Lauren Theodore - Running towards a more authentic self
EPISODE 11
This episode is about pushing your limits with the power of mindset. So what type of person do you picture when you think of ultra marathon runner? Is it a humble, unassuming, Aussie country girl that hails from a Dairy farm in rural Victoria? Probably not, and therein lies the beauty of Lauren Theodore. A woman who’s achievements and commitments to doing really hard things (as Glennon Doyle would say), stretch far beyond what many people think is humanly possible. She recently competed in the Cocodona 250, a grueling 402 km ultra marathon set in the Arizona desert, USA, where athletes run through breathtaking scenery and elevations, day and night in an attempt to cross the finish line and see how far their bodies and minds can take them.
How did Lauren get to this point? This tipping point of committing herself to a goal that seemed so ‘crazy’ to others, that many people told her to see a psychologist to unpack this. Lauren does indeed share with us how running outdoors helped her get through a particularly difficult and isolating period of her life, but she thinks of the sport as a gift. She tells us that since discovering this sport and spending more time outside, she has shed layers of herself that don’t serve her anymore, allowing her to live a more authentic life.
As a kid who excelled at various team sports such as Netball and AFL, discovering the world of trail running has been the ultimate personal adventure for Loz where she has found a new community she likens to family and enjoys looking up to other inspiring female role models in this space.
We cover it all in this chat, including the specifics of ultramarathon running (which there are many! Like umm…how do you sleep and eat!?), the positives that come out of mental health challenges, commiting to a career as a Podiatrist serving remote Indigenous communities across Australia, the potential of the human spirit and the importance and relevance of mindset in everything we do in life.
Lauren wants to inspire others by showing the world that ‘ordinary people’ like herself, don’t need all the bells and whistles to achieve great things. She doesn’t have a coach or a sponsor, she works a full time job and she only discovered the sport a few years ago. She is a true inspiration, so get ready to grab your sneakers and head outside.
SHOW NOTES;
Sunsmith website - Lauren’s episode
Thursday Island Running Group - Deadly Runners
Book - Bravey by Alexi Pappas
Ultramarathon Run - Coast to Kosci, Australia
Ultramarathon Run - Cocodona 250, Arizona, USA
And for this new podcast to grow, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please consider any of the following meaningful gestures;
Share this episode with a friend
Hit ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app of choice
Rate the show with 5 stars
Leave a review
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of uncovering tales of inspiring women.
Brigid x
Transcript
*Please note that this transcript is automated and may not be 100% accurate
Brigid Moloney
Welcome to the Moved by Nature podcast. I'm your host, Brigid Maloney, and this is a show that celebrates spirited women who embrace life with Mother Nature. They inspire us through their stories of adventure, personal growth, and connection to something greater than themselves. This episode is based around the notion of pushing your limits with the power of mindset. So what type of person do you picture when you think of an ultra marathon runner?
Is it a humble, unassuming Aussie country girl who hails from a dairy farm in rural Victoria? Probably not. And herein lies the beauty of Lauren Theodore, a woman whose achievements and commitments to doing really hard things stretch far beyond what many people think is humanly possible. She recently competed in the In Donor , a grueling kilometer ultramarathon set in the Arizona desert, America, where athletes run through breathtaking scenery and elevations day and night in an attempt to cross the finish line and see how far their bodies and minds can take them.
How did Lauren get to this point? This tipping point of committing herself to a goal that seemed so crazy to others that many people told her to see a psychologist to unpack this. Lauren does indeed share with us how running outdoors helped her get through a particularly difficult and isolating period of her life. But she thinks of the sport as a gift.
She tells us that since discovering this sport and spending more time outside, she has shed many layers of herself that do not serve her anymore. Allowing her to live a more authentic life. As a kid who excelled at various team sports such as netball and AFL, discovering the world of trail running has been the ultimate personal adventure for Loz, where she has found a new community that she likens to family and enjoys looking up to other inspiring role models in this space.
We cover it all in this chat, including the specifics of ultramarathon running, which there are many like, how do you sleep? And eight. The positives that come out of mental health challenges. Committing to a career as a podiatrist serving remote indigenous communities across Australia. The potential of the human spirit and the importance and relevance of mindset in everything we do in life.
Lauren wants to inspire others by showing the world that ordinary people like herself, don't need all the bells and whistles to achieve great things. She doesn't have a coach or a sponsor. She works a full time job and she only discovered the sport a few years ago. She is a true inspiration, so get ready to grab your sneakers and head outside.
And for this new podcast to grow your help would be greatly appreciated. Please consider any of the following meaningful gestures. Share this episode with a friend. Hit subscribe on your podcast app of choice. Write the show with five stars or leave a review. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of uncovering tales of inspiring women.
Now over to Los. Thanks for coming in. Recording with us today. We're recording on Bundjalung land where we both live and work. Will you work? Actually all over Australia But we'll get into that.
Yeah, because I want to ask you a question that I want to ask every guest this season. What is the greatest lesson that nature Has taught you?
Lauren Theodore
Thanks for having me. Nature's taught me a lot when I'm out in nature that I haven't probably taken back to my day to day busy life. Oh, yeah, and that's to slow down, and appreciate the small things. I feel like when I'm at, for me, trail running, especially, or running along the coast, that things slow down and you can take everything in.
But I probably haven't done that so much when I get away and back into my day to day life once I get home.
Brigid Moloney
What do you think stops you from taking that lesson into.
Lauren Theodore
Your everyday life? I think it's just that there's just so much happening and whether that's my role now as well, with work, being a team lead, managing none. But I know the podiatrist. Life's busy, so I'm constantly on emails. I'm constantly on the phone meetings doing my own caseload as well. So I think there's no time to sort of slow down until I get out in nature.
And that's my time to be just me. No technology. Just enjoy. Yeah. My time. I also think nature's probably taught me that life is short. And in terms of it can be very, nature can change very quickly. And some of my trial runs that I've done, the weather's changed drastically. And I think you got to appreciate that.
You just never know what's around the corner. I still love being out in nature, even though I know it's quite can be quite dangerous. Maybe that's the exciting part of it. Possibly we'll touch on that later. Yeah, yeah. My trial run in New Zealand last year, that probably taught me that when the weather turned bad, it can happen very quick.
And you just. You've got to be prepared when you're out there. Yeah. So hopefully I'll take more of those lessons into life. Now I know actually thinking about it a bit more. Yeah. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And perhaps it's subconscious too. The more you do it, the more. Yeah. You can try to live that way. And I think if you're doing like trail running regularly and you're getting that lesson come up for you regularly, it's easier to kind of bring that into your life because it's changing habits, isn't it? Which is the hardest thing to do.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. And that's that consistency as well. I think that getting out there, doing it regularly. Yeah. Embracing it and pulling it back into your life. But yeah like so if you're not doing it regularly then it's a little bit harder.
Brigid Moloney
So you just touched on where you were. Do you want to just run us through what you do for work and where. And.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Hey I'm, hepatologist and, I graduated in . I always had a desire to work in remote Australia, and I wanted to work for the flying doctor. That was one of my dreams as a kid, and I knew I would never be a doctor. And I probably thought some pilot was going to be my way that I got to work with, like, doctor.
Lauren Theodore
But then I realized you could do it with Allied Health. So I moved to South Australia. I worked over there in Whyalla, for a month, and was doing flying doctor trips out to Sedona and a couple of remote Aboriginal communities there. Went home to Victoria for a while, had my own private practice, still always had the desire to work remotely.
Moved up to Queensland and did some locum stints with Queensland Health. My first one being Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. Then was sort of privately working, doing a little bit at the university, lecturing, and then somehow managed on a Sunday night to say a job for the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health in Brisbane.
That was closing the next day. And I thought, that's my dream job. Working, with this Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, populations in an urban setting here on the Gold Coast. So, yeah, at the moment, not traveling as much. So going out to southwest Queensland, but yeah, now moved up into a position of managing this team, which yeah.
That's so cool. Been a big change. It all happened very quick.
Brigid Moloney
You said that originally you're always interested in working in remote indigenous communities. Where did that desire come from. Because where did you grow up? Can you tell us about your childhood and how maybe that tied in?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I grew up in south west Victoria on a dairy farm. Good country girl. Yeah. You can always pick the country people. Not to say good morning on that run, I love it. I think I've noticed that. Yeah. Can you.
Brigid Moloney
Pick other country.
Lauren Theodore
People? Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Like really.
Lauren Theodore
Quickly. Yeah. I can pick a country first. And I think.
Brigid Moloney
You just more genuine.
Lauren Theodore
I think, willing to talk to anyone. I don't know, it's.
Brigid Moloney
Just a void of pretension.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Just authentic and genuine.
Lauren Theodore
I'd like to think that's what we are. You are, you are? Yeah. Now, I'm very proud to say I'm a country girl. And I'm will always be my home. Like on the farm. Even though I live up here now on the Gold Coast. So. Yeah, I grew up country Victoria dairy farm. Mum and dad.
Oh, very hard workers. And we also had potato farm in the off season of and of calving season, I guess you'd say. They also grow cut flowers, for a florist. So I think, yeah, it was amazing, like lifestyle to grow up. And as a child, when I was about, grade six, we moved away, sold the dairy farm and moved to Eden, southern New South Wales coast.
And mum and dad had a holiday resort there. So I continued to work seven days a week like it did on the farm, and then a couple of years there, and they decided that they wanted to go back to where they're from in the LA family. So we moved back to Colac or back to country just out of Colac.
We still had the house and some land there. So Mum and Dad tend to beef. We have beef cattle, have a handful of sheep. They, I went back there, finished high school in Colac, I think I was . We went to Northern Territory to visit my cousin. She lived at Jabouri. She was working there.
And that was my first exposure to remote Australia. And Aboriginal populations. And somehow from there, I just had this desire that that's what I wanted to do, and I wanted to basically have an impact on the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our country. I didn't know what health profession I wanted to be in, but I always knew that I wanted to help people at that stage.
So yeah, that's kind of how I got that interested in going remote.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, you get a little taste of it.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. And I think just being country as well, the outback's pretty special. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So you always outdoors?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Growing up, always outside. I've got two older brothers. And between backyard cricket, football, whatever it might be a very big dam on that property. And when that overflowed, as kids, we get down there with our little stick boats and have boat races, I think only just always outside. And that comes down to going to the dairy with mum and dad as kids, like we were always out, my grandparents lived around the corner, so if it was potato harvest season, we're at grandma's.
Lauren Theodore
When we were little, she was looking after us, but we were always outside. I really don't remember. Yeah, too much inside time. Like I imagine kids these days have. Yeah, but we're very lucky that we could do that. Climb the hay bales, climb trees, make copies. All these things that I think kids miss out on. Maybe now.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, definitely.
Lauren Theodore
But it was safe. We were okay to be out and yeah, it's funny because I, I remember school holidays, there was a few times where we got to take the Commodore computer home from school with the guys, but this is amazing that you put this big cartridge in the computer, I didn't even know what Bumblebee game or some Frogger things like that, which that was a novelty.
Lauren Theodore
Whereas now it's the majority of time really, for some kids. Yeah, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, it's kind of disturbing.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, it is technology.
Brigid Moloney
And do you think as you came out of childhood and then, you know, when we have to grow up and go to work and start becoming adults, then do, did you just feel like the urge to make sure you were always playing sport outdoors or because we met playing netball? Yeah. And then we played footy together and because you're an amazing footy athlete as well then.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. You were.
Brigid Moloney
Captain of the the Burleigh bombers Burley bomb.
Lauren Theodore
Explosion. It and daily bomb it. Yeah. Sport was a big part of life growing up. Dad played a lot of sport. He played, football.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. You said he was quite well not known in your town, didn't you?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. That's. So dad played AFL back then, was VFL. I guess we think Kilda and then come back to town and coached football. I didn't have to obviously have his coaching in terms of sport, but, used to get the boys come back from to school the next day and said, oh, your dad took us for training in your.
So he sort of that's a bit of a fear factor there. I think. We always joked I'd never get a boyfriend from home because I then knew dad and my brothers. But yes, they did quite a lot of coaching and football back home. So we grew up sport in Victoria and I guess country, New South Wales.
It's very different. So football, netball go together hand in hand. Okay. There's a football club that's got a netball club associated with it and wherever the boys play you played, right. And it's still like that and it's very popular. Entitled. Yeah, but it's all I knew I grew up with.
Brigid Moloney
That's great. So you, you mixing with the guys like after functions and.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Yeah that's great. I'm training so together. Depends on what's happening preseason, that sort of thing. But you're at the club Tuesday night Thursday night, Thursday night, dinner afterwards altogether. Then Saturday all day together. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
I will admit that's something that I noticed when I started playing football with you. AFL, like I'd played netball all my life and a high level nipple, but there was never that club culture to that degree, like there was a club, but you'd kind of play on a Saturday. And then once we were getting, like moving up levels, it was like I was always carnivals.
But then we would play midweek and we were driving to Western Sydney to play, coming straight home like there was no, that sense of club wasn't there. And I remember when we started football, I was like, oh, they're having dinner every Thursday night after training, we train twice a week, and then they had the game Saturday. And then if you finished your game, you expected to stay to watch.
If it's a home game to watch the boys play or the other girls. And I was like, oh, this is like, well, I it's quite.
Lauren Theodore
The time invested.
Brigid Moloney
It'd be quite.
Lauren Theodore
Cool. Yeah. If.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. You want to be a part of a community.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. And that's what it really is, especially in those country towns. Like that's, that's what everyone does. It is. Yeah. And I, when I came to Queensland started pineapple. I'll be honest, it's, it's kind of shocked me and I felt like I didn't get apart from you. I didn't get any other friendships from it. Yeah. Because we didn't have anything.
It was just go to netball training, train leave. Leave. Yeah. Go to a game. That's often late at night in Brisbane or, you know, northern Gold Coast and then get home late and that's it. There was no social side of it, really. I think,
Brigid Moloney
And I think it affects how you play because, you know, when we were playing footy, oh, like you're putting your body on the line and if you have friendships on the field and you love and respect the people you're playing with, you are going to go in to bat for them so hard. But if you don't have that friendship and they're just like a person, I feel like the motivation isn't as strong.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, kind of individualized. Is it a bit rather than that team? Yes. Yeah, yeah. We'd do anything for each other that. Yeah each that you see that we all play together because it's.
Brigid Moloney
Because it's tough and brutal. It's like of all the sports, it's like you can get really hurt.
Lauren Theodore
So yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Do you remember one time was a funder. She got punched in the face literally. And we were all so shocked. I was pretty far away from her. But none of us kind of like, knew what to do because we were like, does the ref get involved? And then after the game, I remember I coach. I was so surprised.
He was like, what were you doing? Like, why didn't anybody go in there? I don't think he said, punch the other girl. But he was wondering why we didn't like fire up. Yeah, and maybe give the other girls stick.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, it's probably, at least going in and get better. Shot of Michelle. Yeah. I mean, not punched her in the face because we didn't do that sort of thing. You feel it? No, no, we did it. We were quite tough, I thought, but not that kind of tough.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, not dirty.
Lauren Theodore
Not dirty? Yeah. Physically tried to make a presence, but. Yeah, not not dirty. So I think we probably all a bit shocked. Be honest. Not something we expected.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. That's true. That's not what you do okay. But you take hits in other ways for sure.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So I mean AFL requires a lot of running around. And we used to go for a run together. But you were never like a runner per se. So how did you get into running?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, definitely wasn't a runner.
Brigid Moloney
Well, it seems like you've gone from one sport. So you've done Nepal, then you got into football. What switched you into the next passion?
Lauren Theodore
I don't like to say the word, but the Covid read, we like to forget that. Don't me. So when that hit, I was living here, but I had my business in Victoria still, and I'd started my business here. Yeah, but you help me with it. Yeah. But because I couldn't travel interstate anymore, I had to choose if I was going to be here or in Victoria.
And my main business was Victoria. So I went home. I got a transfer clearance to pay for Colette because I wanted to still play football. And you have to get cleared, Tiff. Oh, my God, I didn't even know that was that thing. Yeah, so you got got it cleared to play through. So my clearance currently currently sits with Colette.
But I never got to play a game there because. Oh, sports stopped. Oh. Team sport stopped. And Victoria definitely got hit harder than up here. So I didn't play any football. I didn't play any netball then. So I basically retired from team sport on two losing grand finals. We lost the grand final footy and we lost the grand.
Finally netball that year. In . Yeah. So then I had dabbled in a little bit of running, but really nothing when I look back. And it was funny because I was looking back on it, you know, preparation and talking to you about this. I thought I was running like when I did my first marathon in , , some of, but I was out running like maybe three K and I'd go three times a week, and I thought that was, you know, decent.
And I used to some people, including me. Yeah. But I guess. Yeah. So my running like really probably took off in Covid times because we couldn't do anything else. I was struggling mentally because I was stuck in Victoria. My residential address was Queensland, but I couldn't come here without doing quarantine. I remember ringing the government one stage like Queensland Government, just bawling my eyes out like I just want to come back to Queensland for a bit.
My partner was here. We hadn't seen each other for months. So running became something that I could do at home. So I was allowed to go to work in Victoria, but I wasn't allowed to see anyone except for like my home who was in the home. And I was living with mum and dad. Yeah, okay. Like so apart from work, I didn't have any sort of.
Yeah. Social. I couldn't, couldn't talk to anyone, you know, except for on the phone. But, so running became this thing that took my mind away from everything. I guess. Initially when I was home, my mum's quite vulnerable, like, low immune system. So my brother had said to me, you can't live with mum and Dad. So Mum and dad went down the coast, to the coast, home, and I stayed on the farm and I was out in the truck to feed the cows, going to work, like doing the whole up.
Yeah, until a.
Brigid Moloney
Farm and holding down a full time job by.
Lauren Theodore
Myself. Yeah. Running a business. And I'm terrible by myself. It's not like I really struggle. So here I am, out in the country, you know, doing the cattle, trying to be at home that do my dinner, do everything, go to work the next day. I run it all. And then, I mean, it's not like I definitely don't do a whole lot of farm running.
It was just like, get out and feed the cows. I was.
Brigid Moloney
Still.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, but yeah, I just it got to a stage where I really wasn't coping and Mum and Dad knew and I decided, no, that can't be the case. So I had to come home. So it was just like they then come home and supported me through months of stress, I guess. Watching may struggle.
Brigid Moloney
When you say you struggle at night, what do you mean by that?
Lauren Theodore
I'm scared of the dark. I know I, I don't like being, you know, that kind of person has to. Oh, the kittens, as soon as it gets a little bit dark. If you're by yourself. Because I don't want someone feeling you feeling like someone's watching you and you can't see outside. So I don't go outside after that, like I struggle, I do, I hang the clothes on the line or something, but I'm always like, hey Tynan, I'm just going to hang the clothes line.
If I'm not back in ten minutes, come looking for me. How did I never do this? Yeah, I just I love the dog by myself. Loves. You've just started ultramarathon running in the dark. I know I've got to do the torch. I've got the torch, but I'm still scared. Yeah. So that's very kind of, What started running really, like high.
Brigid Moloney
And did you start doing marathons first? Like, how did you start racing?
Lauren Theodore
So I initially that's like that's when I would say I would started running. Got the passion for it. I got the passion for it.
Brigid Moloney
I said no goal in mind. You're like, I'm just into this for some exercise.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, it was just an escape. I was kind of like Clifford. Youngest from call. It used to be known to running these gumboots out in the paddock, and that's what I was pretty much doing. I was out in the paddock running around the farm like, you know, just round and round and round the paddock. I'll do ten k just running around around the paddock.
Lauren Theodore
It's wet and muddy and. But that's what I could do. I couldn't go anywhere. Well meant to be five k's from our home, so we weren't allowed to go any further than that. In Covid times. But my initial running started the very first time I probably started running was on Thursday Island, and when I went up there and that was before Covid.
Yeah. So that was . Okay. So I went up there for a six week locum and I wanted to immerse myself in community as best I could the whole time I was there. So I found Deadly runners on a Saturday morning and I joined every Saturday morning. I went, so for the six weeks and to do to get the deadly runners thing, like you have to do six runs with them.
So I proudly got my finger on the last day I was there.
Brigid Moloney
Can you explain what Deadly Runners is?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. So Deadly Runners is, I guess, running, running groups all around Australia that I've linked with, the indigenous marathon projects I reuptake. Estella, one of Australia's best marathon runners, has an organization where he selects, so, like people from around Australia to go into his, running. I guess it's a program that he runs that they then go to New York and run the marathon.
So an Aboriginal, you have to be a Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. And the idea is that that promotes healthy lifestyle in the community.
Brigid Moloney
You're not Aboriginal Torres Strait though. I you know.
Lauren Theodore
I don't identify, but anyone could join the running group.
Brigid Moloney
Right. Okay.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So the running groups, just about anybody in the community.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Okay. Cool. Yeah. So, you know, majority of people were, Torres Strait Islanders up there running in that group. And we had Elsie at the time had been to New York, one of the runners, and had been in the program. So she that's basically how it kind of works, is it's that inspiration, I guess the community's got the insight level of, someone who's that they can aspire to be like, because Elsie had gone through the program, gone to New York, run the marathon, and come back just like good examples in the community.
So yeah, that's when I got into running a bit more. I came back from Torres Strait on that was and that was in May, I think end of June started July. The Gold Coast marathons on and some of the members were coming down to do the half marathon. And I was like, oh, I'm going to give it a go.
So I did my first half marathon on the Gold Coast. Oh, it's a good one to do. It's flat. It goes around. And I remember I wore my deadly runner's shirt proudly. And I cross that finish line and Rob de Castello was actually there, and he gave me a big hug and, you know, graded and had it all go and good chat.
And that was just so amazing for me to think that, you know, Australia's best marathon runner is there inspiring all these indigenous people to run. But supporting anyone through that I guess phase. And it was so excited for for someone like me to finish my first half marathon. I think I cried when I crossed that line. So yeah, how many half marathon?
Lauren Theodore
Man. Yeah. So yeah, that's when it kind of originally started. So I had run my first marathon before Covid hit. I'd been to Queenstown, actually. I'd run a few by the time Covid hit, but I don't really like to say that I was running then because I. I remember going to Queenstown for my first marathon. I had run K run before thinking that was a good training run.
I think I looked back and I'd done K's for the week, whereas now, like if you're running a marathon, I know for myself if I was running a marathon, I'd be doing training up to that in one run, like up closer to the K mark for one run for the week, let alone I was doing K for a whole week.
Yeah. Oh yeah. So yeah, I did do two Queenstown marathons, two half marathons, and I did my first, like trail marathon the day Covid kind of Australia went into lockdown. I was in New Zealand.
Brigid Moloney
So you'd been running a little bit, but mainly marathon runs. And then you did this trial run. I'm curious to know the difference between the two because I'm not a ultramarathon runner, but from what I've heard, when people talk about trail running versus traditional road running, taking yourself into all of those different terrains and landscapes and weather, is that just another level of running?
Like, is it quite magical?
Lauren Theodore
Oh, it's definitely magical. It's, more amazing time when you're out in the bush. The concentration levels got to be a lot higher because, you know, little tree roots or a little rock that pops up, they seem to get you. And then next thing you're on the ground. I think just the elevation as well. Like you're often up, down, up, down through the trails.
It's a it's a lot harder. So you might say, went for a K run in the trails in comparison to K road run. That's a lot harder. It's going to take a lot more time. Well for me anyway because I'm definitely not, good runner, but I just run another fast runner. I just get out and do what I enjoy.
But yeah, trail running is so much harder in my opinion. And yeah, you take people out there and then all of a sudden they're like, oh my gosh, this is not what I expected. This is not what I was in for. But I love it when they finish. Well, it.
Brigid Moloney
Sounds like a full mind body immersion because it's you can't be thinking about anything else but what you're doing because, yeah, if you take a wrong step, then you.
Lauren Theodore
Were screwed. Yeah, definitely. I mean, you can do the tiniest little thing and like, I think the couple of times that I have fallen, it's unfortunately been down the Larapinta trail and it's very rocky. And I just go to adjust your shorts or might be just something, you know, change something with your running pack. And then next thing you tripped over is that slight little lapse in concentration.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. So I think yeah, it's, it's definitely very different to road running.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Do you feel like you really get in the zone then you just. It's almost a form of meditation, like mindfulness because you're just acutely aware of.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Your body and your surroundings.
Lauren Theodore
Definitely. But you've also got to remember to look up and embrace where you are, because sometimes that view, if you're just constantly looking at your feet, or the ground, you might miss some of the beauty. I like to take it slower out there and enjoy, like looking around. Yeah. If it's somewhere where I'm going for a training run and I'm, you know, Karumba Nerang, where I do it regularly, more regularly.
It's not such a big thing about taking in all the views in that because you've seen them, and that's okay. But when you go somewhere new and I'm on a run, that's maybe a new event that I haven't done before. I'm not there to win because I'm never going to win. But winning for me is crossing the finish line.
Yeah. So I don't mind taking in scenery and adding a little bit extra time.
Brigid Moloney
Like, let's talk about ultramarathon running because that is a win. If you finish like surely that's just the win.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. So how did you get into ultramarathon running.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. So ultra is technically anything over a marathon. So anything over km. And I did my first ultra in just before Covid hit as well. Actually it was a K run on the Gold Coast. It was in December the start of December, and it was the worst experience. I said I, I definitely said I was never doing another ultra again.
We'd had bushfires that year. It was really smoky. It was super hot. And we ran on pavement for K, we ran from the Star Wars Turf Club down to, Kira and back up. It was awful. Yeah, that.
Brigid Moloney
Grinding on the concrete.
Lauren Theodore
Just.
Brigid Moloney
Sounds so tough on the body.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, and that's so exposed. A big part of that coastline is so exposed. The path so it was hot. My hips, mayonnaise, everything was heading. I think I took me just over six hours to do. Yeah. So I remember saying vividly not doing that ever again. And then, actually, then I met Jacqui Bell, who's Australia's youngest, ultramarathon ran an ultramarathon in every continent.
The youngest one in the world to do it.
Brigid Moloney
How old is she?
Lauren Theodore
Oh. Good question. Yeah, maybe the mid s now. But she was. Yeah. Young when she did a, So I found Jacqui online, and she was running a run escape retreat. Just after when I moved back to Queensland and, early . So I went to that and Jackie's done a lot of multiday runs, and that really resonated with me.
I really wanted to give it a go. This like go out, do a stage, come back, hang around with everyone, mingle, meet people, go out the next day, do another stage, come back. So which.
Brigid Moloney
Is different to an ultra because with an ultra, even if the event goes over a few days you're not stopping. Yeah. Coming back chilling out. You just keep running and running and running through the day, through the night until you choosed to sleep for a few minutes literally.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Or to eight. Yeah. Okay. So yeah the difference I think is stage run but it's still a long distance over stage. Okay. So I think Jackie kind of inspired me to look a bit further than the marathon distance and then start to look into the next bit level. So I did a few stage races first, and then I moved into an kilometer run at Noosa through the trials there, and then did my first K.
So I think the I guess I don't even know now what your question was, but maybe how I moved into ultrarunning. Yeah. From that first one I think. Yeah, I was, I didn't like it. And then it just became did.
Brigid Moloney
You know why I didn't like it? Did you go, okay, there were all these shit factors, but maybe if I did it in a different way, I'd like it. We obviously did give it a go again to give.
Lauren Theodore
It a go again. I think that was it. I knew I didn't like the concrete pounding for that far. So I was willing to give a trail kind of event a go. Yeah. Which is what those stage runs were. And then I guess because running became such a part of my life, wait to wake and join the running group at that stage that was doing sprint sessions once a week, Hill sessions once a week, a long run once a week.
It just became part of what I did and I just wanted to keep progressing, I guess. So then I did the . I was like, okay, I've ticked an , let's try . Okay, tick that. And then it just kept progressing. Yes.
Brigid Moloney
So how many like, how many hundreds have you done?
Lauren Theodore
I've actually done two specifically . Okay. I've done two. Well over at plus. So I've what am I up to? One. I've run up to mile roughly. Any I think it is okay that is, K. Okay.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. So once you at that level, is it really different to doing KS?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. I think it's, K you can do in a day and it's done.
Brigid Moloney
It's okay. So once you crossing through the night into the next day, it becomes a.
Lauren Theodore
New beast when you haven't had sleep and. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Tell us about the sleep part. How do you manage that.
Lauren Theodore
Well, I'm still learning and I'd love to know how to manage that. So to the two events that I've done where I've needed sleep for me, I've needed sleep. Some people might get through them without, which is. That's fine. But I've tried a couple of different strategies of, like, run all through the night and sleep for the last little bit before sunrise just to wake up feeling like it's a new day.
Lauren Theodore
That's.
Brigid Moloney
Like a good strategy.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, but if you're not tired, it's also hard.
Brigid Moloney
Well, you're not tired.
Lauren Theodore
Not at that stage. No. Right. So I think the tiredness hits me roughly probably mid morning of that second day, like lunch time ish. But then that's like potentially I need to learn to have a sleep then because that's when I'm more tired. But you also don't want to go. I think this next one I'm looking at, I don't want to do that cause I don't want to get deprived of sleep.
I want to stay on top of it. So the ones that I, you know, have done and slept, I've been like minutes sleep and maybe do them or times throughout, but I definitely don't. I haven't mastered that yet because I've only done it twice needing sleep. I'm learning.
Brigid Moloney
So if you did a K, how many days.
Lauren Theodore
Does that take to event that I did post to Kosi that runs from the coast at Aden, on the beach to the top of Mount Kosi, Osco and back down a little bit, km on my watch, took me . hours. Oh, wow, that sounds quick. No, that's very much the back of the pack. Is that. Yes.
Lauren Theodore
Are you.
Brigid Moloney
Running that whole time?
Lauren Theodore
Running. Hiking, sleeping, eating? And what's it like.
Brigid Moloney
Running for that long?
Lauren Theodore
It hurts at the end, but at some, I don't know. I just do it.
Brigid Moloney
Well, tell me about the pain. Tell me about. I mean, far out. I can't like I if I run three K, I get to three. I'm like, oh, I'm hurting.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. So I'm getting.
Brigid Moloney
Because I've heard. Do you follow Alexi Pappas? She's I think she's a marathon runner. I don't know if she's a trail runner.
Lauren Theodore
Yep.
Brigid Moloney
She was in the Olympics. She's American, she's got this. She's got a cool story. Like she's a real big personality. Read her book. It's called brave. Okay? She's got this cult following now of runners and people and, but I remember her saying it's an illusion that people think runners don't experience pain anymore. Like, of course, where you're like, once you've been running for X amount of hours, you do feel pain.
We're just better at coping with it or managing it. So what's it like for you? Like when the pain comes up wherever in your body it is, how do you.
Lauren Theodore
Like deal with it?
Brigid Moloney
What's your relationship with the pain like? Because you get you hit a paintbrush.
Lauren Theodore
How do oh, I don't know if I've really, really aged. I've done hurt, I definitely hurt, but it's not like I have to stop or I'm not going to quit because I my goal is to finish. Whenever I start, I want to finish, but I could go out for a training run and go, oh, the first five K is terrible.
I hate it and I'm struggling, but I know that I have now worked out that the first five K for me is what it takes to kind of warm up, and then I might get into that rhythm and I feel good for a while. So right now, as I'm coming into the end of this training block that I'm in, running is training hard and I'm thinking to myself, how am I ever going to do this event that's coming up?
Because I'm hurting, but I'm going to taper and let the body recover a little bit before I go again. I don't know that the pain kind of. Yeah. My goal, my end goal is, is crossing the finish line. That's the feeling I want to feel. So excitement, the joy. Yeah. That overrides all the pain and the pain that I've got.
It's not a broken bone that's going to impact me. It's something that I can push through. Yeah, I know it's not going to be long term.
Brigid Moloney
That's that's a good point because I was talking about this at my husband the other night. He was asking me if I would ever, like, get into events like this, because we started watching all of the cocoa donor videos, because that's the event you're about to take on, and we'll talk about that in a minute. And I said that I was like, if I had some kind of guarantee that I knew the pain wasn't permanent.
Yeah, then for sure I would put my body through it and I think I'd have the mental fortitude. But it's that fear of doing permanent damage, like I, I've had so many bouts of illnesses and injuries that I'm always like, oh my God, if this was forever.
Lauren Theodore
I would.
Brigid Moloney
Not be okay with.
Lauren Theodore
That.
Brigid Moloney
And so there is no guarantee. But you're saying you can gauge whatever ailment you're feeling. You can pretty much tell if it's temporary or not. And so if it's temporary like that, that's fine.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. I think most of my pains probably come up in the lower limbs, which is my job as well. Like I work with the lower leg. So I kind of know what's going to be a soft tissue thing that potentially is just going to settle down afterwards. I definitely like the first coaster cozy I did. My tip tip down the front of my leg basically stopped working.
So that lifts your foot up. But I knew that's a soft tissue thing and I was going to be okay. So you were.
Brigid Moloney
Like, diagnosing yourself as you were running?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. We often thinking about what's that heading and what's that pulling or why is your heel sore. Because you got you. Do you plan it faster under your heel? That's been pounding the pavement for a while. But I know that they're all soft tissue. But if I if I were starting to get a stress fracture or a bony thing, I'd have to really change my mindset if.
Brigid Moloney
You were getting that.
Lauren Theodore
Just different kind, like, different sensation. Wow. But if I was, you know, K in a K run, I'm probably going to think a little bit different about it, too, because I'm nearly there. K seems like it's not nearly there, but in that sense of it, you know, like there. Okay. Yeah. I think the pain, I, I've definitely had some sometimes like tummy pains and things like that that have really upset like, you know, worried me a little bit, but not to the point where I'm ever going to stop.
I'm like, okay, I'll just slow down a little bit. I'll try and eat something different that's a bit easier on the tummy and get through this phase.
Brigid Moloney
So, yeah, you sound like you've had a very positive mindset, so you don't let it bog you down, because what.
Lauren Theodore
If it's.
Brigid Moloney
Really painful? What's the selftalk like when you're running? Like, how do.
Lauren Theodore
You.
Brigid Moloney
Amp yourself up? Like, what are you saying to yourself to push through it or is it not a sense of pushing? Is it just a sense of acceptance? And like, what's the mindset around it?
Lauren Theodore
Just keep going. I think what I've learned over the years doing this is we are all so much more capable, and we probably believe we are in what we can achieve. And I like to think of myself as an everyday person who does this running. And I think everyone can do this if they really wanted to. There's a lot of people that don't want to, and that's completely fine.
But I think we have this ability that we just don't quite realize what we have. So yeah, things might hurt, but I don't know. This. Is it stopping me? No, I just keep running. Gotta get to the finish line. That's my goal. Or if it's a training run and it's hurting. Yeah. There might be times where I go pull up a little bit earlier, but I try not to because I am.
I don't have a coach do my thing. I have a weekly number that I want to hit in terms of kilometers. Generally, and I will get them however I can. So if I go out for a run and I've set myself that today is going to be k, I really want to hit that because that's going to affect the rest of the week, I probably am.
It's an addiction now.
Brigid Moloney
It's like the competitive edge.
Lauren Theodore
I can hear competitive, but I know I'm not out to win. It's weird because I was very competitive in netball, football and I was just there to win. I wasn't there to have fun. I was I was there to have fun. But, you know, I mean, I just wanted to win by running. I know I'm not going to win, but it's a competition with myself to push that little bit further to get that next stage and tick this.
Brigid Moloney
Box of winning, though, isn't it? Because if you cross that line, you've won.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, in my own way. Yeah. For you. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I don't know what I tell myself. So I just go, you just got to keep going. Or if you've run ten K from home, you've got to get home. I don't take my phone on a local run, so I'm not going to be at a ring and say, come pick me up or get a neighbor home.
I got to get there myself. I do. I remember one run now that I did that sort is beating yourself up over. Yeah. I went out for a trial run once and the rang with a group of people, and I had the worst period pain. And I don't get period pain, but I was like, I cannot do this.
And in the you're out for a long way and you can't get back to the car unless you do the whole loop. I was like, sorry guys. Yeah, I.
Brigid Moloney
Well fair.
Lauren Theodore
Enough.
Brigid Moloney
Well, that happened to what's her name, the.
Lauren Theodore
Ultra Rally.
Brigid Moloney
Sally in that film about Coco. Donna, she got her period. That would just. I don't know if I could keep going. I mean, I have pretty bad periods.
Lauren Theodore
But that happened to me in my second Princetown marathon. I got my period and actually like, got a Union Tract infection at the same time and I don't get them. So it was really weird, but I literally stopped at every stop. Oh, to get through that, I ran through it. It was awful, but I did it.
Brigid Moloney
Those things are painful.
Lauren Theodore
Oh yeah, but I how am I going to finish line? You are. What then. Yeah. So that was bad. That's what we have as girls. Oh yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Such an annoyance.
Lauren Theodore
That is one.
Brigid Moloney
Thing I think's cool. Professional female athletes now are working with their cycles. I mean, they won't really be able to change an event schedule, which is a bummer, but at least coaches and there's some technology with apps, and we're learning more about all four phases of the cycle, not just that one week where we have the period and how to utilize that to maximize that to get the best training output.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Which I think is fascinating because, you know, like those weeks where you just that maybe the week where you have the period, it's like, I think I heard Tyler out talking about it surfing. It's like that's not the time to push. Even though the old regime would have been like, this is the strength training, the zero weight training.
You do every week of the month. It's like really catering it to suit our body and all the hormones and the difference in the hormones. Throughout those three weeks. Oh, boy. Sorry.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, yeah, it is interesting. And I think it's far more open now as well as a discussion, which is important.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Because it's like you can't pretend that this is not happening to us. Yeah. I remember I used to do surf lifesaving when I was younger and I would compete and you know, you down at the beach and you see you there all day and you'd get your period and you're like, oh, this is just you don't want to have an accident down there.
Like you're basically wearing no clothes and you got your bum up in the air if you're paddling.
Lauren Theodore
On the pool like it's awful, but you wouldn't dare talk about it. No, it's amazing, isn't it? Yeah. Times are changing. It's definitely becoming more open, which I think is good. And it is really good that they're looking at cycles and training and seeing things like that. As I said, I don't have a coach and it's probably something that I've only looked at a little bit myself is to when I sometimes I will go, oh, I had a really good run.
And it's like the day before your period starts. Yeah. Right. And I've noticed that for me. Yeah, I yeah, there's a.
Brigid Moloney
Couple of good books of the book, called Woman Code by Lisa Viti, and she talks about like this, what's happening physiologically, like your brain apparently is % different from week one to week four. So you just you're like a different human. And we have four, I think, she explains. We have four cycles. So we have our circadian rhythm, the hour cycle.
We have our monthly menstrual cycle. We have there's two other ones which I've forgotten, whereas men just have a circadian rhythm. So they wake up, they have a load of testosterone that they use throughout the day. And when they go to sleep, the testosterone rebuilds. And that just happens every hours for the whole life. Whereas we have four cycles that are like constantly converging in, it's just so fascinating.
I think what that can to your body, especially if you're putting your body under stress, like for these events. But like I said, I would just it's still a bit of a bummer if the event coincides with the week.
Lauren Theodore
Where you have no energy. That's right. Yeah, but I think.
Brigid Moloney
That's a part of women and the mindset of pushing through. Like I found that with having my period at not ideal times, you just do not have a choice. Like you just have to deal with it.
Lauren Theodore
Like you.
Brigid Moloney
You can't say, hey, I don't want that today. Like you have to deal with it. And if you're an athlete, you've dealt with it your whole life. So it's like, I feel like that's been good training for women in a sense. Yeah. To build.
Lauren Theodore
That.
Brigid Moloney
Perseverance through like tough times in a way.
Lauren Theodore
So I've never thought of it like that. But it's so true. We have to deal with it no matter when we get it. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Like the type, the inconvenient times I've got my period, whether it's like, you know, traveling in a place that's like there's no toilet, like I was in India or, you know, on an airplane or I started yoga teaching recently and I got it the first frickin day I started just things like that. And it's like, I can't opt out of this.
Like, I just have to commit.
Lauren Theodore
I did have my for a seven day, the seven day event I did in New Zealand last year. I literally we were camping every not out remotely or not every night remotely. But there was definitely times and you're running all day. That was definitely a challenge in my mind. Like, how am I going to manage this? But actually got through it?
Lauren Theodore
Not too bad, which is good. Didn't affect I didn't feel like it affected my running it up, but it's just that all those extra thoughts you had to think about, like, how am I going to manage this situation? It's like, you know.
Brigid Moloney
The positive is where I want to do manage like I did that, I got through that.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. I mean, like it's interesting because some people will lose their cycle, with running. And I found this fascinating. I've, I've never lost it with all the running that I've done. It's always been so routine. And I think that's why.
Brigid Moloney
Did I do now?
Lauren Theodore
Lucky for me, yeah, I guess just the intensity. The body's got to adjust and miss may be stressed out. So it's not actually doing that like it's normal cycle. I don't know, I'm not a professional, but I do know that that was sort of a concern as well for me. Like I didn't want to ever lose it, but I think I ate enough, which helps.
Like good, making sure that I'm fueling my body and not depleting it. And it's been consistent.
Brigid Moloney
Because correct me if I'm wrong again, but ultrarunning is predominantly, predominantly male dominated. Is it?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah it is. It is getting better.
Brigid Moloney
Being community for women.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I think it is. There's definitely some people working on getting more females into ultrarunning. I think the barrier there might be well, for me, especially getting out in the trails if I don't have someone to go with safety issues. We've seen that in Australia. Unfortunately, recently, and I was thinking about that recently. So the lady in Ballarat, that was married on her run, so to think you want to go out and enjoy nature and get out in that happy place, but someone can take that away from you so quickly.
So always having someone have running the trails by myself a few times, and when you come back, it's really invigorating. You like, I just did that. Well, I got out there and I. And I ran and it was made on my own time, my own space and and you feel really strong. But also in the other sense, it's like, was that just really stupid?
Because, you just never know who's around.
Brigid Moloney
So what happened with the Ballarat did? Was that just unlucky?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. I mean, it's still all getting investigated, but, just a young mum went out for a run on, I don't know, Sunday morning and unfortunately didn't come home and. Yeah. So they've found the culprit and the and I don't want to say he's still in trial, but I guess I found the person that, they believe is responsible for it, and there's no real reason, as far as I can say.
No, it's not like that. That were known to them. It was just a unfortunately bad timing, I guess, to be in that place, but that's scary because it could be anywhere. I've done a couple of runs out in the round. Alice Springs in the trails by myself. And I look back now and think, was that just really crazy in some places that we probably shouldn't?
I always take my phone if I'm going in the trails, whether I'm with people or not, but that doesn't mean that you're going to stop something from happening. Yeah. So I think that barrier to females in ultrarunning probably is a bit of a safety one. Okay. And even for me, going to Carina, that's my biggest fear is running through the not by myself.
Like, am I going to I mean, a whole new country. I'm scared of the dark.
Brigid Moloney
And do you have someone running with you?
Lauren Theodore
No, no, because I'm only taking time in because I can't afford to take every like I might to a local event when I've done, coast to coast. I've taken a crew from here or actually, you know, friends we have from across Australia. But to pay for someone to go over there as a everyday runner, it's a bit hard.
Brigid Moloney
Maybe someone could. Well, maybe we'll just explain for the listeners what those runs entail. So you you take on the run and it takes.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So a few days. How long does it take?
Lauren Theodore
Coco? Diana I've got the Coco nine . It's code of it's miles. I've everyone says. But how many kilometers? So it's around km. Got five days, though. hours to finish it. And that's nonstop. So you stop when you want for a sleep. You stop when you want to eat. So, yeah, there's meant to be. When I signed up, it was around people signed up and I thought, oh great, that's good because it's going to be a pack of us.
Lauren Theodore
You know, I should be around people. When I did coast because it was . They you spread out rather quickly, but with coast to coast, your crews with you, they're sort of within five kilometers of you all the time.
Brigid Moloney
And so that's people traveling in a car with all of your gear.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. So everything's there. It's pretty luxurious, really.
Brigid Moloney
And someone can run sections of it with you if they want.
Lauren Theodore
So, yeah. Coast to coast you after the first night. Fold as a trial section at the start in the first day that you can have someone with you, you have to have someone with you. And then after nightfall, the first night, you can have someone with you the rest of the way running with you, which I do when I've done it.
Because I don't like the docking. But I could it's going to be very different, because the first day you pretty much don't see your crew, which I've only got to on. And with me as my crew. So it's about, I think that's fair to say. Could be ten or more hours to get to that station where I can see the first checkpoint, and then he's actually not allowed to follow along like coast too cozy.
So he kind of only go into the checkpoints, so he'll only see me kind of every K after that. So there'll be sections through the night where I'm going to hope that there's another runner near me that I can just tag along with and get through. But that's five nights of that, four nights, five nights. So I'm hoping that the first night might be a bit like I imagine it'll be a bit stressful.
Then after that, I'll probably just be, like a bit sleep deprived and because you can station.
Brigid Moloney
Hallucinating as well, can't.
Lauren Theodore
You? Yeah. Does that ever.
Brigid Moloney
Happen to you?
Lauren Theodore
I've never had a hallucination, as I have never had them. I've definitely had some little things where I'm like, I thought that I, you know, this the white line and coast to coast, you start to imagine. I thought it was a step or, the white line on the side of the road. And then I imagined to my friend, on the phone, like taking footage that shows he wasn't there, but nothing that's like clowns in trees or things that people see.
So this could be very different night because, as I say, like I've never done nights. In a row.
Brigid Moloney
And this is going to be potentially four nights.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Five, nine, five nights. Off.
Brigid Moloney
I just feel like I want to come with you, and.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I don't see the port me. But I think that's a big part of this challenge for me. It's not just a running challenge. It's like a it's it's a full body challenge. Yet, mind telling you, mental fortitude. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
That's really. That's so interesting and very cool. You really just taking on the fear to overcome it. Like, you know, it's going to be tough. You're putting yourself voluntarily, putting yourself in a pretty intense situation to see if you can get through.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Where does that desire come from to.
Lauren Theodore
So it will be a big challenge. This one. Benham I'm willing to.
Brigid Moloney
Why do you want to do it.
Lauren Theodore
I've been watching Coco Arena for a few years now. So this is this will be the fourth event.
Brigid Moloney
And so it's through the Arizona desert isn't it.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. So we start just north of Phoenix and we finish in Flagstaff. So I knew nothing about America. Except for I'd seen this, you know, I knew a little bit, but nothing major in detail. I saw a crocodile online on Instagram. Maybe I have not. The first year it was run, or maybe the third. Maybe I saw a video the first year, and then I was like that scenery in Arizona is incredible, and I need to go and do that run one day.
And I just sat in the back of my mind for a few years. And then I did Kosta Kosi, which the first coast to coast. Yeah, I got into was a wild card. I hadn't actually run the qualifiers that year. So in my mind, those guys, Greg and Mickey, the race directors there, gave me an opportunity, I guess, to prove to myself that I can do this, and I really want to prove to them that I could do it because they gave me that spot.
So in my mind, I ticked off that distance and I wanted to go a little bit further. And I was like, always looking at Coco. Dinah, I have contacted Coco. Dinah, maybe after the second or third year, and I asked them about if they had a policy, if I wanted to pull out or something come up and I couldn't go, would I get my reef?
Like, would I get my money back? Because it's it's a quite an expensive trip for me to go to America to do this. Not sponsored. They anyone who wants to sponsor was, Yeah. So I asked them if I was to fall pregnant because that was a thing. I'm getting older. That's in my plans. Would I be able to get a refund or transfer the event to the next year?
And I said no. And I was like, okay, well, there goes Coco Dinah for last year because that was in my plans. And kind of that obviously didn't happen. And then I just happened to get on the race stuff again. And look, because I'm still in my back of my mind, I really want to do it. And then this year, they've got this policy that if you've pregnant, you can transfer and you can push that back the next two years.
And I was like, see.
Brigid Moloney
There you go. Barrier for women.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Well barrier lifted. Yeah.
Lauren Theodore
I lifted. So I was like, oh my gosh, I can get it. Like I can do it if I want to. And in my head I was like, okay, got into coast to coast again last year.
Brigid Moloney
So, so I how do you get in. Like what what do you have to do to prove? Because yeah, obviously they can't just let any Tom, Dick or Harry fly for these events. What do you have to do to qualify.
Lauren Theodore
Well, like you don't you don't have to qualify. But they do recommend that you've done a mile to recommend.
Brigid Moloney
But what if you hadn't? Can you still do it?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. There's no there's nothing stopping you. And that one's a bit silly. Yeah. So that one's interesting about coast to coast. You do have to apply for, you give a written like a written application as well into, like why you want to do it and why what you've done in the past. I did get a wildcard that first year, because I hadn't actually ran K yet, which is I was super lucky that they gave me a spot, but I had to sort of go and do my K and prove to them that I could do it.
And then if I felt like I still wanted to have a crack at the , then the spot was mine. If I wanted it, so I did. I'm not passing up an opportunity to have a go at that. I didn't, but yeah, that's the only one that I had to actually apply for. So the quota.
Brigid Moloney
Okay, so coast to coast is .
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Which it's not Australia's biggest ultra run, but it's probably the most prestigious. A lot of people want to do it. It's very special to run from coast like sea level to the top of Australia's highest peak, and then back down a little bit to Charlotte's pass. And yeah, just the way that they run their real family and I love that event.
Hopefully I'll do it many, many more times again. Yeah. I think that the application process, the small numbers, it makes it a real like, family sort of setting. We all become family.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, it's a real sense of community.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. It is.
Brigid Moloney
So even though, you know, in a team sport this time it's still you still have that sense of camaraderie.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
The people and the crew.
Lauren Theodore
The people that you meet during this sport is pretty amazing. I think that's a difference between marathon running as well and and ultras and trail. The trail community is like a real community, whereas I think that marathon thing you get out there, you don't meet anyone because you get to the start line, you do your run, you go home.
Yeah, a lot of that trail running, especially that multiday kind of thing. You're with those people for a while. Yeah. In some of the people that you might be, you know, you got their crew and my crew, they all like, get to know each other because they're crossing paths constantly. And then you're crossing paths with people. My mum and dad have come on both, coast to coast with me and they, they get into it.
They love it. When they first knew I was doing it, that not happy. Why would you want to do that to your body? Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Did they think you were mad?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I think that they always gave me a little bit of silent treatment. I think when I told them. Oh, But then I said to them, be close to it. Do you want to come along? You know, I'd really love it if you could come along and watch me, you know, do this because I thought it would be the only time I'd ever have a go at it.
And then they come along and they end up friends with more people than I am. A good country folk. Yeah. At it is a real family. This boat. Yeah. That's cool. And a family of people doing what now resonates with me. I guess. Yeah. My days of partying and that's gone. This is my next stage. And these are the people that I really find interesting.
Lauren Theodore
And. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because I feel like it attracts a certain kind of person. Like there's not there's not many people that do it to start with, but then the people that do do it, there's something about them. I also feel like people that come into it are a little bit older. They're not. That's why I asked how old Jackie was, because it seems like this is the kind of sport that you have to mature into.
Yeah, because it's so, so there's such a mental part to it.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, it's funny you say that. They say.
Brigid Moloney
Or am I wrong? I do a lot of young people.
Lauren Theodore
It's changing, I think. Okay, but that's changing in general. Running so they know I would say a lot of people was like, oh what what are you running from? What's your demon? Why are you doing that? I don't really have like I didn't really appreciate that. Yeah, but so many people say, oh, they must have a mental health something.
Or people say to me, I know a really good psychologist. If you want to say you, like, I don't know how many times someone said that to me in my shoes. Yeah. I'm like, I don't really need one, but okay. Yeah, I get that. I think I'm at that. Yeah, I definitely think that age is changing.
When I started, I think the, I felt like I was younger, a younger kind of runner in this setting. And whether that's like, financially, it's not a cheap sport, especially if you're going like, I'm going to New Zealand and running events that, you know, a week long, that's not something that is super cheap. So I think having that work history and not coming straight out of uni or something, going, doing it, but and probably the pain like that push those life skills that you've learned to push on through the.
But now I was just talking to someone yesterday and we're talking about the number of people running now is crazy. Do you go running on a Saturday morning, Sunday morning? Along the coast and the so many run clubs and the huge these running groups, and there were young people that I think about to when I was that I just like I was probably walking home from the club at that time, not going out for a run.
Brigid Moloney
With my heels in my hand.
Lauren Theodore
You know, I heels too much because I'm a podiatrist, which haha. But yeah, basically like last thing I think is this. I guess it's just a whole change in terms of maybe people, I don't know, say more the health benefits of of it and the social side of it. A lot of these run clubs seem like they kind of gym people as well.
So is it just something another side of that gym culture? But yeah, definitely. I think it's getting younger.
Brigid Moloney
Because I just, I, you know what? Let's get you on when you've finished Cocoa Diner because I'd be so interested to see like just where your mind goes.
Because I just feel that that mental fortitude and perseverance, like that's just the byproduct of living life. And so if you try to do an ultramarathon when you are and you haven't got much life experience to draw on in those tough times, I just feel like it lends itself towards the kind of mental strength that can only come from living a full life.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Like, you know, there's a documentary on a woman called Diana Nyad, and she's an endurance swimmer, and she swims from. I'm going to get this wrong. I think it's Costa Rica to real to Florida, the Florida Strait. That's what it's called from Cuba to Key West. She's also an Olympic swimmer, so she's an amazing swimmer. She tries I think, six times when she's young and never gets there.
And then three tries again when she's I think she's over at few times and then she finally does it and she's the only person who's ever done it. And yeah, she was when she finally nailed that crossing. And I just remember watching her story thinking, of course she was older. It's a such a long distance that she had to face all these obstacles like sharks and box jellyfish and cross currents and wind, and it's the same as ultrarunning, she just swims through the night.
I think it took.
Lauren Theodore
Like.
Brigid Moloney
A few days and then she's like hallucinating. And, you know, she's in pitch black in the water, like it's just it sounds seemed so gnarly. And people like, how did someone within a body that's so all that's left behind is not at their physical peak. How could they do that? But I just think that goes to show that it's so much in the mind, because obviously it wasn't just her body carrying her through, it was the mental game as well.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah for sure. Mindset plays a big thing and I think that comes back to a lot of the female runners, probably our mums. And I was like, I haven't had any children, but I think maybe that's some of that strength that's gained from that as well. Yeah. What your body can achieve then what Luke.
Brigid Moloney
Said to me as well, because I've had hard like horrendous, horrendous pregnancies and labors. He's like, would you do an ultra? And then I finally said, well, if I can get through that, I think I could get through anything. And he's like, yep, that's exactly what I thought, that you'd have to draw on that. I'm like, yeah, that would give me some kind of strength.
Lauren Theodore
Because in my head, you know, I found running an ultra running quite late. And unfortunately for me, it's probably right when I want to have my family. Yeah. And I was talking to mum and dad about it, and they like that they come and watch my first K race on the Surf Coast, venture down to Anglesey and that like, look at these people like they're getting handed their kids after the run.
Like, you know, you can do this after you have kids as well. And I was like, wow. Yeah, I actually I could still like and look how strong they're running. Yeah. So I think that that would be interesting to, to see. Yeah. What the body can do after it. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And also just I heard, is it Courtney daughter? Have you had to follow her?
Lauren Theodore
She's amazing.
Brigid Moloney
Arguably the.
Lauren Theodore
Best. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Ultra marathon runner in the world. Like, across both genders. Yeah. She had incredible. She was talking about how once you hit a certain K, the gender difference between men and women kind of levels out. And now women are pushing the boundary with the lengths that they can run and they're better at it than men.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, that's what I said at that level. Yeah. And you get to that. Courtney's pretty incredible. Like she she wants to get in the pan cave and dig yourself I don't care. She's like cool.
Brigid Moloney
Is it really special running out in nature? Like, does that help you get through the challenges?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I think time goes by before you sort of realize how far you've gone. You've gone a long way. You've just taken everything in and you're not thinking, I don't know, you just kind of switch off and take in what's around you. And even like the last two nights this week, we've gone out for a night running the trail, to trying up my skills at night time, running.
But just the animals you say as well. Like, it's totally different out there. And totally different in daytime to nighttime, but it's totally different out in the bush. You're in a trail, whether it's coastal trail or Central Australian Trail. So amazed. I just get these really special feeling. Yeah, I feel like I'm.
Brigid Moloney
I want to be out. It sounds weird, but I have this urge to be outdoors at nighttime, and I want to take better camping more so that we can do that, because now that I'm not playing footy, we would train outdoors, but obviously at night. But there's obviously lots and it's like in a field and it's in suburbia effectively.
But just being outside when it's dark is just cool and I just don't get the opportunity to do it. Like I don't know what I can do outdoors at night.
Lauren Theodore
I don't know what I would do. Watch. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
I, you know, we used to live on a farm, and I would often go out onto the big lawn with a rug and just stargaze that lie on my back and.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, but.
Brigid Moloney
I can't do that here because it's so little. Yeah. Like I'm on a street. Like a suburban street now, and I really miss it. So I feel like there's something to be said for just connecting with the natural world at night.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. For sure.
Brigid Moloney
Like, I feel like that almost be something quite spiritual about running in nature for that length of time. So you just like listening to some of those other, like Lee, is it Lisa.
Lauren Theodore
Or Sally McRae yellow runner, like, yeah, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Listening to her and Courtney talk about the unveiling of yourself as you hit these new, like you're just discovering who you are. You're stripping yourself back your role like you're just hitting these new areas of yourself that you didn't even know were there or that was possible, but you're doing it outside in nature. Like, I feel like there must be something quite spiritual about that too.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Have you ever.
Brigid Moloney
Had that experience where you're just so connected to yourself, or you're doing this discovery outdoors and.
Lauren Theodore
I don't know if I've ever had like that. I've had a spiritual connection to running in central Australia around Uluru and that area. And I don't know if that's just the area, though, like it is very spiritual place. Special. But in terms of my own, I don't know, I feel like all my runs, I feel like a company will let you go in your own little world and I don't know how to explain that.
Yeah. Whether that's a spiritual thing. I haven't got to that stage where, I mean, where I'm unpacking like Sally and Courtney do. But I've definitely hit lows in my running and highs. But I probably haven't really thought about it like that. Maybe.
Brigid Moloney
What's been the biggest challenge for you when you're doing those runs?
Lauren Theodore
The question.
Brigid Moloney
The events where you're really pushing yourself.
Lauren Theodore
I think, the most scared I've ever been out there pushing myself would be when I was in New Zealand last year and the weather turned and I possibly thought I wasn't going to make it because I was so cold. That would be my my scare. But I was much better than a lot of people in the run.
They're in a worse situation for me, but I just didn't have that belief that I was going to warm, I don't know, it was I was freezing. So that would be my biggest challenge running wise. And then.
Brigid Moloney
So one of the biggest fears is if what nature will throw at you and how you're going to deal with.
Lauren Theodore
It. Yeah, you just never know. So I've had two extremes. I ran the Outback Marathon a few years ago, and one of the girls, like did in front of me, flaked like, was passed out on the side from heat exhaustion. Oh, so that's pretty scary because I was like, oh, I don't know. You know, what's going on?
Is there any other medical things or issues you just don't know? You meant to put it on your bib, but that at that stage we had some trouble with that bibs. We didn't get them to last minute and we didn't get time to put a lot of information on them. Some people didn't. Yes, I've had like the heat exhaustion.
So the thought of it and saying that, you know, the runners and then going to New Zealand and gone the other extreme where people are hypothermic. And I thought I was like, yeah, really? I was drenched, all my clothes were wet, I was freezing, it was like rivers were flooding and rising.
Brigid Moloney
I've seen some footage of you walking through rivers, so your feet are obviously wet.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
rigid Moloney
And you just got to keep running.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. That doesn't worry me too much. Your feet when they're wet. But that rivers that. Yeah, they went from ankle deep to waist a pretty quick, so there was those fears of are we going to get across and doing that with people that linked arm in arm to do it and yeah, you just never know what nature is.
That's when I learned that nature, you know, you never know what's going to happen. Things can change pretty quick. And so I don't know. Yeah that would probably be my use of my challenges out running is is what's going to happen in nature. I nearly got struck by lightning and guys the crazy last year. Whoa. That was the closest I've ever been to lightning.
Did it.
Brigid Moloney
Strike just new?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. It struck this near us in a tree and. Yeah, that was scary. And that's when they called that race, basically the storm and hit up the top of the mountain. So they called it inclement weather finish. So we didn't get to go to the top. The ones that hadn't quite made it that fire. So yeah that was scary.
Lauren Theodore
You just really never know what they just going to like when a.
Brigid Moloney
Lightning bolt hits so close.
Lauren Theodore
I just remember like all kind of flashing. But my poor like mum and dad were there at the checkpoint. This I thought mum was going to have a heart attack. Like it was so loud. Like cracking. Yeah. And then I was like, oh, I've got these poles. Are they going to attract more lightning to me? So I was like, I'm not working with those anymore.
You can take them back. And then that the biggest thing there was not so much my safety. It was like, do I put my team through this because they're out here doing this for me? That should not be putting them through a safety issue. Risk. So that became my worry at that time. See, a lot like nature can be pretty pretty rugged at times.
Brigid Moloney
Which I think is quite grounding in a way. You know you've got to be humble.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
You've really got to let the ego at the door because you, you can't think that you know everything or you know how to do with everything. You know, like you said, you just don't know what it's going to throw at you.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. And like, I, you know, I'm not a great swimmer. So not that this is about the ocean. It could be pretty wild too. But yeah, you really don't know. And I learned so much I thought that, you know, they say you have to have a survival bag and a kit or a survival blanket for different reasons, you know, you think, oh, yeah, take the manage release.
They got that, got that, got that. But when it comes to actually needing that mandatory. Yeah. If it's not good enough you could really get in a bad situation out there. So all of a sudden of a survival bag that I thought, you know, you just get that cheap one off the shelf. That's pretty good. And then you see people using it and getting helicopter back to out of an event.
You go, that survival bag. Yeah, I might spend a bit more money in the future, the weather and be well, you got to respect that. And and you know, like I think about it too, if that event didn't have that would have been it's more as exciting as it was. Yeah. It does add to it doesn't it. It does.
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. I, I find that I remember when I was training, like I said when I was younger, we so fly setting an iron woman and you always had to do pull sessions to train to be a better swimmer. And then you would swim in the ocean under the board in the sky. But I just hated, like I wasn't the world's best swimmer, and I just hated going up and down the black line.
Yeah, over and over and over. I just didn't float my boat. And as soon as I got out in the rough seas, I was just loved it. I was almost a better athlete out there because it was just more interesting and exciting.
Lauren Theodore
And I've seen you frolicking in the waves and I'm stuck back at anchor date, but I'm not going out there.
Brigid Moloney
Well, I think maybe because I wasn't the best swimmer was the only advantage I have.
Lauren Theodore
Although I can hear what the waves. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Just. Yeah, the excitement of it. And maybe that's the difference between the standard marathon running and then trail running just being in the elements.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. I mean because we're we're built for it. We are I think. Yeah, %. I believe that we just don't know what we're capable of as an everyday person. Like, I'm not an athlete. I'm not coach. I'm not training. No, but I'm not like, I work a full time job. I spend hours in the car, you know, every week.
It's not like I have super long hours to do.
Brigid Moloney
Driving to work.
Lauren Theodore
But yeah, but I'm going to Brisbane and back and like I said the other day, I went up there's it was over two hours each way. Like that's, that's a good . hours out of my training day that I could have if I was here on the coast.
Brigid Moloney
If you had it your way, would you just be a runner and not working?
Lauren Theodore
Oh, how good would that be? Why did you sponsor love? Yeah, but it's bad timing. I'm like now. I, I really wish I found running younger, but then I also I would never pass up the opportunity to play netball and football because what that gave to me in life skills as well and that I wouldn't ever give up.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. And that probably set you on this path. Like I said, if someone presented ultrarunning to you when you were .
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, it'd be like, I'm boring.
Brigid Moloney
I want to go tackle some pitches.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. When to use my hips and push the people around the Hippo court. And I'm like a nasty person. No, you know, I'm making out, like.
Brigid Moloney
All sports. Really aggressive when it's not.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I did like you.
Brigid Moloney
Just had a kick on you. I couldn't believe how good you were kicking at football.
Lauren Theodore
You just have to practice with my brother outside at night. Yeah. That was. Yeah. Well, there you go.
Brigid Moloney
Night time.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Kick to kick. You ain't allowed to go inside until you marked and kicked . Oh, wow. No wonder so did it.
Brigid Moloney
Because when I came to join you, I was so bad at kicking. Still am. Because I'd never picked up a football.
Lauren Theodore
You didn't grow up with AFL. They.
Brigid Moloney
And I didn't grow up. I didn't grow up watching it. Yeah, playing it, but I don't have brothers, so I never was cooking. Yeah. Kicking the footy around.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Yeah, that's what we did.
Brigid Moloney
I think it obviously all led you to this point.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. It's been an interesting transition, I think, from team sport to this individual sort of sport.
Brigid Moloney
What have you learned about yourself now that you've entered the world of endurance running?
Lauren Theodore
After the first coaster cozy, I felt that, no, I didn't want it to sound cocky because it's not that, but I just felt like I've done that. I can I can do any not anything. But, you know, like, I felt like I don't think anything is going to really hurt me now or like, not challenge me is definitely going to things that challenge me like this next one is like the next level of this.
But I just felt strong and I think my mindset changed a bit to to be not so much worry about what other people think of me. It's just more like, well, if they want to think that I can do this, then like I know within myself I can do these things. And that's what I'm happy about.
Brigid Moloney
Is that because they were skeptical about ultra running, like when you were worried about what they thought of you or do you? Oh, I just.
Lauren Theodore
In general, I probably pretty, grew up quite shy, quiet. I guess anxious about what people think of of me. Probably quite different to a lot of people now in terms of I don't do that party thing, I don't want to. I've never wanted to do that sort of thing. I never wanted to go down that pathway of drugs or anything like that, even though I've got probably a very addictive personality, like I'm quite addicted.
Once I get into something, I'm like, this is what I'm doing. But yeah, so I always have this anxiety, I guess, about what people think of me because I, I'm a little bit different in that sense too. I think, quite a lot of people that I'm been around in the last few years in different settings and I guess.
Yeah, now I just have this thought that, you know what? I don't care what you think, because this is who I am and this is what I'm going to do. Yeah, it's a really that's a tricky one to describe, but that's really I don't want it to sound like it's not an arrogance thing. It's just like, this is who I am.
And and I think that now after doing those few things, I can do more than I thought I could ever do.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. And it just doesn't matter what other people think. No. Because what you can do is far beyond what they've even tried.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Sometimes that. Yeah. At running you think it's going to run really fast past you and you're like plodding along and you kind of think, I wish we had signs on us that said, this is what I'm like training for. This is how far I'm going today, because you kind of feel like, oh, they must think I'm so slow.
But now I just have this mindset of like, that's probably what I used to think. But now it's like, do worry about it, because I know within myself what I'm doing. Yeah. And this is the process that I need to take to get to that spot. Yeah. To be able to do that distance. Yes. I'm going to run slow.
I'm not going to go out and run K at five minute per km. Pace is just never going to be achieved. So I train the way that I want to be and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. You're doing it for you. That's really cool. What a gift. But I just want everyone else to realize that they're more capable than what we think we are.
Yeah, you make you.
Brigid Moloney
I mean, you're definitely inspiring me. You're making me want to try something really challenging.
Lauren Theodore
Even, like, you know, you said to my anxious about what other people think in terms of my running in that, like.
Brigid Moloney
Well, you know, how you were saying earlier in the chat, some people thought you were mad because you were doing it. And so.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I think one of my driving factors though too, was pre the first coast to coast when I got a spot. You need to find out ten weeks beforehand so you don't really have like you got to have a base to a degree before you do it. And I tried to enlist the coach and that coach by email said to me, I said to them what I'd done, and I was about to do K and then I was had my spot in the K.
I said what I've done in the past, and they pretty much responded with, you realize coast to coast is a long way. And I was like, well, yeah, I didn't just apply for it for no reason. I did not look at it.
Brigid Moloney
I did Google the length. Yeah.
Lauren Theodore
And I possibly didn't look at the elevation that much, but I know it's going to the highest peak in Australia. Like come on. So that, that actually that was my driving force for that too. Was that noodle. It was it. Oh, you don't have to tell me like, what to do. I know I was just like, really?
Your business is coaching. Do you not just take on anyone that is willing to pay so that, yeah, they are the kind of like driving factors as well.
Brigid Moloney
You're like, I'll show you.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. I was like, I'm going to do this. I'm gonna do it by myself. And I and like, I've been talking to Tana and play poker dinner, talking about whether I see a dietitian nutritionist, coach do this, do that.
Brigid Moloney
How do you even know how to train and.
Lauren Theodore
Well, my thing now is I actually I almost don't want to do those things because I want to prove that anyone can do it. And I want to prove you can do it just by doing your own research. Like I listen to a lot of podcasts on my travels in my car.
Brigid Moloney
That's a bit like Courtney's mindset, isn't it?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I think, I don't know. She's got a coach now, does she? I don't know.
Brigid Moloney
Listen to a podcast with her from maybe three years ago. I don't know, maybe she had a coach. It was the retrial on and, she's not following. She's eating Macca's.
Lauren Theodore
I guess.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, she's just not. She doesn't monitor her heart, right?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
I dunno if she had a coach of those times where she didn't. Yeah. Oh she on the. She has no plan. Yeah. She has no training program. Yeah. She just wakes up in the morning and goes I'm going to do this today.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And then in that conversation they kind of nutted out the.
Lauren Theodore
That's.
Brigid Moloney
Spectacular because she's so in tune with her body. Yeah. She can tell what her body needs in that way to prepare for the run ahead.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
You know she's the best runner in the world.
Lauren Theodore
Like yeah. And I don't think like there's always things like technology and it's all these different things you could have. But what do we actually need? Yeah. And I think it's the mindset. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So have you just created your own program a bit like that just based on what you think you need?
Lauren Theodore
I don't have a program. I, I just try to be like her. The only plan that I have is I know that I'm going to build my case each week for so many weeks that I'm going to have a recovery week, drop it back a bit and then build again. And in there, I've got to be careful with my elevation as well.
I feel like I definitely don't get enough elevation training living on the Gold Coast. It's a little bit hard, and not having someone to go out in the trials with because that's when I'm going to get my elevation. So it's that safety barrier. That's why I don't get as many case, I do some gym steppers and things like that, just to get a little bit more climbing in.
But yeah, my plan is really just what I've taught myself and and how my body is feeling. I do a lot of multiday like multi runs in a day. That'll do two runs a day. I think my body works better doing two smaller runs than one big one. And realistically, for what I'm trying to do in my mind I think I'm going to be running for days.
So I'm just running on sore legs, so why not go, okay, I'm going to do K this morning and then I go to work and I'm going to come home, do another ten because I'm running on. So like still I'm tired. And that's how I have kind of found things worked better. I recover better that way for the next day than to go again.
Brigid Moloney
So to get out the door and like when you're tired like that and you might just want to snuggle up on the couch with a cup of tea, what gets you out the door? Just feel like I've that final goal. Like I want to cross that line.
Lauren Theodore
If I don't get out there and do that, I know. Yeah, but the likelihood of finishing is not going to be as high. I mean, this one is already a massive risk. Like, I've had the thoughts and I go through the thought process of am I going to make it? This is like nearly double the distance and double the elevation of what I've ever done before.
Yeah, but if I don't try, yeah. Now that's that fight that I was thinking of. Like, if you don't.
Brigid Moloney
Oh yeah. Tell us the quote.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Without the courage to fail, we don't attempt. And without attempting, we can't know if we will succeed. And that's part of my driving force now. Like, I just got to set that goal high. I've always sort of spoke about shooting for the main, you might land on the stars kind of thing, like you want to aim high because otherwise we don't know what will achieve.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, I've heard that. I don't know if it's his actual quote, but one of our mates, Brett Conlan, who got attacked by the shark and survived and he's now a motivational speaker, but he talks about that too. He's like, if you have all these goals that you % know are achievable and you hit them, that's worse than having a goal that seems out of reach and then hitting that goal.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So it's like you better off always aiming higher.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because Coco Downer, that just seems like such a huge challenge. Like I'm so impressed that you're taking that on. What's your what's your biggest is it the not running that you're worried about?
Lauren Theodore
There's a few things. So yeah. So the challenges that I have of the not running but the animals rattlesnakes, and mountain lions was the other one that I had read about. So I've had to sign a waiver, obviously, to say if anything happens out there in nature, that's my choice to be out there. So I did a bit of research into those things because that was a concern.
The mountain lions people have said to me like, was that I've touched base with through Instagram, I've lived here all my life. I've seen one or I've never seen any before. And I was like, kind of like, okay. So I think that's they might see us, but hopefully we don't. I don't see them or they just disappear.
But then in my head I was like, oh, there's no bears there because that's Arizona. I just imagine bears to be more Canada kind of Northern America. And I happened to just ask somebody something, oh, someone, someone mentioned in a video that I saw a bear and I was like, what was bear is like, am I gonna have a bear spray?
So I reached out to someone again and I was like, is that bears in Arizona like in this run? And I said, oh, yeah, but they're only brown bears. Like, is it black bears or brown bears? Not.
Brigid Moloney
They're both pretty gnarly.
Lauren Theodore
I know. Which is they're black bears.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. There's both isn't there was.
Lauren Theodore
Grizzly bears they like really gnarly. But anyway, apparently they're like, whatever they are black bears that that'd be fine. I was like, oh, so you do you carry bear spray with, you know, like, no, I thought, I think I might get some bear spray. So I think that's my biggest fear is like knowing. And I've been researching now, what do you do when you see a bear, like, do you, do you be noisy?
D be quiet, you know? DB you back off.
Brigid Moloney
Well, it can't hurt to be prepared.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I forgot my phone or anything. Spray put.
Brigid Moloney
This is this I don't.
Lauren Theodore
Know pepper spray. I don't really want em to come that close to need to use it, but I'm not sure you'll have time to whip it out like I've got poles too. I was thinking that when I was running the other day, I've got poles, so anything comes near me I can swing into. What's that archery mode or something?
Oh, love. Yeah. So that's my my fears of the animals and the night. Hopefully there'll be people around to keep me safe in the nighttime and from the animals. Because if there's groups of us, I won't be worried at all. Yeah, it's when I'm by myself that I'll be like, was that a snake or what was that?
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. And tiny and not near you.
Lauren Theodore
Your partner. And I'm always prepared, like even running here. If I go in any trail, I've got my snake bandage. You see, people have got nothing. I'm like, if you fall over or anything happens, you've actually got. No. If I stay with you whatsoever, you stay far away from your car. Yeah, yeah, I know I stepped on a big brown snake once, actually, down Great Ocean Road Trail, and I was by myself.
And I was like, if that like, no matter what happens if you actually do get it. Yeah. And I'm so glad it's like it just sat there and didn't move.
Brigid Moloney
So I just ran over the top like you didn't hit it, did you?
Lauren Theodore
I stepped right next to it and it was just like in the sun on the side of the trail. And that trails quite narrow. It's just got grass on the sides of it in patches, but it's definitely places where I'm just like, oh my gosh, some of the, some of the places we trek through in the grass is up to your waist or.
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Would be some advice you would give someone who's thinking about taking on new challenge, maybe not even necessarily ultramarathon running, but just wanting to push themselves and get out of their comfort zone.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I'd say go for it. I'll be my advice. Go for it. Because you never know unless you give it a go. Yeah, exactly. It might not be ultrarunning, but there's so many other activities and things are out there now. But I think just getting outside. Yeah. Whether it's bushwalking, rock climbing, whatever it might be, being in nature is the best thing for us.
Brigid Moloney
What are the benefits you find of just being outdoors all the time?
Lauren Theodore
I think there's really good health benefits, like obviously physically for the activity that I do out there, but mentally just, just clearing the mind and just like, it just takes you away. I don't even think of things really, like people saying, we do have music or I don't have any music. No. I just go out and immerse myself in the environment that I'm in.
And and I think that really is good to hear. A little bit stressed or things, you know, what's happening. Get out in nature. Take the time, enjoy the enjoy the space, take a picnic, whatever it might be like, I don't yeah, I don't do a lot of hiking, but there's times where I've gone to, you know, we went out to Gear Wayne National Park.
Yeah. I think four hours inland of here. And it's just like the rock formations and you think, oh, it's just a rock, but it's this amazing, like, incredible walk that you can go on out there. And it's just sitting there and sitting there enjoying the views of sitting. Watching the ocean is something just really therapeutic and relaxing about that.
And even like places that you have been before, like I go run down in Peterborough, down the coast in Victoria, and it's kind of like the Apostles area. And I could run that same track over and over and over and take film and photos every day, because I still just think it's incredible. But like, there's this sort of wonder, why is it still incredible when I see it day after day?
Yeah, but there's just something about the rawness of it, the colors, the plants, just how hardy they all are. And yeah, I think we just need to step out of our comfort and go and do something different. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
You kind of end up exploring the natural world and a bit of yourself.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. Same time. Yeah. And we're in the here for a short time. I saw this thing the other day. I was like, oh, these little squares. It was like, this is one year of your life. And then it counted out, say, ten years. That's one decade of your life. And then it went down and it was literally ticking them off as you went.
And I was like, oh my God. You know, that's saying you lived like this person was living to . And I was like, I'm already at . I've crossed out of those squares and colored, I mean, black actually don't have that many left to be able to do these things. They just get out and do it. Don't wait.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Don't wait.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
I think that's a good note to end on. But I do want to get you back to would you like to come back on the show after you've done Cocoa Donor.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. And I can say I finished it not doing it.
Brigid Moloney
Did not finish.
Lauren Theodore
Did not finish. Yeah. That's very hard. Like it's a long way. There's always a chance of that.
Brigid Moloney
And that's okay if that happens.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah I did.
Brigid Moloney
It.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Just giving it a crack. I think that's fine if you don't finish because like you said, you to go to attempt it and it'll still be an experience.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. You're like no, no I said that to me before about I go to that like, oh, it's just incredible that you're on the start line. I'm like, no, that's not what I'm here for. It's incredible to finish. I want to get to the end. I envisage I have to like, envisage these things and hope. I hope that I can see it.
So yeah, hopefully I would love to come back and share if I get to the finish.
Brigid Moloney
Well, I'd just be fascinated to hear about the experience in general.
Lauren Theodore
Thanks. When is cocoa data and I can't get any starts on May the th, so we're actually going for six weeks. Hopefully I can move and walk after it. We can go on holiday and explore and sightseeing. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So and what are you going to do before it.
Lauren Theodore
So we'll have about ten days before it is. We're picking up a van and going on a little road trip, but I'll just have to do a bit of running here and there. And yeah, we just make sure we're prepared. That's one of the big things, actually. We haven't touched on is nutrition. Yeah. So in the ten days, I guess leading up, I've got to get used to American food.
Lauren Theodore
And I'm not taking all my nutrition from here because I'm saying it's like weight, baggage, things like that. I, I'm just going to go over there and try some things. And probably one of the biggest mistakes to make in an ultra is trying new things. But I'll do some runs pre and try and find some foods that are similar to us.
As much as I can. What do you eat? I've had yes, few issues. So I used to do gels, the traditional gels and things, which when I first started running, I thought that was cheating. I was like, that's like taking a supplement. You can't do that. But everyone has gels. So I did that for a while, and I don't do it so much anymore because I just, I felt that I just played out with my teeth.
I get really sensitive teeth. Which I've learned. You have to brush your teeth throughout the run as well because that will help. Because we eat a lot of sugar. We eat a lot of what's in rubbish, okay?
Brigid Moloney
And that makes it taste so all the sugar.
Lauren Theodore
Well, sensitive. Yeah. My teeth got really sensitive. So you having like. Yeah. Sugar. And then you're having salt and vinegar. Like, I have salt and vinegar chips because I really want salt in my body as well. I don't want it to be, salt deprived. So yeah. The nutrition it's funny, you would get out there, do an exercise, but is it really great for us?
It's our body and we're eating rubbish. Right. So I'll be like Courtney do all day. I'm having, apparently the stations have, like, burgers and things you can order and cocktails and pizzas and all sorts of things. But yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Do you put salt in your water?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, I drink tailwind. The electrolyte salts, calories, everything in a liquid. Like it's a powder for me. Add it to water. And that sits quite well with my tummy and doesn't affect my teeth too much. So I'll drink a lot of tailwind. It's like liquid nutrition.
Brigid Moloney
And how much can.
Lauren Theodore
You.
Brigid Moloney
Do you feel like eating when you're racing?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah, it's tricky when I don't feel like eating after a while. But you need to because if you get, calorie deprived, it's really hard to come back from that. So that's why I think the liquid works quite well for me. The tailwind. Because I eat no matter what, then I can still get. I'm always going to want to drink so I can get that calories in.
I've had different things upset my tummy. The first coast to coast. If it was like my career would be laughing. Because my tummy was so upset. I don't know how many times I had to stop on the side of the road and go to the toilet. Oh my god. It's a real glamorous sport. Hey, but the Second Coast, because I did, I went with a lot more liquid nutrition, and it was great.
I went to the toilet once, but what.
Brigid Moloney
Was the foods that were upsetting your tummy?
Lauren Theodore
I think that first year I ate more whole foods, so not so much liquid calories. I every time I do invent, I'm like, I'm going to write down what I ate and I'm going to write down and lamb what I didn't like and did like. And I'm terrible. I don't do it. I had last year had jelly and I loved it.
I like milk chocolate. Milk's good on the run. When I can have that. And, yeah, I have a lot of music bars and things like that. Chips, Coke, CocaCola is really good. The caffeine. Yeah, I actually like a lot of people like it flat. I like it really fizzy. The sugar in it is really good for for that stage when you.
I try not to have it too early and something. I'll have it later. Stage ginger beer is really good. Ginger help settle the tummy as well. I have these ginger lollies. I will take those from Australia. I don't think I'll be able to get the ones that I like over there. Yeah, what else do I eat? Anything. It's just quite easy to go down really I baby food.
I found that since I changed from gels which can be quite expensive and not get the baby food patches from the supermarket myself. Funny standing in that aisle when you don't have kids. Yeah. Why am I behind these? Yeah. Baby food. Custard. Yeah. So I think growing up on Dairy Farm, I really love my milk. Yeah.
So if I can fuel on milk, I will coffee treat every now and then like a donut or something. And be good.
Brigid Moloney
How many coffees would you drink.
Lauren Theodore
On a run? Yeah. It's funny, I probably more have my coffees after training. Run like I love. That is like a treat after my run. Not really a treat because I have it every day now. Yeah, but I would drink chocolate milk on a run during my run. And I remember because it just like sculling it out of this two liter bottle that day.
I didn't even plan to have it, but my crew got it for me and I was like, oh, you guys are the best. And then there's this, like, pictures of me just guzzling two liters of.
Brigid Moloney
That made.
Lauren Theodore
Chocolate. I hadn't it wasn't around the first year I did Coast to Coast, so I was just on the traditional one. But now I have had net, and it's good protein recovery as well. So it's good for you, but your muscles. What a legend.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. You've met him, have it.
Lauren Theodore
Yeah. But legend.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah.
Lauren Theodore
He's amazing that someone can inspire a nation. I just. Yeah. And the pain that he went through. I think I'm reading his book at the moment. What he put his body through is next level. What that guy can do. Did he do permanent damage to his body? I wouldn't be surprised if there's some ongoing damage there, but similar thing like soft tissue at the time.
So I probably want to push through, but I think he's had a few like niggling things since as well. But I'm sure he'll do something just as incredible again. He's got that mindset and the drive, but now he's made it milk. So I'm super happy. That sponsorship would be good. Hey, yeah, that's milk, old Ned go nab you could be the.
Brigid Moloney
Female version of.
Lauren Theodore
Ned.
Brigid Moloney
Would you like to be one of those people?
Lauren Theodore
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Inspires the nation.
Lauren Theodore
I don't know if I could inspire the nation as long as I can inspire my nieces and nephews and, those people, I'd be really happy. Yeah. Oh.
Brigid Moloney
You've inspired.
Lauren Theodore
Me. Let's go for a run. Just to run together. I know.
Brigid Moloney
Well, thanks for coming on, love.
Lauren Theodore
Thanks for having me.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, and good luck. I think KS in the Arizona desert. Yeah. We will all be batting for you.
Lauren Theodore
Thank you. Bye bye.
Brigid Moloney
Thank you for carving out some time to listen to this story. You can see any links in the show notes. This show was produced, hosted and edited by me, which is a huge undertaking. So if you would like to sponsor the show or know anyone who would, please get in touch. In a spirit of reconciliation. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the bungling nation and their connections to land, sea and community.
I pay my respects to their elders past, present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. I hope you'll join me next time for another head of inspiration told through the lens of Mother Nature and these incredible women. Thanks and bye for now.