Uncover your inner athlete!

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten.. Each morning in Africa a lion awakes - it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve.


No matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up you had better be running!



Sunday, July 29, 2012

Supporting local community runs

Make no bones about it I love my local charity fun runs and think that there is nothing better than turning up at a smaller run and seeing the community in action. Today was an excellent example of this in my local fun run 10K. A decent size field of a few hundred runners ensured that one was able to run and not be impeded. Although the course was very hilly, it was a highly enjoyable morning out. Great to catchup with some folks that you only ever see once a year at these sorts of events.


True to form with these sorts of events, there was also a 5KM race which attracted a number of families and friends running and walking together. Not sure if it is the excitement of the Olympics or what, but so good to see so many youngsters out and about representing the future of road running in Australia.

Running together (while supporting community running) - Stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Olympic ideals - embrace them everyday!

I get excited by the Olympic Games - I always have. In fact every four years when those magic rings are displayed and the sporting competitions get underway I get a real sense that anything can and will happen in life. After all those competing at the games are merely ordinary people - someone’s father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, cousin etc. The only thing that sets them apart is that they happen to excel at one or many sports.
We are Olympians in our own right and although we may not walk away with a medal, we can embrace and embody the Olympic values of fairness, honesty, sportsmanship and peace in each day that we live. It is not that hard to take these values into our hearts and lives and ensure that we do our very best each day in all that we do.
Running together (while embracing the Olympic ideals) - stride for stride on a life changing ride -- Sean Muller

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The power of raw eating

Since losing major amounts of weight 7 years ago, I eat as much raw foods as I can during the day. Sometimes I have to force myself to get things in, but then I just reiterate how much I am loving the idea of clean eating and the fact that I look and feel so much better than I did those years ago and indeed better than I did all those years ago.
I also (and many friends think that I am mad) sometimes just eat raw veggies for breakfast or nuts and oats for dinner. You see back in the caveman days, our systems were not designed to be just eating the standard 3 square meals each day and when we were out hunting on the plains, we generally snacked on what we could along the way. Hence this method makes complete sense for us and is something that we should definitely follow.
Not to be content with just having this simple method of weightloss for myself, I have been recommending it to anyone that approaches me about losing weight. And it is successful if we stick at it. A friend reported losing 10kgs through eating more raw veggies and filling up on them. Easy really!
Running together (while eating more clean raw foods), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Doing other things..

This morning as anyone in Sydney can attest, the weather was horrendous. Strong downpours and cold winds. Normally I look forward to my long runs (especially if it is cool and clear) as they help to knock the cobwebs out and set me up for a great day. This morning however I was for the first time in a very long time dreading setting foot out of the door.
Once I did I thought I had hit a very lucky patch as the sun was shining. Not so lucky as I rounded the corner at about 2km in and heavens opened and the rain started to fall heavily.
Rather than risk a thorough drenching, I rather turned tail and headed back home instead. In hindsight I could have pushed on, but then having already completed a perfectly good week’s worth of training, I figure sometimes it is better to just listen to the body and to take it easy.
As mentioned many times before, it is these moments that the body needs to be able to do other things - mow the lawn, talk to the family or in my case tackle some writing that I have been putting off for a while.
Running together (while doing other thing as well) - stride for stride on a life changing ride.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Expectant miracles

While providing coaching services to folks, it always interests me how some of them expect that not only are you offering them free services (I never turn down a request for help), but they also expect you to perform miracles when they have very little or no fitness or background in running.
Chatting to another mate the other day, I would be a rich man if I could count the amount of times that I have been asked about the true secret to running or if there is something that they could do a scant 2 weeks out from an event and expect rabbits and abit of magic hocus pocus to suddenly make them able to complete the distance in a great time.
The truth ultimately is that no amount of hoping and praying and get through without some good old fashioned work. Sure some people will have more natural talent than others and will be able to complete certain events based purely on this talent, but with increased training comes increased comfort of completion to.
Instead of looking for magic potions time would be better invested in proper planning and training to get stronger so that the event would be more comfortable.
Running together (while planning well and training properly), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The one minute repeat

This morning I indulged in one of my favourite workouts of all time - the one minute repeat.
Many of you know that my first and true love is the track and hence these sorts of workouts are ideal for me. Friends have always questioned the validity of me completing these sorts of repeats when training for a longer distance race, but I know that they work.  Not only do they help to increase the VO2, they also help to promote running economy and get us running in a more efficient manner.
I would suggest starting at 5x1 minute hard and 2 minutes steady and advance from there. I have gotten up to 20 previously and then emptied my breakfast on the side of the track, nut definitely something to look into to enhance your running.
Running together (while performing lung busting 1 minute repeats) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Friday, July 13, 2012

A Sardine runner..

These little oily fishy smelling things are the latest in my running arsenal. I was introduced to them by a friend a little while ago and he swears by them as being one of the best things for his running and overall wellbeing and I now I eat heaps of the things - very cheap to which is a great thing.
I feel that they provide me with all that I need in terms of protein and when mixed with some quinoa and stir fried veggies they make one of the most complete meals around.
Despite the fact that many had said they wouldn’t try this meal, I have managed to convince some friends of the benefits and they have embraced it  for themselves.
I would be keen to hear what your experience is or what you use as your powerfood.
Running together (while eating sardines) - stride for stride on a life changing ride -- Sean Muller

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Dropping the weight to go faster

When I first started out in long distance running, I was unsure as to what shoes I would need, since I had no experience and was hence guided by the sales folk at the store. 

No great  surprise then that they put me in the most expensive shoes after diagnosing that I needed extra support. These shoes happened to be the Asics Kayanos and I continued to run in these until last year I started running in the Nike free out of an attempt to cut costs and diversify my running with something lighter.

At the end of last year I visited a friend and one of his coaching contacts analysed me properly and gave me a pair of the Nike free 3.0 to try. They reminded me of my old track spikes that I used to wear and I was sacred of trying them until this past week when I just decided to break them out and the results were immediate. I feel heaps lighter and faster on my feet wearing these frees. 

Based on what I have experienced and seen, I now believe that we have been sold a load of rubbish for many years about how many people require massive support in their running shoes. 

I don't ever think that I will go back to running in support shoes. 

Running together (while wearing minimal shoes) stride for stride on a life changing ride. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Training the lungs and beating asthma

Three years ago I bought a Powerbreathe respiratory exerciser to see what all the hype was about. This morning while using it I can report that over its lifespan I have now taken it down to about 2cents per use.
The Powerbreathe, although it has its critics can be used safely to help to increase VO2 and also to speed recovery of breathe and that can only be seen as a good thing for athletes and in particular long distance runners. It allows us to operate and train at a certain level without that gasping for air feeling setting in.
Like anything involving the lungs (and particularly for first time users) it must be approached with caution and care. I followed to the letter the instructions when first acquiring it and only now am having the courage to vary the workouts somewhat.
Again it does have its critics and I am sure that their arguments are valid to them, but if you have a spare $60 sitting around, it is not the worst investment that one could make. You of course have to use it and that involves a twice daily ritual of breathing through it while looking slightly like a dork.
Another plus about the device is that it has been proven to be able to help to combat asthma and in fact a friend of mine who suffered terribly has been able to cure her asthma and throw away the inhaler after using it for 6 months so a worthwhile investment indeed.
What are your thoughts and experiences?
Running together (while increasing VO2) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Green tea benefits

I had written on here many times about the benefits of green tea and how it can assist not only in everyday life, but also in our running and other sports.
Being an excellent substitute for our daily coffee for many people, green tea has been well documented to not only provide good levels of antioxidants and for lack of better words - cleansing agents to the body, but it also seems to place me in a state of serene calm and stops the brain from sometimes moving into overdrive.
The main reason though why I like it is because it is renowned to help to burn more calories and fat when drunk after a large meal.
The main surprise that I did learn though was that it can also increase VO2 in athletes and in particular runners. Again not something that I fully understand the science of, but definitely something that I am happy to pursue if it does indeed assist.
I encourage you to also do research of your own and lets share the results.
Running together (while drinking green tea) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Never judging on first appearance

I was always taught to give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to life and sport in general. Sometimes though - just sometimes one is faced with a situation where you let your ingrained human nature of judgement come through. For instance I have a chap that I work with who I found out is in his mid 60s and close to retirement. Now many in the organisation have described him as being a runner of a decent standard and having family that are also of good standard. At face value he does not seem overweight or overly unfit, but I still struggled to put the picture together.
Everything became clearer this past week when we started talking about sports and the Olympics and this individual clarified that he indeed was a runner and that one of his sons only just missed out on qualifying for Kona in the Ironman by a whisker. This is a fantastic achievement and just goes to show that one shouldn’t judge a book by the cover. Often talent comes out from the most least likely sources and quite frankly one should always be respectful of others as you never know who that person is or what they are capable of.
Running together (while not judging on first appearance) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Promoting a top event

Normally I am hesitant to provide any endorsements of events over others through my website, but on this occasion I am going to make an exception and do a blatant plug for my friend Wayne Larden’s new event in The Sydney Harbour 10KM.
The event takes place this Sunday and the course is extremely flat and fast and the chance for those who want to run a personal best, but also run on a flat course along an interesting stretch of Sydney Harbour.
There is still time to enter - visit the website and support the event which is a great new edition to the Sydney running calendar.
Running together (while supporting new events) - Stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller