TFTV Rat Race – Ballarat Build (5 Weeks Out) 🎙️

Sam catches up with past guests Mel Jefferis & Pete Naseby as the Ballarat Marathon edges closer.

Mel is gearing up for the Half Marathon and building strong after overcoming hamstring issues. She takes us through her recent block, including an 86km week featuring sessions like 6 x 1k + 4 x 400, 3 x 10 mins, and a 2-hour long run. She’s lining up with confidence and chasing a PB in Ballarat.

Pete is set for the full marathon, joining a strong contingent of Illawarra locals. Off the back of a 3:04 in Sydney, he’s targeting improvement with a consistent block — highlighted by a 93km week, including 15 x 400m off 30s and a big 37km day incorporating the Huskisson Elite Energy Half (1:29) after 13km pre-fatigue.

Sam also shares his own prep for Shellharbour, with a 99km week including: • 16 x 400m @ 3:26 (45” rest) • 4 x 2k @ 3:45 (500m jog) • 34km long run + 2 gym sessions

Café Kit of the Week ☕️ Running gear that doubles as post-run swim kit: • Nike Vomero Plus • 250ml pop top

Ballarat is coming 👀

Sam chats with Jarrod Boyd and Greg ‘Frosty’ Frost as both line up for Ballarat in five weeks.

Jarrod makes his first appearance on the podcast, bringing some serious credentials with PBs of 16:44 (5k), 33:38 (10k) and 1:16 (half). Coming from a high-level rugby background, Jarrod transitioned into triathlon and reached peak fitness around 2017. After stepping away from running during COVID while starting a family, he returned in 2024 and ran 3:04 at the Gold Coast Marathon off just six months of training. Now, with a full block behind him and support from JT Running, he’s targeting well under 3 hours at Ballarat.

Frosty returns fresh off a huge run at Valencia, clocking 2:28 for the marathon and shaving 40 seconds off his PB. He’ll be stepping down to the half at Ballarat, chasing another personal best.

Training weeks Frosty talks through a typical 130km week across seven runs, including broken kilometre reps on the track Tuesday and a 35-minute progression on Friday with Myles, working down from 3:30 to 3:10 pace.

Jarrod shares a key marathon session of 3 x 5km after 17km easy, hitting 4:12, 4:08 and 4:04, showing strong progression deep into the run. Despite a lighter week due to work travel, he still put together a solid set of workouts including a Saturday progression.

Sam reflects on the challenge of balancing training with a newborn but still gets the work done, including 26km midweek with 10 x 1k on 1k off averaging 4:11/km across 20k, and a 28km long run featuring 5k, 3k and 3k efforts around 4:10 pace in tough heat.

Café Kit of the Week Mileage Mate Asics Superblast 2 Asics Superblast 3

Shoutouts & News Jarrod gives a shoutout to his old Wollongong training group Project M. JT Running are launching a new recreational session every Thursday morning at Bulli Beach (6am), giving runners an entry point into structured training with James Tunbridge and Charl Jansen Van Rensburg.

Sam & Katie catch up after a couple of weeks off while Sam welcomes his daughter Elena into the world 👶

Katie shares an update on her injury and the expected timeline for surgery. In the meantime she’s making the most of the situation by getting fully set up on Zwift and learning the ropes with the full home setup.

Sam talks about the early days of balancing newborn life with marathon training, and how the two are already starting to influence each other. Despite the sleep disruption, he jumps straight back into a big training week with 102km, including:

• 8 × 800m session

• 6 × 6 minutes threshold work

• 35km long run workout on Sunday

☕ Café Kit of the Week

• Devanti Ice Maker

• Bike Shorts from Lokamo

Looking ahead, the podcast will begin interviewing athletes preparing for the upcoming Ballarat Marathon over the next few weeks.

Sam catches up with Luke Hince, 12 months after he was last on the podcast — and for the same reason. Luke takes out the NSW 5000m Championships in 14:00, agonisingly close to cracking sub-14.

They kick things off by discussing Luke’s strong run of form, including his impressive 29:03 over 10,000m at the Melbourne Track Classic (part of the Athletics Grand Prix Series) last year.

Luke recaps his taper week leading into the race and the atmosphere of an exciting night of racing. After a slow opening lap, Luke made the call to take it from the front, turning the race into a largely solo effort. While he was initially gutted to see 14:00 flash up on the clock, that quickly shifted to excitement when his training partner and Run Havoc teammate secured second place in 14:23.

In the B race, the rest of the Hince stable delivered strong performances:

• Nathaniel Brisbane broke 15 minutes for the first time, running 14:54
• Harm Schaap placed second in 14:43

Sam also recaps his own week — 83km all up — featuring:

• 3km hard in 10:27 at the crit track on a windy morning
• 6 x 500m
• A big 32km long run with 2 x 10km efforts sandwiched in

Café Kit of the Month

Luke gives his latest gear and fuel reviews:

• Saucony Triumph 23
• On Running Winter Vest
• Rhise Hot Chocolate

Luke lines up at Box Hill Athletics Track this Thursday night for another crack at sub-14 — this time in a pack. Keep your eyes peeled!

Sam & Katie catch up on their training this week with no guest on the mic, and also dive into some listener ChatGPT Q’s along the way. 🤖🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Katie continues her cycling block, hits squat PB’s, and keeps the running load sensible — while also unpacking Sam’s incredibly inconvenient offer to “help” her through one of her track sessions. 😅

Sam bounces back from a bit of a lull with a strong week featuring speedy 400s, sharp threshold work and mile repeats while down the coast for a wedding.

Tune in for Café Kit of the Week ☕️, ChatGPT Q’s, and a fresh round of Yeah/Nah rants… though Katie is still not over Sam breaking her rhythm at the track.

Sam & Katie catch up with Charl Jansen Van Rensburg, who makes his return to the podcast with plenty of updates since last time.

Charl has rewritten his Half Marathon PB, clocking a 1:15 at the Gold Coast Half Marathon last year. Alongside his running, Charl has also launched his business Mileage Mate, and walks us through the product—designed to help runners stay warm, dry, and clean before and after training and racing.

Katie

• Recaps her win at the Aquathon 5k 🥇

• Backs it up with more strength training

• Plenty of cycling to round out the week

Sam

• Talks through a bit of a down week

• Coming off the back of a heavy training block with some big workouts in the legs

Charl

• Runs through his week as fitness starts to return

• Recently managed a calf injury picked up at the GONG5000

• Feeling positive as things begin to click again

Tune in for this week’s Café Kit and the always-divisive Yeah / Nah segment.

• Congrats to Erin Hargrave, this month’s winner of the Run Havoc Café Kit of the Month Voucher 🎉

🔗 Check out Charl’s business here: 👉 https://mileagemate.com.au/

If you want, I can:

• Shorten this for Instagram / Spotify show notes

• Add a punchier opening hook

• Match formatting exactly to the previous Chris Stone episode for consistency

Sam and Katie are joined by Ethan Spears and Cody Bramich from the 360 South Project.

Ethan and Cody are relatively new to running but are passionate about building a movement in the Illawarra through community, challenge, and shared suffering. Their flagship event is a unique 360 km relay from Wollongong to Huskisson and back, completed by teams of six over a 30-hour window, with legs split however teams choose.

Despite being early in their running journeys, both are getting quick. Ethan recently clocked a sub-20 5 km time trial, while Cody has run 1:28 at both the Shellharbour and Husky Half Marathons.

In the lead-up to the May 15 event, the crew discusses the vision behind the project, the logistics of the relay format, and what’s planned around it — including merch, community runs, and launch events.

👉 More info: https://www.instagram.com/360southproject/

Training Weeks

• Sam breaks down an 81 km week featuring hilly mile reps and another YoYo Tempo.
• Ethan & Cody battle the flu but still manage track work, HIIT and RIG sessions at the Yard Gym, run-club easy jogs, and even consult an Etsy witch to keep the rain away for Sunday’s long run.
• Katie logs 41 km including another “Moana” fartlek, absurdly long core sessions, and 4 hours of cycling.

Café Kit of the Week

• Mileage Mate — https://mileagemate.com.au/
• Megablasts
• New Balance Elite
• Slam Ball

News

• ASICS trade-in event ahead of the Nimbus 28 at Centennial Park
• Cam Myers runs 3:49 for the mile at UW Indoor
• Jake Derdon clocks 2:22 at the Houston Marathon

Sam and Katie are joined by Chris Stone, who shares his running journey—from early runs with his dad, to a long hiatus through university, and then a spark moment after lining up at City2Surf that reignited his love (and natural knack) for running.

Since returning to the sport, Chris has clocked some impressive road PBs:

• 5km: 19:32
• 10km: 39:56
• Half Marathon: 1:29
• Marathon: 3:21 at the Sydney Marathon

More recently, Chris has found his passion on the trails, completing UTA100 in 15 hours and 31 minutes.

Chris’ favourite place to run is the Wollongong Escarpment, he loves a strong mountain-culture status quo, and his go-to sessions are tempo and threshold workouts.

🏃‍♂️ Training Weeks

Sam

• 75km week
• Yo-Yo tempo session
• 3-minute reps
• Plus approximately 1000 beers on Friday night 🍻

Katie

• Continues her Zwift racing and strength work
• Quick kilometre reps and 400s on the track
• Gets out for a threshold session in the heat

Chris

• Plenty of time riding his new mountain bike on local trails
• Progressive tempo session with the JT Running crew
• K reps and 400s on the track with JT Running teammate Michael Donald

☕ Café Kit

• Bella’s Nutella Protein Balls
• Buff for neck coverage
• Lee & Me blended coffee (Wollongong)

🙌 Shoutouts

• Training partners: Michael Donald, Michael Bilboe, Josh Boxell
• Coach: James Tunbridge
• Wife: Amanda