Ryan Downs' Long Run

Brent Ford: My wife was just my was just like, please, no more run strict. And I'm like, no problem, I'll take the first day. I'll take the first day of the year off. Yeah. ⁓ but then you have to remember I'm still on holidays from work for three weeks. So I took the first off. ⁓ didn't run. And I was just like sitting on the road couch. I was like, I want to New Year's Parkour, I want to do New Year's Parkour. But I was like, nah, just sometimes you just have to let it go. So I was like, that's correct. That's correct. ⁓ so so yeah, took one day off and then it was pretty much yeah. Back to running after that. Ryan Downs is only new to ultra running, but he's already making a huge impact. Last year, his run streak in honor of his mum Therese raised more than $5,000 in the process. Now, after becoming one of a handful of runners to complete 30 laps at the Gumby, he's now on a mission to raise even more money for Rise Above, a local charity that provides financial support for families with those battling cancer. I hope you enjoyed this one on the Peek2 Soon podcast. And don't forget to donate to Ryan's cause. Ryan Downs, it's good to have you on the Peak Too Soon podcast. Hello, how are you going? Mate, this is this is really cool. Obviously part of Ultra Mediocre. ⁓ and we're here basically in my dining room, which is something a little bit different. A long drive for you from ⁓ Nunnawal to Moncrief. But this is really cool in person. You're gonna be doing something really cool later this year, run from Wagga to Canberra. But before we get into that, I wanna know a little bit more about your running journey and how you actually became a runner. Awesome. ⁓ where did it start? So very touch and go. I had a couple of little stints in twenty seventeen and eighteen where I would do a little bit of running, but it never really stuck. ⁓ and then while I was at CIT for my apprenticeship probably four years ago, I would run before I went to school because I had like a little bit of extra time in the morning. I was like, How do I feel in this time? so then that's where it kind of started very casually. ⁓ and then once our we I had a child, Jesse, in twenty twenty-three, and he as soon as he kind of turned one, I I trained jujitsu and wrestling for six years before that. ⁓ and I didn't overly have enough time to do that because I was always starting work early and then I all the classes are in the evening at like five, six. So as if I kept training jujitsu, I actually didn't have time to be a you know be a parent. so I kind of slowly crept away from jujitsu. ⁓ and then running just kind of slowly took over from there at the end of two thousand and twenty three, I think I started. Wow. Yeah. So it's it's It's almost been like a little bit of a slow burn in a way to go there, yeah. You had your first Ultra last year at the Brutus. So a sixty K ⁓ there. How'd you how'd you find your first Ultra? ⁓ that was tough. That was a big learning experience. I I missed my drop bag, which really ⁓ I really shot myself in the foot for the second half of the race there. So but it was good. ⁓ Brutus was my first Ultra entrail race. ⁓ kind of spoke to Bushy about it at the winter co-on event that year. So I was like, ⁓ I want to kind of, you know, do my first ultra. And then he kind of was like, I was like, ⁓ I know you guys do events. Like what's your next event? And then he was like, ⁓ I've got Bruce in October. You can do the hundred K. And I was like, maybe I'll do the 60. ⁓ and then yeah, it was it was a good run. It was I did a lot better than I thought I would. It's a slippery slope though, isn't it? Because up to that point it'd be what, ten K's half marathons? Yeah, yeah, ten Ks, half marathons. I think I'd run my first marathon maybe six months prior to Brutus. ⁓ So it was very I've had a very slippery slope into running and ultra running specifically. But seemed to be a natural added. I mean, Brutus was just over seven hours or around that seven hours for sixty K's, which mind you, for a race that has the elevation that it does As well. It's for those who are uninitiated, it isn't being run this year, but it does have ⁓ essentially a seven hundred meter climb in it after about sort of twenty eight K. So it is like it is brutal. I'd never been on Mount Corrie before. so I was like, ⁓ okay, this is ⁓ this is big and then the last the last twenty Ks is a little bit of a supper fest, but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every bit of it and The downhill's the toughest part, right? Because everyone thinks, ⁓ yeah, I've got up and then there's the slippery dip. Yeah. Yeah, the slippery dip was fun. ⁓ I was definitely just grabbing trees to the side all the way down there and ⁓ I overtook a couple of people who then very quickly caught up to me on the flats. And then and then to go from that to then in April this year you did the Gumby. And before this year's Gumby there'd only been a handful of stines. handed out. So for those who are unish uninitiated with the Gumby Backyard Ultra, talking about a six point seven one K loop on a fire trail out at Blue Range Height in the bottom of the ACT. And essentially part of part of it is 180 meters of climbing. And so it gets tougher each each loop essentially as you're going out. The t the toughness comes in the fact that you just have to keep keep going. But for yourself, Ryan, like you'd never run beyond sixty Ks before. Yeah, it was ⁓ it was eighty, 'cause ⁓ we had done ⁓ Bushy Yeah, Bushy and I had done a ⁓ overnight yes we did ⁓ we did a overnight ⁓ twelve loop. How d how did that training run? Because that started at what, five and then went overnight? Yeah. I think it was seven we did seven to seven, I think was the yeah. ⁓ and at one in the morning we were both having regrets, but we like, let's get through this. but we that was a really good training round 'cause obviously ⁓ Bushy is the president of Ultra. Yeah, we're talking about Elliot Cooper for those who who aren't part of Ultra Mediocre. So ⁓ you look up his results and he's just a great runner. Yeah, he's an excellent runner. ⁓ but doing that training one with some someone who was a part of designing the course was great because he we did ⁓ clockwise then counterclockwise laps each time. So each ⁓ on each direction he would kind of give me tips and pointers on like, you know, ⁓ you wanna be this section by this time, kind of stuff like that. So that really helped me when it came to Gumby Day, 'cause then once the ⁓ they obviously Umrock does a determining factor on which direction it will be ran in. So this year it was counterclockwise. ⁓ so I was, you know, I was already ready for, you know, what was like what I was in for and I went in with the mindset of I'm just gonna I'm just here to crack one hundred Ks. and if I make it to twenty four hours, that's great. But obviously, you know, you have that inner doubt when you're like, Well, you know, I know how much eighty Ks hertz, trying to double that and do a hundred and sixty, you know. You know what goes through your mind when you're when you're at that stage? Because The first night comes and by that point it's only a couple of hours until you can actually get to that hundred K marker. But then what takes you out on the next loop? Yeah, what once I hit a hundred K, I think I was just I was in a good rhythm. ⁓ and as, you know, Chris had ⁓ mentioned that like we synced up really well overnight. ⁓ and we were still coming in probably like fifty like early fifty minute loops. Wow. ⁓ And so we yeah, I just it was just that we just kept going and I was like, ⁓ you know, it's nine o'clock, and then it hit twelve o'clock, and I was like, ⁓ it's that's a hundred K. Like, that's sick. ⁓ you know, I'm feeling pretty good, let's just keep going. ⁓ and then I think I had a bit of a sl I think like my I had a bit of a s ⁓ Bit of a shit loop. Probably like three in the morning. ⁓ I thought my head torch was gonna make it through night and it died. And I was like running in the dark by myself. And then I see this light behind me and it's conductor. And I was like, ⁓ sweet. Okay, this is this is good news. You know, I can just run with conductor for this loop. But I was like, that was the loop. I was like, ⁓ am I gonna make it? Do I just have to kind of walk it in? ⁓ but no, I managed to stick with him that loop. But as yeah, as soon as I'd done a lot of research into backyarders before ⁓ Gumby and just extensively throughout the first couple of months of the year. And they say that getting through that first night and then when you see the sun, you're like it's like, you know, it's like you're reborn. ⁓ and I completely understand that feeling now. Like as soon as the sun, you're like, you know, it's it's bright, it's you know, it's I have all my energy back, you know, you're not just running in the dark, which can be a bit ⁓ a demotivating. ⁓ I never And I yeah, I've never ⁓ I've never hallucinated before. ⁓ I had two hallucinations, which kind of were they? ⁓ I saw I looked up and the shadow of my my head torch made like this big leaf kinda. I thought it was like a bird swooping at me and I kinda like flinched and like yelped. And I was I think I was right behind Chris and I think he heard me go, ⁓ crap. ⁓ and it was pretty fun. Pretty funny. ⁓ and then when I was kind of by myself on a loop, I looked up and out of my peripheral revision I saw a course marker. ⁓ but it was on like a it was on kind of ⁓ it was on a weeping yeah weeping branch. ⁓ our thought is a skeleton holding a ⁓ holding a lantern. it's the it it's the rational versus irrational, right? The whole fact that like that that's not gonna be a thing as part of all of this, but it is something that in your mind you're just going, ⁓ Well it's ⁓ it it must be because you're so fatigued, right? Yeah, and I was like, ⁓ there's a skeleton. I'm like, No, there's not just keep going. yeah,'s ⁓ and then I just kept going. ⁓ I remember hitting the twenty four hour mark. It was a good crew for the twenty four hours. I think there was like nineteen or thirteen people or something. Yeah, it was over ten. It was over ten, which I think for us watching and thinking, Wow, that's actually crazy, ⁓ Mitch McDonough. I think he turned around after the twenty four. He did, he did. And I was like, No, don't I was like, you know, 'cause his such he's like if you've met Mitch is just such a vibe. You know he's such a high energetic person. All through the night loops he was just like, Whoa, let's go, you know, and yeah, there's got a little good a lot of good characters in this year's ⁓ cluster of Gumby participants. I think that made a difference for this race compared to others, 'cause I was on the gate for people coming in were only allowed to have a certain amount of people come in. And I'd ask people, I'd be like, How far are you gonna go? And a lot of people go, this or that. I go, Well if you're gonna go that far, like you're parking in and then you won't be able to go until after. But it was amazing a lot of people that I'd asked and I go, ⁓ like I think you said ⁓ a hundred K thing but I'm gonna park in or whatever and ⁓ no no actually our partner's gonna drive out and then take Jesse and then that'll be fun. But like we'll go and set up. And I was like, okay. And then to see you do 30, like you get to 24, it's another six hours. Yeah, it is another six hours. Yeah. What's going through the brain? ⁓ so I was ⁓ I was actually messaging Maya. ⁓ and I yeah, it was like this the you know, the sun cracked and she was like, ⁓ you still going? I was like, Yep, I'm gonna make it to twenty four hours. And she was like, ⁓ sweet. And then I think as a joke, she was like, ⁓ get that Stein. And I just said, pick me up at three o'clock. Really? ⁓ 'cause ⁓ I I kind of well, I needed to give myself I it's sound it sounds very silly, but to give yourself a finish line in a in a event that doesn't really have a finish line. But also need to also need to kind of do a bit of forethought for the rest of the year. Yeah. because I didn't want to pull myself out of Gumby, which would then affect this fundraiser that I've been working on for essentially six months. Yeah. ⁓ and it's all it was a lot of work. ⁓ and I was like, I don't wanna Get an injury and flush that all down the drain. ⁓ so I was like, I'll call it a 200. I'll get an awesome stein out of it. and for my last six six or seven loops, I had Matt Groves. ⁓ he hopped in to Good God. ⁓ yeah, to crew me because he was also crewing Allison who's doing the gum baby. ⁓ and then he was like, Go out for 31. And I was like, I was like, I was like, no. I was like, I'm gonna stop now. My ankle was pretty swollen. ⁓ and I I seized as soon as I stopped, I seized up pretty bad. Yeah. ⁓ especially on my right leg, but still super happy, even though I, you know, gave my cause I in my mind I was just like, well, if I stop before my wife gets here, I'm just gonna be sitting around until she gets here. But if I can keep going until she gets here, then I will, you know, hit this very big milestone for myself. Because I've come here to come here to crack a hundred K's. didn't know that had twenty-four hours in me. And you know, it's like, ⁓ well now I've just hit this like complete unknown depth, which, you know, will make next year's gonna be really interesting. It does for a lot of people because it I thought before this here forty eight hours the the pewter s style which is you get a glass stone, which I think is absolutely crazy. Have you drunk out of it? Yeah, I just I had ⁓ I had my celebratory ginger winja and then I've had one Pepsi Max out of it and now it just sits in a in a cupboard until I have, you know, until we ⁓ fix up our yeah library room that we're gonna make. So yeah. It just sits there for now. But Pepsi Max, I could definitely get a around that. What's recovery like post two hundred? Post two hundred. ⁓ I couldn't walk properly for two days. Couldn't put much weight through my right ankle. ⁓ I knew that most of it was just kind of swelling and lactate and just, you know, all that. ⁓ but it was also for me it was like a whole new territory. ⁓ I tentatively took most of the week off work because I work I work a very physical job as a landscaper. Yeah. ⁓ so I think I I went back to work on the Thursday and they were very kind to me. But I was like, no, I'm good. ⁓ but I pretty much I couldn't work ⁓ I couldn't walk for Like two days I was kinda hobbling around the house. ⁓ and then I had two days where I could get out and move. So I really just took advantage of ⁓ being a reset member and using using the compression boots, ⁓ hitting saunas and ice bars, just trying to get the the swelling and you know, just get the body kind of moving a little bit. but I was pretty much back to running like the following Saturday. That's crazy. ⁓ which is A bit ambitious. Would it be the training into into Gumby? Because like I think that's something that a lot of people I mean, for yourself, being sort of relatively new to running, I mean it's just crazy that level of progression already. But it sounds like from what you're talking about in terms of like studying the game itself and running, it's something that you put a lot of time into. Yeah. So coming coming from like a martial arts backgrounds, I with jujitsu there's like a lot of there's a lot of technique, you know, everyone kinda has like a game ⁓ that they kind of play. So I'm I'm very used to kinda I just like that deep research, watching, analyzing. So I c I'll just you know, I also, you know, the good thing about working an outdoor job is I can just plug in and listen to podcasts all day. So I'm just I'm just churning through podcasts. I'm, you know, just eating them up, just trying to get as much information in as in as I can. ⁓ but my training for Gumby essentially from the beginning of the year, because I kind of I kind of ⁓ blocked out my whole beginning of the year for Gumby. So all of my training, I was like, what would be a comfortable amount of Ks I can consistently run? And that that magical number ended up being around forty to fifty Ks. So I'd pretty consistently done that through January through to April. So that's like a week. Yeah, every week. Yeah. So there were some weeks where I did one like the rest there the overnight training, which so I did one one hundred K week. and then everything else was kind of between forty and fifty. I did have one kind of ⁓ D load week where I did I think thirty like a middle. That would surprise people because like that sounds minimal. But I think what we're learning about people is perhaps a lot of people are actually over training. And perhaps running too many kilometers they get to a race are actually overcooked rather than actually this progressive build of like if you're running like a marathon worth of Ks a week, like that's a lot over a long period of time. Yeah, I think I think my my main mental consensus was to just kind of keep that consistency through. Just keep moving, you know, not like to do like these crazy big weeks and then have like a a week off running. I was like if I can just stay consistent, keep moving, keep plodding along. I do I want to try something different for next year. I wanna try like ramp it up and then a month, you know, come down. So like jump, you know, start at thirty K weeks and then maybe work my way up to eighty ish and then taper down and do a proper taper into Gumby. I think that might help me more. But again it's all, you know Yeah. I don't know. I've ⁓ I've been self coached up until recently so so we'll we'll get into that a bit sooner but yeah so it'll be yeah it's I think next year's gonna be fun. I next gumby will be I'll I'll figure out how much I have in the tank and it's yeah. Well you don't be having Ryan's long run no as what you're going to be doing in October. I think October nine is the is the date for this one. It's kickoff going to be incredible. Two hundred and twenty kilometers, but I wanna know your why. My why, yes. So it's all for my mum. so I'm running from her birthplace to her gravesite. Yeah. ⁓ which is why it's Wagga to Canberra. ⁓ it was actually an idea my wife had. Really? So in the middle of the run streak, she was like, What's gonna you know? She's like, How? What's gonna make you stop this run streak? And I'm like, Nothing, you know? And she goes, ⁓ well you might as well run from Wagga to Canberra and I was just like, ⁓ it's actually not a bad idea. Wow. ⁓ and she said that probably mid year. So then it was it was really I was already organizing this year's fundraiser in the middle of last year's fundraiser. Yeah, but to give context to people. So you had a concept so you're raising money for Rise Above. Yeah. ⁓ and you can talk a little bit more about what they do 'cause you'd probably be better better placed than me. But you raise money for Rise Above, but you were doing a run streak last year as part of as part of your fundraiser, which I I was just in in awe of really. ⁓ Well I'll quickly breeze over last year's fundraiser. So I kind of set it up as running for Therese and it was more it had been ten years since she'd passed away and I was like, I want to do something really big. ⁓ how can I make this, you know, bigger than myself? so the original concept was that I was gonna run a half marathon on the day that she died, which was the twenty third of February. I think it ended up being the twenty second though. ⁓ off my memory and then I was gonna run like a PB half marathon, which was I was just gonna try and do like my five K pace for half a marathon. and then that quickly I was like, ⁓ half marathon I can't sound and I had a couple of people like, you know, you know, ⁓ come do the, you know, full Canberra marathon instead of the half. And I was like, all right, I'll do that. So I upgraded I ⁓ I I upgraded my entry six weeks out. ⁓ Kept following the exact same program I was in. I just made all of my long runs a bit longer. ⁓ and I ran my first marathon on six weeks notice, which is very silly. ⁓ and then a day after that I thought to myself, I'm gonna start a run streak and I'm gonna go until the end of the year. So I had I'd emailed Rise Above and I was like, All right, let's run this to the end of the year. ⁓ I'm gonna do something big. ⁓ so I just kind of Signed up for as many events as I could. ⁓ and just trying to run I ended up running 263 days off the top of my head straight. ⁓ raised. And then December I wanted to do something very big. I was like, how can I end this huge? So in December I ran 10Ks every day. And that was a reflection of the 10 years since my mama. passed away and then at on the very last day I ran 54Ks, which would have been how old she would have turned last year. ⁓ in the second week I got sick. And I had a minimum of I had a minimum for my run streak, which was three K's a day. Yeah. So I got sick and I was like, all right, I'll just do the minimum and I'll make it up later. So I still ran a 70K a week. It was just 40 of those Ks were in three days. So I really yeah I had to catch up. But ⁓ yeah, it was very yeah, I learnt s I learnt a lot about ⁓ you know, maybe not overdoing it. ⁓ yeah, that December was a bit of a that was a slog. ⁓ When what goes through your mind? 'Cause I'm I can I guess relate to this 'cause I've done a streak of sort of ten Ks or more for a hundred days. I get exactly what it's like. You did that during COVID, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I get exactly what you're you're talking about in terms of the run streak. Yeah. For me, the hardest thing was like It's okay not to run the next day, like when the streak ends. Yeah, when yeah. You go through that? Yeah. So ⁓ so on the last day of December, I was like, All right. My wife was just my was just like, Please, no more run streak. And I'm like, No problem, I'll take the first day. I'll take the first day of the year off. Yeah. ⁓ but then you have to remember I'm still on holidays from work for three weeks. So I took the first off. ⁓ didn't run and I was like sitting on the road couch. I was like, I want to do New Year's Park Run, wanna do New Year's Park Round. But I was like, nah, just sometimes you just have to let it go. So it's ⁓ like happy life. That's correct. That's correct. ⁓ so so yeah, took one day off and then it was pretty much, yeah, back to running after that. ⁓ and planning this fundraiser. ⁓ yeah, planning the long run. So Rise Above. Yes. They're an important charity here in Canberra. They are ⁓ I know through my work, ⁓ all my old work in radio, ⁓ we used to do a convoy for cancer that doesn't yeah no longer happen anymore. So like it makes fundraising even more important, ⁓ particularly for those who are going through the battle. My dad actually did a couple of the ⁓ the cancer cancer convoys which were really fun. I went to a couple of them with him as well. ⁓ Very important for us those events. ⁓ lots of trucks, if you like trucks. ⁓ but yeah, Rise Above, they are a ⁓ they're a cancer support group and what they do is they actually they financially support the family. So if you have a family member that's going through ⁓ you know, treatment, they help the financial offset. So how so how they help is they help with. fuel vouchers, ⁓ medication vouchers, which is the big one, especially when you're going through chemo. It's 'cause not all of it's happening in Canberra, right? Like families, I imagine there would have been travel travel to Sydney every couple of weeks as well. ⁓ Yeah, so they they defin they assist financially, which is why the fundraising is more important because, you know, like there are so many people and they can only help so many people a year. So it's tough, right? It is tough. It is tough. And it's such a you know, when my mum had cancer, she you know, my dad ultimately just left his job to be his carer. So he was yeah, he would he would come home, he we would all get ready for school, he would drop us off at school and then he'll just go to the hospital all day. Yeah. Pick us up, take us to the hospital if we wanted to. If we didn't want to, he would drop us off home. And then ⁓ we're all teenagers, so we could kind of, you know, self sufficient to an extent. But it's a tough thing, right? Because you're at a certain age where perhaps I think younger kids perhaps maybe don't understand it. I think when you're at that age, you know, perhaps high school, you you you get it all. Yeah. And I think you're the oldest. I am the I'm the oldest of three. Yeah. ⁓ so yeah, I got two younger brothers, Trent and Jaden. ⁓ so she was di she was originally diagnosed in ⁓ two thousand fifteen with ⁓ Hopchin Hopskins ⁓ Hop. Hodgkin's lympho? Yeah, that's the one. Yeah, it always me up, yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I would trade English, so it's not great. That's all right. People appreciate all types of language on the podcast. That's it. So yeah, she was diagnosed in 2015. we were all at the same school, so we actually had a really good support network through the school. and yeah, my brother did a my youngest brother did a couple of fundraisers through the school for for her and Rise Above, which was really good. At the time they were called Eden Minaro Cancer Support. ⁓ that's right. Yeah. Yeah. So they have had a name change over the years. ⁓ so This is my way of kind of giving back to them and making everything full circle. Yeah. ⁓ you know, they helped us out so long ago, so I want to help them out. And then after last year it was just like I created such a good relationship with them. I was like, I want to do something bigger, which is where I got the idea of the long run. So instead of focusing on a fundraiser that went all year, yeah, I'm gonna focus on this one event. I'm gonna make everything revolve around that one event and like try, you know, how can I make it bigger? All right, I'll get sponsors. I'll make a donation based raffle. Yeah. ⁓ and that's hard because I've had more I've had more companies and brands say no than had they've said yes. Which ⁓ new companies. Yeah. But like I think I could call out a lot of people right now, but I'm not I'm not We'll say we'll say then. Maybe maybe I'll call ⁓ out later. But I think that's that says a lot. ⁓ when you consider like I think what a lot of companies actually throw at these days in terms of influences and the like something to actually an opportunity to do really good. What about the companies that have come on board? Let's give them a shout out. Let me ⁓ let me get on one 'cause I think that's that's something that like is a good thing that we should absolutely call out. Yeah. So we so I got Tarkine on board. Well ⁓ Beshoe company going around in terms of That's it. In my opinion. ⁓ I really wanted them on board because they're Australian. They're still in terms of the they're fairly new. Yeah. As well. what we have taught discussed is kind of T BA. ⁓ just because But even if it's a couple of shoes for you to run in, like I think two hundred and twenty K's and putting that into a shoe. Yeah, well they're they're putting ⁓ they're gonna put some things towards the raffle, but I also was floated the idea of like, ⁓ do you guys wanna be like the main sponsor? Yeah. You know, and they were like, ⁓ well, you know, because we have so much time, they ⁓ it was more of like a budget thing for them. Yeah. But because I was talking to them at the very beginning of this year, they were like, ⁓ like let's talk about this later in the year when Yeah, things become clearer. Tax time's almost over, you know. Well, I think there's that. But also they've brought out a new shoe, the bandicoot and the like. But there was big things that are happening, but I think they just continue to go from strength to strength. And you look at like the type of people that they're involved with as well, Phil Gore and the like. A lot of part of a lot of cool ultra runners that they're involved with. so yeah, Tarkine, their raffle thing is ⁓ T B A, but we've just talked about doing ⁓ more physical stuff rather than vouchers. ⁓ we've got reset. Okay. So big, big fan of reset. ⁓ what are what are they? I haven't heard of it. So Reset, they're a they're a local company. Yeah. ⁓ they do like they do strength but they also do like recovery. Okay. Yeah. So I was introduced to them through my old jujitsu gym, but when I started running, I was like, ⁓ these compression boots look pretty fun. ⁓ and as soon as I'm expensive. Yeah. Yeah, they are. ⁓ so I used their compression boots twice and then I was like, ⁓ well their memberships are pretty cheap. I'm just gonna get a membership and you know, so they're good. ⁓ so they're really good to work with ⁓ especially because they're local. So you sp I speak to the owners every time I go in there. ⁓ so yeah Sheridan's a legend she's sorted The raffle out with ⁓ three, five visit contrast sessions. Wow. So that's your local runner. Get on board and donate. ⁓ Gouda ⁓ donating a pair of glasses. Yeah, they're good. Yeah, they are. They are good. They are good glasses. Yeah, they good art glasses. ⁓ I I wear them myself. I'm not a huge glasses wearer though. ⁓ but when I do, yeah, when I do, I wear Gouda. ⁓ they've donated a pair of the OG gardening with a Kraken. ⁓ I got to choose it and I I got to choose the pair and I chose them 'cause they're purple purple frames and that kind of reflects the rise above colour. But I thought that would be really cool. ⁓ Gym Meal Direct. ⁓ I love that. They ⁓ everyone loves them. Canberra Canberra stock, you know, just good good Canberra brand. ⁓ they're doing five one hundred dollar vouchers. Wow. That's a great deal. Get Meals Direct, the legend. Yeah. ⁓ we got the running company. Yeah. So they are doing a Nike ACG GOAT five liter vest. Whoa, okay. Which is pretty cool. And then also some dry fit lightweight gloves, which are also ACG. Well, that's perfect for winter. Yeah, that's yeah. It won't be really cold. The raffles at the end of the ⁓ fundraiser, so it won't be cold, but you if you win them, they'll be good for next winter. Yeah, exactly. We've got Gooch Goo. ⁓ this is my favorite company now. Like I can actually speak to this 'cause like I am a user of Gooch Goo as a bigger running lad. I have not had chafe since I've used Gooch Goo. Yeah, I'm ⁓ if ⁓ if you saw me after Gumby was is Chafe City. ⁓ 'cause I made a big rookie error of ⁓ grabbing the wrong tub of ⁓ Yeah so what did you grab? So instead of grabbing the ⁓ petroleum jelly, yeah, which you know, yeah I actually I accidentally grabbed moisturizer. ⁓ And I was like, ⁓ this is better than nothing. and ⁓ yeah, no, no, after two hundred K's and never again. ⁓ so I was I was really stoked when Guoch Goo came on board 'cause they are they are the best. Like I know that a lot of people talk about squirrels, nut butter, etc. Gooch goo is in my opinion the best. And they're Australian. And they're Australian. Exactly. ⁓ I say things. Yeah. And then ⁓ Dr. Hydrate. Yeah. ⁓ good. Really good actually. Big fan of Dr. Hydrate. ⁓ was introduced to them through another run club that I go to on Friday mornings ⁓ through the ⁓ DK Society. ⁓ but they sent me a bunch of personal products to get me through the training block and stuff. Which is great. ⁓ yep, they sent me a couple of tubs of my favorite flavours. ⁓ and they're also giving ⁓ they've also given a cooler bag, a bottle and a variety pack of all their flavours. So all of that will go to one person. That's awesome. So ⁓ and then local another business, ⁓ citrus, they're gonna do their rehab. Yeah. ⁓ rehabilitation. So they're gonna give out some consultations. ⁓ That's awesome. That's yeah. So So I think, yeah. I mean it's a good it's a good spread of people. It's a good spread, yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, it's not. It's a really positive and different things coming on board because I think when people do a challenge like this. It's all the logistics that can be the hardest thing to prepare, right? Yeah. And the logistics, yeah, they're all Yeah, the leg the logistics are fun. ⁓ How do you how do you sort of plan it? So the idea yeah. The idea is to go from Walga the hospital. Yep. The hospital. Yeah. Welga Bay Hospital. But it's it's split, right? You're doing it I'm doing it over three days. But you're doing probably more than what you would do in your weekly kilometres in in a day. Yeah, yeah, pr yeah, pretty much. Yeah. I yeah, I will be, except for the last day. The last day's a grace period, which is nice. so I'm doing eighty Ks on the first day, and that's going I'm not following main roads. I tried not to do that. Yeah. 'Cause that's just like So you pick like trails or something? Yeah, so half of it's on trail and then half of it's through the The first day's probably mostly gonna be main roads. So it's from the first day is Waggada Gunda Guy. Yeah. And that's about eighty Ks. But I'm just instead of going up the road, I'm going through the country. ⁓ yeah, going through. ⁓ I think it is like a main dirt road. Yeah. ⁓ I'm kinda leaving it all to surprise. It'll feel really like Coast to Cosie, I think. yeah. Like a dirt road and that but it's also a good opportunity to see that part that Perhaps like a lot of people wouldn't see. Yeah. Game changer. Yeah. And then the second day is from Gunda Guy to a random campground. A random campground. In the middle of Titfinville. I wanna I don't I don't yeah, no, no, I I I know where the campground is. I just can't remember what yeah, I don't wanna reveal it. I still still have to rent the whole thing out. so the plan ⁓ what I A C T government, if you're listening. Come on board. Help us out. Okay. ⁓ I was originally gonna have the second day stop in Wee Jasper. Yeah. But it's a bit tricky. Yeah. ⁓ so there was ⁓ I was just playing with the route trying to figure out from the beginning of the second day to Canberra, and I kind of found like this nice middle, not not really middle point, but there's a nice point where there's a nice intersection where, you know, there's a there's a campground just north of it. I'm like, ⁓ this will work perfectly. But in that it makes a second day 90Ks. Okay. Yes, yeah. Yeah. And then the last day is fifty four Ks, and that is through Chipimbilla and the Cotta and yeah, it's gonna be very nice. It's an opportunity for people who wanna maybe do an ultra on that third day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, come on board for the third day. I have a what do they call it? The I have a Google ⁓ yeah, like a pin type thing. Google pin. I also have like a keep forgetting what it's called. something. A Google form. Okay. Yeah. So people are interested. Yeah, so I have a Google form and it just kinda has if you want to pace or crew, and by pace I mean just run with me and have fun. ⁓ and then or if you want a crew, 'cause my ideal scenario is to have one car of crew that just sorts everyone out, sorts me out, keeps us going. And then I have like a car or two of people that are just leapfrogging leapfrogging through the day. Yeah. I think that's a safe way of doing it. And I think of logistics in terms of races like Costa Cozie where you actually have someone and and the like looking after you in a c in a car the whole way through or even having like high views and and stuff. But like is it is it exciting? I mean it's only what three, four months away. Yeah, it's it's ⁓ it's it's approaching very quickly. ⁓ and every time I look at my calendar I'm like, ⁓ it's coming it's coming up, you know? I am I am scared, obviously, 'cause it's a very long way. you just did two hundred in one day though. But it's that stop. It's the so yeah, the s the I think the stop start might get me, but also I'll just I'll power through it. My why's too strong, you know. I'll walk the last day if I have to. It's I mean that's the whole thing, right? It's this real strong why. And often people will talk about their why. Yeah. And I'm of the belief that if their why isn't strong enough and it sounds really cliche that they just don't get through. Yeah. But your why is Is yeah. Is unbreakable I think. Yeah, essentially. Yeah. Is is part of it and I think when you're going through that pain cave, ⁓ do what you've been through and the like as someone who's watched someone go through what they've been through with their ⁓ does that sort of put in perspective when you are Yeah, I I d yeah, when you're yeah, so for I guess the only people that can really ⁓ underst translate what I'm about to is like is the runners, but it's like when you're when you're in that pain cave and you're like, ⁓ man, everything hurts, you know, I just I stick deep and I'm like, Well, mum went through chemo. Mm. Like what's you know, let's put Gumby in perspective here. It's like, ⁓ well what's what's an extra six hours on my feet? Yeah. You know, like what isn't it you know, getting from that hundred and sixty to two hundred, it's like what is six six hours, you know? Mm. It's gonna suck, but you know. Once it's over, it's over. I find it fascinating 'cause talk to a lot of people and I'm yet to be able to break that barrier. It's something my coach are working sort of through. Yeah. And you're trying to break that that barrier. And I think had little breakthrough at at Cohen and we've both run the marathon there. Yeah. ⁓ that was a that was hard. It's a hard marathon. That's a hard that's a hard marathon. If you're on a nice challenge and you're in Canberra, do the Cohen winter marathon. ⁓ my my Hemi seized up like halfway. Like I think just after twenty five Ks, like my hemi like I thought it was cramping, but it turned out that my glute and my hemi was so tight it was pulling on my knee. ⁓ and I guess yes and I was like, yeah, I just go charge through this and like the last four K's of like walk around, walk around. I was like, gotta get it done. How do you enjoy a mangler? A Mungler is great. Have you been up before? I have. I did it in the ⁓ the news resolution half marathon. ⁓ but it was it was different 'cause there was no trees on the left side. ⁓ it's true. So you can see though, you see the I can see the whole thing. Whereas like last time it was like they had a volunteer halfway and they're like, ⁓ you're almost at the top, and then you get kind of get around like this hidden corner and you're like, I still have the same distance to go as I just came up. Yeah. Well there was no volunteer. It's funny 'cause the winter one so the winter comes from a little bit further down the track. So yeah, you're at the you're at the point. Yeah, you're at the very bottom, yeah. It's not very steep, but like you're you're coming up to it and you're like there it is, you're like, ⁓ no, it's a hundred hundred meter climb over I think four hundred meters or something. Yeah, it's it's brutal. It's like no matter how many t photos I take of it, like every time I've every time I've climbed it, which is only twice, I always take a photo of it and it it it never does it justice as to how steep that climb is. Didn't you just have to do it for yourself. Did appreciate that it was like groomed this year. Yeah. Or whatever they did with it was like something different. They've resurfaced it. Yeah. I remember it being a lot rockier at the beginning of the year. Well, apparently Pam Pam Muston, who's a Costa Cozy legend and and the race director at Cohen, she was saying that they had from all the like logging and stuff, actually had to go out and move all of them o off the trail because there was just stuff going on. Like I can't believe ⁓ Like how well run that race is. And it costs you sixty bucks. So if you are looking for something next year. It is a it is a very cheap and good challenge. I think. ⁓ and yeah, shout out to Pam as well. Mm. Yeah. The local side of things, yeah, had a great run though, it was like four and a bit hours. Yeah, I think it was four forty like four forty five ish. That's crazy if people would have that. Yeah, it's forty nanometers avert of it, yeah. And you've walked over, you know, did half of it with Yeah, what I thought was a IT band injury, but it just turned out to be tight muscles from probably just it must give you confidence though going into your challenge later this year, the long run. Yeah. And what you've been able to achieve this year, but how consistently you're still able to keep running. I think you went out this morning, did twenty f four ish twenty five. ⁓ yeah it is yeah around Ainsley and I'm Majora and then my head torch died halfway through and I was just running in the dark and I says a head torch company out there. I think Orion needs one ⁓ That would be great. Yeah What are you using at the moment? I use ⁓ King's head torch. Okay, so you but I also yeah from the the four driver. From the four drive. So yeah it came it came in a bundle. But I was like, ⁓ head torch is actually a lot better than I thought it was. Yeah. ⁓ but I also have like a this $25 gamble one that I bought off Amazon. Okay. But it lasts like I can have it on high and it lasts like eight hours. ⁓ wow. So it's actually like it's pretty good. I have a feeling I might die at some random point. I'll send you an email. ⁓ so yeah. I love it. So what what needs to happen between now and then now and then for the for the run. For the run. So I'm doing the Chinmoy hundredk solo. Yep. And that's the only race that's the only race that I've penciled in. Yeah. ⁓ and that's the way I kinda want it to be 'cause I feel if I try to any crazy fast efforts for a for a an event that I don't want to be fast. Well you no, and it's it's a s it's a funny one because I've missed the halfway cutoff of that race twice now. Yeah. And only just. So I think you'll be fine. But it's that whole aspect of like you see Canberra in a day. Yeah. It's actually such a I was ⁓ I was looking at the I was breaking down the map a bit 'cause I wanted to just like see and I was just like I was like this is bonkers. Like you you start at the lake and then like you just go like straight to Southside. And then you just work your way back up. And then before you know it, you're at the Arboretum in Western Creek. And then you just like shoot across to Hansley and or through Black Mountain. Yeah. And I'm just like, wow, this is like there's a lot of peaks. I think it's like three and a half thousand. People think like it's a and kudos to everyone who's finished. And I think like Cassie Cohen and and those type of runners. I think Benny Wilson ⁓ won it last year, the guy won Kostakozy. And I think like you look at it and you think, ⁓ yeah, this is a race that's like not too bad. There's like a flat start. Then you up Red Hill, down Isaacs. up Taylor like there's I think seven or eight really decent peaks yeah in it. And then and then halfway you have Black Mountain. Yeah. Which is like one of the steepest hills in Canberra. The funny thing the funny thing about that section is that for this you go up it but when so Phil Gore came and he ran a marathon in Canberra, he was doing an August and ⁓ he ran a marathon in Canberra, but because so many people have gone up That section he put it into his marathon that he did in camera. So he had to go down the really steep side of Black Mountain, thinking that that was like a really popular section based on Strava. So sometimes when you build the Strava routes, it's like it's really difficult. Yeah. So Shree Chinmoin, but you were saying before as well you were self coached up until recently. So now yes. So I I am currently being coached by Cherie Yap from Elevate for this event. Yeah. So we were we were meant to start right after Gumby. I I had a very slow rebuild a month after Gumby. ⁓ so we started I started working with her the just the week before Cohen. Yeah. So very recently. ⁓ Yeah, nice. So that's been good. ⁓ we did kind of retweak the original it was meant to be like we just build up distance and time on feet to make it over the 200ks. ⁓ but then obviously doing two hundred K is at Gumby. There was like people being like, ⁓ do you still need a coach for this? And I was like, Yes. Yeah. Because I want to learn. ⁓ and and it's been two weeks and I've learned that Hill Sprints are so good, but they suck so much. They do. They do. And it's it's like but it's also that aspect of having oversight over your program. Very much so. Like when we run and we train ourselves the you can only apply so much critical aspect to it, I think. Yeah. That's that's great though, Cherie. Yeah, Cherie's good. ⁓ so we we have retweaked it into rather than it being like this one big gradual build up block, it's now broken into two blocks. ⁓ because for the people who haven't done Kurstakosi you would know that ⁓ if you do thirty yards in a ⁓ if you do thirty yards in a backyard, it is a ⁓ it is you know, you can use it Yeah. To ⁓ you know. So while we've now already tweaked it, ⁓ that we're gonna also use Chin Mui. So originally I was just gonna just have Chin Muay's just like a fun day on the fails. And now it's like, well, if I do really good in Chinmoy, I can use both of these races to apply for Costa Kosi next year. Yeah, twenty twenty, that's the year. And then on top of the so yeah, we yeah, we've reshuffled it a bit, so it's more like it's like couple of months building up to Yeah. That and then it's just and then it's just time off eat building up, just keeping it consistent for the front race. Right as well. Like I don't know about you but I'm in sort of an off season at the moment, sort of you train for six or seven months. Yeah. You get to a point where it's like okay, I finished the marathon that was after the Milo D and F and I just go, you know what, like I really want to get to human hovel, but it's months away. Yeah. And I just need a break. Yeah. Like mentally you just Yeah, you s you need to deflate sometimes. I'm very excited for the deflate after this fundraiser. Um's the how's the split is there like time off I imagine like a hundred Ks you give yourself some Yeah, I think yeah, I think there's there's a couple of days of recovery, ⁓ if not just like easy just very easy runs. Just to keep the legs ticking over. we have it, it's all roughly planned, but we're kinda just it is getting Yeah, I do get my program, you know, for the next week, the week prior. Yeah. ⁓ so right now I have up until next Sunday and then half of the week after that. So Cherie's really good with keeping the program up to date. I ⁓ I foolishly didn't sometime the first week I forgot to read my notes properly. And I was like, Whoops, didn't realize I was meant to do intervals on Thursday. Sorry. No, you're aware. Yeah. No. Yeah. So it's been it's been good. ⁓ working with a coach to just learn the game. ⁓ and it is a bit different because when I kind of self coach myself, I'll be like, ⁓ I'll run twenty K City, I'll do this. But with ⁓ Sheree and what I've noticed a lot of running coaches is they just do it by hours in time. Yeah. So it was like, you know, you have three hours. And it's like, well, what can I do in those three hours? Yeah. Yeah. It's a good way of looking at it because for every runner, three hours are gonna be different, particularly if they're saying, ⁓ want you to do three hours but with hills, like certain amount of elevation. Like that could be different. like I had my coach and like I work with Cherie at Elevate as well. Like I do a Thursday sessions. And it's just like brilliant to have those different sessions come in during the the week and like a work them in. Like it's nice to have a pace session. It's nice to have intervals. It's nice to have hills. Yeah. And it's all strategic. And Cherie's someone who's coached, you know, People who have finished Coaster Cosy, people have finished Tarawira Milo, UTA Milo, like she knows what she's talking about. That's the reason why I approached her about it in Peaks and Passages last year. So I was like, Hey, I have this kind of like in in plan. Would you like to be the person to coach me? 'Cause I know, you know, she's gotten heaps of people over the line at Coast of Cosy and she's also coached the, you know, female that holds the record you know, for Coaster Cosy. So I was like, well, this is a no-brainer to, you know, with just the people and you know, working with Jess who does Brave Arts almost every year. You know, so she's worked with a lot of long distance runners who also do multi-day events as well. And this kind of like plays to both of them as kind of like that gritty 200 Ks of you know, two hundred and you know, plus K's of Kostakozy, but also with that multi-day, you know. Yeah, that expertise is in your Yeah, it's good. So ⁓ that's why I decided to pick Cherie to do it. There were a couple of other names that I like, ⁓ I really want to, but yes, just ultimately I was like, Maybe that was the perfect fit for this. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's an important aspect that a lot of people miss is that often like and it is okay to switch coaches at at times as as well. Like if you feel that someone's like a a better fit or whatever for you, then that's the way. to go about things, but I think, yeah, Cherie's brilliant and and one of the best ⁓ running coaches like not only here in Canberra, but I think across the country as well. ⁓ she's she has a lot of good runners under her wings. ⁓ Yeah. And it's and it's funny too, 'cause like yeah, Cherie's often Cherie got me, ⁓ so coach me when I did my hundred K in twenty twenty two. So like there's a bit of history yeah there and obviously I do elevate as well and and love the community that she's built here. So yeah. You're in bloody good hands there, which is exciting. ⁓ there was one aspect like not on running that I wanted to touch on that I found interesting was heavy metal music. Yes. What what's the background there? I think part of two bands. I am I am in two bands, yep. So I do vocals in a band called Face Cutter. Yep. ⁓ and then I do backup vocals and kind of like It's hard to explain, but it's like harsh noise, yeah ⁓ background kind of backgroundy stuff. And then I back up vocals in another band called Flesh. ⁓ and yeah, that's just ⁓ it's just fun outlets. It's funny though, because like people will meet you and like obviously like the spaces in the ears, yeah, tattoos, etcetera. And like the meet you one of the nice people, like I think I've met and just like funny, it's just like that whole Like breaks down that stigma, I think around metal. Yeah. ⁓ like I love metal, music and heavy metal. ⁓ like I remember and it like disappoints a lot of people, like Bring Me The Horizon when they first came out and what they actually did. Yeah. And what they are now. Like it's two different things, yeah. It's just like crazy, but like you guys are like that real, like heavy, heavy stuff. Yeah. Just dumb death metal. He sort of old older. We we started as a grind band. How do you find people like that. Like how did how did you find that you could be part of well, particularly with vocals? Yeah, ⁓ so I've wanted to be a vocalist since I was like 14. Wow. So yeah, I also can't play a musical instrument to save my life. ⁓ I have joined the queue. I've owned a guitar for six years and I have played it three times. Yeah, I think my parents bought me an electric guitar when I was 14 and I don't think I ever got it tuned or ever played it. I don't know where it ended up. Yeah, just sits in a case and I'm like, ⁓ maybe one day I'll play this when I'm older. Maybe my son will pick it up and use it. I don't know. ⁓ but yeah, I just ⁓ I've always just been a part of music, I guess. You know, music's always been, you know, music's a big part of everyone's life. ⁓ started going to shows really young, like when I was like fourteen. ⁓ and met most of my like ev pretty much most of the people I'm friends with now I've met through music. Like I've had these beautiful friendships that I've had for fifteen years. ⁓ you know, so game change. Yeah, it's a game change. So I think also that's you know and then I that could also be a parallel with running and music. It's like, you know, there's always that community. You know, you go to the shows, you see the same people. You go to these running events and you see the same people. And it's just like, you know, it's I love community, you know. Which is like a big, you know, I love parkrun. Yeah. Well I I I think that's a good thing. And like and like for me like park runs not something that I do, but I appreciate that people enjoy it in the communities that they do. Yeah. I tell everyone just to try it once. Because, you know, I ⁓ it's really funny that we've kind of stumbled into this 'cause when I when I first started like this little when I first started this kind of running ⁓ when like when it clicked to this time. Yeah. It was like I was just we'd moved to Latham and we're living in Latham and I grew up in that area. I grew up in the ⁓ suburb above it and I was like, ⁓ it's turned to my life and I was like, ⁓ there's this beautiful creek around the corner where it's like so close to Ginnandera Creek, which is that's what we called as kids. Now I know it Umbergong District Park. Umbergong know it as its proper name. And we would walk around it and we'd walk our sons asleep in the pram. And I was just like, I just kept seeing people running, and I was like, ⁓ this would actually be a really nice place to run. ⁓ then yeah, yeah. And then ⁓ well this was at the beginning of twenty twenty four. So then I was like and I started seeing people running around there and I was like, ⁓ yeah, maybe I'll just like, you know, this is still when it was like very casual and I started running and then I went out running one morning, I actually ran through the park run. And yeah, I bumped into one of the volunte like one of the marshals on a corner. And I go, what is this? And he goes, ⁓ it's Parkrun. And I was like, it's got a website, right? And he goes, Yeah. And I was like, okay. And I go home and I'm just like, My, have you had this thing called Parkrun? And she was like, Yeah. Of course. And I was just like, ⁓ okay. And I'm like, on the website, and then I like, you know. And then it goes from there. And then that was it. That was the I think, yeah, Parkrun kind of I was like, ⁓ it's like, you know, for me, routine's a really big thing. ⁓ I'm a sucker for routine. So knowing that I can go somewhere anywhere, eight o'clock on a Saturday, like you just go run five K. You know, we went and played a show in went and played two shows in Melbourne late last year and I've gotten our our was then drummer now guitarist and into parkrun. 'Cause he was running. I was like, ⁓ come to Parkrun, it's really fun. And so we're in Melbourne and we went to Dandenong Parkrun. ⁓ nice. ⁓ And yeah, he was like, Well, this is pretty fun. And I was like, Yeah, and you know, now we regularly do parkrun. I think it's a this is funny. It's a great thing and you talk about routine and I imagine being a parent as well, routine is such a it's a big thing. A big thing. Like Jesse's what three now. It's three, yeah. So it's kind of like how do you work around that? I think like in the morning you're up quite early trying to get the I ⁓ I woke up at three thirty this morning to start my three hour run at four thirty and be done by seven thirty. So I was home by eight. ⁓ because the other thing that I have to work around is that my wife runs a hiking group on Sundays. ⁓ so she runs a little hiking group called Back at the Pack. I did see that actually on Instagram. ⁓ that one looks cool. Yeah, it's a fun one. They did One Tree Hill as well. Yeah, not too long ago. Yeah. Yeah. I think they've done One Tree Hill twice. Yeah. ⁓ but yeah so she's like you can you can run as long as you want on a Sunday. Yeah, but you'd have to be home by, you know, the time that you know I yeah, I started to be home by eight. So it's like, yeah, so we're in for some interesting long runs. Well, if you're into hiking, like ⁓ or if you're a runner who's injured at the moment, give back some. Yeah, back back, yeah. I'm sure they Yeah, they they don't. Then there's ⁓ they keep the bar low, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Just enjoy yourself. It's designed for fun conversational pace hiking. Yeah, because I think I may have seen May have seen that group in Mulligan's. I did a Mulligan's one and I was like, Yeah, that route is like awesome. Yeah. So that's Yeah. And it's cool. I didn't know it's real fun because she'll go and ask me. She goes, ⁓ you should run here. So then I'll go run there. So she did run she did run out near ⁓ Queen Vin and she goes, ⁓ you'd love this trail. So I went on Strava, got you know, heat maps, you know, heat heat map to ten K route. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We help each other. she was like, I don't know what to do and I like, ⁓ do you up a you a six K route around Black Mountain and they were like, We're not going to Black Mountain. It's kinda cool though having that outlet as well. Yeah. Like you have your outlet, she has her outlet. But I think one of my favourite photos that came out of the Gumby was like you finish and then Jesse's Jesse's there and I met Jesse at the Umrock barbecue and Yeah, he's a funny he's a funny boy. Like it must it must just be like such a joyful joyful time like watching him. Yeah, no, it's good. It is, yeah. As ⁓ and I also have like Pram parkrun photos for like when he was little to when he so he's he's also a little sucker for parkrun. Not at the moment 'cause it's pretty cold and yeah, I don't want to be that parent. Yeah. ⁓ you know, not that's just I know it's cold and I don't want you know, I don't want him to freeze. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's it's bloody cool. So yeah, it's good. He's yeah, he loves running. ⁓ at the start line of Gumby, they were there to see me off. ⁓ and he was like Daddy's going running in the mountains. And Maya was like, Yes, Daddy is going running in the mountains. And then we're all in the corral and we go off for the first yard. And then apparently, as soon as he couldn't see me, he turned to Maya and was like, ⁓ Daddy goes running in the mountains. No Jesse. No Jesse. No Jesse? I think that was the thing, right? And everyone was like, No, he's he'll be back soon. Yeah, yeah. Thirty hours later. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Thirty hours later. ⁓ the iconic sign. ⁓ if you know, you know. Yeah, exactly right. No. I love that. And I think it's that whole aspect of like you can be what you see, right? And that exact butcher. I can't I can't remember who it was, but there was ⁓ I'm pretty and I'm like I'm ninety percent sure it was Lucy Bartholomew. And she was saying that it was like she was saying she goes I remember as a kid just my dad coming home from runs every morning. Yeah. And it's like, ⁓ cool, like I could be that parent that instills it's like, ⁓ you know. You can work this job, you know, but you know, if you really want something, you'll make time for it. I think, you know. No, though. Maybe over the yeah, maybe over the long, you know, over the long run. ⁓ you know, it might instill, you know, ⁓ you know, like dad does hard things. Yeah. Hard things are normal. You know, if you want it enough. Yeah. You know. And that's kind of like in terms of parenting, that's how I'd like to, you know. Yeah. No, I I like that. And I think of like other run parents that I talk to and they talk about, you know, running makes them that better parent. It gives like you think, ⁓ it makes you tired, but actually gives you the energy to then do the things that you want to do. So I think that's that's really cool. Yeah. But yeah, cycling back to that, like finding the time. So what I do is I ⁓ I go to sleep really early and I wake up really early 'cause I start work at seven. So regardless of what time everyone wakes up. I'm probably not gonna be home when Jesse wakes up. Yeah. So in my my best routine is to just do all my runs early in the morning. A lot of the time I do ⁓ before work. So I will sleep from nine to four, get up at four, have half myself half my stuff packed. I'll have everything ready on the table. So I'll have my work uniform in a pile. I have like my running It's a good way to be yeah, yeah. So I'll ⁓ I'll get up, put on coffee, make my breakfast, ⁓ You get changed into my running gear, pack my lunch for work, throw it all in the car, ⁓ double check that I have my work boots because ⁓ there's been two times I've forgotten my work boots that I've been in such a rush to get it run done before work. Made for some interesting six thirty phone calls to my foremans. Yeah. Need the still capture. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, yeah. One time I rocked up in shoes to a residential and my foreman was like, ⁓ no, like you'll be fine, you can work still a residential. Yeah. But I go, nah, I don't wanna these are like three hundred dollar shoes. I don't want to get concrete on them. I don't want to mess up my running shoes. Yeah, so luckily Maya was on school holidays 'cause she's a school teacher. So she dropped my boots off to me. ⁓ but yeah, so yeah, it's just easy for me to have that routine of get everything done super early in the morning because nighttime is just family time. Yeah. You know. If I need to, I can just go for a run once Jesse's asleep. So either I'm either running at four thirty in the morning or I'm running at eight o'clock at night. ⁓ yeah. It's a good way of doing it. And I think it's a it's a nice view. Yeah. So October ninth. Yes. Yes, the run. Yeah. That's when it'll be happening. And and shoes are such a a big part of this and I often finish my podcast asking about about shoes. What what are you rocking at the moment? Or what are you enjoying? What do you want them to bring a shoe back? ⁓ I love this question. And I think I have an answer that no one's said before. Ooh ⁓ so I'm gonna go with the Puma Nitros. Ooh, ⁓ I I use ⁓ I've had the same pair of Magmaxes for a year and a half. I've put fourteen hundred K's into ⁓ and they still like they're they they're better than my Nike Pegasus's, I'll tell you that for free. And I wore them for a hundred and twenty K's of ⁓ Gumby. Wow. So Yeah, I think ⁓ I think next Gumby I will get myself a nice fresh pair of nitros and that's gonna feel yeah so incredible. Yeah. Because you won't even know what it feels like in all without thread. Yeah. Fourteen hundred Ks in a pair of shoes. In a single pair of shoes, yeah. So they I track all my shoes through Strava and they probably I think they probably have like twelve hundred, but I know that I've worn them for a lot of my trail running. Wow. ⁓ so that's incredible. Yeah. All the hawker challenges, they're they're good. They're nice. ⁓ I just like wide shoes or big feet. So Yeah, good fun. Yeah. No. Good answer. Well, like, I wish you all the luck in the challenge. Like, I can't wait to see it. I'll probably try and get off work and and enjoy that last day with you and come out for you. ⁓ it's on the same weekend as Human Hovel. So if you're in Umrock and you're not running Human Hovel, let me know because I have a couple of ultra days for you if you want them. I love it. Ryan, it's been so good to have you on the Peak 2 Soon podcast. Thank you.