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The Relaxed Running podcast is a behind the scenes conversation with the best athletes, coaches and professionals in the world of distance running. From training, hydration and nutrition to racing and recovering, we learn from the best in the world.
Relaxed conversations which are packed with actionable takeaways to help you take your running performance up a notch. Save yourself years of guess work and learn from the people who are doing it at the highest level.
Tyson (00:00.925)
All right, bro, I was just saying, I've hit record officially. I didn't think this was gonna happen for a minute. Honestly, for the first five minutes of our meeting, for everyone listening, we're trying to sort out technical issues. We got there, brother, we got it done. I was getting nervous as well because I've been so excited to talk to you. I've got to tell you, man, before we even start, so you're a Tarelgan boy. I was born in Tarelgan. My mom's a Tarelgan woman. She's still down there now with the whole family. My dad used to play footy for Tarelgan and...
Blake Bourne (00:04.258)
Yep.
Blake Bourne (00:16.739)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (00:28.397)
Yeah.
Tyson (00:28.689)
She sent me a link on Instagram the other day. She goes, Tyce, mate, watch this guy's clip and tell me you don't want him on your podcast. And so I watched it and I messaged you straight away, bro. I was like, all right, this is a wild inspirational story. The fact that it culminates in an unbelievable run means you're a really good fit for this particular podcast. But dude, I thought as way of introduction, and I mean, it sounds like it's a long story. It sounds as though it's a...
Blake Bourne (00:40.095)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (00:50.541)
Yeah.
Tyson (00:57.397)
like a heart wrenching story in a lot of ways and one that we're lucky to have you around to tell. But I was thinking maybe you could just let me, let the audience know a little bit about what it is that you're doing and some of the foundation or some of the origin stories as to why it is that you're about to embark on this big mission.
Blake Bourne (01:15.85)
Yeah, so on August 3rd, 2023, so in only three and a half weeks, I'll be heading off to run across the Simpson desert. So 380 kilometers and aiming to break the world record, which is three days and eight hours and raise 38 grand for mental health research and suicide prevention. So $100 for every kilometer run.
And the motivation behind the run stems from my own battles with mental health and seeing the negative impacts that it has on people close to me as well. I've had a lot of people go through their own battles and had mates lose loved ones to suicide. And yeah, seeing the impact it does, I knew I had to do something.
Tyson (02:15.433)
Yeah, man. Yeah, cause you had a pretty close run with it. Just to, I can't remember the actual dates, but during one of the, so my introduction to you was one of the clips that you put forth on Instagram where you were just explaining, you know, that you had a crack at taking your own life and you woke up in a hospital bed, just seeing the shock, the distress, the sort of fear and stuff on friends and loved ones' faces. And I guess, I mean, it doesn't get much lower than that. But I think like the conversation around suicide is a really interesting one
Blake Bourne (02:36.941)
Yeah.
Tyson (02:46.145)
most of us know someone who have either attempted it or they've lost a loved one to it. I mean, I'm 36 now. And unfortunately, through those 36 years, touch wood, no one really close to me, but a number of people in circles that I've kind of run with literally, and that I've heard of, have suffered from it. So the conversation around mental health is a really interesting one. This particular conversation has so many directions that it could go, but...
Blake Bourne (02:52.95)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (03:01.794)
Yeah.
Tyson (03:13.701)
It really blows my mind and really inspires me because I look at the, or I hear that story and I see what you're up to now. And even without talking to you, I go, oh, well, for anyone really wrestling right now, not only is there a way out of it, but there's something much bigger to live for. There's something to be able to get out of bed for each day and be excited about. And I don't know, I'd love to hear a little more about that. Like where are you at now in terms of like the dealing with mental health and the struggles that you've had in the past?
Blake Bourne (03:32.802)
Yeah.
Tyson (03:43.125)
I'd love to tap into some of the resources or tools that you've used as well, because often these mental tools that we use for our own life challenges seem to correlate really beautifully to navigating our way through running performance as well. So, I mean, it's a bit of an open-ended question. I hope that made sense. Just run with that for a minute and leave me somewhere, brother.
Blake Bourne (03:59.286)
Yeah. So I think I still go through have dark days from time to time, as I think a lot of people do. Um, but one thing that I've been focusing on a lot, especially over the last two years is getting myself in uncomfortable situations. Um, so one thing I've done is every week, um, I set myself an uncomfortable challenge.
So something that's outside of my comfort zone. And that's helped a lot with building resilience and confidence within myself, that when I go through these dark times, I know I can get through them.
Tyson (04:42.241)
for sure, man, for sure. It's interesting. I don't know how much you know or follow David Goggins, but he's got a really similar message. And it sounds like his actual origin or his introduction into this particular world was very much like yourself. It sounded like for him, he was in a place that he didn't wanna be, but it always seems to be people who have walked through the darkest time, who have the most to share. And what I love about your particular story and people like Dave Goggins is, like I touched on before, you hear about the struggle.
Blake Bourne (04:49.698)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (05:03.96)
Yeah.
Tyson (05:11.613)
And for a lot of people, they just let themselves wallow in that and go, okay, well, I guess this is just the card I've been dealt and don't recognise it as potentially just a difficult period in their life, which there's so many tools that you can glean from that. So from your perspective, what these resilience building challenges, just what that idea of going out and actually challenging yourself physically or mentally with whatever challenge, I mean, I've seen a couple and there's some real good ones that you're doing on a weekly basis. What that for you just gives you a little bit of confidence.
Blake Bourne (05:23.938)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (05:36.874)
Yeah.
Tyson (05:41.197)
in the fact that if you can overcome these smaller and sometimes bigger challenges that you're putting on yourself, like that correlates pretty nicely into the bigger picture of whatever it is that you're going through.
Blake Bourne (05:52.242)
Exactly, and it builds that trust within yourself that holding yourself accountable to the promises you make is a big one. So, like you might think in your head, oh, in a week, whatever I'm gonna have an ice bath, and then you get to that week, it's freezing cold, you don't wanna have the ice bath, that's the last thing on your head, and then.
By doing so, by doing that anyway, you overcome that mental hurdle and then you just, yeah, build that confidence within yourself.
Tyson (06:31.805)
Yeah, man, it makes so much sense. I'm trying to think of the name of the book, but I had a friend of mine, oh, Do Hard Things is the name of the book, which is aptly named, bro, you would absolutely love it. So Do Hard Things, I've only been told about it, I haven't actually read it, but essentially the author, I don't know his name, he talks about the fact that like our generation, I think I'm a little bit older than you, our generation is fairly well coddled, like our parents for whatever reason.
Blake Bourne (06:40.983)
Yeah.
I'll have to check it out.
Blake Bourne (06:47.884)
Yeah.
Tyson (06:59.497)
have protected us, that we're the kind of people that we like to avoid challenge. And as a result of that, so many of the things that we're dealt are really difficult for us to navigate our way through. Like this is obviously a real big stereotype, real big generalization, but I think you don't have to be a genius to see that it's true in a lot of people's lives. And what I like about this particular book is much like what you're doing, he encourages you to get out there at least a few times a year and commit yourself to a challenge, which is...
there's a 50% chance of you actually being able to complete it. And the reason that he recommended that was just because of this idea that so often like our days revolve around just building comfort and being happy and not pushing ourselves, you know, physically, mentally, or whatever it is that, um, you know, clearly you and myself and so many of our listeners enjoy doing, um, but it just gives you that confidence. It gives you a little bit of an insight into what it is that you're capable of. But I mean, man, there's a, there's a massive big story in between.
Blake Bourne (07:32.267)
Yeah.
Tyson (07:58.921)
sort of your lowest point and what you're about to embark on in just a couple of weeks time. What's the story with running? How is it that running got on your radar? Why is it that you've chosen this particular challenge? Like have you always been a runner? Because I mean, yeah, no go.
Blake Bourne (08:11.894)
No, I only got into running in 2021. So yeah, only been running a couple of years. Fighter by blood, done that for 10 years. So started at 14 and I'm 24 now. So yeah, did boxing competitively. Absolutely loved the sport, but there was a lot of corruption and things involved and sort of fell out of love
competition side of things. And that was my purpose or motivation for a long time. So not having that in my life anymore definitely took a big toll. And yes, sort of did a little bit of running training for boxing, but they were all sort of short runs like 2k intervals and things like that. It wasn't until I got out of hospital that I
realised I didn't really have boxing to turn to anymore and I needed something, so yeah, got into running then.
Tyson (09:17.609)
Yeah, man, it's such a nice sport. It's interesting the way you explained that because to be honest, I kind of had the reverse effect. I finished competitive running back in about 2014. And I remember on some of those afternoons that I'd get home and usually I'd get home from work. I would get changed, grab something to eat and I would drive into the botanical gardens in the city because my group was about to start training or they would start training at about five o'clock. And then I would train till about seven by the time the session was done. I'd get home at eight and you know it's done.
Blake Bourne (09:41.899)
Yeah.
Tyson (09:46.941)
And I remember getting home a couple of days, I was a teacher, I'd get home from school and I would sit there and I'd go, there's three hours that I've never had to consider what to do with, like I've got no hobbies, I didn't really have any interests. I had to, I remember sitting on our back porch, we used to feed this magpie. And I was feeding this magpie, sitting there going, mate, I've got no idea what I'm gonna fill this time with. I mean, it didn't take too long, but it doesn't surprise me that a fairly time consuming sport like boxing.
Blake Bourne (09:58.059)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (10:09.26)
Yeah.
Tyson (10:16.101)
leads you into potentially, you know, an ultra distance run, like what you're about to get into based on the fact that it's a similar kind of mindset. Like obviously in boxing, you're going to need that, you know, there's different skill sets like that, that speed, the agility and things that come with a sport like that. But just the, that full on nature that it requires from you correlates pretty beautifully as I'm sure you've found out in the world of running already.
Blake Bourne (10:25.367)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (10:33.133)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (10:39.646)
Yeah, I love what one thing that I loved about boxing was the ability to push yourself to the absolute maximum like, yeah, you're get out what you put in most of the time. But obviously with fights, it's not always the case you can put in a lot of work and you don't necessarily get the results.
But with running, it's one thing where you can push yourself to the absolute max and you're going to get that back.
Tyson (11:15.385)
Yeah, yeah for sure man. It's one thing I love about it as well So what you've only been running a couple of years and what I love about a bloke like you is the fact that you've set Yeah, you've set your vision on something which is multifaceted like you've got the world record attempt What was it 380 or 308? kilometers that you're running
Blake Bourne (11:33.342)
So the exact distance is 379k, so 390.
Tyson (11:38.929)
Yeah, 380 Ks, two years worth of running. What's that journey look like for you? Like from a training perspective, where did you even start? I can imagine, like so many people, you've got a little bit of an idea, you just go out there and start doing some real fast running and just see what you can do. But I would love to know what that story has looked like between then and now, and just any of the physical challenge or stresses that have been on your body that you've had to navigate your way through.
Blake Bourne (12:07.67)
Yeah, so I started running a couple years ago. Started at about two or three K, I think. And then just gradually increased that each week. I started off just increasing 500 meters every week. And then got myself to about eight K. And then I was doing an eight K run once and felt good on like stuff that I'll do 10. So I did 10. And then I was doing 10 K.
five times a week and then a few shorter runs as well. And then, yeah, just gradually increased and increased and then did that for about a year, just sort of doing my own thing, juggling running with boxing. And then last year, got a running coach who's put together a bit of a training program for me. Yeah, again, just continued building up the case and.
got me long runs, I was doing 64 Ks back to back.
Tyson (13:11.553)
Gee man, what, when was this that you were doing 64Ks?
Blake Bourne (13:15.81)
Um, maybe like six or seven weeks ago.
Tyson (13:17.897)
Yeah, what, 64Ks a week? Are you talking?
Blake Bourne (13:20.415)
And back like in on a run, single run. I was doing yeah, close to 200 K's a week.
Tyson (13:23.891)
Isn't that unbelievable?
Wow, man. So there's a couple of things I'm gonna ask you there. So obviously, I don't know if I said this when we already recorded or not, but you and I, both from the same town originally, I live there, I'm still down there. My mom used to live on Berry Street opposite the Trelgan Athletics Track just near the tennis courts. It's a beautiful street, man. She moved out about 18 months ago, but she's near the Railway Reserve in Trelgan, which is nice for selfish reasons when I get down there because I mean, it's a beautiful place to get out there and go for a run. But...
Blake Bourne (13:36.811)
Yep.
Blake Bourne (13:41.138)
Oh yeah, that's a nice street. Flabs a bit, but nice street.
Blake Bourne (13:51.018)
Oh yeah, that's nice as well.
Blake Bourne (13:56.16)
Yeah.
Tyson (13:57.265)
Who's coaching you down there?
Blake Bourne (13:59.299)
So I've got an online coach, Sean Bellers is his name, it's from Sydney.
Tyson (14:04.033)
Okay, okay, Sean Bowers, is it? Big shout out to Sean. So what put you onto him? Like what was the appeal to Sean? How did you find out about him and what it was that he was offering?
Blake Bourne (14:06.226)
Yep. Heh.
Blake Bourne (14:15.038)
Yeah, so I've done did boxing and was getting ready for a big fight last year. I knew it was going to be my last fight because I had this run coming up. So I'm like, no, going all out. Went to Sydney was training with some of the pros up in Sydney and some of the top amateurs and trained with Trent Langhans as well, who's Harry Garcide strength and conditioning coach.
was training with him and then spoke to him about my run a few months later and he got me in contact with Sean.
Tyson (14:53.565)
Yeah, beautiful man. And how's it been? Cause an event like what it is that you're training for, it's a unique one. Most of the athletes that I coach are racing between sort of 5k and a marathon. And I always say, if you want help with the ultra stuff, I'm not the man for the job because you'd probably know just as much as me. So how have you gone about structuring the training? Obviously you've done quite a lot of that back to back work with 200ks in the week, which sounds as though it's a, I mean, it's a huge amount, but.
Blake Bourne (15:09.805)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (15:20.941)
Yep.
Tyson (15:23.433)
what's required for the challenge that you've set yourself. What kind of conditions are you gonna be facing out in the desert as well? Is it gonna be super hot, super still?
Blake Bourne (15:25.218)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (15:32.11)
It'll be hot during the day, freezing at night, and sand the entire way. And there's about, just under 1200 sand dunes I've got to climb as well, so about four every K.
Tyson (15:39.465)
Yeah.
Tyson (15:45.869)
Oh my gosh. So how will you actually, you've obviously got a support crew coming along with you. And.
Blake Bourne (15:50.162)
Yep, yep, I'll run it solo, but I'll have a support vehicle with food and water.
Tyson (15:55.749)
Yeah, that's cool. So what kind of stuff have you done around food and hydration? Has that been something that you've been trying to navigate your way through? Have you got any particular plan or idea with the gels and fueling and hydration?
Blake Bourne (16:03.218)
Yeah
Blake Bourne (16:06.594)
So I won't have gels, gels are good for marrows, but I've tried them on longer distances and they just give you the runs. So avoiding them, but yeah, just food that goes down easy. The big things, just trying to get the calories in, I'll probably burn close to 15,000 calories a day. So yeah, just trying to get food that goes down easy and it's full of calories.
Tyson (16:15.177)
Hehehe
Tyson (16:33.521)
Yeah, that makes sense. So in the lead up to it, what does an average week of training look like for you at the moment? Like if you walked us through a sort of Sunday to Saturday set up, what are you doing?
Blake Bourne (16:43.762)
At the moment, it's pretty, the running's not too intense. I had an injury about five, six weeks ago. So coming back from that, I've sort of just slowly been picking up the case again. I only got back into running again last week. But yeah, been doing a lot of strength work.
and things like that. So yeah, strength training about five times a week and then back running again now as well, which is good.
Tyson (17:14.865)
Nice man. So before the injury, like at the peak of the training, did you have a pretty consistent foundation of what you were doing each week?
Blake Bourne (17:18.786)
Yep.
Blake Bourne (17:22.994)
Yeah, so I do Mondays were 10K. Um, Tuesdays I'll do intervals or hill sprints. Wednesday I'll do a mid distance run. So 24K and then have Thursday off and then Friday and Saturday were my long runs.
Tyson (17:44.421)
Okay, and what the 64K back to back with the longest runs that you did Yeah, that's unbelievable man, and how do you how do you feel out on those runs? So are you pretty much doing that solo you got a little bit of food and Hydration and stuff that you're carrying with you or how you navigating your way through because what 64k? That's how many hours is that each run? That's a that's a while, bro
Blake Bourne (17:50.223)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (18:00.787)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (18:05.75)
It depends how sore I am. Fluctuate from about five and a half hours to seven sometimes.
Tyson (18:12.637)
Yeah. So what are you doing on those runs in terms of just keeping yourself up and about?
Blake Bourne (18:17.522)
Um, I, it depends where I'm running. Like I can run, obviously being a local boy, you'd know, but for those that don't, you can run from to rail gun to cow, which is another town in back. And that's, I'm trying to think now, I think that's about 60 K and there's a town every 10 to 15 K so you can just grab something from the shops and keep going.
Or when I do my beach runs, I try to go over there every fortnight. I just park my car somewhere and then run 10k, turn around, come back to me car, grab me supplies, run another 10, turn around, come back.
Tyson (18:59.837)
Yeah. Is that out at SeaSpring?
Blake Bourne (19:02.582)
Um, been going over there, going to Golden Beach a little bit and the big drift over at Wilson's Prom as well.
Tyson (19:11.273)
Beautiful man yet coppin a little bit of scenery on those long runs as well good Wilson's prom These if you're not from Australia listening to this or you're not from Victoria never been to Wilson's prom I encourage you to Google it my wife my brother-in-law his wife We went out there a couple of years ago and just did some of the hikes and dude like as you were even walking along there I was like, I can't believe this is my country. This is the most unbelievable scenery Yeah, we actually I was lucky enough. I've got a mate with a dad with way too much money and he's got a boat
Blake Bourne (19:14.716)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (19:32.126)
Yeah, it's a good spot.
Tyson (19:39.669)
that he took us out on a couple of years ago as well. And I think it's called Fairy Cove out in, or Aerie, Fairy, like it's a.
Blake Bourne (19:46.038)
Oh yeah, I don't think I've been there, but I've definitely heard of it.
Tyson (19:49.661)
Dude, it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. And we just drove this boat into this little cove. We were swimming into shore and sitting on the deck of the boat, just looking around, I was thinking, mate, like you could be, if you're in Italy right now, these are the things that you'd just be desperate to send photos to your family about and go check this out. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, so I know that path that you're talking about out to Kawa. So that's on the gravel path just next to the highway, is it that you're running along? That's been a great addition to that part of the world, hey.
Blake Bourne (20:03.646)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Blake Bourne (20:10.635)
Yep.
Blake Bourne (20:14.271)
Yeah, yeah.
Blake Bourne (20:18.368)
Yeah.
Tyson (20:18.869)
training for a marathon before COVID, stuffed it up a couple of years ago. Whenever I was down in Tarelgan, I would get out there along that trail. And mate, it was such a game changer because I don't know how you've found it, but sometimes running around a particular suburb, it sounds like with the beach runs and Wilson's prom and stuff like that, you've navigated your way out of it, but there's only so many laps at Tarelgan you're gonna do before you start questioning your decision to run across the Simpson Desert.
Blake Bourne (20:37.066)
Yeah. I know.
Yeah, no, I did. I did a 60 just around Tarelgun once, which isn't a big town, and yet I was just zigzagging through all the streets. Everyone's probably looking at me thinking I was up to no good running it. Yeah, middle of the night.
Tyson (20:49.877)
Hehehehe
Tyson (20:58.438)
So, is that what time you're doing it?
Blake Bourne (21:01.182)
Well, I didn't start at the middle of the night, but you're running for six hours or so. It was when it was real hot, so I'd start my runs at like four o'clock once the heat had gone down a little bit, just so I didn't get sunburnt. And then, yeah, run for six hours so you finish in like 10 o'clock.
Tyson (21:16.905)
Yep.
Tyson (21:20.565)
Do you know a guy called Nenet Sousa?
Blake Bourne (21:22.878)
I do. He gives me massages.
Tyson (21:24.725)
Dude, he's the man. Tell him I said hello. So Nanette was actually, he gave me a couple of massages back in the day. He was a guy that I used to do a little bit of running with, not heaps, but when I lived in Teralgan, especially my high school days. So going back to like 2005 is when I finished year 12, him and I would catch up and man, he used to have the reputation that you're starting to create for yourself around Teralgan. He was the bloke that you'd see running at two o'clock and then you'd see him again at six o'clock. You're like, mate, this guy, I can't believe he's still going.
Blake Bourne (21:39.211)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (21:47.854)
Yeah
Blake Bourne (21:51.989)
Yeah.
Tyson (21:52.617)
But he'd be a good bloke to pick his brain about this. Have you run any of your questions past him around training for the ultra?
Blake Bourne (21:56.054)
Nice.
Blake Bourne (21:59.506)
Yeah, so I get a massage from him every few weeks and we always talk about it, talk about their arm.
Tyson (22:05.009)
Yeah, man. So what was the sort of the inspiration to pick the run that you did? There's so many different options. Like what was it about the Simpson Desert that appeared to you?
Blake Bourne (22:15.282)
Yeah, so I've always had a little bit of a fascination with the Simpson Desert from a young age. I remember growing up, I absolutely loved the Simpsons. And I was in year three, and we were studying the map of Australia. And the Simpson Desert stuck out to me then. So I've always sort of had a little bit of interest in it in the back of my head. But the reason the run
came to me. I was in hospital after a suicide attempt, come out, was in a real dark place, knew I had to do something but wasn't sure what to do and read about a woman called Samantha Gash who ran the Simpson Desert in 2012 and I said I'm doing that and yeah just stuck with it since then.
Tyson (23:09.321)
Yeah, that's unreal, man. That's unreal. It's pretty daunting. I had to Google it before I spoke to you because it's pretty much, I didn't know exactly where in Australia it was, but it's fairly, if I looked at the image right, it's fairly smack bang in the middle, isn't it?
Blake Bourne (23:16.627)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (23:24.518)
Yeah, so I start in South Australia, run across South Australia, Northern Territory and then finishing Queensland.
Tyson (23:33.501)
Yeah, that is unbelievable. So how does it look from, you're in Trelgan now, what you fly to South Australia, and then just get yourself all organised, prepared, and then what's the official start date?
Blake Bourne (23:44.558)
So the official start date is August 3rd, I'll be running. So drive up, so we have the support vehicle up there. So that's about four days to drive up. So yeah, leave late July, drive up and be there ready to run August 3rd.
Tyson (24:02.449)
Yeah man, awesome. Have you already got your eyes on future destinations or at the moment is this one pretty much the sole focus?
Blake Bourne (24:10.467)
I'm just locked in for this right now. Yeah. No, I was just saying, I've had a lot of, there's a lot of options of things I can do after the run, but none of them matter until I get this done.
Tyson (24:15.622)
One of those one, I'm sorry, you go.
Tyson (24:31.025)
Yeah, it's a good point. It's a good point as well. It's funny, it's a big question. I'd been watching this documentary around the Tour de France the other night and they were speaking to a number of the writers and they said, you put yourself through so much misery each and every tour. And I don't know exactly what happens, but towards the end you go, I'm never gonna do this again. And then about three days after the tour finishes, you're already starting to look forward to next year. And I get the vibe that what you're about to embark on is gonna be a pretty similar experience just because.
Blake Bourne (24:50.434)
Yeah.
Tyson (24:59.321)
It's gonna be, I'm sure there's gonna be a few little dark patches along the way that your little weekly challenges and big weekly challenges have got you all prepped for. But it seems like one of those ones that once you start looking back through the photos and having a chat about it, especially if you're successful, like it's one of those ones that just leaves you with a little strut in your step. I can imagine you going, all right, where's the next desert? What's the next target? But you haven't looked at that at all.
Blake Bourne (25:16.354)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (25:25.142)
Nah, so the way I look at it, it's sort of like a boxing fight. So you have professional boxers and they might be in a position to get ready for a world title. But if they're looking at that world title and they have a different opponent in front of them, well, they're underestimating them. I'm not underestimating what is in front of me. There's a lot of things that could go wrong. There's a lot of things I've got to overcome first.
So yeah, get this run out the way and I'm sure I'll keep pushing the limits in due time.
Tyson (25:59.257)
Yeah, have you got any idea of how you're gonna structure it? Is it just run until you drop each day or an hour on few minutes off or what? What does the actual schedule look like?
Blake Bourne (26:08.498)
Yeah, so I'll be running 5k Refilmy liquids every 5k, have a snack every 10k, have a meal every 20 to 25k, and then continue that the whole time.
Tyson (26:25.997)
That's unreal. And how many people have you got? Oh, oh dude. It's, I can tell there'd be some people, I mean, we've got a big audience that listen to this and there's gonna be a number of sickos who absolutely love what it is that you're talking about now because there's something about a challenge like this, especially when it comes to a desert. I don't know if you know, do you know Wim Hof? Yeah, so I'm a big fan of Wim Hof and I can't remember exactly what desert it is or what desert it was that he crossed, but.
Blake Bourne (26:26.802)
IDLs.
Blake Bourne (26:39.159)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (26:45.334)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tyson (26:54.181)
I saw him doing it and he was, he said, and I'm not trying to give you any ideas, his goal was to do it without drinking water. And I remember watching it and I was, there was some just dark part of me that was so attracted to what it was that he was putting himself through. And it was the flip side to what I'd usually seen. Like a lot of the time I'd seen him swimming under the ice and, you know, trying to just sit it out in freezing cold water. But it was that same kind of attitude that was required. Like he'd put himself in a situation and then he'd just go, okay, now.
Blake Bourne (26:57.922)
No. Yeah.
Blake Bourne (27:13.995)
Yeah.
Tyson (27:23.313)
now deal with this and much to what you said to kickstart the conversation, it's mind blowing what humans are capable of. Are there many people, you mentioned a name before of someone who ran across the Simpson Desert, are there many people who have actually done it?
Blake Bourne (27:36.855)
Yeah.
From my research, there's been a few pegwell trials, but there's only been four that have successfully done it. So I'll be the fifth.
Tyson (27:48.053)
That is, yeah. How does that make you feel knowing that? Like I don't know what the number of people who haven't quite made it is, but I guess that just adds to the fuel to your fire a little bit to get it done.
Blake Bourne (27:53.688)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (27:57.902)
Yeah, I'm pumped, I know I can do it. So, yeah, fired up, looking forward to it. Can't wait to get out there.
Tyson (28:03.525)
Yeah, are you the kind of guy where you run with headphones or just like the sound of your own footsteps?
Blake Bourne (28:06.77)
Nah, run with nothing, I'll be, yeah, drive the whole way.
Tyson (28:11.697)
Is that what you're doing with all your training as well? You don't usually listen to music or anything?
Blake Bourne (28:14.438)
Yeah, don't listen to anything at all other than the environment around the ambient.
Tyson (28:22.485)
There's no better way to start the day really. I went for a run yesterday because sometimes I'll go out and I'll listen to a podcast or get some music in just to help kill the time. I mean, because it can be a boring sport as much as I love it, as you'd know better than anyone in the world right now. But yesterday I went for an hour run and I did exactly what you did on a similar trail to what we spoke about that leads between Tarelgun and Kawa, that nice soft gravelly surface, pretty soft underfoot.
Blake Bourne (28:24.688)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (28:35.36)
Yeah.
Tyson (28:52.097)
Actually very similar you're running past paddocks and cows and hearing birds and there was like a little bit of mist in the air I thought might like this is the it's the perfect way to start any day and so I just get home and I finished with a little ocean swim because we're close to the water and Let you just tick in about five different boxes you get in the exercise you get in some nature Getting time away from technology and I just came into my wife the poor thing. It just copped it sweet We've got two boys here and we were in very different
Blake Bourne (29:05.943)
Yeah, nice.
Blake Bourne (29:09.748)
Yeah.
Tyson (29:19.269)
moods when I walked in the door and I go, babe, just go out and dip your toes in the water. And it is amazing just how putting your phone aside can make such a big impact to your mental health. Because I reckon there's a direct correlation between how many times I pick up my phone and how grumpy I am in a day. Like if I've picked up my phone 50 times by the time seven o'clock rolls around, it puts this feeling in your brain that there's just so much more to be done than there really is.
Blake Bourne (29:20.3)
Hehehe
Blake Bourne (29:33.143)
Exactly.
Tyson (29:49.097)
And we're not gonna leave it aside. I don't know, things just seem to slow down a little bit. Hey.
Blake Bourne (29:49.399)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (29:54.762)
Yeah, a big thing that I don't have music or anything is I'm trying to understand my brain, understand my mind. And it's hard to do that when you've got things like music or things like, just alternative things that take your mind off it, if that makes sense. Yeah.
Tyson (30:17.329)
Oh, it makes a lot of sense, man. It makes a lot of sense. I reckon that's the reason that so many people struggle with meditation when they get started with it, because we're just so used to having that external stimulus that when all of a sudden the static, that noise disappears, like that static in your brain starts to crackle and you're like, man, I've got a lot to work with here. So what are the things that have been beneficial to you outside of running and exercise? What's, I know you said, like everyone, we still have our struggles and our challenges.
Blake Bourne (30:35.296)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (30:46.847)
Yep.
Tyson (30:47.081)
from time to time during those periods in your life now, what are some of the tools that you're using that have been really beneficial?
Blake Bourne (30:54.122)
I think.
That's a good question. I've been pretty good of late. A big reason.
When I get, why I get so low is that I feel like I don't have a reason to live and I've got a reason right now. So when the dark times come, they're hard but I've got something to work towards so I can sort of push through it.
Tyson (31:24.573)
Yeah, I think everyone in the world relates to that. I definitely feel like everyone in the world relates to that. I was, I'm trying to think, I was listening to, who was I listening to last night? I'm trying to, it might've been, Lex Friedman was talking to Mark Zuckerberg. And I've been dirty at Mark Zuckerberg for the last couple of years, just because of how limited Facebook is with what you're allowed to say and speak about. Like there's just been so much censorship. So I was like, all right, I'm gonna give this bloke a.
Blake Bourne (31:27.869)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (31:40.565)
Yeah?
Blake Bourne (31:49.26)
Yeah.
Tyson (31:52.505)
ago and in my head I didn't like him and he kind of won me over because he's more charismatic that you then you would think like a computer nerd which is the reputation he sort of developed over the years a very successful one um a computer nerd would have and one of the things that he spoke about or lex asked him he said what's more important to you process or vision and i liked his answer he said like every single human needs to have a desire to work towards something because
Blake Bourne (32:04.621)
Yeah.
Tyson (32:21.093)
I would feel the same if I had no big overarching goal. How do you get yourself out of bed in the morning? It just seems, I mean, like obviously you've got, in my situation, I've got the luxury and sometimes just the chaos of two young boys, which is a big thing. But I mean, in my own personal ambitions, I totally relate to that. And just, there's something beautiful about a project and the stepping stones. I don't know if you've ever read Atomic Habits.
Blake Bourne (32:26.507)
Exactly.
Blake Bourne (32:49.058)
Um, don't think so, no. Yeah.
Tyson (32:50.985)
Bro, you should check it out. I reckon you'd absolutely froth it. But this bloke talks about just that process. Often we have these big goals and no idea of how it is that we're gonna get there. He said, you've got to set the goals but then come up with practical steps along the way to actually get you there. And on a daily basis, just being out there, doing your runs are those practical steps. It's like, it's a really practical and almost the perfect metaphor. Like each day you're literally taking steps towards
Blake Bourne (33:08.823)
Yeah.
Tyson (33:20.233)
that big overarching goal. So were you always the same, even when you were boxing, did you have that same kind of approach? Just like, all right, fight night's coming up.
Blake Bourne (33:29.368)
Um...
Yes and no. Like I...
When I was getting ready for a boxing fight, I would always give it 100%. But there was always a bit of hesitation. At the end of the day, I knew it wasn't always in my control the result of the fight, no matter how well I did. So there was always a little bit of luck. It is what it is by the end of it. But yeah.
This is sort of a bit different.
Tyson (34:08.265)
Yeah, in what sense is it different to you just because it's completely up to you rather than having to navigate another opponent
Blake Bourne (34:16.116)
Exactly.
Blake Bourne (34:21.324)
If I do this, it's because of me. If I don't do this, it's because of me. I've got no one to blame. I've got no one else responsible other than myself. So if I wanna do this, I need to make it happen.
Tyson (34:35.633)
Yeah, what makes you most nervous about the run?
Blake Bourne (34:39.759)
Um...
Blake Bourne (34:43.502)
Think.
Blake Bourne (34:47.17)
the things that can go wrong. Like I've had a bit of, so I had a stress reaction in the femoral neck, which is the reason why I haven't been running the last little bit. And if that breaks, because it's surrounded by arteries, I'm gonna lose a hell of a lot of blood. And you're three days from the nearest town, so something goes wrong.
Yeah, stuffed pretty much.
Tyson (35:19.105)
Have you got anyone looking after the first aid side of things with you? No.
Blake Bourne (35:22.678)
Not really, and that's the scary part. Like if nothing goes wrong, it'll be fine, but if something goes wrong, I'm gonna be, yeah, I'm gonna have a hell of a lot of trouble.
Tyson (35:33.713)
Yeah, so where did you say it was, sorry? The stress fracture?
Blake Bourne (35:37.618)
in my femoral neck, so where the femur joins the hip. It's not a stress fracture, just a stress reaction. If it was a fracture, I'd be in trouble.
Tyson (35:41.702)
Okay. And is it
Tyson (35:48.949)
I was gonna say, I thought that might've been the reason that you'd taken a few weeks off. So it hasn't been completely off, you've still been in the gym, you said.
Blake Bourne (35:53.164)
No.
Yes, still been training just avoiding any impact the last couple of weeks, but bodies feeling strong now and back running again now. So yeah, punch.
Tyson (36:06.049)
It's interesting how that works as well. For so many runners who put in a lot of work, I often find this with golf. Sometimes I'll go in and put in all the work and then I'll have a couple of weeks off and come back out and there's something that's just been absorbed because I'm a fairly shit golfer. When I'm not, oh, I've been like everyone is who hasn't practiced it regularly. But I often notice that when I have a little bit of time off, it surprises me how fresh I come out. Like you can develop this idea of what the perfect routine.
Blake Bourne (36:18.784)
Yeah.
Tyson (36:32.777)
has to look like in the lead up to a certain event. But there's so many examples of people, actually like endless examples of people who for whatever reason, they have an interruption to what is their perfect training plan and they come in and absolutely just smash the event that they're training for. And I like that because I think sometimes we can get so in our head about what it is that we need to be doing and how it is it needs to be done that to prove ourselves wrong like that just by.
nothing but like a frustrating interruption is really encouraging. I find that encouraging because I'm training for the Melbourne Marathon at the moment. And I mean, like every listener to this podcast knows how much I've been bitching about my calf strains and it's taken me a little while. Like I've had about six weeks of or seven weeks of uninterrupted training now. But it's just interesting to notice that pretty much every single buildup, regardless of who you're talking to has.
Blake Bourne (37:08.951)
Yeah.
Tyson (37:30.313)
the equivalent of what you're dealing with, what I've dealt with. So I like that it doesn't necessarily mean that things aren't gonna go according to plan with the big goal. You just have to learn to duck and weave with the punches.
Blake Bourne (37:33.143)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (37:39.434)
No, and it's good in a sense when it happened and that it wasn't as serious as it could have been as well because I learnt more about my body. Like I had a weak left hip abductor, which I wasn't aware of because you never use your hip abductor. And then that was the reason why my hip
hip bone was taking so much of the load. So I've been strengthening all those muscles now. They've increased by, I think, 10, 15%. So yeah, muscles are strong now, bones are strong. So it should be good to go.
Tyson (38:24.073)
That's great, man. What kind of stuff are you doing in the gym?
Blake Bourne (38:27.802)
Um...
Blake Bourne (38:31.63)
Pretty much just training everything because I'm gonna use everything for the run. But being, doing a lot of calf raises, started doing toe raises to strengthen the shin, been doing Nordics which are always fun. And then yeah, had a little bit of a shoulder injury a few years ago, so strengthening that as well because sometimes that gets tight when you're running for.
Six hours.
Tyson (39:03.182)
Yeah, so true dude, the amount of stitches that I've had in my shoulder over the years is unbelievable.
Blake Bourne (39:09.062)
Yeah, and you don't think about it, but your shoulders stays flexed pretty much the whole time, like a slight movement. If it's weak, it's sometimes worse than your legs do.
Tyson (39:20.452)
Yeah, it's such a good point. And outside of your massage and things that you're getting every few weeks, what are you doing in terms of recovery at the moment?
Blake Bourne (39:22.808)
Uh, yes, I just try not to do everything.
Blake Bourne (39:31.734)
Um, it hasn't, I haven't been doing a lot because I haven't been doing a lot of work the last couple of weeks. Um, been doing strength work and things like that, but my body's not been under like heaps of load. Um, but when it was, I did, I used to do my runs and then go for a sauna sesh and a swim straight after pretty much.
and then yeah, massage and osteo and things like that.
Tyson (40:08.233)
That's just down at the aquatic center there. Yeah, at the new aquatic center using the sauna. Do they have cold plunge pools as well?
Blake Bourne (40:10.982)
Yeah. No, no. Yeah, it would be good.
Tyson (40:16.117)
They need to get that, that'd be a great addition. I'm always there with my three year old boy, unfortunately, so I haven't been able to actually go in and check out the sauna, but I mean, it's a pretty good setup. Dude, it's really exciting. So you're obviously gonna be posting some of this on your Instagram. Are you thinking about doing anything on YouTube or you got some crew coming to get some footage for you?
Blake Bourne (40:23.085)
Yeah.
Blake Bourne (40:35.294)
Yeah, I'll have a videographer with me on the run. He'll be recording it from start to finish. So I'll, yeah, definitely put that up on my Instagram. Probably, there's that much social media these days. It's sort of hard to be on all platforms at once. So yeah, I might put a few things on YouTube, but I don't think I'll be as active as I am on sort of Instagram.
Tyson (40:52.797)
Isn't it? Yeah dude, I find the same man.
Tyson (41:05.821)
Nah, awesome man. Well dude, I'm cheering for you. I'm pumped to see the result. I'll make sure that I link your Instagram in the description below so that anyone that's interested in checking you out can follow along. Mate, thanks so much for coming on. It's been fun talking to you. Best luck, I can't wait to hear about your next project because I know that this Simpson Desert one's not gonna be the one and only. Sound like the kind of bloke who's just gonna keep going with bigger and better things, which I'm excited about.
Blake Bourne (41:29.783)
Easy, thanks man, appreciate you having me on.
Tyson (41:32.069)
Nah man, that was fun. Alright brother, I'll see you later. See everybody.
Blake Bourne (41:35.665)
Awesome. Thank you.