In this episode, Holly has a bit of a confession to make. So we start off by talking about shifting our expectations with our running, and how that is perfectly okay – what’s not okay is pushing yourself so that you’re uncomfortable with your goals: these goals are supposed to be rewards for our training, not a stick to beat ourselves up with. We also talk about the bits of cross training we’re doing, and the wonderful Yoga with Adrienne. Then the big topic this episode is mental health. We chat about what running means to us both, in terms of supporting our mental health, and how it has helped us in the past. We also talk about how women can have a complex relationship with sport. For both of us, our love of running and exercise wasn’t fostered at school, and we both have bad memories of team sports in our teenage years, which I think can have a damning effect on many young (and older) women, preventing them from continuing sport after finishing school. We managed to find our love for sport, but many don’t – many are still trapped inside that little girl who was always picked last for netball. She is still very much part of me, so it’s joyful to be able to share that experience and realise that we’re not the only ones, and that one of running’s most meaningful benefits is in eradicating the sadness of those PE days: because us slow runners, us wheezy people at the back, it turns out we can run, and you know what? We’re good at it too.

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