The Plodcast

We have come to our final episode of the season! What an awesome line up of runs I have had the pleasure of enjoying and recording. This final episode was recorded just before Christmas and before the Christmas dream was shattered for so many. For this plod, I headed out around Battersea park with former Olympic Rower and gold medalist Scott Durant. We chat a lot about his time at the olympics, how he felt when winning gold, the training that went into achieving this dream, what he is up to now and how he coped with this year and finally, some top tips for using the Ergo in the gym! I came back beaming after this run (the day we all felt miserable as London got put into Tier 4) so hopefully it will be a joy for you to listen to as well and lighten you mood today whilst out plodding. Enjoy listening.

In this episode, I head out on a steady plod along the Southbank, The Embankment and into Green park, with Chloe Guest, leader of RunTalkRun Hackney and North London. We will be talking about mental health and the safe space that running provides to enable people to open up and communicate better. We discuss the background to Run Talk Run, a community mental health group that offers mental health support, how anyone can get involved, Chloe's own involvement and relationship with running and the future for Run Talk Run. In addition to this, we will be talking about Ali Turpie, a friend who I ran with a couple weeks ago, to record a podcast and IGTV for his challenge 10k Turpie. The podcast however, which covered a very intense and in depth conversation about both of our mental health experiences, didn't record. We had devastating news the week of recording this episode with Chloe that Ali had suffered a stroke to the left side of his brain leaving him with verbal Apraxia; unable to speak. Having postponed the run with Chloe to process this, when the time felt better to meet Chloe, it was important for me to share Ali's challenge. To share the amazing message he has spread to so many people about the power of talking to each other and the impact it can have on building relationships and making us feel less alone. I want to dedicate this conversation with Chloe to Ali, and his family and friends. If you would like to donate to www.gofundme.com/f/mending-ali that would be amazing!

In this episode, Anna heads out plodding with Sam Heward, co-founder of Ultra X, an extreme multi-stage ultramarathon series for first timers, seasoned endurance athletes and elites, offering an opportunity and experience of a life time to challenge yourselves beyond the comfort zone and push yourself harder than ever before. Anna asks Sam about setting up the brand Ultra X, his own relationship and journey with running, the challenging nature of their events that they host, pushing out of the comfort zone to grow yourself, and tips on how you might do this with your running or own training.

Anna ventured out of South London for this plod and met up in Hyde Park with Will Hudson, mastermind and runner behind The athousandkilometrejourney, which you may have seen on Instagram. They chat about his amazing challenge of running 33.3km a day for 30 days of lockdown (and actually one extra day now!) to raise money for Crisis UK and Help Refugees Choose Love campaign. They talk about the challenge, the significance of the 33.3km distance, the reason for embarking on this challenge and many associated topics that Will is using this opportunity to raise awareness of. They discuss the physical challenge and how his body has coped, some top tips for conquering challenges and his future running goals. Enjoy listening!

Anna heads out on a plod around Wandsworth Common with Olivia Parker, Brand and Content Manager at Mindful Chef, and aka Healthy_Olivia on Instagram. Liv is a true foodie, interested in simple and delicious meals, but with a real emphasis on a balanced diet and the value of nutritious food. She loves fitness and is a fellow PT in the making. They talk about Mindful Chef, how eating behaviours may have changed as a result of the pandemic, nutrition and eating in the fitness world and some useful strategies on how we can all eat a bit more mindfully!

Anna meets up with Milo Royds, founder of Milo's Dog Running, a specialist dog walking business that is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for dogs through dog walking, running and daycare. He believes dogs are ‘born to run' and so is letting Anna accompany him out on Wimbledon Common for a pack run with his loveable four legged friends! If you love dogs and you love running, then stay tuned as this is just the episode for you!

Anna heads out plodding with fellow Milo trainer, Josh Cooper, around Tooting Common. They discuss his Masters in Sports Therapy (and how he fits it in around zoom), injury management and prevention, how the lockdowns have changed the fitness industry and Josh's predictions of what's next for Fitness. For the Milo Community, they discuss Milo Month, which entails setting mini goals for lockdown and helping each other be accountable for success of these! Christmas is also mentioned!