Welcome to our final episode of the Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel, gosh that’s gone so quickly! I feel so lucky to have been able to pick the brains of three amazing Nike athletes and Olympians on everyone’s behalf – the tips and tricks they’ve shared have enhanced my training so much and I hope they’ve done the same for you. Whether you’re a running beginner or a seasoned pro, they’ve jam packed so much universal advice into these chats that will be invaluable in the lead up to Melbourne Marathon and beyond. But even if you’re not interested in running in the least, I think all three of these women still have fascinating pathyays that are empowering, motivating and just a joy to listen to.

So, we’ve heard from Catriona on mastering your mindset and Sinead on distance, determination and defying the doubters but I still have some pretty specific questions left around FUEL. What and when does one eat and drink before, during and after a race? How lucky are we to have as our third and final guest Linden Hall, a 1500m Olympian, Nike athlete and VERY conveniently, also a qualified dietitian who headed to America after high school to get the college experience at Florida State University! Today we get into the guts of our guts and, again, in the few runs I’ve done since recording this episode, Linden has dramatically improved my running experience.

As well as the practical stuff, we also hear how Linden went from being spellbound watching the Atlanta Olympics as a five-year-old to actually making it to the Olympics first in Rio and then again this year in Tokyo. It gave me goosebumps to hear Linden explain how it felt to actually qualify after dreaming of the moment since childhood and working so hard to become the fastest 1500m runner in Australian history. Even cooler? She got faster and faster in Tokyo from the heat to the semi-final and then the overall final where she finished in 6th place with a personal best. So we also get some fabulous tips on improving speed and why you often don’t do so by running your competition speed but by doing all kinds of other runs instead – mind blown!

As I’ve been recording these episodes, I’ve really been reminded of how powerful sport can be – I mean I get so teary during the Olympics for the way it connects people transcending language, boundaries and geography. Even on a very local, personal level, I’ve been reminded how transformative sport can be which is a big tenet of Rebel’s Sport is Calling campaign. If you’ve been out of the sporting loop for a while, sport can be such an antidote to life’s challenges whether you have professional or competitive aspirations or not so I hope some of you hear sport calling your name again and get motivated to move those bodies. Also, just a reminder, in case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like.

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