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RUNNING ECONOMY

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Latest from Running Economy

Running education, case studies and behind-the-scenes coaching insights from @running.economy.

My go-to sessions from 5km to marathon. Four work My go-to sessions from 5km to marathon.

Four workouts I keep coming back to because they are simple, specific and target what each race actually demands.

5KM: MONA fartlek
Speed, aerobic power and the ability to change pace without fully recovering.

10KM: 1km repeats
Builds speed endurance and helps lock into a strong, controlled rhythm.

HALF MARATHON: 3 × 3km
Accumulates race-specific work while keeping the recovery active.

MARATHON: Criss-cross run
Alternating above and below marathon pace to improve lactate clearance and marathon-specific strength

There are plenty of sessions that work, but these are four I trust when they are placed at the right point in the training block.

Save this post for your next race build.

#running #runningwod #marathon
Sneak peek. The Running Economy training plans ar Sneak peek.

The Running Economy training plans are nearly ready.

9 plans covering 10K, half marathon and marathon training, from beginner through to advanced.

Week-by-week structure.
Pace/ heart rate and/or effort guidance.
Coach notes.
Recovery support.
Physio-led programming.

Launching soon.

Comment PLAN if you want first access.
RACE REPORT
Julia L | KAGASPA20 🇯🇵 20.7km in und RACE REPORT
Julia L | KAGASPA20 🇯🇵 

20.7km in under 3 hours for Julia on the weekend at the KAGASPA 20K, with 700m+ of elevation across a technical, slippery trail.

She’d originally come to me for a Sydney Marathon build, but this event was already locked into a holiday she had planned. Rather than scrap it, we worked it in.

With KAGASPA in the picture, the first 4 weeks of her block have looked different to a textbook marathon plan. The focus has been building time on feet and a solid aerobic foundation rather than diving into marathon-specific work early. That leaves her sitting 10 weeks out from Sydney with a strong base in the legs and a tough trail effort already on the board.

Great running on a tough course, Julia. Now into the marathon-specific phase.
—
Plans don’t have to look identical to work. They have to fit the athlete and the life around them.

DM or comment COACH ME and I’ll send through my athlete intake form.
Most long runs should be easy. Get used to boring Most long runs should be easy.

Get used to boring.

But once you have a good base, adding the right dose of intensity can help build pacing skill, race-day confidence and late-run durability.

The key is not to turn every long run into a race. Add small, controlled layers that support your event, your current fitness and your weekly load.

SAVE this post for your next long run.

What’s your biggest long run mistake?
RACE REPORT Ethan S | @trailrunningsa Kuitpo Medi RACE REPORT 
Ethan S | @trailrunningsa Kuitpo Medium Course (18km)

First place🥇for @ethan.smith0708 over the weekend, clocking 1:14:15 at 4:04/km across the 18km Kuitpo Medium course.

The race slotted in as part of his de-load week and is one of a few B-races on the road to his debut marathon in Sydney, now 12 weeks out.

At the start of the program Ethan asked if he could keep racing his trail events through the marathon build. Short answer, yes. Race-day pressure is hard to manufacture in training, so when a race fits the plan, it can be a real bonus. It gives the athlete a chance to rehearse race-day routines, pressure-test pacing and fuelling, and sharpen the mental side in ways training alone can’t quite replicate.

From here, Ethan moves into the build phase of the next block heading into @sydney_marathon.

Great running, mate.
—
Want coaching that’s actually built around you, not a template?

DM or comment COACH ME and I’ll send through my athlete intake form.
Global Running Day 2026. Today is for running in Global Running Day 2026.

Today is for running in all its forms. The person out for their first parkrun, the runner deep in a marathon build, or the one easing back from injury and just glad to be moving again. That is what running day is about.

It doesn’t matter whether you land on your heel, your midfoot or your forefoot. There is no single correct way to meet the ground.

As a physio and a running coach, the part that has always kept me interested is not making everyone run the same. It is keeping people running at all.

So today is for every gait out there, the smooth ones and the ones that look like they should not work but do. All of them out the door and moving.

Happy Global Running Day.

#running #globalrunningday #physio #runningeconomy
How to win the @citybayfunrun 3 x. With 16 weeks How to win the @citybayfunrun 3 x. 

With 16 weeks until the City-Bay, I’m releasing a FREE PDF of a 16-week training diary from a 3× City-Bay winner.

This is a look inside how an elite runner trained in 1987.

The preview includes the first 2 weeks, with the full 16-week block available to download for free.

Comment “1987” and I’ll send you the PDF.

#running #citybayfunrun #runningeconomy #adelaide
CMJ: Guess the jump height? What’s a CMJ? The cou CMJ: Guess the jump height?

What’s a CMJ?
The countermovement jump is one of the most widely used performance tests for assessing lower-body power, explosive strength and neuromuscular function.

Cues: Stand tall. Quick dip. Jump as high as you can. Imagine head butting the roof.

Steps:
1. Hands on hips
2. Quick dip, like a spring
3. Jump as high as you can (touch the ceiling)
4. Stick the landing

What I’m actually looking at:
Peak power: What can they produce concentrically? This is the baseline of their force production.

Rate of force development: How quickly can they express it? A big number means very little if it takes forever to get there.

Jump strategy: Depth of the dip. How they transition from down to up. How they unload through the floor. The number on the screen is one data point. How they got there is another.

Symmetry and landing: Knees collapsing in? One side softer than the other? Asymmetrical contact? Flags worth chasing.

When I use it in clinic:
Baseline: Every new running athlete I assess gets a CMJ. Tells me where their force production sits before we go near a training block or S&C program.

Across a training or race block: Repeat the CMJ at key points and you can see how the athlete is coping with load. Balsalobre-Fernandez et al. (2014) tracked middle-distance runners across a season. Jump height dropped after races. The drop tracked with rising cortisol and RPE. Translation: if the jump drops, they’re cooked. Even if their easy run looks fine.

Return-to-run: Post-injury, CMJ output and side-to-side symmetry are two of the cleaner ways to check the engine is back online.

Part 2 and 3 coming soon: drop jump and 10/5 pogo. 

Drop your guesses below ⬇️ 

#running #physiotherapy #runningeconomy #marathon #plyometric
8 hours “Easy” for @frenchmanontherun today. T-min 8 hours “Easy” for @frenchmanontherun today. T-minus 12 weeks until he sets off Perth>Sydney. 

Turns out Red Bull gives you legs not wings. 

@redbullau not too late to jump on board. Sponsorship applications are now open.
RACE REPORT Jeff | Magna Carta Half Marathon 🇬🇧 1 RACE REPORT Jeff | Magna Carta Half Marathon 🇬🇧

1:57:12 for Jeff over the weekend in warm conditions, as part of his build towards the Sunshine Coast Marathon in August.

This one wasn’t about chasing a half PB. It was a B-race, set up to practice race-day pacing, dial in his fuelling, hold steady effort when things heat up, and stack a bit more confidence in the legs before heading into a very important next block.

He paced it well. Controlled early, then kept the effort honest through the back half even as the temperature climbed.

Just under 12 weeks out from Sunshine Coast now. This race sits inside the build towards a sub-3:50 marathon and Boston qualifying attempt.

Good work, mate. Solid step forward.
—
Want coaching that’s actually built around you, not an AI template?

DM or Comment ATHLETE and I’ll send through my athlete intake form.
Great night supporting @frenchmanontherun and his Great night supporting @frenchmanontherun and his run across Australia this August, raising funds for @redkitecharity and childhood cancer.

Having seen up close the work that’s gone into this, I can’t wait to be part of the crew and have a front-row seat to something pretty special.

3 months out… very tempted to wrap him in bubble wrap until Perth.
The sub 2 marathon didn’t happen by accident. It’ The sub 2 marathon didn’t happen by accident.

It’s been building for years through better shoes, smarter fueling, improved training and more depth at the top.

But strip it all back and the fundamentals haven’t changed.

#running #runningeconomy #marathon #sawe
7 non-negotiables to run across Australia (and wha 7 non-negotiables to run across Australia (and what Eddie’s training looks like right now)

1. Run: (seems obvious, right?) 120-150+km per week, mostly easy pace. If he’s going to run across Australia, his body needs to know what slow and steady for hours actually feels like.

2. Strength & Conditioning: 2x per week in the gym, consistently, for 15 months straight. Lifting heavy things to build the body’s resilience to load. Not optional.

3. Sleep: 8-9 hours a night is the target (not always reality, but always the aim). Especially around bigger training blocks and challenges.

4. Nutrition: 8,000 calories a day. Every day. For 38 days. That’s not a diet plan, that’s a logistics problem. And just like any muscle, the gut needs to be trained to handle that kind of intake. Something Eddie has been working on long before the start line.

5. Training Challenges: Every few months a test. The recent 270km in 3 days is the closest thing to a dress rehearsal. Fuelling, crew dynamics, mental fatigue. Nothing prepares you for 100km/day for 38 days quite like doing something close to it.

6. Physio: Weekly check-ins, load monitoring, niggle management, and yes, a lot of text messages. Staying on top of small problems before they become big ones.

7. Gait experimentation (the niche one): Running is repetition. A lot of it. Each day Eddie will be exposed to approx 100,000 foot contacts. So we’re playing around with subtle changes, pace, footstrike awareness (heel to midfoot), just to shift load and give certain structures a break. Watch this space.

Bonus, The 1%ers: Mobility, foam rolling, ice baths, recovery boots.

Under 4 months until we fly into Perth. Exciting times ahead. More detail on each of these coming soon.

What are you most curious about? 👇

#running #physio #transconrun
Been a bit quiet on socials lately. A few big lif Been a bit quiet on socials lately.

A few big life changes over the past couple of weeks and some time away from the clinic.

Plenty happening behind the scenes. Building a few things for 2026 that I’m genuinely excited about.

Dad mode unlocked!
Last run at 39 weeks pregnant. Today was emotiona Last run at 39 weeks pregnant.

Today was emotional knowing running will take a back seat for a little while as I recover from giving birth. Running has been a huge part of my life, and throughout this pregnancy I’ve tried to stay active in a way that felt safe for both me and baby girl.

As a Women’s Health Physio, a few things really helped me keep running this long:

- Leave the ego at the door = slow the pace and reduce mileage
- If pelvic or pubic symptoms don’t tolerate longer runs, split them into shorter bouts
- Take proper rest days
- Keep strength training
- Take each day as it comes and don’t force runs or mileage if it doesn’t feel right
- Supportive tape, compression shorts and treadmill running can help reduce load
- Warm up properly before running
- Pelvic floor relaxation/stretching after runs

My goal at the start of pregnancy was simply to make it to 32 weeks, so getting to almost 39 weeks honestly feels like a huge bonus.

I’m incredibly proud of showing up for both myself and our baby throughout this whole journey.

Now we wait to meet our little girl 👶

The Running Economy team may take a short break while we start this next chapter… but we’ve got some exciting things coming soon.

#running #womenshealth #physiotherapy
Running while pregnant? Support might help. It isn Running while pregnant?
Support might help. It isn’t the solution.

Pregnancy alters load transfer through the pelvis, increases joint laxity and shifts centre of mass. For some runners, this presents as pelvic girdle pain, low back discomfort or a feeling of instability with impact.

The evidence for external support is largely short term and symptom focused.

Kinesiology tape has been shown to reduce pregnancy-related low back pain and improve function over short periods, particularly within the first week of application (Xue et al., 2021; Kaplan et al., 2016). The mechanism is likely neurosensory rather than structural.

Pelvic or SI belts may reduce sacroiliac joint laxity and improve functional tasks in certain subgroups, although trial outcomes are mixed and response appears individual (Mens et al., 2006; Depledge et al., 2005).

Pregnancy compression shorts have demonstrated reductions in pelvic and low back pain over six weeks in controlled research, with acceptable thermal safety in that cohort (Szkwara et al., 2018). Running-specific outcomes remain limited.

Load still matters.

Pelvic symptoms in pregnancy are often dose dependent. Longer runs increase cumulative impact cycles and time under tension through a system already adapting hormonally and biomechanically.

Many runners tolerate:
• Shorter, more frequent runs
• Reduced long-run duration
• Slight pace adjustments
• More recovery between impact days

Better than maintaining higher weekly kilometres in fewer sessions.

Support may reduce symptoms.
It does not increase tissue capacity.

If symptoms persist, escalate, affect continence, or you are unsure what is driving your pain, seek assessment with a women’s health physiotherapist experienced in running-related care.
Spot the difference. What changed — and what was t Spot the difference. What changed — and what was the cue? 👇

This runner is training for his debut marathon in Sydney later this year.

This footage was filmed during our first session, before and after a single cue.

#running #runningeconomy #marathon
Does Strength Imbalance Increase Plantar Fasciitis Does Strength Imbalance Increase Plantar Fasciitis Risk?

🏛️ A recent prospective cohort study followed 172 male amateur marathon runners over 3 months to examine whether inter-limb strength asymmetry was associated with the development of plantar fasciitis (Li et al., 2025).

💡 Results showed that runners who developed plantar fasciitis had significantly greater hip abduction strength asymmetry at baseline. Those with >~32% asymmetry were ~3.6× more likely to develop symptoms. Training volume, experience, and overall strength were not associated.

🧠 Strength training remains a key part of running preparation. A combination of bilateral and unilateral exercises can help build load tolerance while addressing asymmetries — a principle that applies across muscle groups, not just the hips.

If you’d like to dive deeper, the full study is below:
Li, D., Liu, Y., Feng, Y., Peng, C., & Tang, D. (2025). Interlimb asymmetries of lower limb isometric strength for predicting plantar fasciitis in male amateur marathon runners: a prospective cohort study. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation.

#physiotherapy #running #plantarfasciitis #injury #marathon
Run for Endo Blog Part 3 - now live. 🔗 Read via t Run for Endo Blog Part 3 - now live.

🔗 Read via the link in bio.

#runforendo #endometriosisaustralia #running
Right side was correct ✅ Diagnosis: Navicular str Right side was correct ✅

Diagnosis: Navicular stress response with associated tibialis posterior tendinopathy (MRI confirmed).

Gait analysis is a useful clinical tool, but it represents only one component of a broader assessment. Observed gait features must always be interpreted alongside training load, tissue capacity, recovery, sleep, nutrition, footwear, and injury history.

In this case, it’s also important to acknowledge that analysing a sprinter’s gait on a treadmill has limitations and is not necessarily specific or representative of overground sprint mechanics.

Running-related injuries are multifactorial. Movement patterns may contribute to tissue load, but they rarely explain symptoms in isolation.

* Although this is a real case, this post is for educational purposes. Many clinical decisions cannot be fully explained or justified on a social media platform.

Based on these findings, what would you cue or strengthen first — if anything?

#running #gaitanalysis #physiotherapy #injuryprevention
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