When we think about nutrition for a 100 or 200 miler, it’s pretty easy to jump straight to race day.

What goes in the drop bags? Gels or real food? How much do I need to eat?

But Gaby Villa reckons we need to start much earlier than that.

Gaby is a dietitian, sports nutritionist and endurance athlete who works with ultra-endurance athletes, and in this special Delirious West 2027 episode we chat about how nutrition fits into the whole training journey, not just the few days we’re out on course.

We get into why simply eating “healthy” isn’t necessarily the same thing as fuelling an ultra runner, the sessions runners often forget to fuel, and why the way you practise your race nutrition matters more than simply discovering that a particular food doesn’t upset your stomach.

There’s also some interesting chat about gels, real food, carb loading, hydration and my apparently very useful Delirious craving for iced coffee. 😂

And if this episode leaves you with a question for Gaby, send it in. She’s agreed to come back if we collect enough listener questions.

👉 Send your nutrition questions to Gaby here

This one gave me plenty to think about.

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website: https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ Event Facebook group: Join the Delirious West Facebook group

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do - Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 Find out more about Feel Like a Runner Again

1️⃣ If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast - it helps more runners discover these conversations.

2️⃣ I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you (or someone you know) has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.

We’ve got something new for the Delirious West 2027 series!

Once a month I’ll be catching up with Delirious race medic Kat Booth for a quick chat about the things that might help keep you moving during the 100 or 200 miler, and hopefully mean you need to visit Kat and the medic team a little less often. 😂

For our first chat, we’re talking feet.

More specifically, should you be pre-taping known hotspots before Delirious?

Kat has some fairly strong opinions on this one.

We get into how you can start figuring out your own problem areas during training, why something that works perfectly well on a normal run might be a very different story after many, many hours on your feet, and why even one tiny grain of sand can cause considerably more trouble than you’d expect.

There’s also some chat about shoes, socks, gaiters, bunions and a certain blister treatment Kat would very much like you to leave at home.

And apparently I’m now having a monthly “quickie with Frosty” with Kat. Her words, not mine. 😂

We want to hear from you! If you’re preparing for Delirious West, or another big ultra, and have questions about looking after yourself from a medic’s perspective, send them through.

Kat will be answering listener questions in our upcoming monthly catch-ups.

👉 Submit your questions for Kat here: Send Kat your questions

If you’re training for Delirious, your feet might want you to listen to this one!

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website: https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/

Event Facebook group: Join the Delirious West Facebook group

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do, Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 Find out more about Feel Like a Runner Again

1️⃣ If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast. It helps more runners discover these conversations.

2️⃣ I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you (or someone you know) has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.

Nikki Frost is back for another Delirious W.E.S.T. series.

And yes, she’s also my daughter, which means there is absolutely no shortage of opinions about who is responsible for any of this. 😂

Nikki’s relationship with running started long before she had much say in the matter, thanks to a childhood spent being dragged along to running events by her mother. Then, after barely running for years, things escalated rather quickly from getting her 10,000 steps a day to ultras.

In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get into that slightly accidental return to running, Nikki’s rather relaxed approach to planning enormous events despite being ridiculously organised in every other part of her life, and what happened when she took on the Delirious 200 in 2026.

That attempt didn’t quite go to plan.

Now she’s coming back to finish the job, with a 100 miler at Kosciuszko along the way and a potentially questionable new member of her crew learning the ropes.

This could be an interesting six months. 😂

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website Event Facebook group

💛 Running used to clear your head. Now it’s another thing weighing on it. Let’s change that.

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do, Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 Find out more about Feel Like a Runner Again

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast. It helps more runners discover these conversations.
2. I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you, or someone you know, has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.

Stuart Rainbow has already had a rather complicated relationship with the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler.

There’s been a DNF, a return trip, a finish line… and at one point a very definite “never again”.

So naturally, he’s coming back in 2027. 😂

In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we go back to how Stuart somehow progressed from running 10K on a treadmill to deciding that 200 miles sounded like a reasonable idea.

We also get into the Delirious experiences that have shaped how he approaches the race now, including one fairly memorable lesson about feet, sand and just how much trouble a blister can cause.

But this build has another challenge.

After spending the past six months dealing with a ruptured plantar fascia, Stuart is only just starting to put some bigger runs together again. And, rather neatly, the day we recorded this was exactly six months until Delirious.

The countdown has officially started.

And yes, Stuart still has very strong opinions about gaiters. 😂

Stuart’s video of the blister year: Watch Stuart’s Delirious West video

Thinking about taking on Delirious West yourself?

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website: https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/

Event Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428304207182387

💛 Running used to clear your head. Now it’s another thing weighing on it. Let’s change that.

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do, Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 Feel Like a Runner Again

🙏 A couple of big favours

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast. It helps more runners discover these conversations.
2. I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you, or someone you know, has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

🎧 Don’t miss an episode

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.

Shane Connolly is currently travelling around Europe, lives out of a Troopy when he’s back in Australia, and has signed up for his first 200 miler.

This feels entirely consistent with the rest of his life. 😂

In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Shane and how a bloke who discovered he was pretty handy at a 5K rather quickly found himself wanting to run much, much further.

There’s a travelling lifestyle that has taken him around Australia and now Europe, a love of exploring places on foot, and a tendency to choose running challenges that scare him just enough to keep things interesting.

We also chat about why Shane spent three months living near the course before his first 100 miler, what he’s learned from volunteering at Delirious for the past two years, and the slightly unusual Delirious training block currently happening somewhere between the Dolomites, France and whatever country comes next.

There is one small complication involving a knee.

And Shane is also, by his own admission, very competitive.

This could get interesting.

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website Event Facebook group

💛 Running used to clear your head. Now it’s another thing weighing on it. Let’s change that.

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do, Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 Feel Like a Runner Again

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast. It helps more runners discover these conversations.
2. I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you, or someone you know, has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.

Ashling Rogan isn’t entirely sure she’d call herself a runner.

Which is interesting, because she’s currently training for the Delirious W.E.S.T. 100 miler. 😂

In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Ash and how running went from something easy and convenient to something that became much more important in her life.

There were some pretty tough years along the way, and running gradually became a place where Ash could get some time for herself, disappear onto the trails for a few hours and discover she might be capable of more than she thought.

Somewhere in there, things escalated rather quickly into ultras.

We also chat about the Delirious 100, why an event that once seemed completely unreachable started to look a little different after Ash experienced it from the other side, and the fact that this adventure is becoming something of a family affair.

Oh, and apparently Ash runs to terrible music.

Her words, not mine. 😂

There’s plenty to follow between now and March, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website: https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/

Event Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428304207182387

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do - Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 https://www.zenrun.app/courses/feel-like-a-runner-again

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast - it helps more runners discover these conversations.
2. I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you, or someone you know, has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.

How often do you expect every run to feel exactly the same?

This week’s ZenRUN Moment is a gentle reminder that every run meets a different version of you. Some days you feel energised, strong, and ready to go. Other days your legs feel heavy, your mind is busy, or you’re simply running on empty. Instead of fighting those days or wishing you felt different, today’s invitation is to let your run meet you where you are.

If you’re feeling tired, run a little softer. If life has been stressful, slow the pace and let your breathing settle. If you’re feeling flat, simply enjoy moving your body without expecting a personal best. Your run doesn’t have to prove anything. By adjusting your expectations to match the day, you create space to enjoy running instead of battling against it.

There’s a lesson here that reaches well beyond running. We spend so much of life comparing today with yesterday or expecting ourselves to perform at our best all the time. But real progress comes from working with ourselves, not against ourselves. On your next run, notice how you’re feeling before you decide how the run should unfold. You might discover that the runs where you stop fighting yourself become the ones you needed most.

Small moments of awareness like this can completely change the way running feels.

💛 Running used to clear your head. Now it’s another thing weighing on it. Let’s change that.

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do, Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 https://www.zenrun.app/courses/feel-like-a-runner-again

A couple of small favours

1️⃣ If you're enjoying the podcast, a quick follow, like, or review helps more runners discover it.

2️⃣ Got a running story - or know someone we should chat with? I'd love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club

or email hello@zenrun.club

Murray Hodgson has been running in one form or another for most of his life, but at 66 he reckons the best might still be ahead of him.

And somehow, retirement has turned into a rather serious backyard ultra habit. 😂

In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Murray, from growing up as one of nine kids in Geelong to a teaching career that eventually took him overseas for almost three decades.

Running has woven its way through a lot of that story, although not always in the way you might expect.

We chat about why Murray says running makes him feel alive, how his son introduced him to backyard ultras, and why a handshake in Melbourne has now landed him on the start line at Delirious.

There’s also one part of Murray’s story that puts his love of being able to run into a very different perspective.

And then there’s his current view of Delirious itself.

Apparently it might just be a training run. 😂

This is going to be a fun journey to follow.

If the stories in this series are giving you that little itch to be part of it, have a look at the event details and see whether 2027 might be your year.

Delirious WEST event website: https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/

Event Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428304207182387

💛 Running used to clear your head. Now it’s another thing weighing on it. Let’s change that.

If you’re tired of dragging yourself out the door, feeling guilty when you don’t, or comparing every run to what you used to do, Feel Like a Runner Again is for you.

This practical program helps you quiet the mental noise, drop the pressure, and rediscover running as time for yourself.

Less “I should go for a run.” More “I’ve missed this.”

👉 https://www.zenrun.app/courses/feel-like-a-runner-again

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast. It helps more runners discover these conversations.
2. I’m always looking for runners to interview. If you, or someone you know, has a running story to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Find me on Facebook or Instagram @ZenRUN.club or email hello@zenrun.club

Subscribe to the ZenRUN Podcast in your favourite podcast app so new conversations land straight in your ears.