To kick off the new year, episode 278 of the Better With Running podcast begins with a catch-up between coaches Chris Armstrong and Zac Newman, followed by a detailed interview with athlete Matt Watts and his coach, Forest Robinson.

The episode opens with Chris and Zac discussing the challenges of the current Australian heatwave, which has forced many local runners to adjust their training significantly. Chris shares that he recently completed a session of 8 x 1km reps, averaging 3:29 per rep, with a particularly strong final effort of 3:19. He felt much smoother than in previous months, noting that he spent two hours recovering as a "vegetable" after a sweltering 25km long run. Meanwhile, Zac is making steady progress in his "rebuild" phase, hitting back-to-back 80km weeks and finding his rhythm again at Albert Park. He averaged 3:30s during a recent 6-minute interval and is starting to contemplate a return to road racing,

This weeks run2pb guest interview is with Matt Watts who describes his relatively recent and rapid progression from a team sports background in footy and cricket to marathon running. After a long hiatus from fitness, he returned to activity via a "Couch to 5K" program, initially motivated by a desire to be a healthy role model for his young daughter. His progression was swift; he went from completing a 27-minute 5K to training for his first marathon in his hometown of Ballarat. Matt reflects on his early experiences as a "cookie-cutter" plan user, explaining that while those generic programs got him started, he eventually reached a plateau where he needed more structure and personal accountability.

A major theme of the interview is the transformative effect of working with coach Forest Robinson. Matt explains that the biggest shift from "Old Matt" to "New Matt" is the move away from chasing arbitrary numbers to trusting a long-term developmental process. Forest chats about, focusing on building Matt’s volume safely and keep easy runs easy. Matt has embraced this new structure, finding that having a coach in his corner has changed his perspective on training blocks, turning them into sustainable journeys rather than just countdowns to a single race day.

With thanks to Oat Running our partner,

Listeners of the show can get a a 15% discount using "run2pb15" at the check out. Visit www⁠.oatrunning.com.au