COACH’S CORNER - How To Get Your One Percenters Right by Mario Buchs

February 29, 2024

straight from trt running's mario buchs, learn all about the little one percenters to help you stay consistent

I soon realised with being injured a lot and as I age, that looking after the little things and being consistent will pay dividends in the long run. So, what exactly are these little things, or what we call the One Percenters?

Stick to Your Plan and Trust the Process/Coach

At this point in time, it can be easy to skip that long run, or cut a session short because you are not feeling it today. You most likely have a plan to help get you to where you need to be for your big race.

Each session will be building on the last, so it’s important to keep your training consistent.

Have a rest when you need to, but make sure it is for the right reasons and cross off each of those training sessions when you complete them. Keep the streak going and you won’t want to miss a session.

Staying Hydrated

Especially in summer months, it allows the body to keep energy levels up so you can recover better and perform for longer. Although it’s less important for a shorter race, research suggests that being only 25% dehydrated could lead to a 3% performance loss. Not much in the scheme of things but could be the difference between beating your PB or not.

I go by a daily intake of 1liter of fluids per 25kg of bodyweight plus whatever I lose through exercise. PLUS I add sodium to much of my daily hydration. At the end of the day water alone is not a great lubricant for our joints and ligaments.

Core Body Workout

We all know we should be doing these workouts. As coaches we can help with an array of core work exercises. Most of the time these workouts can be completed in twenty to thirty minutes, so there is no excuse.

Lift

Not take the lift, but lift heavy, awkward objects. Works the core (see above). Of course start with manageable weights and work yourself up. If you’re building endurance or full body strength, grip strength improvement indicates training success!

Eating Right

I’m not trying to get people to stress about what they eat (I’m not qualified to do so anyway), I don’t even log my own calories but it’s really important you are getting as many nutrients as possible from the amount of food you are eating. Just like staying hydrated, making sure you are eating properly, ensuring you have enough fuel in the tank.

Taper Properly

If you are setting up your own training plan, make sure you discuss this if you have access to one of the coaches and think long and hard about your taper before a race. A taper is not cutting back on your running mileage the week before a race. A proper taper should have you ready for your race feeling fresh and running stronger and faster than you ever have.

Sleep and Recovery

You need to give yourself adequate time to recover, with your training suffering if you are not getting enough sleep. Pre-race nerves can play a part in not getting enough sleep the night before a race. Don’t let this stress you out, as long as the previous night before the race was quality, you shouldn’t be effected on race day.

Stretching and Massage

If you can’t get a sports massage, make sure you can at least stretch daily. Massage balls( or golf/cricket/tennis balls) and rollers are a great way to relieve pressure in muscles and can be a good substitute for a massage. I foam roll every night in front of the TV. Stretching can be done easily at your standing desk.

Last but not least let’s have a look at some easy ways to get these little things done.

Be consistent as much as possible with everything in terms of your running
Stand on one leg when you brush your teeth
Put on your socks and shoes while standing on one leg
Have a water bottle everywhere
Get off/up from the chair without using your hands
Take the stairs instead of the lift
Sleep in the evening not in the morning (because this won’t happen...as we have to get up early for work/life/run etc) but do what you like and when you can fit it in and keep things simple
Massage/sauna/cold water immersion
Reformer pilates/yoga/meditation

mario buchs is an accredited recreational running coach and coaches with trt running in sydney, nsw, featuring a strong background in ultra running. if you would like more information on being trained by mario, click through here to our aura endorsed coaches page.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.