For Real, Though

If I had to choose the person who I feel has been the most real, most honest and vulnerable of any of my guests, it would be Suzy hands down. She is a three-time Olympian who has been diagnosed with ADHD, Bi-Polar, Anxiety, and OCD. I admire her for being so brave for sharing all she has been through.

Suzy gives us an inside look at her struggles and successes with running and her mental health issues.

She looks back and tells us about her life running life through school. While in the 5th grade, she discovered her talent of running. Running was something that made her feel good. It was when she went to college that she realized she was talented enough to become an Olympian. She recalls how her first Olympics was the most thrilling of the three, and then how the pressure started. She mentions that knowing about her illnesses would have helped her to be able to enjoy her running career.

She recounts the men in her life who had the power to control her and her inability to stand up for herself. She recalls the sexual harassment she received from her college running coach about her body and breast size.

Looking back she says she would have done things differently. She would have had the courage and strength to stand up for herself and tell the coach what she needed.

Suzy talks about the ups and downs of her career. Bi-polar, ADHD, anxiety, and OCD are big parts of her story. She tells stories about how each of them affected her running career. During the days of winning, she says that championships led her to feel sky high, but not realizing it was part of the manic side of the bi-polar. Her anxiety and a panic attacks were so great that she fell on purpose in the 2000 Olympic final. She shares how she dealt with bi-polar, how it played a part in her becoming an escort in Las Vegas, how it affected her marriage, and how she is working through her issues.

Her advice to runners is to focus on the gift of running and maybe doing so will help with the anxiety and stress.

We discuss how running can be a negative addiction if it is controlling your life: takes us away from living, missing out on family life, or special events. I hope we all can see and distinguish the fine line between being committed and being addicted.

Today’s interview is for you if you have bi-polar or any of the mental health issues Suzy talked about or if you want to help someone who has bi-polar. Suzy’s advice for you is to get help for yourself. As you get healthier, you will be able to help others.

Today's Guest

Suzy Favor Hamilton

A three-time Olympian who has been diagnosed with ADHD, Bi-Polar, Anxiety, and OCD. She advocates for mental health by doing public appearances and spreading the word.

What You Will Learn About

• What is the importance of sharing family mental health history with your Dr. before medication is prescribed
• Why it is good to talk to a sports psychologist.
• Why balance and non-running activities in your life is important.
• Why she trained for the 2004 Olympics even though she didn’t want to.
• How to help a loved one who is struggling with a mental illness.
• What the difference is between being committed to running and being addicted to running.

  Inspirational Quotes

Eating disorders aren’t about food, it’s about lack of control.

Eating disorders are a mental illness.

As runner’s, they realize they have an innate sense about how their body feels, but I don’t think they always have this sense about how their brain feels. We have to become more aware of that.

I really started to have the love hate relationship with running.

It hurt my running career, the brain not being healthy.

Running is so more than running a race.

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Sally Bergesen

Suzy's website

Suzy's book: Fast Girl

Mental Health America

 

By now you have probably heard of Oiselle, the running apparel brand for women, changing the running world through sharing their journey of vulnerability and openness, and celebrating the whole athlete, rather than just their athletic performance.

With athletes like Kara Goucher, Lauren Fleshman, and Stephanie Bruce proudly wearing their clothes, Oiselle is determined to show that success is so much more than medals, podiums, and rankings, for every runner.

Sally talks about how running saved her life in many ways, and how our communities and friendships can make all the difference to how confident we are as people. 

She tells us why she chose the name Oiselle, and I even ask whether it was worth the confusion of many people becoming confused by the word. We also get to hear the story of how Sally enticed Lauren Fleshman into their brand...and how the team responded when they knew Lauren had bought in (you will love their reaction!).

 Sally understands that running with joy is about the feeling of freedom and flight. When you are on a run, the ability to be present in moment and have our bodies taking us through the world is the most beautiful thing, and something only runners will understand.

We talk openly about the broken relationship between USATF and Nike (and how this partnership is locked in till 2040!!). You will learn many things otherwise untold about the dark side of running, and then how you can make a difference in your world, with the decisions you make to improve the running industry by helping with causes that are meaningful to you.

This episode is powerful and vulnerable. Sally does not do many interviews, so I was honored to talk to her today, and I think you will learn a lot too.

Today's Guest

Sally Bergensen

Founder and CEO of Oiselle, an athletic apparel company. Known for being a running and women's activist who speaks up for athletes and is trying to make the running world a better and more fair place. 

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Nicole Detling 

Oiselle website

Oiselle Volee 

Thank you to Generation UCAN and BodyHealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real. Two products you can rely on.

Even if you are trying to tweak your diet to be ready for race day, Generation UCAN is the ONLY fuel I needed during my marathons. This is one product that can help you make sure you are well fueled, both in training and in races. I love the bars for every day training, and still have one every morning, they are great for pre-workout, ESPECIALLY if you are prone to stomach upsets. You can get 15% off with code RUNNING4REAL at Generationucan.com

BodyHealth Perfect Amino helped my body recover MUCH faster after runs and workouts, I couldn't imagine my training life without them. You can enter to win a free pack of 6 bottles or get 10% off at BodyHealth.com using coupon code TINA10. Click the banner for more information.

I LOVE the episodes where we focus on the mental side of running, and this one, my friends is absolutely PACKED with information about how to be mentally stronger.

This episode is a little unique to other mental training episodes as Nicole Detling (Sport Psychologist for many Olympians) and I look at the three biggest areas we tend to struggle; nerves before a race, giving up mentally during, and beating ourselves up for not doing enough after.

Nicole explains about the two things runners worry about more than anything else; confidence and pre-performance anxiety. These work together, but at the same time against each other, which makes it hard for us to feel completely ready when it matters.

We break down two scenarios; when training has gone well, and you fear you will mss everything up; and when training has had a lot of ups and downs, and you are not sure how to approach the race itself.

We talk about why we often look for reasons to fail, without looking for the reasons we should be having success, and the change in perspective can make all the difference. Anxiety is not a bad thing, it could be excitement! Your body doesn’t know any different.

As runner we forget that we always have anxiety, even before good races, and if we ran well there, that means anxiety is always part of performance, so why is it bad?

We learn how to treat anxiety like an old friend, and remember that we have never done anything great without them

Nicole goes step by step goes through how to get a big goal you want, and what to do if you feel like you are not mentally tough. We learn advice for how to turn yourself back around if you feel like no way going to make it during a race.

We know we are our own worst critic, and we compare worst days to everyone else highlight reel, but there is advice in here for how to stop, or at least limit that.

Remember, mental toughness is pushing past barriers, every time you do that, you are building mental toughness. When most runners push through something hard, they feel like they got lucky, but you need to remember you did that, and you are getting tougher, reward yourself for it!

Finally, learn how to asses a bad race/Injury (anything you consider a failure). It is okay to allow yourself to embrace the suck, but then important to make a plan to make sure it doesn’t happen again. What are you going to do about your mindset?

Today’s episode is for you if you feel you are not mentally tough (you probably are tougher than you think!) and if you feel like the mental side of things is what lets you down in races and training over and over again.

Today’s Guest

Nicole Detling

Owner of Headstrong Consulting and Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. Nicole has worked with athletes of all levels, from high school teams to Olympic athletes. Nicole has co-authored psychology books and been featured in journal publications, and regularly travels the world giving talks and trainings on mental toughness to athletes, coaches, and businesses.

What You Will Learn About

* How to be aware of your anxiety pre race, and how you can make it help you (or make your butterflies fly in formation as Nicole puts it!)

* Why focusing on a specific goal at a specific race (the outcome) is NOT productive and actually often hindering you, but how you can get that race goal time you do want REALLY bad

* How to handle things going wrong in the race, when you mentally break down, you CAN turn it around

* How to find your “why” and how to use it during moments of doubt and fear

* What Nicole would like to tell you if you think you are not mentally tough

* How to not beat yourself up after a bad race and how a mental break will work wonders for your running future

Listen to the Running for Real Podcast

Nicole’s #R4RPowerPose

I LOVE the episodes where we focus on the mental side of running, and this one, my friends is absolutely PACKED with information about how to be mentally stronger.

This episode is a little unique to other mental training episodes as Nicole Detling (Sport Psychologist for many Olympians) and I look at the three biggest areas we tend to struggle; nerves before a race, giving up mentally during, and beating ourselves up for not doing enough after.

Nicole explains about the two things runners worry about more than anything else; confidence and pre-performance anxiety. These work together, but at the same time against each other, which makes it hard for us to feel completely ready when it matters.

We break down two scenarios; when training has gone well, and you fear you will mss everything up; and when training has had a lot of ups and downs, and you are not sure how to approach the race itself.

We talk about why we often look for reasons to fail, without looking for the reasons we should be having success, and the change in perspective can make all the difference. Anxiety is not a bad thing, it could be excitement! Your body doesn't know any different.

As runner we forget that we always have anxiety, even before good races, and if we ran well there, that means anxiety is always part of performance, so why is it bad?

We learn how to treat anxiety like an old friend, and remember that we have never done anything great without them

Nicole goes step by step goes through how to get a big goal you want, and what to do if you feel like you are not mentally tough. We learn advice for how to turn yourself back around if you feel like no way going to make it during a race.

 

We know we are our own worst critic, and we compare worst days to everyone else highlight reel, but there is advice in here for how to stop, or at least limit that.

Remember, mental toughness is pushing past barriers, every time you do that, you are building mental toughness. When most runners push through something hard, they feel like they got lucky, but you need to remember you did that, and you are getting tougher, reward yourself for it!

 

Finally, learn how to asses a bad race/Injury (anything you consider a failure). It is okay to allow yourself to embrace the suck, but then important to make a plan to make sure it doesn't happen again. What are you going to do about your mindset?

Today's episode is for you if you feel you are not mentally tough (you probably are tougher than you think!) and if you feel like the mental side of things is what lets you down in races and training over and over again.

Today's Guest

Nicole Detling

Owner of Headstrong Consulting and Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. Nicole has worked with athletes of all levels, from high school teams to Olympic athletes. Nicole has co-authored psychology books and been featured in journal publications, and regularly travels the world giving talks and trainings on mental toughness to athletes, coaches, and businesses.

What You Will Learn About

• How to be aware of your anxiety pre race, and how you can make it help you (or make your butterflies fly in formation as Nicole puts it!)
• Why focusing on a specific goal at a specific race (the outcome) is NOT productive and actually often hindering you, but how you can get that race goal time you do want REALLY bad
• How to handle things going wrong in the race, when you mentally break down, you CAN turn it around
• How to find your "why" and how to use it during moments of doubt and fear
• What Nicole would like to tell you if you think you are not mentally tough
• How to not beat yourself up after a bad race and how a mental break will work wonders for your running future

 

Inspirational Quotes

I really enjoyed the performance side. That has always been my love and my passion, performance and how do we get the most out of people, maximize potential.

The basic principles of mental toughness are the same, regardless of what that performance may be...we all have to perform every day.

The number one source of confidence is the one thing that we can't deny and the one thing that we can always hang our hats on, is preparation. If you feel, when you get to any competition, that you have prepared the best you possibly can given the circumstances you have had, that is the best source of confidence you can have. 

I don't care who you are, what sport you do, how good you are, if you look for reasons to fail, you will find them...but, if you look for reasons to succeed, you will find those too.

Butterflies (nervousness) are good, you just want them flying in formation.

The best athletes in the world do have some pre race performance anxiety and it goes away once the performance starts.

When you have that number in your mind, that goal in your mind, and you want it a lot and try really hard to get it, typically what that results in is a lot of body tension, you end up hitting the wall a lot sooner, your run stride are less efficient, you are less effective, your re not getting as much push, and typically for most people that results in a lot slower times than anticipated.

If you take care of whats important now all along the way, thats keeping your mind in the process of the race, and before you know it, that outcome takes care of itself.

If you feel like things are falling apart, typically what you are doing is connecting what is happening now to the outcome.

When you recognize that you have pushed through a little bit, you release some more endorphins in that moment which is going to help you feel better, feel happier, and help mitigate some of the pain.

When you know your why, you can bear almost any how.

Most people are more mentally tough than they think they are.

Just because you quit in a race, doesn't mean you are a quitter, doesn't mean you are a loser, it just means in that moment in time, it wasn't working out the way you wanted it to. That doesn't mean you can't go back and tackle that race the following year or something similar.

You should celebrate your success just as much as you beat yourself up for your failures. 

If something really did not go well, embrace the suck! Acknowledge it, recognize it, value it, it is okay to say that didn't go the way I wanted it to...

...But don't get stuck in the suck, and thats what happens with a lot of people. Allow yourself to feel the suck, acknowledge it, but then what are you going to do about it? How are you going to come back better?

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Renee McGregor

Headstrong Consulting

Article on how to journal (download the PDF)

Greg Shelley

Aynsley Smith

Keith Henshen

Barry Shultz

Evie Serventi (my sports psych)

Thank you to my new running buddy VI and favorite recovery product BodyHealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real.

VI is there to encourage you on tough days, congratulate you on the days you crush it, and remind you of your goals when you need it. You can enter to win your own VI by visiting GetVI.com/running4real

When I was running 90 miles a week as a pro, I would take 5-10 BodyHealth Perfect Amino tablets every day without fail. They helped me recover faster, and feel better. Now they have Perfect Amino XP, which makes it even easier. Get 10% off at Bodyhealth.com using coupon code TINA10

Food Glorious Food! That is how Renee McGregor started her book. That is how we should think of food and eating. It is one of our pleasures in life...yet in recent years, food has been tainted by guilt, frustration, and judgment.

Renee is here to discuss orthorexia, and how much anxiety our obsession with healthy eating can bring...and the isolation that follows, not just around eating, but within our day to day activities and way we feel about ourselves to the core.

Athletes are more susceptible to obsessive eating, as runners already need to be extreme and dedicated, meaning we will do almost anything to achieve our goals. We might not even realize it is happening initially, and may lead to feelings of being unable to eat unless we have exercised enough...so when injuries strike, food becomes very restricted.

Renee and I discuss social media, and how damaging it can be, especially if we are in a bad patch. She shares how many famous food bloggers have recently come out admitting that their social media profiles were all a lie, and they were in fact unhappy and unable to even eat those foods they promoted.

At this time in our lives, it becomes all too easy to base our sense of worth on how many likes or what people said about our shares online. Even if you are the most confident person in the world, social media can make you feel like you are not good enough.

This episode is all about learning how to rebuild yourself and rebuild your confidence to be comfortable with who you are, not the number of likes you get on a photo.

Renee DESTROYS the myth of carbs being bad for us, and tells us why they have been blamed for our health issues, which is why so many people are scared of them, and why cutting carbs is involved in almost every diet.

This is a good reminder that training hard is important, but so is down time, enjoying company of others, and being kind to yourself.

It is too easy for us to get that sense of failure if we try to eat healthy, but end up hungry soon later, it makes us feel like we have messed up, so we binge and feel bad about ourselves. This episode will help you see that thinking, understand that it is not true (and why we are so hungry so soon after), to leave you feeling good about yourself. Let's see if we can make it Food! Glorious Food! Again.

Today's Guest

Renee McGregor

Renee McGregor is a leading sports and eating disorder specialist dietitian.  She is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council, the Sports and Exercise Nutrition Register, and is a member of the BDA’s Sports Nutrition Specialist Group.

What You Will Learn About

• How what you see through food bloggers and clean eating websites is not necessarily the reality of how their life is actually like
• How to handle social situations where food is involved if it feels like others are judging your food choices
• Signs and symptoms you are (or a loved one is) showing, which could be major warning signs for orthorexia
• Traits that are common within people who do struggle with eating disorders (and how you can stop the need to control and anxiety taking over your life if you have these traits)
• How social media is making things worse AND better for our culture, and how comparison to others online is destroying our confidence
• Why people initially feel better when they remove carbs...and why that does not last
• Why we struggle to regulate our eating when we try to eat really healthy, and how our body reacts to to it, and we end up overeating, feeling terrible about ourselves

 

Inspirational Quotes

I realized how bad it had got, how bad the situation was and it was actually a very difficult experience.

It's not all it seems to be.

The term healthy eating can be interpreted in so many ways. This is where the problem lies...often it is about low carb or having juices or doing a detox. My heart starts to sink a little, as I know actually, healthy eating for me, when I am teaching people with disordered eating and dysfunctional relationships with food, healthy eating when I am educating them is about unrestrained eating, actually about understanding that yeah, the majority of the time, of course we want you to eat well, want you to eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables, we want you to eat dairy, but we want you to include everything in your diet. That does mean, if you quite fancy a piece of cake or you want a bowl of ice cream or a glass of wine, you don't beat yourself up about it.

It should be food glorious food, but actually, everyone is so fearful of food now, they don't know what they should have, they don't know if that is right, should I have it.

There is no real right or wrong, it is really about what is right for you as an individual. 

One of the problems with an eating disorder is that you never know when enough is enough, because nothing is ever enough. You are constantly in search of trying to be better.

I am a dietitian, I eat well the majority of the time, but I do also eat chocolate, have ice cream, eat cake, because actually those are important for me to actually be with my friends and family. To me, that is equally as important as putting those good things into my body.

With orthorexia it is more aesthetic, where as with anorexia and bulimia is that it is about calories and control.

It all comes back to the need to control the anxiety and the anxiety is usually fueled by a negative sense of self, that inability to like themselves, to be self compassionate.

You can only compare yourself to yourself.

Social media is a snapshot of someones life, it is not reality.

Carbs have been given such a negative press. We have gone from blaming fats for heart health to blaming carbs. The reality is, its not carbohydrate per say, its the type of carbohydrate you eat and the portion sizes you eat.

Its not that carbs are bad. No one food group is to blame for anything, it is a multifactorial system, and it is about understanding that your body needs something from every group to perform well.

A lot of the statements that have been made out there, have been made by people who have very little understanding of nutrition and biochemistry.

When people start depriving themselves of things they quite like, even if it is a one off, they are not allowing themselves to be compassionate and self caring.

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Phil Maffetone

Renee's book: Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Goes Bad

Bee Wilson

Madeleine Shaw

Renee's blog about the Clean Eating Debate 

Horizon program on a well known blogger

Anorexia and Bulimia Care

Generation UCAN and BodyHealth sponsored this episode of Running for Real. Two products you can rely on.

Even if you are trying to tweak your diet to be ready for race day, Generation UCAN is the ONLY fuel I needed during my marathons. This is one product that can help you make sure you are well fueled, both in training and in races. I love the bars for every day training, and still have one every morning, they are great for pre-workout, ESPECIALLY if you are prone to stomach upsets. You can get 15% off with code RUNNING4REAL at Generationucan.com

BodyHealth Perfect Amino helped my body recover MUCH faster after runs and workouts, I couldn't imagine my training life without them. You can enter to win a free pack of 6 bottles or get 10% off at BodyHealth.com using coupon code TINA10. Click the banner for more information.

   

Food Glorious Food! That is how Renee McGregor started her book. That is how we should think of food and eating. It is one of our pleasures in life…yet in recent years, food has been tainted by guilt, frustration, and judgment.

Renee is here to discuss orthorexia, and how much anxiety our obsession with healthy eating can bring…and the isolation that follows, not just around eating, but within our day-to-day activities and way we feel about ourselves to the core.

Athletes are more susceptible to obsessive eating, as runners already need to be extreme and dedicated, meaning we will do almost anything to achieve our goals. We might not even realize it is happening initially, and may lead to feelings of being unable to eat unless we have exercised enough…so when injuries strike, food becomes very restricted.

Renee and I discuss social media, and how damaging it can be, especially if we are in a bad patch. She shares how many famous food bloggers have recently come out admitting that their social media profiles were all a lie, and they were in fact unhappy and unable to even eat those foods they promoted.

At this time in our lives, it becomes all too easy to base our sense of worth on how many likes or what people said about our shares online. Even if you are the most confident person in the world, social media can make you feel like you are not good enough.

This episode is all about learning how to rebuild yourself and rebuild your confidence to be comfortable with who you are, not the number of likes you get on a photo.

Renee DESTROYS the myth of carbs being bad for us, and tells us why they have been blamed for our health issues, which is why so many people are scared of them, and why cutting carbs is involved in almost every diet.

This is a good reminder that training hard is important, but so is down time, enjoying company of others, and being kind to yourself.

It is too easy for us to get that sense of failure if we try to eat healthy, but end up hungry soon later, it makes us feel like we have messed up, so we binge and feel bad about ourselves. This episode will help you see that thinking, understand that it is not true (and why we are so hungry so soon after), to leave you feeling good about yourself. Let’s see if we can make it Food! Glorious Food! Again.

Today’s Guest

Renee McGregor

Renee McGregor is a leading sports and eating disorder specialist dietitian.  She is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council, the Sports and Exercise Nutrition Register, and is a member of the BDA’s Sports Nutrition Specialist Group.

What You Will Learn About

* How what you see through food bloggers and clean eating websites is not necessarily the reality of how their life is actually like

* How to handle social situations where food is involved if it feels like others are judging your food choices

* Signs and symptoms you are (or a loved one is) showing, which could be major warning signs for orthorexia

* Traits that are common within people who do struggle with eating disorders (and how you can stop the need to control and anxiety taking over your life if you have these traits)

* How social media is making things worse AND better for our culture, and how comparison to others online is destroying our confidence

* Why people initially feel better when they remove carbs…and why that does not last

* Why we struggle to regulate our eating when we try to eat really healthy, and how our body reacts to to it, and we end up overeating, feeling terrible about ourselves

Listen to the Running for Real Podcast

Renee’s Power Pose

Inspirational Quotes

I realized how bad it had got, how bad the situation was and it was actually a very difficult e...

Kelly Roberts is paving the way for runners who have struggled with their weight their whole lives, but are finally realizing that strong comes in many shapes and sizes.

The media has had a HUGE influence on the way we view ourselves for years, and Kelly always thought she needed to lose weight to be beautiful. We are so cruel to ourselves, and we focus on our biggest insecurities.

It was only when Kelly watched the finish of a marathon that she realized every single runner crossing that finish line was changing their life for the better forever by running a that race. The sense of accomplishment in your first race is something we should never forget.

But still, for Kelly it was about losing weight, when in fact, it is not even about the weight, but the body dysmorphia that plagues us even if we do. We have to start thinking about our health in terms of longevity and not the immediate rewards.

Kelly loves to do research, especially about how the media affects us and what it does to our body image. The weight loss industry is the reason we think healthy= thin. However, being thin does not mean you are going to be fast, putting in the work does.

We discuss why we need to stop talking about ourselves in terms of fast or slow, it is not about that,  but do you feel strong, confident, ambitious?

We discuss how we can make a change, especially for those of us who want to inspire the younger generations to believe in who THEY are. You HAVE to start with yourself. How often do you look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are beautiful? How often do you say you are beautiful in front of your daughter?

If we can't say it to ourselves out loud in front of them, how are they ever going to believe it?

Today's episode is for you if you believe that we need to make a change to believe in ourselves more, especially as runners, and if you have ever struggled with your weight, this will show you that maybe trying so hard to lose the weight is actually what is sabotaging you.

Today's Guest

Kelly Roberts

Best known for her Run Selfie Repeat website and Podcast, Kelly Roberts is sponsored by Oiselle for her work she is doing to redefine strong within the running world, inspiring women of every shape and size that they are beautiful and strong.

What You Will Learn About

• How Kelly finally learned to love running (after many years of trying) when she came to accept that it was never going to be easy
• Change your thinking if losing weight or maintaining weight is always the focus of your exercise. Kelly struggled with this for most of her life, but running is meant to be empowering!
• Why we are always striving for our bodies to look like an impossible level of perfect, and how damaging it is to our self esteem
• What gave Kelly the confidence to run in just a sports bra when she still worried people might think she was "fat", how we can also overcome that fear
• How to help make a change in the world if you too are passionate about changing the way we view our bodies and who we are
• What to do if you find social media makes you feel insecure and sad

 

Inspirational Quotes

I always wanted to be a runner because it meant you would be skinny. My weight was something I always struggled with, I always felt like the fat friend.

Running was this thing that if I learned to love to run then maybe I would lose the weight I had convinced myself I needed to lose to be desirable or to look the way I thought beautiful women looked.

I remember seeing people of all different shapes and sizes (at the end of a marathon), and thinking, WHAT?! This isn't at all what I thought this would be like.

When I started running, I finally came to terms with the fact that there was never going to be a day that it was easy, and even though yes for some people, it is easier than others, everyone struggles.

Running became this thing that even though it felt impossible, and it was horrible, there was a duality to it, it wasn't just awful, I felt better after, and I loved the fact that when I was doing it, I couldn't think about all the things I wasn't doing with my life.

Finally, I have something that makes me feel proud of myself.

I was still convinced that if I could work harder then I could finally look the way I needed to look. Once I started doing the work and not giving up on myself, and nothing really changed, I felt so much more powerful. Running is absolutely a form of empowerment.

Health is not about weight. 

Running made me do the work at something I wasn't good at, and it totally changed the way I saw myself, the way I saw self doubt, and I saw the limits I was putting on myself and the intimidation that came with that.

We never ever see a diverse range of bodies, shapes, colors, races, ages. Everyone is going to extreme lengths to be perfect or to become the ideal of thinness and fill these beauty standards, to fit in a box.

Health is not a look, it is a lifestyle.

We never celebrate our wins, all we do is focus on what we do wrong or what we need to be better at or regret. It is so backwards.

It's a balance, learning when to talk about something and how.

Don't ever think that because someone sees the world in a different way than you, that they are right and you are wrong. Things are so complicated, everything is a grey area.

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Kyle Merber

Run Selfie Repeat Podcast

Sports Bra Squad

Bad Ass Lady Gang

Kelly's Twitter

Women's Running Magazine

Kelly's website (She Can and She Did)

Thank you to my new running buddy VI and favorite recovery product BodyHealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real.

VI is there to encourage you on tough days, congratulate you on the days you crush it, and remind you of your goals when you need it. You can enter to win your own VI by visiting GetVI.com/running4real

When I was running 90 miles a week as a pro, I would take 5-10 BodyHealth Perfect Amino tablets every day without fail. They helped me recover faster, and feel better. Now they have Perfect Amino XP, which makes it even easier. Get 10% off at Bodyhealth.com using coupon code TINA10

Most of us can’t even imagine how it would feel to run well under 60 seconds for one lap, let alone for four laps in a row, but Kyle Merber has done it 18 times.

I wanted to bring Kyle on the running for real podcast as he is another athlete who is known for being real, sharing the truth, and having fun with his life, rather than hiding it all behind closed doors.

Kyle is sponsored by Hoka One One, and is yet another athlete who raves about Hoka and how much they actually care for their athletes, like making their first priority with Kyle to get him to quit his job to help him improve.

Kyle shares his emotional story of losing his good friend David Torrence just days before David was planning on trying to win his third Long Island Mile (of which Kyle is the race director). He shares how they showed respect for David in a number of ways in the race that day and how the running community has changed for the better, with more appreciation for one another.

Kyle shares insight into life with his coach “Gags”, one of the most famous coaches in the running world. He talks about why having a coach that believes in you can make your running go to whole new levels you never thought possible.

We learn about what a week of training looks like for a 3:52 miler, and just how intense it actually is (some days have a tempo in the morning and hills in the afternoon!). Kyle explains how to build up to this level of training, with his advice for runners wanting to run some speedy mile races in the future.

As a pro runner, you would imagine he wants all those workouts to be the best, but actually, trying to hit every workout, or get an A+ on every workout is never going to happen, and its safest to learn to accept that. A good lesson for us all.

As someone who did not go to a big high school or have the support that many other young prodigies have, Kyle had to find inspiration from others. Now he wants to pass that on to incoming runners of the younger generation, showing the running world that is a real person, not a robot, and it is okay to allow your weakness and humor to show through.

Both Kyle and I believe that more elite runners should be open with real, not only would it help individuals to follow and support them as a person, not just a fast runner, but it would help with the spectating side of the sport too.

Finally, Kyle has a fantastic idea for running events, and why he believes focusing on 1-2 event areas at a track meet could bring suspense and excitement, to build a plot that is currently missing from the participation of sport.

Today’s episode is for you if you like to learn from elites, but appreciate honesty and being real. Kyle is funny, friendly, and of course fast, but has some great ideas for how to improve running for the better in every way.

Today’s Guest

Kyle Merber

A 3:52 miler for Hoka One One, Kyle has run under 4:00 eighteen times, and has no intention of letting up now. Kyle is knowing for his sense of humor and for being honest.

What You Will Learn About

* What it is like to break 4:00 in the mile, and which one meant the most to Kyle

* Kyle’s first thoughts on Hoka and why he changed his mind and now LOVES them (and the company), especially being able to be a part of the design process for new shoes they come out with

* How Kyle and the other elite runners felt racing at the first David Torrence Mile (formerly the Long Island Mile) just a few days after his close friend had passed away (David was planning on trying to win the race for the third year)

* What a week of training looks like for Kyle (even as a miler, he still runs 70-90 miles a week) and why it is important for Kyle to do 2 hour long runs

* Why Kyle is honest and open with his life as an elite, and why most elites do not open up in that same way

Most of us can't even imagine how it would feel to run well under 60 seconds for one lap, let alone for four laps in a row, but Kyle Merber has done it 18 times.

I wanted to bring Kyle on the running for real podcast as he is another athlete who is known for being real, sharing the truth, and having fun with his life, rather than hiding it all behind closed doors.

Kyle is sponsored by Hoka One One, and is yet another athlete who raves about Hoka and how much they actually care for their athletes, like making their first priority with Kyle to get him to quit his job to help him improve.

Kyle shares his emotional story of losing his good friend David Torrence just days before David was planning on trying to win his third Long Island Mile (of which Kyle is the race director). He shares how they showed respect for David in a number of ways in the race that day and how the running community has changed for the better, with more appreciation for one another.

Kyle shares insight into life with his coach "Gags", one of the most famous coaches in the running world. He talks about why having a coach that believes in you can make your running go to whole new levels you never thought possible.

We learn about what a week of training looks like for a 3:52 miler, and just how intense it actually is (some days have a tempo in the morning and hills in the afternoon!). Kyle explains how to build up to this level of training, with his advice for runners wanting to run some speedy mile races in the future.

As a pro runner, you would imagine he wants all those workouts to be the best, but actually, trying to hit every workout, or get an A+ on every workout is never going to happen, and its safest to learn to accept that. A good lesson for us all.

As someone who did not go to a big high school or have the support that many other young prodigies have, Kyle had to find inspiration from others. Now he wants to pass that on to incoming runners of the younger generation, showing the running world that is a real person, not a robot, and it is okay to allow your weakness and humor to show through.

Both Kyle and I believe that more elite runners should be open with real, not only would it help individuals to follow and support them as a person, not just a fast runner, but it would help with the spectating side of the sport too.

Finally, Kyle has a fantastic idea for running events, and why he believes focusing on 1-2 event areas at a track meet could bring suspense and excitement, to build a plot that is currently missing from the participation of sport.

Today's episode is for you if you like to learn from elites, but appreciate honesty and being real. Kyle is funny, friendly, and of course fast, but has some great ideas for how to improve running for the better in every way.

Today's Guest

Kyle Merber

A 3:52 miler for Hoka One One, Kyle has run under 4:00 eighteen times, and has no intention of letting up now. Kyle is knowing for his sense of humor and for being honest.

What You Will Learn About

• What it is like to break 4:00 in the mile, and which one meant the most to Kyle
• Kyle's first thoughts on Hoka and why he changed his mind and now LOVES them (and the company), especially being able to be a part of the design process for new shoes they come out with
• How Kyle and the other elite runners felt racing at the first David Torrence Mile (formerly the Long Island Mile) just a few days after his close friend had passed away (David was planning on trying to win the race for the third year)
• What a week of training looks like for Kyle (even as a miler, he still runs 70-90 miles a week) and why it is important for Kyle to do 2 hour long runs
• Why Kyle is honest and open with his life as an elite, and why most elites do not open up in that same way

  Inspirational Quotes

Sometimes I will have a bad race, but I will still break 4:00 in the mile, and I think the running world is obviously so excited by a sub 4:00 mile at all times, it is such a barrier that it is great for your self-esteem, but sometimes you do it and you lose by quite a bit, so that is a weird situation.

It's not so much what you do one time, but what you can do again and again and again, so it took a couple of races to really prove myself.

If you see someone in the street and say, "nice hoka's" they will tell you a story about why they are in hokas and how much they love them. I think that is pretty unique to the brand.

I don't know if there is ever any way that you can ever truly heal from that, especially for his closest friends and family, but I know it was really good for the running community, and I know myself in the wake of tragedy to come together and celebrate his life.

The people we are racing against constantly, and the people we are traveling the world, racing against, this elite running community, it is so much more than coworkers or competitors, over the years, these are people we have been racing since high school. We really do have a deeper friendship than is what is known on the track. I know that between the Long Island mile, fifth avenue mile, and a third race I did in Alaska, the camaraderie was really high, and I think people appreciate each other a little more than we have taken for granted in the past. Taking a moment to really express to one another, our friendship.

Gags or Coach Frank Gagliano, he is everything you would expect in an 80-year-old Italian man from the Bronx, he is really crushing all potential stereotypes there, showing up in his yankees cap..He is a former football player who never ran track, but just got into coaching it. The fact that someone who never raced anything in his life, the fact that he has found his way to the top of track and field world is an admirable testament to anything being possible.

A coach believing in you goes such a long way, everyone can write a workout or a plan, but having a coach that can convince you that you can be better than you are, I think that's maybe the greatest skill and motivation a coach can provide.

No one workout is the end all be all, it is just about general fitness improvement and stringing as many days and positive workouts together. It is not about an A+, it is about passing.

For the mile it is just about efficiency, getting to the 200m to go mark as efficiently as possible, and to do that, you need to be really strong.

I see myself as a fan in many ways, who has been fortunate enough to come up and be able to compete in the races I was once watching, therefore I want to open up and give back as much as possible.

By being a real person and coming off as a normal human rather than a robot, maybe there is another 15-year-old kid who is running by himself every day, by seeing me on the pro stage, can see that it is possible.

Something that the sport really benefits from is having personalities. The runners that I rooted for are the ones who were sharing.

I think certain athletes can transcend beyond the sport. 

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Tom Goom

Hoka One One

Hoka Clifton 4 (shoe Kyle runs in) MENS

Hoka Clifton 4 WOMEN

David Torrence Mile

New Jersey New York Track Club

5k/10k training plans

Kyle on Twitter

Kyle on Instagram

Thank you to my new running buddy VI and favorite recovery product BodyHealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real.

VI is there to encourage you on tough days, congratulate you on the days you crush it, and remind you of your goals when you need it. You can enter to win your own VI by visiting GetVI.com/running4real

When I was running 90 miles a week as a pro, I would take 5-10 BodyHealth Perfect Amino tablets every day without fail. They helped me recover faster, and feel better. Now they have Perfect Amino XP, which makes it even easier. Get 10% off at Bodyhealth.com using coupon code TINA10

Tom may be a recovering cheese addict who occasionally has relapses (yes, we do go into this), but, primarily he has a passion for working with runners in his job as a physiotherapist in the UK, while running the very popular injury prevention (and rehab) blog, Running Physio.

Tom gives us advice on how to sort through the overwhelming amount of information online to know which sources to trust, and how to decide on who is in your "team" who can help you when you need it. We should figure this out BEFORE issues arise, so when those injuries or setbacks do come up, we know exactly who to call, rather than doing a frantic google search for anyone who can help. Your team doesn't have to be in person, as evidence has found that Skype or online consultations can help runners in more ways than we would expect.

Tom explains the three keys critical to staying healthy: If you try to make sure you plan your training and progress it slowly, include targeted strength work to improve performance, and focus on recovery by getting enough sleep, including planned recovery days.

We discuss how to prepare for an appointment with a medicals professional. If you know what you want from the appointment, they will be better equipped to help you. If you are seeing someone and not getting better, Tom gives us the factors to consider before you seek a second opinion, but if you do need to see someone else, there is nothing wrong with that, maybe the person you are seeing does not have the correct skills for your particular injury.

We cover how to know what to do if you don't want to risk taking extra days off and losing fitness when you don't have to, but you are not sure if the injury is completely healed. How to weigh up the risk of more pain and developing further injury vs the reward of training in that moment.

Tom explains how the differences between types of pains are not actually telling us as much as we might think, but how your injury behaves during and after a run is actually more insightful. Believe it or not, shoes are less important than we think, but sometimes our shoes do put us at risk of injury, Tom explains how to choose the right shoes for you.

Finally, we cover the negative effects of stress (any stress, not just running), how stress can slow healing by up to 60%, and affect how we respond to exercise, prevent or reduce gains in fitness, and increase pain perception. On all fronts, we all need to consider just how much our lifestyle could be the reason we are struggling with injuries.

Today's episode is for you if you have ever been frustrated with an injury or felt overwhelmed with the amount of information out there about injuries. Tom  gives us a realistic approach to break down the advice, and show us how to help ourselves get better faster, and prevent injuries in the future.

Today's Guest

Tom Goom

One of the top physiotherapists in the UK, Tom has worked with runners of every level and speed at the Physio Room in Brighton. Tom is the creator of the very popular website, Running Physio where he blogs and shares information about how runners can remain injury free, and run stronger than ever.

What You Will Learn About

• Why it is important for a physiotherapist (or physical therapist) to "get" runners, especially when we are injured
• How to find a medical professional you can trust when you need treatment and how to wade through the sea of information available online
• How to prepare for an appointment with a medical professional, what you need to do and why being prepared will help them treat you better
• What to do if you went to see a physic or physical therapist, but things are not improving, how to know when to seek a second opinion
• What features of injuries to look out for as a major warning sign to stop rather than keep running through
• How to pick the best shoes for you and your body (and no, it's not complicated!)

Inspirational Quotes

If you get them, you "get runners", I think that is actually really important because the more I ran, the more I realized its actually harder to rest than to run sometimes...I could really understand with people who came to me with running injuries who were not able to run, how much of an impact it had on them, how much they really missed it.

There is nothing else that is quite the same, that has the same buzz associated with it, so when you don't have it, it is really difficult to replace it.

If you are looking for someone specifically for treatment, then recommendations from fellow runners is a good way to go, perhaps recommendations from other health professionals.

Any medical sites making massive claims, "we can fix everything, we can treat everything, we have these wonderful magical techniques", I would always tend to be a little bit skeptical about that, because often the people that know the most, are the people who are usually a little bit more careful about what they claim as they recognize how complex a lot of things are.

Get it clear, what are the priorities, what are the important things that will actually make a difference? Because a lot of the time, when you get to those debates about things, you are looking at perhaps smaller stuff that isn't a important, and there are some thing that most experts in running would agree on.

No amount of foam rolling is going to help you if you are training far above what your body can cope with.

Before the appointment, really ask yourself, what do I want from this? What am I looking for? What questions do I have that I really want answered? Really that appointment should be about you and what you want from it...If you go in with a clear idea, you get what you want out of it.

It's much harder to manage an injury if you don't really understand it.

When you are not progressing with rehab, there are lots of different potential reasons for that, and it's trying to pick through that and work out what is the reason.

Ultimately, what matters is that the runner gets the best outcome and it doesn't matter where that comes from, whether it is me or another professional, as long as they get the best outcome.

I think health professionals nowadays should be very familiar with the fact that patients will have asked Dr Google, they will come in with an idea of what their problem is. I think really, as heath professionals, we shouldn't be too sensitive to that, and we should take the time to explain if we don't agree with what the patient thinks the problem is.

If in doubt, get checked out.

Running patterns only change a small amount. There is only a small amount of evidence that certain shoes will reduce risk of injury, so when you are looking at relatively small changes to shoes, it probably isn't going to make a massive impact, but it is also very unpredictable as different people respond differently to different shoes.

A lot of us runners, we are quite driven people, and it is that drive that gets us off the couch and gets us running, whereas a lot of people don't have that same drive, but linked to that drive are other features that perhaps we can push ourselves quite hard and be hard to ourselves, perhaps be a little bit of a perfectionist, and that can be lead to injuries too as we push our bodies to more than what they are capable of doing.

Being kind to yourself, and recognizing that your are only human, that can help let go of some of that guilt.

Your injury risk is nearly doubled if you are sleeping less than 8 hours a night.

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Devon Yanko 

Running Physio

Strength Training for Runners program

Tom's Skype consults for tendon injuries

If you feel like you are not getting better Part 1

Mike Sullivan (Tina's chiropractor)

Kyle Bowling Chiropractor (treated Tina's peroneal tendonitis)

Mark Cucuzzella and Josh Emdur (about steady running consults)

Athlete monitoring worksheets to print

Adam Meakins (The Sports Physio)

Dr. Rich Willy

Christian Barton (complete sports care)

Craig Purdam

Pete Malliaras(Tendinopathy Blog)

Tony the Fridge

 Thank you to my new running buddy VI and favorite recovery product BodyHealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real.

VI is there to encourage you on tough days, congratulate you on the days you crush it, and remind you of your goals when you need it. You can enter to win your own VI by visiting GetVI.com/running4real

When I was running 90 miles a week as a pro, I would take 5-10 BodyHealth Perfect Amino tablets every day without fail. They helped me recover faster, and feel better. Now they have Perfect Amino XP, which makes it even easier. Get 10% off at Bodyhealth.com using coupon code TINA10