The Physiology of Endurance Running Podcast · Dan Nash and Owain Zerilli

Road to Valencia 2025 - Race recap

·1 hr 49 min·5 clips

Jen went through halfway in 1:14:28, then the race changed completely after 30k.

The episode opens with the familiar pre-race haze of standing in the car park and walking down to the start in the dark. The mood is excited, but in that slightly unreal way that comes with thousands of people heading the same direction and trying not to think too hard. There is a quick look back at the past 12 weeks of preparation, including a session in the Dolomites in the rain and dark that now feels a long way off. That gives the whole Valencia build a sense of having arrived quickly, even if the training block itself felt steady enough. From there, the conversation slips into loose pre-race banter about Spotify unwrapped, weddings, illness, and the general state of everyone involved. The travel to Valencia then takes over the story, and it does not go smoothly. The bags are fine, but the train is not: it leaves 20 minutes late and then starts rebooting itself at a station, with the lights and screens cutting in and out every few minutes. That delay pushes arrival from around four to just after six, which makes an already busy Thursday feel even more chaotic. Even so, the plan stays intact. They still go to the expo, because it is open Thursday night and they would rather deal with the hassle then than carry it into Friday. The run from the hotel or apartment to the nearest metro takes about 35 minutes, followed by the metro and another 15-minute walk to the expo. Once there, the tone is practical rather than celebratory: get the number, get out, and avoid hanging around the stands any longer than necessary. The speaker makes it clear they do not want to be there more than they have to be. The episode ends by setting up a more detailed breakdown for next week. They want to pick apart what went wrong, what should be done differently next time, and what the learning is once the adrenaline drops. There is also talk of bringing Dave on, checking the compliance score, seeing what everyone thinks, and finding out whether the next race is sorted. The finish stays grounded in recovery and the hope of being back to jogging soon, with a bit of unfinished business still hanging around in the background.

As heard by us

A race recap that folds travel delays, start-line nerves, and expo logistics into the story.

This race recap sits in the quiet after a long weekend: the nerves at the start line, the look back over the last 12 weeks, and the travel mess runners know too well. Its strength is the candor.

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Want the race-week chaos, not just the result?

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