Find Your Feet Podcast

My mother, Julia Hutchinson, has not just been 'Mum', but my friend, role model and most avid supporter... through every mad idea I have embarked on. I can still remember her grasping hold of my infant-sized hand as I toddled up the gravel road next to her, blonde piggy tails bobbing. 'Hanny, please never grow up.' This is my first memory of my mother and it must have left a lasting impression on me for I don't think I have ever truly grown up! Mum has always been unbelievably strong and fit, both mentally and physically. However, it is what she has achieved in the last 12 years that I find so inspiring. After my parents parted ways, my mother moved to a small 'treehouse' at Fern Tree on the slopes of Mt Wellington and it was from here that Mum became even more adventurous. To everyone's amazement, she taught herself to mountain bike, pursued trail running, ran a marathon in Ledhak, cycled toured through China, Iran and Europe, participated in 6 Find Your Feet trail running tours, and all the while worked as an emergency medical practitioner. She has renovated two houses, made a plethora of quilts and has just brought herself a baby grand piano as an 'investment' in her retirement... whenever that begins! Each and every day she lives two days in one - beginning the day with adventures & exercise, and concluding the day with work until 10 or 11pm at the hospital. Competitive with herself and driven to realise her full potential, I know where a lot of my innate mojo comes from. Mum is not a public speaker and does not strive for the lime-light. So, this conversation is a rare glimpse into her world. It is about raising a Type A achiever and the young athlete, assisting children to pursue their truth, adjusting personal expectations as we age, overcoming adversity, the risk of modern sedentary lifestyles & how to approach our big goals, especially as adults. Some of the topics covered in this podcast: - My mother's experience as a young swimmer - Raising a wilder, competitive child – me! - Parenting to allow our children to find & live their truth - Maintaining fitness, health, wellness & goals as we age - The scary rise of the sedentary lifestyle - Embarking on new pursuits - Love, parenting and remaining true to oneself My new memoir can be downloaded from: http://www.hannyallston.com.au/findingmyfeet.html

My father, Simon Allston, has been a pillar of strength, support and wisdom to me for the last 34-years of my life. Raised in England and a child of the British boarding school movement, my father moved to Australia for Law School. It was here, on Aussie soils that he found his greener fingers… and my mother. A proclaimed farmer on his marriage certificate, my mother and father moved to Tasmania to establish a greener life and family – including me! Mum and Dad raised my brother, James Allston, and I on a small organic hobby farm to the south of Hobart. Here they encouraged us to explore ‘The Valley’ and that I did, causing varying degrees of chaos with my impish spirit. Meanwhile, my father dug in the alluvial soils morning, night and weekends, and in between, he practiced law, first privately and later in the Government sector. Here he worked on many complex environmental cases, both for the Government but also charities such as the Wilderness Society. For the remaining years of his working career, he was the Tasmanian Ombudsman. As you will hear on the podcast, my father is a deep, compassionate thinker. We are oh-so-alike and yet oh-so-different. Where I played wildly and pursued competitive sport, I had lovingly thought of my father as a yoga-loving, green-fingered hippy! Is it Karma for these judgmental thoughts that I now find myself loving nature, plants, yoga, meditation and deep thinking!? My father is a life-long learner and forever, at his heart, a farmer. He now lives on Bruny Island in southern Tasmania where is he aiming to bring 70-acres of run-down land back to full health. His garden grows, his mind explores new learnings, and he is always ready to hold space for James and I as we, too, continue to grow. This is a rich conversation and I hope that you fall in love with it as much as I did during the recording process. Some of the topics covered in this podcast: • My father’s love-affair with gardening • Raising a wilder, competitive child – me! • A caution note about success • The need for us to live locally and conscientiously • The science of soil and how repairing soils can assist the reversal of climate change • Living on an island in Tasmania • Love, parenting and remaining true to oneself Visit the show notes at: http://www.hannyallston.com.au/simon-allston.html

The conversation today is a ‘Hanny solo conversation’ about the stress response, and what I am doing to combat this as best I can. It is also an introduction to my new book which will hopefully arrive into our online Find Your Feet store, as well as all major eBook distributors, such as Amazon & Kindle, in the first few weeks of May. In this podcast episode, I share with you just a couple of small snippets from the book, some teasers if you like, and I hope that you enjoy them. ​Topics covered in this podcast: - ​Excerpts from my new book which is to be released soon. - The importance of Dreaming Wilder during this time of uncertainty. - The impact of today’s stressful environment on our reproductive hormones. - Why stress impacts our female and male hormones. - The new routines I am experimenting with and which are helping to mitigate the stress response, including the addition of yoga. - How I am focusing on separating work, ‘training’ and my home environments, so as to avoid conflict and anchoring work & training at home. - How to avoid anchoring to hard training on the days when you really need to be able to focus on recovery. - How to consider ourselves like a micro-business, using this time for self-innovation and maximizing our own agility.

Patricia Bowmer’s mission in life is to, ‘help us to live life fully, passionately and purposefully’. When I first discovered Patricia and her purpose in life I just knew that I had to have her on the podcast. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have now spent just over 2-hours in her company, bouncing our approaches to self-growth and personal development off one another. A psychologist and life coach, personal trainer, instructor of powerful group exercise classes, author, past radio presenter and an avid enthusiast of trail running and adventure racing, I knew I was in for a treat. Topics covered in this podcast: ​- Patricia’s journey and how this has led to her outlook on life - The heroes journey - Archetypes and values, and how you discover yours - Avoiding the trap of adding values into your life ‘because you should’ - Gaining rapport with your unconscious mind - The mind-body and body-mind connection - Stress - Raising a family - Juggling parenthood with personal careers and a desire to play wilder - Patricia’s writing and her books

My conversation with Helen today focuses on the upstream practices of global partnerships and organisational responsibility for the growing trend of climate change and power necessities of our world. Dr. Helen Locher has won multiple awards and most recently, the Women with Hydro Vision Award, at the International HydroVision conference, USA. Working for over 25 years in the Hydropower Industry and in her words, her main focus is on how she can solve environmental problems in an industry that undoubtedly has a stigma for creating environmental impacts. Some topics covered in this podcast are: - How can hydro be used sustainably to meet the growing power needs of our world? - Social licensing of businesses - How businesses can ‘step-up’ - The four types of thinking Helen uses

Heart Meditation. We don’t really talk about things like this in our western culture. More and more of us are accepting the notion of meditation and mindfulness. However, in these practices, we are using the mind to calm the mind. That’s really hard. Ivan Zwart is the founder and facilitator of Happy Ground Wellbeing and author of ‘Finding Happy Ground’. I read Ivan’s book and knew I needed it in Find Your Feet and have him on the Podcast. If you are seeking fulfilment and have never dropped out of your mind and into your heart, this podcast will simply offer the personal differences that practices have made in Ivan’s life and the lives of those he teaches. Prior to creating Happy Ground Wellbeing in 2013, Ivan started out as a social scientist and gained over twenty years’ experience as a trainer, facilitator, researcher. While Ivan’s professional career had been very successful, since 1998 he continually battled with his mental health due to personal circumstances in his life. In order to improve his wellbeing and make better decisions in life, Ivan visited counsellors and psychologists, read a large number of self-help and psychology books, and learnt to meditate. But one of the most profound changes to his life happened in 2010, when he first learnt about heart meditation. Practicing heart meditation changed his life and now he passionately shares his knowledge and understanding through speaking, programs and his book. ​Thank you so much Ivan for sharing your story and journey with us. I hope our conversation is just as valuable to you, the listener, as I found it to be. “Our brain and our heart are connected essentially. When our heart is open and feeling peaceful and light, then our mind naturally becomes more still”

If you are new to the podcast, I think this one is a really great introduction to what we are all about. In this episode I am bringing back Darryl Griffiths… and with good reason! Darryl is the founding director of Koda Nutrition (formerly Shotz Sports Nutrition) - An Australian sports nutrition company. In this episode we talk nutrition and hydration specifically for the biggest trail running event in Australia - The Ultra Trail Australia. Darryl has been on this podcast twice already, but this one is our next level up and definitely reflects Darryl’s growing expertise in ultra running nutrition and hydration. This conversation is perfect for anyone taking on the challenge of the Ultra Trail Australia next year, or for anyone just curious about the physiology of shaking up a tummy for a prolonged period of time! Please continue to reach out and share your stories with me. I absolutely love to hear from you. I really hope you gain a few really strong take homes from this episode, and can feel more supported to be wilder, play wilder and perform wilder. Explore the full range of my resources at: http://www.hannyallston.com.au

“ The greater the repertoire you have and understanding of your archetypes and what you need in your world to execute to peak performance, the more you’re going to rule your world.” Our recent podcast episodes have had a real focus on climate change, meditation and really exploring our place in the world. But today I wanted to bring in my recent studies of neurolinguistic reprogramming. Specifically the role Archetypes and the Hero’s Journey plays in our lives. Before you think, ‘that’s a bit out there for me’, I promise we keep the conversation very rooted in the practical implications for having a deeper understanding of these metaphorical stories. We welcome Jess back in this episode, after took the year off to explore her passions for the arts and focus on her degree in psychology. She helps me to dig us deeper into the psyche to unravel the details of how these topics are applied to our daily lives and performance goals. ​I really hope this conversation is are able to help you recognise where each of the archetypes are showing up in your life. Also how cultivating an awareness of when each one is active in our mind, can help us to lean into life even more. Asking ourselves things like, 'Am I being in Warrior mode?' 'Does this serve me right now?' 'Yes' or 'No'. Now I have the choice to keep thinking and acting into this archetype or choose a new one. Also to notice the patterns in a heroes journey, see that we are all on it at different stages, and develop a greater level of compassion for ourselves and those around us. That’s all from me! Enjoy!​ “ The reason I ‘retired’… is because I thought Hanny was an athlete… only an athlete... and I thought that there had to be a point that athleticism needed to end and the next evolution of Hanny needed to begin. Because all I thought, was that there was one archetype ‘athlete Hanny’ and ‘athlete Hanny’ needed to mature… so she needed to die…but I realise that underneath that... are all these other other archetypes… and I’ve walked away a richer person…”

My guest on The Find Your Feet Podcast is Micah Visoiu. Micah currently works for the Natural & Cultural Heritage Division of the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. In his words, he is a ‘non-specialised specialist’ contributing work to provide context, advice and scientific grounding for the management of the Tasmanian Reserve estate managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. His overarching area of interest is Tasmanian biogeography and ecology in the wholistic sense. Today we discuss the impact that climate change is having on our natural values, specifically in the World Heritage Area of Tasmania. The threat of climate change terrifies me and it is into this fear that I have leant, using it to motivate me to understand what the risk is of climate change on our lifestyles, our food sources, the futures of our children, and now, our pristine natural values. I wanted to tap into Micah’s extraordinary knowledge and respect for Tasmania’s living species, to understand what we have to gain but also to lose. Topics discussed in this episode are: - Micah’s childhood growing up in Northern Tasmania and how he uncovered his calling - The complexity of defining climate change - The uniqueness of Tasmania and what is at stake with the onset of climate change - The timeframes that we have to make change - The severity of where we are at now and what the climate change models are telling us - What needs to be done, by individuals but also by policy & change makers - The predicted changes we are likely to see in Tasmania’s climate and natural values - What Micah is focussing on in the face of all this knowledge

#50 A wink from a guru with Aaron Schultz by Find Your Feet

Today's episode features James Allston of New Energy Ventures and is a discussion on the important changes that need to occur in individuals, business and politics to help slow the tidal wave of climate change fast approaching. As an engineer and strategy expert, James Allston uses his extensive experiences to support businesses to create new revenue streams by tapping into new technologies and business strategies that can improve their bottom-line financial performance and enhance environmental sustainability. He has worked within energy distribution, energy retail, property development, embedded networks, new energy start-ups and technology companies. His expertise extends to business development, product development, energy regulation strategy and new energy technology, including in solar, batteries, embedded networks, microgrids, energy efficiency, energy management and data analytics, demand aggregation, virtual power plants and peer-to-peer energy. So, on this podcast episode, brother and sister - Hanny & James Allston - come together to discuss their greatest fears, their greatest wishes, and how they believe that we need to step up to do our bit for the planet, our communities and our children.

In July 2019 I embarked on a dream to run the French Pyrenees Mountains, predominantly following the GR10 hiking trail from Hendaye on the Atlantic coastline of France to Banyuls-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean Sea. This is a conversation of how I overcame injury, setbacks and the occasional doubts to run 700km through the mountains of France. It is how I leant on both my closest relationships but also my own strength mastered through years of pursuing my athleticism to the very highest levels, as well as more recent 'deep inner work', to find absolute confidence in my ability to complete this expedition. This conversation is a ramble with myself for my listeners in the hope that it will help you to also play wilder and listen to when your toes are tingling. Topics covered in this podcast: - The importance of self- discovery, -empowerment and -acceptance - When you know the goal is the right goal for you - The transitions that occurred during the 19-day adventure - Overcoming guilt - How to turn spontaneous and impromptu into a strength - Leaning into the challenge and anxieties associated with it - How it has challenged and strengthened me as an individual - Using injury to shed new light on our growth potential You can read the full transcript of this episode on my website - www.hannyallston.com.au

Paulo de Souza, scientist, ultra runner, father and just general all-round inspiration returns to the Find Your Feet Podcast for a second time. On the eve of yet another 100-mile race and a move to Queensland for employment, Paulo picks up the conversation about running, fatherhood, work and most importantly, the global plight of the honey bee. This is a must-listen podcast! Topics covered in this podcast: - Bee decline and the impact that human civilisation is having on this - The impact that bee decline will have on our future food security - The causes of global bee decline - Consumerism and how bee decline will affect produce prices - How we can support honey bee health in Australia - Striving for excellence in fatherhood, relationships, running and research - Moving beyond the numbers and running with mindfulness - Setting big goals and executing with professionalism and playfulness - Finding mindfulness on the run and practicing meditation at work

I have been blessed to run with some incredible individuals over the years and Ruth Wilson is one of them. Born in Hobart and an active individual from her early school years, Ruth has moved herself onto the pathway to elite distance running. However, like many athletes, Ruth’s story is convoluted and she has certainly not taken a straight line. Thanks to a ‘high-achiever’ personality and weight conscious, Ruth began to struggle with body image issues from a young age. It was in Adelaide during her university years, a student of radiography, that Ruth began to use dieting and running as a method to control her weight and to also assist her soccer performances. Somewhere along this journey she found a deep connection with running, going longer and faster until in 2013 she ran her debut marathon in a quick 3hrs15mins. Returning to Tasmania, Ruth joined a local running group and continued to immerse herself in her running and new career in radiography. Whilst she climbed quickly to prominence in many road racing and cross-country running events, for me, it was Ruth’s record-breaking run down the length of Tasmania’s spine on the Tassie Trail that pushed her into the ‘absolutely phenomenal’! However, Ruth’s restricted nutrition, increasing mileage and heavy racing schedule began to catch up with her. From niggles to some serious stress fractures, she was eventually forced to face her nutritional demons, entering a period of personal challenge and yet eventual reward as she fought to get her menstrual cycles and health back on track. Ruth is now coming back stronger and healthier than ever. An ambassador for Find Your Feet and a phenomenal role model for women and young girls in the sport of distance running, I know that Ruth will continue to inspire and empower us all with her story, attitude and humility. For me, this is a must listen podcast for any woman striving towards high endeavours, especially in the sport of distance running. It is for all high-achievers, male and female, as well as our parents and supporters. Finally, it is a fascinating insight into how we can overcome adversity and rise with resilience… to chase big dreams after setbacks.

Whilst our heritage is tied up in the stars, linked to stories and our ancestors, our future health and that of our planet is too. Light pollution is creeping further and further into our wild spaces, increasing at around 2% per year. This impacts not only our own health, but that of wildlife and plant species too. As I discovered through my research for this podcast and from my guest, Landon Bannister himself, the problem of light pollution extends far wider than I thought. For example, 99.5% of all stars are invisible to the inhabitants of Singapore. In other examples, 99% of all of the USA and Europe is affected by light pollution; and one-third of humankind cannot see the Milky Way. These are scary facts indeed! Whilst some of the clearest skies are found in Chad, Central African Republic and Madagascar, Landon and his team are united in striving for Tasmania and other regions of Australasia to lead the way in both the prevention of light pollution as well as the restoration of our night skies. This podcast is empowering. It will change the way you think about flicking a switch and filling spaces with light. Your heart will reach out to the turtles of Florida and the disorientated migratory birds. You will begin to critique your use of bright, white LEDs and begin to understand how they can both help and hinder your wellbeing. Finally, you will never, ever take the night skies of Australia for granted again. ​

Professional coach and world champion athlete, Hanny Allston, dives deep into her new understanding of self-identity and the powerful role that it plays in our well-being and ability to perform with excellence. She also discusses the difference between self-compassion and self-acceptance, and how one must precede the other. This episode is essential listening for anyone striving for optimal well-being, vitality and performance. For more information visit: https://www.hannyallston.com.au/hanny-allston.html

Kate Bown and I first met back in our teens when we worked as casual retail assistants in a local Hobart outdoor store. Since then we have both been on huge journeys, with Kate's being one of a heroine leaning into adversity and coming out the other side flourishing. At 27 year's of age, having lived an incredibly active, healthy lifestyle as a young adult and with an impressive elite climbing career behind her, Kate began to develop severe headaches, only to find out that she had a large and aggressive brain tumour. Within 3 days she was wheeled into theatre and facing a whole new wall to climb. With the support of her husband, Anders, an equally well credentialed individual and anaesthetist, Kate not only recovered with only a mild facial palsy, double vision and balance challenges, but found herself pregnant with their first child just nine months later. Leaning into this unexpected challenge, Kate and Anders adopted the lifestyle that they dreamed of living - spending time in the mountains with each of their 3 children soon after they were born. From overnight hiking to recently buying a tiny camper van to trip around Australia, Anders and Kate do not see parenthood as a reason to stop doing what they love the most. I am blessed to now have Kate working in our team at Find Your Feet and it is her positivity that had me reaching out to her for this podcast episode. I know you are going to love her and find inspiration in her story! I hope you enjoy this episode! ​I know that what I am taking away from it is that we all have challenges... they are part of our human experience. However, when they strike we have two choices - to lean in or to lean away. As Kate shows us, leaning in provides an opportunity for substantial personal growth, connection and reward. As a mother, she is still continuing to explore the things she loves the most and this is a great lesson for me that no matter how full or chaotic life can be, we must still all pursue and be grateful for the things we love the most in life.

Amy is a medical practitioner and, as she classed herself in her own writing, a "wandering soul". Amy is an Australian-trained medical practitioner, specialising in the delivery of health to complex populations in austere and resource-limited settings. Amy's interest is in the optimal delivery of health care to complex populations in great need, and in the ethics of the delivery of this care. Her particular focus is on conflict regions, and on the underlying structural violence visited upon vulnerable populations. Amy has worked in regional Australia and also with asylum seekers, but she spent the last four years working overseas with the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières in places like Lebanon, South Sudan, Syria and Iraq. In this podcast episode Amy explains how she deals with the complex emotional situations of not only what she goes in to face and to see as a medical practitioner, but also how she reconciles what she's seen when she returns home. At the end of the podcast Amy discusses how to keep your chin up and maintain your health and well-being when you have very limited resources available to you for your exercise and personal release time.

In this podcast episode, David Bowman explores the relationship between fire, landscapes and us, the human population. Co-author of the book 'Fire on Earth – an Introduction', David is now leading the pack globally in this very complex field. Tasmania has just had the most unprecedented fire event and whilst these large-scale fire emergencies are not new to the State, the increasing frequency is what is shaking our confidence & safety. In 1967, a huge fire event destroyed vast regions of Hobart and its surrounds, then in 2016 another dramatic fire event wiped out large areas of Gondwanan forest & pencil pine populations in the central plateau. Now, three years later, we faced fire on an unprecedented scale, where multiple vast blazes created a ring around Hobart and once again burnt deep into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. This event scattered resources and made protecting assets, such as lives, property & our wilderness, a huge challenge. Months on and the fires are actually still smouldering today. Fire is fundamental to life. However, bush fires seem to be happening more frequently, with each fire increasing in intensity. I knew that I needed to beg and grovel with the highly demanded David Bowman; to sit down with him to once-and-for-all understand what is at play here. What do we know about the impact the climate is having on fire behaviour around the world? Why was it so hard to fight these fires and what can we learn from this? What can I do, as an individual who loves our wild regions, to help? This podcast was a series of amazing monologues. It is essential for you to listen right through to the end, where David turns the tables, transforming what was personally becoming a deep sense of doom & gloom into something so powerful and uplifting that I have come away even more sure-footed about how I can make a difference on this planet. This is powerful listening at its finest!

Eric Philips is a polar adventurer dedicated to exploring the vast and varied ice-scapes that typify our polar regions. His outdoor career spans more than 25 years during which time he has worked professionally as an IPGA Master Polar Guide, outdoor educator, film maker, motivational speaker, team facilitator and musician. As an adventurer, he has visited every continent on Earth, often leading lightweight and self-supported expeditions to remote areas. Eric has explored the world's four largest icecaps and was the first Australian, together with companion Jon Muir, to ski to both the North and South Poles, locations that he has since visited many times as a polar guide. Eric has assisted wounded soldiers, Prince Harry, actors and everyday individuals - with their common ground being a desire to see these remote polar landscapes. Eric is the founder and director of Icetrek Expeditions and Equipment, and is also the founder and lead guide of the International Polar Guides Association. In 1991 he wrote the book, Icetrek. The Bitter Journey to the South Pole and his expeditions have produced four internationally-screened documentary films, most notably, the Emmy Award-winning Greenland production, Chasing the Midnight Sun. Eric lives in Hobart with his wife Susy and son Kip. His daughter is now following in his footsteps, and as we discussed on the podcast, is fast becoming his polar playmate. It was such an honour to dig deep and beneath the ice with Eric, uncovering what makes him tingle, and how we can learn from Eric how to follow our truest pathways. Put the heater on for this one! MAIN POINTS - Finding our 'thing' - how to live with purpose and guided by what you absolutely love - Parenting as an explorer - raising children to be their truest selves - The art of guiding, and what it really involves - Using adventure and exploration to reset ourselves, to not just endure but to evolve - The importance of leadership and self-awareness - The importance of values and using these to guide our individual as well as business pursuits - Our work should not define us, but rather lead us - Using fear to guide us to new heights​ I hope you enjoy this episode! ​I know that what I am taking away from it is a complete willingness to succumb to my journey. To stop 'shoulding' and start believing in the art of pursuing what I love to its heighest levels. It is a new year heralding an opportunity to turn over that leaf, uncover what you love, and not waste any precious moments.

Isa Dreyer is a pain management specialist here in Tasmania and has also been an inspiring and close family friend of mine for many years. I have been on many short adventures with Isa and every time we are cruising the trails we find ourselves in deep discussion about her work. Pain, trauma and optimising wellness through adversity have become fascination areas of mine, and I was eager to share Isa’s wisdom and vibrancy with you on the Podcast. Despite her father’s traditional views of the role of the woman, Isa pursued her career, starting her impressive list of qualifications at a chiropractic school in Portland Oregon, USA, before moving back to Cape Town, South Africa to study a Bachelor of Science (Physiotherapy). Isa spent 3 years in the UK working as physiotherapist and while doing so, spent her holidays cycling and adventuring through Europe. Isa later furthered her studies with a Clinical Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Boston University (2004-2006) and a Masters of Science in Medicine (Pain Management) at The University of Sydney (2013-2014). Isa moved to Tasmania in 2006, finding employment in a sports physiotherapy clinic whilst also working at Royal Hobart Hospital in the pain unit. In 2015, she started at Federal St Pain Clinic – a multi-disciplinary clinic with a small team including a psychologist, pain specialist and two other physiotherapists. Her depth of knowledge and desire to assist others through pain is profound. I learnt so much about the subject of pain from her during this short conversation. I hope you can too. Isa, thank you so much for taking the time to come onto the Find Your Feet Podcast and I know there is still so much we can learn from you! MAIN POINTS - Pain - why do we persist through pain? - How the importance of the goal can directly affect the intensity that we feel pain. - Trapped trauma – Mental and emotional associations with physical pain. - The memory of pain - How injuries can impact our perceptions of pain and even exacerbate pain. - The power of creating safe environments – methods to decrease pain output - Neurological mechanics – “pathways that wire together, fire together” - Biopsychosocial and holistic approaches to pain management and treatment - Lesser known influences that increase inflammation & pain in the body - Being driven by curiosity as opposed to the pressure and fear of missing out - How Isa practises rest, mindfulness and ‘quiet time’ (despite being a go-getter!) Isa has just been accepted to be a rider in next year’s Pain Revolution Ride that is happening in Tasmania in March 2019. “I am pretty excited that I was chosen, as there were 3x more applicants than riders. We are riding 700km in 8 days .The most important part of it will be educating rural and remote Tasmania about pain in the evenings, when we stop in the little towns.” As part of this, Isa has to raise $3000 as a local hero. All the funds will go directly into providing Tasmanian health care professionals with extra training and mentoring to provide better and more up to date health care for pain. For more information visit The Pain Revolution Ride - https://www.painrevolution.org/local-pain-educator-program

This raw little audio nugget with Hanny Allston dives into her writing process of The Trail Running Guidebook and explores some intriguing insights into what is on the horizon for Hanny in the coming years. We recorded this just before the Guidebook launch on November 1st 2018 and go into more depth about Hanny’s evolving philosophies and the unexpected successes since the book launch. We hope you enjoy this mini episode! Main Points: - What is the Trail Running Guidebook? - How did it evolve? - How Hanny designed the book to be read - The unexpected challenges of writing books - Evolving personal philosophies - Wave training theory translating to other areas of life - How we can support the Trail Running Guidebook to continue growing To learn more about the Trail Running Guidebook Visit - http://www.hannyallston.com.au/trail-running-guidebook.html To purchase your copy online visit - https://findyourfeet.com.au/products/hanny-allston-trail-running-guidebook “I wrote the book because I saw it as a collaborative way between me as someone who had knowledge, and the reader who I see as having knowledge and experience, that when our brains and experiences collide, there could be that light bulb moment where someone goes ‘ohhh I had that experience and maybe it wasn’t the experience I wanted, and now I feel like…I think I need to make a change.’ And I know that the book has definitely got stuff in there where people can go ‘and that’s how I make the change.’”

“You don’t have to be goal driven, but to have a sense of how to navigate through the world everyday and adjust to what it throws at you.” Michael Bentley is a treasured member of our Find Your Feet community who recently joined me on a Find Your Feet Tour to one of my favourite places in the world - Japan. Although I have known Michael for a few years now, it was during our shared time exploring the wild trails and rich culture of Japan that brought us a lot closer. I cannot begin to talk about the level of compassion, humility and love Michael has for himself and his balanced approach to running. Michael’s professional background in public health, marathon running, and journey through grief with the passing of his partner Christine, has equipped him with an inspiring level of consciousness and joy to the present moment. Haiku written by Michael: Trees talking on the tall hill at the urban fringe. Are we listening? Michael’s identification as a Natural Guardian of Tasmanian land is similarly inspiring. After the passing of his partner Christine, he set up a Foundation Fund with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) in her memory to support the art and science of the conservancy. His vision being ‘to help to protect the significance of Tasmania’s unique natural areas’ I would like to extend my biggest thank you to Michael for sharing his time and knowledge with me in this conversation. I know the themes we talked about will resonate with you and hopefully inspire more attunement and solas into your own life. If you would like to contribute to The Tasmanian Land Conservancy through The Solas Fund, you can find more details here - https://tasland.org.au/the-tlc-foundation/existing-foundation-funds/solas-fund/ We spoke about the goal setting in the sense that people look to achieve outcomes, they want to look out to the horizon and see a clear and tangible way of defining their success. But maybe it doesn’t have to be like that… “Maybe the horizon is actually saying I want to be able to live in a way that I am more compassionate and self-compassionate and more aware. Think about the sort of impact I am having on the environment I am living in…” Then life satisfaction and fulfilment is derived from the journey of living as the person with that mindset. What we covered in our conversation: - The transformational power of running for exploration - Japanese philosophies on conscious living and appreciating the beautiful simplicities of life - The determinants of health and wellbeing - Eastern vs. western - Michael’s personal journey with running - Sports nutrition, hydration and psychology for older athlete - Michael’s intuitive approach to training, goal setting and self-compassion – attunement - The Solas Fund with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (https://tasland.org.au/the-tlc-foundation/existing-foundation-funds/solas-fund/) Links mentioned in the conversation: Podcast with Lee Belbin mentioned in this episode - http://www.hannyallston.com.au/lee-belbin.html Hanny Allston’s Training Planners - https://findyourfeet.com.au/collections/hanny-allston-trail-running-resources Express interest for a Wild Japan 2020 Tour here - http://www.findyourfeettours.com.au/wildjapan.html

Anne completed her 20-year personal goal of swimming the English Channel in August 2006 at 38-years of age. Her finishing time made the Top 50 fastest channel swims of all time… but it wasn’t about that for Anne. Anne is a mum of two high-achievers and she herself has made incredibly accomplishments, which lead her to experience the lack of support we give people AFTER they achieve their goals. It’s not always bigger, better and more. And it takes a very intrinsically motivated person to stand strong in their recognition of that. Her work as a teacher and in Swimming Tasmania as the Community Sport Administrator with developing squads and young athletes, has given her insight into how we can be better assisting them emotionally and mentally through maturation and big life changes. In this episode we went deep, shared vulnerability and recognised that through the pursuit of really ambitious and uncomfortable goals, we can always share more kindness with ourselves and others. Can I have a favourite conversation? Am I allowed to pick just one? Because if I am… I want to say that this podcast with Anne, might just be my favourite episode on the podcast so far.

Iestyn Lewis has been a wonderful friend of mine over the past 10 years and has stood by me through some really great moments on the trails but also some really tough moments in life. What I really wanted to bring across in this podcast is the absolute joy Iestyn has for running and you can feel this through the way he talks about his experiences in ultra running, and in particular, as the only Australian to finish the Dragon’s back Ultra in the UK - A multi-day race with extremely high drop out rates. I am fascinated by Iestyn’s consideration of himself as a ‘lazy’ runner despite balancing his life as an athlete, a dad for two gorgeous daughters, and a hyperbaric & emergency specialist here in Hobart. He is also a mentor for emergency physicians in the Netherlands. Lazy is not the word I would use to describe this genuine, hard-working and compassionate man who continues to inspire me with his accomplishments. Not to mention his humility! I found this conversation incredibly insightful and learnt more about my friend than I expected.

Justin ‘Jonesy’ Jones is one of Australia’s most well-known adventurers. Most notably for being the first to kayak unsupported across the Tasman Sea and traverse Antartica to the South Pole and back (also unsupported), and doing so with his adventure partner-in-crime, Cas. These expeditions catalysed Jonesy into a career of keynote speaking, documentary filmmaking and following his FOMO into bigger and greater challenges. When he became a parent 2017 with his partner Lauren, Justin faced the reality that he may have to give up his adventurous lifestyle in order to support his new family. “He (Justin) was loosing his psyche for going on that solo expedition. During that time, I was looking for my psyche to work 70-hour weeks and never seeing her (Morgan), and I really wanted to dive more into my purpose and keep honing that alignment between sustainability and business and family…so I guess we took this opportunity of a very challenging time when Morgan was born…” - Lauren Together they are driven to challenge traditional conventions of what it means to ‘settle down’ and prove that adulthood, and parenthood can still be fun. Which lead them to embark on an Australian Outback Expedition for 90 days and over 1,8000km with their now one-year-old Morgan. Something that Lauren, a businesswomen specialising in sustainability, never expected herself to benefit from as much as she did. “We were out in the heart of it, in the depths of it, but the depths of it which seemed impossible at the start, were possible at that moment. And that, I think, was the big mind-shift for me. That adventure made what was impossible, possible.” - Lauren The conversation with these two convention-breakers was incredibly thought provoking for me. We touched on so many topics, finding similarities and differences between our three unique perspectives. I believe the conversation could catalyse you to revaluate your own values and beliefs. I really hope you enjoy this one! Main Points: - Co-parenting with a more adventurous partner - Defying stereotypes about what it means to be a parent and explorer - Defining your personal mission statement or philosophy - Recapping their 1,800km, 102 day, family outback expedition across Australia - Redefining success: for yourself and expeditions/missions - Expedition mind-set vs. ‘city’ mind-set – Why do we gain mental strength out exploring and how that doesn’t always translate to helping us to handle daily life? - Overcoming fear – “it’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is.” - “The best change you can make is changing yourself” - Future expedition plans for the Jonesy’s

This Injury podcast has been on our minds since we started the UTA mini-series this year (full playlist available here). Now a month after UTA, and we are super excited to share this episode. Jess and I went in with an intention to talk about common trail running injuries, specifically overuse injuries and my own personal experience with Achilles tendonitis, however the conversation evolved to discuss injuries on a more holistic scale. How dealing with injuries can catalyse internal personal growth beyond just dealing with the physical pain. I get a lot of questions about running with injuries so I hope you can find some valuable information in here that could help you to troubleshoot your own situation. That being said, I am a massive advocate for seeking professional help at any stage of your journey as an athlete. I have a great list of recommended health service providers on my website, that I would encourage you to check out. My biggest take away from having an injured Achilles for the past seven months, is that without a strong sense of self beyond the gratification your physical body can give you, injuries can be an incredibly difficult time. They also have a healing timeframe that often you cannot rush. Take the time to incorporate preventative practices into your everyday activities and if you do get injured, relish in that time to re-evaluate your life, goals and see where you can make the next step. Topics we covered: Overuse injuries ITB issues Knee injuries Achillies tendonitis Maintaining growth through sustainable loading to prevent overdoing Hanny’s experience with injuries, specifically Achilles tendonitis Injuries: Men vs. Women Mentally and emotionally dealing with injury Prevention exercises and practices How to realign our mindset after not being able to run - finding your 'normal' Treating yourself like an athlete – supportive networks and services I hope you enjoy this one! ​I really value your feedback. If you have any thoughts about the podcast or any of our resources/services with Find Your Feet, you can let me know via email hanny@findyourfeet.com.au, Facebook or Instagram :)

Lee Belbin and I crossed paths through the Find Your Feet Podcast. One day I received a compassionately crafted email from Lee, sharing his thoughts and feedback on the podcast so far. We started exchanging emails where Lee opened up more and more about his background as an ecologist, his theories on performance and how by combining these two things he had managed to avoid any sporting injury for his entire life. Now 69, I thought this was quite a remarkable feat and knew we needed to sit down for our own conversation. Lee has a very humble and unique approach to athleticism, which he calls ‘punctuated equilibrium.’ It actually stems from an ecological theory of evolution. In a very basic summary, species will experience a period of stability until along comes an external situation that throws them out of equilibrium and forces them to either adapt or die. Apply that to a human and obviously the everyday circumstances or deep-set internal drivers that knock us off balance will not be life or death, but it does force us to grow and adapt, or suffer. Lee is very passionate about striving for balance in our lives. However, he utilises ‘punctuation marks’ to challenge himself and grow physically and intellectually. I found our conversation around this topic and so many more, incredibly fascinating. I hope you enjoy this one! Main Points Punctuated Equilibrium - internal and external ‘punctuation marks’ ‘Home Points’ and ‘Rocks’- the importance of having these places, people, or circumstances that offer stability to our lives, from which we can recharge again. Growing doesn’t mean ‘up and up!’ Defining success and its malleability with age How we remain grounded and aware, whilst simultaneously striving and growing Lastly I would also love to share this powerful passage from Michael Gervais’ blog, a top-class American psychologist whom I love to follow on his own ‘Finding Mastery Podcast’. In this blog piece, he speaks to the topics of balance and internal growth: “It is not the external world that needs to change. Transformational shifts happen from upgrading the internal world – your patterns of both thoughts and actions. These pattern shifts might just begin with moving beyond the drive for high performance; beyond the search for peak experiences; beyond being able to do more in your life. While the peaks are important and wonderful, the transformation of living more fully daily begins with a fundamental commitment to organize your life to be you at your best more often; to be more present, more grounded, more joyful, more playful, more focused — more “switched-on”. That way of living requires an investment in recovery: proper sleep, proper hydration and food intake, plenty of movement and an optimal way of thinking.” Thank you so much for joining me in the podcast Lee and I hope you enjoy listening to this one too! :)

I know what you must be thinking… How does Hanny have anymore to say on the topic of psychology? Haha! Well hear me out for a moment… This episode is very different to previous Find Your Feet Podcast episodes and actually one of the topics that I get asked the most about. In this episode Jess and I discuss the physical, mental and emotional strategies around tapering before a peak performance and psychologically how to maximise your enjoyment on the day itself. A positive mindset and outlook on the day should not be overlooked. For those of you who have been building towards Ultra Trail Australia for the past 6 months, you have done the hard work. When you find your feet on the start line, you need to know that you are emotionally ‘checked-in’ for this event and thinking, ‘how enjoyable can I make this for myself?’ My biggest tip for this is to smile at everyone you see, smile through your low points of suffering and especially through your high points! The Main Points Are: - Tapering – how to navigate the unusual sensations - The physical benefits of rest and recovery before race day - Working through ‘what if…’ scenarios - How to understand the lessons from ‘missions’ & practice runs - Simulate running with a full vest pack of mandatory gear, nutrition and hydration. - Adapting nutrition & hydration for tapering - The importance of briefing your support crew - Race day mentality - Tips to minimise your time spent at aid stations - Setting process goals – be realistic - Starting the race with purpose - not ‘slow’ - Avoid chewing up crucial mental energy worrying and comparing yourself to others or your past capabilities - SMILE! Enjoy yourself. Inevitably you will have points of suffering but if you asked yourself, ‘where else would I rather be?’, the likely answer would be ‘nowhere’. I hope you find this episode a valuable resource towards your own journey with performance. If you would like to support the continuation of this resource, I would encourage you to check out my trail running and outdoor retail store- Find Your Feet. I would like to offer you 20% off your first online order with the discount code – FindingMyFeet. Once you have proceeded to the online check out there will be the option to enter the code, please be aware this discount does not apply to watches, electronics and some other products. Also after your first order, you will be eligible to receive 10% off every time you shop as a part of your new Find Your Feet membership! Thank you so much for listening! I love hearing from you, so if you have any questions or feedback, please send me an email hanny@findyourfeet.com.au or message me on Facebook. As always, the team at Find Your Feet are so excited to help with gear and offer their wealth of knowledge to assist you in playing wilder. So please feel free to contact them at info@findyourfeet.com.au or visit in store whenever you're in Hobart, Tasmania! :)

Jodie Willett has an absolutely incredible backstory as an elite mountain bike rider and adventure racer who entered the competitive sporting world later in life. Our conversation took an in-depth exploration of how Jodie navigated high-level performance - the sacrifices, shortfalls, triumphs and emotional journey. Jodie met me with openness and honesty throughout this conversation as we explored how her innate competiveness and determination to succeed allowed her to achieve impressive accolades- a mindset that resonated with my own journey to a world title. We could agree that the ‘successes’ when extrinsically pursued for validation or self-medication for other uncontrollable and uncomfortable events in our lives, never felt like we thought it would. Every athlete will achieve a breakthrough, but it’s how you deal with those break throughs that makes you a champion. I talk about this quite a bit but knowing your definition of success is so important - not only in athletic pursuits, but life! I feel as though Jodie’s experiences positively shape her coaching approach and allow her to share the effective strategies she knows to help her athletes overcome common pitfalls in the pursuit of performance. Now in her forties, Jodie includes a balance between sport, her work as a coach and sports masseuse, being a mother, a partner, and owning her own business running mountain biking clinics for women and kids. Keep up to date with Jodie via her blog, which is filled with honest, uncensored thoughts, touching on very real emotions that we all experience. “Doing Godzone doesn’t scare me. It’s coming home and finding out that I am still the same.” Powerful. Thank you so much for being on the podcast Jodie! Main Points - Personal sacrifices necessary to achieve elite athleticism - Pursuing sporting passions in your twenties as opposed to thirties and forties - Coaching approach - Approaching competitive sport later in life - Using sport to self-medicate - How her experiences shape the way she coaches other athletes I really hope you enjoy this conversation. You can show your support for the podcast by ‘liking it’ in Souncloud or ITunes, and sharing your favourite episodes and quotes with friends and family. Let me know if there is anyone you would like to hear on the podcast too!

Photo Credit: Julia Lisboa Juliana Lisboa has one of the most impressive CV’s I have ever seen. Having completed a Bachelor of Biological Sciences, Masters of Nutrition & Dietetics, Post-Graduate in Sports Nutrition and now completing a Bachelor of Psychology; I trusted Juliana would be able to give us an educated perspective on how we can navigate our individual nutritional needs for optimal well-being. Juliana certainly lived up to my expectations as we covered a broad range of nutritional topics. My personal take home from this discussion is to bring more awareness to my food choices and why I am choosing to nourish my body with certain foods and not others. Am I doing it because subconsciously I’m following the nutritional advice of someone else, or because it actually fuels my body to optimal health and wellness? I recognize that everyone is different. I find discussing nutrition is hugely sensitive and perhaps I tip-toed around the edge of many topics. I was nervous because I knew that Juliana advocates for an inclusive approach to nutrition, whilst for me personally I tend to lean towards a more plant-based diet for my own wellness. However, irrespective of where we individually sit on the nutritional spectrum, what I gleaned from this podcast is that I need to ensure I have a deep ability to listen to my body and not just be subconsciously following the rules established by others. I hope to host a follow-up podcast with Juliana delving more into why we have such an emotional attachment to nutrition. Main Points: • Holistic approach to nutritional choices • Nutritional requirements are different even within sports. E.g. Someone training for Cross fit has different nutritional needs than an endurance runner. • Building a strong nutritional ‘base’ and then tweaking elements for increasing personal performance • Circulating misinformed concepts can lead to an oversaturation of available information that well-intentioned individuals can feel completely overwhelmed by. • Gut Health: - Understanding your personal microbiome through testing - as another helpful element to improving your health. Everything is connected and the information is incorporated into the bigger picture of your holistic health. - Our current knowledge about gut biome - Stress on gut health • Common nutritional pitfalls for athletes • Advice for starting your own unique diet - Look at what is currently working and not working in your life - Assess your values and goals – what do you want to get out of life and how do you want to feel? - If your values and goals collide, allow yourself the time to evaluate your values and how you could adjust the expression of those values to better align with your goals. • Nutritional deficiencies - The body doesn’t recognise when exercise is simply for leisure and not trying to run away from danger. Therefore, it can always find the energy to ‘train.’ Even if it is depleted of nutrients. - Iron - Zinc - Omega-3 and Omega-6: Ideally a 1:1 ratio. The average Australian diet has a 1:20 ratio! • Diet’s relationship to inflammation, muscle recovery/injuries, gut and stress.

I planned to take a different approach to this topic, but it naturally evolved into this conversation that I am incredibly excited to share with you. The process of creating podcasts is, in some ways, very similar to the journey we take in preparing for and executing adventures. We will only ever reach a certain level of preparedness, so learning how to manage our expectations, define success and checking in with reality becomes increasingly important. If we do not take the time to recognise what success means to us and understand why we value the adventure, and even when we are physically strong enough, our fears and doubts can overcome our positive psychology to derail our performance. This conversation will be incredibly useful to anyone interested in adventures, embarking on an upcoming race, or simply wanting to get the most out of their physical passions. It is also strongly relevant to individuals who are currently following my training programs, preparing for the Ultra Trail Australia or if you are the supporter of a loved one who is embarking on something wild. I hope you enjoy this episode and let me, or the team at Find Your Feet know if you would like any further help towards your preparations for races or missions. Here are some extra resources I would highly recommend you check out: • The earlier podcasts I did with Clive Stack - #03 Driven by Emotions and #11 Listening to Your Emotions • #07 Psychology of Potential with Sports Psychologist Jeremy Adams • #10 Reflections on my UTA100 Experience in 2017 • Also, and just for fun, the video from Dale and I on our epic mission on Federation Peak. Main Points • Define YOUR ‘success’ • Define YOUR ‘readiness’ • Setting expectations and intentions • Purpose of fear – Show you what is meaningful and also that you really care • Missions – Why they are important – Just start… but also when to not do a mission • ‘What If’ Scenarios • Check- in with realism • Get out of your own shoes - Imagine how others are feeling - Elite athletes but don’t experience any less ‘holes’, just get out of them quicker • Make it FUN! • Race Day - Support Crews - Setting your ½ way mark at 75% - Music? - Bubble Mode

DISCLAIMER: The following podcast could contain triggering content for anyone currently experiencing an eating disorder or disordered eating behaviour. Please contact the Butterfly Foundation Support Helpline on 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE) if you become aware of any distressing symptoms. Over 1 million Australians (about 1 in 20) currently have a clinically diagnosed eating disorder, and approximately 10% of Australians (15% for females) will have an eating disorder at some point in their life. I was shocked to find out these statistics from Juliette Thomson, the resident psychologist at The Butterfly Foundation. The conversation today dives deeper into the unspoken reality of eating disorders - from my own personal experience and the perspective of a clinical professional. I facilitated this conversation, wanting to open a window of understanding on the development of eating disorders and how we can best identify and support loved ones who may be grappling with this mental illness. As it happened, this podcast taught me far more about the complexities of identifying and understanding this highly prevalent mental illness. Juliette and the Butterfly Foundation, passionately advocate that everyone’s experiences with eating disorders are different. There are also some shocking statistics regarding eating disorders that are worth being aware of​ For example, on average, Anorexia affects an individual for around 7 years! However, for some the experience can extend for decades whilst for others this could be only two years. I hope this conversation can assimilate with the Butterfly Foundation’s mission of being a catalyst for change and increase the awareness of eating disorders in our society. Certainly,​ there are high-risk groups, but anyone and everyone can be affected by an eating disorder. I strongly urge you to reach out to the services of the Butterfly Foundation should you wish for additional support.

Charlotte Durif and Josh Larson are a professional climbing couple who crossed my radar through Find Your Feet in Tasmania on the third leg of their A World Less Travelled Tour. They didn’t have much spare time in Tasmania but I knew I needed to have this phenomenal duo on the podcast. Once you hear their story, you will see why. Their combined sporting achievements are nothing short of incredible. Just to name a few; Josh achieved 3rd Place at the USA Bouldering Nationals in 2015 and Charlotte was the World Champion Climber in 2014, placed 3rd overall at the World Championship in 2016, and was World Champion 5 times in Lead Youth between 2004 and 2009! It became apparent to me that Charlotte and Josh’s determination extended beyond their personal love for climbing. Throughout their climbing careers, both Charlotte and Josh have actively helped to strengthen the world of climbing on a global level. Their passion to continue this work (as well as the seriously cool idea of climbing for a living!) became their motivation to embark on their epic world tour to 18 different countries.

“If there was one element I could retain in my training and I had to get rid of all the others, the one element I would retain is hills.” Main Points - Recap of Hanny's epic mission to Federation Peak - Why run hills? The importance of hill training for injury prevention - How hill training can actually reduce the likelihood common running injuries such as ITB syndrome and Achilles injuries. - Uphill and Downhill Running Techniques -- Cadence -- Stair Running -- Technical Trails - Advice for improving our psychological approach to hills - Glute Activation for injury prevention – tips for strengthening our deep gluteal muscles. - How to start hill training - Hanny’s advice for hill training without hills - The importance of nutrition for uphill and downhill running – caffeine = life saver Trail runners have to accept that the ground isn’t always flat and on almost every run we will encounter some kind of hill. So, what happens now? Behind every step that we take when we hit the trails or brave the bush lands is an intricate series of energy ‘ins & outs’. The alterations in surfaces and slopes change the way our muscles need to respond. Sometimes they will be contracting strongly to propel us forward and other times they will be eccentrically contracting to slow us down. Sometimes gravity will be working in our favour, and sometimes completely against us. Therefore, it is important to begin thinking about the way you catch, create and utilize the energy that you have available to you. This might be the difference between having enough energy to think clearly to the end of your run, and bonking out before you have truly reached your peak performance. I get a lot of questions regarding how to incorporate hill training into race preparations – especially for those looking to compete in the UTA. I hope this podcast can answer some of these questions and help to bring a greater feeling of confidence and efficiency to your running practise. I have a plethora of free resources available online, so take some time to explore all the links below if this topic interests you Videos Hanny’s Federation Peak Mission - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32pgo3YRGR0 Podcast Recommendations Find Your Feet Podcast Episode #19 Base Training Podcast – http://www.hannyallston.com.au/base-training.html Find Your Feet Podcast Episode #15 UTMB with Brook Martin – http://www.hannyallston.com.au/brook-martin.html Blog Posts Training for Mountains without Hills- http://www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/training-for-mountains-without-hills Uphill & Downhill Running Technique – http://www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/uphill-downhill-running-technique Hanny Allston Website – www.hannyallston.com.au Blog - www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/hanny.allston/ Hanny Allston Training Resources Guidebook – http://www.hannyallston.com.au/trail-running-guidebook.html UTA Training Packages - http://www.hannyallston.com.au/ultra-trail-australia.html Contact Me – hanny@findyourfeet.com.au Find Your Feet Retail Store – www.findyourfeet.com.au

Amy Heague and Kerryann Hayes are the co-founders of Australia’s only adventure lifestyle magazine for women –Travel, Play, Live. They have introduced a new female voice into the outdoor media and community, aiming to empower women from all walks of life to dream big, challenge themselves & expand their horizons through their unique adventures. I wanted to have this discussion with these two incredibly down to earth women because I strongly connect with their shared ethos for assisting women via the adventure, travel and tourism space. Their messages align so strongly with my own endeavours through Find Your Feet and personally with questioning our current beliefs around beauty, prescriptive fitness and food. I hope this podcast exposes a deeper, more intimate understanding of another way for us women to find our feet. But we didn’t forget about our male listeners! I know you will find this conversation just as insightful and inspiring too and, from my experience, I believe that it can often take two to tango in this adventure space. As we discussed in this episode, behind many strong women is a strong man! I will take home a reinspired belief from this conversation that adventure stays with us through all seasons of life; but can show up in different ways as we ourselves grow and change. We don’t need to pigeonhole adventure to just being off the grid hiking trips. It could be, as Kez describes for herself, a sunrise horseback ride with a few girlfriends and being roped into a painting class even though you do not see yourself as a creative. We agreed that when we are playing outdoors, we reconnect with our authentic selves in the ‘non-commercial’ use of this word. Each experience can invigorate our creativity, vibrancy and vitality. As we discussed in this podcast, I believe that it is important to recognise our unique values and then to let our actions come into alignment with those values. These two women and I collectively understand this is easier said than done, but Amy shared an amazing quote with us, which speaks to this: "When a woman lives by her principles, 99% of her decisions are already made." Main Points - Fear – Women finding confidence and support to be outdoors by themselves. We acknowledged a genuine collective fear of being alone in the wilderness and the influence media has had on exaggerating the insecurity for women. Also, fear is merely something that you need to work through, rather than turning away from it. - Redefining balance for you – ‘moving in and out of seasons’ instead of holding yourself accountable to have everything all the time. - Self–compassion – Supporting yourself through different seasons of your life and recognising the importance of taking time to reflectively pause. - What it looked like for Amy and Kez to start their Travel. Play. Live publication and their journey so far in the shark pond of publishing. - The pursuit of excellence – knowing why you compete and who you are without competition. Social Media Links Website - http://www.travelplaylive.com.au Women’s Adventure Grant - http://www.travelplaylive.com.au/grants-apply Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/travelplaylive/ Instagram - @travelplaylive

Today I am sitting back down with Darryl Griffiths, founder of Shotz Sports Nutrition and author of Sweat.Think.Go Faster to ask him all the questions our community were still curious to understand. Darryl is known as a pioneer in sports nutrition and if you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll have seen we've frequently showcased Darryl's knowledge through our recent Q&A session, guest blogs on nutrition and hydration and our previous podcast together. Darryl has worked with hundred of athletes and an impressive amount of the world’s best in a variety of sports including: Ironmen and women; triathletes; cyclists; runners; paralympians; and motocross athletes. I am so excited to bring you this discussion we endeavoured to keep clear, simple and based on scientifically supported research to assist your own research and understanding of sports nutrition and hydration. I hope you enjoy this discussion! Take Home Points: - We cannot expect to perform to the same level in differing temperature conditions. We are all unique and some will perform best in hotter conditions and others in cooler climates. - We’ll never replace our losses from endurance/high exertion sports whilst performing so we need to figure out how much we can tolerate to bridge the losses as best as possible. - Multi-Day Events: Being consistent in our fuelling and hydration not just whilst competing. - We can have clear urine and still be dehydrated – we could just be passing clear water. - Knowledge of how our body’s work empowers us to make the right nutrition/hydration choices for ourselves and avoid buying into marketing hypes and fads. - Regardless of exercise, our bodies need 2000- 2300mg a day of sodium (Don't fear sodium when you're an active, healthy person!) - Carbohydrates are not created equal, we need to be aware of the difference between naturally occurring sugars (glucose) and refined, processed sugars, such as sucrose.

As we journey through life we encounter such a vast array of people from so many walks of life. I met Chris Price at Find Your Feet here in Hobart a few months ago and after a short discussion, I knew he had insights and stories that needed to be shared. I wanted to go for a run with him and show him more of our backyard. After a recent sea change for Chris and his family to Tasmania from the bustling city of Melbourne, in this podcast we connect over our mutual love of the mountains, trails and perspective on performance. Throughout his own sporting career in stair running and co-founding Stair Running Australia in Melbourne, Chris’ balanced and humble approach to his sporting endeavours whilst achieving impressive results on an international level, is completely inspiring to me. I was eager to discuss: - His 4-year racing career in stair running - His psychological approach to overcoming pain - How he manages pressure - Co-founding Stair Running Australia and managing this as a volunteer for eight years, - How he is negotiating his transition to trail running whilst balancing being a father - His approach to training and recovery - And whether he had any new insights for me on how to keep my old (haha) body happy ☺ Topics Covered - Stair Running as a sport and competing in it as an athlete - Chris’ Training Philosophy - Stressors (The 5 Stressors) - Whole Body Vibration Therapy for warm-up and recovery - Bounded and unbounded hydration - Chris’ sports nutrition evolution – stair running vs. trail running. - Training is about planning the recovery not the hard sessions I hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

Navigating the seemingly endless sources of information on sports nutrition & hydration can be overwhelming, but I believe there are only a few basic principles everybody must know. In this podcast I sit down with my colleague and friend Jess, to troubleshoot the major nutrition/hydration challenges I see amongst athletes and how to ensure you do not fall into the same traps! I put a focused approach on race nutrition and what nutritional disruptions cause cramping, vomiting and diarrhoea on race day. So this podcast would be really beneficial for anyone following my Ultra Trail Australia Training Programs. Like all of my podcasts focused on enhancing athletic performance, I believe the knowledge I share is beneficial and applicable to anyone of any age who is looking to play wilder. Irrespective of what ‘lifestyle,’ nutrition, or school of thought you may follow. Take Home Points - SODIUM – replace it! - GLUCOSE – consume it! - ELECTROLYTES – life saving! - The functions of our body are all interrelated - Hydration is not just about drinking water. We need to be replacing the electrolytes and salt lost through sweating - Refuel the brain with glucose and we refuel the body - Sports Nutrition is for everyone and every age - even firefighters! - Sometimes we need to exercise caution when generalised nutritional information is presented to us when we are playing wilder. I hope you enjoy listening to this one!

There is something really magical about this conversation with Jayn and Yeti. This discussion is a gentle, relaxed insight into their aspirations, approach to training and general relationship as they participate in the senior categories at trail & ultra distance events. What really inspires me is the way that they continue to strive to be both the best versions of themselves and the best partner that they can be to each other. Frequently they work together as a team, other times they strive toward their own dream. However, like two halves make a whole, they unite to kick some amazing goals. I loved this low-key insight into the lives of athleticism in latter age and a life-long relationship. I hope you do too. Take Home Points: • How we could define ‘success’ as an aging athlete • Recognising the amazing inclusive community that the sport of trail running has for all ages. • We all share similar emotional experiences in sport regardless of age and ability • We are never too old to set goals and improve our performance • Regardless of age we should all be able to call ourselves athletes and ride the highs and lows that come with being an athlete, and the lessons it provides.

I have decided to create this podcast series based upon my newly released Ultra Trail Australia Training Programs and Trail Running Guidebook. Whilst each episode targets athletes using these resources, they should provide informative listening for all athletes or individuals keen to embark on a more active lifestyle. A new episode will be released monthly on Thursdays up until the Ultra Trail Australia event hosted in May 2018! My aim with this series is to support your unique journey, playing to the start line and beyond! Throughout the duration of this series I will be talking with Jess- my friend, colleague and fellow trail runner – specifically with tips to tackle the most common challenges I see amongst the athletes I work with or have trained alongside. I will be sharing stories from my own experiences and busting myths about nutrition & hydration, overtraining and holistic health. I would strongly recommend (if you haven’t already) listening to #17 The Psychological Foundations of Performance. Establishing a clear understanding of why we want to strive for our peak performance is crucial for sustainable training. Are our motives internally or externally driven? Are we nurturing all areas of holistic health whilst working towards our goals? These are important questions that we need to address to reduce the risk of epic burnouts, injury through overtraining and building our sense of self. So, base training! It is the first aspect of physical training that I have included in the guidebook and for very good reason. The term ‘base training’ feels like a bit of an overkill signpost as to what I am suggesting to build your fitness foundations. Take Home Points: - Periodising training is crucial: In order to improve, we do not have to push our bodies to the limits every training session - Playing in the base training phase for a longer period of time will help lower our risk of stress injuries and overtraining - Athletes can reach 80-90% of their maximum ability just from base training alone - Identifying some of the various symptoms of overtraining that we might be overlooking - Base training is the perfect place to come back to for recovery, and sustainable exercising “I have no doubt that someone could get off the couch now and in 6 months time, run 100km. But it’s to the expense at what that is going to do in the long term – and that’s physically and psychologically. I think you can have a much better experience if you try and pick goals in keeping with where you are at and you allow yourself to just enjoy the beauty of base training.” ​

Jason Sauer is an Australian bobsledding and paraskeleton Paralympian. Learning to drive a bobsled just two months after having a double-leg amputation at age 39. He currently ranks 15th in the world as a Paralympic bobsledder. His achievements to date include 12th place at the Oberhof World Cup in January 2017 and 14th place at the World Championships at St.Moritz in February 2017. Jason was confronted with a ski culture world of drug and alcohol use at age 16, observing it as a way to gain social acceptance. Up until an experience on Christmas Day in 2010 that ultimately took his legs, Jason battled for years between drug abuse and sobriety; A dangerous feedback loop that Jason now dedicates time to helping others achieve sustainable sobriety. “If I’m really honest with my self…nothing surpasses the joy of helping others.” Jason’s story takes us through to some dark places and we would like to put a disclaimer on this podcast that explicit adult themed topics are discussed. But we are sharing Jason’s story because he is a man that was faced with a choice to let his physical circumstances define the limits of his existence, or to use the gifts passion and love he still possessed, to create an extraordinary life for himself. We are grateful he went with the later option! Take home points I got: • Sport can heal. If you truly love what you do and your sport, then do it! No strings attached! If it makes you feel like a better person then be a better person. • Using faith and spirituality to paint a more holistic and complex picture of your future. I guess this is about being open to greater possibilities than just what your mind can think of. Lends itself to ‘dream big!’ • If sport gives us joy, then we need to stop always thinking about ‘how can I be better?’ or ‘how can I not get injured?’ but rather, 'how can I love this into my old age?’. I feel this slight shift in thinking might make it easier for us to be more playful, more compassionate and potentially a better athletic version of us into our older years too. • The challenges regarding the commercialisation of sport and self-centric approach many elite athletes have to take to reach the top of their game • Helping others can be the biggest single driver for us. • If you enjoy it, just enjoy it.

In this podcast, we go deep into the psychology and foundations of sustainable training, trying to uncover some of the important truths associated with mastering our crafts, be them play or performance. We delve into: - The humble beginnings of Hanny Allston - Hanny’s writing process for her new trail running guidebook and training resources - How Hanny developed her style of coaching and ethos - Extra-ordinary benefits of taking time to develop a strong sense of self - Sustainable training mindsets

"Every daily thing became as hard as climbing a mountain and it was hard to think about a future with me in it.” Coming into connection with Ben through the Find Your Feet store, I was really inspired by his genuine honesty, kindness and willingness to share his struggles with mental illnesses. He harnessed those experiences to help others. It became apparent to me that he had a story that needed to be shared. Ben Hirst is an incredibly passionate trail and ultra runner, father, husband, Speak Up Stay Chatty! Ambassador. He is the founder of ‘Run for Mental Health’ a grassroots initiative that meets weekly on Mt Wellington for a social run. This podcast is a raw conversation about the real struggles of substance dependency and the devastating effects it can have on our lives. It can make us feel incredibly alone and hopeless, but in this conversation we are able to recognise the importance of standing up in the midst of your own struggles, in actually helping yourself by helping others; even when you do not have the answers yet yourself. There is a healing power in saying and hearing the words “me too.” I know this from my own experience through opening the retail store ‘Find Your Feet’ during a time that I myself, was trying to find my feet. This podcast delves into: The misunderstood prevalence of mental illnesses in our communities Reaching out to social support networks for help The mental health benefits of running/physical activity Accepting ourselves when we do not have all the answers Find Your Feet is also proud to have supported Ben on his first UTA journey as well as his road running challenge across the length of Tasmania. Both of which were endeavours of his to promote the importance of speaking up about struggling with mental illnesses. We are so inspired by Ben’s social media accounts. If you loved this podcast check out his instagram @run_for_mental_health_ and Facebook

I've had the pleasure of knowing our next podcast guest, Brook Martin, for a number of years now. A couple of months ago, Brook ran the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. A 171km race with 10,000m+ elevation gain - basically the Olympics of the trail running and ultra running world. We discuss her experiences at this mammoth race in detail and her recount of the event is both insightful and laugh-out-loud funny - "in the middle of it all... at one point I just thought…you had no idea at all!" If you've never dabbled in the trail running world then this podcast may have you considering it! Brook describes in a beautiful way her take on why she runs these distances, "the unknown, that’s the aspect of ultra-running that I love. Nobody, I don’t think the best guy or girl in the world or the last back-of-the-packer... nobody ever knows how it’s going to unfold. And that’s the really exciting, and also very scary thing, of standing on a start line…I love the opportunity and the potential of that moment." Brook is a bubbly and bright person and anyone that has met her will describe her as an infectiously happy person. We talk in depth about the mental side of UTMB and running in general and I feel everyone will take something away from this part of the discussion. What I really enjoyed was when she said, "I don’t think that you can do an ultra and not have some points where you’re going to struggle mentally. If you never struggle mentally then potentially you’re not running fast enough because you should be feeling bad at some point. That is how it is. It’s a race! I think what the good guys have learned is how to shorten the period of how bad it goes, control the losses at that point." This podcast delves into: *Pressure, both internal and external *Finding something you’re passionate about *Preparation and training details *UTMB: nutrition & hydration, mental strength, reflections *Diet and managing injuries *Brook’s view on the purpose of running *The importance of constantly learning, reflecting and adapting "You can’t love the glory moment without loving all the other bits in between. Which is really the vast majority of it! Everyone only sees the tiny tip of the iceberg, they don’t see the whole bit under the water." Spoiler alert - the advice at the very end is something I think we can all take away from this podcast. We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Andrew Bonsey is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, ESSA member, CHEK Practitioner Level 1 & CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 2, just to name a few. I've known Andrew for years and I've frequently incorporated his knowledge and expertise into my training and life. He has a strong personal and professional passion for health and fitness. Part of what makes Andrew's approach so holistic, is how he teaches you to understand your individual needs and listen to what your body is telling you, “I’d say it’s 80/90% listening to the body. Science is great but the reality is everyone is different and has a different makeup.” With exercise physiology becoming more mainstream, information that was once only available to elite athletes is now readily available to us all. Andrew sums this up nicely with,​“It would be a shame if only the athletes got the information, and the reality is that it’s information that we can all apply; no matter how fit or strong or athletically sound we might be. They’re all principles that if you put them into your life, you’re going to improve. You’re going to improve fitness, you’re going to improve your health, and you’re going to make it safer…and hopefully perform a bit better at.” I personally really connected with this as when I founded Find Your Feet I had a similar drive to share elite knowledge with a broader range of athletes. This podcast touches on: *Exercise physiology and what this entails *Goals, motivation and setting realistic expectations *Nutrition *Gratitude, meditation and looking after self *Potential *Enjoyment from movement *Guilt and expectation “The body is an extraordinarily resilient and adaptable thing BUT it takes time to be able to prepare it for something. Like anything, if you’re learning the piano or learning a new skill, it’s that slow and consistent kind of work that really shows up after a few months." We hope you enjoy this conversation!

The Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, has been listed as extinct since the last known tiger died in captivity in 1936. Despite this, there are many who still believe that the tiger lives on to this day. Col Bailey is one of these believers. Author of Tiger Tales, Shadow of the Thylacine and Lure of the Thylacine, Col is a respected and well known supporter of the Thylacine's existence. Despite admitting to having seen a Tasmanian Tiger "definitely in 1995, and perhaps in 1967”, what makes Col an intriguing person however, is his humble approach to the topic. He wants to protect the species and this is apparent when he told us that“for 17 years, I didn’t tell a soul, not even my wife, and she wasn’t very happy when she found out!” This podcast touches on: *Col's history and how he came to dedicate his life to the search for the Thylacine. A discussion on the Thylacine, including its behaviours and favoured habitats. *A detailed description of his sightings (we found his description of the sound and smell really interesting!). *What Col hopes to come of society gaining the knowledge that the Thylacine exists today. *Col's books and how his latest book is going. Col's desire for the Thylacine to exist in peace is made apparent when we asked what he hopes would happen if someone were to see one today. “If you’re out in the bush and you’re fortunate enough to see a Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine, leave it alone. Look at it, get your photo if you’re lucky enough… then let it go its way… and don’t tell the media!” We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Today, we sit down with Tim Macartney-Snape. You may know of Tim as one of the first Australian's to reach the summit of Mount Everest, without supplementary oxygen, via a new route on the North Face. Or maybe as the first person to walk and climb from sea level to the top of Mount Everest. Macartney-Snape is also the founder of the Sea to Summit range of outdoor and adventure gear (that we proudly stock in Find Your Feet!). This was recorded at the shop and we apologise for the slight background noise (do stick with it though, it’s improves quickly)! Having said that we had to release this, even with the lower quality, to give you all the opportunity to listen to Tim! “One has to be mindful of one’s insecurities. All of us are insecure to varying degrees. That can lead us, especially men, to be egotistical. We all have egos. We have to be mindful of letting the ego become too dominant because it can become an unstoppable force. For me, nature has always been a restorative thing in that regard, it had brought me down to earth.” We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Today, we sit down with Dr. Clive Stack again to continue the discussion on all aspects of our emotions. As with the last podcast with Dr. Clive Stack, we don’t want to give too much away so we will leave you with the following quotes from the conversation. "Emotions are guiding us at a very, very basic level." "To achieve your best, it is valuable to learn to listen to yourself because those emotions will guide you the best to the path that best suits you and that you are going to enjoy the most, that you are going to be the best at. So, everyone has a talent. EVERYONE has a talent, everyone has an ability." "As you learn to listen to your emotions, you are getting the best guru that you can have." We hope you enjoy this conversation.

Hanny Allston has accomplished her final 'competitive dream' after many years of racing at an elite level - completing the 100km distance at the Ultra Trail Australia. In her words, 'It was an emotional celebration of everything my mind and body has done for me over my running journey, and the lessons I learnt along the way'. In this podcast we cover all things UTA: from the days before, to the actual race and into recovery. We also discuss Hanny's tips and tricks for trail runners entering UTA next year (which are also applicable to other races!) She now can hang her race shoes up and hand the baton to the the new ranks after competing at the pointy end of the field for many years. Hanny might be finished at elite level racing but her experience, knowledge and love of trails continues. We hope you enjoy this conversation.

Today we sit down with Dr. Sally Chapman the Founding Medical Director of Health Change, an integrative medical practice in Hobart. Sally has worked in the medical world since her graduation in 1989. With ongoing research and continual learning, she has expanded her practice to include a holistic approach to health after conventional medicine failed to answer all of her questions. We hope you enjoy this conversation!