She Keeps Making The Same Mistake (And So Do You)

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Okay, so let’s talk consistency. It’s probably the least exciting word in running, but it’s the difference between, “I guess that was okay” and, “Wow, I didn’t know I had that in me.” Audrey’s story in this episode basically says it all: if you want lasting results, tiny, steady steps are where it’s at. Not big leaps, not crazy paces. Just… doing the basics again and again. Let’s get into it.

Timestamps of What You’ll Learn

[00:00] Why Consistency is Key to Training
[00:55] First Time Meeting Audrey
[01:32] Barriers to Breaking the 15-Minute Mark
[02:21] Dynamic Warm-Up Routine Breakdown
[03:22] Goals and Fitness Priorities
[04:08] Fun Fuel Choices for Training Days
[06:00] Learning from Interval Mistakes
[07:18] Final 400m Interval Push
[07:52] How to Train for Speed in 800m
[10:19] Breaking Bad Habits for Consistency

Going Out Too Fast: The Oldest Mistake in the Book

Daren called out Audrey’s first move: “She did exactly what you’re not supposed to do, which is go out too fast.” I mean, yep. We’ve all been there. You start off feeling invincible, you push, maybe even harder than you should—and then, not so far in, reality kicks in. And it’s rough. But here’s the thing: going fast is fun until it isn’t. This is where consistency changes the game, where you get that rhythm that you can count on. It’s about finishing strong and not collapsing in the last stretch.

Quick Tip: Stop trying to crush every single mile. Find a pace you can actually hold and stick to it. It’s not about proving anything every day—just about making sure you’re building a base, not blowing yourself out.

Small Habits Build a Strong Base

Consistency, though, it’s not just about avoiding that “wall.” It’s about all those little habits that add up, layer by layer. Audrey’s approach? Dynamic stretching, pacing, a real recovery routine. Basic stuff, right? But if you’re serious about progress and not just about ticking off miles, these small things are what save you from getting sidelined. Skip them and you’re basically setting yourself up for an injury or a burnout.

Warm Up, No Excuses: Take five minutes for some leg swings, lunges, high knees. Whatever gets your body moving. It’s easy to ignore, but if you actually do it, you’ll feel the difference.
And Yeah, Actually Recover: Foam roll, stretch a bit, give your muscles a minute to bounce back. Not exciting, but hey, it’s what lets you run again tomorrow without feeling wrecked.

Forget Perfect. Just Keep Showing Up.

Audrey mentions her frustration with “unfulfilled potential.” She knows she can get better, but consistency is the hard part. Daren’s advice? Don’t even worry about perfect runs. Just keep showing up, even on the days that feel ordinary. That’s what builds strength. Suddenly, you’ll notice you’re faster, you’re stronger, and it’s not the struggle it used to be.

Weekly Goals: Pick something achievable, like a mileage target or a number of minutes. Give yourself a few milestones you know you can hit without feeling overwhelmed.
Simple Wins Add Up: Those basics—pacing, recovery routines—might not feel groundbreaking, but they’re what’ll keep you running (and improving) over the long haul.

Audrey’s experience says it all: consistency is a runner’s best friend. So, what’s one habit you could start today? Doesn’t have to be huge. Just something you know you can keep going. Because over time? That’s where the real progress hides.

Watch above or listen below to the full episode where we do some hot laps and a few fast intervals, and Audrey answers questions about the meaning of life and the best fast food before a race.

[00:00:00] Daren: And Audrey did exactly what you’re not supposed to do, which is go out too fast. And I said it, I was like, whoa, you’re going out pretty hot there. And she was like, I’m good. I got this, bro. In this episode, you’re going to find out why consistency is everything with running your best times. I hit the track with my fast interval training buddy, Audrey, to find out how she can get more consistency into her routine to beat her 5k time of, you ready for it?

[00:00:25] Daren: Yeah. 1645. Yes. 16 minutes, 45 seconds. And she’s not even reaching her full potential as her VO2 max was measured in a lab at 69. Crazy elite pro level for anyone that is absolutely bananas. What you’re going to learn from her, from us in this episode, consistency in training. So you can set weekly goals for sustainable progress, injury prevention, use proper techniques to avoid disruption in only training.

[00:00:49] Daren: Cause you need that consistency. Yeah. We talk about our dynamic warmups and stretching, sprinting, balancing training and lifestyle, and so much more. And we do all of that on the track, doing fast intervals at a breath. I’m asking her questions. It’s a lot of fun. Stay tuned. You’re going to learn a bunch.

[00:01:05] Daren: Let’s get into it. All right. One more quick warning or note is that to make this a super immersive experience, I filmed a lot of this while we were actually running, panting, breathing, lots of footsteps. So it’s very cool, immersive experience for listening. And it’s even better if you watch it. So if you have YouTube, go over and watch it and on the website, or if you have the Spotify app or you have access to it, go listen to it and, or watch it on the Spotify app where you can.

[00:01:33] Daren: Close it on the app on your phone and then listen to it and then open it. If you want to watch it, it’s a really cool kind of hybrid experience of audio and video. Let’s get right back into it. We never met. It’s the first time we’ve met.

[00:01:47] Audrey: We met at the run. We were oblivious to the fact that we actually knew each other.

[00:01:51] Audrey: I beat you then. And

[00:01:54] Daren: then we kept in touch on Instagram. And now we’re finally running together and this series is called hot laps based on Sean Evans hot ones on YouTube. And we will be interviewing her and asking questions as we finish and complete intervals as I’m dying, the hot laps, and they’re going to be very fun questions.

[00:02:15] Daren: So hopefully you learn something. You ran a 1645 5k

[00:02:19] Audrey: a

[00:02:19] Daren: while ago.

[00:02:20] Audrey: Yeah. Very long time ago.

[00:02:21] Daren: What do you think is the reason why you have it?

[00:02:23] Audrey: Consistency. I don’t have the consistency and I’ll either get injured, I’ll lose my mojo, I don’t have a coach. Yeah, it’s just consistency. Look,

[00:02:35] Daren: the biggest thing is you are young.

[00:02:37] Daren: You’re still in your 20s and I think you can still run your best going into your 40s. So once you figure out the consistency thing and it becomes a priority, I definitely think You could be touching 15s,

[00:02:50] Audrey: high

[00:02:50] Daren: 15s for sure, cause you got perfect form.

[00:02:54] Audrey: Thank you.

[00:02:55] Daren: You’re like, elite, legit, elite women’s runner.

[00:02:58] Daren: If not, very fast. Subtly elite men’s. That’s a bit of the the intro warm up, we did some dynamic stuff. To get everything going. Dynamic is, dynamic warm ups, dynamic stretching, very key. More people need to do that.

[00:03:13] Audrey: Hey,

[00:03:14] Daren: you want to do another run through?

[00:03:15] Audrey: Yeah. If we just do one more

[00:03:17] Daren: and some run throughs or windups.

[00:03:25] Daren: Oh, the set is four by 500

[00:03:29] Audrey: and recovery is

[00:03:30] Daren: half of that. Half of whatever it takes us. So two to one ratio, four by four hundreds. And this is all at our current 5k fitness. And then we’ll end it with four to hundreds. I don’t think I’ll

[00:03:38] Audrey: survive.

[00:03:39] Daren: I think you got this.

[00:03:40] Audrey: I think you got this. I’m like so nervous.

[00:03:42] Audrey: I think you got this, come on. It’s because I’m so unfit.

[00:03:46] Daren: Alright, let’s get in to the sets.

[00:03:57] Daren: Okay. Lane one.

[00:04:01] Audrey: Alright,

[00:04:01] Daren: how’d you feel?

[00:04:02] Audrey: Not as bad as I thought.

[00:04:03] Daren: First one though.

[00:04:04] Audrey: Yeah, I know.

[00:04:05] Daren: She went off fast.

[00:04:05] Audrey: True.

[00:04:06] Daren: Alright.

[00:04:06] Audrey: Almost there. So

[00:04:07] Daren: what are you training for?

[00:04:08] Audrey: I have to get fit. To

[00:04:09] Daren: get fit? I like it.

[00:04:10] Audrey: Yep.

[00:04:10] Daren: I like

[00:04:11] Audrey: it. Okay.

[00:04:11] Daren: Can we go back? To get fit for what?

[00:04:14] Daren: Anything in particular?

[00:04:14] Audrey: We don’t know.

[00:04:14] Audrey: We

[00:04:15] Daren: don’t know?

[00:04:16] Audrey: Yeah. Maybe track season because I don’t think I can get fit for cross country season. We’ve left it a bit late. We’ll see how we go.

[00:04:24] Daren: Got it.

[00:04:24] Audrey: Yep.

[00:04:27] Daren: And this is rep number three of the 500 meter set.

[00:04:38] Audrey: Okay, I’m dead.

[00:04:40] Daren: We’re through?

[00:04:41] Audrey: Wow.

[00:04:42] Daren: Alright.

[00:04:43] Audrey: Yeah. My nose is running, it’s cold.

[00:04:47] Daren: You had to pick. Here’s the question. Eating fast food to fuel up one before you burp. Do a race. If you can’t eat regular food, what would it be?

[00:04:59] Audrey: Ooh.

[00:05:02] Audrey: McDonald’s.

[00:05:03] Daren: McDonald’s?

[00:05:03] Audrey: Yeah. Cheers. What

[00:05:04] Daren: from McDonald’s? French

[00:05:05] Audrey: fries.

[00:05:06] Daren: French fries

[00:05:07] Audrey: and yeah. With

[00:05:08] Daren: 10 seconds. A smoothie,

[00:05:09] Audrey: A smoothie? That’s

[00:05:10] Daren: smart, yeah.

[00:05:11] Audrey: Yeah.

[00:05:11] Daren: Yeah, that’s smart. That’s a good combo, yeah. All right,

[00:05:14] Audrey: five seconds. Yeah, that’ll

[00:05:15] Daren: work. Two, one. All right, this is number four. Number four.

[00:05:20] Audrey: I’ll let you take this, I think.

[00:05:21] Daren: For the 500, what’s that?

[00:05:22] Audrey: Yeah.

[00:05:23] Daren: What’s that?

[00:05:23] Audrey: I’ll let you take it.

[00:05:24] Daren: Okay, no, I’m good. Future Darren here. I won’t do the thing. That thing where people go, Hey, you should subscribe, rate, share, give a thumbs up. Rah. Now, while I’d love for you to do that anyways, I’d rather you do something that would actually help you implement this whole 1 percent better every day thing that I’m absolutely obsessed about this episode.

[00:05:43] Daren: While helpful, most likely it’s just the first step of many to transforming you to being more consistent in your training, racing, and training. And your life. The next steps would be to sign up for our free weekly newsletter, the 1 percent better runner. And I’ll just put it bluntly for some of you, your obsession with your quick wins might just kill your running career.

[00:06:00] Daren: Use our weekly tools and tactics from the newsletter to put yourself on the road of 1 percent daily improvement or. Or settle for a life full of mediocrity. Your choice. Sign up at either Dlakecreates. com forward slash news or the link in the show notes or description below. Let’s get back into it.

[00:06:24] Audrey: We’re good.

[00:06:25] Daren: All right. It’s a four, four of the last 500 came through. 101 seconds.

[00:06:32] Audrey: Let’s die.

[00:06:33] Daren: Was that a nine out of 10 effort? 10 out of 10.

[00:06:36] Audrey: I’m just so unfit. My body’s no, we don’t want to run anymore. And then you put that lovely cold draft and it’s oh, hello.

[00:06:44] Daren: Break. Spikes or super shoes on the track?

[00:06:47] Audrey: Spikes. Spikes?

[00:06:48] Daren: Yeah. I should get some spikes.

[00:06:50] Audrey: Yeah, definitely spikes.

[00:06:51] Daren: Spikes.

[00:06:51] Audrey: Yeah, spikes. And I

[00:06:52] Daren: got my super shoes, my silly ones.

[00:06:54] Audrey: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:06:55] Daren: All right, we’re doing three minute rest here in between sets and Audrey did exactly what you’re not supposed to do, which is

[00:07:04] Daren (2): go out too fast.

[00:07:06] Daren: And I said it all, you’re going out pretty hot there.

[00:07:08] Daren: And she was like, I’m good. I got this bro. The first one in 79, 80 seconds. And she’s not in her fit. So

[00:07:17] Audrey: end result. We struggled through the last one.

[00:07:22] Daren: So that’s a lesson learned. That was good.

[00:07:23] Audrey: We never learned the lesson. It’s just continuous.

[00:07:25] Daren: I’d say the first one was 282, 283. What’s

[00:07:27] Audrey: the rest that you’re going to do?

[00:07:28] Audrey: 40

[00:07:28] Daren: seconds. So we’re going to do 80 to 83. Okay. So stay behind me. All right.

[00:07:31] Audrey: Yeah.

[00:07:36] Daren: And this is rep number one of the second set of 400 meter repeats. 81. Perfect. Perfect.

[00:08:02] Daren: How are you feeling? Feeling better?

[00:08:05] Audrey: Yeah. We’re still on the wall,

[00:08:09] Audrey: but I do prefer 400s. So we

[00:08:13] Daren: got 15 seconds. All right, this is the last one. I’m trying to make sure you conform. We’re still at it. Woo, she is fast.

[00:08:36] Daren: Woo, 75.

[00:08:38] Daren: Oh, damn.

[00:08:39] Daren (2): 75.

[00:08:40] Daren: Yeah, with that one.

[00:08:42] Daren (2): Good job.

[00:08:44] Daren: Damn.

[00:08:44] Daren (2): Alright, your

[00:08:46] Daren: favorite

[00:08:46] Daren (2): race

[00:08:47] Daren: distance? 800 meters? 1500 meters? Half marathon, which one?

[00:08:52] Audrey: 5K. Have

[00:08:54] Daren: you done the

[00:08:56] Audrey: 15? I do yeah, I do 800. But I don’t have much speed so my fastest is a 214. I still got, if I wanted to do 800, I’d really have to work on that speed.

[00:09:09] Daren: 214 is impressive. Someone that’s not directly training for

[00:09:12] Audrey: it.

[00:09:21] Daren: 70. Holy. Ah, didn’t know it was possible. Damn. 70 in 400. I haven’t touched that in years. I’ll take that. Audrey says that the air is different here. It’s polluted. She’s a snob and she lives next to the beach.

[00:09:43] Audrey: So I’m like,

[00:09:44] Daren: I’m from New York and I’m like, this is a clean air to me. We’re right

[00:09:47] Audrey: in the middle of the city.

[00:09:48] Audrey: This is, I’m just going to try to work on my technique, like not go all out. So just try and get it ticked over, but not go crazy, but we’ll see how we go. Okay. Okay. Ready? Let’s go.

[00:09:59] Daren: And we’re going to finish it off with two by 200 meters. All right. Second to last one. For me last question second last question for you.

[00:10:07] Daren (2): Yeah

[00:10:10] Daren: Would you rather Train in a really hot day a really cold day.

[00:10:15] Audrey: Oh really

[00:10:15] Daren: hot.

[00:10:16] Audrey: There’s no

[00:10:17] Daren: one of the

[00:10:17] Audrey: few That’s not even a question one of

[00:10:18] Daren (2): the few.

[00:10:19] Audrey: Yeah, so 30 plus degrees Reptile, so

[00:10:22] Daren (2): yes

[00:10:23] Audrey: sun warmth, Hawaii Tropics I go faster than you. Me too. All my PB’s are done. Yeah in the heat. So Fiji Vanuatu, all the tropical areas.

[00:10:35] Daren (2): Take me there now.

[00:10:37] Audrey: Oh yeah, I love it. Yeah, I’ve been grateful. I’m lucky and grateful. So I’ve been on a few great teams and yeah, represented Australia. So that’s always good. That’s amazing.

[00:10:54] Daren: Ah, can’t break 30 seconds still. All right, last question.

[00:11:00] Audrey: I’m exhausted.

[00:11:01] Daren: Of the whole episode today. Yeah. Everything’s about habits that we do. Consistent, one step at a time. Brick by brick. Until you die. So true. So what is the one thing that you want to avoid? Not doing before you die.

[00:11:17] Audrey: Obviously I fear death so unfulfilled potential is one of my biggest fears because you know when you’ve got it like you know you’ve got more to give and it’s frustrating because you can be lazy.

[00:11:32] Daren: So what’s the one thing you’re going to do to change that?

[00:11:35] Audrey: Get consistent.

[00:11:35] Daren: Not

[00:11:38] Audrey: be so damn lazy. Just work on the 1 percent so like the strength work, stretching properly, rolling properly, recovery, like eating better. I eat way too much sugar. Sounds terrible, but I do. And junk food. But in saying that, it’s moderation.

[00:11:54] Audrey: Chocolate is okay, like sugar is okay. But just don’t overdo it. You know what I mean? Don’t

[00:11:59] Daren: be too hard on yourself, you’re doing great. Yeah. Good work

[00:12:01] Audrey: out there.

[00:12:02] Daren: I love it. Yeah, good job. Thanks for joining us. Keep running sprints out there, because you never know when you won’t be able to sprint.

[00:12:06] Audrey: Yes.

[00:12:07] Audrey: That’s another thing. Very true.

[00:12:08] Daren: If you can run fast now, you Keep running fast or you’ll lose it.

[00:12:11] Audrey: Yes. Peace out. Time.

[00:12:15] Daren: I’m absolutely obsessed with it as it’s one of the things we can’t make more of, but ironically, we as humans, we created it. Thanks for giving us your time to listen, watch, or read this episode.

[00:12:24] Daren: We love helping runners get 1 percent better each day, one step at a time, and can only reach more runners by people like you sharing this out to runners like you. Get it. We also have a weekly newsletter that helps runners live better lives through consistent self improvement. Unlike other running podcasts and videos, the 1 percent Better Runner focuses on how small daily habits ripple into broader life success, helping runners perform better both on and off the road, all in about five minutes per week.

[00:12:52] Daren: This was produced in Sydney, Australia, and I’d like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation who are the traditional indigenous custodians of the land. Mega respects. If you want to contact us about anything. Email talk at D Lake creates. com spelled T A L K at D Lake creates. com all the normal way.

[00:13:11] Daren: We’re also on the socials, mainly Instagram and Strava at D Lake creates or the 1 percent better runner train, smart race and live easy. Peace.