Helllooooo cheeky friends! Today we are going to discuss our learnings and insights into how best to stay healthy and run consistently without getting injured. We then introduce a new segment (drum roll!!!), The Run Down, which we think will be a crowd favourite and finish off with season two's first Weekly Weapon.
If you want to support the show, please follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts or on social media: Instagram, Tiktok, Cheeky Run Club Strava community, plus Phoebe's Strava and Anna's Strava.
Music produced by Hugh Raper
Logo design by Michael Cotellessa
Thank you for listening!
Helllooooo cheeky friends! Today we are going to discuss our learnings and insights into how best to stay healthy and run consistently without getting injured. We then introduce a new segment (drum roll!!!), The Run Down, which we think will be a crowd favourite and finish off with season two's first Weekly Weapon.
If you want to support the show, please follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts or on social media: Instagram, Tiktok, Cheeky Run Club Strava community, plus Phoebe's Strava and Anna's Strava.
Music produced by Hugh Raper
Logo design by Michael Cotellessa
Thank you for listening!
Cheeky Run Club recognizes that every day we live, work and run on Aboriginal land. Welcome to episode 12 of Cheeky Run Club, the social running podcast and community for your everyday amateur runner. Hello, Anna. And hello, listeners.
Anna:of running's thorniest and most philosophical questions, how to not get injured. We're going to break it down into five parts of insights and lessons that we think are imperative for a sustainable, enjoyable running life that will hopefully lead to less trips to the physio.
Phoebe:We're then going to introduce a new segment, The Rundown, which we think will be a crowd favourite and a new weekly weapon. We'll be crowned.
Anna:Exciting.
Phoebe:But first, let's kick off with our notable runs of the week. Give me your, give me your best run,
Anna:My best. Sorry, before we get into Notable Runs of the Week, can I just tell you, I'm so
Phoebe:the week, can
Anna:with how this morning's turned out. I really wanted a coffee before we recorded, but I didn't allow enough
Phoebe:didn't allow enough. Um,
Anna:I had my I made my coffee at home and then wedged it in my backpack between my breakfast and lunch and then rode my bike here. My laptop is also in the bag. And I was like, okay, this This is going to go one of two ways. Either I won't be able to record because my laptop's broken, or I won't be able to record because I haven't had my coffee. Um, but, no spillage. There's not one drop in my backpack.
Phoebe:so lucky and do you have a best run, or is
Anna:Oh yes. Best run. Best run. Oh my gosh. Do I have a best run? Last weekend I was down in Lawn on the coast, just an hour out of Melbourne and so my coach lives down there who.
Phoebe:Who
Anna:a little bit of a fangirl of
Phoebe:Anna has a crush.
Anna:I have a crush
Phoebe:crush on my coach. I'm going
Anna:On the off chance that she listens, that's so weird. Cut, cut, cut. She said, you can come run with, me and my group. But they're quite fast. Very fast. And I was like, oh, okay, well I will, but I'm also don't want to slow you guys down because I know that they do a trail run out the back of Anglesey, so either stay with them or get lost. Like, there's not really in between,
Phoebe:she was like,
Anna:I ran with her and then they were probably 10 other guys out through the national park behind the coast. And it was the most beautiful run. I managed to keep up,
Phoebe:Yeah, was it hard? Uh,
Anna:Uh, yeah, it was like a lot harder than our normal Saturday long runs. But it was fine. That's my best run. Best run of the year. Is
Phoebe:right? Yeah. Already? Or so far? So far. Oh, okay. So far. Um, and
Anna:But next time I run with Ellie, it might be the best run of the year. Yeah. Okay. what about you? What's your best run?
Phoebe:I think my best run was I'm going to say my session yesterday, not because it was like, I felt like incredible or anything, but because last week, both of our worst runs were, uh, like longer sessions and those listeners might remember, but I like hadn't fueled very well. And this week just made a lot more of a conscious effort to prepare for that run better. I had a bigger dinner the night before. tried to get to bed earlier, got up, had proper fuel beforehand, had a protein ready to go afterwards, and I could feel it in the run. Like I felt, I just felt so much stronger. it felt like I was running within myself a lot more, I was like, oh, this is pushing butt. Not overly. I felt fine. Like I felt really strong and smooth. So I'll take that as a win. Do you feel more rested
Anna:Yeah, I was about to ask you. Um, yes, definitely a lot more rested. I think even this morning I was going to get up and go for a run, but then I slept, which I think was a good idea. Yeah. Yeah. Also excited for a weekend of relaxation.
Phoebe:Do you want to tell everyone what your highlight of this weekend is going to be?
Anna:I'm going to buy a dressing gown.
Phoebe:Everyone thinks Anna celebrated her 30th birthday. She actually celebrated her 60th birthday.
Anna:She Yeah, I'm feeling much more rested. I'm
Phoebe:I'm feeling much more rested. I'm simultaneously feeling more rested and, um, feeling like maybe I'm about to get sick. Also my aura ring, which we're going to have to do it, episode on wearables at some point. But Aura Ring, for those who don't know, is a ring that you wear that kind of tracks a whole bunch of key metrics. and it can kind of give you an indication of how recovered or rested or otherwise you are. And I'm at my lowest that I've ever been having, yeah. Like
Anna:of scary
Phoebe:It's saying that I'm not recovering when I sleep, like my heart rate's staying really high and a few other things. So I'm like, okay, maybe I'm on the cusp of get the vitamins in. Um, but yeah, overall, much better rested than this time last week. Yeah. give me your worst run.
Anna:Worst run is an easy one. It's this Monday just gone. Were you on the, yeah,
Phoebe:Rude. Nah, I know exactly what you
Anna:I don't, yeah, I think so. I actually had a bit of a longer run for longer jog for a Monday. So it was like just upwards of an hour. And I think cause we didn't really have a route planned out. And then there were quite a few people doing shorter runs. I almost just felt like I was running in circles and it Went so slowly. Yeah. Yeah. What
Phoebe:you? Well, My worst I'm gonna give a ride. Oh? Yeah, I was riding home last
Anna:In the rain?
Phoebe:in the rain, um, and I was riding, up Church Street, which, for those people not in Melbourne, Church Street's a really busy street that goes through, a few suburbs, to get home, I just, ride up Church Street, and, it was, like, standstill traffic next to me, which is great, because you're riding past them, and you're like, oh, this is really good. And yeah, there was a road on my left and a car coming the other way was turning right and because it was Standstills traffic they obviously couldn't see me. And so they swung out in front of me and I was like, hit the brakes and my bike like skidded out and I like came off over the top of it and smacked the ground like right in front of the car and luckily he stopped like just in time and I was fine like I was like a bit I'm literally don't even have a scratch on me because it was really cold. So I was wearing like long jumper and everything, but it shook me up so much. I was so rattled. I like kind of like drag myself off the street because I was just cars everywhere and
Anna:Did anyone, like, get out
Phoebe:Yeah. The guy who nearly hit me pulled over and got out and I could tell he felt so bad. Like he, he was just like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I actually wasn't, I didn't even get mad at him cause I was like, I'm mostly, I was just so rattled and I was like trying to check sus out if I was okay, he was just trying to get across the road. It is really hard to say he probably should have stopped and watch for bikes, but the reality is no one does that. Like no one stops and looks at bikes And my like, chain was off and my seat had all spun around and everything and then he fixed it up and then I just walked home. Called my parents. Had a little cry because I was just like, so rattled. Luckily I'm fine. I do have quite a sore shoulder from where I landed on it. Yeah, worse, not quite. Run, but in that, in that Our main topic this week is how to not get injured. And today you're going to hear from not just one, but two experts on getting injured. Us. And we're going to try and keep our tips grounded in the reality, which is that, you know, we're both people who run, but also work full time and try and have social lives and all that sort of
Anna:By dressing
Phoebe:yeah, no longer have social lives. Admitted defeat on that front.
Anna:I hope it goes without saying that none of this is medical advice. Probably you could follow a lot of this and maybe still get injured. And between the two of us, we have learned so much here and we don't want to be hoarders of that knowledge. So we've put our heads together
Phoebe:and we don't
Anna:and come up with a few of our favorite tips to not get injured.
Phoebe:Yeah, we've had to pick our top tips. I think we had a list of about 20, but we've picked our top five, and this might need to be like a parter, I think. We might have a series of episodes of this at some point in time. but we're going to start with the fundamentals, we think. Yeah.
Anna:So the first is around running load, and I think just actually respecting the sport and the toll that running has on your body, which I feel like can sometimes be overlooked, especially when you're jogging it with all different other facets of your life. Um, so, yeah. Intensity versus mileage, this is something that I think you need to be in tune with is how much you're running overall and then how much of that is at quite a high intensity. Majority of your running should be at that low intensity, and I think That if you're increasing your load, but also increasing your intensity at the same time, that's when you like start to run into
Phoebe:intensity at the same time, you
Anna:running. Yeah. Like
Phoebe:of, that's when you like start to run into how much stress it's putting on your body can go in under this bucket of load. And so a practical example is like, sometimes when you start training for an event, you might increase the amount you're running a week, but you might also be increasing your sessions. And that's actually like doubling, that's like increasing your load and two different levers. and obviously it helps when you have a coach or often a training program tries to take this into consideration, but. Nowadays, I'll try and think about, or my coach will try and think about, Okay, well we're really increasing your sessions. So I'm actually going to like, maybe drop back a little bit of your other running a little bit, or keep it, keep that really stable for a while, and then we'll focus on increasing your mileage in a different way. Yeah,
Anna:yeah. And I think then similarly, if you're doing a lot of harder runs in terms of, like, the ground that you're on or the, like, hills. So, for instance, a trail run, like a 10 kilometre trail run is quite different to a 10 kilometre flat.
Phoebe:like flat
Anna:along the river. So I just like always think being a little bit more holistic in the way that you view you're running. and then also as well, I think like getting back to how you actually need to respect the sport. If you're, if you're not getting enough sleep, then. like as annoying as it is, maybe you do need to like reduce, the amount of times or just like the total kilometers that you're doing or like keep those up and maybe reduce the intensity that
Phoebe:just, like, the clicks that you're doing, or, like, keep those up, but maybe reduce the intensity of it. how much like stress you're carrying from work or other things that might be going on in your life if you're unwell. And so you have this running plan a lot of people have a running plan that's like, okay, I can just follow this. And you know, it's following a rough rule of thumb of maybe 10 percent max increase in mileage. per week Which, which would be considered a pretty like, you know, a good rule of thumb for how much you could increase your load each week. But if you if you're having a really stressful time in another way or something, some other factor is taking a toll on your body, then that also that's that those factors are all part of your overall like load. So I don't know about you, but I used to run through every sickness I had. Every time I had a cold, any kind of thing like that, I would run through it because I'd be like Oh, that's the pro,
Anna:That's my program, yeah. So yeah, that's something that I still struggle with. Um, I think, and, like, I need to get better at it, because I don't like the idea of, like, not doing
Phoebe:doing something. Yeah.
Anna:on my program. Um, so sometimes I sort of forget to take, like, all the other aspects of life.
Phoebe:of life to then be, to then sort of either reduce it or just miss it completely. Yeah. I guess
Anna:but I guess I even, um, talking about your worst run, ride of the week, like that's something that you should consider in the running, in your running, like today or tomorrow, as you said, like your shoulders a bit sore. So it's like, you might actually just be a little bit more stiff because obviously your body like stiffens up when you like go and like take a fall
Phoebe:like, take a fall.
Anna:of endured that trauma. It's so, like,
Phoebe:so, like, it's, this is the, what we always talk about with running, you're just always learning new
Anna:learning new things. Yeah. But, it, it
Phoebe:it does really force you to be so aware of checking in with your body and how it's feeling.
Anna:Yeah. I don't know,
Phoebe:I don't know, I think the risk, the risk for a lot of runners isn't that like you being too slack and you're just skipping sessions and skipping things because you can't be bothered, like obviously when you're in a period of like low motivation that can happen, but most of all with running it's the opposite and it's like pushing through when you shouldn't. And I think the two times
Anna:where
Phoebe:this is highest risk is for when you're coming back into running post injury. I think that is like the almost highest risk of injury for me has been when I've just been injured and I'm getting back into it. And even if I do increase my load pretty gently, I, I'm just not considering that it's such a big shift from what I was doing when I was injured.
Anna:such a big shift from what I was doing when I was injured.
Phoebe:actually linear.
Anna:The road back isn't actually linear in the sense that like your, your, whatever has been injured might sort of creep up again or something else, as you said, because it is a bit of a shock to the system because you haven't been doing it for however many weeks starts to, like get a little bit sore. And I think it's so easy. I mean, I've done this before to ignore that because you're like, no, I've been injured. I've done everything right. So
Phoebe:this
Anna:no, this, I'm like, I'm not getting injured, but at the, like, you don't have a choice. Yeah. Yeah. I think another, another area that people almost forget that. Toll that running has on your body is when people are getting into running and they're like quite excited about it. Most motivations high and they go from either not running at all or doing it sort of very infrequently to all of a sudden doing like maybe three, four runs a week, which is amazing. But I think That is like a really crucial point and which is like really super unfortunate.'cause I also think that's the time where people really fall in love with running or just sort of leave it and say like, not for me. Yeah. But I feel like that is such a like risky time period where you can get injured because you are like, a lot of the time you might be increasing, your. Yeah,
Phoebe:Yeah, massive amounts.
Anna:think that's when it's really important to make sure that, you know, you're kind of having a few days break in between, you're making sure that you're not just doing like hard run, hard run, hard run as like tempting as it may be.
Phoebe:that hard as, like, as easy as it may be. And some more practical advice here, beyond just, trying to pay more attention to your body is the one of just diversifying your runs to help, manage that load. So whether that's like doing runs, doing runs on heels, doing hilly sessions is actually like as hard as it is, is really good for your body because it's like you're getting that fitness without actually Getting the, like, impact that you get when you're doing, like, a big tempo session or
Anna:Yeah, yeah. I think as well running on different terrain.
Phoebe:so
Anna:so running on grass, running on gravel, as well as just if you're a city slicker like us, instead of just running on bitumen the whole time, cause that, they, it uses different muscles, tendons, it creates strength, like even there's so many, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but there's so many different like tendons and muscles in your face, and even just like. with the trails or the grass obviously you're probably landing a little bit differently and that's so good to have that diversity to like strengthen those and like use those smaller muscles that you might not necessarily use if you're just
Phoebe:like,
Anna:the like flat road all the
Phoebe:muscles that you might not necessarily use if you're just running on a flat road all the time. And then I moved to Melbourne, and it's all on concrete, pretty much, exclusively. And I got a bunch of injuries. And we figured out it was just because I had gone from running on really soft terrain to, like, really hard, kind of unforgiving terrain. Yeah,
Anna:so sort of getting back to, the intensity versus mileage and increasing your running. I think a huge factor that helps with not getting injured is having down weeks. We should probably, define what we mean by a downweight. Like what is the down way.
Phoebe:Yeah, a downlink is basically just a week where your load is significantly less from the average load you've been running for the past couple of weeks.
Anna:and that's like mileage and intensity.
Phoebe:It might be, you know, half the amount or two thirds the amount of what you've been running. And it's just an opportunity to absorb the load of the previous weeks.
Anna:and so, I really think having that down week, it's like that adaptation process, so you can reap the rewards
Phoebe:the rewards. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's like an absorption week. Yeah. Like, that's kind of how people talk about it. What I have like experience with down weeks is that it gives your body just a chance to consolidate the training of the previous month or previous couple of weeks, absorb it and then you can get back to it. And you don't necessarily feel heaps more recovered or anything like that, but it just long term decreases that risk of the load, building up and building up and you getting injured. Well,
Anna:yeah, because. Like on that science y side, when you're trained and you're running a lot, you're like breaking down your muscles. So you actually need that sort of like adaptation like downweight time for the muscles to. Recover like literally put themselves together and become stronger in order to gain the reward of the training that you've done. If you just continue to train hard and hard and hard, you're just breaking down the muscles and not allowing them to fully recover. Um, and then you're not going to see a change in your fitness or anything.
Phoebe:the other way that I think down weeks can be really useful is something that we haven't talked about much. does impact a lot of runners is what we'd probably call running burnout,
Anna:is
Phoebe:which is like, it's not an injury per se, but it's when you sort of just plateau in your running and you find that like you, every run feels hard, you're pushing yourself really hard, but you're not seeing any results and seeing any improvement and you're just in this hole of like,
Anna:and
Phoebe:and more work but your body's too tired you're not absorbing it basically and so a down week can really help like reset everything refresh and then you can keep going
Anna:going. Yeah. Yeah, I know even it's like a mental refresh as well. Like I, particularly if I'm tired with all other aspects of life, like I view a down week. It's actually nice to kind of have that like reset and be like, okay, I've done all this work. Now I can chill a little bit.
Phoebe:a little bit, and just
Anna:reset mentally and then be ready to go again. Yeah. Otherwise, I just feel like as you were speaking to before, with the burnout, you just feel like everything's just a slog. Yeah.
Phoebe:it can be frustrating because you're like, I should be feeling so fit, like I've been doing all this running, I've been so consistent, but it just feels really hard.
Anna:almost the opposite.
Phoebe:Yeah. And one of the best ways to institute down weeks into your training and your training blocks is to have little races, like in the lead up to if you're training for a big race. So something that, people talk about quite a bit, if they have a main race that they're training for is having in the months leading up to it, a few like B races or like races where you're not as concerned about like hitting a big PD or anything like that. They're kind of just practice races. Yeah. Yeah,
Anna:Yeah. And I think it, again, it's good to break up their training cycle a little bit. Like for instance, we're doing the Berlin Marathon as we've spoken about many times. but in the lead up to that, like there's such a long period of time between now and then if you were, if I was to only do that, I would, I would just feel so overwhelmed by the amount of training. Whereas like I'm doing a. half marathon next weekend out in Ballarat, and then we'll do another one on the Gold Coast, in another couple of months. And just those like little, they're like goals within a goal kind of thing. And it just means that the broader picture, isn't quite intimidating. And as well, I think, because obviously, I mean, we're trying to tell you how to not get injured, but at the end of the day, people do get injured. I think it also takes the pressure off a little bit. If you have these go, if you have these races that you're, you don't mind, like you're not as focused on about like hitting a target or it's not like your main aim. But if you can do those, even if then, like you unfortunately get injured and can't do the main race, at least you've done something, done a few things like throughout that training block, to make things worthwhile. Otherwise, I feel like it can just be like so demotivating.
Phoebe:you train for like six months or
Anna:And then you might get injured the month before. Whereas if you've done like a few little races. in the like two months, three months leading up to it. At least you can say, Oh, well, you know, like, I'm bummed out, but at least I could do those.
Phoebe:and the way that races actually work as a down week, cause that actually might sound a bit counterintuitive, but when you have a race, you obviously have a week or so of tapering beforehand where you're running much less in the lead up to the race. You then have your race, like a good fast heat out, and then you have, you know, a few days off afterwards where you just rest in recovering and then you kind of slowly ease back into it. So it ends up being like kind of two. Down weeks almost and you practice all the race specific stuff, the fueling, the clothes, all that
Anna:of thing, like getting up early. Yeah. I think as well with the, like the down weeks that we keep talking about, I sometimes, I feel like I used to more so I'd see a down week and be like. sick, let's
Phoebe:fit
Anna:fit a million other things in
Phoebe:not running
Anna:I'm not running as much. Which is obviously so fine to do, but getting back to respecting the sport a little bit, I think you need to,
Phoebe:like, if
Anna:If you are having down weight, maybe take the time that you were going to be running to go to a yoga class or do something that's like going to be good for your body and like promote. That recovery.
Phoebe:Yeah, like, how can you give your body the best chance
Anna:Yeah. And like, I say that because
Phoebe:because what
Anna:what I mean is I feel like, yeah, I might have a down week. So I'm like, I'm not running as much. I'm going to go out
Phoebe:yeah.
Anna:and probably end up, um, more tired than if I was to just do my normal running week.
Phoebe:have a down week from your down
Anna:Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I don't know. I think as well, it's like a good time. If you feel like. your strength can be like, needs to be worked on or you are feeling stiff. So something like yoga, it's a really good time as well to like focus on something
Phoebe:and like
Anna:and like give it that time.
Phoebe:I love that. Get a massage or something.
Anna:Get a massage. Hmm. Um,
Phoebe:Um, so we've talked about managing your load. We've talked about having down weeks. We're now going to talk about a big one, which is respecting the niggle. Mm.
Anna:niggle.
Phoebe:What does that mean, Anna?
Anna:niggle?
Phoebe:a niggle? How do you define a niggle?
Anna:Yeah, that's a So I would say a niggle is the interim period between being pain free, um, and not thinking about how like a specific part of your body is feeling on a run, and Getting injured to the degree that you actually can't run anymore. So it's like quite a big area where it's you know that something's not quite right. It might be awareness or it might be a little bit more pain. and if you're running a lot, You actually, they're normal, like you get them all the time. Yeah, because there's always a little bit of an imbalance or something's a little bit tight. where you're not quite sure whether
Phoebe:you can
Anna:you can ignore it or you should seek medical advice and actually take a rest and like maybe have a few days off running. And I think figuring out.
Phoebe:when, like, the
Anna:When, like the, I'm like no expert in this at all, like the proof is in the pudding. But like, I find it so hard to navigate between when it's okay to kind of like run through a niggle and when you should be calling it quits and having a rest.
Phoebe:Yeah, it's such a grey area. I think, I kind of think of niggles as like, your body just being like, Hey, like something's not quite right
Anna:right
Phoebe:And sometimes,
Anna:yeah. Yoo hoo!
Phoebe:sometimes that goes away. I would say for it to qualify as a niggle in my mind, it has to kind of be consistent across maybe two or three runs. Obviously we're talking about also mild pain
Anna:A niggle
Phoebe:Niggle is always mild pain. If it is like intense pain, yeah, it's not a niggle
Anna:Yeah,
Phoebe:That's an injury. or you know, it's something just to take a lot more seriously. But yeah, I think,
Anna:it's
Phoebe:it's your body telling you that something's a little bit off. And I would say,
Anna:two
Phoebe:My last two niggles, I finally feel like I've managed them really
Anna:yeah, so last year it was my hip, and
Phoebe:yeah, so last year was my end of last year was my hip.
Anna:my hip.
Phoebe:My hip just got really tight and I probably could have acted on a little bit quicker. It probably took me like two weeks to do something about it. Cause I was like, Oh, I hadn't had a hip issue in ages. So I wasn't like really quick to act on it. But then I was able to go and see a physio, identify that it was like hip flexor related, and it got a lot worse when I did sessions. And so I had four or five weeks where I actually didn't do any sessions, but I still was able to run. I pulled back my load a little bit, but I was still able to run. And I just got heaps of massages, went on some anti inflammatories and then really gradually ease back into the session. So once or twice my coach would put in like a test session, like just do some strides basically. And then we checked in afterwards and I was like, nah, it's still kind of not great. And so we'd give it another week and then. And that being like six or seven weeks in total till I was like back doing proper sessions, but I never had to like really step back from running. And sure, I might've lost a bit of fitness, but overall it was fine. And then, yeah, the other one was the calf, which is actually a nerve issue that I've had a bunch of times before. And so I feel like I knew the drill, which is get massaged. And then basically it's all about my back. And like, how can I stop my back from tightening up? Which again, like, a bit of rest and massage and anti inflammation kind of sorted it out.
Anna:I would, I think that the, the main, Things to remember when you do have a niggle, to get through them successfully and by successfully, I mean, maybe, you know, taking a few days off running, but it not impacting you, in the sense that you have to have like a month or two months off running and they don't follow through to being like a full blown injury. I think it takes a lot of discipline, and lot of accountability to be super objective about your like. niggle. and I often think, well I'm trying, I try to think now, like what would I tell my friend to
Phoebe:do?
Anna:Because I feel like it's so much easier, if you were like, oh my calf's a bit sore, just like doesn't really feel quite right and you're still running, I'd be like, Yeah. Right, just. stop, like try again in a couple of days. Whereas I think it's like quite hard sometimes yourself because you're like, one, you're like, Oh, well, I don't want to. Two, you're like, kind of second guessing yourself. You're like, is it sore or is it not sore? And then you're like, Oh, is my pain threshold really low? Like, I wonder if this was someone else, if they would be thinking the same
Phoebe:Yeah. Yeah. Or you might be like, Oh, look, I've got a race in three weeks. I'm tapering in two weeks. I just
Anna:I just kind of need to get through it. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And I like that I pretend it's
Phoebe:Yeah. But yeah, respecting the niggle is an, it's an art. It's an art as much as a science. Like you need to pay attention to those things and not just be running through them. And I think you also need to reflect on like, in your injury history? Where do you tend to get sore? People generally have areas that are like risk areas for whatever reason. And so then being like hyper aware of those areas, probably important as well.
Anna:Yeah,
Phoebe:so we're going to move into our new segment, the rundown. Um, I wanted to do like, I kind of had this idea last night. I was like, maybe I'll like record a little jingle of that little intro, the rundown, and then I'll play it down as a surprise. But I, I didn't,
Anna:I'll just surprise her like, on
Phoebe:little jingle for the rundown. So, the rundown
Anna:the rundown is where we'll join in the conversation on running current affairs. This could be running in the news, some element of running subculture that we want to dissect, or we might respond to some of the hot takes. That's, Alison, send
Phoebe:uh, I was gonna say. And I feel like, I
Anna:Yeah, so what have you got for me?
Phoebe:I was only made aware of this yesterday, we're recording this on Friday. So when it comes out on Monday, it'll be sometime the previous week, USA released their track and field kit for, the Olympics. And there's been a massive controversy. We'll put a photo of this on our Instagram so you can have a look and know what we're talking about. But one of the women's kit that they've chosen to, spotlight as the women's kit is so high cut.
Anna:cut than any high cut bikini I own.
Phoebe:Like high cut at the
Anna:Yeah, yeah. There's not a lot of material. Um, I mean, there's not a lot of material covering your vagina,
Phoebe:of material.
Anna:put
Phoebe:vagina. So, yeah, we'll put it, Basically, the, the lash back has been, well in part, like, why are women wearing, like, why do women wear so much less than men? Surely whatever is most efficient biomechanically is probably not that different between, like, why do women wear those little undies in the first And, like, can there be more optionality there? And then, like, why are we leaning into the skimpiness
Anna:So I honestly think a lot of the time it's a comfort thing. I remember speaking to my coach and her saying that she actually way prefers running in, I think, I don't know, you call them briefs or bloomers. She reckons they were so much more comfortable, than running in, um, But then, I feel like we should make shorts that are functional
Phoebe:But then, I feel like we should make shorts that are functional for women. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because, because on, I don't know, I mean outside of running, I think it was in beach volleyball. There was this massive thing where women tried to be like, it was compulsory for them to wear really skimpy bikinis and they, there was one team that like, really pushed back against it and then I think they got cut from some competition and
Anna:wasn't, I'm pretty sure it was the last Olympics
Phoebe:Yeah, some Scandinavian team
Anna:yeah,
Phoebe:I think
Anna:think the thing to acknowledge though, probably with this uniform is that like doing a little bit more research on it is that this is like one of the outfits that they can wear. And there's like,
Phoebe:twenty other outfits
Anna:other outfits that they can wear. So it's not as though it's like this or nothing. They do have a heap of other options, but I do think it's an odd one to pick to spotlight the uniform. I mean, maybe, maybe it's just super unfortunate the person who's put this costume on the mannequin has just put it on really
Phoebe:who's like put this costume on the mannequin has just like, put it on really weirdly. they don't look like that on real people because the picture is on a mannequin. And actually we know it's true that like mannequins don't follow normal body proportions. But at the same time, I'm like, why did you choose this picture? It's so stark when you look at it, you're like, Whoa, what is going on
Anna:I even just think it might be as minor as whoever was dressing the mannequin stuffed
Phoebe:I don't, I reckon, I don't reckon they would've
Anna:I don't reckon they would have.
Phoebe:picture was
Anna:maybe chosen that picture. That picture was probably
Phoebe:then
Anna:floating around. And then other journalists or whoever, like, this is quite clickbaity. Let's pick this one and run with it and title it
Phoebe:Yes. yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. The first look. But
Anna:you enjoyed the rundown.
Phoebe:Mmm. But yeah, I hope you enjoyed the first segment of the rundown. If you have anything that you'd like to hear our thoughts on, send us a DM on Instagram. what are you seeing? What are you reading about in the running world? We are keen to keep up. Yes.
Anna:yes we are. Now, back to
Phoebe:favorite segment. I
Anna:Our favorite segment.
Phoebe:actually is our
Anna:I can't say that. Um, So the reason why we're laughing is because the survey that we put out. at the end of season one, we asked people what their favorite segment was And the one that we always introduce as our favorite segment was the least favorite for everyone else, which is. The weekly
Phoebe:Weekly Weapon. Anyway, so the Weekly Weapon
Anna:yeah, so the weekly weapon is now, it's just gonna, it's the
Phoebe:just the Weapon. And we only use it on special occasions. Yes. Yeah.
Anna:so the weekly weapon of this week is a woman called Jill Young. She only started running in COVID, similar to a lot of other people that were stuck in the Melbourne lockdown to actually get outside, and be able to sort of like roam around without a mask. and from there she started enjoying it more. but the reason why we want to share a spotlight on her this week is because on the weekend she hosted an event. At the botanical gardens called run the tan for Sam. and this is in memory of Samantha Murphy, who was, uh, Ballarat woman, which is a town a couple of hours out of Melbourne, that set out for her Sunday morning jog a few weeks ago, and was killed. So I just want to read out her intro speech, because I just think it was so moving and I feel like a lot of our listeners will be able to resonate with
Phoebe:our
Anna:so, the Run the Tan for Sam introduction speech. There are no doubt different reasons for you coming today. Many of these, I'm sure, are personal, but I just thought I'd share with you why I initiated this run. I didn't know Samantha, but I feel in some ways I am like her. COVID. Like many women, I don't like gyms, and also like many women, I feel self conscious running in public. But despite this, I run anyway. When women run, we put ourselves first. We ignore that we take on more of the domestic tasks. We ignore that we get paid less than men. We ignore that we do most of the caring within the home and within our community. And we ignore that we, women, are at a greater risk of physical and sexual assault. When women run or exercise in public, we carve out time and we care for ourselves. We tell ourselves we care, I care, I matter, and my health matters. When Samantha set off for her run, this is what she was doing. What happened to Samantha, from what we can tell, has had some female runners want to reduce their exercise outside, and I understand that. But what I hope today demonstrates is that there is an army of women around you doing just the same as you, and feeling what you do. I hope you feel empowered to take up space in public and know that you have just as much right as any man to be there. I hope today will inspire you to keep running as the more women who do it, the safer it will be. So for today, I run the tan for Sam, but I also run it for all of the women here and all of the women who run who aren't here. Thank you again for coming along. Go well and keep exercising in public places.
Phoebe:all of the women who run who aren't here. again for coming along. well, and keep exercising yeah, I don't know when you first sent me that speech, I like teared up when I
Anna:it Yeah.
Phoebe:because Jill does such an amazing job of articulating some of the barriers that women face, even stepping out the door
Anna:Yeah.
Phoebe:go for a run. Yeah, yeah. And that it is such a
Anna:then
Phoebe:hard that is to do and then how just much more tragic that makes the whole thing with Sam Murphy. It's just yeah, it's extremely sad.
Anna:Yep. Well done,
Phoebe:Well done,
Anna:done, Jill.
Phoebe:okay, I think that's it for episode 12. Thank you so much for tuning in as always. we would love it if you could support us by following us on socials, Instagram and TikTok. TikTok.
Anna:tock tock. Yes, at Cheeky Run Club. and we're very excited to say that on the day that this is coming out, we'll be announcing, the winner of the, head to toe, Up There Athletics outfits, from someone who completed the end of season one survey. so thanks to everyone for responding. I think we got nearly 800 responses to the survey, which is just like amazing. Also a lot of data to work through, but thank you so much. And also a big shout out to Up There Athletics, for giving the lucky winner this outfit. So yes, we'll be in
Phoebe:yes, we will be in your ears
Anna:Yep. Yep. You might be,
Phoebe:you might be. You might,
Anna:maybe from your mom or dad.
Phoebe:Um, I
Anna:all right. Thank you so much. And we can't wait to be in your ears next week.
Phoebe:week. Bye!
Anna:her like,
Phoebe:I was going to sing like, Welcome to the rundown. Go
Anna:run. Come on, do it. Go.
Phoebe:Um, Welcome to the rundown.
Anna:rundown. Gonna run you
Phoebe:run you down.
Anna:No, we're keeping that in. We'll work on that. We'll work