November, it’s a weird time of the year. It’s not quite the end of the year but it feels like the end of the year. After the big races are done in September and October, my brain wants to start planning for 2025. Where can I go? What races can I do? Where are the … Continue reading Floating in the in-between goal zone
Recovery week, formerly known as Fat week, has officially come to a close. https://youtu.be/A_Vl7AVzZwo?si=FkRuz1mfFCzNiAGZ There is something liberating about recovery week. Maybe it’s because I am so strict and scared during the taper in fear of stuffing up the one day I’ve spent 6 months training for that having absolutely no rules or boundaries or … Continue reading Training diaries: Recovery week
When I first started this blog back in 2017, I wanted it to be focused on running as a life style and on improving myself. I was deep into podcasts, especially ones like Rich Roll and feeling like I was listening to all this information about self improvement and not actually doing anything about it. … Continue reading Seven years of MelMacRuns
If I could say anything about 2023, it would be, well at least I tried. It didn’t go perfectly and I fell short of my goals a few times but I’m pretty proud of the fact that I kept getting up again and trying to fix all the mistakes. Looking back on the year, it’s … Continue reading 2023: a year in running
I hate the phrase “stress is stress”. It’s like one of those annoying quotes that used to be reserved for being stitched on a pillow or depicted in embossed pink ribbon script handwriting on women’s health journals that now are plastered on every influencers instagram page. And like it’s equally annoying siblings “you can’t outrun … Continue reading The unplanned rest week
It had been a while. Quite a while actually, since I had run 100km. It seemed like something that had become part of my identity, running long distances, of how people saw me, but I wasn’t actually doing it. The last time I completed a 100km race was September 2017, the Surf Coast Century, over … Continue reading Race recap: Ultra trail Kosciusko 100k
I bought a new pair of shoes this week. Hardly newsworthy or revolutionary I admit. "Runner buys new shoes" is hardly the stuff of Pulitzer Prizes. There was nothing fancy about them. They weren't a brand new make or model, a limited edition or anything with the word 'carbon' in the title (or the price). … Continue reading WTF! They ruined my favourite shoe!
“Proud of you for showing up”, that was the message I got from a running buddy when I got home from Halloween Howler last night after spending 5 and a half hours doing loops of a 5k trail course. “Me too”, I thought, “that’s the hardest part”, I replied. In fairness, that wasn’t what I … Continue reading Race recap: Halloween Howler marathon 2022
My favourite movie is Almost Famous, the based on a true story account of a kid and wannabe journo who became besties with his favourite band and followed them on the road, leading to his own front page story on the cover of The Rolling Stone. As a younger person, it seemed fitting that I … Continue reading My experience of “Mental skills for ultra runners”: A tail of a book review and unrequited therapy
I’m one of those people who thinks self reflection is important. I’m often guilty of over analysing and sometimes over blaming myself for whatever has happened. If it was a good thing, a good result, then it was a team effort or a fluke, but if it was a less than ideal result then it … Continue reading Lessons Learnt: Cairns to Port Douglas DNF
MelMac Runs 