#206 Should you run the Oslo Marathon? | With Matt Smith

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Kristian welcomes back Matt Smith, South Africa's Winter Olympic cross country skier known as the Snowbok, for round two of their conversation, this time diving into the messy reality of training through illness, breaking down the Oslo Marathon course, and flipping the format so Matt gets to ask Kristian questions too.

Matt shares how a chopped up training block full of sickness has tested him in a way his Olympic buildup never did, and the two compare notes on how to tell the difference between pushing through a tickle in your throat and actually needing to rest. Matt also picks Kristian's brain on hilly course strategy ahead of the Oslo Marathon, drawing on lessons from over 200 podcast episodes and Kristian's own marathon experience. If you haven't listened to their first conversation yet, this one builds directly on it and stands alone just as well.

In this episode:

- Training through a chopped up block full of sickness

- How to tell the difference between pushing through and needing rest

- Using resting heart rate as the one metric that matters

- Lessons in patience from athletes who've dealt with stress fractures

- Matt turns the tables and starts asking Kristian questions

- A full breakdown of the Oslo Marathon course, hill by hill

- Race day nutrition strategy for hilly courses

- Why negative splitting hilly marathons is so tricky

- Sending in listener questions for a future Q&A episode

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome back and what this episode covers

01:35 Kristian's biggest training week since his professional days

17:11 What actually makes being sick or injured so hard

19:36 Matt's sickness free Olympic buildup, then a rough patch since

20:32 The mindset shift: being really good at being sick

24:12 Learning patience from stress fracture recovery stories

26:49 The cross country skier stereotype around getting sick

29:43 When listening to your body stops giving clear answers

35:52 Comparing notes on staying healthy through a training block

38:57 Diving into the hilly Oslo Marathon course

40:29 Starting at Radhusplassen and heading into Vigeland Park

46:26 A full course tour: hills, forest, and the finish

47:12 Why the course offers such a unique city experience

1:00:52 Gear tips: half tights built for carrying race nutrition

1:02:47 The risk of relying on friends for on course nutrition

1:05:01 Closing thoughts and send in your questions

Matt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattcsmith_/

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Full episodes + the Boston 2025 documentary: https://www.youtube.com/@Warwickruns

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