This is a neat training study that compares two broad approaches to endurance training: what they refer to as a “polarized” model versus a “threshold” model. You can divide training into three basic zones: the low-intensity zone is easy mileage; the high-intensity zone is hard intervals; and the medium-intensity zone in the middle is sustained […]

Sunday Mail Article March 2 2014    

The following video is a great insight into the “importance” aerobic running plays in enabling a runner to be the “best that they can be”.

There are a variety of likely culprits that may cause a runner to feel fatigued. The first step is to find the root cause. The second is to fix it. This article lists possible culprits and how to modify your life to recover, adapt, and run strong again. Check out this Runners World article.

Next year’s London marathon will mark the 10th anniversary of the previous occasion on which an Australian man broke two hours 10 minutes for the marathon. That’s unless someone does it in the meantime, of course, which would be welcome, but seems unlikely. More here…

A HUMBLED Scott Westcott is training hard and ready to go to the world marathon championship in Moscow if a groundswell of support for him via social media helps bring about a change of heart from Athletics Australia. One of his supporters is two-time national marathon champion and 18-time Australian representative Pat Carroll, who was […]

The man whose name fronts the Pat Carroll Running Group needs little introduction to the running community. “Coach Pat” represented Australia 18 times, competing in three Commonwealth Games, and is currently the fourth fastest Australian marathoner and half-marathoner of all time. Also the holder of the Australian all-comers half marathon record for his amazing 61.11 […]

There’s no denying that jogging is good for you. A study from Stanford University School of Medicine tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. It found the now-elderly runners had fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and were half as likely as ageing non-runners to die early deaths. Read more:

Former Olympic athlete Steve Moneghetti always felt like running was something he was born to do. But the 50-year-old long distance runner has also helped drive a nationwide interest in marathons and fun runs, that are part of what he calls a ‘running revolution’.

Collis Birmingham’s clear win in the Marugame half-marathon in Japan has created a confusing situation around the Australian record. Ostensibly, Birmingham’s win in one hour 56 seconds took four seconds off the mark previously held by Lee Troop, supplanting Troop’s performance as both the Australian and Oceania men’s record for the distance. More here….

TWO Olympic gold medallists and a Commonwealth Games long-distance runner are the impressive ambassadors for the eighth Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast. More about Glynis Nunn-Cearns, Natalie Cook and Pat Carroll here….

More than 12,500 people are expected to take part in the eight-day event from November 3, with more than 450 from New Zealand, 200 from Papua New Guinea and 200 from other regional countries. Additionally, there will be 39 sports, with the inclusion of AFL 9s, athletics beach mile, calisthenics, cycling and outrigger canoeing. More here

Iron is very important for carrying oxygen in the blood and for making new red blood cells. Adequate iron helps you to feel energetic and healthy. Iron deficiency (anaemia) can make you feel tired, look pale and generally feel unwell. More here…

Always wondered what it would be like to run a marathon, but find it difficult to unglue your arse from the couch? Here’s your chance. Aussie running great Pat Carroll, who has a 2:09.39 PB and is a four-time winner of Queensland’s Gold Coast Airport Marathon, has put together a 20-week training guide for rookie […]

Carbo loading (for a Marathon) occurs naturally over the last week or so prior to race day given you’ve cut back training (but not food!!!). Ideally you’ll be replacing some non carb foods with carb choices (more rice less stir fry, more cereal less yoghurt etc) and decrease protein and fibre, just so you can […]

PCRG raised $45,000 for Harri Creevy and Luke Farrelly during PCRG’s 2012 Gold Coast Airport Marathon Campaign. Harri/Matt (Harri’s Father) and Pat Carroll were featured in the Courier Mail. Here’s the article.

The attached article appeared Nationally in Body_Soul on July 15 2002. Here it is.

IT had been a rare good run for Athletics Australia until last week’s enlightening Genevieve LaCaze selection fiasco. In recent weeks AA selectors, endorsed by the AA board, overturned their own high performance manager Eric Hollingsworth’s  tougher marathon selection criteria and picked three men for the Olympic road race. Then AA sensibly also picked Melissa […]

I was asked by Men’s Fitness to pen a 6 week 10k training program for the Gold Coast Airport Marathon 10k. Here it is.

Last week, Berman DeValerio, one of the country’s (USA) premier class action law firms focused on business litigation, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Vibram and Vibram FiveFingers in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. The complaint seeks a jury trial on the grounds that Vibram is making “false” health claims about its product. More here.

Ever since the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games which was held at an altitude of 2300 m, the use of altitude to improve performance has been widely used by endurance athletes. Since then there has been a wide range of research that has investigated the use of altitude training to improve competition performance in elite […]

‘You want to know what the secret is? That there is no secret.” Brother Colm O’Connell, a retired Irish priest and one of Kenya’s top running coaches, is almost spitting with delight as he talks to me. We are standing in the grounds of St Patrick’s school in Iten, Kenya. On the grass in front […]

A Kenyan winning the New York, Boston or London marathon has become such a constant feature of the athletic landscape that we don’t question it anymore — it is one of those things that just come with being a Kenyan. But beyond Kenyan borders, athletes and sports pundits are still baffled at how a tiny […]

Like many marathon runners, Kate Mori always drank plenty of fluids before, during and after a race, rather than waiting until she got thirsty. “I’d always been taught you had to ‘stay ahead’ of thirst and that being thirsty was a sign you were already dehydrated,” says the 42-year-old sports scientist. Read more:

I’ve been involved in distance running for over twenty years and the methods I try to instill in runners have come about via my successes and failures, and also what I’ve observed in others. One of the most common questions I’m asked relates to competition and what would be the best way to successfully achieve […]

Brisbane / The Ship Inn (South Bank) / Saturday April 28 /7.30 am / $220 The session will be conducted over a 1 hour training session. More details here

South Australia’s Jessica Trengove has run an Olympic qualifier in her debut marathon in Nagoya, Japan.A consistent 72 minute half-marathoner over the past few years, 24-year-old Trengove finished 14th to record a time of 2:31:02.

Australians Ben St. Lawrence (debut), Collis Birmingham (1:05:46) and Michael Shelley (1:02:10), and Lisa Jane Weightman (1:09:00) will compete in the NYC Half Marathon on March 18. More here.

One of my online clients recently contacted me frustrated by the fact he runs much better in training than in races. All of his performances in training (including a 10min 30sec 3k) indicate a Sub 40min 10k is possible however ten consecutive 4min k’s is a feat which is becoming more of an indestructible blockade […]

IN 1996, Algerian Youcef Abdi had 24 hours to decide. One day to make up his mind about where to spend the rest of his life. One day to escape. Abdi was in an Algerian military training camp in the desert. He was meant to be in a camp for elite athletes but a foul-up […]

Recently I was driving to an early morning group session when I noticed that summer was slowly disappearing and what was daylight at the very same time only a few weeks ago was now pitch dark. It made me aware of the challenges that early morning runners face as the days grow shorter. Mottram would […]

The 4 weeks prior to any major race is always an exciting time. Training is in full swing and conversations are filled with talk of possible personal bests and post race celebrations. It’s not only about the last 4 weeks That’s 4 weeks before, but what about 20 weeks before? 20 weeks prior to a […]

For Sir Murray Halberg, it was a night tinged with death and sadness. For Peter Snell, it was the moment he realised he wasn’t just an 800m runner. For athletics official (and an athlete himself) Toby Bowyer, it was a time when the police detective didn’t mind suffering ‘grievous bodily harm’ at the hands of […]

When I was progressing through the ranks in the early 80’s I spent a great deal of time training with Lawrie Adams who inspired me to contest a marathon in Japan. Lawrie had a personal best of 2:15:59 which he had clocked at the Beppu Marathon in Japan. I eventually discovered that Japan had five […]

Japan hosts a number of elite Marathons with tough qualifying criteria. I managed to run all of them during my career including three visits to Beppu – 94 (4th) 2.11.51 – 95 (1st) 2.09.39 and 99 (7th) 2.11.39. Beppu will take place this Sunday (Feb 5) and Australia’s own Jeff Hunt will be towing the […]

Lisa Scholfield put together this great article and yours truly gets a word in: In a perfect world, each training run would be perfect, the sun would be shining, you’d be strong and motivated and you’d feel the wind beneath your feet. But we all know that life isn’t perfect and there are days when […]

Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia won the Dubai Marathon on Friday, setting a course record of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 23 seconds in his first marathon. Four men broke 2:05 in the race, eight broke 2:06, 10 broke 2:07, 14 broke 2:08, 15 broke 2:09, and 17 broke 2:10 – all records as fastest-ever times for […]

by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au Whether you are a morning person who bounds out of bed or a night owl who doesn’t function well in the early hours, breakfast can give your day a kick-start. How many times have you been told that you SHOULD eat breakfast, because it is “GOOD FOR YOU”?  Honestly, who puts breakfast […]

by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au Nutrition is an issue that has become increasingly important to women who compete in sport. Our expanding knowledge of how appropriate nutrition can enhance performance and how poor nutritional habits can impair performance has followed the progression of our sporting endeavors from a recreational to professional standard. Women who run regularly have […]

During exercise, more sodium is lost in sweat than is usually replaced by food and fluids. Your body can tolerate a degree of imbalance for a short period of time. If the imbalance continues for too long, sodium in the bloodstream is diluted and hyponatraemia (low concentration of sodium in the blood) results. Long runs […]

by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au The two nutrition priorities after a big training session or race are rehydration and glycogen replacement. Endurance athletes are well-aware of the need to replace fluids, but carbohydrate consumption is equally important after a training or racing as you will have depleted muscles of glycogen and the only way to refuel them […]

by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au Carbohydrate is the ultimate fuel source for exercise. It is found in the blood as glucose and stored in muscles and liver as linked sugars called glycogen. The level of sugar in your blood stays about the same, even during exercise. GLYCOGEN stores are used to keep the blood sugar level constant […]

by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au Many runners place so much emphasis on training that they overlook race practice in preparation for an event. Try to consider all aspects of your preparation, including nutrition, so that your best performances are not left on the training track. For races up to one hour duration, ensure that you are replacing […]

The former world cross country champion, now 32 years of age, finished second in the Houston Marathon (2:28:34) behind Alemitu Abera winning time of 2:23:14.

Check out an article I wrote for Alpha Magazine titled “The Long Haul“

Ethiopia has indefinitely banned 35 athletes – including Olympic men’s 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion Kenenisa Bekele – from competition in a row over training.

Check this out

The science of sport: Barefoot running article

Great article from Inside Haton: 80 year old runs 3.15 for a Marathon