Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Tarawera Ultra 2023 – What I’ve Changed to Become a Faster Ultrarunner
Happy New Year! (bit late or still ok?) 2023 is shaping up to be a big one for me and my business. I’ve got a lot of content lined up for the year, and I can’t wait to share it with you. To kick things off, I’d like LOVE to invite you to join me…
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Am I Running Too Slow?
I doubt it. I can almost guarantee you are running too fast rather than too slow. Everyone thinks that performance comes from hard workouts. In reality, your best performances are predominantly dictated by your aerobic base. Not your ability to run 10x 1min fast. Running longer than 60min requires the ability to utilise fats maximally,…
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Tapering for Running Races | The Smart Method
“Generally, you can only do too much.” Tapering is always hard. You need to freshen up, but you still have to do some hard workouts so you don’t get stale. Otherwise, the race will be too much of a shock to the system. At the same time, you can’t thrash yourself, or you’ll start the…
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Analysing My 2:39 Marathon | Learning From My Mistakes
Auckland Marathon 2022 was set to be my best marathon. My training had gone perfectly. Probably my best ten-week block of training EVER. I don’t think I missed a workout, and that wasn’t through being super addicted to training. I loved every run and only began to feel tired in my last ‘training’ week before…
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What it takes to Run a sub-3hr Marathon | The Numbers AND The Workouts
“I want to run sub 3hrs. Is that realistic? “ I hear the 3hr marathon goal thrown around A LOT. A large pool of runners I work with are 35-45 year old working professionals. They come to me and say, “I want to run sub 3hrs. Is that realistic?” They’re often concerned they might have…
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A Higher Max HR Won’t Make You a Faster Runner (Lionel Sanders Example)
Does maximum heart rate influence performance? Short answer, no. Cardiac output matters. Your maximum heart rate has a higher chance of DECREASING as you get fitter. I’ll explain why. Absolute numbers mean nothing, and relative numbers mean everything. First, a recap of some important terms and science: Heart rate (bpm). The number of heartbeats per…
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How to Find Your Goal Pace for ANY Running Race.
Have you ever blown up in a race and had to run the last few Kms or Miles about 1min slower than you started? YES. Of course you have. We all have! I will tell you why you blew up and how you can go faster next time. You started too hard, bro! Why does…
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Event-specific Training for Running PBs.
One of the biggest mistakes I see runners make is ignoring specificity in their training. If you want to run a PB at your next event, you need to be ticking off event-specific workouts from two months out. What most people do is a random mix of volume, ambiguous intensity often referred to as “speed”,…
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Are You Ready For the Future of Running? What is Running Power?
If you’re a moderately competitive cyclist, you HAVE to have a power meter. Power meters give you a more accurate representation of your work (energy) when you’re running. Think about running uphill. Can you look at your pace? Nope, it’ll be slow. Can you look at your heart rate, maybe, but if the hills <5min,…
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Training Zones for Runners. Let’s Make it Simple.
Speak the same language with training zones. It doesn’t matter if you’re using Strava’s default zones or an online Joe Friel calculator. Training zones can be equally beneficial to training prescription and training review. When I onboard a new runner, I’ll look at their ‘time in zones’ over the last month. Typically, I’ll see their…
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