Welcome to episode 243 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Last long runs

In this episode, we talk about freaking out ahead of our last long runs, which are staring us in the face. Have we run long enough? Are these mental demons going to disappear? Should we be aiming to go all out? Or should we be aiming to feel comfortable at the end?

Come and see us!

We also talk about an event we’re holding before the Bath Half in 2026. We’d love to see you there! Tickets are just £10 and you can get them here. It’ll be a live pod and a great way to meet lots of friendly runners before running the Half.

Shakira chat

We’re joined by a special guest, Shakira Akabusi, who is an expert on women’s health and fitness. Among other things, we have lots of chat about pelvic floor exercises, and training to our cycles.

We come back after to talk about uncomfortable things that happen on a run – Hol has a grim story to tell. As ever, do please share your thoughts and experiences over on Discord.

To find your way on to Discord, join us over on Patreon. You can now join our official Inner Circle for just £6 to shape what we talk about. Go to patreon.com/womensrunnning to find out more.

Lovely extra bits

This episode is sponsored by Coopah. Coopah are offering all pod squadders a 2-week free trial of their app and then giving 20% off their standard annual subscription price. Just download the Coopah app and use the code WOMENSRUNNING when you sign up. Or visit coopah.com/womensrunning where you can find all of these details.

We picked up our lovely hotel rooms through Marathon Tours: you can pick up hotel rooms for the Marathon here: TCS London Marathon 2025 | Marathon Tours & Travel UK

 

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you’ll save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Follow Shakira on Instagram
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• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

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