Hey Everyone.

Wow! Time has flown and I cannot believe that this Margaret River Ultra experience is here already! I just wanted to provide you with some final well-wishes, tips and tricks to ensure you perform wilder on the event day.

 

• You cannot get any fitter now. So just relax now and get ready to play wilder on the 17th October.
• Use the last 4 days before Saturday's event for optimizing your recovery - this will help you to focus on good nutrition, loosening up your muscles with a bath & massage, hydration and generally just enjoying the reward for all the hard work you have put in.
• I strongly encourage keeping active the before the event (Friday). Resting completely on this day will make you feel tired and heavy. Instead, aim for 1 or 2 x 15-20min very easy jogs to loosen up the muscles.  Add some 20 second slightly quicker efforts to help put a spring in your step. These jogs will also help combat travel, work or the sense of lethargy from tapering.
• For the last four days (Tuesday - Friday) focus on increasing your carbohydrates. These are necessary for stocking the muscles full of glycogen. Prior to this, focus on a good protein intake to ensure your muscles are repairing and that you are combatting any risk of sickness kicking in.  (Did you know that if you allow your muscles to recovery you can get up to a 15% strength gain during taper week? WOW!)
•  In the last 2-3 days before the event make sure you swap to a carbohydrate rich and low fibre, lower protein diet. This will allow you to get as much energy into the muscles without risking fibre and protein sitting in your guts on race day. During this time, also increase electrolytes so that your fluid and sodium levels are topped up.
• On the event morning eat a light breakfast! Don't skip this meal. Two crumpets with honey or a couple of energy bars and a bottle of electrolyte is an ideal pre-race food. However, if concerned, stick to what you know & trust.
• To prevent blisters, here at Find Your Feet we highly recommend using Vaseline rubbed thickly over Fixamol/Hypafix placed on the high-wear areas of your feet (this is the white tape athletes use under strapping tape to prevent allergies – available in chemists). Use a trail running or merino sock over the top. Perfect! We have plenty in stock here at Find Your Feet.
• During the race don't change your race or nutrition strategy. Also, be warned… it is easy to set off too fast or skip your nutrition. Don't do it!  Stick to your plan.
• Don't start too hard but still make sure your cadence is high enough that you are not ‘plodding'. A cadence of 90 single steps a minute is ideal (180 double steps). The aim of the first 3/4 of the race is just rhythm and enjoying it. The real race starts after that.
• Tell yourself that the half way mark is at the 3/4 point. This makes the second half easy! Never get too far ahead of yourself. Just focus on the trail, views & friends around you.
• Don't fight the rougher sections, sand or hills. It is the same for everyone and attacking these sections will only burn excess energy. Stay relaxed and just kick into casual mode for these sections.
• MOST OF ALL... ENJOY IT!  You will love it as long as you don't put too much pressure on yourself. At the end of the day, where else would you really want to be than running along gorgeous single trails and wild ocean beaches?

 If you need more tips and tricks, check out my Find Your Feet Podcast and Blog at www.hannyallston.com.au There are also lots of wonderful tips and tricks in my The Trail Running Guidebook.

 

Finally, I just want to thank everyone for their incredible support of my little business, Find Your Feet during these really strange and uncertain times. We have loved helping so many of you prepare for this event and to find your feet too. We would warmly welcome you all onto one of our Trail Running Tours & Retreats if you need some rest, recuperation and more playfulness after your Margaret River Ultra experience. We are always here with our Find Your Feet store to assist you with all your trail running & adventure needs.

 

Well, best wishes to you. May you thrive on 17th October!

 

Hanny Allston

​“Hey Hanny, I’ve been following one of your training plans quite closely over the last 3 months or so... and had literally just finished my 5hr long run when news broke that my goal event, Run Larapinta, is not going ahead until May 2021. I am devastated and sore and feel so deflated ☹️ I wonder how I will pick myself up and motivate myself to start all over again with the same goal next year? I really want to do this, but I feel so frustrated at coming so close... I don’t know how I can get excited or motivated again when the dream has been crushed!?! 😭”
 
This message arrived in my inbox this morning and I felt strongly compelled to support all our Run Larapinta aspirants as they navigate the complex world of delayed events and ‘crushed dreams’. Here is my response to her…

WORDS OF GUIDANCE FOR ATHLETES AFFECTED BY THE SURF COAST CENTURY CANCELLATIONS.

​Toes are tingling, we are playing hard and the body is beginning to edge towards pre-race sparkles. Then you check your email… Surf Coast Century is postponed until December 5?! Damn! Bummer!
 
I just want to be here, right now, and say – not to worry! We can catch this curve ball with both hands and use the pause in our training game to be even more fighting fit for Event Day in December. So, here are my suggestions… 

This article appeared in The Mercury newspaper in response to the imminent release of my new memoir, Finding My Feet: My Story. I felt very vulnerable and exposed by the article's spotlight on my past challenges with Anorexia. However, since its release I have received overwhelming support & gratitude from my community. Thank you to everyone who has held a safe space for me to share my story, including both the highs and the struggles.

I just tripped over a root. The trail is at that annoyingly can-see can’t-see phase, where darkness meets dawn and dawn meets day. Under my head torch, the definition of the trail’s lumps and bumps cannot be identified. Damn it! I run around the trail’s bends, my thoughts curving one way and then another. Work to relationships. Niggling hamstring to the chill blains on my feet. Work again. Hammy again. What to have for breakfast? Dinner? Work yet again. Round and round and round I go. Running brings me so much calmness!?

​The following email was sent to me by a member of our wilder community. I found resonance in her correspondence because we all lose our mojo at times, buried by life’s shoulds. Today I write to help this individual, and in doing so, I hope to help all of us to find our mojo and live in alignment with our truth.
 
Q: …After injuries and then life struggles, my current problem is that I should be training for an event in October. I have your Training Planner and know I should have commenced a few weeks ago. But again, I am my own worst enemy and I am finding that I lack motivation. I am probably beyond hope and really, I guess this email is more about me offloading to share my struggles and frustrations. I guess what I was hoping you might be able to tell me is - How to get back on track? How do I get past feeling a little afraid to go out on my own again, even when I know I’m fine and I will love it? How do I find my motivation again to get the work done? How do I push myself to actually follow advice and a plan? Where do I start!?
 
Here is my reply:

​At the end of 2005 I teetered on one leg, wondering how I was ever going to return to my competitive dreams. An ankle reconstruction threatened my future sporting career. Following this, life threw even more curve balls my way and I felt like I was stuck in a hole. But what kept me alive was a big, hairy, audacious dream. I wanted to be a World Champion!

When the day of the Junior World Titles in Lithuania arrived, I knew I would win. This was an ego-aside moment. Rather, there was simply no alternative. I was so prepared, mentally, physically and even spiritually, that the result was inevitable. I had done the work, tested my tools, and mentally rehearsed through all the challenges that might hit me in the race. I had stood on the tops of mountains and said my silent prayers, run through the moments of doubt, and through all of it, I had found utter joy in the journey to be there in that World Championship moment. Yep, I was so damn ready to be a World Champion.

I want this sure-fire confidence for you too. I want you to be your own champion! Damn it, I want it for me again too because there is no greater feeling than running along a wilder trail with self-confidence fuelling your engines.

Hanny Allston’s autobiography Finding My Feet is a definite read. Especially in these uncertain times when you might be facing unexpected challenges, reflecting on what life is all about, or simply feeling stir crazy, trapped at home and struggling to focus. Maybe also, you want to run faster, push yourself further or stop hitting the wall on your own epic adventures. There really is something in Finding my Feet for everyone, and in ways you might not expect.
​

Reader Comment: 
My struggle is that my work and personal life are feeling blurred. I now realise that the commute to work is a hard boundary but as I work from home I am not able to find this separation. My challenge is to find a new boundary at home because otherwise it becomes exhausting. I also have to consciously stop “overdoing it”, but rather to find time to slow down and go deep into quietness. Most of all, have gratitude that I still have a job ❤
 
My response:
After reading this comment that was made in response to my post on ‘hormonal stress’ I was inspired to write about some of the practical ways that I am trying to separate work, ‘training’ and home life. The challenge of establishing boundaries between work and ‘life’ within our homes is a real and crucially important one. It is a current issue but also a lesson that is invaluable to learn for longer term wellness. So, today I have decided to share what Graham and I are trying to do to create separation from our home and work environments.

Parks are closed. Trails too. Events are cancelled and we are dusting off our road-running shoes. Yes, we are living in a sensation of limited freedom. But today I share how it is the choices we make that will give us back our wings. Here are my suggestions for ensuring that you thrive through these challenges.
 

This morning I received this query from a trail runner who has been utilising my trail running training planners for her preparation for Ultra Trail Australia. 

Hi Hanny,
I am following your UTA50 trail running training planner which I finding to be great & flexible for my needs.
But … with the postponement of Ultra Trail Australia events coming up in May I’m wondering how to go forward from here with my training schedule? I know it may not be easy to work it out as there is no time frame involved yet for the event to go ahead but any advice you could give to me & other runners training for UTA would be so greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

This is a very big challenge as we now find ourselves rapidly changing tact in the face of massive event cancellations and more time spent at home. This has certainly been front and centre of mind for me. So, today I want to provide some advice for how we can ‘change tact’, including how to prepare for an event if you are unsure of when the race date will be. Here are my suggestions:
​

I recently toed the start line of the 102km Tarawera Ultra Marathon and I am not ashamed to say that my motivation was three pronged – to experience being ‘back in the action’, to see this beautiful New Zealand landscape, but also to prove a point to myself – I am an athlete!  

An unlikely story of strength and resilience
 
I am completely fascinated by the strength of our minds so over the last 12-months I have been studying advanced coaching techniques, such as Neurolinguistics Programming (how to reprogram our internal dialogue), hypnotic skills and visualization. This study has brought a huge year of growth and change, a welcome addition to my peak performance coaching.
 

WHY?
Millions of our native animals have been killed or injured in the Australian wildfires that still ravage our National Parks, alpine country & communities. Like many others, I simply cannot sit back and watch. Whilst I wish I could do more, I believe that helping begins with a small step in any direction. So I choose to run for our wildlife.

WHAT?
ON SUNDAY 12TH JANUARY RUN FOR OUR WILDLIFE - All you need to do is go for a run. Grab your friends, join a local event, find a trail, or run along a winding road to somewhere beautiful. Please, please, please take yourself on a running mission and as you do, spare a thought for our wildlife & the volunteers striving to care for them! After your run, share your adventure with our entire running community using #runforwildlife#playwilder then donate funds to NSW Wildlife Information & Rescue. Collectively, can we raise over $10,000 for our native wildlife?

THE CAUSE:
I am running to raise money for NSW WILDLIFE INFORMATION RESCUE AND EDUCATION SERVICE INCORPORATED and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate a lot or a little. Anything helps. Thank you for your support. I've included information about NSW WILDLIFE INFORMATION RESCUE AND EDUCATION SERVICE INCORPORATED below. 

WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service) mission is to actively rehabilitate and preserve Australian wildlife and inspire others to do the same. WIRES has over 2500 volunteers and a Rescue Office that operates 365 days a year assisting the community to help native animals in distress. WIRES assists tens of thousands of animals every year and last financial year received over 95,000 requests for rescue assistance.

To donate please follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1011136092594348/2558544374406215/

Every cent counts and I am just SO grateful to every single individual willing to contribute. 

Dear Reader,
 
Thank you. Thank you for taking the time out from the hustle and bustle of this festive season to read this letter. Thank you for using this moment to reflect on a year unfolded and a year about to be created. Each one of us holds the seeds for change, growth and untapping our greatest potential. And if we are thriving, we can be the change that we wish to see in the world, the spark of inspiration for others. That is what I hope to bring to you today as I reflect on my own year and the 12 defining moments that encapsulate it.

...I think that so many of us don’t let go of our ‘shoulds’, and let go of our guilt, and let go of our fears and anxieties and our thoughts that we need to kind of live life by the text book, when sometimes the textbook just has a bloody error in it...
​I think that’s probably what I learned on this journey, that traversing these mountains kind of became traversing my own inner mountains and I reached the other side and I realised that I’m still the same Hanny. But I’d also found another side of Hanny... and that was pretty cool. I brought that person home, and I’m really proud of that person, and I love that person in my relationship and I love that person in my team at work. And I love that person when I’m just sitting quietly at home in my house and when I’m just rambling on a podcast with you. I’m not embarrassed to say that, and I don’t believe I have an ego in saying that, it’s just I’m cool with being me. So that’s the Pyrenees...
 - Hanny Allston (EP#48 The Pyrenees Traverse with Hanny Allston)