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Hello and welcome back 
everybody. 

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We've had a bit of a Christmas 
break and today I'm joined by 

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somebody who've I've crossed 
paths with quite a few times on 

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Mark campaign races and if I had
to describe her I would say that

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is somebody who doesn't like to 
take the easy option and we'll 

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get we'll get on to why, why I 
say that but but tonight my 

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guest is Victoria, the happy 
runner, known as the happy 

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runner on most social media 
platforms if you want to go and 

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look her up. 
So welcome Victoria. 

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The first question I've got for 
you tonight is, can you describe

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a bit of your running history, 
how you got, how you started off

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with running? 
I started running in 2016, so as

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a child I grew up on stories 
like my dad was a runner. 

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He used to tell us a time 
stories about his running and 

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yeah, I kind of something I 
always I wanted to do as a child

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but never did. 
But in 2016 I found myself in a 

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situation where I split up from 
my partner and he had the kids 

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at the weekend, so I was kind of
a bit lost. 

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So I got a puppy and therefore 
running started. 

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But yeah, that's pretty much how
I started running and I found my

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way into long distance quite 
quickly. 

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So I would describe sort of like
my running now is pretty much 

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long distance trails or 
mountains. 

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OK, you say you got into it 
quite quickly. 

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Did you start off with 0 to 5K 
or zero to ultra marathon? 

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How do you start off with that? 
So I I kind of went zero to half

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marathon. 
I had done like Race for Life 

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with friends, but I wouldn't. 
I wouldn't say we ran it. 

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We did a lot of walking, so I 
definitely wouldn't have classed

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myself as a runner. 
I used to spend a lot of time in

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the gym, mostly lifting weights 
and didn't like cardio. 

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But yeah, I decided like I was 
going to start running and I 

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asked one of the lads who was 
running the gym classes, did he 

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want to train for 1/2 marathon 
with me? 

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Because I didn't want to go it 
solo. 

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And he was like, well, I'm not 
really a runner, but let's do 

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it. 
And we did. 

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We trained for 1/2 marathon. 
We did the whole like, plan, you

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know, that standard Google plan 
that you find. 

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And that was it. 
Yeah, we did our first half 

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marathon together and that was 
kind of where it all began. 

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OK, what do you still do weights
now while you're you're doing 

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your cardio? 
Yeah, not as much as I used to. 

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I don't do as much cross 
training as one should because 

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I'm I'm mostly obsessed with 
running. 

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But I I do try to do a bit of 
cross training. 

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So yeah, I do a lot of weights 
and I do not a lot of weights. 

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I do some weights, but I do a 
lot of stretching and meditation

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now which I'm going to class 
that as cross training. 

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And I've I've got a static bike 
which I try to use. 

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Yeah, so probably don't do as 
much cross training as one 

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should, but I do do a little 
bit. 

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OK, what's any of the races 
you've done? 

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And, well, don't forget into the
specifics of what races you've 

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done before. 
I'm going to ask a question, 

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what's your biggest running 
achievement that you've done? 

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Oh, this is a really hard 
question because I've done some.

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Really, really cool stuff and it
is really hard to decide. 

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But I think, I think for me 
personally, my biggest running 

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achievement was when I ran an 
orchard every single day for the

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month of January and did 1000 
miles. 

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And I think because every single
day I had the opportunity to go.

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Now I'm not getting out bad. 
And I I didn't just take the 

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month off work and run. 
I was still working. 

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I was still mumming. 
I was still like, doing all that

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other stuff. 
That didn't stop. 

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And I I remember doing days that
I spent in the garden because I 

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didn't have childcare, so I'd be
running around the garden. 

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The kids were playing in the 
garden. 

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I did one on my driveway because
the kids didn't want to come 

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outside anymore. 
It was boring. 

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So I could see them through the 
window the entire time, just up 

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and down on my driveway. 
So it was, it was really 

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mentally crazy and it was a 
really cold January. 

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We had like ice, no rain. 
It was horrific. 

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So I think, yeah, I would say 
that is personally my biggest 

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achievement because it just took
so much willpower every single 

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day to get out there and then on
the last day deciding to run the

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extra miles to make it a full 
1000. 

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It's just like, why would anyone
do that? 

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But it just had to be done. 
Yeah, I was actually going to 

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breaking up because we're the 
start of February now and one of

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the Canadian events, virtual 
events is the accumulator and 

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that is doing one mile on the 
1st, 2 miles on the 2nd and it's

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in January. 
So he calls it the frozen 

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accumulator. 
And of course, Victoria, being 

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somebody who doesn't like to 
take the easy option, decided to

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do the forwards and backwards at
the same time. 

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So did 31 each day, is that 
right? 

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Sorry. 
Two weeks. 

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Two weeks, yeah, because you did
31 + 1 and then 30 + 2, so it 

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works out at 32 miles each day 
for the whole month. 

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So yeah. 
I when he put it out to the 

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group, I thought there'd be 
loads of people that would go 

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for it and it was literally only
me. 

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Yeah, So I did think I'd have 
some people to banter with, but 

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there wasn't. 
It was a very quiet 32 miles. 

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And it's something that he also 
does is the, I can't remember 

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what he calls it. 
So last person standing sort of 

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thing. 
Lone lone survivor, lone 

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survivor. 
That's the one. 

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You weren't tempted by that. 
Nobody stood up. 

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I was well up for it, like my 
body was like, we don't want to 

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stop running. 
And I think it might have been 

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the first year in ages. 
Everyone just went, Nah, not 

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doing it. 
I was like, what I I literally 

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would have been well up for 
that. 

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Crazy enough. 
I was lost the entire month of 

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February. 
I didn't know what to do with 

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myself. 
And you weren't doing it this 

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month, This year, Last month. 
Did you have FOMO? 

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Fear of missing out. 
I thought I would, if that's 

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like the first few days, I was 
like, I'm going to make sure I 

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don't like. 
I only run the streak because I 

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don't want to fall into the trap
that I I have like really big 

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other goals this year. 
So that has taken my my focus. 

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But yeah, I've been trying not 
to look in the group, but no, 

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I've I've been OK. 
Do you normally get that? 

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Sort of the I'm missing 
something when you. 

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It's like, what are you missing?
Pain and sleep. 

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Plus nights. 
You know, like fatigue. 

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You say what you're missing, but
that's what you're getting when 

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you do sign up. 
So OK, next question, Something 

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that I always get asked and I'm 
assume you always get asked as 

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well. 
And if I I got asked earlier 

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today, why? 
Why do you run? 

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I guess, like when I run, I'm 
just me. 

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So I have a really busy, hectic 
lifestyle. 

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But when I'm out there on the 
trails, I'm just, I'm an 

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individual. 
I'm not a mum, I'm not a wife. 

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I'm not a carer. 
I'm not working full time. 

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I'm not just another, you know, 
string in society. 

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I'm, I'm an individual. 
I'm out there, you know? 

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There's all the hustle and 
bustle of the world, all the 

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demands, requirements, 
expectations, they're all just 

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silenced. 
And I just find peace when I'm 

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running. 
And doing all these long 

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distance events, do you ever get
injured to be? 

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Fair. 
I've been really, I say really 

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lucky. 
But I'm going to say like, I'm 

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going to pretend that because I 
cross trained so well, I look 

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after my body. 
But I have had small injuries 

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and minor things that I've 
recovered really quickly from 

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and kind of things you'd expect.
Like, you know, when doing 

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really long distance too 
quickly, a bit of shin splints, 

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that kind of thing, or falling 
over and and, you know, hurting 

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something. 
I'm quite fortunate to say that 

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I've not had something awful 
happen that last year I hurt my 

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knee on the track and I was on 
crutches and the doctor was 

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like, that's it, three months 
and then you'll slowly recover. 

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And a week later I was like 
stuff these crutches and I was 

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running with my poles. 
So yeah, I can't say that I've 

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had anything that from like a 
running injury that's really 

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taken its toll on me, to be 
fair. 

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And of course that's because you
do lots of stretching. 

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That's about the. 
Physiologist and all that stuff.

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Yeah, all the good stuff. 
Do you do you think your diet 

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has anything to do with that? 
Since I I went past plant based 

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in 2018 and I did notice 
unfortunately I didn't become a 

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quicker runner, so that sucks. 
But I did start recovering 

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really quickly. 
I'm really well. 

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I could bounce back really well 
and I definitely can't blame 

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that on being young anymore. 
So I do think that my diet, 

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yeah, I think that has really 
helped me. 

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It's a big difference that I've 
noticed. 

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OK, so you are plant based? 
I'm vegan now, Yeah. 

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I was plant based for about 6 
months and then went vegan. 

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Right, the the the thing that 
I'm sure you get asked all the 

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time, what is your protein 
source? 

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Oh gosh, I die without protein, 
have no energy. 

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Me, I get a lot of protein from 
like peas and grains and things 

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like that. 
And yeah. 

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It's it's not it's not an issue.
What I'm I'm not like like Oh my

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goodness, I need more protein. 
Where am I going to find it 

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from? 
It's it's really not like that. 

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I think that's a big like big 
misconception. 

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Yeah. 
So yeah. 

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Just just what I eat every day 
what is what is my normal is 

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does me, does me good, you know.
Yeah. 

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I'm asking the question. 
I'm asking the question. 

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I I know that you would get 
asked that all the time because 

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I've heard people asking it. 
I've I I'm my wife's vegetarian,

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so a lot of my meals are 
vegetarian, so I know that. 

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I know the choices. 
Yeah. 

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People have to investigate it. 
I always find if I've got like a

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top or my vegan runner top or 
I've got a plant powered top on 

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a start line, I'll always get 
and it will always be one of the

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like lads, he's he's like quite 
hence they'll always do a joke 

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like oh aren't you going to get 
tired or like where do you get 

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your protein from or something 
And I'm just like, oh I'm always

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like I'll have to overtake them 
at some point to prove the 

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point. 
So so during the race, if if the

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race doesn't necessarily 
specifically say they are 

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putting on vegan food, I know 
the the spine. 

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I think they do a lot of vegan 
stuff but other races like 

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Mark's races, he puts on pot 
noodles and well they probably 

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don't yeah they they don't 
contain any meat anyway. 

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So but how how does being vegan 
sort of affect what you eat 

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during the race? 
Can you just go up to a normal 

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checkpoint and say I you know 
what is you want or how do you 

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think about it? 
Yeah so like fortunately like a 

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lot of races like an overall are
really good and you know they 

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cater for everyone including 
people who don't eat meat or 

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have like a gluten intolerant or
you know have special 

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requirements and that kind of 
thing like dietary requirements.

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But I I very much tend to, I 
think maybe because I like very 

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much learn, like Mark Cobain's 
races where you don't get 

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anything, you're lucky to get a 
bit of water. 

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I I am very self-sufficient. 
Like I'll have my running vest 

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on and it'll have like my 
sachets of active route, which 

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are really good, and a couple of
flapjacks. 

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And yeah, there had been races 
like on long last where we were 

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out with food and we went to a 
shop and it was like, oh, 

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there's some fruit pastels like 
I could eat because it was such 

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a rural shop. 
And it was just like maybe 

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they've never seen someone who 
didn't eat me. 

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I don't know. 
But I remember Gordon being 

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like, oh, you've got it's fruit 
pastels, but like, how are we 

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going to finish the last 
marathon and fruit pastels? 

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But I've always managed, you 
know, I've always had like that 

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spare flapjack or something. 
Yeah. 

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It's it's never, I've never been
in the situation where I've been

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00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,320
like that's it. 
I cannot complete or I cannot 

224
00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:22,000
move forward or and you know, I 
I I have like my love handles to

225
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,520
always fall back on should I 
need a bit of extra fat. 

226
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,600
You you mentioned long last 
there. 

227
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,760
Do you want to describe it's a 
race that we've both done, one 

228
00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:35,960
of Mark's races. 
Do you want to describe what it 

229
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,240
is before before going on to how
you approached it? 

230
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,280
How would I describe? 
It's an awful idea. 

231
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,880
So long last is 253 miles is 
that right? 

232
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,480
And it spans the length of 
whales. 

233
00:14:53,920 --> 00:15:00,520
But it's it's all Rd. it's all 
hard, compact under footing and 

234
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,040
it's all I think you can get two
drop back points if I'm right. 

235
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,360
So you get 2 indoor checkpoints 
and you get how many drop bag 

236
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:10,400
points. 
I think you get to see your bag 

237
00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:15,080
every 50 miles and then there's 
water every 25 miles. 

238
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,760
Yeah, but. 
You you can go into shops at any

239
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,760
point if there is shops. 
You're not allowed to take 

240
00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:27,600
anything off anyone or use 
poles, or you're not allowed to 

241
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,240
like you wouldn't be allowed to 
like book into a Travelodge on 

242
00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:36,640
route or anything like that. 
Yeah, it's it's very you're very

243
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:41,200
self-sufficient out there and 
like it might not sound a super 

244
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,000
long time 25 miles before 
getting water, but like when 

245
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,360
you're in the second-half of 
that race or for me if you're 

246
00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,440
slow and back at the pack that 
could be hours, you know. 

247
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,280
So you've got to be really 
self-sufficient and carry what 

248
00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,840
you need, and you're going 
through the night. 

249
00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,360
It's, it's non-stop and you're 
sleeping like, you know, on the 

250
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,440
floor, on a wall, in a train 
station, anywhere you can find a

251
00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:07,840
bit of shelter. 
Yeah, I remember getting one of 

252
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,800
the things that they had said in
the group beforehand was, oh, 

253
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:11,880
you've got to go to this chip 
shop. 

254
00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,800
And I went in the chip shop and 
queued for 10 minutes, like, 

255
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:16,400
come on, I've got a race to do 
here. 

256
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,120
And then I got a bag of chips 
and I carried them for about 10 

257
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,960
miles. 
And then when I stopped to eat 

258
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:24,400
them, it was like, this is 
disgusting. 

259
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:34,360
I don't want chips. 
But before we go and describe 

260
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:41,440
how you approach long last, can 
you tell me what sort of what do

261
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:48,000
you normally wear on your feet? 
That's changed recently, but 

262
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:55,840
normally if I'm in shoes, I 
always have worn my Vibram 5 

263
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,840
fingers. 
If I say always from two years 

264
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,280
into running, I've worn my 
vibrant 5 fingers, which are 

265
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,119
barefoot shoes or I've worn no 
shoes. 

266
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,560
So that has sort of been the big
chunk of my running and training

267
00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:13,319
has been in barefoot shoes or no
shoes. 

268
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:18,720
And how do you, why, why did you
choose barefoot? 

269
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:24,240
I've personally I've run in 
barefoot and I've got 5 vibrant 

270
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,000
5 fingers. 
I don't normally run in them, 

271
00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,480
and certainly not in the last 
few years, but why would you 

272
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,920
choose to run on them? 
So when I first started running,

273
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:37,480
I wore Salomon shoes, which when
I started running seemed to be 

274
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:39,240
working for me. 
I didn't really have any 

275
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:40,840
experience what shoes I should 
wear. 

276
00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,480
I kind of went Googled it. 
What's the best running shoes? 

277
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:44,800
There they were. 
I'm going to buy them. 

278
00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,400
That make me fast. 
But and then when I started 

279
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:53,000
doing ultra marathons, my feet 
were getting sore spots. 

280
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,040
I was finding I was going over 
on my ankle and twisted my ankle

281
00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,840
a lot, getting some Eagles, that
was, yeah, just getting 

282
00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,320
uncomfortableness. 
But you know, is that not what 

283
00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:05,920
you get when you run? 
I thought so. 

284
00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:07,840
You know that that's just life. 
It's runners life. 

285
00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:12,280
And then I did Chester 100 and 
it was my feet were just 

286
00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,080
wrecked. 
And I remember taking the shoes 

287
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,120
off at the end of the run and 
putting them in the bin. 

288
00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:20,960
I was burned, like my feet were 
sore. 

289
00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,480
They were bleeding it. 
They were just like the the shoe

290
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,440
had rubbed them and I was just 
like, oh, just ruining my feet. 

291
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,600
I'm not taking these shoes home.
And I didn't. 

292
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,160
Then obviously the next day, 
walking the dogs, I was like, 

293
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:34,320
I've got no shoes. 
I've got no shoes to walk or run

294
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,280
in. 
So then she went out about foot 

295
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,000
and it all kind of started from 
there. 

296
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,840
Someone gifted me some running 
sandals and I started looking 

297
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,680
into sparefoot shoes. 
And that is really just how it 

298
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,640
all started and it kind of 
escalated massively. 

299
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,880
You say it's changed in the last
two years, but how? 

300
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,560
How has it changed? 
So it it's not in the last two 

301
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,720
years, it's in the last eight 
weeks, it's changed a little 

302
00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,920
bit. 
So I've had some some things 

303
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:06,320
going on in my personal life and
I've become really I don't know 

304
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,960
how to describe it. 
I'm a lot more emotional at the 

305
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,600
moment than I have been. 
And when I go outside and I'm 

306
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,640
barefoot on the ground, I'm 
overwhelmed with all my emotions

307
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,400
at the moment. 
And so I guess I'm sort of like 

308
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:29,560
in a healing process. 
And I've been wearing my Vivos, 

309
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,720
which are completely barefoot 
shoes as well, and they've got 

310
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,200
no cushion in the zero drop. 
But in my head, it's just a 

311
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,760
different connection for me 
rather than my 5 fingers. 

312
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,720
So I've been using them to run 
in recently. 

313
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,040
I've done quite a few miles in 
them. 

314
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,080
So yeah, that's changed. 
So I'm still in barefoot shoes, 

315
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,760
but I've not been in my my 
finger toes as people call them.

316
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,720
Your your foot gloves. 
My foot gloves, yeah. 

317
00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:02,600
Is it something that you want to
go into? 

318
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:09,360
Feel free not to help helps you.
I'm open to talking about 

319
00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:13,680
anything. 
So what? 

320
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,240
What is it that's changed 
recently for you that's made you

321
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:23,560
feel that way? 
So my mum died just over a month

322
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:29,480
ago and we didn't actually know 
she was ill until we knew. 

323
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:35,520
And then we we had like a 
consultation with the doctor and

324
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,160
they had some scans and they 
said you've probably got six 

325
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,920
months, but she only had seven 
weeks. 

326
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:49,160
So that was like a big, very 
sudden change in our lives. 

327
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:57,880
OK, and but your mum was 
obviously a big part of you. 

328
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,280
Was she a big part of your 
running, or just your life in 

329
00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,400
general? 
I would say probably my mum was 

330
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:12,960
my biggest fan, as mums are 
right, yeah she was. 

331
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,640
She was just a big part of of 
everyone's life. 

332
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:27,040
Well hopefully you can use that 
to take your take your running 

333
00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:32,160
forward use use that as an 
influence to do what it is that 

334
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:33,680
you you need to do in your 
running. 

335
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:43,120
However it's going to develop 
you as a person another I'll 

336
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,760
just looking at you, I don't 
know how to continue the moment 

337
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:53,080
something else that you while 
we're talking big bombshells, 

338
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,560
something else that you said was
about your health. 

339
00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:01,240
You had a health problem. 
Since we're talking about these 

340
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,680
big things, do you want to go 
into that? 

341
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,960
Yeah, so I I gosh, when was it? 
Like maybe three months ago I 

342
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,320
got COVID and it's my first 
bound of COVID. 

343
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,840
Like, I've managed to dodge it 
for forever. 

344
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,080
And I got it about 3-3 months 
ago. 

345
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:20,880
I had COVID. 
I had it really bad. 

346
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:25,080
It was awful. 
Still insisted I did my run 

347
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:29,560
straight every day. 
That's just me. 

348
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,120
But it was it was awful. 
Like I've never felt anything 

349
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,680
like it before. 
Didn't recover well. 

350
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,000
Got told you probably have long 
COVID, but we're just going to 

351
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,080
have to see how it goes. 
Didn't just didn't recover. 

352
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:47,960
Struggling to breathe of 
struggling to walk up the 

353
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,960
stairs. 
But it's really hard to explain 

354
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,520
to your doctor that you're out 
running a mile every day, but 

355
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,000
you can't walk up the stairs. 
Like they're just like, are you 

356
00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,960
serious? 
It was, yeah, it was horrific. 

357
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:07,560
And then ended up sort of like 
very much at the doctor's and 

358
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:13,000
had some tests and things and 
got diagnosed with COPD, which 

359
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,240
just basically means like all 
the sacks in my lungs are just 

360
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,080
damaged. 
And it was it. 

361
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,560
I've kind of had this. 
I feel like I've started right 

362
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,400
at the bottom learning how to 
run again. 

363
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,280
And it's like when I run, if I 
try to push any kind of pace, 

364
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,720
it's like I feel like I am going
to go into like a heart attack 

365
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,120
because I can't breathe, 
everything's compressed and then

366
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,640
you feel anxious because you're 
anxious you definitely can't 

367
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,520
breathe. 
So yeah, that that has been 

368
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,520
really hard to deal with. 
Still is really hard to deal 

369
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,400
with. 
I'm on some medication which 

370
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,560
seems to maybe be helping, but 
it's it's not going anywhere 

371
00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,400
now. 
I just have to learn how to live

372
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,280
there. 
I don't have to learn how to run

373
00:23:56,280 --> 00:24:01,200
with that. 
But yeah, it's things seem a lot

374
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:05,160
more challenging than they were 
this time last year or this time

375
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:10,200
six months ago. 
Do you think that running has 

376
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:15,040
not necessarily caused it, but 
made it worse or helped? 

377
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:16,920
Would it be worse if you hadn't 
run? 

378
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,200
I I really don't know. 
I know you that this would be a 

379
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:28,200
lot worse if I didn't run 100% 
and maybe this wouldn't be able 

380
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,120
to cope with what's happening 
here. 

381
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,520
I don't know. 
I mean, I know my doctor is like

382
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,480
Victoria, why are you running so
much? 

383
00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:45,240
But yeah, it it just, I just, 
yeah, I'm a runner. 

384
00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,320
Yeah, well, you say you're 
running so much. 

385
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,480
How long has your run streak 
been going on? 

386
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:56,640
Oh, wow. 
I I don't know exactly. 

387
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,000
I'm at the point where I don't 
know. 

388
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:06,960
It's over two years. 
I I I haven't logged. 

389
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,400
But I don't, I don't know, like 
when I first started I was like 

390
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,880
one day, 2 day, one month, three
months. 

391
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,640
And then even when it was a 
year, I was like wow. 

392
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,520
And now it's just normal. 
It's it's every day. 

393
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,440
It's it's like waking up and 
making a coffee, you know? 

394
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:24,480
So yeah, it's definitely over 2 
years. 

395
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,280
I just don't, I don't know 
exactly. 

396
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:31,000
And what's what is your 
requirements for the streak One 

397
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,240
mile? 
Yeah, it has to be a mile. 

398
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:37,280
And I've always done it outside 
up to now I think you're allowed

399
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,640
to like, you know, run streak 
rules you're allowed to do on a 

400
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,040
treadmill. 
I've always done it outside, 

401
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:49,160
yeah. 
And what happens if you run run 

402
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:54,160
long last you finish at whatever
time 5 to midnight? 

403
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:56,800
Are you still going to do the 
mile the next day? 

404
00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:01,040
Oh yeah, I did. 
I remember doing it the next 

405
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,120
day, right? 
And I was so slow with my 

406
00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:06,040
movement. 
My daughter came out with me and

407
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,880
she was walking and I was 
struggling and she was like, 

408
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:10,240
mum, why don't you walk here 
faster? 

409
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:11,440
And I was like, that's not the 
point. 

410
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:12,760
It doesn't matter what the pace 
is. 

411
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:19,080
I have to be doing the running. 
So yeah, it's there's been days 

412
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,800
where it's been so slow. 
It's painful, but I have still 

413
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:28,640
gotten in my run streak. 
Right. 

414
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:37,200
Is there any any races that you 
have not done yet and we've got 

415
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:42,680
on the ones that you have done, 
any bucket laces races, you've 

416
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,520
got something you you dream 
about doing. 

417
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,920
That would like, I definitely 
want to be amazing enough to go 

418
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,520
to Lassie's backyard. 
Like, I think that's the 

419
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,000
ultimate backyard dream, a 
dream. 

420
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,760
It's like that whole, like, will
never happen. 

421
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,360
But I'm holding on to it. 
All right. 

422
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,680
My my last question for the 
night was going to be what's 

423
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,080
next and do you want to see what
is next? 

424
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:17,000
Oh, so I am in in March. 
I'm going to the rattlebock. 

425
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:22,720
Sherbert Pines Backyard Ultra 
and I made this goal last year 

426
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:28,920
and has been training that. 
I'd like to break the UK female 

427
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:35,400
record for backyards, which I 
think it stands at 3636, it 

428
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,360
stands at. 
I'm pretty sure it's 36 or 37. 

429
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,160
I'm not good with that, but I 
know I should be. 

430
00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:46,840
You need to get 36, but Karen, a
previous guest on HERE 35. 

431
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,640
OK. 
She's the same as me, but I'm 

432
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,960
ahead of her technic on a 
technicality because I won the 

433
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,960
race. 
She was the assist so the winner

434
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,400
gets ahead. 
So I'm I'm first on the reserve 

435
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,640
for the the UK team and she is 
second or third on the list, 

436
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,520
but. 
You you're going to That is my 

437
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:14,080
goal that I I made that goal 
last year and I I trained been 

438
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,400
training really hard. 
I I've had this right big break 

439
00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:21,000
the eight weeks because I 
literally stopped everything 

440
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,200
apart from my run. 
St. like I paused work, 

441
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:24,840
everything. 
I moved in with my mum and dad 

442
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:29,800
and I helped care for my mum 
full time and running just 

443
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,160
probably for the first time in 
my life just didn't seem 

444
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,640
important anymore. 
So apart from my run straight 

445
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,880
every day like my dad would be 
like have you run today? 

446
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:43,080
But he was that good keeping on 
top of me but training just 

447
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:45,760
didn't happen. 
It wasn't important obviously 

448
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,640
now I'm just like getting my 
head back in the game. 

449
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:55,000
We did like a run this month and
that was good. 

450
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:56,960
Sort of like it give me a bit of
confidence. 

451
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,840
Like I had no training in my 
legs, but and like with the, IT 

452
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:05,360
was like the first proper 1, 
knowing that I had the COPD and 

453
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,040
two weeks ago I found out that 
I'm allergic to gluten. 

454
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,320
So that's just like messed up my
fueling plan for life. 

455
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,160
So yeah, it was good to get that
under my belt and just have a 

456
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,360
bit of confidence that I can. 
I've still got mileage in me. 

457
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:22,840
Let's just find out how much 
I've got. 

458
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:30,720
OK. 
How has your you've done 

459
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,320
backyards before and you've done
big races before. 

460
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,440
How has your your training 
changed? 

461
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,080
Do you You're saying that you 
want to go for the the UK female

462
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,200
record. 
I don't think they are. 

463
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,080
I think you're 1 to go for the 
overall record. 

464
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,960
Don't don't hold yourself back. 
Come on. 

465
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,640
Yeah, so like I have. 
I have a coach. 

466
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,680
It took me a long time to find a
coach that I could work with. 

467
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,840
Not easy to work with. 
Would you guess so? 

468
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:11,600
I'm very much for so many years.
I just ran like to me, like, I'm

469
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,400
not into the science behind 
running or anything. 

470
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,800
I'm just like, this feels good. 
So I'm going to do this and if 

471
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,880
that doesn't feel good, I'm 
going to change it and do this 

472
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,920
And, like, yeah, and my dad was 
always sort of like the voice in

473
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,680
my ear going, but you need to be
doing like intervals and stripes

474
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,280
and you need to have rest days. 
I was like, no dad. 

475
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:39,640
And so yeah, like over a year 
ago I'm at Stewart Bree and 

476
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,600
asked him to coach me and I said
I just want three months because

477
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,200
that was it. 
I'd never been able to work with

478
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,080
someone for more than three 
months, no matter what kind of 

479
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,280
coach they were. 
And it's been over a year now 

480
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:50,800
and he hasn't gotten rid of me 
yet. 

481
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,840
So I think we're doing all 
right, that he's really good at 

482
00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:00,560
just listening to me as a person
and making me the training plan 

483
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:05,000
that's unique to me and my life.
And because I have a very hectic

484
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:09,480
life and I am obsessed with 
running in yards. 

485
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:14,040
So like, like my training plan 
isn't say, like if it's a 12 

486
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:18,320
mile training run, he doesn't 
put 12 miles, He'll be like 4 

487
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,960
yards. 
Because that is like my entire 

488
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,840
obsession at the moment. 
I'm like, yes, 4 yards. 

489
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,480
You know, I don't for a minute 
think 12 miles. 

490
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:33,000
And when you say yard, you don't
mean one yards approximately a 

491
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,640
meter. 
You actually mean one yard is 

492
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:41,240
4.167 miles. 
Yeah, I know what you mean. 

493
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,040
I make this mistake on Facebook.
The other day I posted that I'd 

494
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,120
been to the race, I'd done 19 
yards and somebody commented 

495
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:53,160
saying I just worked out what a 
yard is and I was like, oh, 

496
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,480
because we because I know we 
know. 

497
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:56,960
You presume. 
Everyone knows. 

498
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:04,520
For for the people that don't 
know a yard is Lazarus Lakes 

499
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:12,720
backyard in Tennessee and it is 
4.167 miles loop And the reason 

500
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:17,560
for that is you add up 24 hours 
and you get 100 miles exactly. 

501
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:28,760
So everybody knows now. 
So when sorry we're all over the

502
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,880
place but it's all right. 
There's no format to this. 

503
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:39,280
It's all natural chatting, 
hopefully while you're running. 

504
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,240
Do you listen to music or 
anything? 

505
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,080
On the long, long run. 
So I always have my headphones 

506
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:52,320
with me because I'm always ready
to take a phone call from home 

507
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:57,360
and my brother needs 24/7 care. 
So if I'm going out on a 

508
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,720
training run I want to be able 
to like, hit reply if the phone 

509
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:02,400
rings, should I need to get 
home. 

510
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,600
And even when I'm out on races, 
like I'm aware I've got kids if 

511
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,960
if they want something, usually 
it's the 13 year old going mum, 

512
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,160
I'm hungry, where are you? 
And I'm like, dude, I've been 

513
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:17,440
gone two days, but I'm always 
ready to like, hit, hit my 

514
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,680
headphones. 
But do I listen to music? 

515
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:26,400
Only, Tony, on the really long 
runs, I I would like just kind 

516
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,440
of heading out for a run. 
And when I run a process, all 

517
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,360
the things that have happened, I
worked them all out. 

518
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:33,920
And then it's just silence. 
And I love, like, I go out on 

519
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,640
the trails and in the mountains.
I want to hear, I want to see. 

520
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:42,040
So yeah, like on the long, long 
runs or if I've got a particular

521
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,000
podcast I want to listen to, 
then I'll save that for a run. 

522
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,000
I'm obsessed with the Backyard 
Ultra podcast. 

523
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,240
Have you have you listened to 
that? 

524
00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:55,360
Yeah, I really like that. 
But yeah, I I-9 times out of 10,

525
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,920
I've got nothing in my ears, 
although I've got my headphones 

526
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,680
on and it's a really good tip 
because I'm not a very social 

527
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:03,600
person. 
I have like, social anxiety, so 

528
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,320
it can stop other people 
speaking to you as long as you 

529
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:12,520
think you're listening to music.
So if you've got headphones and 

530
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,880
you've not got music on, what 
are you thinking about? 

531
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:21,400
Yeah, I usually use like that 
thinking time to figure out all 

532
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,719
the mishaps that have gone on in
my day, work them out and just 

533
00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,840
find that car at tea. 
And then I'm, I'm very like 

534
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,760
crazy minded. 
So I'm like, oh, there's a bird 

535
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:30,679
and I'm like, oh, there's a 
tree. 

536
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:32,960
Like, oh, this is a nice half. 
And it's like, oh, look at that 

537
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,920
cow. 
I'm very much like that person. 

538
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,440
That is just me. 
And I usually end up getting 

539
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,560
lost. 
I just forget to follow the 

540
00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,679
trail because I'm so busy, like 
following a bird or a cow. 

541
00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:47,520
So yeah, like I'm very all over 
the place with my thoughts. 

542
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:53,320
And on the the times that you 
are listening to music, is there

543
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,000
a type of music that you're 
listening to? 

544
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,120
Is there a particular song that 
you like to listen to? 

545
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,200
Yeah, so that would just depend 
on my needs. 

546
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,880
So like my music genre is so 
scattered. 

547
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,640
Like I like Lindsey Stirling, I 
really like listening to her. 

548
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:15,800
But then I also like Dean Lewis.
Or yeah, just like hold. 

549
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,600
I'll listen to opera while 
running, or I will listen to 

550
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:24,320
Like the Hue, which is a rock 
band from Romania. 

551
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:28,560
So literally just opposite ends 
of the scale, just dependent on 

552
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:38,240
my mood. 
OK, before a race 2, two 

553
00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:41,680
questions. 
Do you get nervous and do you 

554
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,560
have any sort of pre race 
rituals that you do? 

555
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,160
I always, always get nervous 
before a race. 

556
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,800
Always like a good nervous, like
I'm excited and I'm like, what 

557
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,960
have I forgotten? 
Or, yeah, I always get that good

558
00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:59,080
nervous, like those butterflies 
in your belly kind of nervous. 

559
00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:02,760
I don't really have any rituals.
I'm usually the night before a 

560
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:08,200
race realized I should be 
packing or getting prepared, but

561
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:12,080
I don't have sort of any rituals
really, you know, like things 

562
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,400
that you always do. 
I'm just too scatty a person to 

563
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:19,400
be like that. 
OK. 

564
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,920
You said earlier that your life 
was hectic. 

565
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:32,160
Is that what do you normally do 
when you're not looking after 

566
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:36,480
your kids? 
And yeah, describe what you, 

567
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,360
what you're normally doing a 
day-to-day basis. 

568
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,640
So I work from home, which is 
great. 

569
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:48,880
I work in advertising and social
media. 

570
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,840
I work and I also work. 
That's quite my pay job that 

571
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:54,200
brings home the bread and 
butter. 

572
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,320
But I've also have my own 
company with my best friend, so 

573
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,040
that that's we run bright, we 
make active tops. 

574
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:02,920
So that takes up a lot of time 
as well. 

575
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:10,080
Having your own company in 
China, just trying to, yeah, get

576
00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:12,760
that we're in our second year 
and we're still in that like 

577
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:18,960
survival mode. 
But yeah, I I also like, I've 

578
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,800
got my two kids, they're 
homeschooled, so I do a lot of 

579
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,640
homeschooling with them. 
My brother lives with us, so I 

580
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:31,880
am his full time carer and and 
we have a bit of land that I've 

581
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:33,920
been trying to grow our own food
on. 

582
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:38,960
We've got two dogs, 3 cats, a 
hamster, 3 tortoises. 

583
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,840
I think that's it. 
Any animal that needs taken in, 

584
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:49,120
we're like come live with us. 
So yeah, that that's kind of fit

585
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:54,760
in training and yeah, just just 
life, really. 

586
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:57,560
Where, where about in the world 
are you based? 

587
00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:04,800
North Wales, So we are like when
I look out my window, I can see 

588
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,000
like the hill forts of the 
office diet, the cluidian range.

589
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:08,960
I don't know if you know where 
that is. 

590
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,080
I can see Jubilee Tower from our
garden. 

591
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,840
It's like 4 miles on foot and I 
can get straight up onto the 

592
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:16,880
office. 
So we're in a really pretty 

593
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,720
part, like trails, hills. 
It's really cool. 

594
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,960
So 4 miles. 
Turn around, come back, Do it 

595
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,480
again. 
Yeah, exactly 1 yard to the 

596
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:30,120
office. 
I know she described it in 

597
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:42,360
miles, but what's a mile? 
So it's 4 miles on foot or one 

598
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:47,120
yard. 
How is it flat you're saying 

599
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,240
that you're getting onto? 
Do you go onto Hills Do? 

600
00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:51,760
You. 
Yeah. 

601
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:52,920
What? 
What does he normally do? 

602
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:54,280
Flats. 
Hills. 

603
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,720
What do you prefer? 
Yeah, I get it would be a 

604
00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:59,680
struggle to even run around my 
village and find a flat route, 

605
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:06,080
but the trails here, it's all 
about what you're used to. 

606
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:11,640
So like I went to Long Bridge 
this month and it was, I think 

607
00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:15,920
it was 600 foot of elevation or 
643 foot of elevation per yard. 

608
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,920
And like, I was like, this isn't
hilly, this is, this is not 

609
00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:22,640
hilly. 
Whereas other people were like, 

610
00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:25,920
this is horrific, why would you 
be going up and down this? 

611
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:27,720
So it's all about what you're 
used to. 

612
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,720
So I would definitely say I'm 
used to elevation in the hills. 

613
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:37,200
So yeah, I I love being up in 
the hills and on the mountains 

614
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:40,040
and trying to gasp for air as 
you climb up something. 

615
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:44,400
Yeah, race that I did last year 
was in North Wales. 

616
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:48,560
The it's now called Pig in a 
Hill or something like that. 

617
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:52,560
When I did it was called 
Lionsgate and everybody said 

618
00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:55,480
it's coastal, it's windy, it's 
hilly, it's horrible. 

619
00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:58,440
That's exactly what it's like 
when you step out my back 

620
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:02,200
garden. 
I loved it so it was great. 

621
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:10,600
But two races that I've crossed 
paths with you on are the tunnel

622
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:15,840
and the bridge, which are. 
Relatively flat. 

623
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:20,480
I know the bridge goes over a 
bump, but it's flat. 

624
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,680
The tunnel, it can't be that big
a tunnel, it can't be that big a

625
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:29,840
hill because it it does go up at
one end and down, but it's flat.

626
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:35,360
You've done, you've started 
both. 

627
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:42,120
What attracted you to that? 
Because they look hard. 

628
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:50,520
I kind of have this thing in my 
head, like if I'm going to pay 

629
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:53,200
to run, and I do a lot of 
running and I live in a 

630
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,320
beautiful part of the world. 
So if I'm going to pay to run, I

631
00:40:57,320 --> 00:40:59,640
absolutely want it to be 
something that's worth it. 

632
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:03,160
And for some reason, I think 
something that is the most 

633
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,960
horrible place to run and in the
world or the most mentally 

634
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:11,680
deranging thing is worth paying 
for because like, you wouldn't 

635
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:13,280
do it off your own back, would 
you? 

636
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:18,000
Why would you? 
So yeah, that I was attracted to

637
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:19,360
them because I knew it was 
tough. 

638
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,680
I'm attracted to things that I 
probably won't be able to do 

639
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,040
because it's a challenge, isn't 
it? 

640
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:31,080
And like, I don't find a half 
marathon along my local trail, 

641
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:32,880
the challenge. 
So I'm not going to pay for it. 

642
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,200
So yeah, I'm. 
I'm definitely attracted to 

643
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:38,920
things that I think I probably 
won't make that, but I'd love to

644
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:40,400
try. 
It's going to be hard. 

645
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:45,400
I I love hard stuff. 
I I don't know if you've started

646
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:51,800
Mark's race that's postponed now
for because you can't get the 

647
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:55,600
start really, but the hill, have
you started that one? 

648
00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:59,120
No, no, I have not. 
OK. 

649
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,720
If if that was on, how? 
What would you prefer? 

650
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:05,560
Something like the tunnel or the
bridge or the hill. 

651
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,080
Probably. 
I probably want to do all three 

652
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,560
again. 
The hill. 

653
00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:14,960
The hill would be cool. 
Yeah. 

654
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,280
Yeah. 
I think anything Mark puts on, 

655
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,920
it's always attractive because 
you think, oh, it's going to be 

656
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:27,240
hard and horrific. 
Like, take my money, I don't 

657
00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:28,920
know what it is. 
There must be something wrong 

658
00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,400
with it. 
Yeah. 

659
00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:33,520
I I would probably, Yeah, give 
that a go. 

660
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:36,280
Yeah. 
I I haven't done that or already

661
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,200
looked into it, so I don't 
really know that much about it. 

662
00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:43,200
But I have heard about it, yeah.
OK. 

663
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:49,320
Is there anything about running 
that you regret doing? 

664
00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:58,960
I regret Darren or. 
Anything that you may have 

665
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:03,880
missed out on like the hill? 
I don't think. 

666
00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:05,600
That you wished that you had 
done. 

667
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:10,200
I don't think so. 
Yeah, I don't. 

668
00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:12,520
I don't have many regrets, if 
any. 

669
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:16,360
I don't think there's anything 
I've missed out on that I know 

670
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,360
of. 
Well, leading on from that, is 

671
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:24,560
there anything about running 
that you don't like? 

672
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:34,560
Kayfan. 
Kayfan is the worst, so that's 

673
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:35,360
pretty much it. 
Not enough? 

674
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:45,040
Right chafing. 
A lot of the time it's due to do

675
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:52,640
bad kits or running a long way. 
Can you tell us about what? 

676
00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,560
What's What's your standard kit 
set up? 

677
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,000
Or do you feel like, whatever? 
Yeah, I feel like you're a lot 

678
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,880
more organized than me by the 
sound of this conversation. 

679
00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:13,000
I'm always in a sport that's a 
given, and I'm always in a We 

680
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:16,880
run bright top normally, and 
that's pretty much it. 

681
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,640
I'm not very I'm not as 
organized as you, for sure. 

682
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:27,440
Do you do you want to go into 
You mentioned your company, We 

683
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:28,440
run bright. 
What? 

684
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:33,560
What is it they do and how do 
how do people buy, view, 

685
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:38,240
whatever? 
OK, yeah, so we run bright is we

686
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:42,680
make colourful, vibrant mood 
boost in active tops. 

687
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:47,360
So it's literally, we run 
bright.co.uk and yeah, we 

688
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,560
started it mainly because I'm 
fortunate enough that I'm 

689
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:55,200
sponsored by Fancy, who make all
the sports that I wear. 

690
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,880
They're really colorful. 
And I literally, like said to my

691
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:02,600
best mate one day, like I don't 
have any cool tops to match my 

692
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:04,680
school. 
It's like, I'm so sick of like, 

693
00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:08,200
taking selfies in rubbish tops. 
And he was just like, I'll make 

694
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:09,600
you a top. 
And I was like, what? 

695
00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:10,720
He's like, yeah, let's make a 
top. 

696
00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:13,520
And I was like, can we do that? 
And apparently we could. 

697
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:17,480
We turned out like that was 
really creative and he draws 

698
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:21,840
like all our designs from 
scratch and we started making 

699
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:25,000
tops and we were like, we think 
other people would like this. 

700
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:26,800
And to start with it was kind of
like, you know, like your 

701
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,120
friend's circle or your friends 
are buying your tops. 

702
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,680
And then it kind of got bigger 
and we started doing shows. 

703
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:37,560
We managed to get some tops into
like some people's hands that 

704
00:45:37,720 --> 00:45:41,880
had good profiles. 
And yeah, kind of escalated from

705
00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:46,200
there. 
And it's a full time job now and

706
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:49,320
it's, it's, it's growing, it's 
getting bigger. 

707
00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:51,880
And like half of me is like all 
my life I haven't got the time 

708
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:53,720
for this to grow. 
And then the other half of me is

709
00:45:53,720 --> 00:45:57,520
like it has to grow bigger so 
that this can be my paid full 

710
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:01,800
time job. 
So yeah, that that pretty much 

711
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:07,240
sums us up. 
Fair enough, and I've lifted my 

712
00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:10,080
jumper up earlier. 
I'm wearing one of your tops at 

713
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:14,400
the moment because it was a race
garment and and you're wearing 

714
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,160
one of your tops as well. 
I am like running on plants. 

715
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:24,160
I'm a bit short. 
Right. 

716
00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:33,320
What you're saying earlier that 
your your mum was your biggest 

717
00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:37,640
fan. 
How was that? 

718
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:41,000
How's your life changed because 
of that? 

719
00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:46,480
And what, what sort of 
motivation has do you have now 

720
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:48,640
that she might have given to 
you? 

721
00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:53,040
Or was that ever a motivation 
for you? 

722
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:59,640
Yeah, so I like one thing that 
has definitely changed for me 

723
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:01,200
and one thing I'm really 
struggling with. 

724
00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:05,680
It's sort of like when I used to
go out on runs, sort of like 

725
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:09,600
that first part of my run, I'd 
process all the stuff that's 

726
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:11,880
happened in my day and I'd sort 
it out and then I'd have my 

727
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:15,480
piece. 
And you can't process that, you 

728
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:20,800
can't fix that. 
And so like, I struggle now and 

729
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:23,960
a lot of my runs to sort of be 
in that silence because there's 

730
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:26,080
no processing. 
You know, we're not, we're not 

731
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:28,440
meant to have to process or deal
with something like this. 

732
00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:31,880
So that's that's really affected
my running. 

733
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,800
I started initially. 
I started to get really bad 

734
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:39,280
anxiety every time I went out. 
I just got so much, so much 

735
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,720
emotion. 
I'm a really emotional runner. 

736
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:46,800
They're like I run on emotion, 
which has always been a positive

737
00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:53,320
for me and all my emotion at the
moment is not positive emotion, 

738
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:57,080
if that makes sense. 
So that has been really, really 

739
00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,560
hard for me. 
At my mum's funeral, a 

740
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:06,880
neighbour, her neighbour came up
to me and she said to me, your 

741
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:11,560
mum always used to rave about 
you and you're running and she, 

742
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:15,240
she told us that you were a 
really fierce child, which 

743
00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:17,480
really took me by surprise 
because I'd always describe 

744
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:21,840
myself as a quiet, withdrawn in 
the shadow kind of child, always

745
00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:23,840
hiding behind one of my brothers
or sisters. 

746
00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:28,600
But she said that my mum said I 
was a really fierce child who 

747
00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:33,960
she knew would go for. 
So I guess I'd really like to 

748
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:40,640
find out how far I can go. 
My mum obviously saw something 

749
00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:44,360
Kimmy, but I didn't so I think 
that's what I'm going to try to 

750
00:48:44,360 --> 00:48:49,640
do this year. 
Yeah and doing doing backyards 

751
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:55,960
is somebody asked me why I I did
backyards and it is I I think 

752
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:58,720
the only way that you're going 
to find out how far you can go 

753
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:03,040
is having something like that to
show how far you can go are. 

754
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:06,200
You only stop when you've gone 
too far. 

755
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:10,160
You don't know how far you can 
go until you reach your limit A.

756
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:21,640
100%, so, yeah. 
OK, Going back to something that

757
00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:26,360
you mentioned at the start 
meditation, how how does that 

758
00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:30,240
get you over yourself, what 
you're just describing there? 

759
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:34,600
So I started doing. 
It was actually my boss that 

760
00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:37,920
sent me a meditation link. 
He's a runner as well. 

761
00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:43,320
And the first few times that I 
did, it just like, went 

762
00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,720
completely wrong because they're
like this person in my ears was 

763
00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:49,000
like, think of a word and I was 
just like death. 

764
00:49:49,240 --> 00:49:51,560
And she was like focus on that 
word and I was like, whoa, this 

765
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:56,560
is not going to do so. 
It took me a little while to 

766
00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:58,440
understand where I had to go 
with it. 

767
00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:02,360
But yeah, it like, I started 
doing it when I couldn't sleep. 

768
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:04,640
And it was really helping me 
just calm and relax. 

769
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:07,680
I was like managing to come out 
of like panic attacks and 

770
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:11,520
anxiety with it. 
And then I was like, do you know

771
00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:12,280
what? 
This is really good. 

772
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:13,400
And I started doing it every 
day. 

773
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:16,320
And I've gotten myself like this
meditation mark. 

774
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:21,440
It's bright green, obviously. 
And I got from the run show. 

775
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:25,680
I purchased like this spine 
thing because I've had some so I

776
00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:28,080
really hurt my back and I've 
been having some trouble with my

777
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:28,840
back. 
So I got that. 

778
00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:31,840
So I lay on my green bright 
green meditation mat with these 

779
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:37,080
bright green like fine full 
things and put in my ears this 

780
00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:40,680
meditation thing that I've been 
listening to and it just really 

781
00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:43,560
helps just sort of like all 
these crazy thoughts that are 

782
00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:45,080
going on. 
It just helps me just come to 

783
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:49,920
sort of one focus and just 
breathe and just find sort of 

784
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:52,080
that that inner piece in the 
day. 

785
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:58,800
And I've also like I I used to 
do which some things that I've 

786
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:01,160
I've lacked on. 
I used to do a lot of mental 

787
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:04,160
like mental strength chaining. 
It's how I trained for long 

788
00:51:04,160 --> 00:51:07,000
last. 
So it's meditation has helped me

789
00:51:07,000 --> 00:51:10,120
come back to that focus and 
start doing that, that mental 

790
00:51:10,120 --> 00:51:12,800
training again, which I think is
going to be really important for

791
00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:18,160
me this year. 
During during backyards you you 

792
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:22,520
obviously you do your your yard,
your loop, and you've got a time

793
00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:24,040
period before the next one 
starts. 

794
00:51:24,040 --> 00:51:25,880
Do you meditate during that 
time? 

795
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:30,360
I don't meditate during that 
time because I become far too 

796
00:51:30,360 --> 00:51:32,840
relaxed. 
I'm like, I'm going to sleep 

797
00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:36,600
now, but I I will do some 
stretching. 

798
00:51:36,600 --> 00:51:40,080
I will like, take my my nap with
me, but it won't be the 

799
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:43,440
meditation. 
But yeah, yeah. 

800
00:51:44,760 --> 00:51:48,640
The the a question that I always
get asked is what do you think 

801
00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:51,280
about when you're running? 
And I I've no idea. 

802
00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:57,640
I really don't know if I was 
thinking 60 hours into a race, 

803
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:04,000
but somebody else has said that 
while you're meditating you're 

804
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:07,040
in a sort of you don't know what
you're thinking about while 

805
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:08,320
you're meditating. 
Do you think that's the same 

806
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:12,000
thing? 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I suppose so. 

807
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,960
You kind of, yeah. 
It's kind of hard to explain, 

808
00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:19,040
yeah. 
Yeah. 

809
00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:22,960
I think for me it, like, helps 
me focus through. 

810
00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:25,280
I think my brain is very 
cluttered and there's a lot of 

811
00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:29,040
noise in it constantly, and 
which is why I struggle to sit 

812
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:33,840
or stay in a certain place. 
So yeah, it helps clear that 

813
00:52:33,840 --> 00:52:36,720
through. 
But I can spend hours sort of on

814
00:52:36,720 --> 00:52:38,400
my mat. 
But yeah, I don't really know 

815
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:40,840
what happened after the clutter 
decluttering happens. 

816
00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:47,360
Would you think about meditating
while you're running? 

817
00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:49,960
Is that even possible? 
I don't know. 

818
00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:51,040
I. 
Don't know. 

819
00:52:52,240 --> 00:52:54,200
It's like this could be a 
challenge to find out. 

820
00:52:54,200 --> 00:52:56,720
Is it possible like the 
meditating runner? 

821
00:52:56,720 --> 00:53:00,960
I do not know. 
Yeah, I know. 

822
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:04,680
At least once, possibly more 
than that. 

823
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:09,240
I've fallen asleep and woken up 
like 20 meters down the lane 

824
00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:12,800
because I've kicked something. 
So I've been running at the 

825
00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:15,560
time. 
Would you have the same thing 

826
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:17,520
like if you were meditating 
while you're running? 

827
00:53:17,520 --> 00:53:19,920
That you've walk into a tree 
sort of thing? 

828
00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:22,560
Possibly, yeah. 
It wouldn't be very peaceful 

829
00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:28,360
meditation if that happened. 
Right. 

830
00:53:29,080 --> 00:53:34,960
To wrap it up, and this might be
a long question, tell us about 

831
00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:38,920
something that you talked about 
earlier was long lass. 

832
00:53:39,720 --> 00:53:42,520
How? 
What happened during that? 

833
00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:49,560
What didn't happen? 
Yeah. 

834
00:53:49,920 --> 00:53:52,960
So like when you say what 
happened during that like. 

835
00:53:53,880 --> 00:54:00,640
Well, it it starts in Anglesey. 
Yeah. 

836
00:54:01,400 --> 00:54:05,480
But first stops 25 miles away. 
I'm not saying going to a blow 

837
00:54:05,480 --> 00:54:11,440
by blow of what happened, but 
first 100 miles. 

838
00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:15,880
Oh yeah, 100 miles. 
There was lots of ups and downs.

839
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:25,840
Like I started running it with 
Gordon and, yeah, yeah, Gordon, 

840
00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:29,160
Alistair, we started running and
further along the line, Alistair

841
00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:32,400
sort of stopped. 
And that was quite AI said. 

842
00:54:32,400 --> 00:54:35,040
I'm an emotional runner. 
I remember crying like a baby 

843
00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:37,680
when he left. 
I was so emotionally distraught 

844
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:40,200
that we'd lost. 
Like one of The Three Musketeers

845
00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:45,520
had gone, but me and Gordon 
pushed on and in our heads we 

846
00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:52,360
were doing OK We were on our 
time frame and we got to the 100

847
00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:55,960
mile checkpoint and Mark was 
like you. 

848
00:54:55,960 --> 00:55:00,320
We're not letting you go on. 
You're just not here in time. 

849
00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:05,040
The people, every single runner 
that has reached here at the 

850
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:09,520
time frame you've reached it 
hasn't made it so you cannot go 

851
00:55:09,560 --> 00:55:10,680
on. 
You're just too slow. 

852
00:55:10,680 --> 00:55:12,560
You're only going to get slower 
and slower. 

853
00:55:13,960 --> 00:55:19,520
And I was just very much like, 
I'm, I wouldn't say that I'm, 

854
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:23,440
I'm not an angry person or 
anything, but if I've got 

855
00:55:23,440 --> 00:55:26,320
something in my head, you're 
going to have to work really 

856
00:55:26,320 --> 00:55:33,840
hard to change my mind. 
And I was like, no, like, like 

857
00:55:33,840 --> 00:55:37,680
we had made it within the time 
frame we needed to make it on 

858
00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:40,680
paper per our race instructions,
per e-mail. 

859
00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:45,600
And I was like, you've got no 
right to tell me I'm going to 

860
00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:47,480
get. 
So, but like, this is like, I'm 

861
00:55:47,480 --> 00:55:49,800
here, you know. 
And I get we get to run. 

862
00:55:49,840 --> 00:55:53,640
And he was just like, look, 
guys, you know, just carry on on

863
00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:57,360
your own, but you're not going 
to be in the race anymore. 

864
00:55:58,040 --> 00:56:00,240
And I was just like, I had like 
this. 

865
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:03,560
This race was probably the first
race I'd actually put real 

866
00:56:03,560 --> 00:56:06,720
effort and training into, which 
is very unlike me. 

867
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:10,960
And I was just like, no, mate. 
I was like we're going to carry 

868
00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:13,200
on And that proper stuck to my 
guns. 

869
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:16,680
Proper slip to my guns. 
And I remember Karen just going 

870
00:56:16,680 --> 00:56:19,640
oh God just just let them get to
the next checkpoint because she 

871
00:56:19,720 --> 00:56:23,480
would probably sick of me going 
no just and she was just like 

872
00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:27,400
let's just see how they go. 
And he just went go and then get

873
00:56:27,400 --> 00:56:30,600
off be gone with you like really
annoyed like God's sake you're 

874
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:35,360
wasting my time because he's 
just a matter of fact And you 

875
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:37,200
know in theory on paper he's 
right. 

876
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,600
We're only going to get slower. 
So how the hell are we going to 

877
00:56:39,600 --> 00:56:43,400
make it? 
And off we went just proper like

878
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:47,400
that. 
And yeah, like on like if people

879
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:52,280
were watching the tracker, our 
ETA, we it was not saying we 

880
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:53,800
were going to make it, we were 
not going to make it. 

881
00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:56,720
There were people ahead of us 
that their ETA was not going to 

882
00:56:56,720 --> 00:56:59,920
make it. 
But we proper literally just 

883
00:56:59,920 --> 00:57:01,600
gave it everything. 
We absolutely gave it 

884
00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:06,880
everything. 
And I I don't know how how we 

885
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:08,800
did it. 
There was a point, and I think 

886
00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:13,360
it was about 40 miles from the 
finish and something went in my 

887
00:57:13,360 --> 00:57:18,360
foot. 
And like my dad has always 

888
00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:21,560
taught me to respect my body. 
You only have one body that you 

889
00:57:21,560 --> 00:57:24,720
get to live in and there are 
consequences if you don't look 

890
00:57:24,720 --> 00:57:26,760
after it. 
And I never. 

891
00:57:26,880 --> 00:57:30,920
I always pushed past discomfort.
And there's always an element of

892
00:57:30,920 --> 00:57:34,720
pain when you run long distance 
and you understand it's not bad 

893
00:57:34,720 --> 00:57:36,520
pain. 
It's just like, well, we've run 

894
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:37,720
a long way. 
It's going to hurt. 

895
00:57:38,320 --> 00:57:41,880
And but there was something in 
my foot that I knew was bad. 

896
00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:46,400
And I knew that if I carried on,
it could be really bad. 

897
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:51,920
And it was the first time ever 
in a race or running that I 

898
00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:55,200
decided to keep moving and push 
past that. 

899
00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:58,520
And it really upset me. 
I remember like having tears 

900
00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:01,640
crying about it because I was 
almost disgusted at myself for 

901
00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:05,680
doing this to myself. 
But I was just like, this is it,

902
00:58:05,720 --> 00:58:08,240
This is this is the race that 
I've worked hard for. 

903
00:58:08,600 --> 00:58:12,840
And if I if I never run again 
after this, I'm just going to 

904
00:58:12,840 --> 00:58:16,560
have to live with it. 
And I pushed past that and I 

905
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:19,680
remember the whole like, then 
every step I was just like, this

906
00:58:19,680 --> 00:58:21,600
is awful. 
I could feel this thing just 

907
00:58:21,600 --> 00:58:24,080
popping in my foot like it was 
going to explode. 

908
00:58:25,480 --> 00:58:28,800
And we literally made it. 
We made it within seconds into 

909
00:58:28,800 --> 00:58:32,920
that finish line ring. 
We got lost so many times. 

910
00:58:32,920 --> 00:58:36,040
We like Gordon's torch died. 
I lost my watch. 

911
00:58:36,040 --> 00:58:39,360
So I was like navigating off the
tracker by watching us on the 

912
00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:41,080
tracker, seeing if we were going
the right way. 

913
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:43,000
So it was just a complete 
disaster. 

914
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:47,000
Everything was against us and 
somehow we made it and I just 

915
00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:52,480
don't know how. 
And did you do that in vibrance?

916
00:58:53,320 --> 00:58:57,640
Yes, yeah. 
And do you think that lasts 40 

917
00:58:57,640 --> 00:59:00,840
miles? 
You would have been any better 

918
00:59:00,960 --> 00:59:03,800
with more cushion shoe, or do 
you think it would have made any

919
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:06,120
difference you were you were 
gone anyway? 

920
00:59:07,760 --> 00:59:13,000
I think my ability to run long 
distance is because my feet are 

921
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:15,680
strong, and they are strong 
because they are in barefoot 

922
00:59:15,680 --> 00:59:16,920
shoes and because I run 
barefoot. 

923
00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:21,600
There's no doubt about that. 
So yeah, like I'd I'd never, 

924
00:59:21,600 --> 00:59:25,800
ever even consider like, oh, I 
wish I had cushion shoes on that

925
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:28,760
like, never. 
It never crosses my mind at all.

926
00:59:30,600 --> 00:59:33,720
And you you said you got to the 
finish, so we know you're 

927
00:59:33,720 --> 00:59:37,240
finished. 
But I I was one among one of the

928
00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:41,120
many thousands of people that 
were watching online the 

929
00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:42,760
tracker, is she going to make 
it? 

930
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:44,400
And it wasn't just you, it was 
Gordon as well. 

931
00:59:46,320 --> 00:59:53,080
And it was I think an 82 hour 
cut off to do the 253 miles and 

932
00:59:54,680 --> 00:59:59,000
you you finished how how much 
time did you have to spare? 

933
00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:03,400
Seconds. 
So like Mark's watch was just 

934
01:00:03,400 --> 01:00:05,560
like it didn't have seconds on 
it. 

935
01:00:05,560 --> 01:00:08,960
So he was stood that and he 
could see that 59 and he didn't 

936
01:00:08,960 --> 01:00:12,480
know what the seconds were. 
And I remember running towards 

937
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:15,000
him and it was dark and I was 
just like, there's this stupid 

938
01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:17,440
ring you have to get into, but 
you have been run round it and 

939
01:00:17,440 --> 01:00:20,320
get into the entrance and I 
remember screaming, have we made

940
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:22,120
it? 
And he was like just get in the 

941
01:00:22,120 --> 01:00:24,800
ring, right? 
And it was just like. 

942
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:27,760
It was insane. 
It was crazy. 

943
01:00:28,440 --> 01:00:32,680
They they, the whole crew, like 
the race crew had been eating a 

944
01:00:32,680 --> 01:00:34,480
meal in the restaurant because 
they didn't believe we were 

945
01:00:34,480 --> 01:00:37,040
coming in and they had to just 
abandoned their meal. 

946
01:00:37,040 --> 01:00:39,480
And I remember Karen still had a
bottle of wine that she'd like 

947
01:00:39,480 --> 01:00:43,080
taken with her because it just 
on paper, on the tracker. 

948
01:00:43,080 --> 01:00:44,480
We weren't making it so they 
weren't worried. 

949
01:00:44,480 --> 01:00:46,080
They're like, oh, we'll go find 
them when they get in. 

950
01:00:46,840 --> 01:00:50,960
And I remember Mark saying to 
me, like, haven't got your 

951
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:52,640
medals because we didn't think 
you're coming in. 

952
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,400
So they're in the hotel. 
And he was like, do you want to 

953
01:00:55,400 --> 01:00:56,920
get them later? 
Do you want me to go and get 

954
01:00:56,920 --> 01:00:58,400
them? 
Oh yeah, you're going to get 

955
01:00:58,400 --> 01:00:59,200
them. 
I'll wait here. 

956
01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:03,680
He went and got them. 
We'll just run back to the 

957
01:01:03,680 --> 01:01:10,960
hotel, but yeah, it's fine. 
So yeah, that like that is long 

958
01:01:10,960 --> 01:01:18,400
last is unforgettable for sure. 
Is there final, final question, 

959
01:01:19,360 --> 01:01:21,000
is there anything you would have
done differently? 

960
01:01:22,080 --> 01:01:24,480
A long last. 
And in fact, it's not a final 

961
01:01:24,480 --> 01:01:27,600
question. 
Anything you did done 

962
01:01:27,600 --> 01:01:30,160
differently and would you do it 
again? 

963
01:01:32,400 --> 01:01:37,400
Would I do long last again? 
No, Because you know, there are 

964
01:01:37,400 --> 01:01:41,360
races that you have good times 
in and you have bad times. 

965
01:01:41,680 --> 01:01:43,680
There were no good times in long
last. 

966
01:01:43,720 --> 01:01:48,280
OK, it was all bad times. 
It was horrific. 

967
01:01:48,400 --> 01:01:50,800
The under footing was 
disgusting. 

968
01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:55,320
Everything was horrible. 
OK There was not one bit in that

969
01:01:55,320 --> 01:01:57,840
race where I thought, oh, I love
being out here. 

970
01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:04,440
It was just awful. 
And would would I change? 

971
01:02:04,440 --> 01:02:09,960
I think, no, I don't think I 
would it it, you know, it was 

972
01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:13,320
what it was and the outcome was 
the outcome. 

973
01:02:13,320 --> 01:02:19,640
And yeah, like I've learned. 
I learned so much during long 

974
01:02:19,640 --> 01:02:23,200
last like so much as a person 
and as a runner. 

975
01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:26,360
Yeah. 
But I wouldn't, I wouldn't 

976
01:02:26,360 --> 01:02:27,280
change anything. 
OK. 

977
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:32,880
Good. 
Well, my, my last question was 

978
01:02:32,880 --> 01:02:36,640
going to be what's next and 
we've already asked that one. 

979
01:02:36,720 --> 01:02:41,280
It's Russell Bock and I'm 
pleased to say that I'll see you

980
01:02:41,280 --> 01:02:46,760
on the start line again. 
So I'll I'll I'll help you get 

981
01:02:46,760 --> 01:02:48,960
the the female record and then 
I'll keep going if. 

982
01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:50,000
That's OK. 
Appreciate that. 

983
01:02:50,000 --> 01:02:52,400
And you're going to give me a 
piggyback? 

984
01:02:52,840 --> 01:02:55,360
Yeah, some of that. 
I'm sure that that's not 

985
01:02:55,360 --> 01:02:57,320
actually in the against the 
rules, is it? 

986
01:02:57,720 --> 01:02:59,520
I don't think you're meant to 
get any assistance. 

987
01:03:00,760 --> 01:03:04,240
Right, OK. 
Right. 

988
01:03:05,280 --> 01:03:10,120
Victoria known as the happy 
runner on all social media. 

989
01:03:10,120 --> 01:03:14,680
Basically you posts a lot more 
often than I do. 

990
01:03:15,440 --> 01:03:18,280
Quite regular daily is it? 
I would say so. 

991
01:03:18,720 --> 01:03:20,120
Sometimes, yes. 
Yeah. 

992
01:03:21,880 --> 01:03:27,760
So thank you very much and thank
everybody for tuning in, 

993
01:03:28,200 --> 01:03:31,320
listening. 
We are now available on all 

994
01:03:31,520 --> 01:03:34,680
podcast formats as well. 
So thank you and goodbye.