Jess recently took out the Wollongong Running Festival 10K and joined the podcast to talk through her journey from country NSW to NCAA competition and back to running after years of injury setbacks.

Growing up in Forbes, Jess played just about every sport before eventually focusing on running. That decision led her to the University of Florida, where she built an impressive résumé including PBs of 15:34 for 5000m and 34:08 for 10,000m.

Jess spoke about the challenge of moving to the US as a young athlete, adapting to higher training loads, and the lessons learned under Gerard Ryan in Canberra and later Chris Solinsky at the University of Florida. A breakthrough training block in 2018 helped take her running to another level, with patient, consistent training becoming a key theme throughout her career.

Unfortunately, injuries eventually took their toll. Jess opened up about tearing her plantar fascia, suffering stress fractures, and spending years caught in the cycle of rehab and setbacks before stepping away from competitive running altogether.

Now, after around eight months back running, Jess has rediscovered her love for the sport. With no pressure around performances, she's focused on building a strong foundation through consistent mileage, gym work, cross-training and enjoying the process again. A half marathon could be on the cards later this year, with Canberra, Olympic Park and Shellharbour all discussed as potential options.

🏃‍♂️ Weekly Training Updates

Sam worked through a solid 85km week despite illness in the household, juggling training with baby duties and plenty of kilometres alongside Twix. The discussion also touched on calorie tracking, nutrition and balancing performance goals with weight management.

Katie provided an update on her return to running following a torn meniscus. Strength work, Pilates and careful progression continue to form the backbone of her training as she weighs up whether surgery is still necessary.

👟 Gear, Racing & Running Culture

Jess shared her current shoe rotation, including the Vomero Plus, Vomero Premium, Superblast 2, Cloudmonster Hyper, Deviate Nitro Elite and Megablast.

The group also reviewed recent results from the NSW Cross Country Championships and the inaugural Parramatta Half Marathon, before wrapping up with a rant about fitness influencers filming entire workouts with tripods and the eternal frustration of groups walking four-wide across shared paths.