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Dr Ai Lyn Tan
342 Plays10 months ago
In this episode Michelle chats with @AiLyn_Runner | @DrAiLynTan
Dr Ai Lyn is a parkrun Ambassador, her marathon PB is 3:28:51 and she has been running every day for over 4 years!
This episode includes Dr Ai Lyn’s thoughts on how running can be helpful for a variety of medical conditions.
You can follow Dr Ai Lyn on:
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Transcript
Introduction and Running Streak
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, Eileen. Thank you so much for joining us on the UK Run Chat podcast today. It's a pleasure to have you here. How are you? I'm very well, thank you. I'm absolutely delighted to be here. Thank you.
00:00:13
Speaker
We always love seeing your name pop up on the UK run chat feed when you tag us in to various things that you're doing. So it's always lovely to see you. You're in the middle of a run streak. You're doing a very big run streak, aren't you, every day? What are you up to at the moment?
00:00:33
Speaker
I am. So as of today, it's 1,446 running every day. So that's coming up to four years in a couple of weeks time. Yeah. Wow.
Running Routine and Marathon Journey
00:00:45
Speaker
So I mean, how, how did that start? Have you, have you always been a runner? So well, I started running about, about 20 years ago.
00:00:56
Speaker
And then this run streak came about accidentally. So I blame COVID for it. What happened was I used to run to and from work every day, but sometimes I would feel really tired, probably more mentally tired after work, and then just take the taxi home rather than run home. Then when the pandemic hit, I thought, no, I'm not going to take taxis anymore.
00:01:24
Speaker
So I'll just run whole, no matter how tired I may feel. So yeah, that's how the one streak started. It just started by accident. And then so it added up and then, you know, 100 days to 100 days a year. And I just cannot stop now. There's no way I can stop this streak. So that's it, you're going forever.
00:01:48
Speaker
Well, for as long as I can keep it up. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's doable, isn't it? I mean, look at the late Ron Hill. He ran for over 50 years, didn't he? Every single day of his life. Exactly. Exactly. I think, I mean, I don't think about running now. I just get up and do it. And, you know, it just, it just, it's part of my day now. So I don't think, oh, I have to run. I just get up and I just go out running and enjoy it.
00:02:13
Speaker
Yeah, so so how do you fit it in? Because you do have a very busy job as well, don't you? How do you how do you fit that in? How do you where do you find the motivation to kind of get out every day and do that? So I run first thing in the morning. So I worked backwards, I would say that if I have to go to work a certain time, I will make sure that I wake up in time to go running and then
00:02:37
Speaker
get ready for work. That means I have to make sure that I sleep by a certain time so that I can wake up first thing in the morning to do it. Yeah. So what, I mean, what time's bedtime for you normally then to make sure you can do that in the morning? So this year I'm trying to be a little bit better. I'm trying to sleep at 9.30. Yeah. The key word is trying. So asleep by 9.30. Yes. Yeah.
00:03:06
Speaker
And then I wake up at about five in the morning and then get ready for a run before I go to work. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good amount of time if you can manage it. It is hard though, isn't it? Of an evening to kind of get everything ready and make sure you're in bed and relaxed enough to sleep at that time. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. That's too many distractions. I know it's very, very dedicated of you. So how far do you normally run kind of daily? So, so, so for the run streak, I have been running a minimum of a mile.
00:03:36
Speaker
I often do a lot more than that, but I do minimum a mile. And then of course, I've got park runs and Saturdays and I tend to do a longer run on Sundays as well. Yeah. Yeah. So have you got, are you training for anything in particular at the moment? I know the answer to this already is a bit of a leap. Yeah, well, so yeah, I, so this year I've been training for many
00:04:00
Speaker
racist. And obviously, the next one is slightly changed now. So I've suddenly got myself into training for the London marathon.
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah, so how did that come about? It sounds like it was almost accidental. It kind of is like everything else in my life. And so I only found out I was going to do the London Marathon this week. Yeah. And so, so basically, parkrun. So I'm a parkrun ambassador. So I'm a social media park ambassador, I volunteer to support the social media for parkrun. And
00:04:39
Speaker
Barbara decided to offer one London marathon place to ambassadors. So we had to apply and say why we want to do it and all that. And then I got a phone call on Monday. And I was like, Oh, wow. The first thing I did was how am I going to fit in all this training? Oh, wow. Yeah. So, so I was absolutely excited, but very nervous all at the same time, because
00:05:05
Speaker
So I had planned to train for the lead half marathon, which is in May. And then suddenly I got a London marathon a month earlier to train. So I met Rush trying to re-plan all my training runs and also trying to be mindful about not going into training too hard. All of a sudden I was
00:05:32
Speaker
I'm wary that you know, there's a lot of mileage could be involved. So I just try to be as sensible as possible and make sure that I get the mileage in but without suddenly giving my body a shock to the system, I guess. So yeah, London Marathon here I come. Wow. So have you done London Marathon before or will this be first time? So um, so my last marathon was eight years ago, which was London Marathon. So that would have been my
00:06:02
Speaker
sixth marathon. And I got a PB then and I decided that that's it. I don't need to do any more marathons. I don't want to do any more marathons. Particularly, I don't really want to run for 20 miles on Sundays. Well, yes, it's a big, it's a big ask, isn't it? It is. I said, no, not doing any more marathons. And of course, park run just makes you do things you don't want to do.
00:06:33
Speaker
So what was your reason for applying for the place then? So we got an email as ambassadors and I thought, wow, I didn't hesitate. I said, I'm going to do this. And I guess, I guess never say never. And I guess if I was going to do another marathon, it's going to be something really special. And this will be very special. So I will be the first person to run the London Marathon to raise funds for Parkrun.
00:07:03
Speaker
I think that is really, really magical and I just couldn't say no to the opportunity.
00:07:11
Speaker
And I'm sure there'll be loads of other ambassadors who apply, but I'm just so pleased to be able to do it for Parkrun. Yeah, that's so exciting. Yeah, Parkrun of course relies on donations, doesn't it, as well, to fund events. So will you be fundraising for a particular event or for Parkrun as a whole? It's for Parkrun Global.
00:07:33
Speaker
it's for the whole parkrun. And you're absolutely right, because as people may know, parkrun is absolutely free. And in order to be free, you know, lots of volunteers and ambassadors and support the event and so that people can enjoy parkrun and without having to think about, you know, having to pay for anything. So yeah, so it does rely on some funding to make sure it runs free for everyone.
00:08:02
Speaker
Yeah, that's wonderful. So yeah, I mean, obviously, if people wanted to support you from that, have you got a fundraising page set up already, we can point them to that. Yeah, I do. That was the second thing I did after after designing my training plan. So it's all just giving. So it's justgiving.com forward slash page forward slash
00:08:23
Speaker
island for parkrun that's A-I-L-Y-N for parkrun or just google just giving and an island for parkrun yeah we'll put a link to your twitter slash x profile as well in the show notes so people can find you easily i'm sure you've got a link on there have you yes yes i do splashed all over so let's let's chat a bit about parkrun then how long have you been park running and how did the volunteer ambassador role come about
00:08:50
Speaker
And so I, so it will be 12 years on the 12th of May this year that I've been path running. Tomorrow I will be doing my 488th path run. Gosh, that's a lot. Yeah, well done. Thank you. And, and the day before my 12th year anniversary will be my 500th path run if all goes to plan. So, so yeah.
00:09:19
Speaker
Parkrun has been a huge part of my life. I have no idea what I used to do on Saturdays before that. And of course, during the pandemic, it was quite tricky not being able to just be among friends and the social aspect of it. So I volunteer regularly at Parkrun, the first responder and now the regular communications person.
00:09:46
Speaker
done a variety of volunteer roles as well, walking, marshalling, etc. And I got into
00:09:55
Speaker
managing a social media account for my local parkrun, a small parkrun
Parkrun and Community Impact
00:10:01
Speaker
in Leeds. And then from there, I got into supporting Parkrun UK with the social media pages. So there's a team of volunteer ambassadors doing that. And it's just one of the best things about social media on Parkrun is that you get to see so many success stories, particularly on Saturdays, and it's just
00:10:27
Speaker
really heartwarming to see so many smiley faces on Saturdays. Yeah. So your role is kind of being online and just kind of chatting to people a bit like UK run chatter guests. We see similar things. Yeah. We see everyone tagging us in like PBs and things. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's lovely. So so you're nearly at 500. That's an incredible commitment. So are you there literally every Saturday?
00:10:55
Speaker
Pretty much. I'm trying to think, when am I not there? I think I'm not there if I absolutely have to travel on that day somewhere and I can't physically do it.
00:11:09
Speaker
But I try to organise by travelling sort of before and after the parkrun, of course. And so, yeah, I'm pretty much there every Saturday. I've been doing a little bit of parkrun tourism as well. And it's a great way to see different parks in different cities. I've never been to before. So I really enjoy that bit of visiting other parkruns as well.
00:11:31
Speaker
Yeah. You're mostly at the same event though, because you're on the core team. I'm mostly on the same event. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's nice. I think I've always been a bit of a parkrun tourist. I've loved kind of going out and just visiting new places, like you say. And it's great if you're away as well. I always have a look. Is there a parkrun nearby that I can drop in at and see somewhere different? I love it. Yeah. But I guess being part of that community,
00:11:59
Speaker
in your home at your home event is must be so rewarding for you. It is quite comforting. I mean, saying that I have visited 72 other platforms as well. So I do enjoy visiting other platforms and other communities and to try out the different courses
00:12:22
Speaker
you know, the different labs and terrains. And that's just really, really rewarding to be able to have the different communities but all doing the same thing. Yeah. So yeah, I do like visiting other places. So I would sometimes disappear from Woodhouse-Moor Park Run for weeks and then suddenly come back again. It's quite a commitment to be there, to be somewhere different at 9am on a Saturday morning though, isn't it? Like what if you've got a limit for travel or do you tend to kind of stay over somewhere
00:12:52
Speaker
So, so an hour, an hour is the limit. If we're not sort of staying over, so we can just wake up at a reasonable time and travel. Yeah.
00:13:05
Speaker
Yeah, it can get a bit addictive, can't it? I know, I remember we moved kind of from the east of the country to the Manchester area. So I've got a whole new host of part-runs that I need to go and visit now. So everyone's a bit closer again. It gets a bit difficult when you've done all the nearest ones to you, doesn't it? It is, it does. Yeah, so I mean, just talk to us a bit about like the ethos of part-run really, and you know, because I guess there's some people out there that still haven't been along.
00:13:35
Speaker
I mean, what would you say to people who haven't been yet to try and partner? Yeah, so I guess the best example I would probably give is, so I'm a doctor at a hospital, so a rheumatologist. So I see a lot of patients who predominantly have pain and difficulty moving.
00:13:55
Speaker
And I do often signpost them to Parkrun. Now, obviously, the name itself, Parkrun, can scare quite a lot of people who can't really move very well because of their symptoms. So I would explain to them about how it's actually an event for everyone and you can walk.
00:14:18
Speaker
And what I even suggest to them is that most platforms are on average about three labs. So I said to them that they can just go and walk perhaps to the lab and see how they feel and if they feel all right, they can carry on and complete it.
00:14:34
Speaker
Or if they're not sure about walking, just turn up. So the social aspect of Parkland is equally important. I think the fact that people are amongst people who are active, there is evidence to show that it does help mentally as well. So I think Parkland is indeed for everyone.
00:14:55
Speaker
you don't even have to walk it. Obviously there's volunteering that doesn't need any special skills, but just being amongst people who are doing activities is socially and mentally helpful as well.
Running Myths and Health Benefits
00:15:10
Speaker
So yeah, I do refill a lot of my patients' apartment. I've got posters in the clinic rooms and I sometimes help them to register on site if they need to.
00:15:21
Speaker
And, and I think sometimes you don't know what you don't know. So it's just sharing, you know, the, the, the ethos apart from with, with people just so that they know about it. Yeah, yeah. Now, what you said there about kind of actually referring people to it to help. Talk to me a bit more about that. So because you tweet a lot of interesting things from your professional account, don't you about the benefits of exercise?
00:15:46
Speaker
And I know we talk a lot about mental health, but physically in terms of joint health, how does it help? So it absolutely helps. And I think we all know exercise running is good for our health, for everyone's health. And I think that there are myths surrounding running as well, and people, particularly patients I see with joint pain,
00:16:13
Speaker
And even health professionals, some health professionals also have the myth that running isn't good for joints, but there is a myth, as I said in the beginning, what running does is that it moves the joints, it strengthens the muscles, it stabilizes the joints. And there are scientific evidence to show that
00:16:35
Speaker
running does help protect joints from arthritis and pain and even in people with arthritis there is evidence to show that it does help their symptoms as well. So I think like everything else being sensible if you've never ever run before start gradual and listen to your body but running has significant benefits to joints and pain and many other health conditions
00:17:03
Speaker
Part one is a great example because you know it's got a huge community, a variety of people and it has benefited for so many communities with health conditions. Yeah, I mean you often hear, I remember going on a holiday and meeting, he was actually a knee surgeon and he told me because I said I was going out for a run, he told me that running was bad for my knees because he always saw people
00:17:33
Speaker
But I think he had a very blinkered view of it because he was operating on people who had damaged knees. So I mean, what are your thoughts on that? Is that just a myth? Because people have shouted at that to me in the street before now. Your knees won't thank you for that as you're running past. What are your thoughts on that? So it's a very individualised concept.
00:17:57
Speaker
In short, running doesn't actually harm knee joints. There is a lot of evidence out there now to support that. And if anything, there is evidence to show that people with arthritis or knee pain who runs actually feel better. So it is a myth that it is a myth and running is helpful. But we do have to listen to the body.
00:18:26
Speaker
you know if you have if you do not necessarily running if you do any exercise of physical activity and you get unbearable sharp pain now that's not right so you do have to look into that. Some stiffness and mild aching from exercise including running is very normal particularly if they are short-lived within a few days they settle down and that's one of the things that's useful to let people know who hasn't actually started a particular exercise
00:18:55
Speaker
is to say that have a go at it. If you feel a little bit of stiffness and aching, that's absolutely fine. And in fact, actually, it's a good thing because you know that your muscles are working hard. Yeah, and that will settle down. And so just keep going at it and listen to the body and use common sense. Yeah, no, that's that's really sensible. And I guess you've you've really learned to listen to your body running daily, haven't you over the last
00:19:22
Speaker
four years or so. I guess you're finely tuned into every little... I mean do you get niggles and things or do you tend to be okay? Lately I've been okay fortunately so it's been good but I did
00:19:38
Speaker
break my foot running some years ago. And that was really hard. And that was before my run streak. But breaking my foot made me enjoy running even more because I had to start learning how to walk again to start with and then to run again. And then I just basically moved my goal post with regards to PBs altogether and really enjoy running.
00:20:07
Speaker
And it's just revolutionary. And I think listening to your body is so important and being realistic about what you can achieve, but at the same time persist with it and you'll enjoy even more if you do it in a sensible manner.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. And I think, I guess that's where it comes in. It's so important to have something like Park Room, for example, that you can, if you do end up being injured or you're finding it difficult to get into, you've got that community around you, you can volunteer or whatever, can't you? If you can't actually manage and run if you need a rest day. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I enjoyed volunteering and being the tailwalker when I broke my foot. Yeah. It was really good fun because it gave me the opportunity and the reason to do that. And
00:20:56
Speaker
And it's equally enjoyable being a walker as well as being a runner. Yeah. Yeah. No, it is nice. I know my daughter, she's not quite, she's not quite enjoying running. So she will come and either volunteer with me at part run sometimes, or she'll just walk the course with me. And it's quite nice to have that option, isn't it? It is. Yeah. Yeah. So your posts on social media, they often highlight the connection between exercise and mental health, which we've already mentioned.
00:21:26
Speaker
I mean, is that something you would, is exercise something you prescribe for people as well, if they're struggling with that side of things? Talk to us about mental health. Yes, I would recommend patients and people to exercise and run for their mental health. Probably because I found that helpful for myself. So I'm sure I have
00:21:54
Speaker
gained some mental stability with running. It helps focus my energy and my day and the social aspect of running, particularly with popcorn, where there is a community of like-minded people.
00:22:11
Speaker
cannot be underestimated. It's just brilliant just to be able to look forward to turning up on a Saturday morning, seeing some familiar faces, catching up with what's happened during the week, and then go for a run. And then afterwards, there is always the coffee afterwards, just to reflect on how it went. And I think that that is a very helpful part of exercising, particularly in the community, like path running.
00:22:41
Speaker
Yeah, because I think you tweeted something recently that suggested that exercise can be as effective a treatment for depression and anxiety as medication. Is that right? Did I get the right gist there? Yeah, so and there is increasing amount of papers and evidence for that. And so some illnesses, including mental health, does need medication. But
00:23:12
Speaker
exercise can either be complementary or sometimes even help significantly. We know of people with diabetes who have exercised and able to reverse their diabetes and so the benefit from exercising and running is enormous. The chief medical officer physical activity guideline recommendation within that document suggests that if exercise
00:23:41
Speaker
basically exercise could be a miracle cure because of the impact on multiple health conditions. Yeah, it's a powerful thing, isn't it? It really is. Yeah, it's wonderful. So you do your directory of research and innovation, is that right?
Research and Innovation in Exercise
00:23:57
Speaker
Yes, so I'm the Director for Research and Innovation at one of the largest hospital trusts that's in Leeds. So I look after a huge team of really talented people who help support all the research that's going on at the hospital. Yeah, that's fantastic. Is there anything kind of is there any studies coming up that are looking into exercise in particular while running?
00:24:24
Speaker
So there are always studies on that topic. And I think if you look at X, you will see a lot of tweets on new studies coming up for evidence relating to exercise and running, particularly on health. And of course, during the pandemic on COVID as well. So huge amount. And I think even though we know a lot, there's still a lot more evidence out there to be learned.
00:24:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think there's still a lot of people suffering with long COVID, isn't there, who are finding it impacting on their running. I think that's tough for a lot of people. It is, yeah. Yeah, I know I've found it quite difficult to get back into it after a horrible bout of COVID. But yeah, it's good that it's exciting that there's more studies happening. Is there anything that you feel we particularly need more research in, in regards to running an exercise? So I think,
00:25:22
Speaker
we understand a lot of science behind the benefits of how exercise helps the body and the physiology of it and improve health conditions but I think and there are research on this area but probably could do with more which is how can we remove barriers and improve motivation and this is a massive topic because it ranges from a personal
00:25:48
Speaker
motivation and barrier to how the environment and society enables people to to get into an exercise mode, for example. So this is a massive area. And we all know exercise helps. But yeah, how do we get into exercise? How can we find the time being able to exercise that I think could do with some support?
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's tough, isn't it? I mean, how do you do person you've got you've got a very busy job, obviously, and you managed to fit running in daily how you obviously get up early, you've got that motivation to do it. What would your advice be to somebody who's wanting to start exercising regularly? What would you say to them?
00:26:32
Speaker
One other thing I tend to tell people who struggle with time and mostly people who are busy working or having to care for somebody else or has commitments that take a lot of their effort and time is to think about exercise like brushing teeth. Okay. So we all, well, I hope we all do, wash our teeth every day.
00:26:56
Speaker
And, you know, and we're meant to brush our teeth for two minutes. And we do it in morning at night, etc. And just think about that, because I don't think we have to put in a huge amount of time to exercise every day. Any amount of time you can put in on a regular basis is better than nothing. Yeah.
00:27:19
Speaker
So I think just look at that and it's not having to put in hours of exercise. It's just a few minutes. And if you can do it a few minutes throughout the day, even better. Yeah. So what kind of exercise are we talking? Anything? Yes. So here's another myth, I guess, is that exercise doesn't mean having to go to the gym. Yeah. And there are lots of exercise you can do at home.
00:27:46
Speaker
no equipment required. So the body weight is a brilliant tool. So just using your own body weight as a tool for exercise means that you can do it anywhere and indoors as well. And again, YouTube is brilliant. I remember when I broke my foot and I couldn't run and I was
00:28:13
Speaker
I was aware that I need to keep my fitness level up. And I googled YouTube to look for options. And I found this amazing person who's done exercises for people with hurt foot is what it's called. Yeah. And so these exercises were non weight bearing. And amazingly, you can get really tired just doing exercises sitting down. Okay.
00:28:41
Speaker
Yeah, well, you see like things like I've seen seated Pilates advertised in our village hall, for example. So you can work your body, can't you, without necessarily even standing up. It's yeah. Yeah. So there's lots that can be done. No, that's good. I think you're right. I think we need to remove this perception that exercise should be hard because I mean, I think we probably get caught up in what people post on
Personal Running Philosophy and Experiences
00:29:03
Speaker
social media, don't we? A lot of the time they're posting all about the hard runs that they've been out and, you know, run really fast and
00:29:10
Speaker
I think we lose a bit of perspective. I think exercise should be enjoyable and fun. Now, it may be that those people who run really fast are actually enjoying that. Yeah. So there you go. They are enjoying it. So whatever is enjoyable should be the purpose of exercise. Yeah, but that's not necessarily our goal, is it? Yeah, we have to think about what we would find enjoyable.
00:29:37
Speaker
that's right. Yeah, I mean, what what do you get out of running? Do you do it for just for fun for fitness? What's your philosophy on running? And both I guess so I do it for fitness for my mental health. I do it because it's now it gives me a focus
00:29:56
Speaker
for my day and I do enjoy it. Even though I love running apart from the communities, I love running on my own. I just enjoy that running, just being with myself and it's very meditative and it's a very good time for coming up with solutions to problems as well. Just never know. I enjoy running for, yeah, just running.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, there's the cat. I've just seen the cat. She's walking up. Oh, brilliant. Oh, well, it's been lovely chatting to you today. I have got a quick fire round of questions for you. That's all right. Of course. So preferred running surface road trailer track.
00:30:45
Speaker
It has to be road for the reason that they are everywhere. The moment you step out of the door, it's there. And as I said, I'm very happy running on my own and I'm equally happy running laps of roads. So it's just very enjoyable to do it. Yeah, yeah. Morning or evening runs, I think you've already answered this one. Definitely morning. It's a magical time of the day, so peaceful.
00:31:12
Speaker
Yeah, nice and quiet and it's a good way to start the day, isn't it actually? It's brilliant. You should try it if you haven't eaten every one. Favourite poster and snack? Would you normally run pre-breakfast or have breakfast later? It depends on what type of run. So if I was going for a quick one-miler, I'd probably have breakfast after. But favourite post-run snack would be anything I can get my hands on.
00:31:44
Speaker
But if I was doing a long run on a hot summer's day, it often is either an ice lolly or an orange or something like that. I guess my bodies are telling me I need something sweet and juicy. Yeah, nice and refreshing. I like that.
00:32:01
Speaker
So music or no music, or maybe podcasts on your own? Yeah, so podcasts. So definitely podcasts, but only during long runs. And if I'm not doing any intervals, my latest podcasts that I listen to is Mindset Mentor by Rock Dial. So I'm
00:32:24
Speaker
kind of improving my physical body by running and also improving my mind at the same time. Yeah, I like that. I think we've all got a lot to learn still about how powerful our minds are, haven't we? Yeah. Yeah. Cross-training activity of choice. And I'm probably not as good as in that area, but I do do 120 sit-ups every day. Every day? Wow.
00:32:54
Speaker
So, and I do have some weights and some elastic bands about the house. So if I walk across that and I feel like it, I'll just do a few, not in a systematic way. And yeah, and I also do some yoga stretching every day. But other than that, I don't really do any other cross training properly. Yeah, do you tend to stretch after a run? Is that part of your routine? I try to remember. Yes. Yeah, it's hard.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you've done some cycling as well, haven't you? You've sack off from Paris to Leeds. So I did.
00:33:31
Speaker
So I have to declare I am not a cyclist. In order to do that, so the Paris to Leeds was for charity. It was 500 miles over six days. And I hadn't cycled for years and I actually had to take cycling lessons for adults just to be able to do that stint. And so we did that and raised the money and I've not cycled since.
00:34:00
Speaker
So that was a total one-up, that's incredible. That makes it even more amazing. Yeah, what an experience though. It was. I was amongst people who could cycle and I remember there was blood, there was sweat, there was tears. Lots of tears. I remember those. So what's your preferred race distance do you think?
00:34:28
Speaker
I think it's got to be a half marathon. Because I guess because it's long enough, so that you have the permission not to run very hard during the whole journey. So it's more enjoyable. Yeah. And it's also short enough that you don't have to go through 20 mile runs on the Sundays. Yeah, there's 20 mile runs on a Sunday kick cleanup, don't they? Yeah.
00:34:52
Speaker
It's going to be very familiar over the next two months for me. It will. Where have you got up to at the moment in marathon training then? Well, I literally started this week when I found out. So, well, I'm planning to do two hours on Sunday. Let's see how it goes. I didn't do 10 miles last Sunday, so it's probably not too far off. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You get in there, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:17
Speaker
No, I think I agree with you. I think a marathon takes a lot of commitment, doesn't it? A lot of time to train for. Never say never though. Gosh, that's my lesson learned. What's your most unusual or memorable running encounter you think of one? Oh, so
00:35:37
Speaker
I can tell you about how I broke my foot running. I've got so many stories but I guess we touched on that. So what happened was I broke my foot whilst doing the Great North Run and that was five kilometres into the run and it was because
00:35:56
Speaker
I had just run past a water station and there were loads of people about and I didn't see a bottle of water in front of my next step. So I stepped onto the water bottle and twisted my ankle. And I knew I hurt my foot, but I didn't know I broke it then. And I did think, gosh, it's really painful and it's hurting so badly. And I was limping by then.
00:36:18
Speaker
And I wasn't, even though my body could run faster, I didn't dare do it because I was conscious I had done something to my foot and I thought about stopping and getting the ambulance back to the start, etc. But I thought it was easier just to run the rest of the way so I did. So I ran the rest of the 10 kilometres on a broken foot, which I didn't know I had at that time.
00:36:40
Speaker
So I crossed it across the finish line, got onto a wheelchair, into the medical tent. And that's when I saw my foot, it had doubled in size and was very, very colourful, shall we say. Yeah, okay. Ouch. Yeah, that's that's some kind of powerful mindset you had right there, though. I didn't know I brought my foot, I just thought I hurt myself. Yeah, wow.
00:37:05
Speaker
So how long were you off for after that then? How long did that take to recover? So I think I started my first, well, I learned how to walk again and I did a walk
00:37:17
Speaker
Jock. It's with a cultural 5k all over again and I think so that was in September and I did a 10k run in November but I didn't go for it I just like very gingerly tested it but yeah that was my first race two months after I broke my foot. Oh wow so yeah have you been back to the Great Northern since?
00:37:40
Speaker
Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. The year after, every time I pass a water station, I was just looking on the road, making sure everything is clear for my next footstep. So easily done, though, isn't it? With them just rolling around at the water stations. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, wow. So what's your favourite race that you've ever taken part in?
00:38:05
Speaker
Paris marathon. And for a number of reasons, I think, because it's my first ever marathon, and it's in Paris. And, and, and the fact that I yeah, it's just the fact that it's the first marathon, it's just magical. And it's a huge accomplishment. Yeah, there's something very special about the first time you're in that distance, isn't there? What? Yeah, what a location for it. Yeah. Yeah. What's, what's Paris marathon like then?
00:38:33
Speaker
It's very flat. It goes under lots of roads, so it goes deep down and then come back up again. It was really crowded, but just very enjoyable. The only reason I did Paris being my first marathon was I could not get into London Marathon with the balance for so many years.
00:38:56
Speaker
And somebody says, why don't you do Paris? And I had to fix in my mind that I will do a marathon one day, it will be London marathon. And so I persisted until somebody says, why don't you do a different marathon? But you did eventually get to London. I did because I went in with good for age. Right. I don't think ballads will work for me. No, no. I've gotten on the ballot once, I think. Yeah, just the once. So yeah, it is tough. It's getting harder, isn't it?
00:39:27
Speaker
Yes. So running pet peeves, is there something about running our races that makes you go, errr, that makes you cringe? So, not very much. I guess the only thing that bothers me is having blisters. Oh yeah, not nice.
00:39:46
Speaker
And I had tried everything, special sauce, taste, plasters, et cetera, et cetera. But I found the solution finally. Oh, go on. Please share. So it's using chamois cream for cycling. So I had a big bottle of it. And when I stopped cycling, I said, what am I going to do with it?
00:40:08
Speaker
So I tried it on my foot and it had never had any more blisters since then. Oh wow, so you would just put the arm before you put your socks on and then... Yeah, just by putting more moisturiser on and it just was wonders. I've not had a single blister since. Oh well, great tip there for all our listeners. So if you could run anywhere in the world, where would it be?
00:40:33
Speaker
I think if I could do that, I would want to run all the platforms in all the different countries. That will be an amazing achievement and experience. Yeah. Wow. Wouldn't it just have you done any overseas patterns? I have only done two actually. So I've done one in Paris before the Paris marathon. Yeah. And I did one in Copenhagen.
00:40:56
Speaker
Oh yeah, what's that one like? I was looking at that because we were looking at taking our daughter there actually. They are fun, they're good. Are they? You're probably finding a lot more people from UK than the locals at home. Okay, all right, yes, I'm more tourists than locals. We do seem to really...
00:41:19
Speaker
Yeah, we've really embraced partnering in this country, haven't we? There's so many of them. Which is great for people because there's always a partner near where you live. Yeah, perfect. Okay, last one then. If you could have one superpower to enhance your running, what would it be? So I guess it would be if I can turn back time and start running at a much younger age,
00:41:47
Speaker
so I can be better than I am now. But more importantly, perhaps be able to run parkrun when I was four years old, because obviously parkrun didn't exist then. So I really, really admire all those people who are able to start their parkrun journey H4 and spend the rest of their lives enjoying parkrun. Oh, that's so lovely. I've got goosebumps now. Just hearing the passion you have for parkrun, I love it.
00:42:15
Speaker
Yeah, what a nice way to end the podcast. Thank you so much for coming on. It's been lovely talking to you. Where can our listeners find you if they want to follow you on social media? So I have the same handle for X or Twitter and Instagram and also YouTube at island underscore runner. So that's A-I-L-Y-N underscore runner.
00:42:42
Speaker
I've also, as you alluded to, I've got a professional Twitter or X account at Dr. Eileen Tan, that's Dr. A-I-L-Y-N-T-A-A. Yeah, which is also very, has very fascinating posts on running an exercise. So do check those out. So thank you so much. And yeah, enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you so much, Michelle. Thank you so much