Helllooooo cheeky friends! Happy Monday! We often say that running is forever teaching us lessons on and off the track so today we are going to discuss our learnings and insights about what running has taught us recently. We then answer TWO listener questions about running through sickness and how to introduce strength work from home.
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! Happy Monday! We often say that running is forever teaching us lessons on and off the track so today we are going to discuss our learnings and insights about what running has taught us recently. We then answer TWO listener questions about running through sickness and how to introduce strength work from home.
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 recognises that every day we live, work and run on Aboriginal land. Welcome to episode 15 of Cheeky Run Club, the social running podcast and community for your everyday amateur runner. Hello, Phoebe.
Phoebe:Anna.
Anna:And hello, listeners.
Phoebe:Today we are chatting about things we've learned running recently. So Anna and I have been doing some reflecting about the things that we've learned or continue to learn about running and through running about ourselves and life in general.
Anna:We're then going to finish off by answering two listener questions on strength training and running when sick. But first, let's kick it off with our notable runs. Okay, worst.
Phoebe:so, um, my worst was Tuesday morning when we did our track session. Mm hmm. And that's because on the weekend, which may come up in a, uh, another, um,
Anna:In another, in another notable run.
Phoebe:another Notor run, we ran at Fernie, which is, about an hour out of Melbourne. And it's very hilly and it was so hard. And, I was kind of okay on the day after and even on the Monday, but on the Tuesday I got like DOMS and my quads were so tight and sore and I was kind of, I was looking at my program on Monday night cause I could feel it coming on. I was like, Oh, my body's just feeling really tired especially like, cause the week before was really big energy wise, not even running wise particularly, but I was already feeling like a bit drained and I was looking at my program and I had like a, an easier session than usual on Tuesday, My coach had given me paces, which is pretty rare. And they'd been clearly paces that were intending to get me to go a bit slower. So I was like, great. I'll just
Anna:Yeah, I remember you saying like, it'll be like, nice little
Phoebe:yeah. And it was so demoralizing how hard I found it. Like even those paces, which I should have found. much cruisier. I was struggling to hit them. I like couldn't quite get there. And so, and also my heart rate was like, I reckon 10 or 15 beats a minute higher than usual. Like, I was working really hard. So yes, um, that was demoralizing. And then also we, as per usual, got coffee afterwards and I sat down for a while. And then the call down home, I was just in all sorts. I was like creaking off,
Anna:freaking out. I was like, you actually, you don't leave so close that it's just
Phoebe:I know.
Anna:around the
Phoebe:It's like, it's like two and a half Ks. Like, I've really got to like warm up again. Um, and I just did it and I felt like creaky and I like went home and I was like, I need to have a big like rollout
Anna:out. I didn't,
Phoebe:I didn't, but I thought I registered in my head that I needed to. Um, what was your worst run?
Anna:was yours? I
Phoebe:I know which one you're going to say.
Anna:have to say. I think it was on Sunday. On Sunday, I didn't
Phoebe:10 minutes, you're like, Oh, I can't believe we're still going.
Anna:I know. So Pheebs and I, yeah, this isn't even my worst run. We went for a run on Sunday afternoon together. and we'd had a big day night the day before. And yeah, I was like, Gosh, we've only gone a K,
Phoebe:Yeah, yeah. I was like, oh
Anna:my God, we've only gone two Ks.
Phoebe:Anna is not enjoying this run.
Anna:no, my worst run was yesterday. So Thursday, I'm doing a cross country race on tomorrow, actually.
Phoebe:So exciting.
Anna:know, so yes, um, part of the Geelong cross country team, go pussycats, but did a little session just like solo and I knew it was a small session, so similar, so I kind had this mindset. I don't, it's almost like you get a bit cocky. I was doing these six minutes. reps and normally on a Thursday cause I do a bit of a longer session. I might do four or even five anyway, and yesterday I just had two. So I was like, Oh, I only got two. This is going to be a walk in the park and I started and I was like, Oh God,
Phoebe:Oh no!
Anna:it was fine. I think it was more just like a mental thing. Cause in my head, I'm like, this is barely anything. But then when I was running, I'm like, Oh no, it's still actually like,
Phoebe:Six minutes. It's still,
Anna:Yeah, it's still six minutes. Six minutes is a lot of seconds.
Phoebe:you want to explain about the cross country, what's involved with the cross country
Anna:Oh yeah. So this
Phoebe:I feel like
Anna:to be a funny, yeah, this is going to be a funny explanation cause I don't really know, but essentially, so in Victoria, they have this cross country series and you can be a part of an athletics club and I think there might be eight to 10 races or something like over the few months of winter. And they're all in like different locations. Some are relays, some are not. They're all sort of different, distances as well.
Phoebe:did relays.
Anna:the relays, the relays is like the reason why I do it because it's so fun. So, cause you do just, I don't know, like it would be like a six kilometer relay. So you each run six kilometers and obviously there is so much, disparity between like runners and teams. So you can, I mean, My coach is in our team and she's really, really fast. So you like hand the thing to her and you're like, all right, can you just catch up to all these other people? and it's really wholesome. It's just like a very much old school community. Like people come with their thermoses and homemade cakes in like Tupperware containers and then they eat them after the race. I know that the Geelong club always puts on cut up sandwiches and biscuits after. It's just, yeah, it's very wholesome. Actually, my partner the other day was like, why do you do it?
Phoebe:Yeah.
Anna:And I was like, oh, cause, blah, blah, blah, it's kind of fun, you, get to go out to all these, locations. I'm going to Hanging Rock. When would I ever go to Hanging Rock? He was like, you know, you can just go to
Phoebe:pick it
Anna:Hanging Rock. You don't have to do a cross country race.
Phoebe:don't get it, Dave. Sit
Anna:Sit back
Phoebe:Yeah, but I, I kind of also have wondered before why you do it, just because I'm like, even though that, that sounds really fun, but I see you like packing up on Saturdays and it's kind of like a whole day thing and sometimes like raining and cold and you often come back and just say like, that was so
Anna:that was so hot. I
Phoebe:like, I don't know, you tried to get me to do it this
Anna:know. I actually added Phoebe into the, um, into the cross country WhatsApp group without, without warning her. But I think I was, yeah, when I, Dave made me reflect the other day and I think it's also one of those things. It does, it does feel a little nostalgic because you do do it when you're a little kid and you just love
Phoebe:love a brother or a
Anna:And I really enjoyed that and I also think that at the moment I like don't really have any responsibilities in the sense that like I can actually just do whatever I want on a Saturday and be out the whole day. And we go, we often go in, we carpool. So we all go together and play songs along the way.
Phoebe:Sing along. Sing along. Oh, that does sound
Anna:Go to a bakery after.
Phoebe:My interest has peaked. anyway, sorry, went off topic. Gimme your best, Best run was yesterday.
Anna:so. Oh yeah.
Phoebe:So, I had, I would call it like a solid but unspectacular session. but I did it with my friend ton, which always helps. but I think a couple reasons why it was the best run of the week. first reason was You know how, almost always when you wake up, or at least for me, when I wake up there's a little voice in my head that's like, You should go back to sleep. You're really tired and you've had a big week. And I have like most mornings that happens and obviously you just ignore and you get up anyway.
Anna:voice won't for me today.
Phoebe:Yes, some mornings.
Anna:get up anyway. Sorry. Continue Um,
Phoebe:but I was like that voice for whatever reason on Thursday morning was really loud and so I literally lay there in bed being like oh my god are you gonna, are you gonna do this big session or are you just gonna like message Edo and say no I'm like still feeling tired and I'm not going to do it. And I was like, nah, just, why don't I just get up and do it and I'll just do it. I was like, um, take the box session and I'll do it at 80 percent and, but I'll get the session done. And that worked really well because I just took the pressure off the session. I didn't try and hit ridiculous paces. I just completely ran within my ability and, and I ran at a level where I felt good. so that was quite a nice, like little reminder for me. And the other thing that made it a really good run was, Anna was running with a group of friends around, Albert Park as well. Ran into you guys and then, decided afterwards I'd like stop, change my route a bit and stop by and sit down with you guys for a few minutes, which was really nice. And then I was running to work and I ran into Al and she was like, Oh, I'm jogging. Like I'll jog with you for a bit. Cause I was a few K's away and so I was jogging with Al for a bit and then we ran into Jazz and she was just jogging. So we were like, collected her. And then, and then like they kind
Anna:school bus.
Phoebe:yeah, it was. And then we all kind of ran and like. Finished at work and I just had this, like, I finished on almost the polar opposite mindset to when I started, I finished feeling so grateful for running, really reminded, this is why I run. This incidental time with friends. It's so special. It's so unforced. And you just get to like, when does that happen in your life that you just, you know, it's kind of the equivalent of like, just being in the area and dropping in to see a friend on, uh, like without warning, which is such a nice, I don't know, an old thing to do, but you
Anna:do,
Phoebe:do anymore. But like, yeah, so it was my best run of the week because my mindset changed so much throughout the run from like kind of begrudging and really in my own head to being like, how good is this? How good is running?
Anna:Yeah.
Phoebe:Yeah. What about you?
Anna:My best run was Saturday when we did go for a long run out in Fernie, as Phoebe mentioned, it's sort of like an hour out of Melbourne. And I've only been there once before, and it was actually almost exactly a year ago because we went out for your partner, Sean's. birthday run last year. Um, and then sort of same
Phoebe:Yeah! He loves it! It's funny,
Anna:cause he doesn't really, but we sometimes seem to do it on his birthday. I think he does
Phoebe:do you? I think
Anna:yeah. but it is, if anyone lives in Melbourne or just in Victoria, I highly recommend going out there even just for a walk. And there are really cute cafes around. It is so beautiful. Yeah, the like autumn leaves are dropping. It kind of feels a bit magical. I kind of feel like I'm going into like an Enid Blyton novel or something.
Phoebe:is a bit like that magic faraway tree
Anna:yeah. And yeah, so we're with, so it was Pheebs and I and her partner Sean and our other friend Tom. and just like, nice group, good conversation. Just, yeah, it was
Phoebe:the carpool out there. Something about that is so fun.
Anna:a carpool. Yeah, I know. There's something about a carpool. I think it's more the carpool on the way home
Phoebe:way home. Yeah, it's so
Anna:it is.
Phoebe:Feel a little bit less awkward. Um, I was really sore on
Anna:I was really sore on Monday, Monday morning, I went for a run just by myself and yeah, my quads were really, really sore, but then I actually had a massage and got cut. Actually this is a little bit of a funny story. I got, um, cupping done on my legs, you get these big sort of circular bruises after. And I, the next day, I popped out of the, it wasn't even the next day, actually. It was Monday night. So after like, I'd had the treatment and then I went home, had dinner, whatever, had a shower and then got out of the shower. And then. Sort of like caught myself in the mirror as I walked out of the shower and gave myself the biggest fright Because I was like, oh my god. What is that? Because I had this big like purple circle on my bum
Phoebe:my bum. And I'm
Anna:I'm like, oh my god And then I was like, oh
Phoebe:was like,
Anna:Take take yourself back an hour
Phoebe:an hour. And then
Anna:Anyway, that was kind of funny As Phoebe mentioned in the intro, our main topic this week is things we've learned about running recently. We strongly believe that one of the most amazing things about running is how much it teaches you. We wanted to shed some light on some of the things that have been front of mind for us recently.
Phoebe:So the way we've broken this down is we've both gone away. independently,
Anna:away independently,
Phoebe:independent thinking work. And we've reflected on a couple of, lessons that as Anna said, we've learned recently, and now we're going to share them with each other and talk through them.
Anna:Do you want to kick us off?
Phoebe:yes, I will kick us off. And this one is, I'm excited to talk about it because I think it's actually going to help set the tone for why it's important to be doing these kind of
Anna:Yeah.
Phoebe:and it starts off with a story and it's a non, it's not actually a running ride story to start off with. But as you know, I've been doing some Pilates and yoga for the past, like maybe four months now. and when I started doing it, you probably remember, I was like loving it. Like it was so good. really enjoying it, and then kind of, as I went on, I started enjoying it less and less and finding it really hard. Like, I think I said to you a few times, like, I'm just honestly finding it so hard. Yeah. Yes. I was loving
Anna:week, I just did the best Pilates class ever.
Phoebe:I found myself like really falling out of love with it. Like I felt in a few short months, I was like, it's kind of too hot in there. It's too hard. Um, and then I had a realization, I had a, little mini epiphany, last week and I was doing a yoga class and you know how in yoga classes they give you like a pose and then they say if you're feeling good do this do this and they keep adding things on well they were getting the class to something called a clock pose which is just like an insane yoga pose like insanely advanced and you have to start off by getting in a thing called a backpack pose where you literally have your leg like over your shoulder which obviously I can't like it's it's It's so beyond my abilities from a flexibility perspective, from a strength perspective, all of it. And yet I found myself trying to get into
Anna:Well, yeah,
Phoebe:Well, yeah, Backpack pose, which I was like this, like nowhere near, sorry. I know listeners can't see me, but I was like so far out of it. And yet I was still then trying to get into clock pose. And I was like, hunched over in like the most uncomfortable twisted position that looks nothing like it was supposed to look like. And I just had this realization of like, what am I doing? Like, why am I, why do I think that after just a few months I should be good at this? And I, I realized that I just had this expectation of myself that, Oh, you're not a beginner anymore because you've been doing it for a little while. So you should be doing the hardest version of everything. It's the same with Pilates. I'd be like, I had way bigger weights. I was like, doing all the extra things that they give you. I was sitting in the corner of the room that's the hottest. I just had been like, Oh yeah, I can really
Anna:it as hard as
Phoebe:push myself now. whereas the realization was like, you're still a beginner and you need to do these workouts, within your own
Anna:abilities. Mm-Hmm.
Phoebe:And just because, you've been going for a few months doesn't mean that you need to be pushing yourself so much every class. And I was telling my friend about it, Maisie, who I work with, and she, is a bit of a yogi. She's like a yoga instructor and everything. I was telling her about that realization I had in the yoga class of like, Oh, I need to be just doing only what I can only what like really makes me feel good and everything else I'm not going to try and do. And she was like in yoga we have a word for this lesson and it's a beginner mindset, and there's this whole thing in yoga, apparently, of like bringing a beginner mindset to people. You're every yoga practice, no matter how advanced you are. It's always like trying to learn and listen to your body and operate within the limits of your body. And it's never thinking that you've got it all figured out. and so with that in mind, like the yoga class that I went to this week, I just was like going in with a complete I'm just going to do. Only the things that feel good. And then I'm going to stop, even if that means I'm just, you know, doing whatever. And I just enjoyed it so much more. and it was interesting because the relation to running felt so strong I think when I struggle this with, with running is like when you're coming back from injury. Or a break or you're just less fit than you once were, like, at the moment, I'm just, for whatever reason, I'm not as fast as I was 18 months, two years ago. And I've been finding it hard in my session sometimes.'cause I'm like, why am I, why can't I, and I'll be pushing to hit those old times. Whereas I think I need to get better at just bring that beginner mindset and just accept that this is where I'm at right now for whatever reason. And. run within that level, run where I'm at today, not where like I was or I think I should be or where I see other people. So yeah, I've been like reflecting on that quite a bit.
Anna:Yeah, that's really interesting. I really like that, because I feel like it is so easy to sort of get swept up comparing yourself to others, or your own self, as you said, like your own previous self. And I guess a bit like, similar with your yoga and Pilates. It completely zaps the enjoyment and fun out of it. Like it just completely strips it back and then everything's a slog. You're not having fun. You're kind of like, not really feeling great about yourself. Um, I, yeah, that's really
Phoebe:and I think when you don't have that beginner mindset, that's when you stop learning as well. Because you're just You think you already know it. And so you're just focused on pushing yourself and trying to get more out of yourself. Whereas like one of the beautiful things about running and why, like, I'm glad we're having this chat is that you should always be learning new things and having new realizations. Even if you've been running for your whole life, you should still be learning like, Oh, wow. Okay. My body. You know, responds really well to this, or I should do this when I feel this way, whatever it is that you should always be listening to those signals. But if you think you're, you've got it all figured out, then you're not going to
Anna:figured out, then you're not going to. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like, it's you should be constant. I mean like life, you just like constantly
Phoebe:learning. Yeah,
Anna:yeah. Nice. And so my first lesson is I felt, I felt like I've, I've thought about this quite a lot recently and Um, I think that in life and running, sometimes doing things, that you in that present moment, don't really feel like doing, can inevitably increase the size of your cup and capacity to feel enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment. I think even how you said on Thursday morning, how. You got up and you just did not feel like going at all. And then it completely changed by the end of your session. Um, you know, like sometimes I don't want to go for a jog, or like doing activations before you go for a jog or going on the foam roller at night, watching TV because you're just like so much more comfortable in your dressing gown on the couch. but like you always feel better. For doing it, like it increases your mood and increases your sense of accomplishment. and I think the same can be said for life. Like recently, um, this is, this is like a little bit trivial, but like I had. It was in my head for, I reckon, like a couple of weeks that I like needed to go to the dentist. Like I hadn't been to the dentist in five years and it was just always like at the back of my mind. and I just kept putting up. I'm like, I don't have time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And eventually I went and then I had this like sense of clarity and now I haven't been worrying about my teeth, like not thinking about them in a hypothetical, like, Ooh, why is that sore? Like, is it a feeling? but like pretty superficial example, but like deeper example, I feel like. having a difficult conversation with a friend, I'm not very good with confrontation or just like having difficult conversations, but my friend came to me, and brought something to the table and then we were both uncomfortable having the conversation. but then I guess like after that, no one knows if there's something wrong unless someone actually, it's actually voice. but like the end product of that conversation is feeling closer with that person that I wouldn't have felt if I had it. And then I guess bring that back to running, like the last couple of weeks, example today, like missed an early run with friends. so I'm just, I struggle in the afternoons, And I know I'm going to have this voice in my head being like, Oh, maybe you don't go just wait till tomorrow. But I know that when I do go, I'm going to feel so much better for it after and feel so much more accomplished and then have a better evening and night because I've gone for the run.
Phoebe:run. So interesting. So the lesson is kind of like, notice those hard things
Anna:Yeah, but more in a, I think it's not like it, it doesn't necessarily, when you say hard, like it doesn't need to be like a hard effort or something, but I feel like sometimes it's just being a little bit uncomfortable or doing things that you know are like good for you in the long run, even though it's hard to sometimes get started with them. Once you get started, you're going to feel so much better after. And I mean, I feel like that with running every day. You know, you don't, you know, always like, Oh, I can't wait to do this really hard session. But like you do it. And then after you're like,
Phoebe:glad I said that. Yeah. I, that's such a good one. I feel like, the, you know, one of my, like, life mottos is always swim. I don't know if we've
Anna:if I've spoken about this
Phoebe:One of my, one of my like values in life is always swim. I don't think I want to put this on the pod, but I think it's interesting to what we're talking about. Cause the whole premise is. When you jump in the water, you always feel better and you know that you're going to feel better. You know, you're going to feel great afterwards. You know, it's good for you. You know, it will make you feel like present and grateful, but it's, there's always a barrier to doing it. It always feels hard. You can always come up with a reason not to do it. And so I like the idea of if you know something is good for you,
Anna:good
Phoebe:you You have to have that. that discipline of like, don't listen to that little voice that's telling you, like, like believe that you can do it. It's almost like, no, you'll be fine. Like, um, get in the water. Yes. It's cold. It's going to give you a shock. And I, yeah, I just think that you're so right. That does translate to so many areas of your life where it's just like, notice that thing that, you know, deep down your gut, you know,
Anna:it's good. Yeah, yeah,
Phoebe:you're right. It's not about like it being physically challenging or hard necessarily. It's normally more that there's an emotional blocker. It's like physically, you know, you're capable of it, And that practice of being able to be like, do the things that you know are good for you and that'll make you a better, happier, more well rounded person, friend,
Anna:Yeah
Phoebe:Um,
Anna:Yeah, always swim. I like that. Yeah But yeah, I also, I know you've actually referenced this book before, The Atomic Habits by James Clear. So they're Imperfects, which is, a podcast. They, Have just interviewed him and it's really good episodes. I highly recommend listening to it. but it's actually made me, I had on my radar, I'm like, I need to read that book. Anyway, months have gone on, haven't read the book. And then I listened to the interview and now I'm like, okay, I need to read the book. Anyway, I bought the audio book. Cause that way I'm like, I'll. Actually listen to it. but I love how one of the things he says is like every decision is a vote for what kind of person you are. And even though they're such like tiny little decisions, you bank those decisions and it like creates or like formulates the kind of person you are. And I think that that is, that's really cool. consistent in running and in life as well. So every like smaller decision you make that, yeah. Creates who you
Phoebe:Yeah, you're like, you are the sum of all those actions. Those little things. Yeah. I love
Anna:I just really like that quote. That's
Phoebe:I love that. That's so good. That's a great learning. How to just, just running just transcends all areas of life. okay. So they were two. That's some heavy, heavy lessons, some good learning. so maybe we'll do some of our quick fire, lessons. Do you want to kick us off?
Anna:is a quickfire lesson, can you kind of kick us off? If you feel like you might need to go to the bathroom, go to the bathroom. On two occasions in the last week,
Phoebe:know
Anna:I have one of them Saturday. You went off to go to the bathroom after we
Phoebe:like, yeah.
Anna:a couple of Ks. And I was like, no, no, no, I'm fine. And then I feel like probably about five minutes later, I was like, Oh gosh, I really wish I went. And then I had to wait
Phoebe:so long. Yeah. The.
Anna:the next opportunity. I mean, it still was my best run of the week, but I feel like that 45 minutes would've been a lot more enjoyable. had I gone. Yeah. And then three days later hadn't lent my lesson on Tuesday
Phoebe:morning, I
Anna:Oh yeah. At the track just before I was about to start, I was like, oh, I kind of need to go to the bathroom. Then I was like, oh, I'll get through the session. And then I was halfway through the session and I was like. Oh my gosh, I really wish I went, this would just be so much more enjoyable if I had of gone. Anyway.
Phoebe:And the bathrooms at the track are
Anna:They're, they're so gross, yeah, so, if you think about it, go. Just
Phoebe:Just be safe.
Anna:Yeah. um, be sapey. Weed.
Phoebe:Give me a
Anna:give me a little quickfire lesson.
Phoebe:Quickfire lesson. Okay, New shoes give you blisters. Struggling with this at the moment. so some lessons you learn for the first time, like I feel like that beginner mindset lesson is something that I'm Really learning at the moment. This lesson I have learned a few times throughout my life, but, but I'm yet every single time I'm shocked by it, but yeah.
Anna:to listen to
Phoebe:Yeah. Um, I had a few, like, just for years, I haven't really changed up my shoe routine. I've had a few different brands that are in my rotation. My feet have gotten really used to them and I've added a few new pairs in recently. which is great. We love trying new shoes, but I, yeah, you get blisters and I forgot the whole, when I used to get blisters more regularly, I'd have a really good, like, You wear a pair of shoes if you feel like you're getting a hot spot, don't wear them again for a few days. Next time, put something on that hot spot to avoid it. Only wear them every few days until your feet have worn them in a little bit. Whereas with, one of my new pairs of shoes, I just went hard on them, wore them a few times. Basically in a row and they've like, given me a big blister on my heel, which as I was showing Anna before, cause I'm worried it's infected
Anna:because I'm worried it's infected. Yeah,
Phoebe:so that's a good lesson. Yeah. And yeah, I guess.
Anna:I
Phoebe:No, I don't have anything else to say about
Anna:say about that? Yep. That was pretty
Phoebe:not really a hidden second layer, but And the metaphor for life
Anna:A little bit about the line. I've got another one and I will get in trouble if I don't say this. So this is be accountable with your belongings. Particularly
Phoebe:your
Anna:the irony. So on Tuesday night, I went to the gym. I was being a good little girly, doing my strength stuff after work. Anyway, and I put my jumper and my loose car key in a locker. Didn't lock it because I'd forgotten my wristbands. And went about my business, went back to the lockers, Didn't know, they were all locked and I was like, well that's weird because I didn't lock mine. And then I noticed my jumper was hanging over the top of the lockers. So someone's, taken my jumper out and then used the locker. Which I mean, it was unlocked, like, fair game. But my key. My car key, gone.
Phoebe:Devastating.
Anna:so, our good friends of the show, Carly, sent me quite a threatening text message saying, are you going to tell your co host about this, or am I?
Phoebe:I? So, here
Anna:here we are.
Phoebe:I've lost
Anna:I've lost my car key, I'm down to one car key. I honestly actually, you know what, there is a, there is a positive of this because I've had my car for nine years and I've had two car keys. This whole time. This is the first time that I've lost a khaki. So you know what? I reckon I should give myself a pat on the back for lasting nine years with two khakis. That's genuinely
Phoebe:Um, you know, everyone leaves their keys sometimes, so you shouldn't really call them out on,
Anna:not
Phoebe:about it.
Anna:podcast about
Phoebe:I have one more,
Anna:One more, one more.
Phoebe:one more lesson, which is after you finish a run, try not to just sit down straight away, especially when it's cold and stay seated for
Anna:I just have, yeah,
Phoebe:me creaking off on Tuesday. And even on, um, uh, Yesterday a little bit, but I didn't sit for as long, you might recall. I, I got up and got going. Um, I was learning my hair.
Anna:yeah,
Phoebe:The main thing is like I'll get to work and I sit down and then I'll sit down for a few hours and then that feels like I really stiffen up. So what I've been trying to do is the first hour of the day I'll stand, I have a standing or a desk that can be standing at work and I even do these like um, I'll put my chair, I'll be standing and I'll put my chair so like my knees on it and then I'm gonna demonstrate it and I'll I'll like, um. Sorry, I'm trying to sneak into the microphone. I'll like, lean forward, so I'm like opening up my hip as I'm working. And I'm like doing all those kind of, luckily no one really comes into the office that early. Do you get
Anna:Um,
Phoebe:Um, honestly I think they're probably pretty used to it. But yeah, I'll like, I'll be like stretching as I'm working. And I, I feel like this is a bit of a hack, like just doing like hip exercise, or like openers. Yeah. Yeah,
Anna:I don't know how that would go in my office.
Phoebe:that would go on Melvin's. Oh really? You, on
Anna:think I'm weird. Anyway, I feel like if I was doing stretches, they'd be like this
Phoebe:Who do you
Anna:go home.
Phoebe:are? Funny.
Anna:I love it. all right. this week we're answering a couple of listener questions, which we haven't, this is the first time we've done that this season. So I'm actually excited to delve a little deeper
Phoebe:we should do it more because they got so many good
Anna:many good questions. Yeah, and some of which I'm like, I don't
Phoebe:don't know. Yeah, you know what I'd like to do for some of them? The ones that I also was like, I actually don't have a great answer, but they're kind of ones that you could crowdsource the answer. I'd love to share one or two a week, maybe on our Strava group, even where we can get a bit of a discussion going, but ones that are like, um, what are the best running undies? I'm like, God, I don't know, but I would love to know,
Anna:Love to know,
Phoebe:love that. There were a few,
Anna:share the knowledge.
Phoebe:there were a few more like, running socks, a whole bunch of ones like that. I'm sure we could crowdsource some answers and then almost say like these are the most popular responses that we got. So yeah, some of them maybe we'll start sharing on our Instagram or Strava group could be interesting as
Anna:I reckon Strava group, let's do
Phoebe:This is your reminder to join the Strava group if you're not already in it, join in on the discussion.
Anna:So we had a couple of questions in regards to strength training. So, listener, Jess, thanks for your question. You asked, how do you start with strength training and what's the easiest stuff to do at home? Yes.
Phoebe:at home? Yes. Okay. So I don't know. I had a little bit of a think about this beforehand and our, our biggest like overarching tip here is, and we'll get, we'll get more specific but in general, if you're just starting on strength, keep it really simple and play around a little bit to find. What's going to work best for you. So you might be someone who's very happy to exercise at home and just have your own little set up. You might be someone who works better with like accountability and going in somewhere. so try out a few different options, whether that's like going and doing a Pilates class, doing your own thing at home, going to the gym. give a few different things a go and see what you enjoy.
Anna:Yeah, like referring back to Atomic Habits, once again, he speaks about being specific to you and like whatever the most enjoyable habit is for you, you are gonna be more likely. like you are going to be more compelled to one startup also keep going. So like, for instance, you go to Pilates, cause that's obviously what you enjoy doing. Um, and like, I go to the gym and lift some weights because. Not really, but I,
Phoebe:but
Anna:but I don't overly enjoy it, but that's actually another thing he talks about. Like it doesn't have to be enjoyable all the time, but I do like the feeling that I get afterwards.
Phoebe:Yeah, yeah.
Anna:Yeah, well, so I reckon if you're, if you're trying to do it at home, I would say, start small in the sense that it's strength is I mean, we've spoken about it before, but it's like quite overwhelming. so you don't need to be doing every single exercise that's going to take you five hours and you also don't need to think, Oh my God, I need to do this like four or five times a week. If you do it once or twice. and for 10 minutes, that's so much better than nothing. so I would say maybe try and be like, if you're doing it at home, do five exercises. So we thought maybe do some planks, including side planks, and do like 30 seconds each side. So all of this, all of these exercises, we reckon. Go through the little circuit, maybe like three times, two or three times, depending on how much time you have. So do some planks and side planks, then some hip bridges, maybe aim to do like eight to ten of them. and then eight to ten squats, single leg calf raises, do eight to ten of those. And then some step ups if you can. like if the environment. Allows you if you do,
Phoebe:if you have a step?
Anna:Yeah. Yes.
Phoebe:do you do, do you do, uh, this is a genuine question'cause I don't do step ups. Do you do them onto like a chair or like chair height or do you do them literally, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Anna:But honestly, even if it's actually, no, sorry. Yeah. I do like a lot lower'cause I wouldn't be able to get up, I don't think I'd be able to get my body up. Yeah. Um, no. So I would do them even like. 20 to 30 centimeters. It's more just doing, the like similar action to what you do when you run and like stabilizing on that one leg. And then if that is all like super comfortable, hold a bag of rice or fill up a backpack with some books. Yeah. and it's such an easy and like accessible way to get some more weight.
Phoebe:Yeah, yeah, and your hip bridge, you can start doing single leg hip
Anna:single leg
Phoebe:add a band on and then you've got some tension that you're
Anna:so much harder.
Phoebe:Yeah, yeah, as Anna said, strength routine can be as simple as before your run do 20, 15 minutes and it'll kind of function like activations,
Anna:You're
Phoebe:you're just doing enough. And obviously like if you want and you want to keep building your running, you can keep building your strength as well. But for most people, that is probably fine. Yeah. Does not need to be
Anna:yeah, like don't overcomplicate it
Phoebe:those exercises we were saying, side planks, hip bridges, like if some of them are unfamiliar, another great place to start, and Anna and I have mentioned this on a podcast before, but it's called Forerunners Pilates, there's a whole bunch of free YouTube, sessions, basically. Some of them are as little as seven, eight minutes. it's literally Pilates designed for runners. It's every like important kind of strengthening, exercise you could hope for. And she'll like do it with perfect technique and everything. So if you're just literally just getting started, I reckon watch something like that done by a physio, you know,
Anna:There are so
Phoebe:learn the technique. There are so many on
Anna:I remember I used to do one and it was this woman. in America, and she would stop on these random trails that she ran on and do these like strength exercises. I don't even, I can't even remember her name, but I, and then people would run past and I would just like be following along
Phoebe:doing them as
Anna:Yeah. I don't know if they were, I mean, they're all sort of like, as long as you get the general idea, like anything,
Phoebe:It's all
Anna:it's all good. Yeah. Yeah. Even if it is on a trail in America.
Phoebe:can't do that.
Anna:good. It's all good.
Phoebe:Our next question is from a Jessica Jessica was asking, how do you manage your running routine when you're sick? And then she had in brackets, I, you have cold. And then we had another related question from Alice. Which is, Poor Alice says, I have a cold on the week of my first half Mara, what do I do? Pulling out isn't an option.
Anna:Poor gal.
Phoebe:Poor gal, that's
Anna:so
Phoebe:We should say, not medical advice. This is not,
Anna:your medical
Phoebe:this is just kind of, yeah, exactly. So
Anna:I would say, like, if you do have a cold, if it's the neck up, so if you're spluttering, but like otherwise you're feeling okay, I feel like it's fine to keep jogging. Um, but make sure you're running super easy, don't do anything that's going to get your heart rate up, like no sessions or anything. and also even shorten the time, but if running so important to you that you like wanna just keep moving, then, I feel like that's okay to do. If it's like neck down, like you're having a body aches or you've got a fever, then just, it's not worth it because you're going to feel so you're going to feel shocking whilst you're doing it. And you might also like jeopardize your body's ability to recover. So ideally, I reckon. Just rest for a couple days, your cardiovascular fitness isn't going to decrease so much in a few days. and actually this applies to Alice's. Question as well about the, about the race coming up, like nothing's going to change up for a few days for your fitness, but it may make it so you like recover quicker from the illness. So then you'll be like back on track quicker than if you like did try to push through.
Phoebe:hmm. Mm I think especially in those first few days when you notice you're getting sick, I would say even if it is above just like throat and above and there's temptation to push through, your body needs that energy to fight off the,
Anna:Yeah,
Phoebe:needs all the energy it can to fight off that illness. So you should actually as much as possible be optimizing for rest even for just a day or two.
Anna:or two. Yeah.
Phoebe:eat really well, hydrate, sleep, rest, like just give your body every chance to fart it off because I think we've both done this but like I've run through so many colds that then turn into like three, four weeks of sniffly nose and just cannot kick it no matter what I do and then all of a sudden I've been like just jogging for four weeks and that's way more disruptive and then disruptive to your life as well
Anna:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like you're better off nipping it in the bud straight away, having a couple of days off and like getting back into things. in regards to the race, I would say don't run, like just go. Completely focus on your recovery. If you really want to do the half
Phoebe:mean in the lead up to the
Anna:yeah, yeah. So Alice's question about having a cold in the week and she's saying that she really doesn't want to pull out, like stop running, try to relax and
Phoebe:walks,
Anna:yeah, recover like as much as possible, sleep and eat and drink. It might feel counterintuitive because you might think, Oh, I haven't run in sort of five days and I'm about to try to run as far further than I ever have before, but you'll be better off having that resting period rather than trying to push through, to give yourself like the best chance on
Phoebe:day. Mm.
Anna:being able to do it.
Phoebe:I can do like a little shakeout run the day before just to see how you're feeling and get a feel for because you, as frustrating as it is, even if it's still fine to do the race, you're probably going to need to reset your expectations a little bit of how hard you're going to be able to push your body and how good you're going to feel like your body's just diverting energy elsewhere. Like it's not, you can't really fight that, but do a little shakeout run the day before just to help reset those. Get a feel for where you're at now, you've had a few days off. Are you feeling like incredibly lethargic and bad? Or are you like, Oh, okay. It's I'm sniffly, but I, my energy's back. Um, and yeah, but then for the race, like you just might need to run more conservatively. Yeah.
Anna:Yeah. And I also think that there are so many races that you can do, um, although it's so disappointing because your goal is to do the race and complete it. Wherever you are, like there'll be a, there'll be another race, like right around the corner. So if you are not feeling good, I don't think you should shy away from saying, Oh, this wasn't meant to be like, I'm not going to do this one. I'll sign up for another one in a month. Cause it's disappointing. But at the end of the day, you only got one body and you gotta look after it.
Phoebe:gotta look after it. thanks so much for tuning in to episode 15. I really hope you enjoyed it and we can't wait to be in your ears next week.
Anna:holes! Woohoo! Short and snappy. listener questions, which we haven't, this is the first time we've done that this season. So I'm actually excited to delve a little deeper into
Phoebe:yeah.
Anna:questions.
Phoebe:you off. was so excited. I was like, let me finish my sentence.