Coast, wear enough clothes that you can throw off before the start. Use the first few Ks as part of your warm-up — don't stress about being raring to go right from the start, it's about warming up into the race. What about people running quicker — where's the threshold for needing to warm up more? For people running quicker, I'd say jog up to 10 minutes — usually five to eight minutes of jogging and a few run-throughs, just so you're ready for

\[36:19\] the start — still not a huge warm-up, but enough that if your first K is at 3:30 pace, you're ready for it, while still warming up into the race overall. If you're running faster, you need to be more ready to go. Alana's next question, in addition to long runs — what other sessions should she be doing at this point in her prep? She's been really good at prioritising those long runs and race-pace efforts. First of all, that's the most specific thing to the marathon, doing the long run.

\[36:51\] She's doing great with that. I think anything like a solid 10K, a solid 15K — something race-like, like what we were saying about Courtney — even a parkrun, or two parkruns, would be good. That's fun to do too, rather than going out and doing something alone on the pavement. There you go — you'll be off to parkrun Saturday morning while I take the kids to soccer. One more, from Jodie — remember after our chat about people filming

\[37:22\] themselves in races — at GC30, she was running along the trail and someone stuck their arm out holding a camera and nearly took her out. Anyway, she's loving the series, loves hearing from Benita. She's doing the half on Saturday and the marathon on Sunday — any tips on recovery in between? There's nothing wrong with going slower, and it doesn't matter what pace you're

\[37:53\] out there a lot longer than others. What do you reckon for recovery if someone's doing the double? For anyone doing that, first of all, pacing — I wouldn't suggest going as hard as you can in the half, since you need to make sure you recover enough for the marathon, so don't go too hard on that first day. For recovery, make sure you're carb-loading in the days before — I always say just eating carbs at every meal for the last two days before

\[38:24\] the half. Then, as soon as you finish the half, on top of your normal fuelling strategy during the race, make sure you have something to eat ready straight away — some people wait until they get home to start their recovery nutrition, so have something ready as soon as you finish. Don't spend the rest of Saturday walking around doing stuff — if you're on the Gold Coast you'll probably want to, but try to relax, rest, and put your legs up. That's probably the biggest thing —

\[38:54\] getting enough rest, whether that's an afternoon sleep on Saturday or just lying down with your legs up. Resting is pretty important if you're doing the double, and staying relaxed — it doesn't really matter if the sleep you get Saturday night isn't fantastic. But fuelling straight after, resting enough, not walking around all Saturday afternoon, and not going too fast in the half — all of that matters. All right, Benita, what are you

\[39:24\] running at the moment? I've bought some Adidas shoes from JD Sports — swanky too. What are they? Leopard print. I don't even know what model they are. You're running in those? Yeah, I've got another pair I run in as well, good shoes, similar to the Boston, which I like running in. I just got them online, don't even know the exact model, but they're cool — not carbon, but pretty nice. And you've got a run this weekend, Mackay — back in the homeland, home arena run. I love how I say 'the homeland,' I only lived there for three

\[39:55\] months. I've been meaning to bring this up — when we first met you gave off this North Queensland persona, like you loved Brad Beven growing up and took on his Crocs territory. But then I found out you're a Gold Coaster, 100%. Well, I still claim Mackay — born at the Mackay base, right where Benita was born. Right, so we're — you've only been there a few months.

\[40:26\] We're just different ages — born in '79, but your birthday's soon, isn't it? August. I had a birthday in May, so I turned 47\. Same hospital, only a few months apart, but I'm not exactly a North Queenslander. How long did you spend there? I don't know exactly. The reason I asked about shoes — because Benita, while Courtney goes and gets them, what's your prediction? Courtney Atkinson has chosen his marathon shoe.

\[40:58\] What do you think it is? Oh, I see them here — look at these. What are you seeing there, Benita? A Nike — I'm not across all the carbon shoes, but the best Nike shoe, is it the Alpha Fly? I've gone with the Alpha Fly. Why? Well, the majority of my road running has been in the Vomeros, and I'm one for

\[41:30\] not having run in a super shoe before, so I thought at least stay familiar with the brand — there should be some similarity in structure and everything else. That's the safest option, since I've never run in a Vaporfly. Actually, I lie — I did run in some really early Salomon carbon shoes, one of their first attempts at it in Australia. It didn't have the technology of

\[42:00\] what they were up against at the time. That's a sub-2:40 shoe, though — I love it. Quickly, what do we think of the colourway? For Courtney, it's a bit loud — with the purple, it's a bit much by Courtney Atkinson standards. I'm a fan of it, honestly. What I would have recommended for you to run the ASICS Gold Coast Marathon in would have

\[42:31\] been the ASICS Metaspeeds, or the Skyrise — I think those are the best out there, 100%. I also really like the new ASICS Nova Blast range they've just released. Well, like I said, none of the shoe brands have offered me anything, so I'm going with what I like — and in all seriousness, I've been running in Vomeros a lot, including the two-and-a-half-hour run I did on the weekend, so it makes sense to stay in the family. Quickly, Benita — he's never run in a carbon

\[43:02\] plated shoe before, he's picked the shoe, he's got them, he's going to race in them. What else should he do in these before race day? I'd do just one solid run in them — you don't need to do too much. To be transparent, having heard everything today — I've got Andy's input, the best two runners in the country giving me advice — I'm thinking at this stage I'll probably head back to the trails

\[43:32\] and do a long run this weekend with an effort at the end, because my legs are sore this week. Give it another week of purely aerobic, then look at that half-marathon-effort session — you said three weeks out, but I think that's now going to land at four weeks out. This weekend is four weeks out, so I'll do that session around three weeks out, probably on the Friday — a little before the three-week mark, then it's recovery time. Because my worry — or not worry — is that you may pull up

\[44:05\] a bit sore if you do something too hard. You don't want to overdo it. So what kind of pace are we looking at? For the session, a 20 or 21K effort or so. Depending on whether you think 3:50, or 3:40 is your marathon pace, maybe 3:45 — we're kind of all landing around 3:50\. I'll say 3:50 to be conservative. I'll go with Benita — I'm going to trust Benita.

\[44:35\] I would too. Don't listen to the idiot leaning over the fence telling you to go ten seconds faster — see how that works out. For you, I'd just be conservative, and whatever you do, you'll run a better marathon for it. I'm so excited to call your name down the blue carpet. We can't pay for this advice, Liam — anyone listening would be crazy not to get Lace Up Running to help them for a marathon. I'm going to take all that on board.

\[45:05\] And we've got, what, four weeks to go? Will you be there on race day? Yeah, up in the VIP area, presenting medals, maybe doing some livestream stuff. I've got a heap on Friday too — we've got a conference to speak at, an expo, the elite athlete conference. Lots going on. It's so good to get the thoughts of not only the best running coach in the business, not only the best

\[45:35\] distance female athlete Australia has ever produced, but a Gold Coast Marathon Ambassador too. That's another part of this — I love that every year the Gold Coast Marathon ambassadors, the whole team, get wheeled out, and it's another special part of this marathon that's so exciting. All right, thank you Benita, good luck to the rest of your athletes for their remaining month of training — can't wait to see them all crossing the line. Thanks, guys.