The Weekly Wrap – 5/5/25
Your Weekly Dose of Running Highlights, Tips, and Motivation
G’day and welcome to another edition of the Weekly Wrap.
Thanks to everyone who tuned in last week and sent through feedback, always great to hear it’s helping you train smarter, run better, and improve your overall wellbeing. I’ve always believed in a holistic approach, and it’s great to see that message landing.
We’ve now ticked over into May, and it’s shaping up to be a big month of racing.
We kicked things off with the Sydney HOKA Half Marathon over the weekend, and the countdown is now on for Ultra Trail Australia, which is less than two weeks away.
It’s been a wet week in Sydney, but awesome to see so many of you getting the work done regardless.
Quick reminder: this time of year, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, tends to bring an increase in sickness. Between seasonal shifts, heavier training blocks, and higher stress loads, immune systems take a hit.
Take care of the basics:
Prioritise sleep
Support nutrition
Watch stress (training and life)
Stay hydrated
Small habits make a big difference.
Personal Highlights
Last week was a strong return to rhythm after time in NZ hiking.
Logged 11+ hours of training across running, strength, and cycling
Key session: 30km on the UTA course (QVH → Leura Forest and back)
Purpose: sharpen the legs, dial in terrain feel, and test fuelling
With UTA50 now under two weeks away, this was a key prep session. The race isn’t a major goal, but it’s an important checkpoint toward TDS, a chance to test hydration, nutrition, and see how the body handles race conditions.
Feeling good heading into one final solid week before a light taper.
Team Highlights
Big efforts across the board this week.
Sydney HOKA Half Marathon
We had a great crew show up and put in some strong performances:
PBs
Smart pacing
Nutrition tested under race stress
Valuable data for those building toward Gold Coast Marathon
Shoutouts to:
Cameron, Christopher, Lauren, Brittany, Alex, Ashley, Andrew, Adam, Lee, Madeline, and Taylor to name a few.
Baseline Progress
Shoutout to Jo Bailey, who hit a massive PB on her Roy’s Peak baseline, a serious marker of fitness heading into the winter race block.
Momentum Shift: UTA
It’s taper time. We’ve got runners across 11km, 22km, 50km, 100km, and the 100 miler at Ultra Trail Australia.
Now’s the time to freshen up the legs, sharpen the mind, and lock in race plans.
May Focus: Recovery & Adaptation - Making Training Gains Stick
After a big block of structured training, May is all about absorption, because it’s not just about what you do, it’s about what you absorb. This month, we shift our focus from load to recovery, ensuring all the work you’ve done actually sticks and sets you up for what’s next. This is where the real gains are made.
Week 1: Recovery Isn’t Rest – It’s Strategic Adaptation
You don’t get stronger from training, you get stronger from adapting to training.
Recovery isn’t just rest. It’s deliberate, data-informed, and active when it needs to be.
Why This Matters:
Passive rest helps if you’re sick or overreached
But most of the time, active recovery (easy movement, mobility, walking, low-stress aerobic work) is more effective
The best runners schedule recovery before they’re cooked, not after
Tools to Monitor Recovery:
HRV (Heart Rate Variability): Track weekly trends. Lower = more stress.
Resting Heart Rate (RHR): Sudden spikes often signal fatigue, illness, or poor sleep.
Perceived Recovery: Ask yourself, Do I feel strong or flat?
Mood, sleep, energy: Subjective data often matches the physiological story.
(Source: Flatt & Esco, International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 2016)
Action Step: Build a Simple Recovery Dashboard
Track these for 7 days:
Morning HRV + RHR (if using wearables)
Sleep quality (out of 10)
Training feel vs. output
Life stress levels
Even just a simple “fatigue / sleep / stress” rating out of 10 can highlight patterns you’re missing.
Goal this month: Don’t just do the work. Absorb it.
Prompt of the Week: Are You Training Hard Enough… Or Too Hard?
Most runners assume harder = better. But smart runners know when to pull back.
Ask yourself:
Are your easy runs truly easy (conversational pace or low HR)?
Are you fresh for key sessions or dragging into them?
Are you prioritising recovery with the same intent as you do training?
Reminder: Most aerobic adaptations happen in easy zones. Running easy isn’t slacking, it’s strategic.
Tip of the Week: Find Your Ideal Cadence
Cadence (steps per minute) plays a key role in:
Running efficiency
Impact reduction
Fatigue management
General Guidelines:
Easy runs: 165–175
Tempo or faster: 175–185+
Taller runners: May naturally sit slightly lower
Film your stride or check your watch data. Focus on rhythm over speed.
Shorter, quicker steps often reduce braking force and load on joints, especially helpful late in long run
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Client Spotlight: Cameron Merrick
1. What is your go-to nutrition for long runs?
Crumpets with Jam or Peanut Butter, a banana and a couple scoops of carb mix before long a session. Still getting better at fuelling enough for those big sessions.
2. What is your favourite training session?
I love speed work with a group, anything that forces you to hold yourself at your limit and get the competitive juices going. Those sessions give the confidence to smash the pick ups and race pace efforts in a long run when you’re in the heaviest part of a training block. And who doesn’t love going fast.
3. Which race are you currently training for, and what motivates you to run it?
Currently training for the Hoka Sydney Half Marathon and then Gold Coast Marathon. Trying to go 1:10 in the half and sub 2:30 in the full.
I think what motivates me is testing my limits and really seeing just how fast I can get. I’m super competitive with myself so I’m a big fan of the grind and taking pride in the pain when sessions get really tough. Being able to zoom out on your training and progress, knowing that what may have been a huge challenge a few months ago is now “easy” is the sort of feeling I love. Oh and doing the whole journey with mates is what makes it worth it when you do reach those goals.
Final Note
We kicked off May with a bang, and we’re only getting started.
The key theme this month is clear:
Don’t just train, recover with purpose.
Absorption is what turns effort into actual progress.
Training isn’t about how hard you go, it’s about how well you adapt.
Smart runners track patterns, listen to their body, and make tweaks before things break.
Races are won through what happens between the sessions, not just during them.
Train smart. Recover sharper. Let it stick.
See you next week,
Coach Matty Abel