Training with Pain #13, The Final Boss, Tapering & Dr Samina

Training Update

I finished Week 9 on Saturday with the "final boss" of this running block: 19km around the Maribyrnong.

The sun was out, the weather was perfect and I absolutely nailed it. The session was supposed to look like this:

• 3.5km warm up at conversation pace
• 4.5km @ 4:50/km
• 4.5km @ 4:30/km
• 4.5km @ 4:20/km
• 2km cool down

I woke up wanting to suffer. I had a fire in my belly.

Even driving over there, I was getting those little waves of sweaty hands. I knew I was in the mood for it. I knew I wanted to find that place where things get really uncomfortable and then keep going.

You know when you wake up and think, "Today's going to hurt, and I'm actually looking forward to it."

The first 4.5km block averaged 4:43/km and felt very comfortable. Heart rate was low. Breathing was easy. The hardest part was trying not to speed up.

Then came the second block and I couldn't hold back. I averaged 4:18/km and at this point I knew I had more so I decided to completely ignore the programme and drop the hammer.

The final 4.5km averaged 4:12/km. By the last 2km I was hanging on for dear life.

I was flirting with the red line, trying to fight off a stitch and having a serious conversation with myself about whether this was actually a good idea. I wanted to know exactly where the limit was. It was probably the perfect way to finish the final really hard run before tapering.

So What Actually Is Tapering?

People hear "taper" and think it means putting your feet up and doing nothing.

Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

Tapering is basically the process of reducing training volume so that fatigue drops while maintaining enough intensity to hold onto the fitness you've spent months building.

The important thing to remember is that fitness doesn't disappear overnight. Fatigue does.

For the last nine weeks, I've been accumulating training stress. The taper allows my body to absorb all of that work, repair properly and hopefully arrive at the start line feeling stronger than I've felt in months.

The sessions still hurt, the pace stays high.

There's just less of it and mentally, that's quite nice too.

Week 10 of 12

We're nearly there. Three weeks until race day. The majority of the hard work is done.

Now it's about maintaining fitness rather than trying to build it.

This week has looked like:

• Monday: Easy 11km
• Thursday: 6km effort at 4:15/km
• Saturday: Intervals
• Sunday: Easy 16km

There's definitely less pressure now.

The confidence and fitness is there. Now I just need to not do anything stupid.

Strength Update

It was so bloody good being back in the Tuesday 6:30am class. It felt like I'd been away for ages.

And if you wanted an upper body pump, this was your session.

We had:

• Bench press
• Dips
• Pike handstand holds
• Lateral raises
• Face pulls
• Push ups

One thing I love about our programme is that we genuinely cover everything.

Squat. Hinge. Push. Pull. Carry. Condition. Accessory work.

It's designed so that, in theory, you could train every day.

As I've mentioned before, I'm only doing upper body work at the moment because I don't trust myself not to destroy my legs before race day.

Why I Love The Bench Press

The bench press gets a bad reputation because people associate it with 18-year-old boys trying to impress their mates.

But it's one of the best upper body strength exercises there is.

It develops:

• Chest strength
• Triceps strength
• Shoulder strength
• Upper body muscle mass
• Force production

The other thing I love about bench press is how measurable it is. You can clearly see progression.

60kg becomes 70kg.

70kg becomes 80kg.

Building muscle mass is one of the biggest predictors of long term health, and movements like the bench press are fantastic because they allow us to load the upper body heavily, progressively and safely over many years.

Plus, let's be honest. Everyone likes a good bench PB.

All Things Menopause

Wow.

How good was Dr Samina?

One thing I've noticed over the years is the difference in communication that often comes with experience and expertise. I thought Dr Samina delivered an unbelievable amount of value.

The reason I wanted to organise this workshop in the first place was because after doing so many consultations with our members, there was one recurring theme:

A lot of women felt unsupported. And many felt like they didn't fully understand what was happening to their bodies.

It was refreshing hearing someone explain things in a way that simply made sense.

Menopause symptoms can include:

• Hot flushes
• Night sweats
• Poor sleep
• Mood changes
• Brain fog
• Fatigue
• Joint aches
• Reduced libido

Much of this is driven by the decline and fluctuation in oestrogen levels. Oestrogen influences far more than reproduction.

It affects:

• Temperature regulation
• Sleep quality
• Bone health
• Muscle mass
• Joint health
• Mood
• Exercise recovery
• Cardiovascular health

The really important message from Dr Samina was this:

You don't have to just accept feeling terrible. There are options.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) works by replacing some of the hormones that naturally decline during menopause. It doesn't reverse ageing or make you twenty again, but when prescribed appropriately it can significantly improve symptoms and help protect long term bone health.

I know many of you found the session incredibly valuable.

Thank you so much for your time, Dr Samina.

If you missed this one, we'll do our best to get Dr Samina back towards the end of the year.

You can follow Dr Samina here: drsaminakausar.com.au

Winter Challenge

We're really excited to launch the Winter Challenge next week.

We know that results don't come from one heroic effort. They come from doing lots of little things consistently.

So we want to see photos of you:

• Hitting your 10,000 steps
• Eating five serves of fruit and vegetables
• Completing all your gym sessions
• Getting seven hours of sleep
• Doing your mobility work
• Coming in for treatment
• Joining us at Brimbank on Sundays

We want you absolutely draining the WhatsApp group.

Because if we all lean into this together for the next four weeks, you'll genuinely feel like a different person by the end of winter. Then we'll use that momentum to carry us into spring.

At which point I'll become even more unbearable talking about flowers, blossom and how much I love spring.

Renovations Complete

Back in January and February, we started renovating upstairs. Originally, we had one clinic room.

Now we have two clinic rooms and a dedicated waiting area.

The reason was simple. The old setup didn't reflect where we wanted the business to be and we needed another treatment room for Dr Dani. (Dr Dani has a nice ring to it.)

I originally put my ideas into ChatGPT and asked it to create a concept image that I could send to the builders.

The brief was:

Professional. Dark. Clean. Modern.

I think they've absolutely nailed it.

Apart from a few finishing touches and furnishings, the renovations are complete and I'm genuinely proud of how it's turned out. So if you've got an appointment upstairs, please head up and make yourself comfortable.

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Chat next week.

Craig