Blog

As I look back to the last time I stood on a track, it was 31st July 2011. I was in Belgium surrounded by athletes and other New Zealanders who were all there for the same reason – because we have a passion for this sport! Here, I ran my 5000m personal best of 15.41, and on that day I did not realize how much this race would be my motive and hope to get back into running, during an injury that was about to be with me for the following year. As runners we all have our goals and dreams for our running careers. For me, as I returned from run...

They say good things take time. Well this has certainly taken some time so I can only hope its good! It’s been about 4 months since I ran the Berlin marathon where I came 14th in 2:16:49, so I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my run. I’m reasonably pleased with my result but there’s always room for improvement and it’s good to know things weren’t perfect on the day so I can learn from my mistakes and build on any weaknesses. My buildup went really well and I knew I was on for a pb provided nothing disastro...

Hey everyone, My name's Julian Oakley and I'm a middle distance runner from Tauranga. I am 18 years old and have just finished my last year at Tauranga Boys' College. Gareth Hyett coaches me and I am very grateful to have someone like him on board helping me out, as I have only been seriously into the sport for less than two years. Gareth is someone who I can relate to very well and we have a great relationship together, he knows me well and knows what works for me best. He's run for NZ at the world champs not long ago and does a lot of doublin...

“Champions are not defined on how many times they win, but on how many times they get back up after defeat or failure.” This is a quote that my coach Alan Rubick reminds me of regularly, and I think every athlete can be motivated by it. Hello NZrun community, For those of you who don’t know me my name is Brad Mathas and I’m an 800m runner from Whanganui. I have been asked to do a bit of a profile about myself and what I do. Firstly I train 6 days a week 2-3 times a day which is something I started doing in June last yea...

It's been a while since my last post and I apologise for not yet getting a Berlin race report out but I am working on it and hopefully it'll be here soon. Great to see the All Blacks take down France so easily too;-)  They certainly made it look a lot harder than they needed to but 1 point is all you need. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little Q&A I had with Xempo.  They are a new running clothing company over here in the UK and have a unique grading system for runners where you essentially get to show off your times.   H...

So here I am with chapter two. With the rugby world cup having left Dunedin, and Sunday nights finally reverting back to times of mere greasy food and blue powerades (for those non – athletes of course), things are getting back to normal down here. However, to say the cup left with a bang would have to be the understatement of the year. Only an All Black comeback to win Sundays final would get a comparable amount of cheering to that received by the Irish from the 30,000 observers (over half of which – inebriated students) down here ...

You'd think that with less running I'd have more time to put together a blog post but sadly that's not been the case!  I started easing down at the start of the September and my last 2 weeks have been 84 and 75 miles.  This week is super easy and I'm on a diet of low singles until Sunday so the week will come out about 30 miles with the race on top. A couple of Sundays ago I ran a half marathon where the aim was to run it at marathon HR.  The first 10 miles were pretty solid and I went through in about 51:35.  The last 5km i...

With 4 weeks left before the Berlin marathon I started to take it a bit easier to ensure I'm fully rested for the big day. The first half of the week was a continuation of miles to see me through to the end of the month. During the second half of the week I started to cut back so I could (hopefully!) freshen up a little. My tempo session on Wednesday morning was a little slower than I wanted but the main thing is that it felt about right effort wise and as soon as I get some life back into my legs the pace will come right. Since I was racing a ...

Hello all. For those who don’t know, I am a 400m hurdler and sprinter, hailing from sunny Dunedin. NZrun has asked me to throw together a blog, so fingers crossed a handful of you will enjoy this bit of divergence from the usual topics found on here. Firstly - a wee spiel about myself, assuming most readers won’t know who I am. I'm 22 and spend my time studying accounting here in Dunedin, after deciding that two years towards a law degree was a waste of my time (“Brilliant” – the single-worded text response from my...

After 3 big weeks I finally started to feel the effects of the mileage this week as I was feeling quite tired and sluggish after a couple of days (I’m sure my session on Tuesday played its part). It’s not unexpected to feel a bit crap and it’s why I opted to finish my 4 week block 4 weeks out from race day rather than 3 weeks out as it gave me an extra week to bounce back. In the past I’ve made the mistake of going hard right up until the traditional 3 week taper and ended up not feeling rested enough during race week wh...