Coach JP’s Blog
The Performance Pressure Cooker
An anonymous $10,000 donation pushed the Solstice Run fundraiser beyond anything I imagined. Alongside relief at exceeding my fundraising target, I found myself facing a different challenge: the pressure to perform. A reflection on expectations, ego, Stoicism, and finding the fun when the stakes feel high.
What Counts as 'Hard Work'? (Hint: It’s Not Just Sweating and Suffering)
Hard work in fitness is not just sweating and suffering. Real progress comes from training with intent, sticking with the basics long enough to adapt, prioritising recovery, and having the discipline to hold back when needed. Here is how to tell the difference between feeling tired and getting better.
Always Ready: When Achievement Isn’t Enough
After finishing my first ultra faster than expected, I felt oddly empty. This Always Ready essay explores post goal letdown, why struggle can feel more meaningful than success, and how purpose shifts when training becomes useful, aligned, and bigger than just testing your limits.
Always Ready: Building for the Long Run in 2026
Always Ready is a long-term training project about building durability, balance, and real-world capability. This opening article explores why I’m shifting away from specialisation, what this year’s events demand, and how plans start changing as soon as real life shows up.
Hard Work Looks Different in the Winter
Winter changes how training feels, but it does not mean progress has stopped. This article explores why motivation drops in winter, how to adjust expectations without quitting, and what hard work really looks like when consistency matters more than intensity.
Unpacking Movember: What I Learned Grinding Through 510 km Last Month
A raw reflection on my 510 km Movember challenge, the emotional and physical toll it took, the small breakthroughs that kept me moving and the questions I am still sitting with as I figure out what the month truly meant.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Lessons I’ve Learned The Hard Way About Recovery
This article explores why so many men push too hard, ignore recovery, and break down quietly. Learn how stress, poor sleep, overtraining, and daily pressure affect performance and longevity, and get practical strategies to train smart, recover well, and stay strong for the long haul.
Ditching The Dad Bod: A Middle-Age Rebellion Against Decline
Many men quietly slide into the dad bod without realising it. This article explores how strength, energy, and capability fade when life gets busy, and how to reclaim them through purposeful training, better nutrition, and mindset shifts that last. A guide to feeling strong and capable again at any age.
What Balanced Training Actually Looks Like (Hint: It’s Not a 6-Day Split)
Many people think training harder means training better, but the truth is, more isn’t always more. This Hard Work Wednesday post explores what balanced training really looks like, showing how to combine strength, conditioning, endurance, mobility, and recovery to build a capable, resilient, long-term athlete.
Train Like a Generalist, Not a Specialist
Most people don’t need to train like a pro athlete. Specialisation builds strength in one lane but often creates imbalances and injuries. This article explores why training like a generalist leads to better resilience, broader capability, and long-term health — and how to put it into practice.
Maintaining Your "Trail Legs" When You’re Stuck Indoors
It’s absolutely possible to maintain the “spring” in your legs while stuck indoors, whether that be due to the current pandemic “shutdown”, bad winter weather, or the wildfire smoke we’ve seen over the past few years. You just need three simple things: Leg Blasters, Skipping or Hopping (depending on whether or not you have a skipping rope), and Flutter Kicks.
2020 Spartan Race Prep - Run / Mountain Training
In 2020, we have several athletes looking to complete their first Spartan Trifecta, and lots looking to make a return to the Spartan course for a Sprint or Super. I’m really pleased to see so many of you sharing my enthusiasm for the challenge of Spartan races, and I look forward to an even more successful year on the mountains and trails in 2020!
So far, all of you who are part of The BTG Spartan Team for 2020 have run at least one Spartan race before, so you have a good idea of the basics. We’re going to take things up a notch (or three!) in our preparation for the 2020 races to get you all to where you’re not just completing your chosen races, but to where you can feel that you’re actually “competitive” and putting in a performance you’ll be really proud of.
Because most of the races we have on our tentative schedule take place on challenging, mountainous courses, prepping your legs for that challenge will be our main focus. We want to build speed, power and durability so that you can crush those hills and still feel relatively fresh when you get to the obstacles…
Once Again, I Have Failed
Sunday, September 29, 2019
On yesterday’s Valley Vertikiller 25K Clinic training run, I failed.
Right around the 15K mark of a planned 20K distance (with 1,100m of climbing!), my legs fought back against my will with a vengeance. Excruciating cramps in my hip flexors, quads and adductors literally brought me to a standstill, and I had to will my muscles to relax enough to keep moving forward. Every step from that point forward was an exercise in suffering and anger.