Speaker 1: 0:00

So you're thinking about running but not sure how to take the first step. My name is Brian Patterson and I'm here to help. Welcome to Brian's Rompod. Well, hey there, runners and listeners, welcome back to Brian's RunPod, your go-to for all things running. I'm Brian Patterson and this week we're doing something a little different. Instead of doing one compilation episode, which I did last week, why not make it a two-parter? So here's the second installment featuring some of the most memorable guests from the show so far.

Speaker 1: 0:53

Kicking things off, we revisit my first interview with my good friend and fellow runner, john Beeson. It was the start of this amazing journey and I couldn't think of a better person to launch it with. Next up, we go big an Olympian, no less. Stuart Hayes joined me on the pod and I was beyond thrilled to have him. He shared incredible insights into the stories from his elite running career. Following Stuart, we dive into the technical side of running with Andrew Wren, the first of many brilliant running coaches to create a podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:26

In this clip, andrew breaks down the importance of running cadence essential listening to anyone looking to improve their form. And then there's Lucy Tomlinson. She's one of the most downloaded guests ever, so naturally, she had to be part of this compilation. Her episode struck a chord with so many of you and it's easy to see why. Now I went a little off script with Tom Gamor, but trust me, it was worth it. Tom's story about leaving behind his dream of being a professional race car driver to find success in a completely different field is an incredibly inspiring and a perfect reminder that life's journeys can take an unexpected and rewarding turns.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Of course, I couldn't do a compilation without including Paul Piper, another standout coach on the podcast. Here Paul talks about the famous 80-20 rule of running, a game changer for so many runners. And finally we wrap up with Paul Butler, a seasoned runner and a close friend of John's. He shares why morning runs are his secret to starting the day on the right foot. I had such a blast recording another episode with John and Paul right before the Euros and the Olympics. It was one of my favourites. So settle in and enjoy this. Look back at some of the amazing guests we've had so far. So let's get started. First up is John Beesason, and I recorded the episode just before he was about to have an operation, and here he explains about his injury. But promise you, for those who are a little squeamish, it's not that bad.

Speaker 2: 2:54

He has since had the operation and has been doing lots of running, and the other day did the wind within half I've had an MRI scan, I've had the report back and I've got this thing called an FAI, which is a femoral acetubular impingement, which basically means where your thigh bone goes into your hip joint. The sort of neck of that isn't smooth for me. There's a bony lump, so it's a skeletal issue.

Speaker 2: 3:21

Correct, okay, and basically that that bit of bone is just hitting the sort of tissue and it's torn the tissue and and yeah, I don't know why, the pain is manifesting where it is. But but you know, that's what it is, so I need surgery, so right yeah I I'm now.

Speaker 2: 3:38

I am referred to an nhs consultant. I have seen a private consultant and I'm just mulling over how long I you know anyway. So so, yeah, I'm not, I need surgery and I can't run, I can't do. The only sort of exercise I can do is things like swimming, or, yeah, cycling's not too bad, obviously.

Speaker 1: 3:58

Oh, so, eve, that's interesting, so even let's say like a so-called low impact.

Speaker 2: 4:03

Yeah, so could you do an elliptical, yeah, yeah. So when I go to the gym I can't do like, because there is some. Clearly, every time you're lifting your knee it's triggering it a little bit. So I can do elliptical, I can do, obviously, do weights.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Next I interviewed Stuart Hayes, weights. And. And next I interviewed stewart hayes, and I've known stewart since the late 90s. He was a junior triathlete making his mark on the professional circuit, whereas I was just a meager gym instructor. In 2012, he was selected to be part of the gb triathlon team at the olympics, so it was great to have him on board about achieving his dream. And here he talks about the importance of gym work for runners. What well, I know you coach sort of I don't know like experienced athletes, but what would you say for someone who is starting out, especially within running? What are the kind of the bit you know, the key bits of advice you would give someone?

Speaker 6: 5:03

yeah, well, we coach actually beginners to obviously professionals. Yeah, we do, um, to be honest at these at this moment in time, coaching more beginners because they're the kind of people that I sort of enjoy bringing through. Yeah, yeah, I would say the most important thing for especially running is going to the gym. Is that? Hey, going in stretching or even doing like pilates, you need some kind of resistance, some weight resistance on your body, and that's a mistake that I made as a professional, as a young athlete, I didn't do enough gym work. I did, I go to the gym, but I kind of I should have gone to the gym with more specialists. Yeah, yeah, going and see the personal trainer that just gave me like really heavy weights. Right, the gym is so important because, you mean, I I think you need to basically do the whole body. At one point, I work on your cars, work your boots, but now I've realized over time, the whole body is so important. You have to be in alignment. Your hips, your hips have to be straight.

Speaker 1: 6:03

Yeah, it has to be spot on, otherwise you will pick up injuries it's funny you should say that because I was listening to a podcast, well, the runners world one, and they had jenny falcon on it and they she said she reduced her running to three times a week but did two gym sessions and she's a like three hour 30 marathon runner. Not that you know, that's quite that's pretty good for a celebrity. But she said the strength work helped because it meant that you know her arms were strong, her legs were strong, you know. You know let's say forever. So you know. Thanks very much, stuart. That's, I think, brilliant advice for anyone looking to improve their form and their running overall.

Speaker 1: 6:46

Next we had Andrew Wren Ever wondered how to find your stride and truly enjoy the thrill of running? We're thrilled to have a professional running coach, andrew Wren, join us to share his insights and expertise on this. Together we unravel the art of running from the basics to little-known strategies that can take our yaw performance to a whole new level. We also explore the controversial topic of cadence running and why it might not be the best approach for beginners. So Andrew highlights the essential symbiotic relationship with your coach and cautions against making hasty changes that could end up backfiring I don't do it.

Speaker 7: 7:29

I use sprinting as a drill. Quite often it's one of the one of the things that I I use quite a lot. I use sprinting as drills because I find that if you can put the thing that you're wanting someone to do into sprinting, it actually applies better to running rather than just doing it as a drill, rather than doing it as a skip or as a standing drill or something like that. I find that if I can apply it into sprinting, it actually carries over in a slightly more fluid way. So what?

Speaker 7: 7:54

What we were doing yesterday was we had three trees in the park well, four actually, because we were stood next to one at the start. So from the start to the first tree, we we'd focus on cadence. So tippy, tapping our feet and I had a metronome we're going at 200. So 200 from the first tree to the second tree and the second tree to the third tree, we would focus on relaxing our bottom lip, so ensuring that we shed any tension that we'd added into our body by increasing the cadence. And then, from tree three to tree four, we'd focus on lifting our knees up to accelerate again. And that essentially mimics how you would race 200 meters, in that you would accelerate and then you would float, and then you would accelerate again, and then you would accelerate again.

Speaker 1: 8:42

Our next guest we had the pleasure of speaking with Lucy Tomlinson, the founder of Welcome to Pilates, who illuminated the transformative power of Pilates for runners. Running, while beneficial for physical health and mental well-being, can present the risk of injuries due to repetitive impact on joints and muscles. Pilates, a series of low-impact exercises impact exercises can be the game changer that mitigates these risks while amplifying amplifying the benefits of running. Here she talks how there is no right or wrong way to do pilates. What are the kind of common mistakes that people who do start out will will do? Because obviously it's going to be something completely new to them, because, in terms of the breathing, trying to get used to their body in a very different way. So what are the kind of common areas?

Speaker 1: 9:35

yeah that they might get wrong, or they're usually. No, it's not like that, it's like this sort of thing definitely the breathing.

Speaker 5: 9:41

I think, like I said before, people just stop breathing. But in terms of doing it wrong, I don't really I wouldn't say anyone ever comes and does something wrong. I think the only thing you could do wrong is to find a session hard and then not go back right. You can't really do pilates wrong. There's obviously there's ways that I'll go around the room and correct people or give them adjustments, but I would never tell somebody they're doing something wrong because right they might adapt to something differently.

Speaker 5: 10:10

Yeah, yeah, there's not really a wrong or right. It's not like there's amazing teacher who said something once about there's no like end of term performance for pilates. You're not doing it to show anyone how you look at the end of it.

Speaker 5: 10:24

It's just about coming and working with your body on the day, and that might be different. You might have been practicing Pilates for 10 years and then you come one week and you can't do a roll up, for example, quite a challenging exercise coming off the floor, and I think you can get quite frustrated by that. But you have to listen to your body and some days you can do things and some days you can't. So, yeah, I wouldn't say anyone would do things wrong.

Speaker 1: 10:46

I would just say if you came and felt a bit overwhelmed or, yeah, you didn't quite like the teacher or any other reason and didn't go back, excellent advice from lucy there, and she is probably our most downloaded guest, so obviously a lot of you are enjoying the podcast that she's been on last year. Anyway, our next guest is Tom Gamor. So what happens when a life-altering accident takes away your dreams and leaves you with a shattered body and mind? Back in June 2023, we sat down with Tom Gamor, a former racing driver who faced this exact challenge and discovered how he managed to pick up the pieces and rebuild his life. Join us as Tom shares his inspiring journey of rehabilitation, resilience and importance of mental health support. Here he talks about whatever you decide to do in life is really helpful and really important that you enjoy it, and I suppose the same could be said for exercise.

Speaker 3: 11:51

To sort of take on board that here you are heading up that studio and there's going to be everyone in the world of motorsport watching you and you never lose sight of the fact that it's a huge event and those nerves will always be inside you.

Speaker 1: 12:07

But do you feel that when you come away from commentating and you feel that you've kind of learned something new, very much like when you were a professional racing driver, it's just a different skill, isn't it?

Speaker 3: 12:23

Yeah, I've learned to enjoy it. So I always say to to everyone whatever it is that you do, makes you sure you enjoy it. And that sounds a bit flippant, but when you speak to professional athletes so often, so many athletes will say they didn't, they forgot to enjoy it. They got to the the level that they got to and they forgot to enjoy it. Because it it becomes so much more than that and if you're not careful with the tv, the enormity of the events or whatever it is that you're doing can, can overtake you. And it's important actually just to simplify it. I'm talking about cars going around in a circle and that's all I'm doing and I'm going to enjoy it. And that's the long and the short of it. And you know I try whatever I do now just to make sure that I enjoy it. It's that simple.

Speaker 1: 13:17

That's a great episode from Tom Gamal. So he was a racing driver and then took up talking about it and commentating on motor racing. When embarking on a marathon journey, it's not just about logging miles, it's about a strategic blend of personalized training and nutritional planning. In episode 63 of Brian's RunPod, I had the privilege of discussing these critical components with the acclaimed running coach, paul Piper these critical components with the acclaimed running coach, paul Piper. Piper, known as he is detailed, orientated and affectionate approach, treats his clients whom he endearingly calls coaches with a personalised touch. That begins with an extensive initial assessment, and here he talks about the 80-20 rule in running. So make sure you're listening carefully.

Speaker 8: 14:05

It tends to be like a conversation. I run a half marathon in such a time, and now I've got Manchester Marathon coming up in three months. Would you be able to help and work with me? Yeah, so it tends to be along those lines, really, or along the lines of I've been running for five years and I've hit a plateau and I'd like to reach the next stage, if that's possible. It tends to be that Great, that's fantastic.

Speaker 1: 14:28

What do you think are sort of the common mistakes that sort of beginners sort of make?

Speaker 8: 14:37

Yeah, there's a few that come up quite regularly. Actually, yeah, a common phrase that I use I don't know if other coaches use it, but I call it too many middling miles which is broadly running the same pace all the time, or roughly the same pace all the time, whereas what you want to be doing is I don't know if you've heard of it the 80 20 rule I have heard of it, yeah, yeah yeah, I mean it doesn't have to be those exact numbers, but as a broad kind of structure, yeah, or an idea to instill in someone is probably quite close to.

Speaker 8: 15:05

Doesn't have to be those exact numbers, but as a broad kind of structure or an idea to instill in someone it's probably quite close to where you want to be. You want to be running generally easy for 80% of the time.

Speaker 4: 15:13

Yeah.

Speaker 8: 15:14

And then for 20% of the time that will be taken up during your sessions and tailored running as set by the coach. Hopefully, right.

Speaker 4: 15:23

Okay.

Speaker 8: 15:25

Yeah, and by easy I mean like so, when I tailor an easy run, you can't run it too slow. That's why I always try and tune still with the runner. Effectively, it's a recovery run. Yeah, it's recovering from the previous session and it's getting you ready for the next hard session.

Speaker 1: 15:44

So, yeah, that's quite a key thing can I just ask you here is that basically, let's say, for instance, someone who's quick, like you know, who maybe is a three hour or 30 marathon or something like that, and then they do, they can run at quite a fast pace or do intervals at a faster pace and do at a particular pace and do slower recovery runs. Or you know long runs, you know at a certain pace. Let's say, let's say, my like best 5k is six and a half, six minutes, 30 per kilometer so it's like 30 minutes, whatever.

Speaker 1: 16:33

So I mean, I know it's kind of a bit off the top of my head, whatever. So if I was looking to, let's say, do recovery run, maybe longer runs, like you know, seven, eight k or something like that, so am I looking to do something like seven minutes or seven and a half minutes or even walking pace, that kind of thing, and I'm kind of putting you on the spot a little bit yeah, I mean certainly way, way slower than your 5k pace yeah sure yeah, yeah

Speaker 8: 17:02

and slower than your. I don't know if you've done a marathon, have you? No, no, no, I've never done one though, but certainly slower than your notional marathon pace right so yeah you 100 would need to be doing that. Yeah, yeah, and that is the the way to progression.

Speaker 1: 17:16

Really, really, yeah okay, and is it? And is that a skill from from what you're saying, is that a skill as much of a skill, you know, as doing the interval sessions and running, you know, maybe six times 400 at a 5k pace or whatever you know. It's just as much as a skill to run at that recovery, slow recovery pace, because you know it.

Speaker 8: 17:39

Sometimes people can think oh, I can run faster than this. It's just as integral part of training as as the sessions.

Speaker 1: 17:46

Yeah for sure yeah, and you can't have one without the other really I wouldn't afford it in a proper training plan some great advice there from paul piper, so I really recommend you go back and listen to that episode, and I will put links in the show notes to get to that episode as well. Next up was Paul Butler. The fresh Saturday morning air, the community spirit and the rhythmic sound of sneakers hitting the pavement. This is the world of parkrun, a culture that's much more than just running. It's about milestones, community and the shared joy of movement. So back in May, 2024 episode of Brian's Ramport, we delved into this vibrant culture through the eyes of Paul Butler, a local hero who has not only reached this remarkable milestone of 250 more more than 250 park runs, but has also made the pursuit a family affair. Paul's story is one of passion and dedication and serving as a beacon of inspiration for both seasoned runners and those taking their first steps. Now here he talks about the power of morning runs and how it can boost your energy and mental health.

Speaker 4: 19:01

The reason I prefer running in the morning is one because it gets my endorphins up and I find that really helps my mental health, but also because there's a number of things that can happen during the day that can derail you. You know whether it's an extra meeting, your exercise, sort of lessens as the day goes on, I find, and one of the worst you can possibly do when you come back in from a day at work is sit on the settee there were.

Speaker 4: 19:34

There were times, you know, when I had running club, for example, where I'd come in, you know I'd be conscious that I needed a fairly fast turnaround and I'd sit down on the settee and it was fairly dreadful just trying to get myself back up and get my kit on and get out the door on a cold February evening for a run. So, yeah, I'd always encourage people, you know, to make sure they schedule the time and you know I'd encourage them to do it earlier in the day if they can.

Speaker 1: 20:02

But the most important thing is that you know you do get out and do it earlier with here if they can.

Speaker 1: 20:10

But the most important thing is that you know you do get out and do it really. So, yeah, I mean I was reading on on the website about someone who's saying that you've got, think of your day as having or if you could put a number to it is that you've got a hundred units of energy, yeah, and then throughout, like you said, throughout that day, you have various demands on that energy and so by the end of the day, you may not, you may have think of only 10 units of energy to do that run. So, whereas, let's say, at the beginning of the day, like you said, going out first thing, you're kind of it's like you're kickstarting the whole day, sort of thing. And then you've got you help sort of kickstart those endorphins, and that kind of it's like you're kick-starting the whole day, yeah, sort of thing, and then you've you've got you you help sort of kick-start those endorphins and that kind of yeah, and I think that's something that you know.

Speaker 4: 20:52

I think I don't. I do really believe in that that exercising early in the day really helps the rest of your day. But you know, without going to too much detail, there was a period of life where I wasn't particularly well and actually was burnt out and I'd get running in the evening, and then it becomes counterproductive Exercise, actually, you know there's a lot of talk about the benefit of exercise, right?

Speaker 4: 21:16

But if you're tired, it's a stressor and it's another stressor that plays into that stress. So it's a balance. Yeah, there's a balance there of a stressor that plays into that stress. So it's a balance. Yeah, there's a balance there, I think. Yeah, without doubt, exercise is a really important part of keeping yourself mentally well.

Speaker 1: 21:37

Well, there you have it, a real smorgasbord of guests. So please go and look at the back catalogue and listen to the full interviews. I really enjoyed doing them and I can't thank them enough for coming on the show. So, anyway, have a good week and see you next time.