40,000 runners is the edge — Sydney Marathon is flirting with breaking its own event, and we need to talk about it.

Episode 80: the Sydney Marathon 2026 recap. 70+ at the shakeout run, 36 TPP athletes with 33 PBs (27 of them by 15+ minutes), and an honest coach's take on the bottlenecks, wave timings, and slower runners baking in the heat. Plus Georgia's first big event with Millie, business updates, and listener Q&A on gels, stress fractures, race-day underperformance, and knowing when a good workout means you should push your goal.

📢 Next week is a full Sydney Marathon Q&A — DM us your questions.

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Sydney Marathon is four days away and you've got nothing left to gain. Only nervous energy to lose.

Emergency episode. Matt and Georgia work through every race-week fear runners actually have: heavy shakeout-run legs, a bad night's sleep, carb loading, and whether you'll make it to 42. Matt's worst-case exercise for killing head noise, the sleep study that proves one rough night won't cost you, and carb loading without the maths. Plus listener Q&A on triathlon vs marathon fitness and whether Pilates counts as strength work. Matt also explains the 17 stitches that just put his sub-10 Ironman at 50/50.

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Your Sydney Marathon Q&A, plus a full catch-up on life. Georgia is back from having Millie. Matt recaps a 24-hour team backyard ultra. Where his Iron Man WA prep is landing 15 weeks out,

Then ten rapid-fire Sydney Marathon listener questions covering pacing on the hills, arrival timing, aid stations, carb load meals, GPS vs elapsed time, and the seven days leading in.


🎧 Listener Q&A:
– Should I power up the hills to hold pace?
– How long before the gun should I arrive?
– Any hill advice if I've only trained on flat?
– Should I stop at every aid station on my first marathon?
– Favourite carb load meal if you could only pick one forever?
– Best post-race recovery routine?
– Sub-4 pacing strategy when the GPS gets shaky?
– Bad calf pain race week — push through or shut it down?
– What should the seven days leading in actually look like?

🎁 TPP shakeout run Saturday morning in the Sydney CBD — details on @beyondthefinishline_pod. Come say hi.

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Is a 70.3 an Ironman?

Episode 77: everything you need to know about triathlon as a runner. Every distance from super sprint to full Iron Man, actual mandatory gear vs the nice-to-haves, a realistic weekly training structure for a first-timer, and the beginner mistakes that end most sprint races. Plus Georgia's final episode before becoming a mum, and listener Q&A on long-run recovery and running by effort on the trails.

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Cross training isn't the easy option it's how you keep the volume up, take the impact out, and stop breaking yourself when running twice a day isn't the answer.

Episode 76: everything runners need to know about cross training. What it actually is, why bike and swim are the goats, when to sub a run and when to keep it, matching stimulus (easy, threshold, VO2), and the one-for-one rule for most athletes. Plus a full "would you rather" round covering DNFs, PRs, race photos, beat-up shoes, and retirement scenarios.

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Anyone can do a marathon — but should you? And how long should you actually wait before you sign up?

Episode 75: the marathon isn't the default goal for every runner, and it might not be yours. Why the best endurance athletes on the planet spend a decade at short course first, why waiting 3-5 years for your first marathon is a legitimate strategy, and the hidden costs no one talks about. Plus listener Q&A on post-marathon speed work, one big race vs shorter PBs, and whether social media invented the modern marathon boom.

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What goes up must come down the post-race blues aren't a bug, they're built into the sport.

Episode 74: what to do when the race is over and you don't know what to do next. The 18-24 month goal reframe, how to actually define recovery, the "directionally correct" trick for finding your next thing, and why the post-race window is the best time to do everything your training block wouldn't let you.

Plus Matt nearly dies, Gold Coast Marathon with 26 TPP athletes, and listener Q&A on cadence, mechanics, and trail vs road carb loading.

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The hay is in the barn race week is where most people fuck up what they've already earned.

Episode 73:
your Race Week Survival Guide. Tapering, maranoia, race morning logistics, carb loading without going full donut bender, controlling nervous energy on the start line, and the first 10k mistake that ends most marathons before they start. Built for Gold Coast Marathon weekend — applies to any race.

🎁 BTFL listener exclusive — TPP shakeout run Friday 9:30am at Bam Bam Bakehouse, Mermaid Beach. Coffees on us. All welcome.

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