Is This Invisible Thing Slowing Down Your Race Times?

Running Life balance is BS + Mona Fartlek Workout To Try

The Game Plan:

• 🍳 The 4 Burners Theory for Runners: You Can’t Cook It All at Once

• 😷 Is This Invisible Thing Slowing Down Your Race Times?

• 📋Workout: Mona Fartlek — Australia’s gift to the running world

The 4 Burners Theory for Runners: You Can’t Cook It All at Once

Why Balance Is Overrated.

I got 75% into my last marathon block and hit a wall. Not the running kind, but the existential mind-blowing, inner workings kind. Fifteen minutes post long run, sitting in a puddle of sweat, tired af and wanting electrolyte carb mix even though I’ve had four servings and it’s only 6:45 am.

I started questioning everything: Did I go all in on the wrong thing?

Was marathon training really the priority right now, or was it pulling heat away from things that actually mattered: family, work, rest?

That’s when it hit me — I’d totally violated the rules of the 4 Burners Theory, where “work-life” balance actually isn’t something you should strive for. (shoutout James Clear for the OG idea).

Here’s the deal: imagine your life as a stovetop with four burners:

1. Running & Fitness

2. Work & Ambition

3. Family & Relationships

4. Health & Self-Care

Crank ‘em all at max? You burn out. Turn one or two down for a season? That’s how you actually make progress without wrecking the kitchen. Most of the time, it’s about rotating burners, not blasting them all at once.

Marathon block? Fitness gets fire, social life simmers.

Company work sprint on a three-week project out of town? Fitness dials down, sleep stays lit.

But I hear the haters in the back thinking this is some sage, crystals, and kumbaya balance talk. Nope! This is about going all in and having the energy (gas!) to do it. I’m an obsessive mofo, and to do great things, you must live unbalanced for a season (seasons can be a few days, weeks, months or years). That’s exactly why the Four Burners works.

It gives you permission to focus like a beast. And then, when the time’s right, shift the heat to what matters next.

So yeah… sometimes you gotta go full unbalanced to do great/weird things. Wanna run a 100-mile race? Wanna launch that wild business idea? Wanna see what you’re really made of? Well, go ahead and start cooking (as the Gen-Z kids say) with all the burners on, let the alarms go off, and prove to yourself you’re a crazy person that gets 💩 done.

😷 Is This Invisible Thing Slowing Down Your Race Times?

You might be able to outrun the hills and the clock, but can you outrun the air itself?

In this episode, you’re going to learn:

• The crazy ways air pollution can steal your speed—and how to fight back.

• Where to find real-time data so you can dodge the smoggiest spots on your route? Hang tight because the solution is super easy, and it will get even better.

• Why taking care of your lungs now sets you up for better running long-term.

• And much more

Remember that first time you laced up your shoes and thought, “Okay, I’m about to do this —I’m a runner”? Back then, the challenge was about building distance or learning to suffer through fast intervals. There’s actually a bigger problem hovering around every corner: air pollution.

Watch, read, and listen to the full episode here on your next run as I break down what’s actually going on in your lungs when the air isn’t exactly fresh.

📋Workout: Mona Fartlek — Australia’s gift to the running world

This is unstructured chaos disguised as art and famous for a reason.

I just did this for the first time, and I gotta say that I absolutely love it! It caters to the speed demon/fast twitch folks, but just like I don’t play nice with tempo runs, slow twitch folks should do this like they should be eating their veggies.

What is it?

The Mona Fartlek is a 20-minute running workout cooked up by Aussie legend Steve Moneghetti, a retired Olympic professional runner and world championship medal holder.

It’s simple: alternate between running hard and chilling (well, “chilling” at a jog). The lineup:

• 2 x 90 sec hard, 90 sec jog

• 4 x 60 sec hard, 60 sec jog

• 4 x 30 sec hard, 30 sec jog

• 4 x 15 sec hard, 15 sec jog

That’s it. You’re in, you’re out.

How to do it

Start with 15-20 minutes of easy running to wake up the legs. Then hit the intervals above, keeping the hard bits hard (but not death-march hard) and the jogs relaxed, not walking. Wrap it up with 5-15 min easy running to cool down. Pro tip: do it on a flat road or trail so you’re not dodging curbs or cars.

Why it’s important

This workout hits both your aerobic and anaerobic engines. Translation: it makes you better at going fast and bouncing back. It also sharpens your pace control, teaches you to handle speed changes, and fits into pretty much any training block without wrecking you. Fast, fun, and efficient — what’s not to like?

Fun Fact - Steve Moneghetti (love that name btw!) has the record for a classic point to point race here in Sydney, Australia called “City To Surf”. You go from the middle of the city to the beach… pretty dope and super hilly. But his record time is 40 minutes and 3 seconds back in 1991 (24 years ago!) Absolute bananas CRAZY! For reference, most fast people do it between 55-70 minutes, and my fastest time to date is 53 minutes.