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Merili Freear | Just Run
220 Plays3 months ago
Merili Freear began running in April 2020 during the first Covid-19 lockdown in England. Since then, she has run many thousands of miles, including two marathons and an ultra marathon. Through her experiences, Merili has learned that it’s possible to achieve things that may seem impossible at first glance, and she has written and self-published, a book, Just Run, that she hopes will inspire others too.
Follow Merili on Instagram
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Transcript
00:00:00
ukrunchat
Hi Merily, thank you so much for joining us on today's UK Run Chat podcast. For those listeners out there, Merily is about to publish her book, Just Run. And we're going to chat today through some kind of themes that come up in it and how Merily got started with running and what she's achieved in a very short space of time. So hi, thanks so much for joining us. Would you like to just give our listeners a brief introduction to you?
00:00:27
Merili
um Hi, Michelle. Thank you so much for inviting me. It's it's an honor to to be on the podcast, really. um So a little bit about me. I'm um originally from Estonia. and I moved to England nine years ago and I started running during the lockdown. when When we weren't allowed to go out and looking back to it, it all seems really surreal when I was was reading it again, what I wrote in my book. And and it's just, you just kind of don't understand that how how bad it was that you were stuck at home and you were only allowed to go for over at the time for exercise. And it just seems like it happened somewhere in another world.
00:01:27
ukrunchat
Yeah, it was it was a difficult time, wasn't it? I think we forget. we We've kind of put it in our our distant memory. So how does it feel kind of reliving all that now?
00:01:39
Merili
so it It just, um i yeah I felt that I needed to remind myself how how it actually was and um how trapped I felt and and everything like that because um looking back, you you yeah look at ah Drew like some rose tinted glasses a bit that actually it wasn't that bad, it was alright but really it was challenging time at the time.
00:02:06
ukrunchat
Yeah, it was. I think we were all scared and a bit unsure about what would happen, weren't we?
00:02:11
Merili
Yes.
00:02:11
ukrunchat
and so So what inspired you to take those first steps running then?
00:02:17
Merili
um At the time I um was looking after my toddler who was and nearly three years old at the time and being a mum is rewarding but it also could be difficult and we were struggling to find our new routines
00:02:37
ukrunchat
And.
00:02:39
Merili
when we weren't allowed to go out and and I felt that i yeah I'm really unfit because my son, he didn't really wanted to walk and so although we went once a day out altogether, my husband and my son and and our dog and um it's just because my son really didn't want to walk so for me those walks were very short and I just felt that I'm just stuck in the house not doing really anything from for myself. ah We started to do yoga with my husband in the evenings but at the time I ah just felt I couldn't really
00:03:29
Merili
connect to to the activity. I enjoy yoga very much right now but to start with then I just I remember just looking at my watch and my wife said that when it's going to finish and I can have a class of wine and relax before it starts all again next day. and My mother-in-law who was in her late seventies at the same time was walking 10,000 steps every morning in in her garden and I thought that, well, that's really inspiring, I have to do something about it, I can't just vegetate at home because I was doing barely 3,000 steps a day and and so
00:04:13
Merili
I started with just um running on a spot in the house and then ah after a few days I yeah ah just started to do little loops in our small cart and um while my son was ah watching maybe be a cartoon or something like that that or or just playing alongside me and and so I carried on with it ah for a few weeks and then just just one day I felt quite so trapped and and my husband just came came down and it was his line lunch break and said that why don't you go for a run?
00:04:57
Merili
And so it seemed really strange suggestion, but so I did, I did go for a run and I didn't have a proper running care or anything like that. Just some random things. My leggings were falling down and and my my trainers were really uncomfortable, ah comfortable but I went out and and I didn't have a sports watch or anything. I just had some sort of a step counting watch and so So I went out and tried to guess that how how far I would come and I just thought that them I'm going down the lane and and I see if I can get to the end. Well I didn't make it to the end that time but to I managed to do ah quite a decent distance. I um was i was really slow ah but i I was just focusing on um
00:05:53
Merili
the activity. I was very self-aware that what people would think and what I'm wearing and how do I look and is my running form horrible and my red face. But I tried to brush this all aside because I thought that I'm there for me and I just have to have to do it. And so I started to just focus on the some sort of landmarks like if if there was a next house so or a gate or some sort of food path and so I just focused on maybe a few hundred meters at the time and and somehow i I got it done and I got home and and I felt really good about it and so I thought that, wait a minute, I think I would like to do it again. So that's how it started.
00:06:44
ukrunchat
So that was that. Now you had done some some running in your past, hadn't you as well? You had done races and things.
00:06:49
Merili
Yes.
00:06:51
ukrunchat
So, I mean, let's just talk about, because you you don't talk about becoming a runner until much later. What is the difference, do you think, between how you were perceiving yourself as ah an athlete or a runner?
00:07:07
Merili
um Compared to those few races that I did in the past, back in Estonia I never saw myself as a runner then because I really wasn't a runner. In Estonia you get a lot of support from like from your employer um to take part of the races. They normally either pay for the full fee or oh ah just part of it and and you get a lot of encouragement that but let's go with colleagues and and that's pretty much what it was for me. I wasn't really running regularly, maybe a few weeks before the race, I i went for some sporadic runs and and and and that was it. they I got it done, somehow struggled all the way and and I just didn't do it again. When I'm going back to my teenage years, then me and my sister went for
00:08:07
Merili
occasional runs. They were just a few miles but but at the time both of us we were just running to lose weight and I think it's just a bit wrong reasoning and it's not really sustainable so I i never saw running as something that is pleasurable or it was more like a punishment.
00:08:21
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:08:31
Merili
I have to do it to lose weight or or I have to do it to fit in with my colleagues and and not let anybody down. But as I started running during the lockdown, I did it for me and and that was the big difference. i I wasn't bothered about how fast I was, ah yeah I just wanted to get out there and maybe run a little bit more each time, even if it was just few hundred meters more. but it it gave me this feeling of accomplishment that I'm doing something for me and and for my body and and it was also nice to just get outside of the house and in nature um I live in a countryside so the roads are quiet and and you see quite a bit of wildlife like hares and rabbits and it just provided me something that I really deeply needed at that time.
00:09:27
ukrunchat
yeah yeah no Yeah, I understand that completely. So you were you were enjoying it for the sake of of just running working and being outside.
00:09:35
Merili
Yes, yes, instead of it being like a punishment though as it was when I when i did it earlier.
00:09:35
ukrunchat
um Yeah.
00:09:43
ukrunchat
Yeah, and i think I think a lot of people can relate to that. I certainly can. When I first started running, I started for weight loss reasons. And I was like, Q, I didn't really fully appreciate running until I did it for the right reasons.
00:09:55
Merili
who
00:09:55
ukrunchat
which was for enjoyment. So yeah, hopefully, there's ah fit I'm sure there's people nodding along out there. Now you built up to marathon distance relatively quickly, didn't you? But it was a different experience to most given the the challenging times of the pandemic. Can you tell us about that?
00:10:13
Merili
Yes, so um I was so was building my distance up and I wasn't really sensible about it when I when i first started running. I ah just went out and and maybe felt that
00:10:31
Merili
I want to run 15 miles today and then I just did it and so along the way I started to think that maybe I i would be able to run a marathon but it just seems something so big and and I thought that just the true athletes do that then and well definitely I don't have those qualities as those other people for running marathons are doing that but I can't really do it and but um at the same time um i I started to search and and I found a marathon plan um that was based on the principle that you you do three runs a week and then you cross train for two other days and so I started to loosely follow it and I had this um one run when I went ah went out for
00:11:26
Merili
19 miles again a stupid decision because i I wasn't really there with my running but I just thought that I wanted to challenge myself and at the time it's just... I think I needed it and and after that run my my husband shared on Facebook that Meryl is training for American and and that made it really real that well wait a minute I actually am
00:11:52
ukrunchat
if
00:11:53
Merili
And so after that run, I stacked to my stick to my yeah training plan. and And so from that first run, five months, one week later, I run my first marathon, but it was a virtual run because at the time we were still having the restrictions and and not many events were going on and and I yeah I had a lot of Covid covid anxiety, so even if the if i if I would have been able to find a race that would have gone on, I ah wouldn't have felt comfortable doing it. So I pretty much just chose a virtual race that which metal looked most appealing to me. And and I chose to date when i'm when I'm going to do it and I did everything
00:12:49
Merili
all the taper madness and and yeah I just sat down at oton went out that day and ran a marathon but so it was a very windy day and it it wasn't anything that I expected it to be because I had had before my 20 mile run went so well and I thought that I'm so ready and and i can I can do it. what but What's more, to just run six miles more than just 20?
00:13:22
ukrunchat
Hehehe.
00:13:25
Merili
But yeah, this time i I don't know if it was the anxiety of me running the first marathon, the wind factor. i yeah My heart rate went really, really high. um At the time I i already had a sports watch so it'd so um That freaked me out a bit and so my husband came to support me and and he was really, really good. He was just ah driving a bit ah ahead of me, came out and you know encouraged me and did that pretty much with with some small breaks until then. and
00:14:06
Merili
its just the other day I watched the videos that he took from from that and it's's it's really precious. i I see that determination on my on my face and how I was pushing through all that wind and everything and um i I was really proud to to finish because it seemed such an unattainable call for me and After that marathon I really started to believe that I can i can do other things. After the marathon I started to write the book. but it It was was's a long process, but the this is what inspired me to to write it. To start with I thought that it's going to be just a blog post so or maybe a magazine article, but it it grew from there. I know it's a full book.
00:14:56
ukrunchat
but you know that That is fantastic. What a fantastic legacy from running a marathon that people do say that it does change your life and it seems to have taken you in a different direction.
00:15:08
Merili
Yes, it definitely did deed for me because it it just gave me that belief that i I can do some things that I thought that are impossible.
00:15:20
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's that's amazing. can Can we just touch on the just the process of deciding to write a book and how that went. You were just jotting your thoughts down from runs, weren't you? How did that go?
00:15:30
Merili
Yes, yes.
00:15:31
ukrunchat
wow
00:15:31
Merili
um So do to start with, Well my son wasn't really going to preschool much and I didn't have ah much time to write so I yeah i just ah opened a private blog for myself and so I was writing down the ideas, maybe just a hard page at the time. um there and when I went for my runs then I quite often got some epiphany during the run and oh I should write about that and so so I took my phone out and and maybe just talked the idea through that that I would ah when I when I got home I would have the something to write actually down and and a lot of my yeah
00:16:24
Merili
Part three of my book was born that way and my book has three parts and and um all those beautiful long runs I think really inspired me to um write down my thoughts and and yeah running definitely helped along the way.
00:16:49
ukrunchat
yeah that's that Yeah, that's really fantastic. So your book, it it's kind of um chronological, isn't it? The first two parts of your book in that it talks about going from starting running to achieving your marathon and then onto your next goals.
00:16:56
Merili
Yes.
00:17:02
ukrunchat
And then part three is kind of a collection of, it's just different thoughts and different experiences of of running generally and tips for beginners, isn't it? There's there's lots in there.
00:17:11
Merili
yes
00:17:13
ukrunchat
There's a lot in there. Um, I mean, can we, can we just talk about ah the chapter that I enjoyed was the moment where you realized I am a runner and it really made me smile. and And I guess I had a kind of personal connection to that because the shop where you made that realization that used to be my local running shop actually.
00:17:32
Merili
Oh, that's lovely.
00:17:33
ukrunchat
Um, so that really made me smile. So just tell us about that moment because you were trying on some running shoes, weren't you?
00:17:40
Merili
Yes, it was my yeah first proper pair of running shoes, because at the time like I realized that I'm going to stick with it, I actually need a proper pair. do um So... it didn't go so well to start with because I i never ran on a treadmill before and so I was really uncomfortable to climb on the edges and I just didn't know what to do but the shop owner, he was brilliant with me, he said that clearly this doesn't work and he sent me outside and so I was running and next to the shop and and at least I was able to get for my normal running stride and and yeah after
00:18:27
Merili
trying on quite a few pairs. I found my pair and when I was waiting near the tills I saw this bright yellow I'm a Lincolnshire runner shirt and although I had plenty of shirts I didn't think that I needed one. I thought that I have to get that shirt and and he was ah saying that it will be good for winter running and it would make you visible for the cars and you know obviously he was he was right. um So I brought the shirt and and when I was driving back i i I kind of started to look back for the experience and remembered that shirt and and senator then I had that realization that well I actually am a runner, the shirt says that I'm a runner, it must be true. And that shirt has been really good because I yeah
00:19:25
Merili
um My husband just got a new bike and and so we have been going biking quite a lot recently and and because it's so bright yellow I have been using it for my cycling that I would be visible for the cars so it's it's multifunctional, good for running, good for cycling.
00:19:43
ukrunchat
ah brilliant so it's coming very useful that's great yeah what a lovely story now can can we chat a bit about what came after the marathon then so you started to set your sights on bigger goals didn't you what happened next
00:19:59
Merili
Yes, I yeah i did a few virtual challenges. i um First I did the thousand kilometers challenge and then I did jonah croats and lens and challenge, because at the time, because I was just running on my own, I just felt that I need something to to push me forward. I know in the end you just get the medal, but it made me feel good and the and it it pushed me to get my miles together for Jonah Krauts and Lands End challenge, so it it was all really good experience. And then the following year I also run London Marapton, but virtually
00:20:52
Merili
um which to start with I wasn't sure that if I want to do another marathon virtually but it just that seemed right thing to do and so I went on with it and and it um it was a great experience, i I really enjoyed it. But after that I had my eyes on an ultra because I was turning 40 and I thought that I would like to do 40 miles from my 40th birthday, it just sounded like a great thing to do, a bit the challenging and because it's it's quite a big stretch from a marathon distance but I started to look which ultra I would be able to able to do and
00:21:43
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:21:46
Merili
decided that I'm going to do two carries ultra and that that year normally they do 30 miles and 40 miles option, but the um two years ago when I did that first time then they only offered 40 mile option and started training for it and like always things didn't go to plan, I got the injured before but I I turned up, I did it and I'm really proud of of myself that I ventured into that ultra distance because i I learned a lot with that experience as before I yeah struggled with walking during my runs but
00:22:35
Merili
the because that ultra forced me to walk. All the other time I was beating myself up about it and and everything, but later reflecting back to it, it really changed my mindset. Because the next race after that ultra I did, it was a hilly 10 mile race and and I walked the hills because it just ah see sensible thing to do and and I ended up with quite decent time. I think I ah would have never got so as decent time if I would have pushed to just run up all those steep hills and it gave me option to recover a bit and put more speed in on the downhill a bit, so it's nothing wrong with walking. I i always was saying that to
00:23:29
Merili
Other people, other runners, there's no shame in walking, but I was really terrible at taking my own advice.
00:23:37
ukrunchat
Why do you think runners struggle with that concept? What is it about? but because Because it is very accepted, particularly in the ultra world, isn't it?
00:23:46
Merili
Yeah, definitely. it's It's nothing wrong with that. And if you do it ah strategically, you could get really good results. A lot better than ah when you would push through everything. I think it's so something to do with that there is a lot of embassies that did you run the whole way? Did you actually run that marathon or did you walk some? Because I think ah um
00:24:17
Merili
especially non-run as wings but did you didn't run the marathon then you you you should say that you you just walked it but but when they haven't done it themselves they they have no idea but what what goes into it and I think there's nothing wrong with walking during the marathon and and in the end of the day the one for run it in six hours has done maybe even more work than the one that done it with three hours, so there's no shame in it. I think every athlete doesn't matter how fast or slow should be celebrated.
00:24:55
ukrunchat
Yeah, yeah, it's very sensible advice. and So you mentioned injury back there when you were you ultra training, you' you've you talk in your book about ah a few injuries that you've you've overcome. um I mean, what what have you learned from your body about, you know, from having got over these injuries?
00:25:14
Merili
um Yes, when I first started ah running then shortly after i I suffered with runner's knee but fortunately um I was able to manage it and so I mostly run through it but I'm grateful that it happened because it it forced me to look into what can I do about it and I started to do strength training and I looked up a lot of running specific exercises and that was around the time when I wrote this book which is running free of injuries and it has been really my Bible to draw all those injuries because it's just it's packed with so much um advice and every time when I have a nickel I turn here I see what are the specific exercises that I should be doing and
00:26:14
Merili
and it really has has helped me. Then I suffered with IT band syndrome, which was that nearly broke broke me because it's it's something that should be recovered in six weeks, but it took me six months to fully recover and and I just couldn't understand why. and But eventually i I made through it and then I have this
00:26:45
Merili
ball ball of the foot thing that this just comes and goes, I have accepted that there's nothing I can do about it, I just can manage it. So through those injuries I i learned that how important is to strength train, to running specific exercises, if you have a nickel or injury in certain area, focus on on those areas with your exercises is really important. it's It's important for me to cross-strain as well, because because I regularly cross-strain, then if you get the nickel or something like that
00:27:25
Merili
then it doesn't feel like a punishment that I suddenly have to cycle. I actually quite enjoy it. And and also it helps to avoid Uber use injuries from that cross-training activity if you already have engaged it.
00:27:37
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:27:39
Merili
da Because if you're just too running and then you get injured and then you shoot to cycle excessively, then you could get the injury from that actual cycling instead of just that running injury that you that you're trying to recover. So yeah these are the main things that I have learned. Strength training, listening to your body, knowing when when to back off and choose a different activity and um what else.
00:28:16
Merili
um importance of good warm up and and cool down and I don't mean just walking for five minutes before you run I mean that actually doing some ah maybe some running drills or some dynamic stretches or something like that before before running and and properly stretching after after your running stretching is is really important as well and I think these are the things that that have helped me because I my injuryies because have joint hypermobility so I'm more prone to injuries because runners with hypermobile joints, they just ah the muscles have to work hard and and even if it's just hypermobility in one area of your body then
00:29:13
Merili
other areas just have to work that much harder and those overuse injuries like IT band syndrome, runners knee and and um these are just more common so I just have to, I have just learned how to how to manage and and also one thing that I have to keep in mind I i can't use my trainers too long because otherwise I start to get nickels so i I keep track on my trainers and I know approximately what mileage I should be looking for the different pair.
00:29:46
ukrunchat
Yeah, how many pairs of trainers do you generally have on the go at one time? is it Do you just use the same pair or do you have a few?
00:29:52
Merili
um I normally have um just Just the road shoes and then the trail shoes. I have two pairs of trail shoes because normally it takes longer to dry them try them off. Because I don't only do road running, so kind of they get into rotation anyway.
00:30:13
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:30:13
Merili
And then i then I have a pair that I use when I run with my dog as well. So I have like three or four pairs.
00:30:18
ukrunchat
Yeah, oh can we yeah can we can we talk about can we talk about Canny Cross? Because I Canny Cross, and I was so excited in your book when you started talking about your dog and how you run with him.
00:30:22
Merili
Yeah, of course.
00:30:29
ukrunchat
and So yeah, tell us a little bit about that.
00:30:32
Merili
So when I first started running we we had a dog, an old standard snoucher who was too old for for running but he he has been in my in my running in many ways. and When I run my ah second marathon then I felt a bit afraid of the darkness and so I imagined him running with me and it just felt such a warm thing to to have. So when sadly he passed away then my husband and son were determined to have a new dog. I wasn't quite ready yet because Stanley, ah my old dog, was my first dog and I was really attached to him. so But so two kids won and so we we had a new
00:31:28
Merili
snoer boby and not it's just a they have a very big personality.
00:31:34
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:31:35
Merili
They are lovely dogs, they are very attached to you and and very loving, but it's just the to start it wasn't easy with him at all. I waited and recommended 18 months before i I tried running with him and um the I contacted this local local um lady who advised us what kind of kid to get them because I was just so overwhelmed with all the choices out there and I ah just didn't know what what to really look into and and she got the skidded out and although the session with with her and went really well and Jack was like a natural with Kenny Cross later when we started to go on our own then he
00:32:26
Merili
so it was quite hard because he's he's a bit of a sensitive boy and he don't like he don't like wind and he don't like rain and ah at the time he didn't like, it had had to be a loop because he he never liked to turn around and when it was other talks he got too excited and also all the strickers that I mentioned like the wind and rain high grass those got him really excited and then it just started jumping up and nipping me and I thought that no, I can't do it but I somehow ah carried on with him and now he's a good running buddy.
00:33:07
Merili
He still tends to sniff a lot when when we go but I have accepted that that's that's the first mile with him and then he gets going and he he really seems to enjoy it.
00:33:15
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:33:20
Merili
when he has his own running bag and the running bottle and when he already sees that I'm taking it out he gets ever so excited because he just really wants to go and if he sees that I'm biting my running garen and not taking him then he just looks at you with those eyes that no that's not fair he he he truly enjoys it I don't think he's going to be yeah like ultra running dog, but we run like up to 10 miles with him and and he enjoys it. so
00:33:54
ukrunchat
Yeah that's great and is he always on the lead then of can you let him off sometimes?
00:33:58
Merili
um He's always dead with me because he's he's a bit the unpredictable it could be like there's a rabbit and he would just go after it because he just gets really excited.
00:34:08
ukrunchat
Yeah
00:34:14
Merili
He's now over three years old and he's calming down so I'm hoping that maybe be in a bit I could let him a bit lose to run but run with me as well. but um I have a good kid so he's is's not that that just in front of me, he can kind of move on the side to side and so its it has a bit more flexibility.
00:34:35
ukrunchat
know
00:34:40
ukrunchat
Yeah, oh there that's lovely that you've got the option to take him running with you. Yeah, that's brilliant.
00:34:44
Merili
it's It started kind of from necessity because I just couldn't fit in my runs and and and walking him and and then I thought that we just go together and that works well because for me I'm taking, because I know that he stops quite a bit in the beginning and and if he gets tired then I take those that I'm having my low heart rate run and and I really enjoy it. We have those ah conversations with him as well during those runs and it's it's really nice. I think it has been a lovely bonding experience and
00:35:25
Merili
And I would recommend anybody who have Tog in suitable age to try it out. You you never know, it it could be really good experience and Tog could really enjoy it because ah it's ah it's like a job for him, you know, running.
00:35:41
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:35:42
Merili
So it's so stimulating for his brain and and he can really put his protecting
00:35:52
Merili
qualities into interaction because he thinks that he's looking after to you because he's the leader.
00:35:57
ukrunchat
Yeah, no, that's fantastic. I think it really tires them out as well, Candy Cross, doesn't it?
00:36:01
Merili
Yes.
00:36:01
ukrunchat
Just because they're they're concentrating much harder. Yeah. Yeah. I find my dogs more tired after being in Candy Cross harness. and So can we can we chat a little bit about your, because you mentioned in your book you are a plant-based runner, is that is that right?
00:36:17
Merili
Yes, that's right.
00:36:18
ukrunchat
and Yeah, so can we can we just talk about your experiences then of of giving up meat and and fueling your body? Because there are there are some misconceptions out there around plant-based diets for runners, aren't they? So I thought it would be good to just chat around that for a little bit.
00:36:34
Merili
Yes, um i I transitioned to Blampest, tired around the time and when I was training for my first marathon. It just a started with my my husband watched the movie Game Changers and I was just out for the run and came back and he said that, well, you should really watch it. And so I watched it as well and I thought that, well, let's give it a go and so we just started to replace some of the meals out like like when I did vajitas instead of meat I would use like black beans or something like that and so it wasn't like ah overnight stage change that no we don't have any we just gradually changed it and within a month we were fully plant-based
00:37:33
Merili
um But I think the main thing that um misconception is that where are you getting your protein?
00:37:45
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's the question I hear a lot.
00:37:45
Merili
but
00:37:47
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:37:48
Merili
but But actually a lot of the plants have already a lot of protein in them and and there are many plant-based athletes, there like one of the strongest man is plant-based. He don't have any any problem bulking him up, so good good ultra runners like Scott Zurich and Rich Roll, they are plant-based and they can drain on that level because when you're fueling on plants then you get less inflammation and and you recover a bit quicker.
00:38:26
Merili
and um
00:38:29
Merili
So I think it's it's really helpful, but yeah, the main question is that where are you getting your protein? And I remember when I first transitioned and I also got a lot of those questions that what are you going to feed for your family? but so You just figure it out to start with, we we got quite a few cookbooks and then we were just marking it with post-its that recipes we would like to try and and it was quite nice experience and you are forced to eat more variety of foods, more of the rainbow of foods, so you get more vitamins and everything else. I understand though that plant paste
00:39:15
Merili
Lifestyle is not for for everybody. you know But it it works for me and and it's worth to try even if you just replace your meat in few meals during the week and and see how you feel. Maybe it doesn't make you feel any better, but you know it's it's worth to try.
00:39:35
ukrunchat
Yeah, and I think that's the thing, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, does it? You can just do it gradually.
00:39:39
Merili
it It doesn't.
00:39:41
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:39:41
Merili
ah son it's it's It's a lot of, like, ready-made plant-based options available, but they tend to be more processed and so not as good for you, but I don't really class food as as junk food, because food is food. If I want to eat that plant-based burger and my body craves for it, it's fine.
00:39:59
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:40:04
Merili
I can have it, you know. it's the It doesn't have to be that I only eat, like, only only all all full foods and you you can have what you crave really. I have tried definitely with my eating because I have had eating disorder and in in the past that I'm um more going to that intuitive eating route that i I eat what I crave for.
00:40:34
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:40:34
Merili
So I don't go upload before the long races because I just ah It seems that my body just craves the things that I actually need. After long runs and and like running the ultra I try to eat more protein, and but it's it seems to be something that my body craves anyway. So so it it it works well for me. you know Maybe for some people you have the more planet, but so
00:41:10
Merili
I feel that sir this is is wait that the helps me to keep my eating disorder and pay and and I have also cut out sugar from my diet. I have done it before, then I had a short break, I went back to the sugar and and I didn't like how I felt so from the first January I got sugar out from my diet again and it definitely feels feels better.
00:41:45
Merili
I have all the natural sugars, all the fruit and nuts and dr dried fruit and but I just tried to avoid processed sugar and and I think that helps me to, I don't have as many cravings as
00:41:48
ukrunchat
me.
00:42:04
Merili
as I had when I was eating sugar. But you know, it's ah it doesn't work everybody because there are a lot of runners there run staff for run for cake and it wouldn't work for them because if they think that this is like the reward for running and and because I don't eat cake it doesn't mean that they can't. So it's everybody's own individual choice.
00:42:27
ukrunchat
Yeah, no, that's very sensible advice, but you've got to find your own way, haven't you, and figure out what you feel comfortable with. and what What do you generally fuel with for an ultra then? What will you be taking with you?
00:42:39
Merili
um During the ultra, for the easy fuel I use baby food pouches, like the fruit pouches.
00:42:49
ukrunchat
Oh, yeah.
00:42:49
Merili
Banana apple is my favorite, strawberry apple, because they are quite calorie-tense and it's easy to consume like a gel, but um although I run with gels to start with, I have stayed away from them entirely. And last ultra I did I had ah had those baby food pouches, then I had some like bananas, um watermelon from aid stations where that was a hit. I really craved it and I loved it. And then I all also had like this um um dates and cashews and natural like ah bars because they're really color-retent but they give you a lot of energy and you don't have to eat loads.
00:43:35
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:43:36
Merili
um I also love dried mango which is very calorie-tense and again you don't have to eat masses of food. So these are my co-tos but so maybe next time I will crave for something different and and that's what I will but i will use. but but yeah the baby baby baby food pouches they have been really a game changer for me because they work really well and and they're not so much bigger to carry than shells and they're easy to get you can go to any supermarket and get some
00:44:03
ukrunchat
ye
00:44:06
ukrunchat
yeah
00:44:18
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's a really good tip. and So what have you got planned next? You've got some quite big races in your sites, haven't you?
00:44:26
Merili
Yes, I have signed up to run 100 miles on my wedding anniversary and so in September.
00:44:33
ukrunchat
wow your
00:44:36
Merili
so yeah My husband was joking that i yeah I need to run away from him.
00:44:44
ukrunchat
husband seems to feature a lot in your running journey merrily i must admit
00:44:44
Merili
it
00:44:49
ukrunchat
a
00:44:51
Merili
So... it It is quite scary, i yeah but i I tried to mentally get my head around it and I think I'm going to to be fine and I'm going to do it, but there are many scary elements about that race because, well, first the distance, then running through the night, I'm not very keen of the darkness, but one of the reasons why I took on this challenge was
00:45:07
ukrunchat
yeah
00:45:20
Merili
I wanted to overcome my fear and prove that I that they can. And I think I can.
00:45:30
Merili
because ah part of the route, especially the night time route is partially the same as two of the others I have done so um it's really nice woods which during the night time could be quite scary with all the animals and everything out but I think yeah I will feel safe enough there to to do it and I'm
00:45:51
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:45:55
Merili
I'm not bothered if I'm one of the last ones, I just want to finish and just want to prove myself that they I can do it.
00:46:03
ukrunchat
Yeah, I guess it's a very personal achievement, 100 miles, isn't it? And I guess you you have to do it your own way.
00:46:07
Merili
Yeah, it it definitely, definitely is.
00:46:11
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:46:12
Merili
I'm not doing it for to show anybody, oh i'm I'm doing it for me do to fight my inner gremlins and and just just come out on the top.
00:46:25
ukrunchat
Yeah, so how how is training going? What have you had to kind of change and add in to prepare for it?
00:46:30
Merili
Well, I normally have been running three times a week and then adding some cross training. No, I'm running four times a week and adding cross training. So that's a bit different.
00:46:44
ukrunchat
yeah
00:46:44
Merili
I still do my regular strength training routine. I try to vary it a bit that I don't do the same exercises that I would, that everything would be covered, but my weak spots that that I have had injuries that I would make sure that these areas would be strong enough. But ah other than that everything is everything is the same, there are some really long runs coming along the way but I will face those when I need to do them.
00:47:21
ukrunchat
Yeah. And will will Jack be joining you for much of it, your your dog?
00:47:25
Merili
Well, he will be joining some of it because I wouldn't be able able to just um timewise fit it in, so so I might do that. I will but run a little bit with him, then bring him home and then finish it off or or something like that. It's just timewise, it's it's it's not possible. he He needs to come with with for for some of them. and I know it will be a lot of the summer training but then I just have to go earlier in the mornings that he wouldn't be too hot because they have their furry coats and they just can't handle the heat as we do so you have to be really wary that they wouldn't overheat.
00:48:01
ukrunchat
a
00:48:08
ukrunchat
Yeah. um And Will, you are you still running with a running club because you're mentioning your book that you'd set a running club up, haven't you?
00:48:15
Merili
and I am a member of the Caster Running Club and I set up like a local running group which we don't have regular sessions anymore but I still run with some of some of the members when when we have availability and it's just nice to catch up. it's It's a good way to catch up when everybody are busy to just go for a run.
00:48:40
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:48:46
ukrunchat
Yeah. so So did you get out with the much or do you still prefer just running to your own timetable?
00:48:51
Merili
um i I still run mostly alone because it just fits my circumstances that the best, because especially the weekend runs. I quite often go way before my son wakes up and then it doesn't interfere so much with the family activities. i yeah I come home and I still can take him for the day day out, even if I have had like a four hour run. it just takes a bit planning because when when you go with running club then maybe running starts at nine o'clock and if you would go for the long run then you maybe get back 12 o'clock and then it's half a day gone already and I just it just feel that um my family needs to spend some time with me as well and so I have just prioritized that time right now.
00:49:32
ukrunchat
yeah
00:49:44
Merili
It might change in the future because and I'm still part of the running club and and we have talked about getting back to regular sessions with the running group. So we'll see what what the future brings.
00:49:59
ukrunchat
Yeah. Yeah, it's nice to have options though, isn't it?
00:50:02
Merili
Yes, definitely.
00:50:02
ukrunchat
Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah, just just a final one for me, really. You're very honest in your book. You talk about a lot of issues. and You talk about kind of mental health, anxiety. and But you also talk about incontinence. So I just wanted to raise that as a point, because I know talking before we started recording. and we felt it was important to put it out there, didn't we? And just say, you know, this this happens and that there probably are lots of other women experiencing it.
00:50:25
Merili
ah
00:50:31
ukrunchat
So yeah, just tell us a little bit about that if you're comfortable talking about it.
00:50:34
Merili
Yes, i I found it important to touch base with it that in in my book because when I started running um I suffered with the stress incontinence and it was really bad, it bought me off with running with other people, I felt the constant shame about it, and I i felt that I'm suffering alone. it's ah It's only when after I read Nita Sweeney's book, Depression Hates a Moving Target, and she very subtly mentions it in two places, and just that little mention came me feeling that well, there are actually other women out there who suffer as well,
00:51:21
Merili
I might not be as alone as alone and and so I yeah joined some women specific Facebook groups where where I saw that actually a lot of women suffered with it, what to do about it and it also made me to seek out for help. which didn't help right away but I ah was introduced to the tools and and options that so made my stress incontinence manageable and I'm i'm pleased to say that now I'm managing it that well so it's it's it's not an issue when I run with other people and I don't have have to worry about it because as a beginner runner it could be
00:52:12
Merili
you're worrying about everything anyway, how running-wise, but if you have that added worry and and then you think that what other people think, and it's it's just not a really good thing to face. So for women out there who suffer with stress incontinence, just know that you're not alone and reach out for the women's health this year, um look up the resources in the internet because the help is out there and it's it's it's not not an operation, there are a lot of easier things that you can do. Kegels always doesn't help but there are ways that could help and it's just just make that step and book an appointment and and you you will win for me.
00:53:03
ukrunchat
Yeah, yeah, I think that's important. Just get over the embarrassment and yeah, because it's nothing to be ashamed of, is it?
00:53:09
Merili
No.
00:53:10
ukrunchat
Yeah, oh well, thank thank you for being so honest there. and So final one from me then, what ah what advice would you give to people who are perhaps listening to this, who who aren't runners at the moment and are thinking about it? Because your book's very inspiring. There's a lot of information in there. So pick maybe two pieces of advice for somebody new to it.
00:53:32
Merili
So for for me personally, I wish I would have known that I actually owned that run. It's my run, no one else. You don't run for Strava stats or or impress someone, you run for yourself. And because that was something that I i didn't know when I was was running in my early age. Yeah, so I think this is this is really important, you're in a control and nobody else is and I think that's really empowering.
00:54:08
Merili
But the other things is so just start slow, don't get too carried away like I did in the beginning, did some stupid things.
00:54:19
ukrunchat
Thank
00:54:21
Merili
um Just try to enjoy yourself and and Just start, you don't have to have expensive care to start with, you can get by with trainers that you have and any sports care that you have for the first few weeks and if you feel that you will carry on with it, get fitted, get good running shoes because they make a difference, those clothes could wait because you can get by without all those moisture wicking clothes if you just run short distances.
00:54:37
ukrunchat
you.
00:54:57
Merili
and just believe in yourself and and just run.
00:55:02
ukrunchat
Yeah. And that leads us nicely onto, because that's the title of your book, Just Run. So what when is it released and where can people buy it?
00:55:11
Merili
um It will be on Amazon from early July and e-book will come for pre-sale next in in June.
00:55:24
ukrunchat
Yeah. Okay. And where can people find you on social media, Mary Lee, if they'd like to follow your adventures?
00:55:29
Merili
um um on so On social media my account is merrilyruns on Instagram so please I would be happy to connect with you and if you have any questions i'm I'm always happy to answer. Send me a message and and i would I would love to connect with you.
00:55:51
ukrunchat
ah Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat to us today. It's been an absolute delight learning more about you and and getting to meet you. and So thank you so much. I hope that everybody out there has enjoyed listening to this episode.
00:56:06
Merili
Thank you so much Michelle for inviting me and it has been really great experience and I hope I have inspired at least one person to lace up their running shoes and head out for a run.