Tales from the Valley Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Sam and Katie catch up with Sarah Reiter, Tracksmith athlete and longtime friend of Katie’s from college. Sarah’s resume is stacked with personal bests ranging from 16:21 for 5,000m to 2:31 for the marathon. Most recently, she placed 24th at the Boston Marathon, clocking a solid 2:33 on a course that chewed up many.

Sarah gives us an inside look at her peak training week, logging 85 miles (~137km) with plenty of hills and a mix of threshold, marathon pace, and anaerobic sessions. This was one of eight intense weeks during her marathon build. She walks us through her taper, mental approach, and how she pulled off a near-perfect day in Boston—running a controlled, even effort with just a one-minute positive split in the challenging second half.

Then, Sam shares the story behind pulling out of the Christchurch Marathon and skipping the New Zealand trip. Instead, he jumped into the Canberra Half Marathon, where he powered through a tough course before bouncing back quickly the following Saturday with a 30-minute tempo, including parkrun.

Katie rounds out the episode with her own racing update, taking 4th overall at the Run the River Half and clocking a strong 1:23. She’s stringing together some consistent work and looking sharp.

Café Kit of the Week ☕️

• Tracksmith Gloves 🧤

• Nike Trail Apparel 🏞️

• Depop for Secondhand Running Gear ♻️

Myles Gough re-joins the podcast after his 2nd win at Canberra Marathon last weekend in 2:30:08

Myles walks us through his training block as well as his taper and exciting race recap.

It was a tactical day out and an exciting race, this ones a must listen!

Sam, Katie, and Mitch catch up with Jack Ratz. Jack resides in Canberra and runs with the Deagony of Defeat Run Club. However, his partner's family is from Pambula, so he often visits the Sapphire Coast. Jack started running during COVID. He used to play AFL and coaches gymnastics, so he has an impressive power base. He has run some blistering times in a short period, including a 16:10 for 5k and 2:39 for the marathon. Jack trains with power as a metric, with Zaine Upton as his coach.

Katie recaps her week of sickness, missing her heat for her race but managing to get into the community B race, where she runs 17:40 for the win. Mitch runs 16:33 to come in 2nd in the community race after leading for the majority of it. He also gets a bit of a down week as part of his taper. Jack is getting back into the swing of training since Melbourne but still manages to complete an impressive 7 x 1k at a pace faster than 3:30. Sam logs 78km this week and continues to rebuild his mileage positively.

Café Kit of the Week

• Underwater Camera
• Denneroll for lower back pain
• Puma Deviate 2
• Adidas Terrex Shorts

Round the Club Shoutouts

• Jack Caldwell – Sapphire Coast Runners
• Michael Piela – Never Lazy Run Club
• Fiona Shand – Kiama Running Club
• Daniel Randell – De Agony of Defeat

Sam and Mitch sit down with Rede Carney, who has some impressive personal bests—all achieved after breaking the three-hour mark at the Sydney Marathon last year. He has run 17:11 at the GONG5000 and placed second at the recent SMC Road Series Half Marathon with a time of 1:19:32.

Rede took up running in his 30s but has prioritized health and fitness since he was 17. Coming from a triathlon background, he considers himself to have a "diesel engine" and has recently incorporated speedwork into his training. As a result, his performances over shorter distances have improved rapidly. Rede shares valuable insights into how he has achieved these times and how he balances running with a busy family and work life.

Sam kicks off his training with a Tuesday track session, featuring fast 400m and 200m reps, followed by a hard 2K effort at the end of the session in 7:03 (did he mention it was 25 degrees?). He follows this up with a tough tempo session and plenty of strength work. Mitch walks us through a challenging 7 × 1K session on Tuesday, though he feels his week was compromised by poor recovery from last week's long run. It’s hard to tell, though, as he still manages to put together another 100+ km week.

Rede had a strong swim and run at the aquathon last Sunday, so he only joins the JT Running crew for the 400m and 200m reps on Tuesday. However, he still completes a tough early-morning treadmill tempo session before heading back to work.

• Raw Advanced Handheld Drink Bottle – Rebel Sport
• Urbanista Earphones
• Reekmind Cotton Tee
• Soft Flask

• Michael Sadler – Narooma Run Club
• Rene Collins – Coast to Mountain
• Lea Carney

Sam, Mitch, and Katie chat with Holli Betts, the founder of the Narooma Run Club. Despite being relatively new to running, Holli has made remarkable progress. Inspired by Mel Jefferis, she started running regularly and has already completed two half marathons, improving her personal bests (PBs) for the 5k and 10k, including a fresh PB at Wagga Wagga Parkrun last week.

The Narooma Run Club began with just seven women meeting on Sundays to run at Bar Beach, Narooma. However, as interest grew, it quickly outgrew a simple group chat. Holli started promoting the weekly runs on social media, attracting families and local residents who are now regulars. The club fosters an inclusive and fun atmosphere, generating excitement in the local community. Holli shared insights into managing the club and remains eager for feedback. The club’s merchandise and social media feature artwork by local talent Shelly Healy.

In this episode:

• Mitch recaps his first 5000m race of the year, finishing in 16:38 at Bankstown, followed by a solid training week.
• Sam discusses completing the same weekly sessions as Mitch, including a tough broken k’s track session and a Moose Fartlek on Friday.
• Holli shares details about her parkrun PB and her preparation for the Melbourne Marathon in October.
• Katie talks about her entry in the upcoming Aquathon, where she ran 17:27, edging out Carl Ernst from the run group.

Café Kit of the Week:

• Crocs
• Asics Novablast 5
• Water bottle (not Frank Green)
• Precision Electrolyte Formula

Round-the-Club Shoutouts:

• Mel Jefferis – Narooma Run Club
• Chris Stone – JT Running
• Siobhan King – Kiama Running Club
• James Smith – Sapphire Coast Runners

Referenced Links: Narooma Run Club Instagram

Sam and Katie chat with Maddi Costanzo. Maddi has played soccer at an elite level since the beginning of high school, competing across Europe and the U.S. She was on track to go pro but suffered an ACL injury during a game, requiring extensive rehab. A few years later, after returning to the field and performing well, Maddi experienced another ACL injury. However, she turned this setback into a positive by completing several courses to develop a holistic understanding of health and fitness. Now, Maddi coaches large groups of younger kids in areas such as strength, nutrition, and mental health.

Maddi decided to take up running, heavily influenced by her best mate, Tom Baker, who has been training for marathons for a few years. She is now signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon and plans to rely on her experiences to help structure her training program.

Katie kicks off the week with a solid 123 km of running, leaning on the JT Running Group sessions to keep her paces controlled. Sam covers all bases this week with strong workouts, three strength sessions, and a two-hour long run to round things off. Maddi enjoys a bit of a rest period on the Gold Coast but still manages to fit in a few runs and continues her usual hard work in the gym.

• Traak Running Hats - traakrunning.com.au
• Vibrating Roller Massager - Kmart Vibrating Roller Massager
• Blood Orange & Mango Sparkling Water

• Isaac Shaw – WTC
• Joe Mallat – JT Running
• Angie Blackburn – Mel’s Angels

• Instagram: Costanzo Performance
• Costanzo Performance Website

A quick message from Sam on the 1st year of the podcast, followed by Russ and Sam's 'practice' podcast before the original launch.  Enjoy, thank you to our listeners and our partners.

Sam, Katie, and Mitch are joined by Chloe Pateman. Chloe is a Wollongong local who has recently moved to the Gold Coast. She boasts an impressive list of personal bests from 2024, including 4:37 for 1500m and 36:37 for 10k. Chloe started running in Year 10 and has been part of several squads, including Vicki McPhillips' group running around Blackbutt and the HIRT Squad. She has now joined GC Run Co, a group she connected with during a training camp in Perisher. Chloe enjoys running as it helps her break up her routine and stay focused on the task at hand.

Mitch kicks off the week with an impressive 20 x 400m session on Tuesday but slightly overreaches during his Friday tempo. His Strava blue bars are looking strong, though! Katie hangs on for 16 of Mitch’s 20 reps, clocks another 121km week, and decides to give up mowing due to the physical demands. Chloe has a stellar week, indicating she’s in shape for more PBs, with three quality sessions, including thresholds in the 3:30–3:40 range and solid 2km reps. Meanwhile, Sam fits in nicely with the JT Running Group, finding a great bunch of people to execute solid track and threshold sessions with.

Café Kit of the Week:

• Wollongong Track Club Singlets and Shirts: Pre-order through Oasis via DM on Instagram – @wollongongtrackclub
• TFTV Singlets: Pre-order through Perene – TFTV Podcast Collection
• Nike Vaporfly 3
• Matt Fitzgerald’s Running Cookbooks

Round the Club Shoutouts:

• Mark Pateman
• Jared “from MAFS” Pescud – Your Local Run Club
• Benn Walker – Wollongong Track Club
• Bill Dykstra – Sapphire Coast Runners

Sam, Katie, and Mitch chat with Amy O’Halloran. Amy has delivered some big performances, winning the Sydney Harbour 5k in 2019 and placing 2nd at the Newcastle Marathon in 2022 with a time of 2:53. Despite her fast road times, Amy also boasts impressive track performances, having run 4:22 for 1500m during her college years in the US. Amy is extremely passionate about running but has recently faced injury struggles and opened up about their impact. Her goal is to reach the start line in sub-2:50 shape within the next four years.

Sam kicks off training this week, hitting the track and getting dropped by Katie. Despite this, he’s happy to be logging some normal weeks and is keeping things conservative. Katie logs 124 km this week, including two very strong sessions. Amy has an impressive week of training with lots of intensity but ends up with a potential Achilles tear. Mitch stacks his ninth consecutive 100+ km week, coming off the back of a bout with Covid.

Café Kit of the Week:

• Dr. Squatch – Natural Deodorant
• Heel Cups
• Adidas Supernova
• ASICS Novablast 5 (purple/red colourway)

Round the Club Shoutouts:

• Hamish Simpson – Team Keem Coaching
• Rebecca Croak – JT Running
• Chase Grant – Mel’s Angels
• Emma Collier – DELTA

Nathaniel Brisbane joins Sam, Katie, and the infamous Russ Dessaix-Chin on the podcast this week. Nathaniel has achieved remarkable progress in a short period of time—he set a goal to break 25 minutes in the 5k late in 2022 and brought his time down to under 17 minutes within a few months.

This year, Nathaniel has run several impressive personal bests, including 4:07 for 1500m, 8:47 for 3k, 15:14 for 5k, 32:47 for 10k, 72:10 for the half marathon, and capped it off with a 2:36 marathon at the Gold Coast. Nathaniel credits consistent training for his success and has recently joined Brendan Hince’s training group. Despite a heavy study load at UOW, Nathaniel stays committed to high mileage and smart training.

Sam completes his first full training week since rehabbing his shin, including a grass track session in the Bega Valley, though his Parkrun in Pambula was less successful. Russ is returning from a heel injury, pushing hard to finish his week with 1:40 at 4-minute kilometers. Nathaniel continues to build solid training, completing a Mona Fartlek at North Gong Parkrun, running fast despite the challenging mixed terrain. Katie stays on top of her workouts, finishing a strong 20k progression during her long run.

• Hoodie Towel (Robe Optional)
• Adidas SL 2
• ASICS Metaspeed Sky
• ASICS Magic Speed 4

• Harm Schaap – Wollongong Track Club
• Cameron Faricy – Run Crew
• Jack Ratz – De Agony of De Feet
• Claire Gilbert – Sapphire Coast Runners