Facing the political marathon of his life, the Opposition Leader tells HARRIET EDMUND how running taught him to never give up.
HE: With the election looming, how important will running be in helping you stay focused?
TA: For me, running has always been a part of my mental health. I used to joke that I go to the gym for my sanity break. I think it’s important if you’ve got a busy, stressful job to stay physically fit because it also keeps you mentally alert.
HE: Is that a message you are trying to send Australians about the need to keep fit?
TA: Everyone tries to stay fit in different ways. For me I love running and cycling. For the former Prime Minister John Howard it was a very vigorous daily walk. But I certainly think it’s important to be as fit as you can given your age and general health. It’s my intention to keep exercising for as long as I can.
HE: You said after running the Mini-Mos 10K in June that the stresses and strains were starting to take their toll – what’s the key to juggling your work, family and training commitments?
TA: Getting up very early in the morning! It takes a lot of discipline to keep running or exercising. Normally, I get up at 5am, which is ok if you’ve gone to bed early the previous night, but if you’ve had a late night or exhausting few days it can be pretty hard to do. But it’s important, for me at least, to keep it up.
HE: Leading into the 2010 Port Macquarie Ironman you were training 10 hours a week – take us through your regime?
TA: I was basically following my standard fitness regime, except instead of going to the gym after Question Time, if I got the chance I would jump in the pool and swim for a kilometre. Basically, my standard regime is when Parliament is sitting I’ll get up a 5am everyday and ride up and down Red Hill in Canberra four times, and go to the gym for 30 minutes after Question Time. When Parliament is not sitting I get up early and run 8K. Then one morning on the weekend I’ll try to get out for a 90K bike ride, if not it might be a 40 or 50K ride. So, basically I do about 10 hours every week.
HE: What do you say to your critics about spending so much time exercising?
TA: Well I don’t think I do spend a lot of time exercising. I basically do a little more than an hour a day and normally you get that hour by stealing it from your sleep. I figure that if I compare myself to John Howard, John would spend almost the same amount of time exercising, but instead of going for a run it would be a walk, or rather than a ride on the weekend it would be a game of golf. So, I don’t think it is a particularly large amount of time and it’s mostly done between five and six in the morning.
HE: Going back, when did you take up running?
TA: When I was playing rugby back in my uni days I thought it was important to maintain my general fitness and the easiest way to do that was running. During my late teens I started going for at least two or three jogs a week. It became more of a daily routine when I stopped playing rugby after university.
HE: How many fun runs have you participated in over the years?
TA: Gee whiz! I guess I’ve probably been in about 15 Mini-Mos runs, seven marathons more recently at the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival, six City2Surfs, two or three Manly Soft Sand Classic runs, and a couple of Mother’s Day Classics. These days, I guess as it’s become better known that I love running, I get invited to do lots of these things. If I can, I like to take up those invitations.
HE: A lot of these runs and the Pollie Pedal raise money for charity, what is it about running for a charity that motivates you?
TA: I think if something has a good cause associated with it, it adds to what you’re doing. The Pollie Pedal was originally conceived as a way for politicians to get to parts of the country they don’t often visit and I suppose there was a PR dimension to it, but over the years it’s become quite a big fund raiser, collecting about $1.5million for various charities.
HE: Can you recall a race that was particularly testing or took a lot of courage to get over the finish line?
TA: I’ve kept mainly injury free, but I did have trouble with my ITB last year. I had to stay off my leg for a month before the (2009) Blackmores Sydney Marathon. On the day I went out like a steam train, but after 25K my legs were like lead. I half walked and half staggered the last 17K for an embarrassingly bad time of 4:51.
Then there’s the (Port Macquarie) half ironman last year, when I still had the ITB issues. I got off the bike having done what I thought was a pretty good time on top of what I thought was a pretty good swim. I’d started thinking I could break six hours, but I as soon as I put my foot on the ground at the start of the run I thought: ‘Oh God’. It was an awfully difficult half marathon to finish.
HE: Have you ever had moments in a race where you’ve felt like giving up?
TA: I think there are lots of moments when you feel like giving up, particularly in ironman and half ironman events. I’m not a great swimmer and I had little panic attacks before the Port Macquarie Ironman. On the third lap of bike circuit we were riding into a very strong headwind and that took a fair bit of inner mental encouragement to keep going. Then when I started the run leg having just swum 4K and ridden 180K I thought: ‘this is impossible’, but you’ve got to keep putting one foot in front of the other. By the half way mark in the marathon I was confident that I was going to finish (13:57:01).
HE: Are there lessons that you’ve learnt from those tough moments that you apply to your daily work?
TA: I’ve learnt you have to run within yourself; stick to your basics, but whatever you do keep going. I think that’s probably important to remember when you’re facing a political marathon too!
HE: Obviously the budgie smugglers have attracted a lot of attention; do you have a favourite piece of running apparel that you can’t leave the house without?
TA: Running shoes! I find it very hard to run without shoes.
HE: I asked for that didn’t I? What sort of shoes to you wear?
TA: I’ve tried all the main brands. Normally, I just go into Athlete’s Foot or somewhere like that and find out what they think is the best running shoe for the best price.
HE: Do you run with an iPod?
TA: The only time I tried it was when Pat Farmer and I did a 24-hour stair climb in 2006. I thought if I’m going to spend that long running up and down the stairs at Sydney’s Centrepoint Tower, I was going to need something to keep me sane. So, I had a very helpful friend lend me her iPod. I listened to all sorts of music for much of the 24 hours. The alternative was to just watch the stairs, which can get pretty monotonous.
HE: Have you heard Pat Farmer is planning to run from the South Pole to the North Pole to raise money for global water programs?
TA: It’s a remarkable ambition. Pat is an absolutely amazing human being and that is an extraordinary goal that he has set himself, but if anyone can do it, it’s Pat Farmer.
HE: Pat is an Australian running icon, who are your running heroes?
TA: My early inspiration came from Charlie Lynn an ultramarathon runner, who is better known for his Kokoda Track Foundation. While I’ve never been directly touched by Cliff Young a lot of people seem to be inspired by him. Guys like Pat Farmer and Charlie have been exemplars for me.
HE: Do you see yourself as having a similar persona and leading the way for others?
TA: I’m not putting myself up as any kind of running hero. For me it’s an important component of my daily life, but it’s a personal thing. If other people notice, that’s fine, but I’m not trying to make it an intentional part of my public persona. My main job is to be a politician not a runner.
HE: Between now and this year’s election, do you plan to run any more races?
TA: No, my overriding and overwhelming objective now is to lead the coalition to victory. It’s going to be tough because it’s difficult to beat a government in its first term, but that’s our goal.
Images courtesy of Fairfax Photos and Marathon-Photos.