yeah it's thursday was a blog i used to do banging on about stuff i'd been listening to, reading, watching and spending my time on. 

it died because i started TMYT podcast and then the inside running podcast. 

anyway, it's saturday, and I was meant to be spending 6 hours in the car to do a cross country race on the other side of the state and it got called off! So, i've got some time on my hands and wanted to share some stuff with you.

Music: I've been playing Chance the Rapper's new album way too much this week and the track - do you remember is my favourite. I came across this live recording of it yesterday live at Lollapaooza in Chicago and loved it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YH1yOimQbQ

I also thought this Tones and I video was pretty cool and raw. Obviously, she has blown up big time and I enjoyed watching this to see where it all started:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OlAjhSbIcs

Podcasts: I learnt a stack about iron on my run yesterday when i listened to Soph Ryan and Kate Smyth talk about iron and distance runners on our latest IRP with... episode, it went out everywhere today and i reckon (I'm not just saying this because I've got a connection BTW) it's compulsory for all distance runners. You ain't gonna lose knowledge from listening to it and it will only make you a more aware runner. it's here 

I listened to the first 45mins of Sarah Klein's interview on the Fuelled by Fire Podcast on Thursday. It's a fascinating listen so far. I've read the 56 page Sarah Klein Vs ASADA and Athletics Australia report a couple of times and spoke with Sarah briefly about it. After I finish the podcast I'll read the report again with more preceptive from her side this time. I think they're more discussions, explanations and research to be done around the whole incident. it's here if you wanna read it. 

I also listened to the Road to the Olympic Marathon Trials Podcast and That Running Podcast this week. They're both good, honest and raw and that's what i like in my running commentary. they're here & here. 

Watching: Stranger Things S3. Carley and I were late to the party with Stranger Things (we actually thought it was going to be way scarier than it is and didn't want that in our lives) we started watching it in mid July and haven't stopped. We've got 2 eps to go then we're done. We love it. Check it out if you haven't already.
Also, let me know recommendations with what's next to watch. I'm absolutely loving putting my phone in airplane mode for an hour and sitting on the couch with Thomas the Cat and switching off each night and if there's no show you're hooked on that's harder to do. 

Reading: I'm currently reading, No Man is an Island by Adele Dumont. It's about a teacher who goes to teach english in the Christmas Island and Curtin Detention Centres. It's pretty comforting and makes you pretty pissed off/confused with Australia's immigration and detention policies. I'm gonna be a Dad in a few week's and I'm not sure what i'll be able to answer my kid when they're 18 if they ask me about the immigration policy in these years we're in now. Read the book before you @ me with some argument. It's here.

The Morning Shakeout weekly email. I enjoy reading this every week from Mario and it gives me a good fix of USA/World running news. It's here if you have no idea what I'm talking about. 

Over and out. ​

 Yeah it's Thursday is back!
Last year I started a new themed blog called 'Yeah it's Thursday' (I had Thursdays off teaching).
It didn't last long, which is disappointing and in a nutshell it was meant to be sustainable as it wasn't long and jusa short list of a few things that I've consumed and thought were worth recommending. A doco, movie, book, podcast, event, etc. 

Anyway I'm going to try and start it up again and see post 1 of season 2 below. (you can scroll even further down to see what I was digging this time last year!) Enjoy.

Movie/Doco: All for One. 
Description: ALL FOR ONE follows the first five years of the GreenEDGE cycling journey. United by their renegade spirit and a determination to win against substantial odds, these riders take on the international circuit. The film offers unique insights into the first five years of their journey, bearing witness to the ethos of the team as embodied by all – from the strongest to most embattled members. Out of a culture that embraces a deeply human approach to sport, unlikely champions are born, and seemingly improbable team and personal goals are achieved.

I remember when this movie came out and the local cycling club had a fundraiser at the movies for its release and I didn't think much of it. On my flight to Tokyo the other day it popped up and I thought I'd give it a go. Wow! It below me away, such an inspiring, motivating and entertaining movie which I highly recommend. I actually watched it again on the way back as well. At one stage I was ready to fist pump the sky but remembered I was on a plane with a couple hundred of people. You can rent it for $6.99 from their website here and if you're into any sport you'll love this one and even as a dedicated runner this is hands down better than any running doco I've watched. 

Book: Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy
One of the best books I've read in years, it'll make you check yourself and the way you deal with other people and think about yourself. It will be a book that I go back to and read time and time again and this quote sticks out for me. Hit up your local library or check it on amazon below.

​Event: Johnno's Run as part of Run Melbourne.
Last week we launched Johnno's Run for 2018. Last year we were the biggest team at the even with 230 people participating and raised about $80,000 for Community Living and Respite Services. This year we're hoping to raise even more and have more people involved, you don't have to live in Echuca/Moama to join so check out the details here. I'll be at training every Monday night at 5:15pm down Scenic Drive and hope to see as many locals as possible there. 
​

Well not really,

Because you know it's Saturday, not Thursday.

But you know how it is when I  want to start something new... I just go with the day we're on and get the conversation out there... no matter what the day is called. I'll explain a bit more:

Yeah it's Thursday blogs are quick put togethers' where I fill you in with stuff I think you could get some benefit from.

It may be a book I've come across, a doco, podcast, some news I've heard, or whatever. Just stuff. Sometimes Echuca/Moama related, other times maybe running or health, whatever we're playing with at the time I guess. 

It'll be a super brief whip around of items, stuff that has caught my attention and I think is worth sharing. 

It's not me spamming you with stuff from my sponsors, let's just get that straight from the outset. 

Here's what I mean- In my opinion these are the 3 things you need to know about and are currently exciting me: 

-TARLI BIRD- She'll run the Paris Marathon next weekend (9/4/17) and I've had the pleasure of joining her on some of her longer specific workouts during this build up. She's in great shape and ready to take on the marathon. Not an easy event to take on but if anyone's ready, she is! Tarli is super modest, low key and private. I'm glad I'm in her corner and can't wait to see how she goes. We're talking about a state champ over Cross Country, a Run for the Kids and City 2 Sea winner hitting a big international marathon. Tracking will be available here, I'll keep you in the loop on Twitter here and there will be a podcast interview I did with her for TMYT here, which will dropping early next week (Tues/Wed). 

-FOREVER FRESH WENT PLASTIC BAG FREE- Stop press! If you care about the environment and have absolutely any understanding about the negative impact that plastic has, you'll know this is big news. The truth is many of us don't quite understand the true cost of throw away items, but for some reason we can all name who Kanye West is married to. There's something not quite right about that. Forever Fresh is Echuca/Moama's most outstanding fresh fruit and veggie produce store (heck, they even have kombucha on tap down there!) and they made the call this week to no longer provide plastic bags. If you've got a touch of logic in your mind this ain't rocket science: You just take a reusable, or they'll even provide you with a hipster, NY style paper bag, or old fruit box. There's plenty of options which are more sustainable and better for our environment. Imagine how many plastic bags from Echuca/Moama's supermarkets are currently buried under the ground out at the Echuca Tip. We know that they will literally NEVER, EVER break down! It's a brave, courageous and gutsy move by Forever Fresh when they could have easily kept a low profile in the ole' plastic bag debate and not have wanted to cause feathers to be rustled. So hats off to them for doing what's right for the world and being exceptional role models for others in our community. Also a huge congratulations to Echuca/Moama Plastic Bag Free as well as the main message spreaders for the initiative. Without them, I'd personally have no idea about the disastrous impact of plastic, and I'm sure some of the education Forever Fresh have received has also come from their direction. If you're interested in exactly what Forever Fresh are all about in this move check their Insta post here, and man, more importantly, head down there, spend the extra couple of pennies to get better produce that hasn't been sprayed by whatever chemical and support them in this move. 

-Benny Walker- Benny was the latest guest on my podcast. I'm not plugging this for my podcast. It's 100% a plug to listen to him, but block your ears when my two-stroke/ jockey/ when's the next race at Flemington/ I can get to race weight very easily voice kicks in. The opening description I went with: 'Listening to this episode will make you a better human' about sums up what I think of it. I  know some may be thinking 'settle down Ghandi, big lines you're dropping there champ' but in all seriousness, it's worth a listen. As I said, not for me but for what Benny has to say. Man, he is smooth with words. I guess that's why he makes a crust from it. If you're not touched by his comments about compassion in the last 15 minutes I'd suggest you close the tab to this website as we're defs on different pages and this isn't the place for you. Episode 7 featuring Benny Walker can be found for iPhone here and Stitcher (android) here. 

There we go, that's my first Yeah it's Thursday post, take whatever you'd like from it and let's try to be better humans, until we meet again. 

​Cheers, Brady

When I was a kid and teenager and even a young adult I hardly ever read. 

Over the years though things have changed and I've immersed myself in books. 

In a way, I regret not picking up books earlier as my reading list is getting bigger and bigger and it would of made it a bit more manageable if I got an earlier start to get through them, but, in saying that I'm glad reading has come into my life regularly in the last few years.

I'm not sure why it took so long, Mum always read and was a good role-model, things like this just happen when you're ready though. 

I find reading relaxes me and gives me a great amount of knowledge in a range of areas. 

Usually I read self-help kind of books. 

Carley tells me I need to get better at implementing a few of things I read but at least I am planting the seed when I get the knowledge. 

I also read a stack about running, food and health.

They all interest me as I can take things straight out of those texts and implement in my own life immediately. 

Chuck in documentaries and podcasts and we have a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. 

So I guess this is my first, short book report type blog.

And I'm only doing this as I think it's worth doing and sharing. If know one reads it, it's a journal entry for me at least. 

I've recently just finished reading The Book of Joy by Douglas Abrams. 

I first heard an interview with him on the Rich Roll Podcast a couple of months ago and then searched it up at my local library. 

I was stoked to find it down at our beautiful Campaspe Library in large print.

I love reading books in large print, it makes me feel like a power reader, smashing through the pages at a more rapid pace. 

In the book it documents a weeks worth of conversations between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (Don't worry, I'm not about to get all religious on you here)

The book covers a bit about their own stories (some awesome reading in that alone) and lists 8 pillars to finding joy. 

I felt it was very relevant to the world we live in today and have shared them with you below.

There isn't much rocket science about the pillars, just simple things we can remind ourselves to do everyday to make our lives more joyful.

I'll be trying to set goals and nail a few myself in the coming months.

Anyway, here's the list.
Now you don't need to read it yourself, but if you do want to,  I'd highly recommend it. 
​
*Perceptive: There are many different angles.
*Humility: I tried to look humble and modest.
*Humour: Laughter, joking is much better.
*Acceptance: The only place where change can begin.
*Forgiveness: Freeing ourselves of the past.
*Gratitude: I am fortunate to be alive.
*Compassion: Something we want to become.
*Generosity: We are filled with joy. 

Over and out. 

The last month has been good. 

Not at all in a running way. Run the Bridge 10km in Hobart and the Melbourne University 5km both smashed me. Note to self, don't try and run a 5km race whilst on camp and I've also learnt that I'm pretty run down, more on that another time.

This post today, however, is more about my podcast that I launched at the start of this month. 

It's titled Tell Me Your Tales and you can read all the details about it here.

The idea to start my own podcast came to me early last year. 

The idea came to me, I told a few people, bought a microphone off amazon and hit the ground running.

I've got a tendency to do that. All in, 100 miles per hour from the start.

But, then nothing happened. 

Then nothing happened.

Then nothing happened. 

It wasn't until this year, with having Thursday's off work did I finally start pursuing it further. 

I wrote a draft letter for some guests. 

I got Carley to proof read it. 

She said it was fine and then nothing happened. 

It sat in my drafts for another month and I maybe thought it was a silly idea and was just about to let it go. 

Then I read Elizabeth Gilbert's book Big Magic. 

She's probably better know for her best seller Eat, Pray, Love. I haven't read that, but have heard it's good and I guess when you sell over 10 million copies you're probably doing something right. 

Big Magic focuses on creative living beyond fear. More information on it is here. I highly recommend it. 

Now I'm not talking art work creative, that's Carley's job, follow her on Instagram here to see some of her amazing art. 

My creative work was my podcasts. 

And it made me pull the trigger on the podcast idea.

Really I had nothing to lose.

 I sent the email and then I crossed my fingers for responses. 

Then they rolled in, yep, yes, good idea, I'm in, happy to help out and one maybe. 

The idea came to me as I found there was a massive lack of media in the Australian running on the second tier guys. Unless you're going to the Olympics there isn't a lot on you. The men and women who I can relate to who juggle jobs and life struggles are the ones that I wanted to listen to. 

And, on the flip side it was the same with the Echuca/Moama community. 

I want to know about people in my town and region. Other than a few little newspaper articles there wasn't much rich content I could get my hands on. 

So, I created my own.

A pretty selfish thing really. 

In a way, I'm creating the content I wish someone else would have. I'd love to go out for an hour run and listen to an in depth interview with Josh Harris or Shannon Fink (my first two guests).

I don't get to now as I hate the sound of my own voice, Mr Two Stroke/Jockey over here. I do get to experience it first hand though which excites me and gives me that bit of a rush, then I send it out to the world to hear if they want, if they don't that's also fine, I'm not chasing big numbers or world domination here. 

Podcasts are important to me. I often listen to them. The whole concept of them is actually amazing if you unpack it. 

They're free for starters and easy to access. If you have a smart phone or the internet and you're set. 

Secondly, the content available is astounding. Listening to podcasts is a great way to personally develop yourself. 

I listen while running or driving to work and back. When you do the maths on that, it's quite a lot of time, my commute each day is 45 minutes return and the easy jogging gives me some more time to develop myself. 

I've learnt so much about running, nutrition, politics, the health and wellbeing industry and social justice issues just to name a few topics when just jogging along the streets of Echuca/Moama. 

The conversations and the exposure to experts in a select field is impressive. Type in any expert into a podcast search and no doubt you'll get many results, these are people in which cost decent amounts of money to listen to speak. 

Some of my favourites podcasts are: 
-Marathon Talk
-Wilosophy with Wil Anderson
-The Rich Roll Podcast
-Like I'm a 6 Year Old with Tom Ballard
-House of Run
-The Osher Gunsberg Podcast
You might like them, check them if you like, no stress if you don't.

I enjoy the conversational podcasts the best though.

The ones where two people are chatting away with the microphones on and it just goes anywhere and everywhere. 

That's what Tell Me Your Tales is, with select elite runners/athletes I have access to and interesting, inspiring, wise and/or successful people from the Echuca/Moama region. 

In this day and age where we've got our faces too stuck in our smart phones it's good to be able to sit down with someone for a coffee or even a few beers and just talk. My podcast episodes are raw and that's exactly what I want them to be like. 

The early numbers have been amazing, I've got people tuning in from Germany, Belgium, Slovakia and even Norway to name a few countries.

As I said, it excites me and I'm glad I'm giving it time. 

I want you to think about how you can relate. 

What would you create or pursue if you had a day off a week? How would you spend that time? Is having no time your excuse, like it was mine?

Hit me up on Twitter with your responses. 

Cheers, 

Brady

Andrew Mole from the Riverine Herald asked me a question after the Berlin Marathon last September about what running marathons meant for my short-distance racing.

I replied with details about how racing shorter distances compliments the longer distance races. In a nut shell you run fast over shorter distances to make it easier to run a little slower over longer distances. 

It was a good answer to a good question. Surprisingly, Andrew knows his stuff about running! Gone are the days when sports reporters would ask me ‘and, how far is a marathon again?’, or ‘so how far is this marathon?’.

When I replied with my answer I was being 100% honest.

I'd long given up my focus on the short track stuff (800m/1500m/3000m) years ago and now thought of it as being nothing more than good training that would assist my marathons.

It’s the sweet potato fries to the burger. (They're good but the burger is always better)

So when I raced the Box Hill Classic 3000m last Tuesday night with a whole heap of young, fast kids, you could imagine my shock when I finished 4th in a time of 8.21.1.
 
The 4th wasn’t a massive surprise, the field wasn’t amazing but the time gave me a rev up.

I was shocked, and stoked that I'd ran that quick and came so close to my PB of 8.20.7 set in November 2010. 

Yeah, you read that right November 2010. Back in the glory days. The days when I was a young speedster, loaded full of testosterone with not a worry or a responsibility in the world. 

So nearly 7 years… That's a long time between quick 3kers, it's pretty close to the same number of years that some of the kids in my class have been alive on this earth!

It started 3 weeks before when I had a dabble with some shorter stuff running a 8.36 for 3km in Bendigo, a time I was happy with. And a result that saw me come second to Andrew Buchanan by 16 seconds. A smashing I'd needed. He's come a long way and there's nothing better than getting smashed on your home track to get the motivation pumping. 

My plan going into this race at Box Hill was to progress and break 8.30, my coach and I thought that that would have been a good result from where we thought I was at. 

My belief and mental state around 3ks isn't (well now maybe wasn’t) great when I think about it.  (thinking about thinking, now we're getting complicated, it’s called metacognition my uni lecturer taught me.)

I was at a stage where I believed racing shorter stuff and being my best over the shorter distances was long behind me. 

I'd envisioned I'd be the guy at the pub in my 50s telling some young kid that had the misfortune to land next to me at the bar that back in the day I'd ran 3km in 8.20.

Full stop, period, drop the mic, that’s all she wrote…  

It was like it was tattooed in my mind.

I'm an 8.20 3km guy and I'd be that for my whole life now. (The video to that race back in 2010 is below)

So not only did having a good performance over 3k shock me a bit it also made me think about how I managed to all of a sudden get that result. 

In 2017 I've come out firing. 

I set some goals for the year, hopefully not in the corny, blown in 2 weeks New Year’s Resolution kind of goals, but more embedded lifestyle changes and so far it seems to be working well. 

The first thing I did was set a motto for the year, it was an idea I got from the Australian Netball Coach, Lisa Alexander after hearing her speak last year. 

My motto is: 'When your should becomes your must'. 

When I was on school holidays I unpacked my life a bit and identified areas of weakness and how they affecting me mentally. I actually didn't mean to do it, Carley and I were driving to Bendigo for dinner and we just got talking about where I was at and it kind of just rolled from there. 

It was a quite empowering conversation which identified a number of negative aspects it my life. I found myself identifying too many shoulds (not a word). It wasn’t a surprise, I’ve written some depressing blogs in the past identifying things I needed to improve.

To begin with I was thinking about my running with a negative mind-set and about what I wasn't doing. 
I had no one to train hard with…
I had no hills in town to run on…
I had limited time to prioritise running..
I had difficulty getting to Melbourne mid-week and on weekends for quality races…
I also ditched core, massage and stretching too often…
There were way too many things I should have been doing that I was flogging off and it was affecting my belief in my performance.

As a runner I viewed myself as a hard worker with all the odds stacked up against him. There was too much 'oh poor Brady bulls***' going on.' 

So I identified it and changed it. 
I drove to Bendigo (70 minute drive one-way) every Saturday night for a month to knock my long run out over hills on the Sunday morning...
I've taken Thursday's off work to have more time for me and to prioritise running more…
I've been smashed by Andy Buchanan and Jaimie Cook in Bendigo more often… 
I've made the looooong journey down to Melbourne for a race. (7 hours driving for a race that lasts 8 minutes isn’t the best return but boy does it make me feel alive when you're in it)
I've started saying no to things that don't fit in with me. 
And,
I've been nailing core and some strength training. (I'm even doing a push up challenge. Add 1 every day. I started at 30 and now I'm at 75. I've got little muscles in my arms I've never seen before, I challenge you to give it a go as well!) 

Most importantly, I'm feeding myself first. It’s not only to make myself happier but to be a better person and be more present and have more energy for the people around me. 

I remember myself as a runner 2 years ago, I got myself down to 14.19 for 5km, 30.06 for 10km and was consistently running 66-minute half marathons. I had a truck load of motivation, was super focused and used to go about my running with an underdog, chip on my shoulder mentality, I used to set myself for big races and most of the time nailed them.  

I felt as though I was ready to launch and take that next step and was excited to do so, but somewhere along the line it just didn't happen, then it didn't happen, then it didn't happen and then I just cemented myself as a half decent runner trying to get back to my best. I was always hitting solid times but the PB list just didn't change. 

I feel now though that I'm back to that guy I was a couple of years ago, physically I've probably always been there but the motivation, drive, the chip on the shoulder is back. 

I stood on the start line Tuesday night in a better frame of mind than I have been recently. I understand the way I think and the way I need to live my life to be in the best headspace which brings belief. 
Hills, tick.
Core, tick.
Training hard, tick. 
Less stress, tick.
Recovering, tick. 
Let's race. 
Bang. 
Go!

They're ticks I haven't been getting lately. Which resulted in a whole different way of thinking on a start line. 

And it worked for me.
 
I was a bees pecker off the best I've ever been and that's a great performance indicator. 

If you thought I was gone, I'm not.
If you've been in my corner for a while, thank you.
​I've got more for you, we ain't done just quite yet. 
 
P.S, I need to give a big shout out to Jay from Invigor8 Massage. I was feeling like junk on Sunday and Monday prerace and he worked on my legs for much longer than my appointment to get me ready. If you’re in Echuca/Moama and are after a massage get onto him.