Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Community Member Focus - Lindsay Bradley
62 Plays5 years ago
In this episode we continue or "Getting to know you " community member interviews. Today's guest is Lindsay Bradley aka @LBradz.
If you would like to be a part of our Getting to know you, Community Member Interviews then please DM us on our social channels or email us on info@ukrunchat.co.uk
Enjoy getting to know Lindsay.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Invitation
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to this episode of the UK Sports Chat Podcast. I'm Joe Williams and today I am interviewing Lindsay Bradley. Lindsay is a member of the UK RunChat community and this continues our feature of getting to know you, the community members. If you'd like to take part please drop us an email on info at ukrunchat.co.uk or DM us on one of our social channels. Enjoy getting to know Lindsay.
Lindsay's Running and Yoga Routine
00:00:31
Speaker
Welcome, Lindsay, thanks for joining us. Hi, how are you? Yeah, very well, thank you, really well. How are you? I'm good, yep, trying to keep busy in the circumstances. Yeah, how are you keeping busy, what are you up to? So, still trying to get mid-runs in. I run about five days a week, also getting a bit more creative with my exercise at the moment as well, trying new things.
00:00:59
Speaker
Oh, right. Yeah. Do tell what you're up to. So I've recently started doing yoga, which has been a bit enlightening. Nice. Nice. Yeah. So in the front room or? In my bedroom upstairs. Yeah. Yeah. How are you doing that following along with classes online? Yeah. I've got like an app and like an audio coaching app and it just tells you like how to do the pose and talk to you through it and let you like build it up and
00:01:29
Speaker
It's pretty good because it does understand that some people aren't as flexible like me. And like do like little adjustments. It's been interesting so far. How often are you doing that then? Three days a week. Nice. Lovely. So I did yoga with Adrienne. I don't know if you've heard of that. It's quite a big YouTube channel. Yeah, seeing that. Yeah, she's really good. I did that when I was getting over an injury.
00:01:58
Speaker
over 12 months ago and I never realized how hard yoga is. Yeah you think like oh it's just like it's just breathing or like just staying still but there's all these like we've got to go into the flow and pretend about one move and it's already into the next move and it's like hang on slow down. Yeah yeah it's um I like the strength you need for some of them possessions as well it really took me by surprise you know
00:02:27
Speaker
using muscles that you wouldn't normally use. Yeah, but they say it's really good for runners, so I'm going to probably stick to it. Yeah, great. I've got creative as well. I've been there filling up used milk cartons with sand and water and using them to do some strength work in the garden. It's great, it's good.
00:02:50
Speaker
It's good seeing how people are getting creative during this time at home, isn't it? Yeah, I was really lucky. I managed to get some dumbbells before the lockdown, but I've been trying to look for an exercise bike and they've all gone now, so that's kind of a shame.
00:03:11
Speaker
Yeah, and things like Zwift and Peloton, you see all these things, they must be getting a lot of use at the moment. Yeah, they're going to fart you, probably. Do you think that there'll be some cheap exercise equipment, treadmills on Facebook Marketplace after all this, or will people keep using them? I think definitely it'll be up here. They'll all be telling them off everywhere when no one needs them, because obviously, well, fingers crossed, hopefully by the end of it, we'll still have some somewhere left.
00:03:41
Speaker
and we'll be able to head out again. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Balancing Work and Running
00:03:45
Speaker
So what do you do for your day job? Are you at home from that or are you still working? Yeah, I'm still working. I'm quite lucky. I work four days from home normally anyway, and then one day in the office. So I'm quite used to working from home, whereas a lot of people are adjusting. I'm a client success manager for a software company, which is a lot of time on the phone, a lot of time
00:04:12
Speaker
hunched over a desk pretty much. So it is really important for me to keep active and up and about, but it pays the bills. Yeah, yeah, definitely. So you've got your own laptop and headset set up then. Yeah, my little home, my home space, like not really an office, but like a little corner. Yeah, great. Okay, so what do a client success manage? What do you do then?
00:04:38
Speaker
What's that mean? Basically, it just means keeping clients happy. We've got a help desk and any questions or queries, I help them with that. I train them how to use the platform, how to use it, which can be a bit boring sometimes, but it's good because otherwise,
00:04:58
Speaker
they just end up making a mess and it's not good. Great. Well, that's good that you get to work from home for four days a week as well. So like you say, this has been a, you were used to it already. So that's good. There's no adjusting. So I live in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and then my office is in Manchester. So I had to get the train like one day a week, but it's very hilly in Huddersfield, which makes it good for
00:05:30
Speaker
That's good for your runs. When did you start running? Have you always been a runner or was it something you took up as an adult?
Starting the Running Journey
00:05:41
Speaker
It's around two years ago when I started running. So I'm still very, not very new, but fairly new to it. Still learning lots. Before that I wasn't very active at all. I was never the sporty one at school. I was more
00:05:57
Speaker
the class clown, more or less. So you weren't into any other sport or activity in school then? It's just something you took up recently, is it? Yeah, I wasn't active at school really. I was more of a writer, you know, in the library normally. But I took, I started running really just to lose weight.
00:06:26
Speaker
Um, I got quite into like eating and drinking and all that unhealthy lazy stuff. And I start, um, to get into, before I got into running, um, I started like going on a lot of walks and when I see people running about and I was like, maybe I could do that. And then my local gym, like advertised, like beginning running sessions. So I joined in, I joined in with that and it was really, I found it really useful because
00:06:53
Speaker
I always thought when you do, we've all been there, when you start running, you think I've got to be as fast as possible, but it was just learning that you don't have to get off straight away. It's more about just taking it, taking it. Yeah, that's great. Tell us about that then about that. You know, that first time you went to that beginner sessions, what was it like? It was, it was nerve wracking. Um, but luckily because it wasn't my local gym, I knew some of the people
00:07:23
Speaker
people there, so it wasn't too bad. I didn't feel like, oh God, I'm going to look so stupid. And we went along, so at the time I was living in Leeds, we went along the Leeds Canal. Yeah. Nice and flat then. Nice and flat, but also back in my head I was thinking, oh no, there's going to be so many people looking at me thinking, oh my God, she's bellied, running, she's walking most of it. But as we all know, people don't look at you.
00:07:53
Speaker
And just having that group with you, it made it so much, much easier. And, you know, after a couple of sessions, I was out on the canal by myself. And so it was a really good start for me. And was that part of a couch to 5K then? Or did you approach it differently at the start? So I didn't follow a plan. I just went out and built it on my own. I started off doing
00:08:22
Speaker
aiming for two miles, you know, run walking. And then there was a part of the canal from my flat to like this little bit of where I'd run to and run back. And then that was about two miles. And then when I got be able to do it without stopping, okay, let's go to the next point, you know, and just build it up that way. Yeah,
First Race Experience
00:08:46
Speaker
brilliant. Brilliant. That's such a good way to do it.
00:08:51
Speaker
So did that then lead on to any goals? Did you, you know, you've got to two miles and you're up to your next point and you're thinking, oh, I should go to Parkrun or were you already doing Parkrun at this point? And did you fancy a 10K or what happened next? So I've done, so my local Parkrun at the time was Woodhouse-Moor Parkrun. And it was, at the time, I was a beginner and I thought, oh, it's a bit too far for me to get to in the morning.
00:09:20
Speaker
So I did a few, because I'm from Huddersfield, when I went to visit my mum, I did a few in Huddersfield. I thought that was really good. But really, I was just running on my own and just doing five k's on the canal. But then my friend at work suggested, why don't you do sign up for a race? So I thought, oh, that's a bit of that. I'm going to ask. But I started looking.
00:09:50
Speaker
So later on in the year, it was like a 10K, the Leeds Abi Dash. And I was like, okay, well, that gives me a good few months to work that up. So I signed up to it and that was my first goal. And yeah. Cool. How did you go about training for that then? Did you do anything different? Did you keep going to these sessions with the gyms or did you research the plans yourself? How did you get yourself up from?
00:10:20
Speaker
Um, I had some friends from the gym, um, friends from work. Um, I started to, um, we started to run together as a group and, um, you know, so I had some friends who were more, um, experienced runners who'd done, you know, like half my friends, my friends. So they were like, Oh, we'll help you build up 10 K. So with best part, um, I eventually started to build that up like week by week.
00:10:50
Speaker
and still going to the gym twice a week, running three, four times a week, and then just building up to 10K. Yeah. Great. Did you do any strength work with it or was this yoga the first kind of strength and stretching that you've done? How did you compliment it? So I'd go to gym classes, like circuit training. I'd do that twice a week.
00:11:19
Speaker
So was this quite a big lifestyle change then, from what you're saying, you were quite an academic growing up at work and then you were... Yeah, it's completely changed my life. Now, you know, I can't sit still whereas, you know, like two years ago, I was like a couch potato, pretty much. It is, you know, I don't drink as much. I still eat lots, but you need to, because we're burning more energy. You do?
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. I just, I love, I just love exploring now as well. I've really got into, you know, let's go somewhere new. Let's see what's down this path and really just appreciating the world
Mental Health Benefits of Running
00:12:02
Speaker
a lot more. It's really had the best impact on my life. I mean,
00:12:07
Speaker
Another big impact. I'm sorry, I'm waffling a bit, but, um, my, my mental health as well. Um, I struggle with, um, you know, depression and anxiety, and I was having like panic attacks, like, um, two or three times a month and now I'm pretty much having it like two or three times a year. Thanks to running. It's completely changed my life. That's brilliant.
00:12:35
Speaker
That really is amazing, isn't it? It is. It's incredible. So not only has it allowed you, has it increased your physical health, but your mental wellbeing has been directly impacted. I mean, that's a huge difference as well, isn't it? To go from two or three panic attacks that regularly down to that many in a year. It's fantastic. What a lovely story. Yeah. I just, I like,
00:13:01
Speaker
I'll just tell everyone, you've got to start running and it's amazing. And the good thing about this lockdown is that a lot of people are starting to run. I've had two friends ask me for advice and it's like, yes, everyone should be doing it. It's so good. It'll change your life the better.
00:13:18
Speaker
And the lovely thing is that they will be going through the same or very similar journey to what you were thinking. Is everybody looking at me if I go to that group for the first time? No, they're not. They're all there to run. They'll have all the same questions that you asked your more experienced friends. That's really nice that they can come to you. Brilliant. So how was that first event then that I'd be done?
00:13:46
Speaker
It was the best. It's actually become like, um, my yearly target race now. Um, but it was, it was so, it was so good. Um, I'd aimed to do like, um, okay. Anything under an hour would be great. And I ended up doing it in the first time for 56 minutes. So it was good. We all celebrated afterwards and the support as well, just because it was my first race. It was like.
00:14:14
Speaker
just seeing all these people cheering you on, it just really picks you up and it's, you can, I could then understand why people get addicted to stand up to races because of our support and yeah, just, it's incredible. Good, you can hear, you can hear how much you enjoyed it in your tone of voice, it's brilliant, it's really brilliant. Have you got any other standout races that you really enjoyed in the last couple of years? I've not really done that many races.
00:14:44
Speaker
But another good race that I did this year in January was the Meltham Tanka. It's like a local, it's a local Huddersfield race. Only a couple of hundreds sign up. And it's, it's quite, no, it is hilly. I'm not gonna lie. But what was really good about it was it's only a small race. But again, the support was amazing.
00:15:15
Speaker
The stewards were amazing as well because it does go down like country roads so it was always like people trying to like speed down on cars and stuff but you know I felt really safe. It's a beautiful route. Halfway through though it did start like pouring down with rain to the point where I couldn't you know it's quite windy up on the hills so it had just been slapped with rain so you couldn't see but it was just brilliant it was it was really good.
00:15:44
Speaker
I tested your metal a bit then. It was good, yeah. Yeah, but it makes you feel stronger, doesn't it? Knowing that you can come through that. Yeah, and still smile at the end and have a nice cup of tea. Yeah, you mentioned that it's a smaller vase. So often, there's so many of the smaller vases that are brilliant, like really brilliant, and there are only
00:16:09
Speaker
You know, and there are less participants in the club runs. There's some brilliant ones out there to be had. It's not all just about the mass events. Yeah. Cause I like the local people, they come out and watch and stuff and it's in your local area and you do, you feel a part of a community. I mean, I've met so many people through running, whether that's online through UK run chat or, you know, now I'm getting more involved in the Huddersfield running.
00:16:38
Speaker
Just seeing people at Park Run out on the runs on a Sunday morning, we're always waving at each other. It's incredible. Yeah, it's lovely. That's really good. Really good. Have you succumbed to the products of running? It's the most expensive free sport there is. Have you got a favorite shoe? I like my A6 GT 1000s. They're pretty good.
00:17:07
Speaker
Yeah, you go back to them. Have you got a favorite accessory? I like my Pro-Viz Hi-Viz hat. It's good. Yeah, it's good because up here in Huddersfield on the hills, it can be quite foggy. So I always put that on like even in the middle of the day because we need the light on cars and they can see me quite easily.
00:17:32
Speaker
Yeah, they are bright. Yeah, he's really bright, isn't he? Yeah. Startling, isn't it? Yeah. They know you're there. Cool. Okay. So do you prefer the road then or the trails? I do prefer the road for like racing, but I do like exploring my trails. So if you want to go and
00:18:01
Speaker
spend an afternoon or a morning somewhere new. I love going on my trails. Yeah, I bet you've got some good places ranging, have you? Yeah, I'm still exploring them. I grew up here and I'm still finding new places. It's incredible.
Exploring Local Trails
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, that is another brilliant thing about it. There'll be all sorts of places that you didn't realise were there. Yeah, exactly right. I feel like once a month I find something new and
00:18:31
Speaker
I remember a month or two ago, I found this little path and I had to just stop and just take a breather because the view was absolutely beautiful. It's like, why did you not know about this? And you can't see anyone for miles, no cars, just beautiful views and nature.
00:18:53
Speaker
You have to take your friends who are just taking it up, you'll have to take them to those routes, show them, see if they know them. Yes, I've already promised, because I've been taking pictures, I've already promised some friends that after when this is all over, we'll go on a long slow run together around the area. Yeah, brilliant. Do you prefer the morning or evenings? What time of day do you run? It's a tricky question because I prefer evenings.
00:19:23
Speaker
Um, but it does get, when it gets dark, it's not really ideal. So for me longer runs, I do prefer morning, um, as well as less people. Do you get to flex because you work at home or, you know, can you choose? Can you go out at lunchtime? Yes. So I do, when I am working, I do tend to go, um, at lunchtime at the minute, like I went, I went the other day at lunchtime and it was so busy.
00:19:50
Speaker
So I can't really, I'm not really, I'm not going to go at lunchtime again now. It's just like, it's too, it's too stressful. I went yesterday morning and I saw like two people and I was like, this is amazing. There's no one here. It's like all times. It's your world. Music? I saw no. Did you listen to music when you were on? At the moment, yes. Cause I don't have any company. So it's nice to, um,
00:20:19
Speaker
have some company, some music. What's on your playlist? Let's have a look. I like some, my favourite song to run through is Breathe by the Prodigy. That's a really good one. That is a power up track, isn't it? It's also reminding me to breathe, which is good. Brilliant.
00:20:48
Speaker
Do you use a watch or an app or do you rather not time your runs? I do have a Fitbit, but it's not very good at tracking runs. So I just use me the Strive Wrap. I check it through my phone, which is cool. Yeah. Peanut butter, smooth or crunchy.
00:21:13
Speaker
I don't I don't like peanut butter I'm sorry controversial yeah it's Marmite that's fine a dog or cat cats cats next one tea or coffee I think I know this I read your Twitter profile tea yes he is very important to me it must be it's in your profile Netflix or Amazon Prime Netflix
00:21:42
Speaker
Netflix. Watch anything good this last few weeks? Any films or series? Um, I watched a film last night on Netflix. Um, it was like this cheesy, um, program called the film called the healer. It was, okay. Who's in that? I don't know anyone in it. I think it was one of them random films. Is that one, is that one? I can't remember. Is that Adam Sand, one of Adam Sandler's or one of those? No, it's not. I don't think it was anyone when, Oh, um,
00:22:10
Speaker
Hurley from Lost is in it, actually. Oh, I haven't watched Lost. It's one of the one series I haven't. Have you got a favourite series? Lost, actually. Yeah, that's my favourite. Yeah. Sorry if you had to get in on it. No, it's all right. Being all wine, or another guilty pleasure? Whiskey. Whiskey. I mean, I've... I'm just swimming. Swimming and drink, yeah. Which one?
00:22:39
Speaker
I love Glen Livett. Do you hear? Very nice. Yeah. Very nice. Favorite pizza? Meat feast. Meat feast, lovely. Never mind. Stuff across meat feast. Oh, I'd love that right now. Favorite non-running hobby is our final question.
Reading Interests
00:23:01
Speaker
I like reading. Yeah. What would you read? What sorts?
00:23:08
Speaker
Yeah, all sorts of, at the minute I am reading Don't Stop Me Now by Vazos Alexander, so I do read a lot of running books. Yeah, there was a thread on Instagram I saw the other day actually, I think a lot of people are doing that as part of it.
00:23:25
Speaker
It's part of the lockdown. They're either new books or rereading some old running books. I'm reading Tyson Fury's autobiography at the moment, which is an interesting one. A different sport, but similar sorts of... It's interesting to read about how he's handled his mental health problems and how sports helped him. Yeah, I recommend it. It's an interesting read.
Social Media and Conclusion
00:23:50
Speaker
Before we finish up, tell us your Twitter and Instagram, if you're on there, and tell us what your handles are so people can follow you and say hello. So my Twitter and my Instagram are at lbradswithaz. That's on Instagram as well, is it? And Twitter and Instagram, both the same, so nice and easy.
00:24:16
Speaker
Brilliant. If anyone wants to say hello to Lindsay, please do at lbrads on her Twitter and Instagram. Lindsay, thank you for coming on and continuing our getting to know you interviews with the community. It's been really, really lovely speaking with you. Thanks for having me. I really enjoyed it.