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#90: Rachel Conway: Get better at running with psychology, nutrition, and personal goals
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In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Conway, a running coach with a background in clinical psychology, to chat about the connections between running, mental resilience, and personal growth.
Rachel shares her journey from the business world to psychology, highlighting why she’s integrated running coaching into her practice and how psychology can play a transformative role in endurance sports.
We discuss practical insights around setting achievable, personalised running goals, a balanced nutrition plan, and incorporating strength training to stay injury-free.
Rachel brings a unique perspective to fitness, emphasising the importance of understanding your "why" and maintaining a holistic approach that nurtures not just physical health but also emotional and social well-being.
From beginner tips to advanced strategies, this episode is full of actionable advice for runners of all levels, ensuring you can make meaningful progress while avoiding burnout.
Key Questions Discussed:
- How can psychology positively impact endurance sports like running?
- What are the steps for beginners to start running without injury or burnout?
- Why is setting personalised fitness goals important, and how can runners find their "why"?
- What role does balanced nutrition play in achieving running success?
- How can strength training prevent injury when running and long-term endurance?
- What practical strategies can runners use to align their fitness goals with personal motivations?
Links & Resources:
- Connect with Rachel Conway on her Instagram here
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit. For more health and fitness tips, follow me on Instagram and TikTok @katehamiltonhealth.
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode and Guest
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton health podcast. In today's episode, I chat with running coach Rachel Conway. So this is actually the first episode of this type that I've done in like 80 something episodes, which is hard to believe, but there's so much value in this conversation. Rachel shares all her expertise with us, all things running related.
Rachel's Coaching Approach and Philosophy
00:00:33
Speaker
So Rachel actually, apart from being a running coach and she helps mainly women, but you know, helps people from beginners all the way up to people who want to run marathons and coaches them towards their running goals. She also has a degree and a master's in clinical psychology. So she merges her psychology knowledge with her running knowledge to really b be the best running coach that you could find really. And because obviously long distance running, endurance running is going to be so much mindset and psychology as well as physical insurance. So you are in for a treat today. We talk about all things around psychology, endurance, mindset
Beginner Tips and Key Running Strategies
00:01:14
Speaker
work. We talk about beginners tips, injury prevention, the importance of strength training and kind how much strength training you should be doing with your running. We talk about, you know, avoiding burnout with your running routine. We talk a good bit about
00:01:28
Speaker
the nutrition around fueling your body for running, what you should do before races, what you should do in general in your week to week routine when it comes to nutrition. And we talk a little bit about goals and the difference between you know fat loss goals and having running goals and just how important it is to have a goal, but not to overwhelm yourself while getting there. So for setting the right pace towards your goals, the right distance towards your goals. And we talk a lot about the difference between your why and your goals and how they're two very different things. And if your goals are not aligned with your why, then it's never going to work. That's the excitement of it, figuring out, trying new goals, seeing do they align with your why and being okay to pivot towards new goals that maybe perhaps weren't
00:02:15
Speaker
your original goals. Anyway, I'm going to stop talking. I'm going to let you enjoy this episode and I will chat to you all soon.
Rachel's Background and Career Journey
00:02:26
Speaker
Rachel, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much, Kate. I'm so excited and happy to be here. For anyone who does not know who you are, do you want to just share a little bit about you and what it is that you do? Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Rachel. So I am a running coach and I also have a degree and a master's in clinical psychology. So at the moment I use my knowledge of psychology in my training and I'm kind of a jack of all trades because I also have my full-time job which a lot of us Instagram people do as well. So I guess the main reason I'm on the podcast is to talk about the running piece and the psychology that's interwoven about that so happy to dive into whatever elements of that you'd like.
00:03:08
Speaker
I am so interested to get into this. Like you have no idea, I'm really excited. So what do you do as your day job then, as well as being a running coach? So I'm actually working in tech at the moment. As I say, I'm kind of a jack of all trades. So like there's the long and there's the short of it. So the short of it is basically that I went back to college. I actually had done business as my undergrad, did a master's in business. I fell into it, you know, the usual, like did the CAO, put down psychology first, missed it by like 10 points. I was like, I am not going back to do the Leaving Cert again.
00:03:38
Speaker
So I'll just go this way and I'll see what happens. So then I got into business, wasn't really into business. Sports and health and running always came alongside this, but this never as like a professional aspiration. It was more just like we all do, like hobbies. And then I decided I wanted to go back, like that pull towards psychology, towards clinical psychology, towards helping people kept niggling at me.
00:04:01
Speaker
So I went back at the ripe age of 26. So for anyone who feels like they're old at 26, like I did, you're not, ah go back and do it. So I did my undergrad and I did my master's, but I'm working in tech at the moment and eventually want to go back and do my doctorate. But again, the long version of that story is that like you need a lot behind you before you actually even are on the doctoral program. So I'm kind of tipping away at that at the in the background as well.
00:04:30
Speaker
And ultimately, eventually my running coaching, I would like to incorporate into my clinical practice when that happens, whether that's a couple of years or a little bit further down the
The Intersection of Psychology and Sports
00:04:41
Speaker
line. I love this. I love the idea of merging psychology with sport but well because psychology is such a huge part of everything. But like, first of all, let me just say absolutely fair play to you going back to a degree in psychology and then a master's. I have seen people do this. It is no joke. Like it particularly psychology, it is heavy.
00:04:58
Speaker
It's a lot of work, a lot of stress. That's a real testament, I suppose, to probably to your work ethic and to your passion for it as well because it's not an easy task. No, it's not. And anyone who has done clinical psychology or who knows someone who's done it, no one goes into a half-arsed because it's one of those things that you have to give everything to. It's not something you just fall into. It's like very specific and you also as I say and this is absolutely no disrespect to anyone getting medicine. Medicine is an unbelievable feat to get but you're kind of challenged on every trajectory into like to get into your undergrad, to get into your master's and then to get into the doctoral program. Basically want you to be able to sell your right kidney, have worked for 10 years for free in every different discipline and then do a doctoral program where you're kind of paid quite crap for a while. So um
00:05:45
Speaker
That's why I took a bit of a break. I was like, I'll go back, do technology, did go back into the kind of business world for a couple of years, pay back some of my loans and do the the running coaching, and which is something I have been really passionate about it as well. I can kind of still incorporate everything that I've learned in psychology and everything that I've worked out in psychology. So it kind of just seemed like the right time and It's like anything in life, you have to pivot. Like you have a plan. I was like, no, I want to be a clinical psychologist, but I'm 30 and I don't want and anything to get in the way of
Goal Setting and Adaptability in Running
00:06:13
Speaker
that. But you just have to be malleable because life changes and like your goals, it's great to have goals, but sometimes they can be unrealistic and not match ultimately where you want to get to.
00:06:23
Speaker
Yeah. And I think it's really important to have a goal and not have planned out exactly how you're going to get there. I think, you know, looking at like a long journey and, you know, just so looking at the little bit of road in front of you being like, what do I need to do now? What is my next step? And I'm terrible for this, like, you know, planning out everything. And then when things don't go according to plan, you end up stressed and unhappy. And sometimes it's like, yes, you know where you want to go. You know what the ultimate goal is, but the journey along the way, all the twists and turns is actually kind of full part of it and I think you need to learn to surrender to it a little bit. Enjoy the journey. Yeah, because you don't know what you don't know. Until you embark on something you don't know what's going to unfold in front of you. You can have all the greatest plans in the world but it's like life's what happens when you start making plans and you have to be able to adapt. I think if you don't you miss really important things along the way. Like when I decided to go back into business I was like
00:07:11
Speaker
If I don't go back into business, I'm going to miss friends weddings. I barely have money to buy a cup of coffee. Like I'm being worked to the bone. I feel so fatigued all the time because I was pushing, pushing, pushing to get to this goal. I didn't realize how hard it was going to get in that short timeframe. So as I say, you just need to adapt and you always join the dots backwards and look back and be like, that's why that happened that way.
00:07:31
Speaker
Yeah, and if you're clear enough on what you want, you'll get there and you'll figure out a way. And it's to do it in a sustainable paced way that you're in in it for the long run. Whether you're talking about a fitness goal, whether you're talking about a business goal, whether you're talking about an education goal, whether you're talking about fat loss, it needs to be done in a way where you're not going to burn out. so And you know, it's like, what's the rush? What is the rush?
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Then you get to the design and you're like, Oh, I want to go to the next thing anyway. So yeah, let's talk a little bit about psychology and endurance. Okay. I don't even really know exactly what I want to ask you on this, but how do they merge? Obviously, you know, running long distance will obviously involve us a lot of mindset. So.
00:08:13
Speaker
I suppose, do you want to just give a little bit of an insight to the kind of type of running training that you've done, the type of races, the distances that you run, that kind of thing, and then how psychology ties into that? Yeah, absolutely. And obviously, like, that's a big topic. So I can kind of just pick a few facets of it, and we can yeah dig into them, or we can go back and talk about other elements of it as well. So, like, obviously, psychology is important in every single sport. And I think that's being widely recognized so much more now. If you look at, like,
00:08:41
Speaker
the way sport was 10, even like less than 10 years ago. Like sports psychology wasn't a big thing. It wasn't highly invested in, but now you look at, if you watch any of those shows, you know, like any of those Netflix or Disney shows, like on whether it's like Premier League teams or like basketball teams. And now psychology is such a huge fundamental part of it because if you think about it and you think about it, say, let's just use the example of like someone who's playing in the Premier League and they have to go and take a penalty.
00:09:09
Speaker
like you're pretty much guaranteed they're probably in training they're getting like a hundred or like we're 99 out of 100 those penalties that they take and then when they go on the big stage it's not that they're physically not able to take that penalty but like mentally it's really intimidating to be under that level of pressure and so I guess that's not necessarily endurance but I guess I don't think you can separate them because You can be physically really talented at something, but you also have to have a mindset to get there, a mindset to sustain it, and a mindset to be able to perform under pressure. When we talk about endurance training, and it's kind of hard to talk about this from like the the start, because you don't just become an endurance athlete overnight. You know, you don't just wake up and be like, oh, I'm going to run a marathon. I'm going to run an ultra. But I guess it's like having that like short term mindset, having like small achievable goals,
00:10:02
Speaker
If you decide, okay, I want to get into running, having small achievement goals week on week, month on month, having like your big goal at the end, but ultimately focusing on the smaller
Personal Achievement vs. External Validation
00:10:12
Speaker
goals. I think that's one of like the biggest things that I've learned. I'll actually stop you there because I think this might be a better avenue to go down first before we get into kind of the more extreme. Cause it is on my list to ask you about beginner tips.
00:10:24
Speaker
For me with running, I was saying to you that I'm starting to dip my toe and in a little bit of running, but I'm like literally back to basics. I've had a solid two years of really focusing on building my business, keeping my strength train going, doing a bit of walking, but I'd lost a lot of my fitness, my cardio fitness. I'm literally.
00:10:42
Speaker
back to couch to 5k and I'm really enjoying it and I'm really enjoying it and doing it this slow and steady way. I know me and my husband were doing like week one day one and it's like, you know, run for a minute, walk for a minute the house and a half. And I'm like, I could just run for a few minutes straight, but this is where I always burn myself out. I put myself off and then the next run I'm like, Oh, I don't want to run for eight minutes straight or whatever. it meant You know, I don't don't want to do it because I haven't done the step by step. So I'm like this time I'm literally going to do the step by step.
00:11:12
Speaker
and i and i' I don't read it like because I'm like it's grand it's easy I can do it and it will get harder over time and I'm excited to set different goals I suppose as I go with this. Definitely so like tips for beginners I think the first thing to remember is we were every single person was a beginner once so whether you are looking at like marathon runners who are like actually like at least professional athletes they all still started somewhere or then say for someone like me who's definitely not an at least professional marathon runner but I had to start it somewhere so people they look at someone on Instagram be like oh my gosh that person
00:11:48
Speaker
can run a marathon in that time or it does sprints in that time or it does a 5k in that time but I've not seen like all the work that it takes to get there because realistically no one posts like the first time they do a 1k I mean I applaud you if you do but people don't they wait until they've built up to say like a 10k to like start posting on Strava So I guess it's like that usual thing and it can be overused, but I think it's so true, like comparison is the thief of joy. When I first started training, which was at the start of COVID from like an endurance perspective, I've always been a decent enough runner and I always ran a bit in school, but it was always shorter distance. It's about like doing it for you and setting those small achievable goals and not thinking about what other people think of you. So I didn't get Strava. I actually feel like I was going to forced to get Strava.
00:12:35
Speaker
Cause everyone had it. So I was like, yeah, I should get it. And like, obviously when I started doing the coaching, of course I wanted to be on Strava, but I was like, I actually prefer just doing this for me. And if I start looking at everyone else's, I'm going to psych myself out of it. So that's the first thing. Small, achievable girls. That's the second thing. Like don't bite off more than you can chew. It becomes overwhelming.
00:12:54
Speaker
It's like anything, it's like if you decide you want to do a marathon and you're on your first week of training and in your training session, you're thinking about 42 kilometers when you're struggling at eight, you're going to psych yourself out of it. So it's about being like mindful with your training, focusing. I love that you said you're like really enjoying doing that step by step where you're like, who cares if I'm only running for a minute and then walking for a minute, you're going to be able to build it up slower. So your body's going to build the endurance better.
00:13:19
Speaker
I think more like physical things like it's it is important to build slowly especially if you've not ran before because your body is going to be in a bit of shock like running is hard on the body so you don't want to sustain injuries just because your ego is telling you you should be running faster or longer so building it up slowly is ultimately what's going to be sustainable and what's going to help you enjoy it because if you as you were saying sometimes you're like oh well I just go out and run for a few minutes but ultimately if you go out and do that and you read and enjoy that session you're going to probably find a few excuses as to why not to do it the next day or on time. Exactly, this is an literally knew what I do. We all do those and it's actually again interwoven in psychology it's about
00:14:02
Speaker
Setting hard goals, but goals aren't too hard because if they start being too hard, then we do start to psych ourselves out of it. so and It's also really, really important. And again, like it kind of depends what type of running someone wants to get into. It's very individualistic, but if we're talking like long distance running, you also want to build gradually, but also like incorporate strength and conditioning work, making sure you're eating the right foods.
00:14:26
Speaker
making sure you're resting and resting like contrary to popular opinion doesn't mean just not running like resting looks like a lot of things so i suppose taking it back to like are you a believer in couch to 5k being a really good place to start what happens next when you do the 5k what what do most people do what are the layers that that lead you to suddenly getting to a marathon I feel like Marathon Marine has become so much more popular in recent years. And whereas like, you know, five years ago, you would have been able to sign up to the Dublin Marathon in July and do it in October. You can't do that now. There's a much higher demand for it. And it's felt like mass hysteria.
00:15:04
Speaker
But some people don't ever want to do, some people have no interest in ever doing a half marathon or marathon, which is absolutely perfect. Everyone runs for different reasons. I think, and again, it's something I've heard you talk about as well, like knowing your why, not just like sleepwalking into a ah hobby because everyone else is doing it or because you're seeing everyone signing up for marathons or everyone putting up like their Stravas, like knowing why you're actually doing this and like really actually deep diving into why you're doing this. I think that's a really important thing.
00:15:34
Speaker
I meet clients who know straight off that they wanna run a marathon. And then I meet clients who, I don't know if it's necessarily that they're scared to say it because they don't wanna like fully commit to it because they don't know if they can do it or not. But I do find that like when I meet someone and they're like, yeah, like maybe eventually one day I'd like to run a marathon. That's when I'm like, hmm, okay, that's interesting to me. Like, and I try and like dig deeper in that. And a lot of times people don't wanna commit to saying I wanna do a marathon because they're like, you know,
00:16:02
Speaker
just doing the couch to 5K at the moment. And they're like, oh, that seems so far away, which is totally, totally fair enough. But I guess to answer your question, like some people come to me and they just want to be able to incorporate running into their lifestyle and only get up to about 10K and maybe just improve that 10K time. Others want to run a marathon, others those want to run a marathon a certain time, but I find the most beneficial when working with someone.
00:16:27
Speaker
is ensuring that they have a goal. So if I find like someone comes to me and they're like, yeah, I just kind of want to start running. I'm like, okay, but why and I'm like, how far and like, you know, how much time do you have to give? I think the more specific the goal, the better. And that goal can change, but having a specific goal to start off with at the start is important.
00:16:44
Speaker
This is so true. And like, I'll give myself for example, so as I embark on this, for me, I want a form of exercise where I'm getting my heart rate up. I'm getting my energy flowing and that I feel amazing afterwards. That's one thing I really just want to feel good. I want to feel refreshed. I want to feel full of energy. And I know I can get that from running. It doesn't have to be from running. There's loads of different forms of exercise. I also very much.
00:17:08
Speaker
want a personal goal to work towards because I feel a little bit directionless personally at
Kate's Personal Goals and Strength Training
00:17:14
Speaker
the minute. I'm extremely like direction orientated when it comes to my business, to my career, even just to my personal happiness and fulfillment. But I'm someone who likes to have something to work towards, sometimes to my detriment.
00:17:27
Speaker
So I have to watch that as well, that I don't always need to be, I mean, my personal fitness did take a bit of a backseat the past couple of years because you can't push in all different directions at the same time. And someone's got to give when you're focusing on something particularly intensely, but now I'm like, I need something for me. I'm not saying I ever want to run a marathon. I might not want to, I might get into a bit of running, but like I actually hate running past a certain distance, but then like you said, work on a distance time wise. I don't know yet for all I know for now, just actually putting in the habit of three runs a week.
00:17:57
Speaker
is enough of a challenge for me and I'm enjoying the feeling good from it. And that's enough for now, but I'm excited. And another thing that I'm missing a little bit, cause I used to do CrossFit and I loved how fit I was through CrossFit and I loved the community. And I think I'm searching for a hubby that has nothing to do with my work, although it is fitness, but you know, I'm not a running coach. So, you know, it feels a little bit different and I just want something for me. So they're kind of my wise.
00:18:25
Speaker
Yeah. i Honestly, kate I was the same. Like when I started running, as I said, I ran a bit and like sport was always part of my life. ex Exercise is always part of my life. It always has been. It's not something that when I say I got into it four or five years ago, it's not something that I just started four or five years ago, but like actually, you know, it was COVID. I remember everyone was doing those like annoying like hand five, like five days.
00:18:47
Speaker
and these ridiculous like speeds and stuff, obviously pausing their arches and everything. I just jumped on the bandwagon being like, okay, if I don't get out of the house during COVID, like I'm going to kill my parents or my parents are going to kill me. I don't know which one it's going to be. So I started because I was like, I want a personal goal. I want to work towards something. I never, genuinely. And that that this isn't to say that everyone who starts running cash to 5K has to eventually run a marathon.
00:19:12
Speaker
I never I don't even think I know what the marathon distance was like I had no idea it was 42.2 kilometers and then I got into it and I eventually got to like my 3k got to my 5k got to my 10k would love the feeling afterwards absolutely hated running at the start. And I think that's a misconception for a lot of people who are about to start running. They're like, no, but I just hate running. And I'm like, no, I did too, because I did everything wrong. And that's not so to be self-deprecating or it's also not to be condescending to anyone who's getting into it and making mistakes. As I've said, you don't know what you don't know. But it just happened for me then really gradually. I went in, I got to 10K and I was like,
00:19:52
Speaker
maybe i'll try and run 12 tomorrow and then i was like okay maybe i'll try and run and 17 and eventually i was like i'm actually kind of close to a half marathon then it's a half marathon i was like second and i've come this far let's give it a like a lash and it wasn't like i loved every single minute it wasn't like i was getting up every day you know i can't wait to run every day but it's like anything when you form a habit It's like if you haven't, if you're starting to eat healthy at the start, it's going to be hard. And then you'll fall in love with the feeling of how you feel after those foods or how you feel after being healthy for a few weeks or even Monday to Friday. So I guess it's having that goal, but also like to our point at the start, being malleable as to like how that might change. And if that's only getting to, if that's getting to five or 10K, amazing. If it's getting to a marathon, amazing. If it's getting to an ultra, amazing. It's completely ah individual and it can change as time goes on.
00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah. And that's it. And your goals can change. You might have an initial goal or you might have an ultimate goal. And then when you get going, you realize that you prefer focusing on time rather than focusing on distance or whatever. It brings you on a different path. So I think being flexible with goals is so important. What are your thoughts on booking races as targets? Like, you know, if you're doing couch to 5k, should you book into some sort of 5k event? If you're networking towards a 10k, do you need to book a 10k race? What are your thoughts? of this It's like a really annoying answer to give. It's kind of how long is the string and it's kind of individualistic because yeah, I would say yes. Like my initial gut of this or reaction is to say yes, because generally when people know that they have to be held accountable to something, it makes them do it. Like if you sign up to something, you're not going to bail on it. Well, you might, but like, you know, you're less likely to. And it kind of, I find that when people don't sign up to races,
00:21:34
Speaker
It's easier for them to skip sessions because, and fear is not maybe not the right word to use, but some people are like, you know, they'll they'll miss sessions because that they know that they don't have something that they have to show up for. ah It's easier to be like, oh, it's raining and it's dark and it's miserable on this Monday morning. and I'm not getting up and going for a run.
00:21:54
Speaker
But you can bet your own dollar if someone has to run a half marathon or a 10k or whatever it is within a short period of time. They're like, oh, I actually have to get up and run this because like if I don't, i I might not be able to complete the goal. That being said, there are exceptions to that rule.
00:22:10
Speaker
And there are certain people who have different temperaments and who respond. It's kind of carrot and stick, right? Some people don't respond well under pressure. So I've worked with people before that psych themselves out when they actually have a race.
00:22:26
Speaker
that put so much pressure on themselves that they're almost like overwhelmed by the fact that they have to do this race, that they don't do the training. That's more rare. So speaking generally, I would say signing up to a race is a really motivating thing. But again, because I look at my clients holistically, I try not to like put everyone under the same umbrella and I try and be flexible with different types of type of events and how different people react to different circumstances.
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah. And I suppose as well, how much time you give yourself to a race. Like I would be like an example of this. I'd be like, yeah, no, I'll do a 10 K by Christmas or something, you know, and sign myself up to something and then get overwhelmed to be like, Oh, I don't have time to do all these runs and oh and I haven't given myself enough time. And then I'm like, Oh, I just give up.
00:23:10
Speaker
I've had times before and one particular client comes to mind where she started with me. It would have been maybe end of November last year and a group of her friends and her husband were doing the power smart thing. If she had ran previously, she hadn't ran for a good few years. She'd had two babies. She was really into the gym. I think it might've been CrossFit or like, she was like really gym fit, but she hadn't ran and she wants to get into running.
00:23:36
Speaker
And when we first had a conversation, she was like, yeah, like, you know, maybe I'll eventually run a marathon, but I just want to get back into running. Anyway, between the jigs and the reels, she ended up doing the Paris marathon. So like she was an example of someone who was actually really motivated by training around people who were like working towards that goal. And she went from doing no running to a marathon within what's that, like four months.
00:23:59
Speaker
So again, I knew that I could push her though. I knew by a week on week and her reactions to like hard tests, I knew that she could do it. And then there's some people that I'm like, Oh no, I feel like I'm pushing them too hard. And I feel like that they're not responding well to that. So again, it's individualistic.
00:24:15
Speaker
I suppose this is the perks of having a coach because that second opinion to, you know, to really know what's best for you, but knows the sport well, to know how much time is needed in relation to know, you know, what you're able for as well. I definitely, definitely like to have something to work towards. I'm just dipping my toes in at the minute, like, and I don't want to, because I don't want to make the same mistake, but I find with my own strength training, I do it. Obviously I enjoy how strong it makes me feel. I do it because I know how important it is to stay strong. I don't get the same kind of.
00:24:46
Speaker
Joy from pushing myself with it and i've tried this you know i've gotten it as i said across before i really enjoy crossfit got to the stage where i was like i can't really push myself much further without doing a lot of accessory work that i don't have time to do and you know i'm like i'm just too old for this.
00:25:01
Speaker
for all this overhead work of this. So I decided to focus on my strength training. And then I kind of went down the route of like I was training kind of bodybuilder style and nothing, I wasn't, no bodybuilding aspirations, but I don't like to challenge myself past a certain weight. Like some people might argue that's a limiting belief of mine, but it's not, it's just I understand the biomechanics. I understand the importance of strength training. And for me, it's really just about, so you know, honoring my body, giving it what it needs. And I don't feel the need to push myself like to hit P or as I don't get a thrill from that. I like to do kind of higher reps, slow and steady, like, you know, do 12 to 15 reps and a really slow and controlled ways of really working my muscles. I'm like, you know, i I enjoy that, but it's not the same kind of challenging and I get deadlift and working towards my deadlift max. It does nothing for me.
00:25:49
Speaker
I think it's really big and self-aware to be able to be like, I'm not just going to do that because everyone else has done it. I've actually taken time to think about what serves me and that's not what it is. So like, I think that's a good thing. Yeah. And I think there was a little bit of kind of, you know, doing and what everyone else did. I had booked myself for a photo shoot. So ah so I went into like a muscle building phase, right. And I had kind of dieted up to last Christmas, like kind of got quite lean, really kind of felt really good. And I went into a muscle building phase and.
00:26:19
Speaker
I really enjoyed the eating part of it. You know, that was, that was no problem to me, but I actually really struggled psychologically with like the pushing myself with weights and what needed to be done to in a vertical build muscle. I didn't like the pressure of it. It took away the joy of the gym for me and it was nothing to do with my coach. My coach was fantastic.
00:26:39
Speaker
It was that I didn't enjoy going to the gym being like, Oh my God, I have to leg press whatever I have to press, or I have to squat, whatever I have to squat. I like to go to the gym and listen to my body and push myself. And I'm good at pushing myself. It ruined it a little bit for me. I'm only really coming back around to it now. Like I kind of took my foot off the pedal a bit over the summer. Cause I was like, I need to just re establish my relationship with my strength training. So it was kind of a little bit less consistent. Definitely took my foot off the pedal with weights and stuff. That was a real self-awareness lesson. I think.
00:27:08
Speaker
Yeah, definitely I think it's so important and like I have people who come to me who like you know they'll start off being like, Oh, I just want to run a marathon like it's it just a bucket list thing I want to, I want to do it, and then they'll get so sucked into like doing it in a certain time, getting like a soap whatever.
00:27:26
Speaker
And they always have to take the math and be like, remember where you started this. And I sound like I'm contradicting myself because I'm saying goals can change. And of course they can. But I think it's like knowing why they're changing and also leaning into like, if you're enjoying it. Like, I love that you say you've got a point that you weren't enjoying it and like you actually really listen to your body. Again sometimes people just sleep walk into being like oh I just want to get this time and I just want to run this marathon or at this distance but like really knowing why you're doing that and if you're enjoying it or not enjoying it.
00:27:57
Speaker
be able to step back. Yeah. I think there's a huge difference between goals and your why I'm hugely like focused on, you know, every one of my clients needs to have a clear why for being on the journey that they're on. And I have a very, very clear why as to why I like to remain strong, why I will regularly do resistance training. And it is very much about, you know, my health, it's about my strength, my freedom, you know? And so it's a really deep rooted reasons why I wanted to do that. my goal of doing a photo shoot very quickly didn't align with my wife. And and it was like, well, really god that got sucked into that whole world a little bit and it's fine. And i I'm very okay with taking myself out of situations and changing my mind, which can probably look a little bit impulsive at times. And I used to think it was a negative thing. I now realize that I think when I make decisions really quickly on something,
00:28:47
Speaker
It's because I'm so in tune with what my why is. And it's very easy, I think, to get sucked into something or, you know, there's so much noise going on around us and it's about being able to reconnect with yourself and not being afraid to be like, my goal has changed because it doesn't line up with my why.
00:29:03
Speaker
hundred percent 100%, 100%. I love that. 70 people do it. Let's talk a little bit about strength training in
Importance of Strength Training and Rest
00:29:09
Speaker
relation to running. Cause this is, if I'm going to get into this, I need to know how much I should be doing, how little I should be doing. And this this seems to be very much the coaching case podcast. I have a lot of ladies who are training for different races as well. So they'll get a lot of benefit from this too. When we're talking strength training, what are your recommendations?
00:29:26
Speaker
So like I have made every single mistake under the sun including not doing strength training and trying to do a marathon and getting injured. It's so important to be strong. It doesn't mean you have to be going to the gym lifting like huge heavy weights. It's actually like quite the opposite. so It's kind of hard for me to say Okay. You have to do X amount or you have to do this kind of program. I would say just getting in, if you're running say three times a week, and I guess this is like, this might be quite hard for people, but getting in say two strength sessions a week. You don't need to do heavy weights. If anything anything, like go a little bit larger than you usually would, but just making sure your muscles are really strong.
00:30:04
Speaker
making sure your core and your glutes are really strong. Your body is a machine that's all interconnected and I've had like hip injuries because my core wasn't strong enough and I'm like i I thought my core looked kind of strong but looking strong and actually being strong are two very different things. So I would say getting a program from like a strength and conditioning coach just like a one-off session that's what I did like a one-off session he just gave me, he's actually an ex-professional runner. So he just gave me like two programs to work piece in the gym and it made me much, much stronger. It's also improves your performance massively because if you're stronger, ah you have more power in your legs, you recover quickly and you have greater bone density. So it's going to make running easier. Again, it seems kind of intuitive to think that if you're going to go
00:30:50
Speaker
and do squatting or lunging in the gym on a Tuesday, and then you go running a Wednesday. Yeah, your legs are going to be sore. I'm not going to say that that they aren't going to be. You're going to have days where like your legs will feel heavier. But ultimately, long term, that's where you'll become a better runner, like a better overall athlete. And I'd say 95% of the injuries I've sustained and my clients have sustained have been from abandoning gym work.
00:31:20
Speaker
It's also important to say that it's not just gym work, it's doing the right gym work and having the right form. And that's why I mentioned a coach, because as I said, I taught that I had a strong core because I could do X amount of.
00:31:31
Speaker
feckin sit ups or whatever. But um like, so even though I might have looked lean on my stomach, I wasn't strong. So I had to start doing exercises that actually were so harsh, but made me I like didn't really change me that much physically, but made me so much stronger to protect say your hips or your knees or whatever they are. And then also if you can fit it in. But again, it's I feel like I'm, I'm talking as if I'm speaking to women who have no jobs or kids or other things going on.
00:31:58
Speaker
So that's another element, but if you can do it, a bit of band work, or even if you can't do the gym, doing like that agility kind of band work at home, even for like 15, 20 minutes, rather than like, oh shit, now I need to go to the gym and that's going to take about two hours by the time I drive there, get my session, don't leave. Again, it's kind of how much people can fit in, but definitely I wouldn't advise, unless you're doing short distances, like very short distances to just completely abandon your SNC work.
00:32:25
Speaker
Yeah. All of us should be doing some sort of a strength work 100%. I do think about as women, we tend to be more quad heavy. So a lot of us will have weaker hamstrings and glutes and particularly after having kids as well as we get older. And it's usually when we get older, we start getting into running as well. And that's when a lot of the injuries happen. And like, I know I've had to do a lot of work myself on like strengthening my hamstrings and glutes and our core, if we've had kids as well and our posture can be affected. So the likes of doing stuff like step ups or DLs, you know, doing glute bridges, that kind of thing, hugely important. But also core work. What kind of core work would you recommend? Would you be doing planks? I'm really bad at like names for the actual exercise that I've been doing. So like, but stuff like plank work.
00:33:10
Speaker
one of the exercises that I would do and I'm going to describe this and probably butcher it but this is one of the ones that I found it was so hard but so beneficial so you have like a medicine ball you're like down like you you go up on your hands you get your feet on top of the ball and you pull the ball into your stomach you're basically doing a plank crunch really If I encourage, I'm not bringing the medicine ball in an age that makes you so strong. Those kind of plan crunches that you're doing great one that well, our bench leg lifts, like lifting your legs up high and then slow released. And then as slow as you can back down, keeping your legs straight. If you can keep your legs straight, if you feel it in your lower back, obviously bend your legs, but like that is really great for building up a strong core.
00:33:50
Speaker
But also stuff like single-legged lunges with like weights in your hand. So nothing heavy. So hard. Like so, so hard doing like a single leg lunge, but like, you know, putting your foot the whole way back and then the whole way, like you're bringing your knee back up in front of you and absolutely butchering these explanations. That's why I have them.
00:34:07
Speaker
yeah like Yeah, like a reverse lunge, pretty much on weighted where it's all very much you're putting all your weight into that front leg and yeah and power back up then. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. angry wrong And the reason again I keep going back to saying strength and conditioning coach is because I thought I was able to do that stuff. And then he'd be like, no, you're business and straight or like your legs gone out there or your knees gone out there. You know, you can be doing mechanical things that you've gotten so used to doing that your body's like fallen into. So I'd be able to do like in my own little head, I'd be able to do say 15 glute bridges with X amount on my pelvis. But then when I actually did it in front of it music, no, no, no, you need to move like your leg this way and like, make sure that knee doesn't dip in. It's not about just doing the exercises, making sure you're getting your form right. You're kind of just like doing empty exercise that really aren't going to be that beneficial. An event thing can be detrimental if you're not doing them correctly.
00:34:59
Speaker
Yeah. And I do think as well, we focus far too much on the weight we're lifting rather than focusing on, like we say, our form and our control. And I don't think people realize how hard you can make an exercise, the strength exercise by slowing it down. And I think we're so used to, you know, anyone who's into running or whatever, you know, it it seems to be all about being faster, but everything's, you know, to exercise, you have to speed things up for strength training. You have to slow it down and guarantee you, you won't need to increase weight for a good amount of time.
00:35:24
Speaker
Yep. Agreed. Agreed. So in relation then to the topic of injury prevention, then we're really kind of hitting the nail on the head here. Regular strength training with the strength training, actually, would you recommend to your clients that if if they're doing two strength sessions a week, should it be one upper, one lower, or should it be two full body with a mix?
00:35:41
Speaker
I do two full body, but again, that's a personal thing. So it depends. It doesn't really matter. Um, I prefer going to the gym and just doing like the the full body workout. Like again, because when I go to the gym, it's not necessarily like for aesthetic purposes that I'm like trying to look a certain way. It's all kind of for my running, especially when I'm like marathon training, you can fit that all in because you're not like, Oh, I want to build this amount of muscle. You're actually just getting all the exercises done.
00:36:07
Speaker
Yeah. Any of my ladies that are running, we do full body. Cause I think you feel like you get more from your workout when it's a little bit varied like that as well. So in relation then to injury prevention, any other tips? So I always think rest. Okay. So we've talked about strengthening conditioning. We've talked about some agility, band work. Rest is just, I cannot.
00:36:28
Speaker
I cannot like put a kind of price on it. It's so, so important to be like rest and recovering properly. And as I say, rest and recovery is multifaceted. It's about sleep. It's about what you're eating. So I go stress fracture two weeks before the double marathon last year, right?
00:36:45
Speaker
And I was like the fittest I've ever been. I was like probably the leanest I've ever been. I was like ready for this marathon. I was like I am going like I'm so ready for this marathon. But I wasn't resting enough. And that's not to say, cause again, I think people have a misconception of what resting can be. Again, I'm talking more kind of to like longer distances or like, you know, training seven days a week. I found that I had taken on so much on the lead up to the marathon, that even though I wasn't running every single day and I wasn't doing like 150 kilometers a week or anything mad like that, but
00:37:24
Speaker
I just never had any chill time. like During the week, say Monday to Friday, I'd be working, I'd be running, I'd be going to the gym. Saturday morning, I'd be getting up. I'd be doing my long run. I've been meeting Kate for coffee. I've been meeting Ashlyn for something else. And like then that evening, I might have like an engagement party. And then the next day, I'm like, oh, God, I haven't seen my granny in a while. I'm getting up. I'm seeing my granny. And I'm going back to my parents now. I was just basically filling all of my days with so much stuff. So even though But from the outsider perspective, it looked like I didn't have like, you know, I wasn't going out all the time or out like drinking all the time, but I was constantly on. And I knew, I knew, I really did know that I was burning myself into the ground.
00:38:09
Speaker
I always give this description of how it felt. I was ignoring all the signs that my body were giving me. I actually have such funny videos. One time I was trying to record like a reel for Instagram. I was in such a bad mood and I was so tired that like at the start and the end of all my videos, I looked like the grumpiest person in the world, which I was. And I was kind of smiling through this like severe fatigue. As I say, I described the fatigue as like, I actually be like feel tired typing or feel tired like talking, like genuinely exhausted like my bones were tired and i just kept ignoring it kept ignoring it until i sustained the stress fracture and then i couldn't run the marathon so i guess recovery is not just about not having having days off it's like actually having proper days off unplanned rest not feeling every because we're all guilty of it and i think women are as well like trying to be all things to all people
00:39:01
Speaker
And then also I think something that's really undervalued because it's less tangible than say sleeping and eating like it's less numerical. It's not numerical at all but it's like listening to your body. I don't know if you've read the book The Body Keeps the Score. Your body knows when like you're pushing too hard and I think it's like really leaning into that and knowing when it It's like a really important balance of knowing when it's right to push yourself. I'm being like, I'm actually gonna go out and smash the session. I can give it 110%. We're then waking up one day and being like, I'm actually really, really tired today. Is it beneficial for me to go on this run today?
00:39:37
Speaker
Really hard thing to do takes so much self-awareness because then you could go into like, oh, am I just like, am I feeling a little bit tired? But I'm just kind of like letting myself away with this. Am I making excuses or whatever? And it's hard to know sometimes the difference. I think what's been really beneficial to me just in general, for lots of different aspects of life is taking a few minutes every morning. Like, so I'll come and I'll get up early before my kids wake up just to get a little bit of work done. But before I like dip into any work, I will sit at my desk.
00:40:04
Speaker
I will take a few deep breaths. Like I don't do any kind of mad like yoga, huge meditations or anything like that, but I will just take a few breaths and I'll actually just be like, how are you feeling today? And I kind of say that to myself and I'd be like, how does my body feel? How does my mind feel? How, you know, and I'll just make a little reflection on it. And then I'm starting to try and put a little journey practice in place where I'll kind of note how I feel kind of as well. I think if you can give yourself five minutes every morning, not lying in bed, but like get yourself up and just check in with yourself.
00:40:33
Speaker
That's probably a good time to do that as well. A hundred percent. I'm like really listening to it again, especially for someone who is motivated and does want to have a goal. Like you are like take days off or even if you don't take the whole day off, but instead of doing the 20 K, like do 10, do you know that way? So I guess it's like, it is very multifaceted, but I think injuries, a lot of injuries, especially with like.
00:40:56
Speaker
quote, unquote, endurance athletes. It's from pushing too hard and not listening to your body and allowing the goal to completely shadow at like how you're feeling. And I suppose if you're in it for the long term, you need to be like, you know, I really enjoy running. I want to be able to run for as long as I can till as old as I can get.
00:41:17
Speaker
You need to be sensible about it because you have to pace yourself with anything you need to pace yourself if you want it to be long-term. Even if the actual goal that you'd initially set and you're putting yourself under too much strain, then be like, well, maybe this year isn't my year. Maybe this race isn't my race.
00:41:31
Speaker
Absolutely. When you start to lose a love for something. And that's what I felt like towards the end of my training before I actually got the injury. I was like, I actually hate this. Like I was like, I hate going out. And it was like, oh, I didn't just like, cause I mean, everyone who's training for marathon has like a week, a day, sometimes a month that they don't enjoy. That's normal. But I was like, I'm like dreading this every day because I'm pushing myself far too hard, but it just kept ignoring that like voice in the back that was like so day in, so day in because I was so focused on my goal.
Learning from Setbacks and Balanced Nutrition
00:42:01
Speaker
And like the jokes on me. What I'm saying about the why and the goal, your goal was aligning with your why. And that's why you're so unhappy. And it's the same with me with the building muscle. I was like, this isn't, this goal is not aligning with my why. Sometimes it does take us to physically experience something before relationships. Yeah. Something's not right. Definitely. And I do think
00:42:22
Speaker
Ultimately you learn more from what goes wrong than what goes right. So I don't like, I actually don't reg regret that at all. The learning experience, isn't it? Like, you know, that there's no such thing as failure. As long as you pick yourself back up and you learn from it and once you know better, you do better. Anyway, I want to talk about nutrition. Obviously I'm a nutrition coach and I coach a lot of women. A lot of my clients are with me for fat loss, but I do have clients that come to me and they want to lose body fat, but they're also training for a race.
00:42:49
Speaker
And the two goals, they very much misaligned, but the two questions here, is it possible to do you both at the same time? You know, have a fat loss goal and a race goal. Even if you're not focused on time, you just want to complete a marathon or you want to complete a half marathon or whatever, or, you know, I'm not really talking about 10 K I'm talking about longer distance here. Can you train for a longer distance race and also look to lose body fat?
00:43:16
Speaker
at the same time, presuming that there's body fat to be lost. I'm not talking about someone who's already lean. I'm talking about someone who maybe has a couple of stone to lose and wants to to work towards a goal. Is that possible?
00:43:29
Speaker
So I think it's important for me to caveat that I actually, I never work with people from like a fat loss perspective for the simple fact that I'm not trained. I'm not a trained nutritionist. However, what I will say is if you're training long distance and if you're eating correctly,
00:43:47
Speaker
you're absolutely going to lose weight in the process. Like it's literally, it's not a complex maths equation. And I think again, people eat differently for marathons. Everyone has a different way of eating, but I do i like strongly recommend like high carbohydrates.
00:44:06
Speaker
but you're going to burn all of that off. So I think it's like, if you're looking from like a fat loss perspective, it's about probably cutting out the kind of crap in between. Do you know that way? Like actually not, because I think a lot of people, and especially women, I dare I say it, I'm scared of carbs. Whereas I feel like, and I don't know if you have had this experience, but when I'm running the most, I'm eating the most and I'm at my lightest. So like, again, I'm not clinical about how I,
00:44:35
Speaker
eat because that's just not not my thing but it just happens simultaneously like when you're training as long as again you're being sensible because I think also people think that because they're training for a marathon they can just like eat eat eat eat eat eat eat And yes, in some ways, yes. But then obviously if you're going for a fat loss goal, there's only so many calories you burn when you're going to roll as well. So you just need to be mindful of like what you're taking in. And just like, you don't have to like the carbs don't have to be 10 ton of pasta every day. Yeah. They might need to be before like a massive race, but it's like increasing your like fruit, increasing like the amount of rice, having like baked potatoes instead of 10 ton of pasta and cheese every night, you know, that kind of way. It's just like tweaking.
00:45:16
Speaker
I'm so glad you've answered it like this because this would very much be my approach that when we're taking the look, yes, we can be tracking calories because it's a great way to measure and which protein carbohydrates and fats are having. And I'm a big believer in a balanced diet. So there's nobody going low carb with me. That's for sure. Especially anyone who's trading for anything I do.
00:45:35
Speaker
Think that putting the focus on fueling your body. So like in general, for everyone lifestyle, focusing on nourishing, but focusing on fueling for your sport, it takes care of itself because it's the crap like, and that's how easily you'll over eat calories by like you'd be done so easily.
00:45:52
Speaker
with processed food and I don't like all the crap because yeah we're all allowed to have a bit of chocolate or a pack of crisps here and there. Like it's when we're over consuming it. That's the issue. But if you're getting your meals in place, your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner, you've got a source of protein on your plate, a decent amount of carbohydrates, some healthy fats for your hormone health and lots of vegetables for your micronutrients for your fiber.
00:46:13
Speaker
you know you're laughing if you do that three meals a day then it takes care of itself but so i suppose look do you have anything specific you know around long runs at round races so i presume things are kind of for you know your general running as long as you're eating enough calories i mean around eyes lifestyle exactly like it's kind of the thing of like eat or run, don't run to eat. And I think when people are running to eat, that's when it starts being worrying. You know, when they're like, oh, I'm so excited to run them out. another I mean, this could be such a tear away comment as well, but always like red flags me when someone's like, oh, I can always run long distance because I eat whatever I want then.
00:46:46
Speaker
I'm like, oh no, everyone don't do it because that that that means you can eat more. Like fuel your body, like your body is a machine. Like you need energy in order to work hard. So like, it's such an important thing to do. So the way I would always, and again, I'm kind of like, I wouldn't say I'm most advanced with it because I definitely do eat like huge volumes. Like I would never, ever, ever do a fasted run, like ever.
00:47:09
Speaker
especially and it doesn't matter if you're doing like a shorter distance okay grand if you're only at the point that you're building up to like two or three k or five k of course you can go out and do a faster run that's not a big issue but if you're training for anything you want to make sure that you're well fueled and you're consistent So I always say that to people, I'm like, instead of like intermittent fasting one day and having low carbs one day, and then the next day because you're doing a run that evening, having 10 ton of carbs, this is not helpful. So I try and just like say, and this is just me in life in general, I try and just be consistent.
00:47:42
Speaker
Rather than like getting too hung up about like the night before a big run, I'm going to eat like huge, huge volumes all the day before. That's actually not helpful. You want to be consistently eating bigger portions throughout that week. But anyway, sorry to answer your actual question about fueling. I would always say the night before big runs and the morning of, and also before interval sessions. So any speed work.
00:48:03
Speaker
the night before always just make sure you're having that like extra carbs like not having quinoa or couscous like having your pasta or your potatoes or your rice not being scared of them like energy and energy like the more of that you eat within reason the harder you're going to train the more calories you're going to burn right so so it's like thinking about it like that also the night before making sure you're not eating anything that doesn't sit well with you so i know that like certain foods don't sit that well with me which i will eat sometimes but don't eat them the night before then the morning of simple complex carbohydrates so like your porridge with a bit of honey your bagel with jam
00:48:41
Speaker
trying to avoid say proteins and fasts before long runs or interval sessions because your body has to work harder to break them down. So it's just energy that you don't need to be using and like digestively not helpful as you go out in a row. This is the morning of try yeah focus on mostly carbohydrates. We're going balanced the rest of the week, even the night before everything's balanced a bit more carbohydrates the night before. And like then just yet the legs like a bagel and jam or something kind of like kind of so yeah.
00:49:10
Speaker
I used to have this mental thing that I was like, I can't eat before i ex so exercise because I'm going to get a stitch. But there's a lot of research to say that this stitches are a lot to do with like mental, like the mental thing as as much as it is a physical thing. They actually don't know like the etiology of stitches. Like there's a lot of mixed research out there. So if you think you're one of those people, I thought I was one of those people. And then on your runs.
00:49:31
Speaker
I would always say training wise, if you're, as I say, running in long distance, ending over an hour, ending and then over and i are at hob start having a gel every half an hour, 40 minutes. Again, you can get really clinical and start talking talking body weight and grams of carbs, et cetera. But I just say a gel every 40 minutes after like you go over that threshold of an hour afterwards. Because a lot of people are like, oh, I don't feel well after I run. I'm just going to wait until like later on to eat.
00:49:58
Speaker
really just try and not do that. so Your body is depleted. It needs to be refueled. So having something that has everything in it, as you said, like, you know, having your sandwich that has, you know, your bread, which is your carbs, it's going to replenish your your chicken, which is your protein, which is going to help for your recovery, your fat, like just have everything in it. yeah Yeah. And just making sure that like when you are in that recovery phase that you are eating properly, you're not going to McDonald's and then the drives here because your legs are too sore.
00:50:27
Speaker
Yeah, totally. Have the stuff prepared if you're going to be too tired or have someone to make it for you or go somewhere nice to get it served. Yeah, exactly. I'm the exact same as you, then I'm always one of the phrases my dad always says to us and always has grown up is everything in moderation, including moderation. And I would have chocolate after every meal other than breakfast, but that's because I have a sweet breakfast. So it's about just like being consistent, being like aware, like doing just the right things, but like the simple things. Don't the I think the moment people start to complicate fueling and complicate what they're eating, it becomes a task and then they just abandon it all together. So just like high carbs the night before, high carbs in the morning, yeah, that's where you're running over an hour. And then, you know, a sandwich or whatever you want with everything in it afterwards is like, that's worked for me.
00:51:17
Speaker
Yeah, no, amazing. This is such valuable advice. Thank you so much. I suppose as last question before we finish up, what does the word health mean to you?
Holistic Health and Contact Information
00:51:26
Speaker
I feel like there could be a podcast on this. This is a quick fire. So in a couple of sentences.
00:51:33
Speaker
Well, I would say it's holistic. I would say it's physical. I would say it's emotional. I would say it's social. I think you see a lot of people that like look incredibly healthy because they might be lean and fit and be able to run a marathon and go to the gym.
00:51:50
Speaker
but you don't know what their emotional health is like. You don't know what demons they're dealing with or facing or what their family life is like at home. So it's definitely that emotional like having a good relationship with your mental health. And I say social because again I think it's it's something that people could abandon especially like later in life when you have kids and you're busy and like everyone's busy and everyone has things to do and places to be. I think one of the biggest studies ever done on like longevity in humans, like human longevity was done out of, still going on actually, Harvard and I think the greatest predictor of longevity in life is your social connections.
00:52:27
Speaker
yeah So it's not just about being fit and healthy. It's not just about meditating like 15 minutes a day and being Zen. It's also about like making time for family and friends, making time to like share a meal together, to have a conversation, to put the phones away. That's a very, very high level. I i feel like I could dive into them all individually in a lot of detail, but it's multifaceted, I guess.
00:52:51
Speaker
That's such a great answer. And so true. So, so true. If anyone wants to reach out to you and wants to get a bit of running advice, you know, just have a look at your content or even contact you for some running coaching, where is the best place to find you?
00:53:03
Speaker
So Instagram, I tried to do TikTok and I just couldn't do it. I was like, i like I'm a not that old, but I feel too old. You're a TikTok generation, surely. No, I'm not. My sister is like on TikTok and like Snapchat and stuff all the time. And I'm like, oh my God, I feel like my mom being like, what's that up? So Instagram. So it's Orsi Rum Coach. I actually realized recently that it doesn't actually have my full name on it. So my name is Rachel Conway, and that's the Orsi Rum Coach. So reach out to me via Instagram if you're looking for some advice or maybe if you've always wanted to do a marathon or do a 10k but you don't know where to start, I would be absolutely delighted to speak to anyone. Thank you so much. I've loved this conversation and thank you for sharing all your expertise. I really appreciate it. My pleasure. It's been great. Thanks so much, Kate.
00:53:54
Speaker
I just want to say thank you so much for listening to the podcast. It really means so much to me that there are people out there actually listening to what I have to say and to the conversations that I'm having with others. So thank you so much. If you are enjoying the podcast, could you please make sure that you are subscribed? And if not, if you could hit that subscribe button, it really does make that much of a difference. Also, if you would like to leave a review on any of the episodes that you listen to, that you particularly enjoy. I would love to hear what you have to say. And also, if there's an episode that you've enjoyed, please do share it on your social media, in your WhatsApp groups, with your friends. If you're sharing it on your stories, please tag myself in it and whoever I'm interviewing. This it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you're interested in working with me and my wonderful team, please do contact me about applying for coaching. So you can contact me at KateHamiltonHealth at gmail dot.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all Kate Hamilton Health, and you will be able to apply for coaching. We can organize to have a chat and see if it's a good fit for you and get you moving towards your goals.