Maggie's Running Podcast

Can you outrun your car? I'm not talking about for speed but for mileage. What about setting yourself a challenge to run further than your car this week/month/year. It might make you think more about those unnecessary journeys and more about getting those running miles in.

Once again you're tired, hungry but you still haven't managed to get your run in. What can you do? Sometimes we need to think outside the box. Running training isn't just about running. There are alternatives that might just help us be better runners but the exercise we do needs to be manageable, it needs to be enjoyable, it needs to be planned and it needs to be useful to your overall running goals. I talk about my struggles with fitting running into a busy schedule.

You may know about Nike's super fast Alphafly Next% or Hoka One One's Carbon X2 running shoes but did you know that there is a new entrant into the carbon-plated market and that from an unlikely corner of the market? Find out more in today's episode.

Have you ever taken part in a race where there was no defined finish, you just had to keep going until you were the last competitor? It sounds like a crazy kind of a race but if you think of COVID as a kind of race then it seems somewhat similar. We've started the race but we don't know where the finish line is. What can running teach us about the strategies that we need to adopt in order to win this race? I look at an interesting article by Alex Hutchinson which tries to shed some light on this subject.

Have you entered this year's London Marathon? The race is going to be run both on the streets of London and virtually. How does it feel when your 'actual' race becomes a 'virtual' race and is it better just to accept that it might be virtual?

In the second part of my interview with Heartback Track Club athletes, Anna Shields and Everett Hackett, we talk about running 1 mile in a straight line on the road, running even paced in the marathon and on the track and our favourite workouts.

Sunday's Loving Lockdown Running looks at a verse from Psalm 23. Life, and running, can have its ups and downs. This lockdown has been quite difficult for many both in terms of getting motivated to get out of the door for a run or for life in general. I think this verse is quite encouraging.

Nick Willis just got the longest ever running streak for running sub 4 minutes for the mile. It's phenomenal to have that level of consistency year on year. Do you have a special running streak? Have you set yourself a running streak goal?

This is the last part of my little series for people starting to run for the first time or those coming back from injury or after a break. There are some useful tips about what to do and what you need in order to stay fit, healthy and motivated.

Do you always do the same run or the same distance - at the same speed. You really want to mix it up a bit, do some different runs and have more fun with your running. It will also improve your speed when it comes to that important race. I've got some great tips whether you're a complete beginner or if you've been running a little bit longer.

In the second part of my beginner's guide to running, I talk about that feeling you get when you start running for the first time or the first time in a while, what to put on your feet and getting into good habits by doing some running drills. I also talk about having a level of accountability to help you get out of the door when you really don't feel like going for a run.

I'm going back to basics with my podcasts this week and I've got some top tips for people starting out on their running journey, or coming back to running after a break. If you're a beginner runner then these next few episodes are for you, packed with useful advice and top tips.

Anna Shields remarkable story about how she started running again years after having originally giving up any hope of being a successful athlete. In the first of a two part interview I speak with Anna and her clubmate Everett Hackett, a pretty mean athlete himself with a 2:18 marathon time, about both the marathon and Anna's story.

Apparently Emil Zatopek used to train with weights on his back - sometimes that weight was his wife! But what would happen if you tried to race with a weight on your back - a bit tricky?! Well, many of us try to race through our lives with weights on our backs. In today's lockdown episode, I have a look at a verse in the bible that compares running a race with living our lives.

Do we always have the right perspective on the results we achieve? I look back at one of the most extraordinary races in athletics history and see what lessons we can learn from it about our own reaction to races that don't quite go as expected.

Have you ever been sent the wrong way by a marshal in a race? This weekend Eilish McColgan got sent the wrong way in a 10k race in Dubai and ended up finishing in the middle of nowhere! When has your run gone wrong due to no fault of your own?

Have we lost our social conscience due to COVID lockdown? What happens if somebody in the street needs help - do we stop and help them or are the COVID risks too high? I had a strange incident on my run that made me ponder whether I'd become less caring due to lockdown restrictions.

Lockdown hasn't been great for kid's exercise. It would appear that

Is running bad for your knees and hips? I found an interesting sports science paper that looked into this question in more detail. In particular, the authors were interested in whether people who ran or walked were more or less likely to get osteoarthritis or need a hip replacement. Today's podcast has a quick look at this particular study.

Are these new Nike running shoes really faster? What evidence is there for the 4% claim? We discuss an article which looks at runners in marathon majors to see if times improved by wearing the new Nike shoes. The results are intriguing but there are still some questions. I'm joined this week by Wirral AC chairman and rather speedy marathon runner, John Heap, to discuss these shoes in more detail.