In this powerful episode of Clean Break Chats, Andy and Rich sit down with performance psychologist Stu Holliday  a man who’s worked with Olympic swimmers, England Netball, Liverpool FC, and now helps endurance athletes master their mental game through his Unbreakable Athlete program.

Stu shares practical, game-changing tools for managing your inner critic, building mental toughness, and finding joy in running again - without the pressure of constant performance.

We talk about:

• How to manage your inner chimp (and why you can’t just silence it)
• What to do when the voice in your head says “you’re not good enough”
• Why “open goal” runs without music or watches reconnect you to joy
• The power of composure, smile cues, and realistic optimism
• How to mentally navigate injury, self-doubt, and comparison
• Why the strongest athletes train their minds as much as their bodies

Whether you’re training for your first 10K or chasing a marathon PB, this episode is a masterclass in mindset, recovery, and resilience — not just for running, but for life.

👉 Follow Stu at @endurancemindcoaching
👉 Learn more about the Unbreakable Athlete program
👉 Follow Andy & Rich at @cleanbreakcoaching

Half-term fatigue, long drives, and two back-to-back half marathons… yet we’re feeling strangely good. In EP28 we unpack why: running our easy runs truly easy (heart-rate led), putting intention into the long run, and dropping the ego around paces. Rich talks skipping a 5K time trial to protect the key weekend session, how RunDot’s adaptive plans are earning our trust, and why comparison can be useful - until it isn’t. We dig into process-over-destination goals, “open goals” for mojo, and enjoying the block without pinning self-worth to a PB.

 Updates: Rich is now an England Athletics–qualified coach and starting breathwork facilitator training; we’re onboarding runners now for spring races with a big push on base building. Teaser: next week’s guest is sports psychologist Stuart Holliday on mindset, pain moments, and your “own Olympics.” Valencia Marathon is five weeks out -le t’s go.

If your looking to join us in the Clean Break Coaching community and want to take your Spring Goals to the next level https://portal.take-a-cleanbreak.com/memberships

Raw-Dogging Life: Damo on Anxiety, Running & AF Living

Damian “Damo” Sharp joins Andy & Rich for a candid deep-dive into living life unfiltered — no booze, full presence. We unpack anxiety, blips, and the gritty bits of rebuilding confidence with sleep, nutrition, and those “boring” Zone 2 runs that change everything.

We cover:

• From slips to Phase 2 sobriety: using blips as data, not drama
• Anxiety, panic, and why caffeine had to go
• Running for headspace: base-building, injury comebacks, and pacing the ego
• Parenting, identity, and choosing presence over pints
• Planning a sober wedding (6 Dec!) without the late-night chaos

If you’re AF-curious, in the messy middle, or coming back from a setback, this one’s for you.

👉 Share with a mate who needs it, and DM us your takeaway.

 Follow @clean.break.coaching for coaching, community & spring race prep.

This week we pick up Andy’s origin story where we left off — landing in Spain, fusing two drinking cultures, and trying to outrun anxiety with Sunday start lines. We talk about why consistency beats perfection, how to lower resistance to new habits, and what happens when you train hard and drink hard… right up to Andy’s 3:40 at the 2017 London Marathon and the family fallout that followed.

We also reflect on World Mental Health Day: the link between alcohol and anxiety, why connection trumps white-knuckling, and the moment a simple Google search (“Do I have a problem with alcohol?”) opened the door to community and change. We end on a cliff-hanger: the first steps of Andy’s clean break — and what came next.

In this episode

• Consistency > perfection (and how to remove friction)
• Solo-parenting realities & gratitude for our partners
• Community shout-outs & autumn race vibes
• Spain vs UK: how culture shapes drinking habits
• When running starts justifying drinking
• The London Marathon “wake-up” moment
• Finding help, finding community, starting the break

In this episode of Clean Break Chats, Rich and Andy sit down with Scott Woolley, founder of Arklet, to unpack the real conversation around alcohol: not a binary “alcoholic or not,” but a spectrum shaped by culture, mental health, and choice.

Scott shares his own shift from weekend binges to a decade alcohol-free, how picking up a camera opened the door to creativity and nature, and why he’s pro-choice, not anti-alcohol.

We explore the idea of a “hangover problem” vs an “alcohol problem,” the limits of “drink responsibly” messaging, what Gen Z is teaching us about wellness culture, and why swapping nights out for sunrise runs, coffee, and coastline sunsets can be life-changing.

If you’re sober-curious, on a break, or simply rethinking habits, this one’s a grounded, stigma-free listen packed with practical insight - and a reminder that connection beats consumption every time.

Turning 50, mountains on the mind, and no longer chasing a single “peak.” In this solo chat, Rich guides Andy through Part 1 of his origin story - from Bristol roots, rugby and Scouts, to pub-life chaos, backpacking the world, moving to Spain, and becoming a Dad.

Andy shares why “peaking” is a myth, how running taught him to love the process, why depth beats width, and how gratitude and positive psychology re-framed the last decade.

He also connects the dots between ADHD, spontaneity, job-hopping, and the old chase for dopamine.

 Part 2 (coming soon) dives into the Spain years and his evolving relationship with alcohol.

Highlights

• 50th reflections: joy > happiness, journey > destination
• Peaks & valleys: why the high is brief and what to do after
• ADHD threads: rejection sensitivity, spontaneity, and work
• Parenting, purpose, and simplifying life for more depth

If this resonates: follow, rate, and share with a friend who’s redefining midlife.

On the eve of Andy’s 50th, Rich and Andy welcome Kelly Harman for a grounded conversation about turning a so-called midlife crisis into a midlife awakening. Kelly shares how removing alcohol gave her clarity to recognise misalignment in career and relationships, and why she’s now building Fire & Soul around values-led work and trauma-informed conscious connected breathwork.

Together we translate the science into plain English - how stress “shortens” the breath, what a safe, facilitated session looks like (including breath analysis, acupressure and affirmations), and how polyvagal theory helps you spot when you’re in green/amber/red and use the breath to return to calm. You’ll get a live 4-7-8 downshift you can use before meetings or bedtime, a practical chat on running and breathing (nasal vs. mouth and why easy runs should feel easy), and a look at modelling alcohol-free norms for kids and schools.

We close with smart guidance on choosing accredited facilitators in a fast-growing space and a reminder that midlife isn’t a cliff; it’s a powerful pivot when habits match your values.

HOW TO WORK WITH ANDY AND RICH - Check out the Website - take-a-cleanbreak.com and grab a 30 day FREE Group Coaching experience with our Silver Starter membership.

Coaching the Ego: Acceptance, Consistency, Adaptation

Rain on the skylight, a snotty nose, and a missed run—perfect conditions for an ego flare-up. In Ep22, Andy and Rich get brutally honest about the ego we all carry and how to coach it rather than let it coach us.

We dismantle the “minimum 5K” myth, dig into why easy ≠ pointless, and show how the 80/20 split + Zone 2 protects the only sessions that need to be hard: your long run and your quality workout. We talk practical execution—leave 1–2 reps in the tank, keep your intervals even—and map that to the body’s energy systems (ATP/CP, lactate, aerobic) so gains compound instead of stall.

Rich shares a 5K PB (–16s) while running less weekly mileage than his last block, thanks to truly easy recovery and a smarter plan. Andy opens up about moving back to the UK, training for Valencia, and the mindset swings that come with ADHD, self-worth, and FOPO (fear of people’s opinions). There’s a shout to first-timers lining up in Berlin, a debrief on inclusivity vs elitism in big-city marathons (rhino suit memories included), and a riff on The Power of Now—why chasing outcomes can’t fill the hole the ego promises it will.

If you run, you’re a runner. Your job? Acceptance. Consistency. Adaptation. Ours? Giving you the plan and the community to make that stick.

In this episode

• Coaching the ego: from comparison to acceptance
• 80/20 & Zone 2: the science behind running slow to run fast
• Quality sessions that stay quality (stop burning all your matches)
• PBs on lower mileage, and why it works
• Gatekeeping, FOPO, and building an inclusive running culture
• Brick-by-brick progress: cutback weeks and long-game thinking

In EP21 of Clean Break Chats, Andy & Rich sit down with Jimmy Watkins - co-founder of Running Punks, ex-elite middle-distance runner, and over 2,000 days alcohol-free - for a candid conversation about identity, creativity, and choosing a life that actually fits. Jimmy opens up about the moment he realised the live-music lifestyle was costing more than it paid back, and how going AF didn’t shrink his world - it amplified it.

We unpack the transition from late-night gigs to early-morning miles: swapping the buzz of the crowd for the rhythm of breath, using music as a metronome for mindset, and building a community where pace is secondary to joy, expression, and showing up. Jimmy breaks down practical AF strategies - ritual replacements, environment design, crew accountability and how to convert a big milestone like 2,000 days into ordinary daily wins.

Expect real talk on cravings, social pressure, and the myth that you need stress to perform. We get tactical on pre-race nerves, post-gig comedowns, and how to turn “I’ll just have one” moments into momentum. Most of all, this is a story about creating a loud, creative, sober life and inviting others to run alongside.

What you’ll take-away:

• How to turn a milestone (2,000 days AF) into sustainable habits you can repeat tomorrow
• Practical “swap this for that” rituals for nights out, race days, and weekends
• Using music to regulate effort, mood, and cadence—on runs and in life
• Why community beats willpower, and how to find (or build) your crew
• Mindset shifts that make running more fun and performance more consistent

In our first-ever face-to-face recording, things start off a bit awkward… footsie under the table, intense eye contact, and lots of laughs — but this quickly evolves into one of the most heartfelt, honest, and reflective episodes we’ve recorded to date.

Andy’s just moved back to the UK after 21 years in Spain - and he opens up about the emotional chaos that comes with big life changes: new schools for the kids, lack of routine, bubbling anxiety, and a sense of not being quite "where he wants to be." Rich shares a powerful moment watching his son embrace the transition into high school - and how it reminded him of the quote: "No man ever steps in the same river twice."

Together, we explore:

• 🎙️ The closure of the Over the Influence podcast and what it teaches us about boundaries and burnout in community-building
• 🧠 ADHD, anxiety, and how change hits different when your brain works a bit differently
• 📱 The dilemma of smartphones and parenting in a digital world
• 🏃‍♂️ Our new AI-enhanced coaching system using RunDot - and how it’s helping us (and our runners) train smarter, not harder
• 💬 Why connection (to others and ourselves) is everything during life transitions
• 🙌 Huge shoutouts to our Clean Break runners tackling the Great North Run & upcoming marathons

This episode is for anyone navigating change - whether that’s a career shift, a lifestyle transition, becoming alcohol-free, or just facing the reality that life never stays still.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re “not quite where you want to be”… you’ll want to hear this.