Trans-Australia, September to November 2022
From September 22nd, 2022, Mat Grills will be attempting to run across Australia. From Steep Point in Western Australia (the most westerly point on mainland Australia) to Byron Bay in New South Wales (the most easterly point), he will need to run around 100km/day for 50 days.
Mat will be giving us regular updates on progress in the build up: logistics, coordination, sponsorship, work/family and, of course, training.
Enjoy the trip!
February 16th, 2022
A little behind schedule with so much going on, Part 2 comes just a few days after the inaugural 'Go Figure' (mentioned in Mat's entry below).
On a big course in tough conditions, he managed to reel in 2nd place.
Safe to say preparation is on track, though it's early days of course!
Consistency and Commitment
First, thank you to everyone who posted so positively and for all the well wishes on the first X-Country post published by Alun and AAA Racing. It is humbling, nerve racking and overwhelmingly exciting thinking about the project ahead of us. To know that people are watching, following and anticipating what I will and will not do, adds that little bit of pressure. All in a good way though! I cannot wait to share the journey!
Anyone who knows me knows that one of the biggest things I preach is consistency. In all areas but particularly in training. Since my last post, this has been my sole focus. Since running 10x 50k and forty marathons back-to-back, my motivation, mental state and consistency has been a long way from where I would like them to be. It has taken a minute to begin to return to my former self. However, I have been gentle on myself, still got decent kms in each week but last Monday decided enough was enough. It was time to stop entertaining my monkey mind convincing me to take it easy. It was time to begin to push forward and get that consistency back and returning to the Grills of old.
It has gone well. I had a solid week of training last week and on track for a good one this week also. With Go Figure 80k in a week and a half, it is almost time to taper. This train, race, rest repeat process will be welcome in the next couple of months as my body/mind continues to heal and I forge forward strongly, preparing for the x-country adventure.
Consistency and commitment to something doesn’t only hold true in running though. In actively preparing for this challenge, over the last two years I have sent emails, made phone calls, put myself out there on social media and really taken hit after hit, (with a few wins here and there) never having much love finding sponsors for this run. Over the last month or two though, my thoughts around ‘putting myself out there’, accepting the knock backs and trusting the right people will come along when they need to’ mentality has begun to pay off. Prayers and positivity are being answered.
The crew is all but set for the run. With possibly four guys giving up two months of their lives to for the whole trip and another couple coming in and out, the team is being built! It is looking like we may have a financial sponsor for the run, and I am now collaborating with a high-performance mental coach/biomarker expert who has a large reach in relation to accessing further sponsors and building a team around me to make my body and mind bullet proof September. This Friday, the team looking at doing our documentary has a meeting with the Netflix USA. I am sooo nervous about this and the along with the potential fulfilment of this dream! We’ll keep you posted.
So, as you can see, consistency and commitment in running has all sorts of on-flow effects in all areas of life. The benefits that cross over from running to normal life are endless. They are integral practices to build into everything we do, improving all the time. Two words/disciplines I do my best to live by every day in all I do.
Much love friends. I look forward to seeing some of you at Go Figure and having a solid crack at the new course. Good times and much love. Have a rad month and until next time, Consistency + Commitment.
Matt Grills
February 1st, 2022
Recognise this guy?
Well, he has a big year coming up and we've been chatting with Matty with regard to something big he's got coming up later this year and thought it would be cool to get the scoop on what's going on every few weeks and see how he's progressing.
For now though, I'll let him tell you all about it!
From end to end ...
Hey, AAA Family, what's happening?!
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mat Grills. A family-orientated person (married with two daughters 12 and 8), owner of two specialty coffee shops. Generally ‘getting on with it’, as most are.
Some of you may have seen me at races or on social media and Alun Davies of AAA Racing & Coaching asked would I like to do a little writing and contribute some content for the AAA Gang in the lead up to an event I am doing later this year. So, a little background:
I have been floating around the Australian ultra and trail running scene for since the late 2000s having competed in over 50 ultramarathons both in Australia and the USA (Leadville 100) in that time, including many AAA Racing events and have known Alun and Susannah for quite some time.
I have been reasonably successful in a number of these races and hang my hat on my consistent training, hard work and daily practice of getting out the door and simply putting one foot in front of each other. My favourite race distance is 100 miles on trail, having run The Glasshouse 100, UTA 100km, The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail 100, a self-organised 200miler, the inaugural Buffalo Stampede and Coast to Kosciuszko (taking out the win at the Buffalo Stampede is among my proudest achievements).
A huge generated by my running is the time I’m able to spend with my dad, Stewy. We ran a relay from Bundaberg to Brisbane and back together along with heap of other races over time.
I maintain a substantial training volume and tend to run minimally: shirtless and dressed in my tattooed exterior. I love bringing good vibes and seeing people do their best whether that means running their first km or completing a 100 miles. I get so much Joy from seeing people set a goal and achieving it!
So, I guess the reason Alun has asked me to start doing this is to
a) Generate awareness
b) Give some insight into the preparation and what it takes to undertake such a venture and
c) Actually tell you what that venture is!
Some eight years in the mind and almost as long in the planning, later this year, starting on September 22nd, I will be leaving Steep Point (the most westerly point of Australia) and running 100km/day for 50 days to Byron Bay (the most easterly point of Australia).
There’s been a lot of preparation already undertaken, having run a half marathon at least for 100 consecutive days in 2019 and in the second half of 2021, we completed 50 consecutive days of at least marathon distance with 10 of those days hitting 50km (I say we as it couldn’t have been done without the support of family and friends).
Over the coming months, I will keep you in the loop with updates on my training, racing and any other random activities I get up to! We missed out on Hares & Hounds due to the reshuffle, but I’m sure I’ll catch up with some of you at other events as the calendar unfolds. I am looking forward to getting back to racing and building toward the September.
Hopefully, my writing and adventures might encourage some of you to take up your own challenges, pushing yourselves and go above and beyond anything you have the capacity to think up. I am much like you: an ‘everyday Joe’ with massive dreams and desire to see them achieved. Much love friends, follow along on Instagram at @adventures_and_activism and I hope to see some of you super soon!