On the Run – Sam McCutcheon

Sam (Macca) McCutcheon had the most impressive year compared to any ANZ mountain runner in 2016. He Won numerous events including Ultra Easy, Buffalo Stampede Ultra, The Kepler Challenge and placed top 10 in the SkyRunning World Championships in Spain. Here is a little more insight to this NZ Mountain Goat.

What quote plays in your memory?  and why? 

To be honest I am not the biggest ‘quote’ person in any inspirational sense. Not to say I don’t enjoy a good quote and regularly have a line from Anchorman or Old School pop up in my memory just that I can’t think of a particular quote that regularly pops up.

In saying that a good one I heard the other day which was from Dr Seuss and was “You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut”.

What is a typical session within your weekly plan? 

Sam finishing the 2016 SkyRunning World Champs

I make sure that I always include hill repeats in my weekly training. Someone much wiser than me said you can never run with bad technique when you are running up a hill. The key is to find a hill that is the right gradient, hard enough to push you but not too steep that you can’t run efficiently.

What is your go to for a pre-race dinner and breakfast? 

Breakfast is usually creamed rice. It’s easy because it’s in a can and requires zero prep. Also good carbs with low fibre.

Dinner is a bit of a secret but can tell you that it revolves around lentils, avocado and salmon. In addition, I am quite partial to a few squares of Lindt chocolate as a night cap.

What do you usually go for with-in 30min window after a training session to help recovery? 

Mostly a protein shake. Aside from being a good way to get quality protein in I do most of my training in the morning before work and by the time I have a shower and get changed a protein shake is the easiest thing to have while I make my breakfast (a process that takes a far too much time in itself).

What do you consider to be the most important aspect of training? 

Consistency. I like to think that if you can be consistent in all aspects (training, eating, sleep, socialising) then you will see improvements over time. This doesn’t mean hammering each week, as you need easy weeks and hard weeks but if you can consistently keep building on each block then I think that has the most benefit.

Finish line interview at the 2016 Kepler Challenge

Most useful piece of advice received? 

Ha, that is hard to say. I have been given a lot of advice that has helped me at different stages so it is hard to pin down to one particular piece.

The one that I think applies to most situations is ‘Go out with the Jones’. This came from the great swimming coach Duncan Laing (many moons ago when I was swimming) and it means don’t die wondering, give it a go and give it heaps.

What are your other passions outside of running?

My two favourite pastimes are freediving and coffee. I am very amateur at both but I am loving getting better at spearfishing and I can get someone else to make a top class coffee for me. Both provide a completely different type of enjoyment and I am lucky enough that Wellington is a pretty good place to do all three activities (running, diving and coffee).