Welcome to episode 150 of the Women’s Running podcast. Esther Newman and Holly Taylor, your hosts, begin this episode talking about parenting guilt, self care, trying to impress our other halves with taking the bins out, and feminism. 10K training We also talk about training for a 10K . Holly is concerned it might be harder than a half – as it’s supposedly faster than a half marathon. And she’s never run a 10K race! So we launch into how we should train for it, and how we should frame it in orde...
Jun 28, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Welcome to episode 149 of the Women’s Running Podcast, hosted by Esther Newman and Holly Taylor. We have a lot to talk about this episode, not least a bunch of unrelated stuff about online shopping and game shows that we’ve packed off into an extra podcast for everyone on the Cheer Squad tier on Patreon (patreon.co.uk/womensrunning). Coming soon! 80/20 running For the rest of us, we’re talking about the 80/20 method and how that’s working out for us – again we’re finding the easier running very ...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 149
Welcome to episode 148 of the Women’s Running podcast. Because it’s pretty hot right now, and layers are being discarded, we launch into body positivity – or at least the wish for body neutrality that we both want. Slow running We’re also still talking about slow running, as that’s been a topic of interest since our last podcast. Esther has attempted to follow an 80/20 plan this past week, and she has some thoughts on that. Garmin hacks After our usual random chat, we introduce the lovely Anne Q...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 148
Welcome to episode 147 of the Women’s Running Podcast. We get straight into it this week with a spot of imposter syndrome, which is something both Esther and Holly feel a *lot*, especially when it comes to running. Slow running We then charge into the idea of slow running and how it can affect our pace and endurance and our health much more positively than the usual running we do, which tends to be staying vaguely in heart rates zone 3 and 4. We discuss how hard this it is to run slower. Better ...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 147
This episode is brought to you by the triple whammy that is hot running, half term juggling and booze. Running in the summer Now that the sun's out, we talk about sunscreen and sweat, and finding the elusive sun block that doesn’t sting. We also talk about dehydration in the heat, and how to prevent that, which brings us neatly to our next point. Running and alcohol We talk about managing moderate drinking and training, and how that’s tricky especially in the summer when you may have more social...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 146
Welcome to episode 145 of the Women’s Running podcast. We start this issue talking injuries ! A runner’s favourite subject, right? Running injuries We’re chatting about all the injuries that we’re suffering from, and most of them have been on Esther’s hit list: from runner’s knee to ITB irritations, weird toe things, and a pulled quad. Plus, also, as ever, lower back issues. A catalogue of running disasters. Running injury cures But we come bearing good news, because Esther has been to the chiro...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 145
Welcome to episode 144 of the Women’s Running Podcast with your hosts Esther Newman and Holly Taylor. In this episode, we delve into various topics, including Eurovision, running injuries , mental health, weight and running , and finding the balance between gentle and punishing running practices. Eurovision Debrief We start with Eurovision, because that’s the way we roll. Yes, we’re going to talk about running, but we need to prioritise here. Of *course* Holly is hugely invested in this, but it ...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 144
In this episode, we’ve moved on from training for a marathon , to recovery from that marathon , and ploughed straight into injuries . Injury prevention Esther has got a catalogue of them, and what we’re discussing here is, is it common to fall prey to injuries once you’ve completed a marathon – not in your training block, and not on the day itself, but afterwards, when you’re slowly beginning to start running again. And it sounds like it’s a resounding yes, as many of you have already responded ...
May 10, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 143
In episode 142 of the Women’s Running Podcast, Esther and Holly talk about recovery and finding new joy in exercise regimes. It’s a week after the London Marathon , and this episode is a load more joyful than episode 141, because Esther is no longer in huge physical and emotional pain! We talk about running and routines and how we discover ourselves again after we’ve achieving huge running goals like, for instance, a marathon. Muscle soreness We also discuss marathon recovery – you have to liste...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 142
It’s time for the London Marathon debrief. At time of recording, it’s the morning after the day before, and Esther feels a bit broken. London Marathon and recovery We need to talk about marathon recovery here, which we’ll go into more next episode of the Women’s Running podcast, bearing in mind how blue many of us will feel in the days after a big race, for so many reasons. Periods and hormones And then, hormones. Because of one thing and another, Esther was running the day before her period. Th...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 141
Welcome to episode 140 of the Women's Running Podcast, hosted by Esther Newman and Holly Taylor. In this episode, we discuss Holly's exciting weekend and hanxiety which leads us to talk about our usual state of generalised anxiety in the face of challenges, especially with the London Marathon just around the corner. London Marathon Taper and Dealing with Anxiety Esther shares her nervousness about the upcoming London Marathon and being in the taper phase, which involves less running and more eat...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 140
Today, we’ve got a couple of things to get off our respective chests, running-wise. We talk about how running with other people can be “unexpectedly good” for those of us who tend not to. We also chat about time management and my favourite topic, emotional load. You can get a lot more of this sort of thing if you subscribe to Women’s Running magazine btw, currently with a stupendous offer of 3 issues for the price of 2. Bargain. Running hates We also return to one of favourite ever previous sect...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 139
I start with the chaos in my life at the moment, and because that’s included a trip to A&E, I have a little weep within about five minutes. While it isn’t directly running related, it is something I wanted to talk about in the context of the emotional mental load that women so often carry. I’d be really interested to hear what you think about with. But It’s an important topic to discuss because the fact remains that we are the ones that carry the majority of that load, and how on earth do we...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 138
Welcome to episode 137 of the Women’s Running Podcast. I am your host Esther Newman, and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. We’ve got a lot to get through this episode, not least because of the reaction to my controversial parkrun comments last episode, so of course that means we spend the first 20 minutes discussing Oodies for kids and British Summer Time. London Marathon Then we truck on with some dedicated running chat. I’ve just completed my penultimate long run before the London Marathon –...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 137
We launch into this episode with a dabble in what Holly’s been doing with her running, but then swiftly into a controversial topic: and that’s parkrun . And we want to know what you think: do you love it? Or are you a little more ambivalent? Parkrun ponderings Don’t get me wrong here, we both know how brilliant parkrun is, it’s bloody wonderful and it has singlehandedly persuaded countless people to move their bodies and to enjoy the feeling of running who wouldn’t otherwise have done so – and i...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 136
This episode is all about recovery ! I ask Holly what she’s been doing to recover from the Paris Half and, without consulting a single google search, it sounds like Holly is doing all the best things. Resting up She’s doing exercise for the fun of it, rather than for a goal, and she’s also been eating and drinking for pleasure and whenever she damn well wants. The trick here, however, is to view your recovery as something that’s just as important as your last few weeks’ training, because it’s yo...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 135
This is a very special episode indeed, so it makes sense to release it on International Women’s Day. To be fair, in a roundabout way, we celebrate women in every episode, but this one has real significance. Pod goes live We recorded a portion of this episode live in front of an actual audience. This was in Paris, an hour or so after we ran the Paris Half Marathon with 50 Pod Squad listeners, thanks to Sports Tours International. We gathered together with a glass of something chilled in a not ver...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 134
In this episode we’re covering everything from anxiety and post-covid concerns to half marathon techniques and long run disasters . Paris half marathon New coffee addict Holly is buzzing about caffeine, but also about our Paris half marathon coming up in just a few days. We’re both enormously excited, but also extremely nervous. Holly’s training isn’t where she’d like it to be, so we figure out some easier Jeff splits for her (find out more about walk/running ) and she tries to calm her anxious ...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 133
Holly opens this pod giddy with a recent purchase – while I’m not entirely positive that she’s target market, I am absolutely NOT judging. Jeffing Moving on to actual running, Holly has made the decision that she’s going to definitely walk/run Paris , and all her confidence has come back in droves, in no small part due to all the messages she received after the last episode. She had been feeling so stressed and so ill, and was so unsure about everything. But she has now faced up to her anxieties...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 132
Welcome to episode 131 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman, and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. This episode is all about illness and recovery , because Holly is firmly in the doldrums, in terms of her physical training, but also her overall health and the impact that’s having on her mental health. Running therapy So it turns into a bit of therapy session between us, to which you are all cordially invited. Holly is finding herself enormously stressed about our impendi...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Welcome to episode 130 of the Women’s Running Podcast, sponsored by Runna . Holly is talking health and mental health . Both have taken a bit of a pounding over the past month and it’s overwhelmed her training and exercise schedule, no matter how hashtag-be-kind she’s been to herself. Menopause I’ve had a big old menopause symptom and it’s made me feel like SHIT, so I fess up all of it, which has taken a bit of courage because we know that not only do you lot listen but so do our bosses! Anyway....
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 130
Welcome to episode 129 of the Women’s Running Podcast. This week, we are sponsored by Runna . We have a LOT to talk about today. We’ve got to cover off training for the Paris Half , insecurities about that training, motivations for running in the first place, menopausal symptoms and, lastly, figs. Half marathon training So first of all we chat about Holly’s training for the half . She’s having all the wobbles about Paris, post Covid . Her long runs haven’t quite hit the mark, although she has be...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 129
Welcome to episode 128 of the Women’s Running Podcast – this episode is sponsored by Runna . We launch right into it, with some vegan nonsense, but then very quickly we move on to the National Running Show, which we attended at the weekend in Birmingham. We had an absolute blast, we saw so many of you Pod Squadders, and are just giddy with the happiness of it all. We talk here about just some of the brilliant people we met, about Holly getting the spooks in her hotel room, dog biscuits, flapjack...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 128
This episode is again bought to you by the powers of Covid. I’ve picked it up for the first time, unfashionably late to the party as ever. Apologies here for covid coughing throughout. We talk through health anxiety, symptoms, and worrying about the unknown. We also have a chat about the guilt of missing out on training through illness. Veganism Moving on from covid, we talk about our ongoing experiments with veganism, which are mostly positive with a few tofu pitfalls. This, unsurprisingly, seg...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 127
Welcome to episode 126 of the Women’s Running Podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman, and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. This episode is our first chat since Christmas so we’re a bit giddy with it. Hol has had a bit of a cruddy start to the new year, and it’s mostly Covid based. It’s obviously knocked her training a bit, and she’s been worried about the Paris Half as a result – something I think that will resonate, with so many of us getting bugs at this time of year. If you need help with th...
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 126
Happy new year to all you lovely listeners! We start off today as usual, with me complaining – this time it’s about my back pain, which went a bit crazy just before Christmas. All good now, though. Aside from that, it’s a corker of an episode as today we’re talking to Laura Barnhouse, nutritionist, PT and friend of the pod. Diet culture We’re after a bit of a health rejig in January, even if we are all perfect already ( which we are ), so we hauled Laura in to help us do exactly that, and to tal...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 125
This episode we have the wonderful Molly from the Simply Vegan podcast (and also from our company, so we know her well and have got hugely drunk with her – we are mates!) to chat to us about all things plant-based before we head into Veganuary . We start off by discussing our past drunkenness, but quickly move on to actual food. Running food We discuss what we’re eating for Christmas – even though this is, as we all know, what Holly refers to as our ‘perineum episode’. So our tenses are all over...
Dec 28, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 124
Welcome to episode 123 of the Women’s Running Podcast. I am your host Esther Newman and she is your other host Holly Taylor. We start today with Bake Off, which might seem like a bit old hat, but we’re talking about new things, I promise. Then, obviously, we move on to favourite TV comedies, before eventually settling on Christmas. Because, like it or not, it’s Christmas and there is no rest for the wicked. Or the runners . Running Quiz While we loosely chat about the running we’ve been doing (w...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 123
Welcome to episode 122 of the Women’s Running podcast. I am your host Esther Newman, and she is your other host Holly Taylor. We’re kicking off with some advent calendar content, just so Hol can eat some chocolate live on the pod. Injuries Meanwhile, I’m being a Moaning Myrtle cos I’ve done my back in, and take the opportunity to talk about it here at great length (Anna McNuff did something similar last year and has brilliant advice about injury prevention ). While it’s not a running injury per ...
Dec 14, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 122
Welcome to episode 121 of the award-winning Women’s Running podcast! I am your host Esther Newman, and she is your other host Holly Taylor. We recorded this on the 1st December, so we’re in the middle of some strong Advent content. We then slowly move on to our very excitable chat about our big award win. We are chuffed to bits that the Women’s Running Podcast – this podcast you’re currently listening to - has been voted Podcast of the Year for the second year in a row, and we have a lovely pink...
Dec 07, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 121
