Today I'm joined by David Brazier, who's a running coach
and a runner herself. So we'll start off with Debbie.
How question I ask everybody. How did you get into running?
How did I get into running? I ran at school, I was forced to
run at school and it was always the short distance 100m kids
that were the cool kids. I was rubbish at short distance
and I was always put in the long distance, which I hated at the
time and so I didn't do much more running.
And then it was after my first job done in up in Newcastle or
down in Newcastle from here, Great North Run.
I got an entry into the Great North Run and I started running.
I ran to the gym 1st and did a whole workout at the gym,
including going on a treadmill and thought, this is stupid.
I'm enjoying the outside stuff more than I'm enjoying the
treadmill stuff and the gym work and I'd spent more, more time
running outside and I did the Great North Run, absolutely
loved it buzzing and that was back in about 98 I would say.
And I got the bug. And I've just been running and,
you know, been running ever since, even through the two kids
I run, most of my pregnancies got back straight into it as
soon as possible and have been lucky enough not to have been
injured too, too seriously, the odd little niggle after an event
or something. So yeah, that's it.
And I find for me, it's my headspace, it's getting out in
nature. It's it's all those things that
make you feel good. Going back, you said you were
forced to run at school. Did you not enjoy it?
I was fairly sporty, but I wasn't competitive, you know, I
think it was always I just let the kids doing the 100 meters,
like, I'm not going to win that. There's no point, you know, I
didn't know that I was naturally better than long distance and
that's why my teacher obviously saw that.
And then I realized later on that's what I enjoyed doing.
And I think for me, in my mind it was all about track.
When I was a kid, I didn't realize there was this other
world of running, which is more the trail running, the outdoor
running, the long distance running, which is what I enjoy.
You enjoy running outside. We're sitting in your gym.
That will get onto it. Yeah, you've got.
Treadmill. I do indeed.
You mentioned you're running a treadmill.
What do you prefer? Track Rd.
Treadmill? Trail.
Trail every time trail. But the treadmill here is
incredibly helpful for what I'm hoping to move on to doing with
my business. It's a very controlled
environment. It enables me to be able to look
at people, how they're running, how their form is, identify
weaknesses and compensations, and to be able to adjust it
inside and then move outside. So yeah.
Well, you're saying you're looking at people.
That's because you've just started your own business.
I I have. Well, I'm in the process of it,
yeah. And what's the?
What's the name of? It OK.
So the name of the business is BMA running which is breathe,
move, achieve. So that's the essence of running
and movement. You want to be breathing, move
efficiently and then you can achieve.
So it is. I've been doing a course for the
last six months and through the running school which based the
head office is down in London and that's run by a guy called
Mike Antronados who's been doing it for 30-40 years now.
It's it's a very inspiring centre place to go to, to see
what they're doing with not just runners but sort of
rehabilitation or binge post serious injury, stroke victims,
head injuries and stroke kids with attention problems
everywhere, every path of life. So it's all about just getting
people moving properly and once they're moving properly they can
then go and achieve their best. And I just really like that
whole philosophy, which is why I've followed their course and
become a certified running techniques specialist.
So that's what I'll be doing hopefully.
So I've now qualified, so I'm just.
Congratulations. Thank you very much.
Got had lots of Guinea pigs coming through who have all been
fantastic and really helpful. And so now moving forward,
that's just trying to get the business running, so converted
aerage space into my little gym. So you say you have lots of
Guinea pigs so far? What?
Without naming names, what's the common theme between everybody
has to improve this thing? Is there one or is it
everybody's different? Everybody's different,
everyone's unique, everyone's got their own running style, and
that's what the nice thing is. And you're not trying to create
robots, but you're trying to look at that individual and
seeing if you can improve their efficiency.
And so the people like it was a whole cross section of of Guinea
pigs. I've had you know from
experienced runners who've run for years who are, who are, who
are performing well but may have think maybe I could perform
better, can achieve better to people who are new to running
looking to learn how to run because no one is taught how to
run. Everyone just puts on trainers
and they head out the door and some people are fortunate enough
to activate the right muscles, run in the right form and never
get injured. But other people aren't so lucky
and have the same niggles, injuries over and over and over
again. So, so yeah, so the Guinea pigs,
I've had a whole broad range and also had a couple of kids as
well. They've come in with different
well, just wanting to be able to run better.
Do you Do you find the kids know how to run better than adults
do? Naturally, yeah.
They they haven't learnt to not run properly yet, yeah.
Absolutely. They're naturally more active.
They play, so they're activating muscles.
They're not sitting in A at a desk job where where it's just
all the slouching rushing out the door straight from the
office straight. I've got half an hour to do a
run. They go out, don't warm up, get
injured. No.
Kids are natural, naturally better movers.
And what if they're so natural about it?
What is it that they've been needing taught?
Well, I think you know, all kids have.
Well, especially nowadays. The problem is that more kids
are sitting in front of an Xbox. Their parents may not be
encouraging outdoor play in the same way.
We're fortunate up here that we've got space and our kids can
play. But in a city environment,
especially post COVID knocked down, there's been a lot of kids
who've been locked inside for a good few years and the Xbox has
been their their, their playground.
And we're seeing more and more now kids, the obesity problem,
all those things. And from an earlier age, they're
getting characteristics it would normally have been from adults
because they're spending more time sitting down.
They're not activating their muscles at their core, all those
things that enable us to move. And as we naturally designed to
do, you know, from when we first created, we were like we were,
we were, you know, running to catch our food, all the rest of
it don't need to do that anymore, so.
All those things that you're saying that kids, I guess they
applied to adults as well? Even more so, Yeah, even more
so. I think just the nature of our
lifestyles now is spent so much time misusing our body.
We're not, you know, even everyday jobs, we're not doing
them the same way. We've got something to do it for
us. So we're not.
We were created to move. That's how we were created, to
walk miles and run and do, and all that movement is what
stimulates your brain, makes it develop and changes.
And it's so good for us. But I think people now are fed
so much. And yeah, and then they go out
and they run and they get an injury.
And because time is so precious, they don't want to recover.
So they keep going and they compensate.
And then there's something happens and they keep getting
the same niggles. The So if you think
stereotypically running at your legs, but you mentioned Xbox
sitting at the desks and stuff like that, do you find upper
body has got more an influence than what people think it is?
Yes, definitely, without doubt. What can people be doing to
activate that prevents the injuries from that?
Well we we moved first laterally.
So whatever our right hand does or left, we have to do something
with the left body. So if you're we all walk along
with a bag on our shoulder and a phone in our hand so our arms
aren't just aren't moving and adults particularly bad at this.
So walking is supposed to use your arms because it's it helps
you balance what your legs are doing.
But so many of us forgotten what to do with their arms because
we're holding things so when we go to run we're not using our
arms at all. A lot of that seems to be the
main problem, especially in adults, is the arms are just
these things that are not really doing anything, or the shoulders
are moving and it's just not using the body efficiently, you
know? Or the shoulders are rolling,
which is wasting so much energy when you're supposed to be
moving forward, but you're wiggling around like this.
So I think it's teaching the important showing people the
importance of upper body and core strength and all those
other things and just relaxing. And yeah, it has a Whatever we
do up here effects what happens down the rest of our body.
From doing your course what? What's changed in your running?
Activating the right muscles. I think I was a very I was
beginning to get. I've been as I was so lucky.
I, you know not had any real injuries with all the years of
running. But I was beginning to find I
was getting ITB problems and hip problems, and that was impacting
me. You know, it was a thing and and
that realization that I was using my anterior muscles, which
was then putting pressure on my hips.
So for me, it was learning to activate my strong muscles,
which is my posterior muscles, the big fat, you know, glutes
and hamstrings, and learning to activate and how they're
activated, doing what, you know, activation exercises and
learning to cycle my legs up properly and not rely on these
front muscles, which tire because they're not.
So you're doing, you know, an endurance thing.
It's fine, you can keep going for a while, but it's going to
catch up on you eventually if you're not using the proper
muscles. You recommend cross training,
weight training, or anything other than just.
Running. Yes, totally.
What would be, you're saying, cycling the muscles, what they
can't see in the cameras or bikes in there?
Yeah, bikes also. So yeah, cross training's
brilliant. I mean, I think beforehand it's,
it's getting your body prepared. It's it's warming your body up.
Because if you just sit near your desk, you go out, your
body's in a bit of a shock and that's when injury happens
because you're then using the wrong muscles.
So it's getting those, those muscles activated and going, OK,
we're ready to do something here.
The minds go, OK, we're ready to do some exercise here.
Nice warm activated and then going out.
So beforehand doing some good dynamic warm up including a lot
of fast feet, which is something that I use a lot and it's
certainly very effective. So it's that proprioception that
adjusting to your environment which you do naturally on trail
running. But Rd. runners don't naturally
because it's one directional that they're they get very used
to running in A1 track and and the proprioception that feedback
slows down they don't need that so to stimulate that reaction to
their environment. So a lot of fast feet, I'd
always say just implement that into your warm up at the
beginning your dynamic warm up and then going out run a nice
mobility stretching at the end and then some couple of strength
sessions with some weights, light weights.
Definitely recommend that especially especially get older
or you know your muscles do atrophy a little bit quicker as
you get a SO. So it becomes more important to
keep that muscle tone. And you can't go wrong with hill
training does the same thing. I think, you know, again, it's
anything that, it's anything that challenges the muscles and
activates the right muscles. It's all good.
You mentioned proprioception. What would you recommend shoe
wise or like? Feeling the road, Feeling the
trail. Anything you're comfortable in?
What do you run in? At the moment I'm running in
some mutants, but I generally just find something
uncomfortable. And I think personally, I
wouldn't bother getting any correctional shoot or this, you
know, people. I think that's up to your body.
By altering the way your feet are, you're going to affect it,
It's going to, it's going to react somewhere else, It's got
to come out. So it's all about building your
strength up. So a good pair of comfortable
neutral shoes, whatever you're happy in.
And some people like a bit of a, you know, depends a big drop,
depends what you drop. I prefer fairly neutral 4 to 6.
I just feel more comfortable in that.
I've tried barefoot running for a while and that didn't last too
long, but I enjoyed it at the time.
But that's there's a different, I think place for that, but I
wouldn't. And also insoles.
I would just say scrap that. If a physio says to put insoles
in, I'll be very questionable unless you've got a serious
problem. Good.
I would probably say without whenever I've tried to wear what
I'm told is corrective, that's when I get more injury.
Yeah, so it's. Yeah, I think everyone's
designed individually. Unless unless the position of
your foot is causing pain, then there's no reason to adjust.
You look at some of the top athletes, you know, and they've
got sort of all sorts of collapses going on and but
they're still running and they're performing.
It's not injuring them because their muscles are strong
elsewhere to be able to compensate for that.
Right. Your business hasn't been going
that long. How long has it been going?
I've lit well, I've qualified about two weeks ago.
OK, so it's all fresh so I'm taking clients on now.
Websites not quite live, still still work in progress, but yeah
taking on clients. All right, I was going to ask
and you might not have an answer to this, What's your biggest
running achievement? I can't pinpoint 1, not one.
Well, I was club club champion, club champion last year, so I
was pretty chuffed with that. And you're a part of the
winning. Winning winning relay team right
along with you. For space sides, Ultra last year
was. Yeah, it was.
It was so that yeah, that that was a great.
Yeah. I think all runs are
achievements. I love it.
You know, I did one year. I did, you know, I hadn't done
The Archers. I did 3 Ultras in the year.
For me that was a big achievement to train around
having kids and their activities and all the rest of it.
But I do enjoy the longer endurance.
I think the sense of achievement of being completed something
like that. But then there's a buzz of a
shorter run, Five KS I'm not too keen on.
It's just it's too much like pain but.
I agree with that, right? The question they might not have
an answer to is out of all your Guinea pigs or any of your
clients in the last two weeks, so probably not has without
naming anybody, has there been any achievements that you've
been super proud of? Yes.
So the new club champion, the new club champion was one of my
Guinea pigs. Most of the Guinea pigs have
gone on to get a podium positions and PBS in their age
categories and people who have struggled to or desperately
being so close to getting a podium position have now
achieved that. And so for me that's that's the
result. And also not just getting the
podium positions, it's people who are running pain free who
have found their love of running again.
You know, people have come in and just, you know, just lost my
running mojo because it hurts every time I go out.
And then having done the seven weeks, 8 weeks, they're like I
can do this. I feel confident in my running.
I'm finding it's easier again. So I guess them enjoying it is
the achievement. That is the achievement.
It doesn't matter. Some people's goal will be to
get APB. Other people it will be just to
get out and be able to enjoy running.
And that's what it's all about. It's everyone's got their own
personal goals, but as long as I can help them achieve that and
that's that's a real for me, that's what it's all about.
That's why I want to do this, because, you know, running is so
good for your mind and well-being, and studies show
that it's good for preventing onset of so many Alzheimer's,
dementia, other diseases. It's just good for your
well-being and for mind development, so the more people
can be out moving and enjoying it.
To me, that's what it's all about.
Good. You mentioned people sitting in
front of Xboxes getting overweight, so that is nutrition
something that you recommend think about for the future.
Yeah. I think.
I mean balanced. I think balanced eating?
Yeah, healthy, unprocessed food. What about?
During during a race, do you, do you personally take gels, real
food, what do you? Prefer real food?
Yeah, I will take a gel as an emergency.
I'll have a couple. I don't like them.
I don't know how great they are. In my mind I they're there to
have. They're quite useful to have as
a little bit. No, I'd prefer like pack of
crisps, marathon Snickers, what they're called nowadays.
Are you doing a marathon? You're eating a Snickers, yeah?
That's all. Anything that tastes nice I
think is good. OK, out of all the races that
you've done come back to you personally.
What's been your favorite? Oh.
Man, I love the relay. I love the team, you know team,
that whole sense of team there and just the route was beautiful
and the different sections. I like the Glencoe marathon,
Love that. That was beautiful for me.
I think it's where it's it's where it's located.
So I've done the Glen line and although so they take you to
these places that you might not necessarily go to and whatever
the weather, it's still lovely. So again, I can't, I don't think
there's one favorite. You just have nice memories of
different ones, yeah? Is there any races that you give
a bucket list that's a you want to do that?
Probably There's quite a few out there, but I'd like to do more
of the Murray Way series, the individually one.
Individual ones I'd like to do because it's it's on our
doorstep and it's such a beautiful coastline and I think
we're so lucky to have that. So explore more of that.
I'd like to maybe do something like Tour de Mont Blanc,
something like that, a bit more in the Alps, so lovely Alps.
There's one local 1 where we go, you know, skiing sometimes and
it says 6000. It's called 6000 D so it's 3000
up, 3000 down. Love to do that, but I think
this needs to get in the mountains.
And yeah, and yeah. Having done UTMB, it's unlike
anything that you can train for in this country.
Basically, you can run up Nevis four times and then you're not
even at the top of the hills. Well this is AI mean it's just
the just the whole altitude thing but that's for another
time. I've got plenty of time, plenty
of time and the kids have left home I can you know so that and
that's the other joy is like you know I think I think your whole
perception changes that. I don't.
I don't need to get a particular time.
I'm not there to get on a, but it's just to get out and enjoy
it. Good When you are out in nature,
or on the treadmill or out on the road, do you listen to
music, podcasts, or nothing at all?
Never listen to anything. What about when you're when you
have to use the treadmill? Music.
I have some music on something that keeps me going there.
I need music in the treadmill, but generally out and about.
Maybe if I was running somewhere around a park of repeated times,
I might decide I want something in my ears.
But I think running where do keep doing that because no one
can see where we're running. But it's beautiful.
So I don't feel I need to listen to anything.
I do enjoy running with other people sometimes.
Now, you know, I think I used to be a very solitary runner, but
now I actually do enjoy on a long run the company of someone
else just talking. And it's yeah, it's nice.
Have you ever DNF in a race? No, not yet.
Maybe not put myself in that position yet.
Is it something that you're taught to teach your students
how to deal with? No.
Interesting question. No, I have those people have
come and said they have had to DNF and what can they do to
prevent that? It's not just.
Physically, it's. Psychologically, yeah, it's so
it's so psychological. It's it's a whole range of
things, isn't it, when you get to that point.
But I think the mind is stronger than you think.
You know, people think it is. It's got a quite survival
instinct kicks in when you think you can't go any further.
And then with the long event it's like just walk for a bit.
But for some people, that's part of your running training.
You have to be taught to not not give up.
Yeah, yeah. I think where we are, you know,
here is that's the next stage on from, you know, the initial
people coming to learn how to move properly to achieve it.
Yeah. And then the next stage, if you
get people who are obviously at a different level going, how do
I deal with that? And then that's something, just
talk about it and finding out what stage are they feeling they
can't go any further. Is that a psychological thing?
Is that a fuelling thing? Is that a hydration thing?
What is it that's that's getting to that point where they don't
think they can go on any further?
OK, have you got any pre race rituals you must put on your
left sock first type thing? I have to have a bagel with
peanut butter and jam on it. That's quite important.
I get quite stressy if I do all a certain type of bread.
It's got, I've got to have. I can't just have it, It's got
to be a nice, you know. So yeah, something like that.
My, my Snickers bar, I have to have that quite like some Harry
bows or Jelly sweets. Might not touch them, might not
eat them. But yeah, I definitely like to
have a selection of of food that I can pick from and I can
decide. That's what I feel like today.
And clothes wise, yeah, socks probably got to be the right
socks. I've got my favorite socks and I
get quite upset when they they wear out.
And how do you deal with that if they did wear out?
Just buy a new pair. Buy a new pair, Have have
reserves, have reserves. What if you turned up to race
and they weren't in your bag? What would you do?
Would that be right race over giving up or would you just deal
with it? Move on.
I have to deal with it, yeah. Oh, the other thing, hair bands.
So I ended up running one pinged right at the beginning, so you
won't have this problem. But yeah, it was the Balmoral 15
and I think couple miles in my hair band pinged and I ran.
Had to run the rest of it with my hair going all over the
place, which is when you've got long hair, it's pretty horrible.
So yeah, so I've learned from that that was always wear 2
headbands. So have a contingency, Yeah.
You said that you like to run with other people.
Is there anybody, alive or otherwise, that you would want
to run with? Oh, mine.
Going for a run with Aleister Corbin, just because she's.
Yeah, she'd be pretty cool. I think some of the some of the
women marathon runners at the moment are quite inspiring.
So yeah, any other characters, You know, I think, I think it's
actually just nice running with lots of different people.
You know, I get a lot of out running people from the club,
the new regime's running club, no matter what level they are.
You get something out of it. That's my stopwatch somewhere.
Well, the watch says it's time to stop.
So there's one last question I can ask you.
I can't remember what it is. So do you have any regrets in
any of the running that you've done or not done?
My biggest one would be that I didn't start running earlier.
OK, yeah. I think more confidence in my
running, believing in myself. I was just like, oh, I'm just a
recreational runner and still to this day probably, you know, or
maybe combating nerves before an event, you know, it's dealing
with that and, you know, talking yourself down a little bit.
So do you Do you still get nervous before?
Yeah, definitely. Is that is it nerves?
As in I can't move nerves? Or is it excitement?
Excitement, nerves, yeah. But sometimes it's like, why
can't I just be like that person who looks like they're just
having a nice day out, probably because of a little bit
competitive and I want to try and do my best.
And yeah, I wouldn't like to go into event feeling unprepared
and just see how it goes. Right.
Well, to wrap it up, your business is.
BMA running. Breathe.
Move. Achieve.
Is it open for clients at the moment?
It's open for clients of any background, any problems, any
running ability, any age. How do they find out more about
it? They well at the moment they
just have to try and contact me somehow, but I will be launching
my website imminently which will be dmarunning.com.
I'll have an Insta page which will be not kicking off at the
same time and so that will all be coming up in the next couple
of weeks. Right.
Well, thank you, Debbie, and thank you everybody for
watching. Thank you.
Thank you, Mike.