[Tyson]: I can edit this little first part out, but I don't know, this platform here, it might
[Tyson]: look like, I don't know if I look fuzzy to you or
[Matt Daniels]: Now
[Tyson]: what, but it,
[Matt Daniels]: you look really like crystal clear, you look good as
[Tyson]: oh,
[Matt Daniels]: gold.
[Tyson]: great, yeah, cause in the background, it records like a super high quality recording.
[Tyson]: So even if you and I are a little bit fuzzy to each other, by the time it comes up,
[Tyson]: the final product, it's like, it's pretty much close to HD.
[Matt Daniels]: Okay, beautiful.
[Tyson]: Yeah, so that's good. Man,
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: thanks so much for coming on. It's, I can't believe it's the first time we've actually
[Tyson]: spoken. I've watched a lot of your stuff online and I've been inspired by how
[Tyson]: much work you've done in the local community, especially. I actually found out
[Tyson]: about you through the wife of one of my best mates, Cassie Holmes. I don't know
[Tyson]: if you know Cassie off the top of your head, but
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, definitely.
[Tyson]: she signed up to do, I think it was a half marathon or a marathon program with
[Tyson]: you a while ago. And she asked if I'd heard of you, and I was relatively new in the
[Tyson]: area at the time. So. I hadn't heard of anyone in this part of town. And I went
[Tyson]: and had a look and I heard a little bit about your story and I realised, man, it's
[Tyson]: pretty wide and pretty deep what you've accomplished in a relatively short time in
[Tyson]: the running scene. So I've been meaning for ages to have you on for whatever reason
[Tyson]: it's taken this long. I thought as a way of introduction, maybe I could hand you
[Tyson]: the mic and you could just tell people a little bit about yourself and how you found
[Tyson]: yourself into the world of running.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah, no worries at all. First of all, thanks for having us on the podcast,
[Matt Daniels]: a big fan. Yeah, so I suppose my story is I was a personal trainer. So yeah,
[Matt Daniels]: really passionate personal trainer. So I had my own business from 2006 right through
[Matt Daniels]: to 2019. So 13 years in the health and fitness industry as a PC running
[Matt Daniels]: my own show there, which was an amazing time. And we sold the gym, my partner
[Matt Daniels]: and I sold the gym quite fortunately just before COVID hit at the end of 2019. And
[Matt Daniels]: for the best part of, I suppose, 10 years as a PT, I was regularly putting plans
[Matt Daniels]: together, run plans together for clients wanting to train for, you know,
[Matt Daniels]: 5K, 10K, half marathon, whatever it was. So obviously knowing a lot more now
[Matt Daniels]: than what I did back then. Yeah, that was the sort of the first introduction
[Matt Daniels]: into putting together some plans during my PT career. And then, yeah, once COVID
[Matt Daniels]: hit, I sort of put it out there in regards to a virtual run. So I had like
[Matt Daniels]: a 5K, 10K and half marathon virtual run that I sort of got up and going
[Matt Daniels]: just as COVID hit. As you know, that we couldn't do a lot. The gyms were closed
[Matt Daniels]: and stuff like that. So I put that out there as a bit of a nine week program
[Matt Daniels]: where I put together personalized plans for people doing 5K, 10K or a half marathon.
[Matt Daniels]: And the first one really took off and then it just snowballed from there
[Matt Daniels]: really. So yeah, I've got my online run coaching business up from there
[Matt Daniels]: and it's... Over the last couple of years, it's gone crazy. So it's been an
[Matt Daniels]: awesome time getting that up and going. And then, yeah, I've obviously been
[Matt Daniels]: a really passionate runner for the best part of sort of 10, 12, 13 years.
[Matt Daniels]: Grew up in Anglesey, lots of running as a kid, far from elite, but just
[Matt Daniels]: a really passionate recreational runner that loves getting out there, getting
[Matt Daniels]: plenty of Ks in and yeah, having a real crack at the events when they roll around.
[Matt Daniels]: So. That's my story and plenty of big runs over the journey as well.
[Tyson]: Yeah, it's funny I had a look at what you'd done in the running space on your about
[Tyson]: me profile and then I read back over it and realized You only started running in
[Tyson]: 2010. I thought oh my goodness That's an incredible amount of runs to get done in
[Tyson]: a We can get into that soon, but in terms of how you found your way into the running
[Tyson]: world, obviously you said you were writing a few programs or a lot of programs
[Tyson]: for, um, the, the athletes or the, the people that were going to your gym. Was
[Tyson]: it always a little bit of an interest area for you? Because I mean, even though it's
[Tyson]: still in the fitness world, you put me in a gym and asked me to start training
[Tyson]: any athletes on bench press or squats. I'm probably the wrong man for the job. Whereas
[Tyson]: you've managed to combine the two skills beautifully. But in saying all that, it's a
[Tyson]: very different world, I guess, that you've involved yourself in now in a really
[Tyson]: large capacity and it's been unreal just how much you've got done, how quickly,
[Tyson]: not only with your own running, but with the athletes and community you've created
[Tyson]: with your online run coach. What's the story of transfer there? It seems from
[Tyson]: the outside to be a bit of a wild jump and one that's really paid off.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, it sort of seems like that, but I was always here, like I said, I
[Matt Daniels]: grew up in Anglesey, so always a really passionate runner. So I just absolutely
[Matt Daniels]: loved it. Loved everything that comes with running. So I've been running for
[Matt Daniels]: quite a while. I did my first marathon at Melbourne in 2010, not knowing
[Matt Daniels]: a great deal about it. Like I think we all did one of our first marathons.
[Matt Daniels]: So, but pretty much from 2010 right through to today, I've been, yeah, plenty
[Matt Daniels]: of Ks since then. And things have just been, yeah, sort of fast track. The
[Matt Daniels]: online run coaching stuff's just, like I said, it's gone really crazy in
[Matt Daniels]: the last couple of years since I launched that. But before that, yeah, obviously,
[Matt Daniels]: big into the health and fitness industry for 13 years. But whilst I was doing
[Matt Daniels]: that and taking some big group sessions and stuff like that, yeah, running
[Matt Daniels]: was always a passion of mine. And it's always been a bit of a passion project
[Matt Daniels]: sort of on the side as I was doing that PT and health and fitness thing.
[Matt Daniels]: And then, yeah, now it's just full-time online run coaching and... absolutely
[Matt Daniels]: loving it and loving the sort of community that I've created.
[Tyson]: Yeah, you mentioned before we hit record that yeah, you're adding a little pod where
[Tyson]: I see all the training programs and stuff get written It's a, it seems like a really
[Tyson]: big passion, like from the outset, from when I look at your stuff, I always go
[Tyson]: to your Instagram page. And I think if there's one word that sort of comes away
[Tyson]: when you finish looking at it, it's just inspired, but it's not just the inspiration
[Tyson]: through health and fitness and running. You seem to have a real appreciation for, um,
[Tyson]: just little things like the, the gratefulness and the benefits of that, not just for your
[Tyson]: fitness and your health, but for your family, um, and for the small things, which
[Tyson]: I think just correlates beautifully into. running like that psychology it's always
[Tyson]: easy to run well when you're grateful for the fact that you're out there and not
[Tyson]: Just shuffling your way through it but it just seems as though there's a number
[Tyson]: of factors that come together when An athlete's looking at yours and I think one
[Tyson]: of the standout points at least from my perspective and actually from Cassie's husband's
[Tyson]: perspective James I don't know if you ever met him He was like I just uh He just
[Tyson]: seems like a good bloke with a passion for what he does and appreciation for the things
[Tyson]: that he has And I wanted to tap into that a little bit because I know sometimes
[Tyson]: you look at that and you're like, oh, that's just a person's personality. They seem
[Tyson]: fairly well set up on a mental space, on a physical space, but it looks as though
[Tyson]: it's something that you also put a little bit of work into. I was just curious
[Tyson]: to hear a little bit more about that because it definitely stands out in a really
[Tyson]: positive way from my perspective about not just the running world, but just your life
[Tyson]: in general.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, I mean, I'm really passionate about, yeah, like I said, running for a long
[Matt Daniels]: time. So, yeah, that was nice to James to say that. And Cassie's been, she
[Matt Daniels]: was actually a long-term client of mine at the gym. So a lot of my clients
[Matt Daniels]: from back in the day that I had at the gym for five, six, seven years,
[Matt Daniels]: a lot of them have, yeah, now transitioned to running and up and running,
[Matt Daniels]: whether it's 5K, 10K, half or full, you know, they're up and doing that,
[Matt Daniels]: which has been fantastic. But... Yeah, running has been a big part of my life
[Matt Daniels]: and something I'm really passionate about. Like I said earlier, far from it, far
[Matt Daniels]: from elite. I'm never the first, but never the last, like I said, just a really
[Matt Daniels]: passionate recreational runner that understands how much running can do for
[Matt Daniels]: you, but also how much it can positively impact so many people around you.
[Matt Daniels]: It's just such a beautiful and simple sport that can bring so much to you
[Matt Daniels]: and really transform your life in so many different ways. So I'm really passionate
[Matt Daniels]: about sort of sharing that. with all of my athletes knowing full well from
[Matt Daniels]: my own experience that it's helped me out so much in life and it's funny
[Matt Daniels]: it's always there for you and it's always so easy just to lace up your shoes
[Matt Daniels]: and get out. You don't have to go out and break any records every day or
[Matt Daniels]: any week or any month, you just got to go out and be consistent, enjoy what
[Matt Daniels]: you're doing and the results will come and it's a beautiful sport to be
[Matt Daniels]: a part of and the community, the whole running community is amazing.
[Tyson]: It's unreal actually, the first time I messaged you was just the other day and I
[Tyson]: messaged you because the Melbourne marathon had just sold out which blew my mind.
[Tyson]: I called Athletics Victoria because I knew a couple of people there from back in
[Tyson]: the day and I thought, oh, surely they'll have a couple of spares that they can look
[Tyson]: after me with. And I called him and I think I overestimated my value in athletics
[Matt Daniels]: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
[Tyson]: Victoria. I spoke to Tim Crosby who's just an absolutely great bloke and I go, mate,
[Tyson]: have you got any spares at all? He's like, Ties. He goes, mate, it shocks me as
[Tyson]: much as anyone. We can't believe that we're sold out, let alone this early. And I
[Tyson]: say that just to emphasise your point about that community level runner at the moment,
[Tyson]: like 99% of the runners in every event at the Melbourne Marathon, half marathon, 10K.
[Tyson]: fit in beautifully to that category. There seems to be a little bit of a boom at
[Tyson]: the moment. I'm not sure what's caused that, but there's something about maybe it's
[Tyson]: Instagram, the social media, but I can't quite put a finger on what's caused that
[Tyson]: change. Do you have any thoughts about that? Cause it doesn't seem to be a Melbourne
[Tyson]: based thing either. It seems to be an international thing running for lack of
[Tyson]: a better reason, seems to have become a little bit cool.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah, totally agree. I actually put something up, I think the other
[Matt Daniels]: day on Instagram, I think it was, just in regards to how much of a sort
[Matt Daniels]: of a boom period we're going through and just how much, you know, recreational
[Matt Daniels]: runners like ourselves are getting out there and signing up for events and just
[Matt Daniels]: how awesome it is. So yeah, it really is amazing. The Gradation Road, Ultra,
[Matt Daniels]: Marathon, not sure about the half of those two events were full. Obviously
[Matt Daniels]: Melbourne sort of. yeah, 14, 15 weeks out, I've got the half marathon sold
[Matt Daniels]: out, the marathon sold out. So it really is going through a boom period.
[Matt Daniels]: And like you said, not just in Australia, but yeah, I think worldwide.
[Matt Daniels]: So it's awesome. I think it has a little bit to do with, on the back of
[Matt Daniels]: COVID, obviously a couple of years after COVID, probably a lot of people
[Matt Daniels]: started during that period now and if they've stuck at it and being consistent
[Matt Daniels]: with their training, I think they're at a stage now where they're, ready
[Matt Daniels]: for a half marathon or ready for a marathon or. at the point where they're
[Matt Daniels]: ready to do a fun run. And as you know, you do one, you wanna do another
[Matt Daniels]: one and then it really just snowballs from there. So I think COVID has
[Matt Daniels]: a little bit to do with it, but yeah, it's just incredible, the sport at
[Matt Daniels]: the moment, it's booming industry and it's awesome for us running coaches. But
[Matt Daniels]: just seeing so many different people out there, chasing goals, all with their
[Matt Daniels]: own unique story, it's really special and it's so awesome to see.
[Tyson]: Yeah, it's funny how you just touched on a point I wanted to follow up with you because
[Tyson]: I think it explains your story Well from what I can see there's it's so true that
[Tyson]: an athlete will dip their toe in the water They might go out and run a fun run They
[Tyson]: might run a 10k half marathon Whatever it is and just get that bug and I had a little
[Tyson]: chuckle the other day because I was reading through your profile And I noticed
[Tyson]: that you said you did your first marathon your first official marathon in 2010 though
[Tyson]: You'd been a runner for a long time And then you read just a little bit down the
[Tyson]: profile. You go on to set a world record, 55 marathons in 55 days, and then run from
[Tyson]: Adelaide to Geelong. And they're only a couple. I thought, what was it, another,
[Tyson]: the 24 hour treadmill challenge, was it 160
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah.
[Tyson]: Ks in 24 hours, which is just unbelievable. It's amazing how much that bug kicks in. I've
[Tyson]: had a little bit of trouble lately with calf strains and a couple of injuries.
[Tyson]: And I said to my wife the other day, because I've just, for about the last seven
[Tyson]: or eight weeks, I've been a lot more consistent with my training. And the other
[Tyson]: day I was just having one of those mornings where I'd been in the office and things
[Tyson]: weren't going well and the admin was stacking up and there was just, you know, those
[Tyson]: fiddly jobs that just kind of get the better of you from time to time. And
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: I went outside, I'd put my shoes on, the sun was shining, I got out on the Ballerina
[Tyson]: Rail Trail and I remember being out there and I was like, oh, this is the exact
[Tyson]: reason that people get out and run because there's nothing that feels healthier
[Tyson]: physically and mentally for me right now. Because there's a few things I try and
[Tyson]: stack up each day. One of them is, I like just to... Put all technology away completely
[Tyson]: for a minimum of an hour where I'm not looking at my phone or jump it onto a computer
[Tyson]: Which doesn't sound like much but I mean the amount that I look at my phone it
[Tyson]: adds up real quick and the other one is just being outside for an hour and the other
[Tyson]: ones exercising for about an hour and The other day when I was out there I was just
[Tyson]: ticking all three of those boxes at once and just mentally you get home You're
[Tyson]: like, ah, there's three things that I value that have just been crossed off and
[Tyson]: People always say, my wife's one of them. She's like, I wish I got the buzz that
[Tyson]: you get from running. I don't really understand that run as high. And
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: I guess there comes a point of fitness or there comes a point of flow or whatever
[Tyson]: the word is that you have to kind of be patient for to get into it. And then before
[Tyson]: you know it, you're starting to stack up the training and the races and whatever
[Tyson]: else it might be that you're working towards. But does that summarize your entry
[Tyson]: into the more competitive side of... of running, is that kind of what happened?
[Tyson]: Like it seems in a short period of time to develop a whole lot of momentum.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, it sort of, like you said, it escalated pretty quickly from the 2010 marathon,
[Matt Daniels]: like I said, struggled late the marathon like we most people do on their
[Matt Daniels]: on their first one. And probably at the end of it said, I'd never do another
[Matt Daniels]: one. And then before you know it, you're back out running and training. I
[Matt Daniels]: think in 2012, a couple years later, I did the 100k surf coast entry that
[Matt Daniels]: was in Anglesey where I grew up. So that was a good introduction sort of
[Matt Daniels]: to the ultra scene. And then if they're sort of, yeah, really progressed
[Matt Daniels]: quite quickly from there. I was getting plenty of Ks in the legs and was
[Matt Daniels]: feeling pretty good. And then a lot of my runs after that were more charity
[Matt Daniels]: focused. So yeah, in 2014, like you mentioned, I ran from Adelaide to Geelong
[Matt Daniels]: and that was in memory of my Nana who passed away. So she was a Madhawk
[Matt Daniels]: supporter and absolutely loved Shane Crawford. So I basically copied Crawford.
[Matt Daniels]: I think he did from Adelaide's Rundle Mall down to the Channel 9 Footy Studio.
[Matt Daniels]: So... We were in touch with him before I left in regards to what route
[Matt Daniels]: he took and all those sort of things. So I, yeah, I started the Rundle Mall
[Matt Daniels]: in Adelaide and ran back to Geelong and finished at the gym. So I had all
[Matt Daniels]: the BCNA crew there, all the family obviously, and then you have plenty
[Matt Daniels]: of the friends in the community from the gym. So that was really special in
[Matt Daniels]: 2014. And then yeah, just progressed from there, some more charity stuff for the
[Matt Daniels]: Leukemia Foundation. So I've always had like a really big reason. you know,
[Matt Daniels]: why I'm doing these big runs and being able to sort of push through some
[Matt Daniels]: of the harder days and harder moments on those challenging runs. So it did
[Matt Daniels]: escalate quite quickly, but these days, yeah, I've sort of pulled that
[Matt Daniels]: back a little bit, yeah, but still a really passionate recreational runner,
[Matt Daniels]: getting some good K's in and good consistency and loving it as much as I
[Matt Daniels]: did when I started.
[Tyson]: Jay, did you say it was 2012, you did the Adelaide Tidjelong?
[Matt Daniels]: So 2012 was the Surf Coast Century, 100k.
[Tyson]: Sorry.
[Matt Daniels]: And yeah,
[Tyson]: Yep.
[Matt Daniels]: 2014 was Adelaide to Geelong. I did a big ultra in 2015 up in Canberra. It
[Matt Daniels]: was about 450 plus k's, the Anzac Ultra there. And then, yeah, then come
[Matt Daniels]: the 55 marathons in 55 days. That was in 2016.
[Tyson]: I actually, I remember, I remember Croft doing that run. It's amazing that was
[Tyson]: even 2014, nine years ago, because I remember seeing the footage of him doing
[Tyson]: that and just thinking it was unbelievable. Because I used to go down to just the inter-club
[Tyson]: runs in, in Melbourne when I was growing up and I'm a huge footy fan as well, though
[Tyson]: Carlton. I mean, I've said that. with a bit of shame the last couple of months, but
[Tyson]: after last weekend, I
[Matt Daniels]: Get it.
[Tyson]: say it with a little bit of pride, but we'll see. There's still a few, that's
[Tyson]: another, that's another conversation for another day. But, uh, I remember seeing
[Tyson]: Kroof get around the track for an 800 in under two minutes and, and being a huge
[Tyson]: fan of him as a football, and that was sort of, I guess, the latter part of his
[Tyson]: career. I don't, I don't know his details really well, but, um, when I saw that he was
[Tyson]: venturing out for something like that, it just blew my mind. I thought there's no
[Tyson]: way he's going to be helping. run from Geelong to, sorry, from Adelaide to Geelong
[Tyson]: or Adelaide to Melbourne.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: Um, but it's, it is amazing that, and you tapped into it beautifully when you said,
[Tyson]: and I'm not, don't know what his cause was, but it is interesting when people have
[Tyson]: a cause for whatever it is that they're pursuing, you know, whether it's family or
[Tyson]: fitness or, you know, insert, whatever. Just how effective that is in bringing you
[Tyson]: through the dark days. And, and that is one thing that I think, as I said, at the
[Tyson]: outset of this conversation that stands out about the way that you coach, you seem
[Tyson]: to. tap into something deeper in the athletes that you're coaching, which I think
[Tyson]: a lot, cause there's a lot of community level athletes who listen to this podcast as
[Tyson]: well. And I think sometimes they almost sneak into an inbox, like almost with an apology
[Tyson]: saying, oh, I'm relatively new to the sport. I want to get better. I don't know if
[Tyson]: I can justify coaching. And for me, it's obviously something wrong with the marketing
[Tyson]: because it's a complete opposite of what I'm going for. But with that particular
[Tyson]: athlete, you seem to have just a cool ability to bring something a little deeper
[Tyson]: out in there. I was wondering if you could speak to that because, or also if you
[Tyson]: can relate to the experience of people to say, hey, look, here's my situation. I'm
[Tyson]: relatively new. I'm not setting any world records. I don't know if I can justify
[Tyson]: the coaching, but I really want to improve. Can you help me out? There's a lot
[Tyson]: of questions in that. I think if I had to boil that down, I'm trying to say, is
[Tyson]: that a structured, sort of curated, focused? area of your coaching to tap into
[Tyson]: more than just the running.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, I'd say it is. Yeah, I'd say it is definitely a focus because I think
[Matt Daniels]: we've all got a really unique story under there as to why we wanna get up
[Matt Daniels]: and running. So I've had some incredible stories, yeah, with my athletes.
[Matt Daniels]: So, so many different things. Like I've had some guys reach out and obviously
[Matt Daniels]: wanna lose weight and they've been really struggling with their mental health.
[Matt Daniels]: So they wanna get up and running. I've had some girls that have really struggled
[Matt Daniels]: with some mental health issues and some... anxiety, or some eating disorders.
[Matt Daniels]: You know, some have been divorced and have come to me in terms of running, wanting
[Matt Daniels]: to feel better about themselves and get their life back on track. There's just
[Matt Daniels]: so many different stories out there. Had a guy who was involved in the police
[Matt Daniels]: force, who left the police force and was really struggling mentally and found
[Matt Daniels]: running, started running and then wasn't sure, you know, how to build up
[Matt Daniels]: successfully to get to a half marathon and a marathon. And he's turned his
[Matt Daniels]: life around with running. lost a heap of weight and now he's, you know, he's
[Matt Daniels]: done a half marathon and a full marathon and now he's just, you know, upwards
[Matt Daniels]: and onwards we go. So yeah, I'm always really keen on hearing the story
[Matt Daniels]: from the athlete in regards to why they, you know, why they want to get
[Matt Daniels]: coaching. I understand we don't want to break any records or finish on the
[Matt Daniels]: podium, but yeah, I really value why they're, you know, reaching out to me.
[Matt Daniels]: And yeah, I like the unique story that each and every athlete comes to
[Matt Daniels]: me with. So, and I'm really just, yeah. really grateful to be able to help
[Matt Daniels]: them and have been in a position to help them. And yeah, we form a really good
[Matt Daniels]: relationship straight away and the coaching is really personable. And then
[Matt Daniels]: we just get up and running. And I believe in them from the get-go and then
[Matt Daniels]: it doesn't take long to string a few weeks together and then they really start
[Matt Daniels]: to get that self-belief and build towards their events. And then, as you
[Matt Daniels]: know, once they tick off their first 5K or they hit that marathon goal, then
[Matt Daniels]: that's just the beginning of something really special.
[Tyson]: Yeah, yeah well for yourself another one I think I missed on the list I don't know
[Tyson]: if I'm magnifying this or if I've actually nailed it was it 525 half marathons for 525
[Tyson]: days or if I made that up
[Matt Daniels]: No, no, you've ripped me off 10. So it was 535
[Tyson]: Ha ha ha!
[Matt Daniels]: half marathons in 535 days. So it was a half marathon every single day
[Matt Daniels]: without fail for the best part of a year and a half. Yeah, 535 days. So I
[Matt Daniels]: think it was just over 11,300 kilometres. Yeah, so that was in 2017 until
[Matt Daniels]: the middle of 2019. I set out to do a half marathon every day in memory of
[Matt Daniels]: a guy called Andrew Cadigan after reading a book that his dad put together.
[Matt Daniels]: It was really inspired by his trip around Australia that he did. So Cad went
[Matt Daniels]: around Australia in memory of a mate who lost his life to leukemia, travelled
[Matt Daniels]: around for 535 days. That's where that number comes from. So Cad travelled
[Matt Daniels]: around Australia pushing a pram and raising money for the Leukemia Foundation.
[Matt Daniels]: He finished. on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then four days later headed to Thailand
[Matt Daniels]: to put together his journals and put him into a book but he was tragically
[Matt Daniels]: struck by a motorbike over there and then and then passed away 12 weeks later.
[Matt Daniels]: So his dad Neil put a book together called With Every Step and I read that book
[Matt Daniels]: yeah at the when I read the book in the middle of sort of 2016 I read that
[Matt Daniels]: book and was incredibly inspired to Yeah, on a CAD and sort of complete his
[Matt Daniels]: mission and his work that he was doing for the Leukemia Foundation. So I
[Matt Daniels]: picked CAD start date and CAD end date of his walk around Australia. And
[Matt Daniels]: yeah, that equalled 535 days and what I decided on was a half marathon every
[Matt Daniels]: day in memory of CAD and to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation. So
[Matt Daniels]: yeah, that's what I did. So did the majority of them around the Barwon
[Matt Daniels]: River here in Geelong. So I could run that course. Yeah, I could run that
[Matt Daniels]: course blindfolded. So I did the majority of them around, yeah, around Geelong,
[Matt Daniels]: got through it all, raised a heap of money for the Leukemia Foundation,
[Matt Daniels]: had a really big fundraising night towards the end. And on the 535th and
[Matt Daniels]: final half marathon, I was, yeah, I had the pram that Cad had on his walk
[Matt Daniels]: around Australia that his parents brought down. So I pushed that on the 535th
[Matt Daniels]: and final half marathon and then finished back at my gym with all Cad's
[Matt Daniels]: family and all the crew from the gym there and obviously the family as well.
[Matt Daniels]: So that was... Yeah, a really special, special moment. And yeah, one big,
[Matt Daniels]: big charity run I'm really, really proud of. And looking back now, I'm
[Matt Daniels]: not sure how I got through it, to be honest, it's 150 Ks a week it is for,
[Matt Daniels]: I think it was just over 70 weeks. But yeah, tick that off and got that
[Matt Daniels]: done. And yeah, that's one I'm really proud of.
[Tyson]: So talk to me about... There must have been a number of days or even weeks where you're
[Tyson]: wrestling with illness or injury or niggles or blisters or Maybe you've even got
[Tyson]: a couple of surprises for us 535 like 70 weeks of that. I was thinking that when
[Tyson]: I when I was doing the maths like 150 K's a week Is that that's a huge week if I
[Tyson]: did 150 K's for a week right now I would have the feet up for a few weeks and
[Tyson]: just give myself a pat on the back But to do that another 74 times on top of that
[Tyson]: is that is unbelievable Did you have a couple of wild days out there, a couple of
[Tyson]: wild weeks where you were just resting with whether or not you're gonna get them done?
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I like to think that I'll put my mind to something
[Matt Daniels]: I'm usually pretty good and think I can get through well, just about anything.
[Matt Daniels]: But early on in this endeavor, I was, the first few weeks I thought I might
[Matt Daniels]: have bit off
[Tyson]: Mm-hmm.
[Matt Daniels]: more than
[Tyson]: Yeah.
[Matt Daniels]: I could chew here. I was really struggling. The body was really struggling,
[Matt Daniels]: just 150 Ks a week. I was obviously still running the gym. Yeah, I had four kids
[Matt Daniels]: at the time. So I was under the pump with dad life as well. So early on
[Matt Daniels]: I was really struggling, but. as the weeks went on, you know, got a little
[Matt Daniels]: bit easier and a little bit easier. So, but there was definitely some days
[Matt Daniels]: in there. Yeah, I was struggling early on with just sort of overall general
[Matt Daniels]: body soreness, but yeah, there was times there where I wasn't well, a couple
[Matt Daniels]: of days there where you have the flu or you're just not well. And probably
[Matt Daniels]: the big one was I was involved in a car accident. I'd luckily ran that morning,
[Matt Daniels]: but was involved in a car accident in the afternoon. And... everyone was okay,
[Matt Daniels]: fortunately, but we had to go to hospital and do the check over. So it had
[Matt Daniels]: a bit of whiplash and all those sort of things, but then had to obviously get
[Matt Daniels]: up the next day and get out and get the half marathon done. So that was
[Matt Daniels]: probably the, yeah, the big one during the year and a half was the car
[Matt Daniels]: accident, which isn't obviously ideal for trying to run a half marathon the
[Matt Daniels]: next day.
[Tyson]: What, uh, what point do you feel like your legs started to adjust to the, the amount
[Tyson]: of running you were doing?
[Matt Daniels]: I think it took about four to six weeks to feel like it was okay. So I'd
[Matt Daniels]: just get out before work, super early in the morning, or after our early morning
[Matt Daniels]: group sessions, I'd go straight down the river and get it done. So like I said,
[Matt Daniels]: looking back now, I'm not sure how, I found that hour and 40 minutes, hour
[Matt Daniels]: and 50 minutes, two hours to get it done every day. But yeah, it's funny,
[Matt Daniels]: like I said, when you have a really big reason why you tend to find your
[Matt Daniels]: way pretty... pretty well, so yeah, I was really determined to honor Kat
[Matt Daniels]: as best I could, and his dad Neil knew all about it, so I was on a bit of
[Matt Daniels]: a mission back then, and yeah, got it done.
[Tyson]: It's great that you're able to get the family and friends and everyone out there,
[Tyson]: especially with the pram, like that's a beautiful symbol to finish with, but it's
[Tyson]: nice how much everyone
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, the gym, the gym and all the all the family, first
[Matt Daniels]: of all, like Lee and all the kids and all my other family members were incredible
[Matt Daniels]: support and motivation. And then yeah, the gym had lots of lots of members
[Matt Daniels]: at the gym just really supportive in terms of their donating to the leukemia
[Matt Daniels]: foundation and the fundraising night was really special. But then just being
[Matt Daniels]: at the at the gym at the at the end of the 535th and final one pushing
[Matt Daniels]: CADS pram we left late in the afternoon and sort of got back around 6 630.
[Matt Daniels]: and had a huge crowd there. So yeah, that was really special and the support
[Matt Daniels]: was amazing, not just that night, but all the way through the whole 18 months.
[Tyson]: Yeah, yeah with the um with the 21k day It's interesting because a lot of people
[Tyson]: one of the most popular episodes on here ever has been Liam Adams Who was speaking
[Tyson]: about how he's running a hundred and sixty K a week and he's doing that as a full-time
[Tyson]: tradie. And I think it stood out to a lot of people from what I can tell, and a
[Tyson]: couple of people that I've heard from, because a lot of people think if you wanna
[Tyson]: do well at running, it has to just be all running. But even to hear you speak
[Tyson]: about doing this 21K a day on top of your group sessions, on top of running a gym,
[Tyson]: on top of the four kids that you had at the time, I see you added an extra one to
[Tyson]: the batch since
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah
[Tyson]: then. I think it's really encouraging because it kind of broadens people's mindset
[Tyson]: of what they're capable of actually doing with their time. And I understand that
[Tyson]: a lot of it comes down to your priorities and where it is that you put your attention.
[Tyson]: But I don't know, do you have any general advice or any helpful advice around how you
[Tyson]: manage your time? Because it seems like you're a kind of person who managed to
[Tyson]: get a lot done with the day's work each and every day, or maybe even expand it
[Tyson]: out to sort of the weeks. I know we have a couple of off days here and there. But
[Tyson]: In terms of how you're squeezing all of that in, especially at that time, how are
[Tyson]: you navigating that? How are you managing it?
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, like I said, it was unbelievable support from Lee and the kids. Obviously without
[Matt Daniels]: their support, it wouldn't be possible. But yeah, like I said, just the why
[Matt Daniels]: factor, so wanting to on a cad and just being in a zone to on a cad and just
[Matt Daniels]: on a mission, it really become a priority. So there was some mornings there,
[Matt Daniels]: I'd be doing sort of 3 a.m., 3.30 a.m. starts around the river to get it
[Matt Daniels]: done by say 5.30 to get to the gym to set up to start our
[Tyson]: I'm
[Matt Daniels]: group
[Tyson]: going
[Matt Daniels]: training
[Tyson]: to go ahead
[Matt Daniels]: at
[Tyson]: and
[Matt Daniels]: six
[Tyson]: turn it
[Matt Daniels]: or 6.30
[Tyson]: off.
[Matt Daniels]: or whatever it was. So... And if it wasn't that, it was the group training
[Matt Daniels]: in the morning, 6.30 with a couple of PT sessions to sort of 9.10. And
[Matt Daniels]: then I'd head down the river and then go and get it done. So it was really
[Matt Daniels]: just making that half marathon mission a real priority in getting it done.
[Matt Daniels]: Definitely wasn't easy, like I said, but, and then in between that, once
[Matt Daniels]: I sort of got through that four to six weeks initial part, it was really just,
[Matt Daniels]: yeah, looking after the body as best I can and then just ticking the runs
[Matt Daniels]: off. week after week. So I had some really good support from some close friends
[Matt Daniels]: who would meet up every weekend would catch up and run. So that was great looking
[Matt Daniels]: forward to some motivation, some accountability with those guys every weekend.
[Matt Daniels]: So
[Tyson]: I'm
[Matt Daniels]: but I think it just come down to, you know, really wanting
[Tyson]: going
[Matt Daniels]: to honor Kat as best I could, making the running a priority because it was
[Matt Daniels]: a, you know, an hour and a half, two hours out of my day, every single day.
[Matt Daniels]: And if that meant three
[Tyson]: to go ahead
[Matt Daniels]: o'clock
[Tyson]: and start
[Matt Daniels]: or
[Tyson]: the
[Matt Daniels]: 330am
[Tyson]: video.
[Matt Daniels]: or at 7pm or 730 after our last group session, and that's just what sort of
[Matt Daniels]: had to be done. So yeah, it was a priority and it's amazing how you can
[Matt Daniels]: make things work when you when you really want it.
[Tyson]: Yeah, so I've got two kids at home I've got two boys a three-year-old and a nine
[Tyson]: month old and if I get through a day of just being a good dad And nothing else happens.
[Tyson]: I got hey, well done Did very well today to
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: hear from people actually to go back mention him a couple of times now Cass's husband
[Tyson]: James he comes from a family of five and I used to go out to their house and love
[Tyson]: the chaos as a Kid because I comment I was raised an only child. I got a half sister
[Tyson]: But two boys now, I go, mate, my house is absolute chaos at the best of times. So
[Tyson]: for me, to be fair, maybe this works in my favour because whenever I go out for
[Tyson]: a run now, at times there's some incentive to extend the run just based on
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: the fact, I know as much as I love them, I know I'm just coming into
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: wet nappies and temper tantrums, which is a...
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah, chaos. So I think that's another reason why we get out. We just
[Matt Daniels]: need half an hour and out of ourselves because we know when we get back,
[Matt Daniels]: it's all hands on deck with the with the kids.
[Tyson]: Yeah, outside of running, I do a fair bit of stand-up comedy. And the only place
[Tyson]: really that you can do stand-up comedy is down in Melbourne. I mean, there's a couple
[Tyson]: of local rooms to us, but my wife always goes, oh, you're so disciplined going down
[Tyson]: there a few times a week. I don't know how you do it. I was like, yeah, babe, it's
[Tyson]: just very disciplined,
[Matt Daniels]: I'm
[Tyson]: very inspired.
[Matt Daniels]: sorry.
[Tyson]: But you look at what I'm missing. I'm painting myself in a bad light here, but you
[Tyson]: look at what I'm missing, a bath time and dinner. and just the craziest time of the
[Tyson]: day. So it really is, I feel like it takes more discipline to stay at home, but
[Tyson]: I hope my door's shut here because I would never
[Matt Daniels]: It's
[Tyson]: admit
[Matt Daniels]: like...
[Tyson]: that
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: to her or not too often anyway, because I've got a pretty good reputation in her mind
[Tyson]: right now.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, well after, like you said, that sort of five o'clock onwards, the dinner,
[Matt Daniels]: bath, books, sort of bed time is, yeah, that's insane. It's quite busy. It's
[Matt Daniels]: chaotic here. So, but yeah, like the half marathons, we get through it
[Matt Daniels]: every day and
[Tyson]: Hehehe
[Matt Daniels]: then, yeah, get some sleep and then go again.
[Tyson]: What was your hardest challenge, for lack of a better word, like 55 marathons, 55
[Tyson]: days, five kids, 535
[Matt Daniels]: Okay.
[Tyson]: halves in 535 days, which one? That one sounds the hardest to me, the 535 that
[Tyson]: we just spoke about.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, that one would be it. So obviously the marathons were challenging,
[Matt Daniels]: but that was 55 days, you know, a couple of months and it's over. 160 Ks in
[Matt Daniels]: the treadmill was just a 24 hour thing. So that again was challenging,
[Matt Daniels]: but that was done and dusted in 24 hours. So yeah, it's just the length
[Matt Daniels]: and the amount of Ks every week for a year and a half. Like I said, 70 plus
[Matt Daniels]: weeks of 150 Ks a week. Yeah, just week after week. So that one was definitely
[Matt Daniels]: the most challenging, most time consuming. And probably looking back, the one
[Matt Daniels]: I'm sort of most proud of just being able to finally complete CAD's mission
[Matt Daniels]: and raise some good amount of money for the Leukemia Foundation by doing
[Matt Daniels]: that one.
[Tyson]: Yeah, are you the kind of guy with the 55 marathons? I'm just doing the mass here.
[Tyson]: What's that? That's 280k a week a little bit more but closer to 300 is it?
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, close to 300 Ks a week. So yeah, 42 Ks, yeah.
[Tyson]: So how are you managing that? Is that pretty intensive on recovery and were you fueling
[Tyson]: with jowls and things? Or how did you, like obviously
[Matt Daniels]: Yes.
[Tyson]: disciplines and inspiring part of it, but in terms of just how do you keep the body
[Tyson]: just getting back up and doing it again and again, is
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah,
[Tyson]: the
[Matt Daniels]: I
[Tyson]: part
[Matt Daniels]: was basically,
[Tyson]: I get confused
[Matt Daniels]: yeah,
[Tyson]: about.
[Matt Daniels]: I was eating anything and everything pretty much. Yeah, burning so many calories,
[Matt Daniels]: obviously with the, with the, you know, four hours, four and a half hours,
[Matt Daniels]: whatever I was out there for. It wasn't so much about time. It was just about
[Matt Daniels]: getting the case done and taking off a marathon and getting home and recovering
[Matt Daniels]: as best I can. Same thing with the gym that was in 2016. I still had the gym
[Matt Daniels]: and the kids. So it was busy, busy. But yeah, trying to recover as best as
[Matt Daniels]: you can. And then. just getting the most sort of quality sleep you can before
[Matt Daniels]: you sort of get up and yeah, get the four hours or four and a half hours
[Matt Daniels]: or whatever it was with the marathons and just ticking them off. And same
[Matt Daniels]: as probably the half marathons early on is the first sort of week or two it
[Matt Daniels]: was quite challenging on the body. But then after that it become, yeah,
[Matt Daniels]: just something that I wanted to tick off and achieve. And yeah, I mean,
[Matt Daniels]: it wasn't easy, but it was a lot more sort of bearable once I got through
[Matt Daniels]: that first two week period.
[Tyson]: Yeah, but you've worked with an incredible amount of recreational runners, people who
[Tyson]: have sort of just stepped foot through the door essentially, and started to build
[Tyson]: their way up. Are there any standout factors of what holds people back? I can imagine
[Tyson]: there'd be a lot of people that eventually come to you and go, I've been meaning to reach
[Tyson]: out for ages. Well, I'm sort of projecting there because I think I've had a couple of
[Tyson]: experiences like that. and people have been a little bit standoffish initially. But
[Tyson]: in terms of what's holding people back from improvement from a recreational level,
[Tyson]: have you seen some familiar traits?
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, that's a good question. Holding people back. Yeah, I think people just,
[Matt Daniels]: you've got to be patient, as you know, in running, you really got to be
[Matt Daniels]: patient. You can't just go out and two weeks later, go from zero to 5K in
[Matt Daniels]: two weeks, or zero to 5K in five weeks. And if you do, you're just going
[Matt Daniels]: to get injured and you're going to pick up a niggle and you're going to dislike
[Matt Daniels]: running, and then you're going to stop running and then never run again, because
[Matt Daniels]: you're going to hate it and think it's a... you know, bad for your knees
[Matt Daniels]: and a bad sport and all those sort of things. So you really got to be patient
[Matt Daniels]: with it and you've really got to be consistent as well. So those two things
[Matt Daniels]: are really important. So I think those that, I mean, don't stick to the plan
[Matt Daniels]: or try to jump too far ahead. We almost want the first few weeks of every
[Matt Daniels]: training program just to be almost too easy for you. Just so you're getting
[Matt Daniels]: it done, you're not anxious or overwhelmed about getting out. You just
[Matt Daniels]: get out, you tick off what you need to tick off. Yes, it might be a little
[Matt Daniels]: bit easier, but that's exactly what we want it to be in the first few weeks.
[Matt Daniels]: And then after sort of two, three, four weeks, they can start to get some
[Matt Daniels]: real momentum with their running, can build a bit of confidence, a bit of self-belief,
[Matt Daniels]: a bit of strength with their running, and then start to really believe that
[Matt Daniels]: they can actually do it because the first few weeks have been quite easy. And
[Matt Daniels]: then from there, yeah, if they start stringing the runs together, you know,
[Matt Daniels]: every second day, every third day, then they can really get some good momentum
[Matt Daniels]: with their running and start to really believe in their goal and what they
[Matt Daniels]: can achieve. But... For those that have struggled, I think they've just tried
[Matt Daniels]: to do too much too soon. Or they've taken the approach that they've grabbed
[Matt Daniels]: an online training program that's giving them, you know, one mile reps in week
[Matt Daniels]: one, which is just crazy because some of them can't run for 30 seconds or 60
[Matt Daniels]: seconds and they've got a program that's given them, you know, something crazy
[Matt Daniels]: like a K reps or mile reps or something like that. So, yeah, it's just having
[Matt Daniels]: a, someone in your corner who knows exactly sort of where you're at with
[Matt Daniels]: your fitness and your, and your running history. and who believes in you and
[Matt Daniels]: who will help you out there, you know, in the safest way. So you're running
[Matt Daniels]: and building up the right way.
[Tyson]: Yeah, that's really well said it sounds like there's a lot of admin that comes with
[Tyson]: this tracking the progress of an athlete and making Sure, you're not building them up
[Tyson]: too quickly. I'm a big fan of training peaks I don't know if you use that for any
[Tyson]: of the athletes that you coach But in terms of just cataloging the actual training
[Tyson]: and seeing the progress I find that really helpful What do you do? I've seen a
[Tyson]: few photos just with the classic pen and paper Which I'm a big fan of as well just
[Tyson]: riding the training program crossing off the athletes just to let them know that
[Tyson]: it's done It's uploaded What platform do you use to upload it on or is it just an
[Tyson]: email? Yeah,
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah, it's just an email. So I'm pretty old school like that.
[Tyson]: nah,
[Matt Daniels]: So
[Tyson]: I like it. I like
[Matt Daniels]: I've looked
[Tyson]: it.
[Matt Daniels]: at training peeps, I've looked at Final Surge, I've sort of hummed an art
[Matt Daniels]: about going down that avenue with the apps, but yeah, like I said, I'm pretty
[Matt Daniels]: old school in regards to, so I just, yeah, PDF email, send through five
[Matt Daniels]: week blocks at a time with their training. I've got everyone in their folders
[Matt Daniels]: where they need to be, whether they're doing Gold Coast, Run Melbourne, Geelong
[Matt Daniels]: Half Marathon, whatever it may be. I've got the folders on the desktop there.
[Matt Daniels]: I've got my coaching clients there, so my three, six and 12 month coaching
[Matt Daniels]: clients in a different folder. So I know where everyone's at, what they're
[Matt Daniels]: doing, what sessions they've done. Yeah, I touch base with them quite regularly.
[Matt Daniels]: Obviously have them in the Strava. Strava clubs there, so I'm all over their training.
[Matt Daniels]: And then, yeah, we touch base quite regularly to check in and see how things
[Matt Daniels]: are going. And then I'll update it every five weeks and send through their
[Matt Daniels]: next training block and revise it as we need. So. Yeah, I've got quite a few
[Matt Daniels]: active clients on the books now. So yeah, those apps for now anyway, I'm
[Matt Daniels]: quite happy with the old school PDF approach.
[Tyson]: Now I like it I always I always get a hard time off my friends because besides
[Tyson]: training peaks I'm fairly old school myself So I'm actually hearing you speak about
[Tyson]: this. It's almost you know how pen and paper is a little bit nostalgic to some
[Tyson]: people I'm
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: starting to feel that way about email like you know what like they're back in the
[Tyson]: back when I was a kid That was the best
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: way to do it, but yeah, I definitely agree with it So do you um do you have a bit
[Tyson]: of a structure as to when you sit down and actually write the training prams? Programs
[Tyson]: alright today's Monday We're gonna make sure that everyone's up to date. Or how
[Tyson]: do you structure that? Because it's a lot to keep your head around.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, it is. And everyone's really different. So there's so many different
[Matt Daniels]: things to take into account for the runners. So like, for example, I had
[Matt Daniels]: a lot of people do the run Melbourne half marathon a couple of days ago, but that
[Matt Daniels]: was sort of smack bang in the middle of the program for say the Sydney marathon
[Matt Daniels]: in nine weeks or the Melbourne marathon in 13 weeks. Some did the 10K run
[Matt Daniels]: Melbourne and then arriving off the half marathon at Melbourne. So everyone's
[Matt Daniels]: a little bit different in regards to sort of where they're at and what they're
[Matt Daniels]: doing with their program. But I know sort of, yeah, like I said, exactly
[Matt Daniels]: where everyone's at and stuff like that. So, and everyone's different in
[Matt Daniels]: regards to days they train, what days they want their sessions on, when
[Matt Daniels]: they prefer to do their long run, Saturday or Sunday. So all the coaching
[Matt Daniels]: is all personalized. So like, if you want to head out Saturday, if you long
[Matt Daniels]: run, we make it Saturday, we rest Sunday, we do a recovery run Monday and
[Matt Daniels]: then away we go. But everyone's a little bit different. Some people can only
[Matt Daniels]: commit to, you know, three runs a week. which is fine. Obviously those doing
[Matt Daniels]: the marathon, we want to get some more mileage. So they're doing sort of
[Matt Daniels]: four or five days of training. So yeah, it's a little bit tricky to answer
[Matt Daniels]: just because there's so many different things for so many different people,
[Matt Daniels]: depending on their goals and where they're at and at what stage they're
[Matt Daniels]: at with their running journey.
[Tyson]: Yeah, I'm jumping around a little bit here, but one question I was meant to ask you,
[Tyson]: and I wanted to hear your thoughts on this. Obviously running the gym back in
[Tyson]: the day, there'd be a lot of strength work, mobility work, flexibility and stuff
[Tyson]: that just sneaks into your day, even probably without much conscious effort. But
[Tyson]: I was wondering, looking at just the durability. that your body obviously has when
[Tyson]: it comes to some of these more extreme endurance challenges, how much you credit the
[Tyson]: actual strength side of your background to enabling you to do that. Because I don't
[Tyson]: know too many people that, and I know like, just to emphasize that I heard, that
[Tyson]: you had the history of running as a young guy, but even still with a history of
[Tyson]: running as a young guy to doing the challenge that you put yourself through, there's
[Tyson]: obviously something special or something that people don't know about going on. in your
[Tyson]: own training program. So how much is that is credited to, you know, strength and
[Tyson]: mobility and technique and, you know, whatever else it might be.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, yeah, good question. So I'll probably, I reckon probably like most
[Matt Daniels]: runners I've neglected the strength stuff, you know, more than I'd like to admit
[Matt Daniels]: over the years. The last sort of six to 12 months, I've really improved that
[Matt Daniels]: area. So two strength sessions a week. Mobility again, something I could definitely
[Matt Daniels]: improve on trying to find time to squeeze it all in. So I could definitely
[Matt Daniels]: improve on the mobility stuff, but yeah, I do two strength sessions a week
[Matt Daniels]: now in combination with the running. So I run five days and I do two strength
[Matt Daniels]: sessions on the other days, but. Over the journey, yeah, definitely done
[Matt Daniels]: a little bit of the strength stuff, but probably not as much as people think,
[Matt Daniels]: but there has been like a, yeah, a bit of a strength foundation there over the
[Matt Daniels]: journey with some of these long charity runs as I was building up for Adelaide
[Matt Daniels]: and then obviously the marathons and then the half marathon journey over 18
[Matt Daniels]: months. So, but I think, yeah, we all neglected a little bit. So, yeah, definitely
[Matt Daniels]: guilty of that in the past as well.
[Tyson]: Yeah, yeah, it seems to be a bit of a theme with distance runners I caught up with
[Tyson]: a bloke I used to run with Nick Whiteman. So he's a he's a pretty I think he's run about
[Tyson]: 29 30 He's a 225 runner. He actually it's funny. He so the house I'm living in now
[Tyson]: coincidentally, he lives about 60 meters that way and The other days he saw me he goes
[Tyson]: away you live in I said mate. I'm just around the corner he goes great, let's go for
[Tyson]: our long run and He sucker punched me because I've been working back quietly
[Matt Daniels]: Hehehe
[Tyson]: and he's just as fit as a fiddle So we
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: called out there for a 90 minute long run He's chatting away and I'm just doing my
[Tyson]: best to keep up But that was one thing we've spoken about is that it's just how funny
[Tyson]: it is that Distance runners forget about the importance of strength work And even
[Tyson]: though I can see it now because I'm getting so much more focused on my goal was
[Tyson]: to it's still my goal I'm training for the Melbourne Marathon and just crossing
[Tyson]: my fingers someone gets hurt
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: As long as that person's not me
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: Yeah, just I'm trying to figure out a way to get into that Melbourne marathon.
[Tyson]: But in the process of increasing my running miles, I've noticed, okay, like last
[Tyson]: week, I only did one strength session when usually I'm fairly disciplined in that
[Tyson]: area. Yeah, just it slips away for whatever reason, but it is, it's interesting
[Tyson]: when you look at a guy like Jakub Ingebrigtsen, or Mo Farah has a couple of YouTube videos
[Tyson]: where he actually delves into the importance of that strength and mobility work for a runner.
[Tyson]: It's strange how it's kind of forgotten, but I guess, you know, when you look at what
[Tyson]: it is we're trying to achieve. It's maybe no surprise that so many athletes will
[Tyson]: like yourself. And I've just credited you the, the Hulk status, uh, because of all
[Tyson]: the strength work you've done, but apparently you just, uh, you
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah.
[Tyson]: just gifted naturally and can get through it, but it really does seem to benefit, um,
[Tyson]: our ability just to, you know, continually be consistent, which, you know, like I say,
[Tyson]: and you just said, he's, he's such an important part of developing as a runner.
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, I think it's really important. It definitely should be in the training programs
[Matt Daniels]: and it should compliment the running. So your strength shouldn't be so much
[Matt Daniels]: and so big and so heavy that it really affects your running if your running
[Matt Daniels]: is the thing you wanna do. But it should definitely compliment the running,
[Matt Daniels]: whether it's one, two, three strength sessions a week and some mobility
[Matt Daniels]: stuff would be awesome in and around, you know, your three, four, five, six
[Matt Daniels]: runs a week, whatever people are doing. So... And it's really good mentally,
[Matt Daniels]: obviously as well, knowing when you do get to your events that you put all
[Matt Daniels]: the work in, not just with your running and your mileage and doing that really
[Matt Daniels]: smartly, but you've got that strength working, the legs are strong, you're
[Matt Daniels]: feeling really, really good physically and mentally, and you're able to
[Matt Daniels]: go out and execute your race day strategy on the back of being really consistent
[Matt Daniels]: with that strength component, as well as the running component.
[Tyson]: Yeah, before I let you go have you got any other little challenges or big challenges
[Tyson]: or Anything on the cards that you're gonna be putting yourself through in the in
[Tyson]: the near future
[Matt Daniels]: Yeah, I'll get access a little bit now. I haven't
[Tyson]: Hehehe
[Matt Daniels]: actually got anything on the cards. Like I said, I got Cad's pram that he
[Matt Daniels]: pushed around Australia on my 535th and final half marathon. I've got Cad's
[Matt Daniels]: pram still here. So I'm really keen one day to do another big, you know, fundraising,
[Matt Daniels]: leukemia foundation fundraising run with the pram. So I've just got to work
[Matt Daniels]: out what I want to do and when I want to do it and how I'm going to do it.
[Matt Daniels]: how it's gonna work with the family and all those sort of obstacles. So
[Matt Daniels]: I definitely plan on doing something, yeah, with the pram down the track, but I'm
[Matt Daniels]: just not quite sure yet. Yeah, I'm just happy running and staying injury free
[Matt Daniels]: and obviously loving the coaching, but yeah, I'm sure there'll be another big
[Matt Daniels]: one, maybe next year at some stage, but I've got to work it out first.
[Tyson]: Yeah, awesome man, well dude, I'm loving what you're doing. I'm sorry. It's taking us
[Tyson]: so long to finally catch up but I mean it's been good to sit down and actually touch
[Tyson]: base with you have a chat to you and meet you in person I'm a big fan of what you're
[Tyson]: doing. So you keep up the great stuff and for anyone interested I'll make sure I
[Tyson]: tag your Instagram and your website and stuff in the in the show description or
[Tyson]: the notes below
[Matt Daniels]: Now, worries, thanks for having us on Tyson. Appreciate and keep up your awesome
[Matt Daniels]: work you're doing with the coaching and in the podcast with the in the running
[Matt Daniels]: community.
[Tyson]: Thanks, man. Yeah, we'll do. We'll see you soon. See you later, everybody. Great
[Tyson]: man.