SAM BURRIDGE, HOW IS HE TRAINING AMIDST RESTRICTIONS?

The Brisbane Trail Ultra had the opportunity to catch up with Team La Sportiva athlete Sam Burridge, our BTU60km inaugural winner, to chat about what he has been up to during these unusual times. How have the restrictions affected his day-to-day routine and training in general?

Last month, we had the pleasure of picking Ewan Horsburgh's brain and finding out what drives him to train. So for me, it is fascinating to find out what makes these top athletes tick during such aversive times for training when there have been no races to work towards specifically.

Sam, both Shona, and I watched the current situation like hawks from December last year as we were both due to run in Hong Kong and have family in HK myself. We could see the progression overseas and how it was slowly creeping upon us, but the full gravity of the health crisis appeared to have stung Australia so quickly. How has this changed your 2020?

"It's been an interesting year so far, that's for sure. So far, I've raced canceled for bushfires, one for floods, and now for COVID-19. But there are bigger things to worry about in the world at the moment. I've been fortunate to have a job still and have been working from home since mid-March."

Wow, you've been affected by all the elements, and who would have thought a pandemic is something that would be on the list alongside the unfortunate natural disasters we are more familiar with. In light of these cancellations and the uncertainty of the remainder of the 2020 race calendar, how has it affected your training? were you allowed out to start with?

"I have been lucky that in the ACT, we have been able to travel throughout the territory for exercise. So that has been great, although many of my favourite trails are currently closed due to Namadgi National Park being smashed by the fires earlier this year, and the recovery effort in those areas is still ongoing. But here, we've still got plenty of other trails to explore and train on. Also, working from home with a 2-year-old running around, there have been many runs with him in the chariot too, which has been fun."

What was your thought process with training, considering so many races were cancelled or postponed?

"I'm very much in maintenance mode at the moment. I personally don't think it's worth pushing yourself too hard at the moment and risking injury. I've backed off the training and sessions a little and incorporated more cross-training like strength work and cycling. I've also been experiencing some consistent niggles for a while so I am using this time as an opportunity to get on top of them and come out stronger on the other side of this."

A very wise choice Sam, turning a negative into a positive.

We heard from Ewan earlier and he mentioned that he didn't realise how much racing motivated him to train. How are you keeping yourself motivated?

"I JUST LOVE RUNNING TO BE HONEST. I THINK I'D RUN WITH OR WITHOUT RACES. I'M ALSO THINKING OF NEW LOOPS TO EXPLORE, TRYING TO GET OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS A LITTLE MORE, JUST LOOKING FOR THINGS TO KEEP ME EXCITED ABOUT GOING OUT EACH DAY."

Now we can see the potential light at the end of the tunnel. Do you have anything specific you are training for?

"Right now, with races not looking likely for another good few months, I'm just enjoying the process. In a month or two, I'll start to ramp up the training for BTU, Surf Coast, and UTA (the La Sportiva big three races for 2020), and looking forward to each and all of them.

And always know new gear always motivates me to get out as they're asking to be tested. I've been living in my La Sportiva Jackals and have recently grabbed a pair of Helios IIIs that need a spin”.

Do you have any gear you've been trying?

“I've loved the new La Sportiva Jackals too. I've been running in them for the last few weeks, and they are such a comfy trail shoe. I've also joined the Skrachlabs team, so I have been loving fuelling up with them on my runs too."

Sam will be joining us for the virtual Brisbane Trail Ultra 30km run in July. We can't wait to catch up with Sam in person in October to defend his BTU60km overall win!

The Team at the Brisbane Trail Ultra- Cora & Shona