Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Andrea | The Alphabet Challenge
103 Plays1 year ago
In this podcast episode Michelle speaks with UKRunChat community member Andrea who is embarking on an Alphabet Challenge.
The challenge started by combining travelling with running. As someone with a passion for adventure, nature and travel, it became apparent how engaging and motivating it was to combine adventure with running. Whilst it's not a new concept to run for a purpose - the tradition of going travelling in search of new things that we might lack is quite a historical concept from our ancestors. One of the most consoling aspects of travel is that we are likely to encounter nature in a way we don't see every day. The idea of running through the alphabet meant that even if it's not far from home, it's already a journey and allows us the freedom from everyday stuff.
Andrea started this challenge in Athens which makes complete sense as It's the birthplace of running and where marathon running began. Enjoy this episode andd hearing all about Andreas challenge.
You can follow Andreas adventures on Instagram
Recommended
Transcript
Andrea's Running Journey Begins
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello. Welcome to today's episode of the UK Run Chat podcast. Today, I'm chatting to Andrea, one of our community members who has set herself the challenge of running through the alphabet. Hi, Andrea. Welcome. Thanks for coming on today. Thanks, Michelle. I'm Andrea. I've completed over 50 races now, I would say, both
00:00:22
Speaker
on the road and the trails, some internationally, and often known for sharing the stories of those adventures and often inspiring others along the way who are passionate about, say, travelling and making the most of being outside, so combining the two with some running. Yeah, brilliant. Thank you so much for coming on. So you've got quite a big challenge that you're undertaking at the moment, haven't you? And we'll get onto that in a little bit.
00:00:49
Speaker
Why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself and when you actually started running? How did that come about? Well, I was quite a late starter to running really in about 2016, primarily because I always associated fitness really with about going to the gym, just around the gym type of equipment. And I used to have a really big dog and that would often disappear into the woods near home.
00:01:15
Speaker
And she would be known for following pretty much squirrels for miles and miles into the depth of the woods, which would often result in me heading deeper into the canopy of the trees to get her back. And one day I pretty much decided to wear my old gym trainers and attempt to run some of the trail paths.
00:01:32
Speaker
with the dog. It was a bit of a disaster. Either the dog thought it was a game and constantly got in the way, jumped up or about 20 seconds I was absolutely exhausted. I didn't really have any concept about running and I thought it would be like walking really only quicker. So after a few sort of failed attempts to run on the trails with this sort of overexcited dog I decided to join
00:01:55
Speaker
my local C25K, which is well known for being a really great place to start for, for any runner really, you know, usually freeze a program offered by many local running clubs. And it provides, I think, quite a great deal of learning on how to run effectively. Yeah.
00:02:15
Speaker
And when I first went along to that, my first few meetups were pretty simple, but I thought they were very necessary. I was made aware, for example, of how to breathe when running. Nothing was a waste of time, I thought, and everything added some value in some way. And I found that sort of, you know, that revolutionary idea of experimenting little by little, which became quite rewarding. It was sort of the ultimate principle of the law of effect.
00:02:40
Speaker
in the theory of learning, I guess, you learn a little bit and you think, wow, I can do that and build it from there. So that's pretty much how I started. Yeah. Oh, lovely. So you mentioned you've done 50 races then. So how long ago was this? Was this a while ago then? Well, it was pretty much from 2016 when I first started. And then I decided to enroll myself in a race, which was a Santa run, which was fancy dress in Bristol. And that was just a 5K.
00:03:10
Speaker
So yeah, it started pretty much 5Ks, 10Ks, and then I moved on to half marathons and trail races both in the UK and internationally.
00:03:20
Speaker
My 50th race that I completed was the Rocky Mountains in Canada, which was really amazing. That was about four and a half thousand meters above sea level, which bearing in mind, the highest point of the UK in Ben Nevis is about 1,300 meters above sea level. So it was quite a difference to how you approach things from a sort of breathing capacity and learning a bit more about how the effect of breathing and running and
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, your stamina, I guess, when you put me into training practice. Yeah, that must have felt quite tough actually running at that altitude. Yeah, I wasn't, to be honest, I hadn't really considered it until quite later on. And it was actually very, I was very, very lucky to be able to have gone because the world was just waking up after national lockdown. And the plan had already had to change slightly because the borders hadn't opened in Canada. And
00:04:20
Speaker
if it had all been normal, shall we say, there was a friend of mine at a university was offering to use one of these breathing apparatus that you can practice on a treadmill to sort of have that experience of running altitude, but I never got round to using that. So I was straight in the deep end really, but it was definitely, it felt different. I think the first 24 hours you can pretty much
00:04:46
Speaker
go with it and just you don't tend to notice the difference but once you're in sort of days two and three of change of climate and altitude you really do notice the difference on your lungs. Yeah yeah and that must have had an impact on your race as well really. Yeah I mean the impact you're kind of finishing times and the effort. Yeah I mean
00:05:09
Speaker
You know, like anyone, you know, you enter a race and I tend to think when I, you know, just as you enter a race, you know, I just want to get through it and finish it. And then when you get towards the finish line, okay, no, no, I'm going to go for it. But, you know, in a race at that altitude, I noticed in the first two or three miles, you know, I'm not getting the same mileage and times that I would normally get back home. So yeah, you notice it, but part of it wasn't really just about how fast am I going to go. It was about just achieving it. The scenery was magical.
00:05:38
Speaker
So, yeah, I noticed the difference, but I tried to park that a little bit and just enjoy the journey, really. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Well, that that leads us on nicely, doesn't it, to your running through the alphabet challenge?
Inspired by Murakami: The Alphabet Challenge
00:05:52
Speaker
So just explain a little bit about the concept of it. Where did the idea come from? Well, funny enough, there's a really good book by a guy called Murakami, which is what I talk about when I talk about running.
00:06:04
Speaker
And he's quite a private writer and manages to capture I think some of the most sort of genuine awareness to thoughts and feelings that runners experience on their adventures.
00:06:14
Speaker
So it was sort of his some humbled stories of the places he'd run and the runners he'd encountered along the way that I found quite inspiring and sort of helped me to consider my own running and what other challenging opportunities I could think of. And I tend to think sort of, you know, the big problem we have when we're at race day is we tend to go there with
00:06:38
Speaker
a mission to complete, you know, our mindset is naturally focused on the race and we don't always necessarily notice that we are often surrounded by some of the most interesting people and sites of the modern world. So I kind of thought about this and thought about this book and I thought, all right, hang on a minute, I'm going to have a theme and the theme just came about as running through the alphabet and it was a really
00:07:01
Speaker
quite exciting way to embrace a bit of challenge and achievement, as well as traveling, which is something I absolutely love. It was, I think, it was important for it to not be a tick list, you know, not going to be a tick list of the most amazing, extreme places to go to. It's like some sort of bucket list. And it had to be achievable financially and be smart. You know, I'm not really one for kudos. I love that sort of flow state of being absorbed in an activity.
00:07:29
Speaker
so much that, you know, you tend to lose track of time. So it was a way for me to research places, be inspired by places and something that was aligned with the race medal, having that appropriate letter of the alphabet. So that was the ultimate ultimate goal. Okay, so it's providing a bit of structure really than rather than kind of guiding you into certain races. Really, it's just a little structure for you.
00:07:59
Speaker
Yeah, I think sometimes we need that motivational cue, don't we? And we will run for all sorts of reasons. And for me, it was having a theme helps you then to focus when you're doing your research and does it fall within your theme. You can push those boundaries when you need to. Maybe there's a particular race event that is not necessarily about the country or the county. It could be a charity event. It could be
00:08:26
Speaker
more of a challenging event that you didn't consider at the outset, but it fits because it's got the appropriate letter of the alphabet. So it was just a bit of a strategic way of thinking how to make a race more complicated, I suppose. Yes, slightly more challenging than normal to find something, I guess. Let's just go back to what you were saying. I love those words you used, like flow state of running.
00:08:53
Speaker
And I can sense that you are kind of somebody that's very inspired by being outside by the act of running itself. Just tell us a little bit more about that. What's this about being outside? Yeah. And about, you know, the feeling that running inspires in you. Yeah, it's a strange one, isn't it? Because I think once we once we take on a hobby or a sporting event or something that we engage in and we engage in it naturally and we appear to
00:09:20
Speaker
just lose ourself in the moment. I think it's really, I mean, we, we do get a lot out of it. I don't think we always necessarily realise it until we can reflect afterwards and think, Oh, I really enjoyed that. And that's, that's part of that flow state, isn't it? You're so absorbed in something that you don't quite know what the time is right that moment, you know, and, you know, you're quite happy to just be left alone and focus on that moment. And I find running does that, you know, whether or not you're
00:09:46
Speaker
You're going out and you're doing your sprint sessions that you need to do, or you're just wandering down a different pathway that perhaps you didn't know was there while you were on holiday, or if you're way on business and you've packed your trainers, you think, right, I'm going to go for a quick run. It's your time, isn't it? And I think that's just quite important that people are able to embrace that, I think. Yeah, yeah. That's so important. It's not all about the times, is it, and the distance. It's a lot about how it makes us feel.
00:10:16
Speaker
Although funny should say that because I think some days, I mean, we all, you know, some days we have really good runs and we think, wow, and I was on for today and other days, you know, you, you did a run, maybe you were too busy and you just squeezed it in or you just wasn't today, wasn't your day. We all have those days, but I think the ultimate is the freedom of being able to go out there and engage in something that you, you enjoy doing and, and, you know, why not? Yeah, absolutely.
00:10:41
Speaker
So tell us about starting your challenge then.
Running and Culture: Athens and Beyond
00:10:44
Speaker
I'm guessing you started with the letter A. Are you doing them alphabetically? I am, yeah. There was one actually that I switched around only because it happened to the race event started before the other one. So, but yes, I'm going through them in alphabetical order. That's the right way of describing it. So yeah, the first one was in Athens, which is the ultimate birthplace of running. Well known for
00:11:11
Speaker
the soldier Fidepides who ran from the battlefield in marathons to Athens to alert the Athenians that they'd won. So I found the research in putting that into place quite amazing because these Greek military runners, they were equivalent to our ultra runners of today. They'd be out there in the early dawn running
00:11:35
Speaker
in really low light gathering their troops and intelligence. And they were like the main messengers. They didn't do it for fun. That was their thing. And then, although back in the day, their total mileage would have been way over 200 miles in a day. The final journ, as we well know the story, was 26.2 miles. Hence, the mileage we know today is a marathon. So I felt that Athens had to be the first place to kick it off, really.
00:12:04
Speaker
It was a really inspiring place to start the challenge. I started it in Easter 2021. The weather was pretty unsettled.
00:12:17
Speaker
And it was mainly a road race. So although there were views of the ancient buildings such as the Acropolis and the famous Olympic Stadium, it was it was mainly coastal. And it's the place where Nike takes its name, you know, as this winged goddess of victory. So the support from the crowds was really amazing. They're very passionate about running.
00:12:39
Speaker
and racing at any level. So it was really special to be part of that. I absolutely loved it and it was a really good way of kick-starting the challenge, I felt. Yeah, fantastic. So did you incorporate this with a bit of time before and after there or was it a bit of a holiday for you as well or was it just going and doing the race?
00:13:00
Speaker
Um, yeah, what I tried to do is, um, once I've found the destination, um, I try to make it sort of usually about a five day trip. So you've got, um, you know, a day to arrive and settle. And then, um, I will have already pre-planned having a hotel or accommodation that is near the finish line. So that, um, after you, you know, your legs are pretty tired, you haven't got to worry too much about getting back to wherever you stay in.
00:13:25
Speaker
and then, you know, have a couple of days to see the sites, you know, engage with the locals, sort of taking the culture, rather than it just becomes some big tick list of how many can I fit in in the year. You know, it was about really understanding a little bit about the area that you've gone to to visit, you know.
00:13:45
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So did you do Athens alone? Did you have somebody with you to race?
Family Bonding Through Running
00:13:52
Speaker
I'm doing all the races with my daughter. So we're running these together, say together, you know, she's, you know,
00:14:00
Speaker
a little bit younger than me, so I'm at least 20 years ahead of her in age. So we start together, but we don't finish together. She started at university, Cora this is, she started running university and represented sort of the athletic society when she was there. And then when she graduated in 2021, I believe,
00:14:18
Speaker
She continued her own running goal. So we didn't really start out running together at all, but been very fortunate to have been able to have taken her to many places around the world since she was little. So it was one of those things. You give young people the opportunity to travel and develop an interest in adventure and sort of different cultures. And it was almost, we've got a very unique friendship as a result. And it means that sort of the time we spend together
00:14:43
Speaker
normally includes going somewhere that results in some interesting stories. So sharing that passion for running was a given really. You know, our sort of fitness and healthy living has always been part of who we are. So our conversations do tend to include discussions on running, whether that be running gels, you know, running routes, training plans, shoes. So yeah, it was a bit of a no brainer, really. So we decided, yeah, we do these together. And it's so far, it's been a really positive
00:15:13
Speaker
really positive experience, a really nice one to do with them, with your kids, I guess. Yeah, that's so lovely. I hope that when my daughter gets older, that she'll want to come on a run with me as well. That would be lovely. How old is your daughter? She's 10. Oh, yeah, absolutely. We've got a while yet, but hopefully. Yeah, no, it's really nice. My daughter's 23 now. And, you know, it's, you know, you have your own goals and your own sense of accomplishment. You know, when you do work for a run that
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, having that opportunity to be able to plot a running route, you know, we're forever sharing routes from Garmin and Strava and just sort of, you know, offering, or there's a route here, the elevation is this, or should we give it a go? Let's have it as our long, long run session at the weekend. So yeah, it's really nice. So I mean, has running changed your relationship in any way then since you started running and racing together?
00:16:09
Speaker
I'd say it's added value. I mean, you know, we've always been very close. As I say, we've, you know, we've traveled a lot and always encouraged her to have an appetite for, you know, travel and people and kindness and all those, all those things, really, that I think is part of who we are as people, you know, just enjoying life. Don't take life too seriously. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, she works now she works hard, but she loves a running. But yeah, when we get chance to
00:16:39
Speaker
meet back up again after sort of you know busy day at work. Running is the ultimate you know get away from it or you know you leave the car behind and every day stresses out of work to um join the outside again. Yeah absolutely yeah that that kind of takes us back to where we were before doesn't it with just kind of emptying your mind and getting into that state where it's just you and the road ahead or the pavement or the trail.
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah, so where are you at the moment with your challenge then? What letter are you up to? Well, so far, the last race I completed was Hampton Court, half marathon. So that one was my letter H, or hour less H, I should say. So the route for that one was very scenic, it's very beautiful. I know that there's been recent pictures published of Hampton Court, I think only this week with poppies and
00:17:34
Speaker
Cornflowers, I believe it's absolutely covered. It's supposed to be really beautiful. But at the time when we run it, it was very, very wet. I'm not a fan of running in the rain at all. I love the heat as we've got it at the moment. Definitely a warm runner. I could run in 30 degrees without a problem. I absolutely love it. But on this particular day in Hampton Court, the last mile was over grass around the edge of golf course. And there were the occasional golf balls flying and I did find it
00:18:03
Speaker
a bit daunting, shall we say. I wondered if a couple of the golfers were having a little bit of a laugh. But it was almost impossible to run. It had rained so much, and it was so muddy. So it wasn't my most favorite run, but it was a challenge. And you have to have a challenge, don't you? You overcome it, and you reflect on it, and you think, right, what skills did I use that day? What techniques did I use? Or what strategy did I adopt? And that's how we vibe as runners, I guess, isn't it? Yeah.
00:18:33
Speaker
That's definitely how we improve, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So you're up to age. So what other races have you done then as part of your challenge
International Running Experiences
00:18:44
Speaker
so far? So we've done Athens and Hampton Court, what's been in between? So the letter B was Bingley in Bradford. So Bingley is known for its five locks canals. So it's...
00:18:58
Speaker
It's a very flat run. It was it was a combination of a trail and a road. Yeah. So it was the canal towpath really, and then some trails, but it was what's referred to as an out and back, which again, you know, the more that you run, the more you appreciate a nice big loop that's got lots of lovely scenery. It was beautiful. The actual locks, these high rise locks were
00:19:24
Speaker
were pretty, well, tough, I say, and they weren't, they weren't that hilly. But, you know, once you're tired, you suddenly see this huge, great hill coming towards you. You've got to go for it. So that was, that was in Bingley and Bradford. That was, that was really nice. That was a definite something different. C was Copenhagen. Oh, wow. And that was, excuse me, that was, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed, I enjoyed Copenhagen a lot.
00:19:52
Speaker
I've never experienced a crowd like it. You know, in some ways it was a little bit too much. Yeah, the constant hum of cheering and shouting kept the adrenaline pumping without a doubt. They are very, very much behind their runners, you know, because it's such a flat place. It was fast and flat. I did get a PB. I think probably I focused too much on
00:20:17
Speaker
the PB because I knew it was an opportunity. So I went around that one in 206, which is not bad for somebody in the 40s and 50s bracket. So yeah, it was a good race. It was very colorful as sort of all the sort of cliche photos of Copenhagen and the city buildings and the colors and the vibrancy. It was very much like that. It was a very beautiful place.
00:20:45
Speaker
wasn't as cosmopolitan as I perhaps would have liked it to have been. But it was, it was, yeah, it was nice. It was very beautiful. That was a really good letter C. So yeah, that was a nice one to have experienced. Yeah. Do you want me to go through all the other ones? Yeah, tell us what else you've been up to. Good job you've only got to age, isn't it? So D was Derby. So I went to Derby for that one. Again, I was very mindful for this not to be some huge tick list to say, you know, look at all these amazing places around the world I've travelled.
00:21:13
Speaker
So Derby was for the letter D and that was really pretty actually. Derby was along the river and again the scenery was really beautiful and it was one huge loop which was really nice. The roads were closed so that again really welcomes runners I think when you feel that
00:21:33
Speaker
this road closure has been implemented. Yeah, yeah, that does make for an easier race, really, doesn't it, when you're not having to navigate traffic? Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think the thing is, as well as you can really see the investment has been put in by the marshals and running clubs, you know, even even the local people, you know, come out the houses and they've got their little tables outside with drinks on and it's a real sense of community. And, you know, I think
00:22:00
Speaker
amount of people who are running for charities and supporting causes is phenomenal. And Derby seemed to be that sort of place where it was all about community spirits. That was really, really good. The letter E was the Eden project. That was quite a challenge. That was quite a hilly
00:22:20
Speaker
Healy Run, and that ended inside the compound of the Eden project itself where those huge great pods are. Wow, fantastic. Yeah, that was a combination of a bit of a rainy day and a windy day. So you've got all the elements down on the edge of the Cornish Cornwall there. And yeah, that was quite a challenge, but beautiful, scenery beautiful as it's well known for. But yeah, definitely a Healy one and the elevation wasn't kind I would say on that day.
00:22:51
Speaker
But, you know, you do your research, you think, right, OK, let's check out the elevation on this one. And, you know, because I'm surrounded very much with the Brecon Beacons and the Melbourne Hills near home, you know that you're always going to have the opportunity to do some hill trainings and hill work. But the Eden project was definitely testing the boundaries of, you know, have I done enough sort of thing? Yeah, wow. I mean, but like you said earlier, you've got to challenge yourself, haven't you?
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. You know, if every race is just going to be a flat race, then you're going to just fall foul of just, you know, let's see how fast I can go. Um, you know, to me, it was more about, um, the preparation of the first sort of the first half an hour into a race, you know, sometimes can take us, um, a good two, three miles to relax in a race. I find, you know, the same as you. Yeah. It takes a while, doesn't it? Just to get into it. Yeah. I mean,
00:23:47
Speaker
You know, I find that sometimes the first mile is that it's that make or break feeling, isn't it? And the first mile, you know, you're running, you sort of think, oh, don't my shoes tighten up? Do I need to loosen the laces? You know, do I need to go to the loo again? You know, it's you can't help evaluate all those little niggles. And it's not until you've done a couple of marching, right, I'm settled now. Now I'm enjoying it. Now I can look at the scenery. And you know, you check your time and you watch and
00:24:14
Speaker
but I haven't set off too fast. I pace them myself well and you know, you've got enough fluids or you thought about what gels your pack's got with you and when you're going to take them. So yeah, it's all part of the challenge. Excuse me. So yeah, where have I got to so far? So G is next, no F, sorry. F was farmed around the history of the Farnborough airport and the
00:24:43
Speaker
the sort of surrounding area of that really. So that was just something completely different to do. Yeah, that sounds very different actually. Yeah, so that one I just, that's in North East Hampshire. So that was just something I wanted to just cover really about, you know, thinking of something different. It's known as its international air show.
00:25:09
Speaker
And, you know, hundreds of people visit there every year for the exhibits for the air show. So I thought, you know, it's long standing sort of aviation links. I thought that would be something really different. And the medal was, you know, aligned with that sort of theme, really, which was really nice. Yeah. And then that leaves us with G, doesn't it?
Tackling Tough Races: Mallorca and More
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah, G. Now, G was something completely different that I'd never done before, which was
00:25:38
Speaker
It was the Galazzo Mountain and the Galazzo legend is called and it's in Mallorca. So it's a very beautiful place is Galazzo and it is a trail run to say the least, but it's the elevation is pretty steep. So it's an area called Calvia in Mallorca, so it's part of the Galeric Islands.
00:26:06
Speaker
And it's known for being quite a hiking trail. It's very much a scenic spot. It's got a lot of panoramic views of the Mediterranean coast. Very beautiful. And it starts in this tiny little village where people can then go off on their different various hiking routes. But it was really, really steep. And the first half a mile, I would say, was on gravel. So it was definitely trail shoes.
00:26:36
Speaker
onto gravel and then these little tiny stones that you were running across started to become you know bigger rocks almost like the size of tomatoes and then they got more sort of size of boulders and then you found that you're actually almost on your hands and knees now clambering up the side of the mountain of which point the sort of the crowds start to disperse you know you're no longer just running with the few people who you're in the race pen with to start with you're now
00:27:05
Speaker
You've really separated now, so you're on your own and you're following these markers, sort of a bit of red and white plastic tape, you know, just tied to a bit of foliage. And that's the only thing you've got to really give you an idea as to where the route is taking you. And I found that quite daunting because, you know, you can't just follow the person in front and think, oh, yeah, I'll follow them. They look like they know where they're going. You know, if you get it wrong, you are
00:27:34
Speaker
really off-piste on a very you know dangerous ledge really so it was it was an interesting race but I found it really really hard it was over a thousand meters above sea level so it was quite high it was a long way up yeah
00:27:53
Speaker
but it was exhausting. How was the descent? If it was steep going up, how was it coming back down? It's hard to say whether or not the descent was easier than the climb, but going on the same basis, there was nowhere to put your foot flat.
00:28:13
Speaker
So every time you put your foot on something, it rolled forward because it was loose rocks. And, you know, I didn't manage to fall, which was good for me. I cut my hand at one point, only a little cut, but it was bleeding quite a lot because of, you know, naturally sweating and things. And at one point I was literally hoping that I'd be spotted and be pulled out of the race. Someone would feel sorry for me and pull me out of the race, but no such luck. But yeah, the coming down was really
00:28:43
Speaker
It was daunting. I was more concerned about not losing my footing and slipping. But the scenery was beautiful. It's not one of the highest mountains in Mallorca, but it was absolutely beautiful, really, really nice. And a bit of a scramble, I say, is probably the best way of describing it. That sounds really exciting, though. So is trail, are you normally a roadrunner? Is trail not your natural environment for running?
00:29:12
Speaker
Um, it was funny, I should say, because, um, you know, where I'm based, um, I've got, as I say, the Breckenbeekens and the Melbourne Hills, the, you know, the Wyfe Valley.
00:29:23
Speaker
a lot of beautiful trails within very close proximity. And I think the downside of that is you cannot ever find anywhere flat. So you've got to, you've got to, you know, get over it and you've got to run up hills. So I do like the peace and quiet and that sort of solitary feeling of running on the trails. But equally,
00:29:43
Speaker
when you sort of see you know friends that have run along the beach or a nice flat sort of country lane I think we are I fancy that so yeah it's nice to have that combination I think we're very lucky if you're very lucky if you've got that you know the idea of living in a city somewhere and you've only got sort of you know a park a center park somewhere that you sort of flock to and you loop it sort of 10 times you know I think I'd find that quite tough so road running especially when there's lots of traffic and
00:30:11
Speaker
people don't always want to get out of the way, unfortunately. So, you know, the peace and quiet the trails is is really nice to have that as an alternative. Yeah. It sounds like you've got the best of both worlds there, Andrea. Yeah, I think I have actually. I'm very, very humbled by it, shall we say. Yeah. So what what would you say has been your favorite moment so far then of the challenge? It's a difficult one, isn't it? I think it's a difficult to measure. I think sometimes when we measure success or within ourselves,
00:30:40
Speaker
It could simply be just sort of achieving satisfaction, can't it? As often as we can. So the fact that we've gone out and we've been able to achieve what we set out to do, I think sometimes that's as much as we need, isn't it? Or is it about the fact that we've got a PB? So I don't...
00:31:01
Speaker
I loved Galazzo. I mean, as much as I hated it at the time, I loved Galazzo because it was just something so different. But then I really loved Copenhagen because it was so flattened, you know, you know, then you can sort of you can put your sort of fast, flat sort of methods in placing, right, I'm going to go for it. So I think I think the fact that we can just achieve and look back and reflect and say, yeah, I did a really good race there, I put
00:31:28
Speaker
I put a lot of effort into that, not only the training, but the foods and, you know, whatever program you put into place, even if that's been sort of an hour a day, sort of every other day, you know, it's looking back and knowing that that actually worked for you. Yeah. Yeah. That's important, isn't it? Hmm. Yeah. And I guess success, like you say, means different things on different days as well, doesn't it? Yeah. I mean, you know, it's like,
00:31:56
Speaker
When it's a really, really wet day, like it was for the Hampton Court, half marathon, you plan ahead what you're going to wear. And you know you've got to feel warm, but you don't want to overheat. Have you got the right shoes on? Have you gone for the right running shoes? Because it was going to be a bit of a combination of trails and road. So it's that success feeling, I think, that knowing that whatever research you've made into making it the best possible race you can for that day,
00:32:25
Speaker
was a success and if it wasn't, why not? And what do I need to do next time to tweak it a little bit? Yeah. Well, just while we're on the subject of heat, obviously we are recording this while we are in the UK in the midst of a heat wave.
00:32:38
Speaker
It's unusually warm. You've already said that you enjoy running in the heat. What are your tips for kind of getting through, especially those longer runs in the heat? I find it really difficult personally.
Running in Heat and Future Plans
00:32:49
Speaker
I'm very much a winter and rain runner. Oh, are you? That's interesting. Yeah. See, that's one of the things I've learned so far about running is that, you know, it's
00:32:59
Speaker
you know what you like, and you've got to go with it, you know, right from right back to the beginning, when you first start running, and people say, Oh, go nice run in the morning. I hate running in the morning. Yeah, you know, the only time I run in the morning is I'm going to run in a race event. And you know, you've got to adjust your body a little bit to running or being able to move, you know, a relatively quick pace first thing in the morning. But the heat, I love it. I mean, I ran in Cordoba in Spain, I went to a trip to Seville and
00:33:27
Speaker
It wasn't a race, it was just a sort of city break and I stayed in Cordoba, which is just outside of Seville and it's really well known for its sunflower field. So if you want to see the fields of sunflowers, like nothing else is Cordoba. And I went for a run and it was probably about 41 degrees. And I think you've just got to be prepared to be hot. Yeah. Crazy.
00:33:53
Speaker
be prepared to be hot, you're going to get sweaty, there's no there's no pretty way around it, you know, you've got to be prepared to just be sweaty. And we always say don't worry about drinking and fueling and drink plenty of water. But that is one of the big tips is to just, I mean, don't be too proud to carry water. I always always run with water, always, even in the rain, I'll run with water because
00:34:17
Speaker
Um, yeah, I dunno, you probably don't need to, some runners will probably go, nah, you don't need that. But, um, yeah, running in the heat, take water, remember your sort of your salts, what your body needs, you know, it's not, you know, it's like feeding a plant in a house plant, isn't it? You don't just give it water, you need food, don't you? So it's, um, making sure you've got a strategy in place for, uh, keeping yourself, um, well hydrated. Yeah. I mean, do you find your pace slows down a little bit on hot runs as well?
00:34:45
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, you've got to expect that haven't you spent like when we spoke earlier about running at altitude, you've got to expect that, you know, your body's doesn't need warming up as such, not like in a, you know, like you when you're running in the in the colder climates, you probably feel that you're moving quite quick, because you want to warm yourself up a bit and your heart's working differently. And your muscles take longer to warm up. So yeah, when when it's already hot outside, you know, you've got to
00:35:12
Speaker
almost allow yourself to do the complete opposite and slow down. But I tend to try and pick a route that I know is going to have some shade as well. Yeah, that's important too. Yeah. And I think again, one of the things that we don't tend to do when we become runners in quotes is it's okay to stop. Yeah. You know, if it's if it's hot, and you're not used to running the heat, or it's not your best time for running, it's okay to stop, okay to stop, take a take a breather and then
00:35:42
Speaker
When you're ready, off you go again, you know, and just adjust your expectations. Yeah, yeah, that's key, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, great. So what have you got planned next on the challenge? What's coming up next for you? Well, my next challenge is, as a bit of a motorbike enthusiast, the TT, which is known for the tourist trophy in the Isle of Man, he's known for being one of the most sort of dangerous and thrill-seeking race events in the motorbike world. So I thought that the Isle of Man,
00:36:12
Speaker
for the half marathon route there would be an ideal choice, especially as some of the route that we will cross will cover some of the roads of these sort of fast superbikes. So if you like your bikes, then it's a quirky story to have. So yes, that's what I thought I would do for you. Fantastic. So when is that happening? That was in August. Yeah. Missed out on the TT, which was... It just happened, nothing.
00:36:40
Speaker
Yeah, so I don't think I would have been very popular if I was out having a run at the same time these bikes were.
00:36:45
Speaker
speeding past. So yeah, so that's in August. So I'm looking forward to that one. Oh, fantastic. Have you been to the Isle of Man before? No, never, never. Oh, it's beautiful. You'll love it. I did a holiday there back. Oh, it must be 10 years ago now, but it's beautiful. I've learned only positive things. So yeah, it seemed like an ideal choice, really. And it's not too far. And it's always I think it's always nice when you can look to see where the your local airport and the airlines that you might use regularly
00:37:15
Speaker
where they go to what are their destinations and that always helps with a bit of planning and Isle of Man happened to be one on the list for me so I thought that sounds interesting and then with the sort of association with motorbikes I thought yeah I'll give that one a go. Yeah so are you taking one letter at a time and during planning or are you seeing how this evolves or have you got some ideas in your head of what else you want to do? I haven't planned anything after I and
00:37:43
Speaker
I'm a bit stuck on Jay at the moment, actually. My daughter and I, we had this conversation about Jay's. We were looking at Jordan and we were also looking at a couple of places in Spain. But it really does depend on whether or not, I don't know what time of the year the race events come up. Yeah. So yeah, it's very much a case of, and like I said earlier as well, it's got to be the
00:38:14
Speaker
It's got to be the race medal has got to have that letter in it. Yes. OK. Yeah. So that's key. Yeah. So it could be, you know, a race event that's for a particular place, a destination rather than a country. Then then, yeah. So.
00:38:30
Speaker
I think we would definitely push further afield when it comes to further letters along the alphabet. But like I say, it wasn't intended to be this sort of amazing wish list of places around the world. It's got to be cost effective. But at the same time, if there's an opportunity to go to some of these faraway places and it works, then yeah, I'm always up for adventure. Yeah. Oh, fantastic. We'll have to keep us posted with where you end up next then after the Isle of Man. Yeah.
Personal Growth Through Running
00:39:00
Speaker
So let's finish with just, you know, what do you feel you've learned so far doing this challenge? Has it taught you anything specific, do you think? Yeah, I mean, I think running is such a personal thing, isn't it? And I think if it doesn't sound too cliche, I think that we become slightly more complete, confident, maybe wiser version of ourselves.
00:39:24
Speaker
you know, after we've embraced some new adventure, you know, after we've gone for a run, you know, it's it is quite personal, it may be for some, they just run around the block, and they weren't able to do that before they've done it now for the first time ever, without stopping, or, you know, it's the furthest they've ever been able to run. And it makes us more confident, doesn't it? And then sort of reflect and see, wow, you know, if I've achieved something, then it's, it's quite a personal thing. So I think for me, fueling is a big thing. And we learn then
00:39:54
Speaker
what worked and what didn't. We always hear about people talking about carb loading, but it's not just carbs, it's the lead up to it. People have got different dietary requirements that they can't always necessarily eat certain foods, and that's got to be captured as well. I've learned what sports brands are expensive, but why they're expensive. And then when you start wearing those particular brands,
00:40:19
Speaker
you know, you realize and appreciate the investment and think, right, yeah, you know, that's why I wear that brand, because it's it's comfortable, the material soft, you know, when you wear it, you're wearing it for two hours at a time, two, three hours at a time, it wears well, but it also absorbs the moisture. And I think, as we mentioned before, you know, learn whether or not you're a morning runner or you're an evening runner and how you benefit the most from putting your training into place because you are running at the right time of day that works for you.
00:40:49
Speaker
I think one of the biggest things for me that I've taken from running so fast, it's about 2016 to now, is stretching. It's that core strength. Still going to the gym. What might feel like a day that you're not out there on the ground running is the opportunity to stretch and reduce injury. And it's definitely my go-to. You know, stretching is so underrated and
00:41:17
Speaker
I think there's a book by a guy called Matthew Walker, really worth a reading. It's called Why We Sleep. And it's very much a comprehensive and quite powerful account, really, the science behind why we sleep. And it is all about that sort of the foundation to our physical and our mental strength. And I found for me, other than just the stretching and the working on looking after your core strength, and I'm not very good at keeping still for very long. I like to keep moving. But
00:41:47
Speaker
having learned a bit about stretching and the basics, I do value my sleep now more than ever. And I think that need to relax. We don't tend to do as a species anymore. It's always on the go. And I think it's when you learn about taking things a little bit slower, slower pace, you realize you're investing a lot more into the times when you are actually running. So I think that's the biggest thing I've learned so far from it is
00:42:16
Speaker
is the rest and the stretch in is really quite an investment. Yeah, absolutely. We often neglect that rest as runners, don't we? We think that if we're out training, we need to be running, but sleep and rest is a part of that, isn't it? It is training. Definitely. I think the thing is you tend to, when you're not running, whether or not you're catching up with a friend's run, or you're looking on Strava or another app or Garmin, and you can see that a friend's gone and done a run, or they've done 10 miles today. I only did three.
00:42:44
Speaker
And it's that feeling of, well, I'm going to go out and do some more. And it's that need to just stop, slow down, be pleased with what you've achieved. You're running for yourself. You're not running for anyone else. And, you know, whatever you're investing in yourself is actually going to be of benefit to you and add value the next time you put your trainers on and go outside. Yeah, absolutely. Well, yeah, that's very, all very wise, sensible advice. Thank you for that.
00:43:10
Speaker
So thank you so much for joining us today. It's been fascinating chatting to you. Thank you for having me, Michelle. Nice to speak to you. Yeah. Could you tell our listeners where they can follow you? Have you got a social media account where they can follow you if they want to find out a little bit more about your challenge? Yes, I'm on Instagram as Silver Cloud Adventures, so I can be found there.
00:43:34
Speaker
And I'm also on Strava as Andrea D. So I can be found there. So those are the two sort of main locations where my running routes and achievements will be posted. Oh, fantastic. Well, all the very best with the recipe challenge and enjoy it and do keep us posted with how you're getting on. I certainly will. Thanks very much for taking the time to speak to me. Thank you.