Tales from the Valley Podcast

🎙️ Sam and Katie catch up with Jess Pascoe Jess recently took out the Wollongong Running Festival 10K and joined the podcast to talk through her journey from country NSW to NCAA competition and back to running after years of injury setbacks. Growing up in Forbes, Jess played just about every sport before eventually focusing on running. That decision led her to the University of Florida, where she built an impressive résumé including PBs of 15:34 for 5000m and 34:08 for 10,000m. Jess spoke about the challenge of moving to the US as a young athlete, adapting to higher training loads, and the lessons learned under Gerard Ryan in Canberra and later Chris Solinsky at the University of Florida. A breakthrough training block in 2018 helped take her running to another level, with patient, consistent training becoming a key theme throughout her career. Unfortunately, injuries eventually took their toll. Jess opened up about tearing her plantar fascia, suffering stress fractures, and spending years caught in the cycle of rehab and setbacks before stepping away from competitive running altogether. Now, after around eight months back running, Jess has rediscovered her love for the sport. With no pressure around performances, she's focused on building a strong foundation through consistent mileage, gym work, cross-training and enjoying the process again. A half marathon could be on the cards later this year, with Canberra, Olympic Park and Shellharbour all discussed as potential options. 🏃‍♂️ Weekly Training Updates Sam worked through a solid 85km week despite illness in the household, juggling training with baby duties and plenty of kilometres alongside Twix. The discussion also touched on calorie tracking, nutrition and balancing performance goals with weight management. Katie provided an update on her return to running following a torn meniscus. Strength work, Pilates and careful progression continue to form the backbone of her training as she weighs up whether surgery is still necessary. 👟 Gear, Racing & Running Culture Jess shared her current shoe rotation, including the Vomero Plus, Vomero Premium, Superblast 2, Cloudmonster Hyper, Deviate Nitro Elite and Megablast. The group also reviewed recent results from the NSW Cross Country Championships and the inaugural Parramatta Half Marathon, before wrapping up with a rant about fitness influencers filming entire workouts with tripods and the eternal frustration of groups walking four-wide across shared paths.

Sam & Katie catch up on their training this week with no guest on the mic, and also dive into some listener ChatGPT Q’s along the way. 🤖🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ Katie continues her cycling block, hits squat PB’s, and keeps the running load sensible — while also unpacking Sam’s incredibly inconvenient offer to “help” her through one of her track sessions. 😅 Sam bounces back from a bit of a lull with a strong week featuring speedy 400s, sharp threshold work and mile repeats while down the coast for a wedding. Tune in for Café Kit of the Week ☕️, ChatGPT Q’s, and a fresh round of Yeah/Nah rants… though Katie is still not over Sam breaking her rhythm at the track.

Sam and Katie are joined by Ethan Spears and Cody Bramich from the 360 South Project. Ethan and Cody are relatively new to running but are passionate about building a movement in the Illawarra through community, challenge, and shared suffering. Their flagship event is a unique 360 km relay from Wollongong to Huskisson and back, completed by teams of six over a 30-hour window, with legs split however teams choose. Despite being early in their running journeys, both are getting quick. Ethan recently clocked a sub-20 5 km time trial, while Cody has run 1:28 at both the Shellharbour and Husky Half Marathons. In the lead-up to the May 15 event, the crew discusses the vision behind the project, the logistics of the relay format, and what’s planned around it — including merch, community runs, and launch events. 👉 More info: https://www.instagram.com/360southproject/ Training Weeks Sam breaks down an 81 km week featuring hilly mile reps and another YoYo Tempo. Ethan & Cody battle the flu but still manage track work, HIIT and RIG sessions at the Yard Gym, run-club easy jogs, and even consult an Etsy witch to keep the rain away for Sunday’s long run. Katie logs 41 km including another “Moana” fartlek, absurdly long core sessions, and 4 hours of cycling. Café Kit of the Week Mileage Mate — https://mileagemate.com.au/ Megablasts New Balance Elite Slam Ball News ASICS trade-in event ahead of the Nimbus 28 at Centennial Park Cam Myers runs 3:49 for the mile at UW Indoor Jake Derdon clocks 2:22 at the Houston Marathon

On this episode of Café Kit of the Month, Sam sits down with Isaac Shaw. Isaac breaks down his outstanding performance, finishing 2nd in the State 3000m, and walks us through his summer of training. He also shares his experience with precision gels, gives an early review of the up-and-coming NVR running apparel—with a focus on the Ghost Singlet—and chats about the Puma MagMax. To round things out, Isaac gives us the inside word on the upcoming Run Havoc community runs and their latest testing partnership.

Sam chats with Tim Manuel, a huge part of the KJ’s community. Tim rediscovered his love of running during the Covid lockdowns after first lacing up in his junior years—and he’s been flying ever since. From a 2:11 PB over 800m through to an agonisingly close sub-3 marathon attempt at last year’s Sydney Marathon (3:00:50), Tim’s range is seriously impressive. A standout Masters athlete, he’s won multiple Cross Country and Track titles for KJ’s and played a key role in numerous podium finishes throughout the season. Originally a middle-distance runner, Tim tackled the marathon with guidance from those around him, plenty of reading, and jumping into long runs with the WTC group as part of his Sydney build. Training Weeks Sam Another solid week of training Yasso 800s Friday session: 5-4-3-2-1 off a one-minute jog Sunday long run: 2 hours Total volume: 80km Tim Running purely for enjoyment through the end of the year Mixing in swimming ahead of the Australia Day Aquathon/Duathlon Around 60km of running, including some pool-to-run transition practice Café Kit of the Week T8 Sherpa Shorts (order a size up) ASICS Metaspeed Edge – Ekiden colourway Milo cereal Shoutouts Tim gives a shoutout to Joe Crawford, who does a mountain of work behind the scenes for KJ’s while also running some seriously impressive times across the marathon and beyond.

Sam and Katie sit down with Rene Collins, a familiar face in the Illawarra running scene who wears many hats — from coaching local ultra-marathon athletes, to pacing at major city marathons, and most recently leading the run sessions for SAVVY. Rene’s running journey began with the Canberra Marathon, an initiation he describes as brutally tough, famously hitting the wall around 32km. From there, things escalated quickly. He tackled the Six Foot Track (45km) in the Blue Mountains, followed by the UTA 100km, a race Rene recalls as a comedy of errors — yet still an unforgettable and enjoyable experience. Momentum carried him into the Southern Sydney 100km on the track, where he finished an incredible 2nd place, before stepping up again to the 100-mile distance. This progression ultimately led to his selection for Coast to Kosciuszko (C2K) in 2022. Rene reflects fondly on completing C2K and walks us through the demanding selection process, including how he worked deliberately to earn selection again for C2K 2025. A key part of that journey was taking on the Alpine Challenge, a gruelling 100-mile race at Falls Creek, to ensure he made the cut. 🏃‍♂️ Training Weeks Katie outlines a conservative training block, combining a strength-focused program with 6 × 800m reps working down conservatively, plenty of gym work, and cycling. Sam continues with Yasso 800s (7 reps on Tuesday) alongside a long tempo session on Friday, keeping mileage steady in the 70–80km/week range. Rene is easing back post-C2K, mixing cycling, Savvy sessions, parkruns, and Thursday track. ☕ Café Kit of the Week 3D-printed stand to air out soft flasks Katie’s Day Planner ASICS Kayano 🔁 Around the Club Rene shouts out Bob Oganovski Growing anticipation for the JT Running 5km Time Trial