COACH’S CORNER – LET’S GET RUN FIT WITH NICK MUXLOW

Kate Dzienis • August 31, 2021

Coach’s Corner is a feature for our AURA members, where qualified trained professionals provide you with advice and tips on improving and enhancing your ultra running performance.

Contributed by Nick Muxlow, Run Coach at The Ultra Journey and Author (SA)
Nick Muxlow is a Level 3 Intermediate Recreational Running Coach, accredited with Athletics Australia. He is an ultra-marathon coach, runner and author of “Journey to 100 – How To Run Your First 100km Ultramarathon and Love It”. Nick has competed in seven Ironman races, has won both the State Trail Championships and State Ultramarathon Championships, and finished UTA 100k in under 11.5 hours on his first attempt.

All runners want to improve. They want to be faster, stronger, more resilient as a runner and enjoy their running experience where running feels easy and effortless. We say that all runners want to get ‘Run Fit’. The challenge is however that far too many runners have uncertainty over what training they should be doing, are in a performance plateau or are injured. They are not sure if what they are doing and where they are investing their time is the best option for them to achieve their goals.

There is a better way. We call this the Run Fit way. Run Fit is the method you need to ensure you have confidence with your running. It outlines the four key elements you need to get Run Fit allowing you certainty with your training so you can run easily and effortlessly. You bring structure to what you are doing, you have variety in your training, you stay injury free and enjoy your running more. Run Fit allows you to improve your running and finish with a smile.

Let’s unpack the Run Fit method a little further to understand how it can help you as a runner.

The Run Fit method consists of four parts – a Game Plan, Mindset, Skills and Fitness. Each contains three key elements which are required to be implemented by the runner. When a runner implements and executes all 12 elements well, they can achieve their full potential.

Let’s take a quick overview of the method. The Game Plan is the backbone of becoming Run Fit, it is the systems and processes that you follow as a runner and is what delivers structure to your running. It is made up of three key elements, strategy, deliberate practise and a training and racing plan. Collectively these elements in the Game Plan allow the concepts covered in each of the following areas to be implemented and achieved.

Mindset is about ensuring that you have a positive mindset when both training and racing. When a positive mindset is developed in training and racing you have confidence with what you are doing and can overcome challenges. Your develop trust in your training and racing ability and as a result your confidence soars. To achieve this a runner needs to develop a growth mindset, enhance their training mindset and hone their racing mindset.

Skills looks at the full range of skills needed by the runner: the techniques needed to be successful. You must be able to refine and improve all three parts to achieve your full potential as a runner and finish with a smile.

Fitness is where most runners spend their time developing. Fitness consists of three essential elements which need to be developed at the optimal time with respect to your goal race. Fitness is absolutely important but it must be developed in unison with the other elements to reach your full potential. If a runner focusses only on their fitness they risk walking to the finish line on race day or having a DNF.

Ultimately to be able to develop your fitness to its full capacity, we need to have implemented the other three parts of the Run Fit method, we need a wholistic approach to your running. Once all elements have been considered, implemented and executed then running becomes easy, effortless and enjoyable.

Overall, when all four parts of the Run Fit method come together, you will be able to reach your peak physical and psychological state and, therefore your full potential as a runner. You will be Run Fit. You will improve your running and finish with a smile.

Below is a diagram of what this looks like and how all four parts of the method combine to allow you to become Run Fit.

How well are you implementing all parts of the Run Fit method?

To find out take the ‘Run Fit Scorecard’ at www.scorecard.therunjourney.com

Keen to know more? The Run Fit method is discussed in full in the book ‘Run Fit – Improve your running, finish with a smile’ which can be purchased on The Ultra Journey website.

Nick Muxlow developed the Run Fit method over his years as a coach and runner. He is the author of bestselling books; ‘Run Fit’ and ‘Journey to 100’ and has assisted new, beginner and experienced runners to improve their running and finish with a smile. He is regularly known for allowing ultra-runners to improve by 30-60 minutes with countless case studies to prove it.

Get in touch with Nick through The Ultra Journey website to get personalised training plans and coaching, and take The Ultra Runners Quiz to learn where your focus areas are.

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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.