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.

Sam and Katie catch up with Sam Sprowles 🎙️

Sam's only been running since early 2024 after taking on the March Charge fundraiser for Cancer Council following the loss of his father to cancer. What started as a goal of running 200km in a month quickly turned into something much bigger.

Since then he's run 18:21 for 5k at Husky Parkrun, 1:24:41 for the half marathon (including a 39:49 10k split), and is now building towards the Sydney Marathon with a sub-3-hour goal in sight. 🏃‍♂️

Working with coach Brady Nankervis, he's currently running around 80km per week and building towards 100km. Long runs have progressed to 28km with marathon pace efforts included, while race-day fueling is being dialled in with Pure gels, sodium targets and beachside bottle drops around Callala.

The journey hasn't been straightforward either. A torn ACL from a motorbike accident cost him the 2024 Sydney Marathon and required months off running. Through rehab, strength work and a shift from heel striking to a more mid-foot landing, he's been able to return stronger while managing ongoing knee issues.

Sam and Katie also recap their training weeks.

Sam battled illness throughout the week but still managed 79km, including an 18:55 win at Bega Parkrun and a 24km long run with 250m of climbing. With Sydney Harbour 10k approaching, the focus is now on getting healthy and back into consistent training.

Katie put together her biggest week since September with 52km, including a 5×800m + 5×400m track session and plenty of strength work. Pilates continues to play a big role in managing her knee while postponing meniscus surgery.

☕️ Café Kit of the Week – Nike AeroSwift Half Tights – Costco Compression Boots – EKO Bone-Conduction Bluetooth Sunglasses ($19 Big W special 😎)

📣 News & Shoutouts • Discussion around Zone 2 training and the importance of genuinely easy running • Sydney Marathon build-up and marathon pacing strategies • Michael Donald and William Hilston both complete Comrades Marathon in 10:35:02 • Debate around racing shoes, stability and marathon-day choices • Running with headphones in group runs — practical or social crime? 👀

A great chat with one of the South Coast's rapidly improving runners — from fundraising challenge to chasing a sub-3 marathon in little over a year. Plenty of lessons on patience, consistency and adapting when injuries threaten to derail the journey. 💪🏽🏅

Sam catches up with Jordan Miles from the Good Good Running podcast 🎙️

Jordan has become one of the familiar voices in Australian recreational running through Good Good Running, but his own running journey has been anything but straightforward. A self-coached runner balancing life as a paramedic, husband and dad, Jordan joins the podcast to discuss his progression from struggling through 2.5km fitness runs after footy to running 15:55 for 5K and 33:13 for 10K.

After finishing his football career, Jordan initially took up running as a way to stay fit, racing events like Bridge to Brisbane and gradually building consistency around a demanding paramedic roster. A breakthrough came after addressing significant iron deficiency anaemia, leading to rapid improvements that saw him progress from a recreational runner into a 33:13 10K and 15:55 5K athlete.

The conversation explores the training that underpinned those performances, including early morning threshold sessions, mile repeats around the famous Swamp Loop, and consistent 25–30km long runs. Jordan explains how training alongside Macca, Chris and the wider Gold Coast crew elevated his running without the need for formal coaching, despite working rotating 12-hour shifts and long commutes.

Jordan also opens up about a difficult run of injuries, including a proximal femur stress fracture, a subsequent stress reaction, and most recently an ATFL ankle tear after rolling his ankle on driftwood. Five weeks removed from the injury, he discusses his gradual return to training, plans to build back towards 70km per week, and why he'll be treating the upcoming Gold Coast 10K as a controlled threshold effort rather than an all-out race.

The discussion also dives into the origins and growth of Good Good Running. Jordan reflects on the imposter syndrome he felt before recording their first episode, the evolution from a casual podcast recorded over beers into one of Australia's fastest-growing running shows, and the unique accessibility that makes the running community special. From interviewing athletes like Andy Buchanan, Jen Gregson, Izzy Doyle and Moose to sharing coffees with elite runners after races, Jordan believes running remains one of the few sports where everyday runners can interact directly with the country's best athletes.

Along the way, the pair discuss balancing training with family life, lessons learned from injury setbacks, race-week preparation, the realities of shift work, footy culture, running pet hates, and why consistency remains the most important ingredient in long-term improvement.

A great chat with one of the most relatable voices in Australian running. 🎧🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️