Did you do the Ultra-Trail Australia this year and are wondering how the champions manage to run all those stairs even late in the race? Perhaps you need an Ultra Trail Australia training plan.

Lithuanian elite runner Andrius Ramonas, who has been living in New Zealand for the past year and a half, is a sports and exercise medicine physician who is currently doing his PhD in Auckland. He has won and set course records for the Ultra-Trail Australia 50k, and the The Hillary 80k and Tarawera 50k races in New Zealand.

Andrius has frequently placed in the top ten in many other ultras and came 5^th this year at the Ultra-Trail Australia 100k. His best marathon time was 02:32 in London in 2009. Here he shares how he prepared for running in the Blue Mountains where the UTA 100k distance features accumulated climbs of over 4,500 metres and many, many stairs.

What is your Ultra Trail Australia Training Plan?

The UTA is not that technically difficult, it’s really runnable and has the specific element of stairs. What I did to prepare was that last month, I changed from doing lots of off-road and complicated trail running to more road running and even introduced track running sessions just to increase my speed and improve my stride.

I also concentrated more on core stability and gluteus muscle strength as well as leg muscles to avoid excessive fatigue on those stairs.

Racing in the lead pack usually means you don’t have that time to tackle those stairs slowly, sometimes you really have to push hard, and if you have good running biomechanics and core stability, sometimes you can even when you’re really tired run those stairs.

As I remember from last year, I was still able to run the Furber stairs at the end of the race. As we saw today, two runners were just 20 seconds apart, meaning they were fighting on those stairs. So if you can run them, you have a huge advantage.

I also looked at my gear, because the list of mandatory gear is really extensive, so making good choices makes gear more lightweight and compact. Sometimes it’s easy to stick to the same items, but there are a lot of new things coming out on the market.

With a race that has to many stairs, do you have to train on stairs or are there another ways you can prepare?

That’s an individual choice I think. One way of training for stairs is to think about what elements in your body support running uphill and up stairs.

If you think about it, it’s core stability, it’s glute muscle strength, and nice running biomechanics. If you focus on those elements it’s possible to avoid excessive training on stairs. You can use just some resistance exercises and weights to strengthen those muscles.

Which exercises were part of your Ultra Trail Australia Training Plan?

If I think about glute muscles, there are a few standard exercises that bodybuilders do, like squats, and single-leg squats which could be done using a box where you step up. That focuses also on core stability.

I also do exercises with weights, such as a hip thrust where I do a bridge lying on the ground with elevated shoulders so that there is greater range of motion when I push up my hips. I use really heavy weights for that, because the idea is to not just build pure endurance but power and strength.

What is your nutrition strategy?

I still base my race nutrition on carbs, but what I did in recent years is that I reduced my carb consumption due to gastrointestinal symptoms. With that reduction I haven’t been getting that problem.

I like energy gels for carbs, because it’s easy to know the amount of sugar you are getting. Sometimes in longer races, I prefer some solid food, which is usually just banana and raisins.

I like to be simple and not think too much about other food choices, so I just stick to my plan. If the race was much longer, I would probably mix in some savoury foods, but in races up to 10 hours, I usually just stick with sugar.

Also, I am careful not to overload too much in the days ahead of the race. It’s really easy to underestimate how much athletes eat, especially in the last week when the training load is much lower and it’s very easy to gain fat. So I just try to be sensible and not eat complicated foods and only eat what I’ve tried before.

***

So if you are registered and need an Ultra Trail Australia training plan, integrate some of Andrius Ramonas’ ideas, and book your accommodation in Katoomba or Leura early – it gets full in the mountains in May!

The Australian Lyrebird has the unique ability to perfectly imitate the songs of other birds as well as human sounds, including mobile phones or camera shutters.

Personally, I think I hear some video game sounds as well.

How many different bird songs can you identify?

Trails in Motion offer an inspiring mix of insights from around the world.

In the 2015 edition, Nikki Kimball’s quest to set a new record on the 273-mile Long Trail in Vermont stood out in particular.

Nearly an hour long, the story takes viewers through all the highs and lows of Kimball’s FKT attempt with vivid visuals and brutal honesty.

It is an emotionally raw account of what ultrarunning takes, both in terms of personal resolve and team work. Kimball talks candidly about her battle with depression as well as the sources of strength that fuel her.

Trails in Motion also showcased many other stunning works that inundated viewers with breathtaking landscapes and portraits of runners from across the globe. And in a noticeable show of equality, the representation of male and female athletes on screen was 50/50.

The sport has become increasingly popular among female athletes, and the selection of films clearly reflected that.

To find a screening near you and for more information, visit http://www.trailsinmotion.com

Listen to the full interview with Karen Low:

Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have picked Karen Low for a runner. A heavy smoker for two decades, getting into running for health and fitness didn’t just help her steer clear of cigarettes, she also dropped 20 kilos along the way.  

“I gave up smoking in 2006, so I was in that…replacing a bad habit for a better habit, and running was it,” Karen says when dropping by for a cup of tea with two of her training buddies from the Mackay Roadrunners, Matt Stevens and Janelle Tilse.  

They are in Katoomba for the Six Foot Track Marathon – a scenic but very hilly 45k race in the Blue Mountains that has runners chase each other through rivers, and over single tracks and dirt roads all the way from Katoomba in the iconic Blue Mountains National Park to Jenolan Caves. The total ascent is more than 1,500 meters.  

The race attracts athletes from around Australia and usually fills up within minutes of registration opening, due to its popularity. But the experience of runners can vary widely, especially when it comes to Cox’s river crossing.

Matt Stevens, who is always easy to spot because he is usually a head taller than everyone else, says the river level was “up to the knees” on race day, to which Janelle laughs, “yeah, right, up to the neck!”  

Karen trained for months to do her first Six Foot Track and finished in 06:09:12 – a great result, especially when you think that just a few years ago, Karen was struggling to even run 5k on the flat.  

After devoting most of her life to working and raising her three daughters, Karen realized she needed a lifestyle change after an accident and decided to get off the cigarette and lose some weight. She turned to running for health and fitness.  

“I hadn’t run for many years, so getting the body back into shape to run has been good,” she says.  

Starting slow is important to get your body used to the sport, and it doesn’t mean you’ll see less of a result. Karen says she noticed the weight just dropping off her once she started training, first towards the goal of running and walking a 5k and then slowly building up to longer distances, all the way to running marathons.  

“I did my first marathon last year and my first half marathon the year before, and both of those training plans helped me to build in a good mileage and look at how to train […] and get some confidence to do that.”  

Leading up to the Six Foot, she was running up to 90k a week, a far cry from her comparatively sedentary lifestyle  just a few years back. Investing so much time and effort leading up to a race makes crossing the finish line even sweeter. 

“We’ve probably been going hard at it for three months and you don’t know until the end [if it works out]. So the jubilation coming down the hill [at the finish] and to think your plan’s held up…yay!”  

For Karen, running is also great to clear her head after work and to spend time in nature. And apart from the obvious health benefits, it’s the social aspects that matter to her, the people she runs with and the way her family responds.  

“My kids think I’m great, and my husband,” she said, with tears in her eyes.  

“My daughter texted me saying I’m a champion. That’s what’s good about it.”  

And the next goal? A sub four-hour road marathon, said Karen – and her running friends are confident she’ll smash it.  

***

Doing the hard yards is always easier in good company, and if you are in the Mackay area in Queensland and are thinking of turning to running for health and fitness, the Mackay Roadrunners offer a deluge of support. I’m biased  as I trained with the club for over a year in 2010/11 and loved the camaraderie.  

The Mackay club offers several weekly runs, long and short, marathon training groups, club competitions and large events like the Mackay Marina Run with thousands of runners participating in the half marathon, 8k and 5k distances.  

And while you are there, also check out the Hamilton Island Hilly Half Marathon in the idyllic Whitsundays near the Great Barrier Reef – by far one of the most scenic half marathons you’ll ever come across, smack bang in the middle of paradise.      

50 Shades of Green – or so it looked as the sunlight fell through leaves and ferns. But I wasn’t exactly bounding along with 7.2 kilos on my back and every step hurting after an intense speed session two days earlier.

I had gotten up early to jog the three kilometres from Katoomba to the start of the 45 kilometre Six Foot Track before it got hot, planning to do the track twice over two days.

While I had booked accommodation at Jenolan Caves and only carried a change of running gear, toothbrush and light merino clothes to sleep in, I also had a stash of emergency gear with me including a police supplied emergency beacon, compression bandages, whistle, map, emergency blanket and two torches.

Including four litres of water, trail food and 6 slices of home-made banana bread, my running pack was filled to the brim.

From Explorers Tree at the start of the Six Foot, the trail led down hundreds of steps, over rocks and tree roots through Nellies Glen rainforest and ended in a fire trail in Megalong Valley.

Temperatures were forecast to reach 29C but it wasn’t hot yet. Sometimes I was surrounded by clouds of tiny blue butterflies, then admired crickets and caterpillars or saw wallabies and kangaroos bound out of the way ahead of me.

I took it slowly. This was not racing, this was time on my feet. I walked when I felt like it, ran when I wanted to, sat down to have lunch on a hill and just loved spending a beautiful day in the mountains.

Wet Feet

After several kilometres on a single track through the woods following Coxs River, it was time to cross.

I had always thought that wet feet lead to blisters and normally avoided creeks, but in hot weather like this, the cold feeling on my legs was blissful.

Wading through, the water came up to mid thigh-level and a large fish shot off in front of me. I wouldn’t have minded staying longer.

Following a well-maintained fire trail, I made my way up two steep climbs and then followed the track through the woods, again surrounding by the most stunning colours as the light played between the leafs.

The hours flowed by and a few kilometres from Jenolan, the narrow trail looked so peaceful in the evening light that I no longer felt like running, even though it was all downhill.

The heat had dissipated and there was a slight breeze in the warm air, the soft light of the late afternoon sun gleamed through the trees and lit the track with dancing patches of light.

Bellbirds filled the forest with their calls and a couple of wallabies watched me pass but didn’t move. In ten hours, I’d only twice passed hikers, once a group of trail bike riders and trice some cars.

The slow speed had paid off. Instead of feeling sorer, the pain in my hamstrings was gone.

Making my way into the valley towards the Jenolan Caves village, I saw Caves House and the backpacker lodge through the surrounding trees – my home for the night.

The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves estimated to be the world’s most ancient open cave system dating back to around 340 million years ago.

I love visiting them, but right now, I could only think of the breakfast menu I’d studied online – I was already looking forward to the morning.

The Bat

As I checked into the hostel, I was told I had the room to myself – but not so. A bat already occupied the upper bunk.

I’d seen it flying in the hallway and had unsuccessfully tried to direct it outside. Then, suddenly, it was gone.

Inside my room, the bat greeted me in bed. The tiny animal had crawled through the gap under my door and now it sat on one of the pillows, partly covered in cobwebs.

I felt honoured to have such a room mate, but didn’t liked the idea of it potentially wanting to cuddle at night, so I wrapped it in a bed sheet to carry outside.

The bat complained with loud squeaks and, worried I was hurting it, I opened the sheet to look inside. Out came the bat in a flash and once again fluttered in the hallway. I finally caught it once more and released it under a bush.

After a good-night’s sleep, I thought I’d better make the most of the breakfast buffet to strengthen myself for the long way back.

Only when I tried to stand up after a large pile of scrambled eggs, baked beans, toast, croissant and a heaped bowl of musli, I realized I had completely overdone it.

Being upright was so uncomfortable that I went straight back to bed. When I finally got going at close to 10am, I was still so full that every time I tried to run, my stomach just wouldn’t have it. So I walked very slowly for the next three hours.

Could I have known better than stuffing my face until I couldn’t move? Of course, I’ve done several ultras, marathons and many long training runs. But I hadn’t wanted to know better, I’d wanted to have a giant breakfast.

Gluttony comes before the walk. I was well prepared for a late arrival with two flashlights and spare batteries.

Lyrebird Chase

As I came up the narrow serpentine walkway from Caves house, a lyrebird saw me approaching and fled around the bent. There weren’t many places to go on either side, so every time I came around another bent, the lyrebird was still ahead.

We played catch for a while until the path opened up and the lyrebird could have taken the wider walking track ahead. But instead, it chose to take the stairs following the Six Foot Track, looking back at me from the top.

When it AGAIN saw me taking the same direction, it flapped its wings in protest. On spotting me one final time as I reached the top of the stairs, it had enough and made a scene, fluttering towards a lyrebird mate down the hill.

I could only imagine its complaint: This woman has been following me all the way from Caves House! She’s not leaving me alone!

A few kilometres down the track, I came across an echidna that was busily looking through leaves and twigs.

Curling up at first, it soon stopped worrying about me and starting roving through the undergrowth again, coming up to just a few centimetres from my trainers. They mustn’t have smelled so good, as it then turned around and walked off into the forest.

The Thunderstorm

As the day went on, I heard rumbling behind me. While the sky got darker, I could still see a stretch of blue ahead and picked up my speed.

A storm had been forecast, but perhaps I could get away! I imaged the weather chasing me, as it seemed to rumble behind me every time I was particularly slow.

The first front moved past quickly, but the storm couldn’t quite decide what to do that day. An hour later, it was back, this time with a bang.

The sky turned black and it looked like late evening instead of mid afternoon. It started to bucket down, lighting flashed above me and I anxiously counted the time to the sound of thunder to see how close it was.

What would it be like to be hit my lightening? I probably wouldn’t notice, it would happen so quickly. I was happy whenever I made it over a bare hill unscathed.

Already on edge, I jumped when a bellbird rang out right next to me and then laughed about how easily I had worked myself into a fearful state.

I just hoped it would be over by the time I had to cross Coxs river. I didn’t want to stand in thigh-high water when lightening was close by.

Finally, patches of blue sky returned as the dark clouds rushed off. I crossed the river and munched the rest of my banana bread as I trotted through the forest.

Soon, I could see the cliff faces of some mountains ahead – a view that always stuns me. Somewhere on top of those mountains was Katoomba.

The Long Way Home

As I was hopping from stone to stone over a shallow creek, a strange feeling suddenly overcame me. I remembered coming this way yesterday. But yesterday seemed incredibly long ago.

Two days away from mobile and computer screens while being immersed in the Blue Mountains had stretched my perception of time to such a degree that I could hardly believe that as little as one weekend had passed.

By the time I was making my way up the steep section of Nellies Glen it was completely dark. A light drizzle had returned, but the headlamp gave plenty of light and the air was still warm.

I had told police that I would return late, but once I reached the top of the climb, an officer called my phone to check that I was alright in the dark.

This service Katoomba police offers to hikers has always impressed me. When borrowing a free emergency beacon for a hike, which is strongly recommended as most trails in this area have no reception, police keep information about the intended route and expected time of return. If they are worried about someone’s safety, they call.

I assured them I was fine and I ran the last three kilometres into town to drop off the beacon before treating myself to a warm dinner at a nearby restaurant that tolerates guests in runners’ clothes.

I had been out on the trail for 22 hours over two days.

When I closed my eyes to sleep that night, my whole body was buzzing with a sense of aliveness, and I felt complete contentment and peace of mind.

People who, like me, work on computer screens all day sometimes ask me “why do you do that to yourself” when I talk about trail running. I do it because I like feeling this alive, I say.

On Valentine’s Day 2015, more than a thousand musicians shared their love for ukes in Katoomba at the annual ukulele festival, entertaining crowds with 120 acts on nine stages throughout the picturesque town in the Blue Mountains National Park.

Performances were staged in the iconic Carrington Hotel’s Grand Dining Room, Grand Ballroom, Baroque Room, in the Old City Bank Bar, the Paragon Cafe, the Entertainment Centre and in a Marquee on Katoomba Street.

Listeners who’d never touched a ukulele before could learn the basics at a free beginner’s workshop at the Blue Mountains Ukulele Festival, and the more advanced could attend free classes on busking, recording and  how to stage music. That workshop was led by David Megarrity, who later reappeared in the brilliant musical duo Tyrone and Lesley – have a listen above!

The annual ukulele festival is organized by the Blue Mountains Ukulele Group – the Blue MUGs. Everyone is welcome. And if you have a song to share or a band you want to introduce, why not sign up to perform yourself! Get in touch with the organizers and stage your show before crowds of uke enthusiastic listeners.

Heading to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia? Good choice – it’s hiking and trail running paradise. Here are some of the views you can expect to see.

Races in this area include the Six Foot Track Marathon (March) and the UltraTrail Australia (May).  Both start in or near Katoomba.

Prawn fishermen in northern Queensland say they don’t know how their industry is going to survive.

Despite promising conditions like early rains, catches around Mackay have been less than half of what’s expected in an average year.

Danny Pope has been a fishermen for 44 years.

He has caught less than half the banana prawns he’d usually catch this time of year.

Danny Pope says they only get paid $5 per kilo for the produce they are currently catching and it’s getting pointless to keep operating.

“We are finding that the quality of the prawn is a smaller count prawn rather than then bigger count prawn, so we would expect normally to be catching half and half. But at the moment it’s basically 99 per cent in the smaller grades.”

He thinks prices in supermarkets haven’t decreased and somebody in the chain is taking too much without paying fishermen their share.

“The industry is at a point where if the price doesn’t firm up, there will be no industry. We cannot keep going on the prices we are getting.”

Part of the problem, he feels, is a lack of competition among marketers.

“Since the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority restructure within the green zones, and buy outs, taking out not only boats but marketers, we have less competition.”

Mackay wholesaler and exporter David Caracciolo agrees the industry is struggling to survive, but doesn’t think that prawn fishers earn less because middlemen take too much.

He says the problem is the high dollar, increasing operation costs, cheap imports, and an ageing work force.

“I personally don’t think the fishing industry is going to survive unless something happens very soon.”

The Chairman of the Seafood Importers Association of Australasia Norman Grant says it’s true that the industry is doing it tough, but says imports are definitely not to blame.

“Prawn imports have declined substantially since 2007. They are down 30 or 40 per cent since 2007, so there is certainly no increase in prawn imports.”

He says the global price for prawns has decreased due to prawn farming around the world.

And he says people aren’t willing to pay high prices for seafood anymore.

Story on ABC website: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-04-07/tough-times-for-prawn-fishermen/6187468

Longer audio version on ABC Rural: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-04-07/fishermen-and-wholesalers-have-a-tough-time-making/6187486

PLAY VIDEO:

Audio Script:

Cyclone Yasi hasn’t just wrought havoc on land in northern Queensland.

The destructive winds of the category five system have destroyed coral and marine life in the Great Barrier Reef and disturbed fish stocks.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is assessing the state of the reef, but reef line fishermen along the Queensland coast are already feeling the impact. They say the fish have vanished.

Nicky Redl reports from the Queensland town of Bowen.

NICKY REDL: The Bowen Marina between Mackay and Townsville is full of fishing boats. Nobody is heading to sea. The only work to be done is maintenance.

Reef line fishermen catch fish like coral trout by hand, and sell them alive to local and overseas markets. But since the cyclone, their usual catch is nowhere to be found.

On his last trip, Wayne Teakel didn’t even catch enough to cover fuel costs.

WAYNE TEAKEL: Our boat was one of the first boats to head out after the cyclone, and we’ve done two-and-a-half days for one coral trout, and 20 red throat emperor, and three stripies, which, we used 700 liters of diesel, outboard fuel, ice, bait, so you can tell we are definitely going backwards fast.

NICKY REDL: Further south has been less affected, but not everyone can travel the distance.

JAMIE LAIRD: This boat is too small to relocate. We haven’t got the fuel capacity to run out of Mackay some of the bigger boats. And the majority of the reef is damaged, basically from Cairns to Mackay, so we can’t really go anywhere.

All my savings, life savings, went into this boat so I could become a fisherman, and basically, the cyclone has taken it all away from us.

NICKY REDL: The state government has acknowledged fishermen have been affected, but says they don’t qualify for extra assistance. That means that fishermen like Jamie Laird can’t apply for loans or grants like banana or cane growers hit by cyclone Yasi, because fishermen aren’t classified as primary producers.

He says the wage subsidies they get from Centrelink are not enough to live on.

JAMIE LAIRD: You know, we are husband and wife with three children. They have offered us 400 dollars a fortnight to survive on. Like that, that wouldn’t pay your grocery bill.

I was the main money earner. My wife was at home looking after the kids. Now it’s had to change around, she’s had to go back to work, and I’m actually daddy daycare at the moment.

There is just no money coming in at all for anyone.

NICKY REDL: Seafood wholesaler Brett Bauer already had to close his business, because there is nothing to sell.

BRETT BOWER: We only sell local product, we don’t sell any imported stuff or anything, so with no catches with the boats, we’ve had nothing to do, I’ve had to lay off just about all my staff bar two people.

NICKY REDL: Some are lucky enough to have boats big enough to relocate further south, but that means a huge hike in fuel costs.

Boat owner Tanya Giles.

TANYA GILES: You know, we’ve got further distances to get to the reef, as well as the fact that we had to get down there in the first place.

You know, we’re lucky enough to have been quite welcomed by the Mackay community and the Mackay harbor, but it just means that the traveling distances for us compared to what we are used to are phenomenal. So our fuel bill has doubled.

NICKY REDL: And with all the extra boats heading south, the industry is worried that it’s only a matter of time until that area is overfished, while those who can’t relocate are left to wonder why they are being treated differently than other producers. Nicky Redl, ABC Rural, Bowen.

Backstory: I was working as an ABC Rural Reporter in Queensland when cyclone Yasi hit, and we only had audio recorders, not video cameras. I used my small automatic Canon camera with video function on a tripod for the footage, and recorded the audio separately on a Marantz recorder, later syncing audio and video in Premiere. I hadn’t been trained in Premier either at that point, so it was a long night in the studio. It was worth it, though, as the footage and audio were ultimately broadcast on state-wide and national radio and TV, and the plight of fishermen in the region received more widespread attention. The government subsequently offered fishermen the financial assistance it had previously denied them on the grounds that they were not primary producers.

Video broadcast on ABC national television channel News 24, and audio on ABC Radio National.

Online news story on the ABC website: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-03-02/one-month-on—still-no-catch/6189192

Audio version on ABC Rural: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-03-02/reef-line-fishermen-along-the-qld-coast-say-reef/6189204

Video Script:

NEWS24 PRESENTER JOE O’BRIEN: The floods have brought destruction from many communities across Queensland, but on the positive side, many water storages are full.

The Peter Faust Dam near Proserpine in North Queensland, has spilled for the first time since it was built in 1990. Water suppliers are saying there are now at least three to five years of guaranteed water supply for the Proserpine Valley.

This report from ABC Rural’s Mackay reporter Nicky Redl.

(sound of water)

NICKY REDL: Widespread flooding is causing massive destruction across Queensland, but it is also filling up the state’s dams. In Northern Queensland near Proserpine, the Peter Faust Dam with a capacity of nearly 490 gigaliters has spilled for the first time. Each day, nearly 800 megaliters are running over the spillway into the Proserpine river.

Colin Bendall from water supplier Sunwater says the dam has ten times as much water in it than three years ago.

It got down to 10 percent in 2007 and things got quite drastic for the community, so it’s fantastic to see it full now. It looks like we have at least three to five years of guaranteed water supply for the Proserpine Valley… (continues)

Backstory: As no professional video cameras were available to rural radio reporters at the time, I shot this video on my small Canon point-and-shoot (with video function) on a tripod, recorded the audio separately on a Marantz, and later synced the two in Premier.

Broadcast on ABC television channel News24 on January 3, 2011.

Story on ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-01-03/northern-queensland-dam-spills-after-heavy-rain/6192010