Episode 104

Episode details · 283 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:14Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode 104 of the parkrun Adventurers podcast. It is the final episode before the long-anticipated, much-awaited, super-exciting parkrun Adventurers listener meet-up. Are you excited, Scotty?

00:00:32[other]

00:00:32Scott Trickett: Always, Mel. Extra excited.

00:00:33Melissa Erbacher: What is he saying?

00:00:35Scott Trickett: Couldn't you tell? Can't you tell?

00:00:37Melissa Erbacher: I was too busy thinking that I probably just burst a few eardrums with the pitch and the noise levels of that one. So you might need to tone that down in the edit. I'm sure you're all over that. Have you been counting down the days? Because I see other people have been counting down the days, Scotty.

00:00:58Scott Trickett: I am, but for different reasons. I don't know if I'm getting a bit of performance anxiety, Mel, but I think for one of the first times in my life, I could be nervous going into Saturday.

00:01:12Melissa Erbacher: Really? I think so.

00:01:14Scott Trickett: I don't know why.

00:01:15Melissa Erbacher: You don't know why, so you can't explain it.

00:01:18Scott Trickett: I think I probably just care too much about our listeners and I don't want to disappoint them.

00:01:23Melissa Erbacher: Okay, this is interesting. How can we turn this around? So do you think you're going to have a bit of a vomit on Saturday morning?

00:01:33Scott Trickett: No, well, this is it. I don't know. I've never been in this situation before. So it would be an awkward way to start the live broadcast or the live recording of a broadcast, whatever we're going to call it. Yes. With a vomit, but memorable. Remember the time at the listener meet-up when Scotty threw up just before he was about to start?

00:01:57Melissa Erbacher: Yes, I'm sure everybody would remember that time if that time ever happened. Okay, well, maybe we'll try to avoid that. Perhaps we won't give you breakfast that day.

00:02:06Scott Trickett: Maybe, maybe. So just be gentle with me on Saturday.

00:02:11Melissa Erbacher: The thing is, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to contain my excitement.

00:02:14Scott Trickett: Okay, so you're excited, which is good.

00:02:17Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, it hasn't turned to nerves yet. It probably will turn to nerves when I realise that they're actually people and I'll be sitting next to you like deer in headlights kind of situation. Because it hasn't been, you know, the only other episode we've been together recording was episode 12. And that was a long time ago.

00:02:39Scott Trickett: I love how you remember these details. That was when you visited me in Melbourne and we did it in the studio, wasn't it?

00:02:46Melissa Erbacher: It was. And you had a beard. You know, all sorts of things were different. So I just don't know. Like, I might look at your face because I don't get to usually see your face when we record. And I might just have a blank face. We might not have anything to talk about.

00:03:04Scott Trickett: We better prepare for that. I don't have a beard anymore, so don't be surprised about that.

00:03:09Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Well, I will see you on Friday, you know, so it's not like I think I'll have 24 hours to get used to you not having a beard or anything when I talk to you. So that's okay. Check. Preparation. How's everything going with the sound and the recording tech stuff? Because that's all on you.

00:03:29Scott Trickett: Yeah, well, we'll find out about that on Saturday morning as well. We're just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

00:03:37Melissa Erbacher: Right. So will we be using little paper cups and strings or how are we going to – how's the audience going to hear us?

00:03:46Scott Trickett: Well, hopefully we're going to have some sort of amplification. Or, failing that, we're just going to talk really loud.

00:03:52Melissa Erbacher: We could make our own megaphones. That would be cool. Okay.

00:03:58Scott Trickett: Look, I'm pretty confident that we'll have some sort of amplification. Even though we are recording outside, without power. And what's the forecast looking like?

00:04:09Melissa Erbacher: Well, it's supposed to rain on Friday, but I'm told Saturday is going to be fine.

00:04:13Scott Trickett: Okay, good. Because we can always trust forecasts.

00:04:15Melissa Erbacher: I'm sure there will be enough locals that have got brollies that they could bring them along and we can all sit with some brollies. We don't really have a wet weather option. Should we get one?

00:04:24Scott Trickett: Too late now.

00:04:26Melissa Erbacher: It's not too late. There's days and days. We could call in a favour and get a tarp or something, surely.

00:04:33Scott Trickett: We'll improvise on the morning if that happens.

00:04:37Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:04:37Scott Trickett: Let's not worry about that.

00:04:39Melissa Erbacher: Are you looking forward to the rest of the fun of the weekend?

00:04:41Scott Trickett: I am. I'm worried about if our listeners are up to date because we put out an episode every week, which is a lot. It's hard to keep up with us. And I hope everybody is current. So I'm hoping with some road trips to get there, hopefully they've gone back and caught up and listening to this episode as they drive to Shellharbour, maybe.

00:05:07Melissa Erbacher: We could be keeping them company right now. What do you do when you're on a road trip, Scotty?

00:05:13Scott Trickett: Well, you've got some games. Spotto is a favourite in our family.

00:05:22Melissa Erbacher: Spotto, is that like a nice Victorian way of saying I spy?

00:05:27Scott Trickett: No, Spotto is you have to find the yellow car.

00:05:31Melissa Erbacher: That's it. That's the game.

00:05:34Scott Trickett: When you see it, you go, Spotto.

00:05:37Melissa Erbacher: And that's it? The game's over?

00:05:39Scott Trickett: Yeah. So I'm the king of Spotto. And I have a disadvantage.

00:05:43Melissa Erbacher: There's not a lot of longevity in that game, is there? Oh, you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised.

00:05:47Scott Trickett: But I'm the king of Spotto and I have the disadvantage that I have to concentrate on driving. But I still win every time.

00:05:55Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't think that's a disadvantage because it's your job to be paying attention to the road and the other vehicles that are on it.

00:06:02Scott Trickett: Yeah, but Kasia and Yvonne are looking down side streets, looking in driveways.

00:06:07Melissa Erbacher: Ah, okay.

00:06:08Scott Trickett: Fully focused on spotto. Still can't beat me.

00:06:13Melissa Erbacher: Okay, do you ever play the alphabet game?

00:06:15Scott Trickett: Yeah, yep. Is that with the number plates?

00:06:18Melissa Erbacher: No, not number plates. I mean, no, you actually have to find words beginning with all the letters of the alphabet. So you find them on road signs or bumper stickers or buildings as you go past, that sort of thing. And so once you've found A, I mean, it's a race effectively, right? It's a race, not a run. A race to the end of the alphabet. So once you've found the letter A, then you're looking for B. Yes. Whereas somebody else might already be up to L because they found all those letters already. And if somebody uses exit for E, you can't also use exit. You need a different word.

00:06:56Scott Trickett: Okay. That's a good one. That's a variation. We just look for letters. But words is just taking it next level.

00:07:02Melissa Erbacher: Yes, and there's a bit more longevity in that game. Okay. And usually somebody will like scream all the way through to Q and then they get stuck. And the only other rule is X is allowed to be anywhere in the words. So it doesn't have to be, you don't have to drive past a radiologist that has X-rays written on the thing. If nobody used E for exit, then you can use the X in exit. As your ex, just so you can get to the end of the alphabet.

00:07:31Scott Trickett: Well, what about driving tunes? What's your go-to? Do you put a podcast on or do you have a playlist going? What's the Erbacher repertoire?

00:07:43Melissa Erbacher: It depends on if I'm driving by myself. If I'm driving by myself, I do listen to podcasts. If Wes is in the car, sometimes he prefers music or quiet. If Adam's in the car, then it's a whole other story again. It's often difficult for us all to agree on what we want to listen to. How about you? Do you listen to music or podcasts?

00:08:12Scott Trickett: Well, when it's the family, it's music. And we have an Apple Music subscription, so I just hand them a phone. Usually it ends up with Kasia and we have about 60 minutes of My Little Pony songs. You wouldn't think there was 60 minutes worth of My Little Pony songs, but they've released a couple of albums.

00:08:29Melissa Erbacher: Oh, my God. What kind of songs do My Little... I don't even remember My Little Pony's been musical when I was a child.

00:08:35Scott Trickett: Oh, they're very musical. See ya. See You is in the last movie, and that song's okay. It's okay the first couple of listens. After about 12 to 14 listens in a row, it loses its magic a little bit.

00:08:49Melissa Erbacher: Well, fortunately, they've released a couple of albums, so there'd be some different songs. You don't have to listen to one 14 times.

00:08:55Scott Trickett: And you know what? They're also sweet and innocent. It's all about your best friends being your best friends and helping each other out. It's very sweet. And then Yvonne gets control of the phone and she panics because she has performance anxiety that she's got to pick all the good bangers that everyone wants to hear and listen to. So she picks a couple of songs and then she panics and just gives up. And then eventually after four hours, I get it.

00:09:21Melissa Erbacher: After four hours of My Little Pony songs in three from Yvonne. Yeah. Okay. And what do you choose? You go for some Kanye?

00:09:29Scott Trickett: Pretty much, yeah, which horrifies Yvonne. Yeah.

00:09:33Melissa Erbacher: I don't blame her.

00:09:35Scott Trickett: We know all the words.

00:09:38Melissa Erbacher: I'd be horrified too. I still have one of his, I have that I'm a God song on my playlist that you recommended all those episodes ago and I have to skip over it because I just can't. I just can't. It's one of our favourites. Not Kanye.

00:09:54Scott Trickett: He's just creative. He's just an artist. That's how I explain his lyrics to Kasia.

00:09:58Melissa Erbacher: It doesn't mean anything. It's just a creative way to express yourself. She loves it. Until she gets a bit older and then she'll be like, oh my God, my childhood was a lie.

00:10:09Scott Trickett: Yeah, so Kasia's playlist goes from My Little Ponies to Kanye West.

00:10:14Melissa Erbacher: If I am in, I have to say, if I'm in the car by myself, I am pretty good at belting out Disney songs at the top of my voice unaccompanied.

00:10:25Scott Trickett: What era of Disney songs? Because you're about to enter a new era of Disney songs with Wes. It's a good time.

00:10:34Melissa Erbacher: Here's the thing. I've already got him into Moana, so I can sing a whole bunch of the songs from Moana. And he's my excuse for watching it four or five times in the last few months. But the other songs, I am vintage. I will call it vintage Disney. So I love to sing Little Mermaid. and Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. All the classics, basically. I am a fan of Tarzan, but only in Italian.

00:11:05Scott Trickett: I didn't know there was a Tarzan movie. Well, you missed that one.

00:11:08Melissa Erbacher: You didn't know there was a Tarzan?

00:11:10Scott Trickett: Not a Disney animation Tarzan.

00:11:13Melissa Erbacher: Seriously, Phil Collins did the whole soundtrack. Oh, really? You don't know about this.

00:11:17Scott Trickett: No, we missed it.

00:11:19Melissa Erbacher: You need to catch yourself up on Tarzan. However, if you can, go straight to the Italian version. Because did you know? No, you wouldn't know because you didn't even know there was a Tarzan. But Phil Collins sang Tarzan. all the foreign language versions of his songs when they translated them into other languages. And he did an amazing job of the Italian version. And I prefer the Italian songs because the lyrics are just nicer than the English version.

00:11:47Scott Trickett: He's a very talented man, Phil Collins.

00:11:49Melissa Erbacher: He is.

00:11:51Scott Trickett: You think about it, he was a major music rock star, balding, middle-aged British dude in his time. But he was still on top of the charts.

00:12:01Melissa Erbacher: That doesn't happen now. Yeah, it is a bit now about looks and auto-tune, isn't it? They don't rely so much on talent anymore.

00:12:10Scott Trickett: Now, we've got Liam Adams coming up on the podcast this week. We're going to have people listening this week who will see, oh, Liam Adams is on the podcast. We're going to listen to that one.

00:12:21Melissa Erbacher: And we've just subjected them to 15 minutes of us talking about road trip music and games. We are a quality podcast.

00:12:32Scott Trickett: We know our audience, and that's the audience that we're going to share the weekend with, Mel, our audience. But we've got Liam coming up, Commonwealth Games, a couple of weeks' time. Have you got the fever?

00:12:42Melissa Erbacher: Have I got the fever for the Comm Games? I'm always being asked if I have fever. Have I got – no, not yet. Come on, Mel.

00:12:52Scott Trickett: It's in your home state. Everyone I speak to from Queensland is going gaga over the Comm Games.

00:12:59Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, I don't know. I'm just not... Maybe I should change my answer.

00:13:07Scott Trickett: Mel, have you got the fever?

00:13:09Melissa Erbacher: Hell yes, I've got the fever. Who hasn't got the fever for the Comm Games?

00:13:13Scott Trickett: That's the spirit. That's the spirit. Let's find out if Liam has got the fever. We're super excited this week. Leading into the Commonwealth Games fever, it started for both of us. We're going to chat to not only our parkrun Australia male record holder, but also our Australian Commonwealth Games representative in the marathon. Welcome back to the parkrun Adventurers, Liam Adams. Cheers. Thanks, Scott. Now, I said back because we have also briefly spoke to you when you did break the parkrun Australia record a long time ago now. Back at Maribyrnong, have you had a run since, that parkrun?

00:13:58Liam Adams: Oh, I've done a couple. I've helped my girlfriend out for a couple of runs down at parkrun, and I've used a couple of parkruns where I've gone and done parkrun, posted time, and then gone out and done another 5K or continued on and done another bit of a session. So, yeah, I've used it a few times in training sessions, but not so much just recently.

00:14:22Melissa Erbacher: And just to refresh everybody's memories, I want to know, when you break a country record at parkrun, do you go out there with the intention to do it or do you just rock up and decide that you're going to have a really good day?

00:14:36Liam Adams: I was kind of, for that record that I got, I was just using it as a bit of a hit out towards World Cross Country Championships. I was leaving in a couple of days' time and, yeah, I thought it would be good to get a little bit of a fast run on the legs. And I was hoping to break my training partner's course record. And I think he wasn't too far off Scott Westcott's national record. So when I crossed the line, I kind of knew that I got – my training partner's record. But at the time, I actually didn't know that I had Scott Westcott's record. So I only found that out a few hours later when a few people told me about it.

00:15:21Scott Trickett: Now, you touched on there, you've used parkrun to pace your girlfriend. Now, on the weekend, you two achieved a unique double, something you've done in the past as well. You both cleaned up at the Run for Kids, which is a big event down here in Melbourne. I'm speaking of Charlotte. That must have been nice, both getting some trophies on the weekend. Yeah.

00:15:40Liam Adams: Yeah, definitely. I was using that race to kind of have probably my last kind of hard race on the road before Commonwealth Games and obviously had a little bit of a sickness leading into it. So the plans didn't go the way I'd liked. So I had to change tactics and didn't get the time that I would have liked. But yeah, Yeah, it was good for both of us to get the win. And I think Charlotte was coming off a bit of a break. So I think her maximum for the two weeks leading into that race was probably about a 7k run. And I think she said after the 7k mark, she could definitely feel it. So I think she battled a bit towards the end as well.

00:16:28Melissa Erbacher: Well done to both of you. Now, Liam, the You just mentioned that it was like the last sort of proper race that you're going to do in the lead up. How do you work in like the last few weeks before a Commonwealth Games? What does the plan look like for your training?

00:16:47Liam Adams: Well, currently at the moment, so the day after running for the kids, I packed my bags and left to go to Falls Creek to do a two-week altitude stint. And I usually – I feel like the body responds well off that, and it really works the lungs. For me, I've got – my lung function's not that great. My VO2 max is good, but my lung function's not that great. And I feel that when I'm up at altitude, my lungs work a lot harder. So I decided to do a two-week stint of altitude up here, and I'll try and get some good mileage out and some good training. And then the last two weeks – I'll be backing it off a bit more. So it'll be a bit more of a taper and those two weeks will be spent in Gold Coast. So I'll be there trying to acclimatize the heat. So that's how it's kind of looking at the moment.

00:17:41Melissa Erbacher: Awesome. I have two questions that have just come out of that. So I'll ask you the first one first. What is VO2 Max for those of us who are not elite athletes?

00:17:51Liam Adams: VO2 Max is kind of, the maximum volume of oxygen that you can, uh, that your body can deliver to your working muscles. And, uh, I feel that my body's probably pretty good at, um, delivering that oxygen to the muscles, but I feel that the thing that lets me down is my ability to take in air. So I think my lungs are quite restrictive in that fact, but, um, The cardiovascular system is pretty good at delivering it to the muscles. So that's what I kind of think is my benefits that I get.

00:18:34Melissa Erbacher: And that's – so altitude training is going to increase your VO2 max or it doesn't really impact that?

00:18:45Liam Adams: I haven't really – I don't really know too much of the studies of whether altitude training – improves or increases the vo2 max i think it would um but i feel that for me it's more so it improves my ve max so my tidal volume and stuff like that so the amount of oxygen i can get in per minute and stuff like that so i think maybe um my capacity to get a little bit more oxygen into the lungs i believe that that would be the most important thing for me at the moment yeah

00:19:22Melissa Erbacher: Okay. I literally had a run this afternoon, which I finished off on Strava with the hashtag shut up lungs. So I feel your pain. I think probably we're on different scales, but that's okay.

00:19:34Sue: Yeah.

00:19:36Melissa Erbacher: And so my other question was, what does a taper look like? Like your last two weeks, how many kilometers are you going to fit into that? I'm fascinated by tapers. I know it frustrates the hell out of a lot of people, but I'm really interested to know if Elite's just don't actually run very much, realistically.

00:19:55Liam Adams: Well, it's interesting. I've done a number of type of tapers and I think sometimes I've really dropped the mileage and I think for the Olympic Games, I probably dropped it a bit too much and I came in there quite lethargic and then I think I just started getting some muscle type problems, tight back. tight hamstrings, tight calves and stuff like that leading in. So I kind of learned from that. And Berlin I probably held the mileage a bit higher. So I think two weeks out I was probably doing about 160Ks. So I was only dropped by about 20 or 30Ks from the previous week. But that week leading into Berlin, berlin was probably about a 120k week roughly around that yeah so um i'm thinking that that's probably the taper that i'm gonna take probably about a 180ks two weeks out maybe a little bit less and probably try and hold it at about 120 i think that the body went into berlin marathon a little less lethargic and i felt good on the start line so i had no muscle problems or anything like that or tightness so i think that that's probably the approach i'll it's the approach i'll take this time i've got a question that i'm always fascinated when i hear those numbers um do you ever get sick of running like that's a long time on your legs even in your taper oh sometimes i do do get a little sick of the running uh i think that's more so when it's um undesirable undesirable weather and stuff like that. And when you don't really have training partners around, there's some patches where you probably get a bit disheartened and probably feel that, oh, I could be at home sitting by the fire and eating my dinner right now, but instead you're out there running and it could be like 9 o'clock at night. I think recently I've had a couple of runs where I've been finishing about 9.30, 10 o'clock at night. So, yeah. Uh, sometimes I do have that feeling, but most of the time I love my running and I enjoy it. And yeah, I don't know what I'd do without it.

00:22:20Scott Trickett: Are you currently in falls by yourself or have you got training?

00:22:24Liam Adams: Uh, no training partners up here at the moment. Um, just myself. Um, so yeah, it's been a bit lonely and stuff like that. And, uh, I've just been doing everything by myself. Um, But I might have a friend come up next week and I think he'll jump on the bike and he'll probably help me out with giving me gels and drinks on some of my runs so I can practice my nutrition and stuff like that. And then I might have Charlotte come up for about three or four days towards the end. So she'll join me for a few runs and then, yeah, if she brings up the bike, then she might help me out with some of that stuff too.

00:23:10Scott Trickett: so yeah i'm looking forward to that yeah i still find this fascinating you are our elite long distance runner at the moment and you're up there off your own bat that falls and uh that just doesn't seem right to me does it does it fit with you like i feel like our athletics body or our comms game team should be giving you a bit more support leading into such a big event oh well i don't know the type of support they could really give me i think um

00:23:41Liam Adams: I think more so it would come from just myself having training partners that I could bring up but I guess a lot of my running friends have jobs and stuff like that so they obviously can't commit to something like this and I couldn't ask them to do something like that take a few weeks off work because that's a bit greedy so yeah I don't think there's much that Athletics Australia can do but But yeah, just stints like this can be expensive. I think this stint up at Falls Creek is going to cost me about two and a bit grand. And I'm not working over this period of time, so it hurts the bank balance a fair bit.

00:24:24Scott Trickett: I guess that's what I mean, is surely they could at least pay for your time at Falls. That's not an option?

00:24:30Liam Adams: Well, for the Olympics, there was a little bit of funding... given to the athletes so that we could do stuff like this. And then also for Glasgow Commonwealth games, uh, there's a little bit of funding to, for training preparations and stuff like that. So, um, but I think unfortunately, because it's in Australia this year, I guess the fact is we don't have to really acclimatize to the weather up on gold coast and stuff like that. And, uh, I think that they have just decided there's going to be no funding for any training preparations and stuff like that. I don't know. Maybe the NAS supported athletes get that type of funding, but the ones which don't get NAS obviously aren't getting supported.

00:25:21Melissa Erbacher: I want to come back to working a full-time job when you run as much as you do and train as much as you do. But before we go on to that, I want to go back to the parts where you don't feel like running and you don't have the motivation and you don't have the running partners or I can't possibly see how somebody riding on a bike next to you would be motivational because that would just annoy the bejesus out of me. I would want to be on the bike. Cause that seems like such the easier option, but what do you do? How, how do you keep motivated or is it more like this is your second job? And so you just know you have to get out there and, and do the miles or the case. Like how, how do you talk yourself into doing runs on those days when you've got the inclement weather and just, you just really don't feel like it.

00:26:12Liam Adams: Well, um, I think it's just being self-driven. Um, I feel like I haven't ran my best for the marathon and in regards to getting out there doing that training and pushing yourself and doing those extra miles or running a bit harder I always tell myself if you push yourself in training then you're going to whatever you put into the training you get out in your race so I feel that Yeah, if you want your better results, then you've obviously got to work for it, and I guess that's the main drive. I want to improve myself. I want to run better, so that's the thing. That's the thing with training. You've just got to get out there, push yourself, and try and be better.

00:27:08Melissa Erbacher: Fair enough. I'll try to remember that next time I don't want to go for a run, which is probably going to be tomorrow. Liam, work. All right. So I know that when you're training, obviously the running is important, the nutrition is important, sleep and rest is important. How do you fit all those things in around a full-time job? What gives first? Do you give up the sleep? Do you give up the eating?

00:27:33Liam Adams: Yeah. Well, I try not give up anything, but I feel that a number of times my sleep has probably been affected the most out of it all. So I think there's periods where I think leading into the Olympic Games, there was a patch of a few weeks where I was, well, one or two weeks where I was getting a maximum of six hours of sleep per night and I was waking up like a zombie and feeling like I've been hit by a bus. Obviously, it's not great, but I just somehow was able to manage it. Work was fine. I'd finish work and be ready and fully motivated and ready to go for my sessions. I felt like the training wasn't affected, but ultimately, yeah. If you want to get that little bit extra, then you need to get that sleep in, and that's just going to help you with recovery and stuff like that. So maybe I probably, if I got that little bit extra sleep, then I probably could have trained a little bit harder and stuff like that and managed everything else a little bit better. But generally, I manage the balance between work and training quite well, but there's patches where, say, leading into... christmas last year i was doing 50 plus hour weeks there was one week where it was nearly 60 hours and uh i was trying to train and uh i think um for that period of time i thought um working takes the priority just for the fact that i kind of knew that i'd be asking for a little bit of time off before commonwealth games so if i did the right thing by my boss then then uh He'd let me have a few weeks off to go come to Falls Creek and do stuff like this and do some training camps. So, yeah, I think it's a little bit of give and take between the work and the running. So, yeah, but generally I can get the balance quite well.

00:29:44Scott Trickett: I'll tell you what, Mel, it's hard to come up with excuses for us to say we're too busy when you hear that schedule for Liam. I want to know, Liam, how are you feeling going into the Commonwealth Games here? I'm not going to ask you for a prediction, but are you looking to podium maybe? Is that your goal?

00:30:09Liam Adams: I think there is a possibility that I could podium, and I'm still uncertain if everything that I've done in my training could lead towards that. There's been a couple of little interruptions and things which have been some external things which have been distractions from my running and stuff like that. So they've affected the training slightly with my ability to push in training and stuff like that. But generally, I've done good training, some good sessions here and there, some marathon-specific sessions. And I've had the mileage quite high and going quite well. But over this last week and a half of Had a couple of little interruptions. I had a toenail feel like it was ripping off during one of my sessions and I had to pull the pin on one of my key sessions and then had to have a few days of very light running or pretty much no mileage. So my mileage in a few sessions had been affected and then I got a little bit sick, so leading into the run for the kids. So this last week and a half, probably hasn't been that great and I'm hoping that it hasn't affected my overall training preparations. But I think I've put in a pretty good stint for Commonwealth Games and hopefully I can get a PB and a good result there, yeah.

00:31:39Melissa Erbacher: You hear all these stories about it being like a mental thing as much as it's a physical thing. Do you... put in any training to like you know visualization seeing yourself on the podium and getting yourself into the alpha state before you train just so that you know your brain is switched on to where you want it to go well uh i don't really do that much visualization training and stuff like that but you kind of have that thought in the back of your head um that oh if you

00:32:13Liam Adams: you've got to kind of believe you can do that type of thing. So you've got that thought in the back of your head leading into each session and you just hope that that type of thought drives you to run that little bit harder than you were going to, going to into that session. So, um, yeah, I think that that's, that's the thing when you're going into, um, an event like this Commonwealth games and home soil, um, you've just got to, be that extra bit driven and motivated to run that bit harder and run through your skin. So, yeah, I'm just really hoping that I can have an unbelievable run at Commonwealth Games. And, yeah, fingers crossed I can shock myself.

00:33:00Melissa Erbacher: Our fingers will be crossed for you. I'm going to ask you to reveal all your secrets here. Do you have any lucky things like lucky undies or lucky socks or something, little, what do you call them, routines or things that you do before a big race that you're a bit superstitious about?

00:33:21Liam Adams: No, not really. I kind of feel that if I had those routines in that superstitious type thing that I do, that if – something went wrong with that, um, then I'm probably going into the race with negative thoughts that, Oh no, the routine's gone, gone. I'm not going to run well. So kind of try and stick clear of the superstitious things. And, uh, I, I have little routines, but they're kind of flexible routines. So if something goes wrong, then it's not the end of the world. But, um, Yeah, nothing that I religiously do leading into a race, just kind of the standard type things like carbo loads. For me, the morning of a marathon, just because marathons are usually early in the morning, I'm not a fan of taking on breakfast just before the race just because I don't want to take the risk of getting a stitch and putting in all that hard work that I've done over the months just to have that undone by having a stitch by just slightly overeating in that morning. So I just load up with food the night before and put a little, I guess this would be the little thing that I do for most races would be I put a little snack beside my bed. So if I wake up during the night, I've had troubles a few times before where I wake up during the night and I know I'm going to race the next morning and then I start panicking like, oh, you need to get back to sleep. And when you start thinking of those type of things like stressing about getting back to sleep, then it kind of stresses you out a bit more and keeps you up a bit longer. So I feel that I just reach across to the bench beside the bed and just grab a banana or a muffin or whatever it may be that I grabbed for my snack and just have that and just have a little bit of food and just that helps me get back to sleep. And, yeah, it's a lot less stressful when I do something like that. So, yeah.

00:35:39Scott Trickett: Okay, Liam. Commonwealth Games is important. It's been your focus lately, but there's something else happening this week. I know you're a footy fan. I know you're a Carlton fan. I won't hold that against you. Are you more excited about the footy starting or Commonwealth Games in a couple of weeks?

00:35:59Liam Adams: Well... I love my footy and I'm looking forward to watching the game tomorrow night. So I'll be all set for that and I am excited about that. But ultimately, yeah, Commonwealth Games is a lot more important than that. So if I miss the game tomorrow night, it's not the end of the world. But if something went wrong and I miss Commonwealth Games, then I'd

00:36:27Scott Trickett: absolutely be shattered so yeah commonwealth games is a lot more important for me yeah fair enough i reckon if i if you're a richmond supporter i think that would have been a harder decision the way they've been carrying on lately so i'm not going to say i'm in a barrack for calton tomorrow night but i certainly hope you uh push them to a close game i think you should scott Liam, I want to take you back to the conversation we had earlier about your lungs. Now, you're an asthma sufferer as a kid, correct?

00:36:58Liam Adams: Yes, yes, I was.

00:36:59Scott Trickett: So running has overcome your asthma or do you think asthma has affected your lung issue that you spoke about earlier?

00:37:08Liam Adams: Well, I think it feels like I've overcame it. It was quite severe as a kid. I'd been hospitalised. A few times when I was younger, spent a few weeks in at the Royal Children's Hospital. So, yeah, I had some bad asthma attacks. And as I grew up, I guess I just feel that the running kind of helped me get rid of it. But there's a few things. I occasionally get some sicknesses or colds and flus where there's a bit of a wheezing effect. type cough and stuff like that. And I kind of feel that I've slightly still got it, still get asthma. So I think it's there. Maybe it's still a little bit there, but it's nowhere near as bad as what it was. And I've also been told – I've never had a fever as a kid, but I've been told that it's quite common for asthmatics to – kind of maybe grow out of the asthma, but that kind of moves in, that transfers over to getting a lot more hay fever. And I feel that over these past five or six years, hay fever has been a massive issue for me, especially last year. It felt like I had hay fever for probably about two months straight, and it was just horrible for me, yeah.

00:38:43Melissa Erbacher: How does an asthmatic child get into running? Because, you know, I had mild asthma as a child and it impacted me in the reverse that, you know, I wanted to stay the hell away from exercise because I was always suffering and coming last and things like that.

00:39:01Liam Adams: Yeah, well, I don't know. For me, I was just a really sporty kid. So I was quite competitive and I jumped at any opportunity to run. compete for my primary school and uh in my first year of running i did quite well and i made it all the way to states but um for my first state championships i had to pull out of just because in that week leading into it i had an asthma attack and uh it was quite bad and i was still hoping that i'd still be able to line up and uh do the race but um got to race day. I went to Bundoora where the race was held and, uh, just the asthma was so bad. And I just knew that I, it was a bad idea to run. So I didn't run that day, but, um, I think generally, uh, for most races, I didn't really have issues with the asthma. So, um, I guess it didn't really deter me from my running. And, uh, I guess the competitive side of me, um, Even if I did have a little bit of an asthma attack or had some issues leading into the race, I still wanted to get out there and compete. But, yeah, that first time that I had the state championships, it was just physically impossible for me to go out there and run. So, yeah, I was a little bit disappointed. But I guess health's more important, really. Yeah.

00:40:29Melissa Erbacher: Well, we're hoping everything lines up, health, training, the stars, everything you need to run the race you want to run at the Commonwealth Games, Liam. I certainly hope you do get to acclimatise to Gold Coast after you've been in Falls Creek and having not the weather that you would like to have.

00:40:47Liam Adams: Yeah, yeah. I'm thinking I should be able to acclimatise. Well, Melbourne's been relatively good weather, so this last week... This week up in Falls Creek is not going to be that great, but I feel I should be able to acclimatise quite well because we're coming out of our summer. So we've had a large stint of hot weather and stuff like that. So it shouldn't be too bad up at Gold Coast.

00:41:17Melissa Erbacher: Excellent. Well, thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing all the insights into what goes into an elite going to the Comm Games. I know I'm going to adopt your keep a snack by the bedside table, even just on normal nights from now on, because I think it's a great idea. And we wish you all the best for the Comm Games. Liam will be watching.

00:41:40Liam Adams: Cheers. Thank you very much, Mel.

Channel 5 News Crew

00:41:53Lyndell Murray: Good morning, parkrun Adventurers. It's Lyndell here checking in for the Channel 5 News crew with a roving report from the launch of Forest Lake parkrun. Now, I've just parked, wandered along. I've got about a couple of hundred metres to get to the start and I've run into Bobby. Bobby, how are you going today?

00:42:09Bobby: Good, thanks. Yourself? How are you going?

00:42:11Lyndell Murray: Pretty excellent. Now, are you a local here?

00:42:13Bobby: No, I'm not actually. I'm from Springwood, from Logan area, so I just decided to come down here today.

00:42:21Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Do you adventure around a lot? So how far is it from Springwood to here?

00:42:25Bobby: It's around 30 kilometres, so it's a fair bit of a drive, and especially coming from the Logan road, there's a lot of construction, so it took me a long time, 45 minutes. It was fun, but I'm enjoying it.

00:42:38Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And do you travel around to a lot of different parkruns?

00:42:40Bobby: Yes, I do. That's how I like to do my alphabets. So this is my F that I wanted to do. So I have done so far 18. So yeah, a few more to go from alphabets. And otherwise, I have done so far 30 different parkruns. So yeah.

00:42:57Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And what's your home parkrun?

00:42:59Bobby: Underwood parkrun.

00:43:00Lyndell Murray: Underwood Park. I've been to Underwood Park. That's my U. And this will be my F today. So there you go. Well, thank you for talking to me on the podcast. Happy adventuring. And maybe I'll see you at another parkrun sometime.

00:43:12Bobby: Will do, definitely. And thanks for having me. Thank you very much. Have fun. Thank you.

00:43:16Lyndell Murray: Thanks, Bobby. Scotty and Mel, I've tracked down Schulze. It's a parkrun launch in Queensland. It's time for a Statesman update. How are you going today, Schulze?

Statesmen update

00:43:26Schulze: I'm going okay. Didn't run very well today. It's pretty warm.

00:43:30Lyndell Murray: Well, you were running with me, so I reckon you did pretty well.

00:43:33Schulze: Yeah, well, you were running really fast, weren't you?

00:43:36Lyndell Murray: Oh, super fast, all the time. Now, statesmanship, how are you going? Are you still a statesman?

00:43:44Schulze: No, I missed plantation a few weeks ago, and I've missed Cardwell today.

00:43:49Lyndell Murray: So theoretically it's impossible for anyone to be a statesman?

00:43:52Schulze: No, there's no statesman in Queensland at the moment. And you're the closest? I'm the closest, yeah.

00:43:58Lyndell Murray: With two down. How many parkruns are there in Queensland now?

00:44:02Schulze: This is 85.

00:44:03Lyndell Murray: Well, that's a lot of parkruns, that's a lot of travelling. 86 with Cardwell.

00:44:07Schulze: 85 and 86 today.

00:44:11Lyndell Murray: All right, so no statesmen, you're the closest. Now, we were running together for a while there, as I said before. Everyone knows you, Schulze. Everyone was calling you the king of parkrun. How does that feel?

00:44:22Schulze: Well, I'm just doing. I'm silly enough to keep going around. Other people are not quite as silly as me. But I might have a trip to Mount Isa in a few weeks.

00:44:37Lyndell Murray: So you'll head out there chasing your statesman dream?

00:44:39Schulze: Yeah, it'll be the third one I won't have done.

00:44:43Lyndell Murray: Yeah.

00:44:44Schulze: So a ticket off and one on the coast as well on the way home.

00:44:49Lyndell Murray: Well, that sounds like a plan. Thanks for talking to me today, Schulze. It's always a pleasure to say g'day, and everyone knows you. You're like a fixture on the parkrun scene, so well done.

00:44:58Schulze: Thank you.

00:45:00Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, so I've tracked down Sue.

00:45:02Sue: Now, Sue, you did a milestone today. I did my 100th parkrun. Now, I've been procrastinating over this for a long time. And as many parkrunners know, your hundredth is very special. So it has been a very special day today. Because, of course, I'm in a tutu. Because you have to do your hundredth with your best friends in a tutu. And I'm very pleased to say that my local suburb, has just started a parkrun and so I'm just so pleased today to be here at my first opening local parkrun in my beautiful tutu with my lovely running friends. Now you are looking wonderful.

00:45:48Lyndell Murray: Today, being St. Patrick's Day, it's an Irish theme. So you've got your four-leaf clover badge. You have a beautiful green tutu and a lovely flashy green sequined headband. You look wonderful. Thank you.

00:46:02Sue: And also, you know, you really need to inspire your friends to dress up because it's the only day of the week where you're allowed to dress up in something that you would never wear during the week. And I challenged my friends to add some glitter to their outfits today and they really have taken up the challenge. And it really makes the day a lot more fun and interesting and really love the high fives as you go along your course as well.

00:46:31Lyndell Murray: Excellent. So will you be a regular here at Forest Lake?

00:46:34Sue: Yes, it's so convenient. We're off to coffee, of course, because that's the other part of parkrun that's so important. But really, it's just lovely to be out in the sunshine, the fresh air with lots of people having a great time. And I think that's the best part about parkrun. So wherever you're doing it today and or planning to do it next week, I hope you have a great parkrun, everyone.

00:46:56Lyndell Murray: Awesome. Thank you, Sue. And congratulations on your 100. Thank you. And I look forward to following all of your adventures as well. Thank you. All right. Back now with Rory and Shirley, the event directors. How are you today? How was the launch? Good, good.

00:47:13Shirley: It was a very successful day. So it has gone off without a hitch so far, which has been fantastic. Excellent. How about you, Rory? How was your day?

00:47:21Rory: Very nervous at the start, very apprehensive, but geez, it was absolutely fantastic and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and it was a great turnout and everyone, well, everyone wore green. I'd like to say everyone, most people wore green and

00:47:33Lyndell Murray: I've got my green shorts on, Rory. Now, Rory, I can detect a bit of a lilt there. Is that the reason for the theme today?

00:47:42Rory: No, today is St. Patrick's Day. So, March 17th, and we encourage everyone to wear green, but also, just on top of that, the Green Campaign. We have Brisbane City Council have launched a new litter initiative, which is a green initiative, you could say. So it's an anti-litter prevention campaign that they have chosen to use this parkrun as their launch as well. So that was a nice bonus for us.

00:48:04Lyndell Murray: With an Irishman was what I was getting to.

00:48:06Rory: Oh, right. Don't tell anybody. I'm Mexican. I just put this accent on for the women.

00:48:15Lyndell Murray: And an excuse to drink beer.

00:48:16Rory: Rodriguez, my name is.

00:48:19Lyndell Murray: Oh, very funny. I did wear my green shorts today. Sorry, I didn't have much green, but I tried, Rory. Now, Forest Lake, F, not many Fs around. Did you get many alphabeteers today, do you reckon?

00:48:32Shirley: Yes, well, we did speak to two that came from Toowoomba, had taken the day off work, specifically because it was an F in their... Well, not suburb. Alphabeteer. Yeah, Alphabeteer for them to achieve. So, yes, I know of two that we definitely did get through.

00:48:47Lyndell Murray: Yeah, and I spoke to one as well. So there's three for you. And another Brisbane City Council event here. How many are in Brisbane now? Do you know? I don't know.

00:48:58Rory: Well, do you know, when I started doing them, I did about 25 because I was doing all the ones around Brisbane. And then when I finished, I had a few months off. And within that time, then a few more had sprung up. So I had to catch up, but I haven't caught up on all of them. And I probably won't because now that I'm staunch to this one. I don't know, I'll give it a go. But yeah, well, I'd say we're looking at around 30 around Brisbane, I'd say.

00:49:20Lyndell Murray: Yep.

00:49:20Rory: Probably more.

00:49:21Lyndell Murray: Yep. And the course. Now, I'm at Bunyaville. Every time I go to a different parkrun...

00:49:27Rory: I have done the Bunyaville one. I had a good time as well.

00:49:31Lyndell Murray: Awesome. Every time I come somewhere different, I think it's not going to be hilly like Bunyaville. It'll be flat. It'll be easy. No, not the case here.

00:49:41Shirley: Sorry. We do have a challenging one. There are hills as well as a few dog legs and turns to negotiate. And I guess that adds to the interesting course for Forest Lake.

00:49:51Lyndell Murray: I think it does. I loved the course. There was lots of shade as well. So I think it'll be a beautiful course any time of year. Now, you guys run directing here and event directing. How did you get into parkrun and what's your parkrun story?

00:50:06Shirley: My parkrun story, I've actually only ever done one parkrun, and that was at Rocks Riverside. I do do a regular five-kilometer run three times a week at South Brisbane, but because I never had one close to home, that was why I wanted to set it up, and that's where it started. I put a... message on our local facebook page and our community page and just ask them if they anybody would be interested that's when i got in with rory and katrina and we met up and the story started from there we have had a couple challenges along the way a couple of residents and our courses changed probably three times but we eventually met our launch date and we were really pleased to get it up and running Excellent. How about you, Rory?

00:50:49Rory: Well, yeah, I've been doing the parkruns for a while and myself and another one of our run directors, Sri, me and him used to do them. But we had always toyed with the idea of getting one set up in Forest Lake. So we've been looking for tracks. I had me, you know, we would have loved to incorporate the lake. Unfortunately, it wasn't available. But I had my eye on this track as well because I knew of Forest Lake for years. I've been living around here. So I knew of this long track and yeah, eventually we got to incorporate it and it was pretty good.

00:51:17Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And it's also one of the legacy runs for the Commonwealth Games Embrace. Is that correct? Yes, it is. It is correct. So that's great. I mean, the Commonwealth Games is just around the corner now and it's really nice that all Queenslanders get to have some part of their life. Are you volunteering? What's your role?

00:51:36Shirley: I'm a spectator services. So I'll be looking after the Oxenford... arena and that's boxing badminton and squash so it'll be interesting and table tennis

00:51:50Lyndell Murray: So a bit different to running. But that's okay. So you're obviously a really avid volunteer, and that's really wonderful. So thank you very much, guys, for talking to me today. Thanks for all of your work in getting Forest Lake and F and another run out in this part of Brisbane. So we're in the southwest of Brisbane. So thanks for all your work. Well done, and all the best for the future of Forest Lake Podcasts.

00:52:16Rory: Thanks for coming out. I appreciate all the people that turned out today, including yourself. It was a great turnout and I'm really happy with how it went.

00:52:23Shirley: Thank you. And, yes, we ended with 559 runners coming over the finish line.

00:52:29Lyndell Murray: So, great. Big numbers. Awesome. Well done, guys. And thanks again. Thank you.

00:52:34Scott Trickett: See you later.

00:52:35Lyndell Murray: All righty, Scotty and Mel. That's it. That's a wrap-up from me from the launch of Forest Lakes parkrun. If you're after an F, get down here. Great course. It's not your normal fast out and back. There's a lot of interest on the course. It's really treed and it's green. And there's lots of little hills. And the crowd here are wonderful. It was a big crowd here for the launch. But I've got a pretty good feeling that Forest Lake is going to be one of the friendliest parkruns going. Just before I go, another shout-out, Craig. One of the run directors at Rocks Riverside was here, came up, said g'day, and said he loves the podcast. So thanks for listening, Craig. Thanks for saying g'day. And that's it from me. See you next time on the podcast.

Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")

00:53:23Scott Trickett: Forest Lake launched on the weekend, Mel, and thanks to Lyndell, she was there to cover it for us. A big event for Brisbane.

00:53:32Melissa Erbacher: Yes, it was a big event for Brisbane.

00:53:35Scott Trickett: And coming up this weekend, there's another event in Brisbane launching with St Lucia.

00:53:44Melissa Erbacher: There is indeed. Queensland are making it very difficult at the moment for people to... Keep on top of all the events that are happening or even try to catch up. It's just we're running away with parkrun at the moment.

00:53:58Scott Trickett: And there's a launch in New South Wales at Chipping Norton. parkrun, funny little name. Very British sounding name. It's cute, isn't it? Yeah, it's okay.

00:54:07Melissa Erbacher: It's like something you'd find on the metro line in London, isn't it? Or the underground. Chipping Norton.

00:54:14Scott Trickett: I think it's a bit Sydney. Like when we were there over Christmas, they do have a couple of funny names like that.

00:54:20Melissa Erbacher: Like English names, you mean?

00:54:22Scott Trickett: Yeah. That's the same thing, isn't it? English and funny.

00:54:26Melissa Erbacher: Can you give me some examples of these other funny names?

00:54:31Scott Trickett: Don't put me on the spot, Mel.

00:54:34Melissa Erbacher: Look, you started it. You know, you've got to come up with the goods if you're going to throw things out there like that.

00:54:40Scott Trickett: 104 episodes, I've made plenty of general sweeping statements that you've never asked me to make, so I'm not going to start now.

00:54:48Melissa Erbacher: Okay, and I shouldn't start calling you on them now either, I guess. We do have an anniversary this weekend, however, and it's a bit bittersweet.

00:54:59Scott Trickett: Yeah, it's tinged with a bit of sadness, isn't it? It is. It is for us.

00:55:03Melissa Erbacher: It is for us, very personally, because there are two very important people to the podcast who are unable to make the adventurers listen and meet up this weekend because they're going to be at this wonderful anniversary. And we don't blame them, but we are sad that we won't get to see them because where's the anniversary, Scotty?

00:55:21Scott Trickett: The event in question is Mount Barker. The people in question are our Channel 5 News crew members, PK and Greta. So good luck to them. I'm sure they'll have a great morning. Not as much fun as we're going to have.

00:55:35Melissa Erbacher: Well, they might have some fun. Maybe we'll get some roving reports from the birthday, if we're lucky.

00:55:40Scott Trickett: Not as much fun. I said not as much fun.

00:55:42Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:55:43Scott Trickett: They're entitled to have fun, but just not as much fun as we are.

00:55:47Melissa Erbacher: I think that's a bit harsh. If they're capable of having as much fun as us, I think they should be allowed.

00:55:53Scott Trickett: You know what? I want to put Mount Barker on our list too, Mel. I feel it's an event that we need to get to.

00:56:00Melissa Erbacher: I've done a Freedom Run of Mount Barker.

00:56:03Scott Trickett: Well, Freedom Run's one thing. An event, a proper Saturday morning parkrun is another. And we haven't spoken about this at all.

00:56:11Melissa Erbacher: No, you're putting me on the spot now.

00:56:12Scott Trickett: And I know your calendar's very full, very full. But I feel like next time we're in South Australia, we need to get to Mount Barker.

00:56:20Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay. Well, you know I'm always happy to go to South Australia.

00:56:24Scott Trickett: Okay. Is that it this week? We done? Next time I'll see you, we'll be in person?

00:56:32Melissa Erbacher: Well, that's only a few days away. But, um, actually, Scotty, I haven't asked you this week. How's your marathon training going?

00:56:39Scott Trickett: Yeah, awesome.

00:56:41Melissa Erbacher: Great. Yeah? Have you missed anything?

00:56:43Scott Trickett: I am missing a few. The odd here and there. Not many. Like, I'm doing really well. I had a 70k week last week. That was a big week for Scott.

00:56:54Melissa Erbacher: And how many was it supposed to be?

00:56:56Scott Trickett: Oh, it's about that. So it's close. It's a lot of running, isn't it? I know Liam just said 200, something ridiculous. But for me, mere mortals, 70k is a lot.

00:57:07Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, that's fine. But is near enough really good enough? Isn't this what happened last time? You just decided you could skip a couple of your sessions and... Then you wondered why you didn't perform as well as you were expecting.

00:57:21Schulze: Yeah.

00:57:21Melissa Erbacher: I've got to keep you honest, Scotty. There's no point asking about how it's going if that's not actually going to motivate you to keep doing all the sessions you're supposed to be doing.

00:57:35Scott Trickett: I was tapering. I was tapering for Run for the Kids.

00:57:39Melissa Erbacher: I'm pretty sure that was not in your training program to taper.

00:57:43Scott Trickett: It wasn't. It wasn't. I was going to talk about it. Run for the kids. I did something that I've never done before. And I took it really easy. And I stopped for photos during a fun run. I know people do that.

00:57:54Melissa Erbacher: Heaven forbid. Oh, my goodness. You know what they're called. You know what they're called, right? They're called runfees.

00:58:01Scott Trickett: Run fees, yeah. So I did a couple. And I've always looked at them and gone, shouldn't you be running?

00:58:06Melissa Erbacher: Like you're in a race. You're in a race. And now you were that person.

00:58:12Scott Trickett: I was that person this weekend. It was kind of fun.

00:58:15Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Would you do it again?

00:58:16Scott Trickett: No, I've done it now. So that's enough. Tick. Okay. Yep. Run the date my way. How's that going?

Run the date my way (challenge check-in)

00:58:26Melissa Erbacher: Oh my goodness. It's not getting any easier. I am having a lot of days where I just stand there in my running clothes and I look at the door and I don't want to go out. But I still go out because I'm stubborn. I haven't missed a day yet and I have managed all my... all my minutes that I'm supposed to do. You know, I've completed day 21. So technically that's three solid weeks worth. I've only got 10 days to go and I'm not halfway yet.

00:59:09Unidentified speaker: Wow.

00:59:11Melissa Erbacher: Do you know when I'm going to get halfway?

00:59:12Scott Trickett: 24.

00:59:16Melissa Erbacher: No, 22. Okay. So my next run of 22 minutes is going to just get me over halfway by about Four or five minutes, if I recall correctly. But it just doesn't really seem fair that I've been running for three weeks and I'm not halfway through a month. It defies all logical maths.

00:59:38Scott Trickett: Yeah, you can't stop though, Mel. Because if you stop, then you've got to do it again next month. So you've only got ten days to go.

00:59:45Melissa Erbacher: I think.

00:59:47Scott Trickett: You can't say I'm going to do a challenge and then not complete it.

00:59:51Melissa Erbacher: I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that days aren't getting easier. And I don't know how I'm going to sneak it in over the weekend. You know, we've got a lot of action chock-a-block organized.

01:00:06Scott Trickett: There'll be no sneaking. We're coming with you.

01:00:09Melissa Erbacher: No, I don't really feel comfortable with that either. You've got performance anxiety about live podcasting. I've got performance anxiety about running with people.

01:00:18Scott Trickett: Okay. Are you getting fitter? Do you feel like you're getting faster and fitter?

01:00:24Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't know about faster. I think fitter, obviously, because I ran for 21 minutes today without stopping and I haven't done that in a long time. And I did also wear some pants which I bought specifically when I was pregnant, like four sizes bigger than normal just so that I could be comfortable with the big belly and the other stuff that was getting bigger as a result of the pregnancy in the leg and bum and thigh areas. And they were a little bit saggy baggy today. Now, I don't know whether or not that's because I stretched the hell out of them while I was pregnant and I just didn't notice because I haven't worn them in a while because they were like three-quarter length tights and I avoid those in summertime and usually just wear shorts. But what I did notice is they weren't holding the stuff together like I need to be held. And so that was a bit distracting for me for the first 10 minutes or so. I was just concentrating on things jiggling where I was thinking, okay, I'm pretty sure the tighter pants hold stuff in like... I thought my abs were better than that and I thought my belly was better than that. But no, obviously I still have some work to do. If these pants that don't hold anything in, just let them all go everywhere. So it's been an education.

01:01:52Scott Trickett: Okay. Well, I look forward to seeing the progress on the weekend. And I don't know how you're going to avoid me in particular, Mel. We are spending three days together.

01:02:02Melissa Erbacher: You can go running with Adam and I can run another time.

01:02:06Scott Trickett: Okay. Is Adam in shape? Because I don't know if he's doing 70 day weeks. Is he going to be able to keep up with me?

01:02:14Melissa Erbacher: He's not doing 70 day weeks, but I don't know. That depends on how fast you run. Adam has a good habit of running at the same time as people and not necessarily with them. So maybe you can be that guy who's in front all the time and never actually with him and give him a taste of his own medicine.

01:02:37Scott Trickett: Yeah, you know what I might do? I might just sprint for the first K. And just tell him that's your normal pace nowadays. Make him feel bad that he's dropped off so much.

01:02:49Melissa Erbacher: Oh, you're a terrible person. That's not a very parkrun thing to do.

01:02:55Scott Trickett: No. Well, I won't do it at parkrun. I'll do it on the Friday and the Sunday.

01:03:03Melissa Erbacher: Well, that's completely up to you. Yeah, okay. I'm going to see you in a couple of days, so I think we should finish this up.

01:03:13Scott Trickett: Yeah. Well, look, you haven't eased my anxiety one bit, so that's good.

01:03:17Melissa Erbacher: Oh, was that my task?

01:03:20Scott Trickett: I thought the penultimate episode before our listener meet-up, you might achieve that, but no. But that's okay.

01:03:26Melissa Erbacher: Well, that would have been last week if it was the penultimate one before the episode.

01:03:33Scott Trickett: We talk about this. Your definition of penultimate is different to mine.

01:03:38Melissa Erbacher: It means second last. This is the last one before the weekend.

01:03:43Scott Trickett: But no.

01:03:45Melissa Erbacher: The second last one was last week.

01:03:48Scott Trickett: I guess so, yeah, because this is the one before. Yeah, okay.

01:03:52Melissa Erbacher: Because this weekend is going to be this weekend. Yeah. Okay. I'm glad we're on the same dictionary. Okay. Let's go.

01:03:59Scott Trickett: Look at the time. Mel is at the time. Let's go. This has been a long one. Thanks. Thanks. And I'll see you soon.

01:04:06Melissa Erbacher: See you, Scotty.