Latest / The People Run Podcast / #54 Run Clubs, Hyrox & The Search For Community | Olivia Cox

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#54 Run Clubs, Hyrox & The Search For Community | Olivia Cox · The People Run Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: How does an ex-British Army presenter in London, uh Hyrux athlete and running, how do you do all this?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: How do you even come to doing all this?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: I think I thrive on being busy and that feeling of like, ha there's a quote in, and this is very basic, but the devil wears Prada, where Andy says something like, She's not happy unless everyone around her is panicked, nauseous, or suicidal.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that, I mean, this is very toxic, but that quote goes through my head quite often when I'm running from one thing to the next, and I think I really thrive kind of on the fumes of thinking I'm not quite gonna make it and then I make it.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia, why has high rocks become everyone's whole personality?
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I see it a lot in London where you're from, and I'm starting to see it here back home as well.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: To be honest, when I first kind of heard of Hyrocks and started vaguely thinking about it, it had this weird culty feel.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like once you're in it, once you've done one, you want to hear no wrong about high rocks.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: High rocks is amazing, but before you do one, it's kind of like this weird world where people just run around in circles and it's adult sports day indoors.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I have no idea why it's taken over so much.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe people don't want to be outside, maybe because the weather sucks in London.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: They're like they want a midlife crisis sport, but they're like, ah, the marathon's a bit cold.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I guess in your neck of the woods it can be cold, yes, or radiant and muggy, if you will.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: If you will, yes, it's awful.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's May right now.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um I got absolutely catfish, so I did the Hackney Half marathon this morning, totally catfished by the weather forecast, which told me.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I like to play off multiple weather apps until I find one that I like the forecast of.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: And all of them were saying it's gonna rain, it's really windy, it's really cold.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it was glorious.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: It was really sunny, really nice.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: So you just never know in London.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think when I was out there last, I had one sunny day, the rest was just welcome to London.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: Good for you.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: You had one sunny day.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that is honestly, that can be very rare.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: What time of year was that uh this was March, April-ish last year?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: Oh right, okay.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, March is not a good month.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: April can be okay, okay.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: But it's luck of the draw.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Hackney Half.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: First off, congrats.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, how'd that go?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: It was fine.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: I well, I had a bit of a sort of scheduling snafu in that I did Pyrox on Friday, flew back from Barcelona, and then did Hackney Half today.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: So ideally it wasn't a long enough gap.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it was I mean, technically, I think I got a PB, but I think that's also because this is the first half I've done with a smartwatch.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't I've never been that into how fast I'm running or what time I get.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's always just been just finish it.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but this I've only really started being a bit more competitive and taking it seriously quite recently.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: So all my Strava and Garmin and Aura, and everyone's saying, Your fastest ever run, your longest ever run.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, yay.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I think it's my PB, which is great.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I'm not certain.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So what's the time say for the PB, potential PB?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: Well, again, this is there's a little bit of conflab.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: The my official time is one hour 44.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: My Garmin has let me down and said a minute slower.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: So it said it was one hour 45.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna take the official one because A, it's quicker and B, it's the official time.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, to be honest, I am quite happy about that.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, the only whenever people, if I go and see a new trainer or a new physio or whatever, they always ask, like, what's your 5k time?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: What's your 10k time?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, I don't know.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: So the one I always reference is the one in my mind, which is when I did the London Marathon, I did three hours 40.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: But I've been riding that wave since 2012, because that's when I did it.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: So it was quite this was quite nice to figure out where I'm at.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I guess long story short, I think I'm pretty happy with the time.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: How do you balance that?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm asking, you know, selfishly here, because I'm about to do the same thing in two weeks.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: You have a race, then you have a Hyrux.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this will be my first time doing both in such I have three days, I think.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'll do the math later.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: But um, did you feel tired legs on the half, or you just one was an egg goal and the other one was, I'm gonna just hang out, have fun?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think so.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_03: I did Hyrux doubles.
• 4:57
  unknown: Okay.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so you actually weirdly get quite a lot of rest because although you have to do all the running together at the stations, it's kind of 50-50, and selfishly, I seem to always go with a partner who's a slower runner than me, which means that I basically get impressioned with that.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: I always get a bit of recovery on the runs.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: So there were points during HyROX that I had this weird mental little dialogue going on, which was like, I should be dying, like I should be really, really gassed, and I'm okay.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like, this is weird.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that kind of saved me for hack me half.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: Mind you, I really didn't know what kind of pace, what kind of time I was going to do.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: My aim was just to trot round and see how I went.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but then you get caught up in it and you ride that wave, and then you see someone in kit that you like, and then you find them, and then you overtake them.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: And um, so I mean, my advice to you would be don't do it, it's really stupid.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: Don't do a high rocks and then a half marathon, that's dumb.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but if you're gonna do it, um just fuel, I guess.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: Like I because I was kind of carb loading-ish for Hyrox.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and then after Hyrox ate everything in Barcelona and then came home and sort of did the same.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, just eat.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: Eat, sleep, you'll be fine.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, when in Barcelona, you kind of have to carve up.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: Barico ham and oh yeah, it's incredible.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm kind of screwed.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: My flight is already booked.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my events are signed up.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if mine's worse or better based on what you said.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Mine's a 5k, then open single.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: Ew, yeah, that's bad enough.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: So wait, you're doing the run first.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_03: So then you're just really, really making sure that your legs are absolutely knackers before you do running.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they do say that's the best way to train, but I don't know about the racing part.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you're kind of doing compromise running ahead of compromise running.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: I've got a lot of respect for that.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: You're nuts.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see how it goes.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh New York City, which is back home for me, and I I just couldn't pass up the opportunity of these two.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're like unique races.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: One's like a Grand Prix Bandit here, bandit, which is I think uh is famous out there as far as a brand as well.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: But um, they're doing like an F1 inspired.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Funny, we were talking about cars, F1 inspired 5K thing.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: First time I'm going, and then Hyrux just happens to be a few days later that I already had signed up for, and I'm like, I'm gonna be in New York anyway.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: I love your mentality.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's kind of where I go with these things.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yeah, it makes sense.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that's really cool though.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I guess then the 5K is not just running, it's the experience.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see, because I might go fast to your point, and then it's gonna be like, oh my god, hold on for dear life.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: But we'll see how.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_03: See, this is my this is my issue with 5Ks and 10ks.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: Technically, it's an easier race than like a half marathon or a marathon.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_03: But there is no way to get to a race situation and do a 5k or a 10k slow.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas at least with a half marathon, you're expected to pace yourself and kind of ideally you don't want to be like maxing out at like max heart rate the whole way through, although I did.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas with a five 5k or a 10k as an adult, you kind of sprint it, which I find disgusting.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, RIP basically.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, thank you.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we might have to order RIP sign for me here if this comes out after, uh, just like, and there he ended.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I agree with you.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: 5K's I find completely harder because you're going all out, heart rates high from the beginning, and you're just holding on for dear life.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia, how does an ex-British Army presenter in London, uh, high rocks athlete and running, how do you do all this?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: How do you even come to doing all this?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: I think I thrive on being busy and that feeling of like, ha.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: There's a quote in, and this is very basic, but the devil wears Prada, where Andy says something like, She's not happy unless everyone around her is panicked, nauseous, or suicidal.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: And that, I mean, this is very toxic, but that quote goes through my head quite often when I'm running from one thing to the next.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I think I really thrive kind of on the fumes of thinking I'm not quite going to make it, and then I make it and it all works out.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, I mean, I never really never had a plan in life.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I mean, I studied history at university, I think you guys say college, because I fancied my history teacher at school.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: I joined the army because I got told I'd get paid to go skiing.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_03: So I kind of just like flit along, which I guess is probably stressful to my parents from the outside.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: But for me, it's great because I I find things that I enjoy, and if I enjoy them, I do them, and if I don't, then I don't.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: Basically.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Some would say that's a pretty cool way to live, you know.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: You get to do a little bit of everything here.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think so.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't have, I guess, all the trappings of what people probably think is a traditional for my age life.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like I'm not married, I don't have kids, I have my dog who's fucking awesome.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um but because of that, all my time is my own, like very selfishly.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I can kind of do what I want.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of the uh millennial way, if you will.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: At least that's what they say out here.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, I think I am a classic millennial.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to be Gen Z.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to pretend that I'm Gen Z, but A, I don't fall into that age category, and B, I am so deeply uncool that I just wouldn't make it as Gen Z.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: But I try.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_03: Marks will try.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: What about Gen Z?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, would you like to take over other than the age part?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Quite like their kind of attitude to everything.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Everything is just a bit more meh, go with the flow.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I feel like as millennials, that is, although, yes, technically I am going with the flow-ish, I still need control.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I think Gen Z have kind of stepped away from that a little bit, and they they just seem to be having more fun than we well, than we are, or than we did at that age.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's to I guess there's so much more information for them.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like their skin, I mean, I wasn't using skincare until I was like 25.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: I just would whack makeup straight on my face, dead.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas Gen Z are all using all the expensive, wonderful products that will stop them from looking crusty and old later.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, they've got it.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I I've had that thought too.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it's the I feel like they say no more often, like no to this, no to that, and they just kind of know what is good for that.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: So true, actually, they can say no and just be like you can invite them something and they say no, thank you.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: For me, that is anxiety ridden of like trying desperately to come up with an excuse, or if I can't, then saying yes and hoping they cancel, like they, I guess maybe they have more boundaries.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like millennials were more people pleasers.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: 100%, yeah, versus them like I don't care.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is my life, here's my boundaries, this is what I can and can't do, and this is my bandwidth.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's so much healthier.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: How'd you uh so you got skiing from British Army, you eventually, you know, you dabble in having fun in your life.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: How'd running come along?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_03: Running.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: I guess I started running at school.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um I did cross country, and I have no idea why I decided to do that because I can every time I start a race, I had this feeling at Higher Rogs, I had it today.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: I remembered that my dad used to drop me off in the middle of nowhere at a cross-country race, and it would be invariably freezing cold, probably November, wet, muddy, all these girls in all fancy kit, like basically look like we call them the bikini runners because they'd be in little top pants, and whereas I was in like old shorts and like a fun run t-shirt, and I hated it, but I was good at it.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I kind of latched onto it and then did a lot of running in the army, did a bit of steeplechase, which was really fun because you're kind of going over random hurdles and under things, and it just made it a bit more in interesting.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then I don't really know why or how the whole running and fitness thing became like my entire personality.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: But I actually I think I do have a theory.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's one thing I can control.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: Here we go, back to my millennial habits.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: No one can, unless I get injured, no one else has any control over my fitness except me.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: So if I do badly, if I do well, that's all on me.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I guess as an influencer in this kind of environment, I don't have control over many things.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm very much at the mercy of do they want to hire me, do they want to work with me?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas fitness is like mine, and no one can take that, which I quite like.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: That makes total sense.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you put in the work and the outcomes based on said work.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like if you don't put the work in, you won't get a result.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like you've only got yourself to blame.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you got hooked onto running, you know, it became somewhat of an identity.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, when did run clubs come into play?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because London and UK loves run clubs.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: Love a run club.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm a very fair weather run club person in the if it's cold and wet, I won't be going.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'd rather be indoors in the gym.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: But as soon as the nights are longer and it's that pretty light after work, and you go to the track and it just seems fun, then I'm all for run clubs.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, they they really have blown up.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's a kind of love-hate with run clubs in the UK.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_03: I think some of them are considered a bit clicky, um, a bit kind of the beautiful people run club, but then there are others that are so much more just rough and ready, like, hey, I'm gonna go for a run, anyone wanna join me, and then off they go.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm not I like a run club, but I also like running on my own, so I'm kind of 50-50.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I hear that.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel it's become like the new nightclub, if you will?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Day club.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I actually have this theory that so many people who worked in the nightclub industry or were big into partying.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know when, but one day they wake up and they go, that's not for me anymore, and then they chase the highs some other way.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: Because I have a lot of friends who've worked in nightclubs now own gyms, or used to party loads, reformed into fitness influences.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's funny, you're still, I guess it's still that you're looking for a buzz, you're looking for an adrenaline rush, or yeah, yeah, a little bit of escapism, and you just are finding it in well, hopefully a healthier way.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, healthier, tougher, to an extent.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny you say that when you say the nightclub, I just started thinking, hmm, are people still bouncing people around just during the day?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, as a bouncer, but you're at the nightclub, you know, it's just like hey, everyone.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: Just bossing people around, and yeah, I guess every role in nightclubs that you can possibly imagine has just shifted onto the run track.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Drinks became electric lights, uh still drinks after.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's the nice thing, especially about the UK, because we do have a big drinking culture.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: I don't particularly drink, I don't really enjoy it, but there's something quite nice about doing a fitness event or a run club or something, and then everyone just hanging out after and like having a drink or a jubilee or whatever.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's why actually it's better in the summer, because as you've experienced, London in any other season, um, you don't want to be outside ever.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, it's quite the social scene.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like here it's also quite social, but not to the level you see in um in London, you will, or even see from afar.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, is just I also think the United States is huge.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, true.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like so big.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: We can meet all in London, north or south.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're here, depends what state you in, you know.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, true.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's very far.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, it does actually blow my mind sometimes when I think about the size of America because I actually have a pen pal, this is niche, in Texas.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: Basically, I have an identical twin, and we had a nanny when we were growing up, or when we were really small, and she then moved to America to work with another family.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: They were very religious, and there was a notice board in the church basically trying to match up parents of children of the same age in London and in Texas, and there were these two blonde twin baby girls, same age as my sister and I.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so mum and dad were set up, I guess, with their parents.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: And since then, we've been writing letters to these girls ever since.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Now we have them on Instagram and Facebook.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: But I've always wanted to meet them, and I've been to America so many times, but for some reason I've never been to Texas.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: But even if I was to go to Texas, it's so huge.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like to find this teeny tiny little place where they live would be tricky.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I have often thought it's tricky with America, so big.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Texas is definitely one of our biggest states.
• 19:09
  unknown: Yeah.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: I know whenever I say this a bit, like if someone says, Oh, I'm from Texas, I'm like, oh my god, maybe you know my pen pal, they're like, Where's she from?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I tell them, and they're like, I've never even heard of that place.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, how?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: That'd be like me saying I've never heard of somewhere in London, and they're like, No, it's different.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's very different.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: When did you do your first race?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: What was that experience like?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: My first ever race, ever running race.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, well, I guess that probably would have been a cross-country race.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: So terrifying, cold, miserable, didn't feel like I did well.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: I hate I honestly really hate it.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but then the I guess the first one I did that wasn't cross-country, that was more like roadrunning was probably the marathon, to be fair.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: And that I well, love hate, hated the training passionately, because for some ungodly reason, London has decided to have the marathon in April, which means you train through the winter, which means you train through all the cold, wet.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like I would get up at like 6 a.m.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: and go for a two-hour run on a Saturday, come back and just be abs like you go out in the rain, you come home in the rain, like you're drenched.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: And then it gets to race day, and almost without fail, it's a little mini heat wave.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_03: So then suddenly all the kit, everything you've been training in, you have to switch into like shorts and t-shirt.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but aside from that, I I loved it.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's I sometimes I think the marathon ruined running for me because obviously it's extremely hard.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: But then at the same time, I think it's the one thing that's really given me the confidence to do other races.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: So, for example, today, yes, I I run kind of casually a few times.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, actually, some weeks I don't run at all.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'll just go to the gym.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_03: But in general, like once, twice a week.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: But I hadn't done any specific training or like trying to increase my speed.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: I hadn't done any intervals, any hills, anything like that.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: But sort of deep down, like this is probably very delusional.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_03: I thought, oh well, muscle memory, I'll get through.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I think because I've done something further, albeit almost two decades ago, or a decade and a half, um, it gives me the reassurance that I'm like, just put one foot in front of the other and go.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: And that's always been my mentality.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like, even when, excuse me, it gets really tough or you start to hit the wall or something.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: I just remember that the reason I'm there is to finish the race.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I would rather slow way down than stop.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: I will never, unless I have a crisis, I will never stop in a race because I just Think you make life 10 times harder for yourself when you start again, just slow down.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: But I think some people can't do that because mentally they're like, No, I've got to stick with my pace.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, ego kicks in, yeah.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Ego kicks in, but sounds like you're also just there to have fun and you know enjoy the run and muscle memory, if you will.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, this famous muscle memory.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I guess it helps that I sometimes do it with a friend.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: So, like today, I actually ran it on my own, but I had two friends, so we we arrived together, um, and we were all aiming for roughly different times.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_03: So we all ran separately.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, one of the girls started in a pen behind us, and she came up to me halfway through the race, and it was like, oh my god, yay, yay, bye, off you go.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's really nice because there's a there's a feeling that you're not just there plodding along on your own.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: Because I think sometimes, like last year, I flew out to Iceland for the half marathon, which was very cool, but there was a small part of me, large-ish part of me, thinking, this is so dumb.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, if I really wanted to, I could run 13 miles at home.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, why did I need to get an international flight, stay in a foreign country for like three nights?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like, it's all a bit weird, but I guess some things are better, just not rationalized.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I guess we do it for the metal and banana is the joke, you know?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, high rocks, only well, actually, it depends.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_03: Did I get a banana?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I did get a banana today and a metal.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Hyrocks in London, you only get half a banana or like a quarter of banana.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's wild.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: There's this person in front of a counter, and the bananas are chopped in half.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I do not know because I haven't tried.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_03: You possibly can take two halves.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if there's a limit.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: But it's a bit odd.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like, why don't you like the labor intensity of chopping every banana?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: Give me a banana.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is there a short we don't know about?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Not banana.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: But then in Barcelona, I had a whole banana.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't know, maybe they they've got a surplus.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Huh.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: You'll have to let me know what it's like in New York.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure they give a full banana.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll I'll let you know.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's also one of the uh, I mean, you've done more high rocks than me, I will admit this is my first one.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: Congratulations.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: That's exciting.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: I just did your first ever ones as a single.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: As a single, yes.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: No one advised me.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'd ego.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: We just talked about it.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was two phrases ago.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Funny enough, through this podcast, I have now had a few HIROX people, and I learned I already had sign up for mine before these guests.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then I went, wait a minute, did I make a mistake and sign up for open and should have done a double or relay?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in fairness, I have trained for a long time, um, decades, and and I run, so like maybe the ego again.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like, okay, we'll see what happens.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if I bomb, I bomb.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going for fun.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um you basically just said muscle memory without so many words.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_03: You'll be fine.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is true.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: Muscle memory just have that in your brain when it gets tough.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'll see how it goes.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, for sure, I'll let you know.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see how that goes.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: The thing that people forget with Hyrox is that it is a running race.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like you spend the majority of your time running, and I think a lot of these guys rock up there and they're like big crossfitters or weightlifters, and then they struggle on the run, and so they get a really crappy time.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it'll be fine.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Talking about higher roxy, now I'm gonna cheat here.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: How did you prep for Barcelona?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: How'd that go?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like I have to be honest, when I'm gonna do a race, I don't really change anything.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm probably borderline psychopaths in that I train every day.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_03: I love I get a bit angsty if I don't do anything.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, I mean, I've had so many physios tell me, rest day, rest day.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I might take Olive the dog for a long walk, but then I'll still be a bit like want to do something, I want my heart rate up.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so because I and the format of the training that I do, I I often do, I don't know if you guys have F45.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we do.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: So that's very functional fitness, and the gym is kind of a feeder into HIROCs.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of the moves we do are the same as high rocks.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_03: So kind of by accident, without any pre-planning or any creating workouts on my own, I was kind of practicing HYROX and kind of have been for the last like five years.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I didn't really change anything.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: The big thing that I did change this time is that I kind of tapered, which everybody says to do.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I've always gone, no, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: But the thinking being that if you miss like a big workout the day or two days before, then by the time it gets to the race, you're kind of like like a horse trying to get out of the stable.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: You're like you're raring to go.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um I'm not sure why I was quite like that, but I did basically nothing on Thursday.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: I did a really, really light like joke thing in the gym, but it doesn't even I mean, I don't think I even left zone two.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um so that was new for me.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_03: That was I guess that was the only way I can say that I prepped.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you tapered.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, technically I tapered.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you get competitive mid-race?
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just turns on in a higher rock, you're like, okay, there's weight running involved, and you've seen others around you.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: Unfortunately for me, and unfortunately for my partner, I am kind of competitive throughout the race.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I'm also that awful person.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember back at school where people would be like, oh my god, I haven't studied, I haven't studied, I'm gonna do really badly, and then they'd ace it, and you're like, You studied, I'm that.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll be like, Oh, it's fine, we'll go really slow, we'll go really.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's just we just need to get to the finish.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: The time doesn't matter, and then I'm there like trying to push the run.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, unfortunately, I am a naturally competitive person and I'm stubborn, so I won't stop, I won't give up, even when I really should.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, I am yeah, definitely get and maintain competitiveness.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: So ER or PR, you know, however that saying goes, in doctor visits.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't have that, but that sounds far a fly.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, I guess because we say PR versus where you guys say PB.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: So uh PB or ER doesn't quite ring the same, but you get my point.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I hope that that's not where I'm headed.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, sometimes sometimes on the laps of Hyrocks you can see the medical tent, and I do I sometimes think, good to know, that's there.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, I'll be back.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'll be back in one lap just so you wait.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_03: But touch wood, up till now, I've been fine.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: Except actually at the moment, I think I have a broken toe, but I'm not sure.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: But then I've got to be.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you would know if so.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think I know yeah, it's it's quite painful and swollen.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_03: I've I've chat GPT the whole thing.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but equally, there's nothing you can do for a broken toe.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm just strapping it to its button.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Chat GPT is low-key's everyone's doctor right now.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_03: So good.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like so many people are gonna lose their jobs.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like, we don't need the like middle people anymore, which is sad.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, I love it.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of sad, and I like, but at the same time, I'm like, at least in America, because our our health thing is crazy.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: I can skip four visits.
• 30:07
  unknown: Yeah.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or four guesses before I get my answer.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I eventually go, I have done this recently.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it turned out to be what ChatGBT said anyway.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_03: My god, that is so validating.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a little overshare.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: I had some blood work done earlier in the year.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was going through some energy stuff, and by the time I got my next doctor appointment, I didn't solve the problem through Chat GBT.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Did you like present to them the answer?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Or did you just knock out?
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: I hid it at first, I will say.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because at first I was like, let me see what the doctor's gonna say and what the recovery's like.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the end, oh, by the way, I had looked all this up in Chat GPT and it said do this, do this.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been doing this because they were also astounded that I had improved so much in the six weeks it took me to get the next appointment.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't solve 75% of uh yeah.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm all game for Dr.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: Chat GPT at this point.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: Use it.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: What is uh I want to ask you different hierarchs online versus doing the real thing in person?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hier arcs online, yeah, like how people share it on social media, if you will, versus like the I thought it was an online version of the workout.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, oh, I don't know about this.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna sign up for that one?
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_03: I was literally my notes.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: I saw you light up.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um maybe we should do that.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: That sounds fun.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think obviously people share their highlights real of Higher Ocs.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um the difficult, well, if you've got a friend, and my new favourite thing is everyone who posts those videos, and it's like the real sport is being a spectator, and then it's like a video of them running around.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, I understand that because I bullied a friend into coming and filming me in London, and I had to like like a military operation be like, and then you go here, and then you go here, but thanks very much for coming, then you go here.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so unless you've got that, you're probably not going to end up with much video content, in which case you're gonna be relying on the official photos, which I don't know how, but they seem to always find the most unfluttered unflattering angle where you look like it's not even like a cute trying face, it's like you look like Shrek has like cruel, like it's awful.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um so quite how people manage to make it look good, I have no idea.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_03: Or maybe that's just me.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I think I I don't know, I think everybody likes to ham up how hard it is, and it is hard, but it's a it's very achievable.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_03: You just have to put the work in.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: I think people who really, really struggle are the people who think muscle memory will kick in, and they haven't done any sport-specific training because obviously the moves that you do at Hyrux aren't your everyday gym moves.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, who is gonna stand and pull a sled?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: Like, it's unlikely.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_03: The running, sure, but most of the other things, if I saw someone doing farmer's carry around the gym when it wasn't scheduled, I'd be like, are you okay?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's slightly odd, or like burpee broad jumps, you just don't see that on the gym floor.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I think probably people like to big up just how hard it is and how much of a challenge it is.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_03: But it, yeah, that just probably means they didn't train enough.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: Unpopular opinion.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: You think people are doing that?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, don't get me wrong, I agree with you.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: The race is hard, just like running is hard, and you do it, you train for it, you show up.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: But you think people are doing that mostly to be like, hey, look at me, I'm doing something tough and strong, and put that personality of themselves out there, projecting, if you will.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, yeah.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: I think I think basically everyone now does high rocks, and it's all it's I actually had this thought when we were running on Friday, because high rocks, you're not asked how, and I hope this isn't a rude thing to say, you're not asked how quickly do you think you're gonna do it.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: You're just randomly given a time slot.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_03: So that means that you might be on the course with someone super, super fast, you might be on the course with people who are super, super slow.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I've only done three, so I possibly don't know what I'm talking about.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_03: But I've seen increasingly it feels like people are entering high rocks because everybody else is entered high rocks, and it's almost like the way that the marathon went.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like a bucket list thing, or maybe they're gonna do it for a charity, or it's just a challenge, and they get there and they're really not in, they're really probably not used to doing those moves, possibly not fit enough, and they're just doing it to get around almost like the fun run alternative to someone chasing down a PRPB.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, I think yeah, everyone does it now.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, funny you mentioned the gym part.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, anytime I go to the gym, I see someone either doing broad jumps, sleds, farmers carry.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I look at the date and I'm like, oh yeah, there's a Hyrux in two weeks.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_03: Whenever you see someone doing the burpee broad jumps, when you rather than jumping your feet in, you step your feet in, you're like, Hyrox.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: Without failing nowadays, and it's obviously because the sport is growing and whatnot.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: What station humbles everyone, no matter how confident or must much muscle memory they have.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: Sleds, I think.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_03: I'm yet to find anyone who has done more than one high rocks and doesn't have a theory about the carpet changing or like their shoes not having enough grip.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like, fundamentally, either you can push the thing or you can't.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: You pull the thing or you can't.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: And but the number of excuses that people find as to why the sled didn't move for them on that particular occasion is absolutely unhinged.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I I did that.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: So my first one, so I did my first two mixed doubles, and then this most recent one with a girl.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_03: So mixed doubles was the boys' weights.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_03: So I went into that, absolutely no clue whether I was even going to get the sled to move.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I'd actually said to my partner, Aaron, if this doesn't move, you have to do all of that because I I've never like even at F-45, the sled's not that heavy and it's not that far away for the pool.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_03: And I absolutely flew on the push, the pool, very different story.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_03: I think it took me about five minutes to do one length, and I was just like, like desperately trying to rein this thing in.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: The second time, Cocky, me, thought, oh, I'll be absolutely fine on the push.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_03: I really struggled on the push, and weirdly, the pool was okay.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_03: So at that point, I did do some research and I found people saying they've changed the carpet, and I was like, that's it.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_03: They changed, they obviously changed the carpet.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_03: So um, yeah, I can't remember what the question was, but there you go.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: No, that that was it as far as like the hardest part of uh how yeah, the harmony, yeah.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think yeah, everybody struggles on the sled.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_03: Like even as we were running towards it, my partner this time, Lucy, said to me, This is my worst station.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Yeah, mate, same.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't think anyone enters the sled going, woohoo! Um, I'm a bit weird in that I quite like burpees, so I like the burpee station.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think everybody unanimously loves the farms carry because it's easy and you can even like jog along and feel like you're overachieving.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, sled and row, um, sorry, ski and row.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I hate them passionately.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_03: Some people really like them, and then lunges.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: They're kind of fine.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: War balls are big, actually, a big leveler.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: Some people really seem to absolutely despise the wall balls.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't mind them, but I have seen full-on meltdowns of like grown adults at the wall ball station.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: And actually, very funnily, they now make the photographers wear hard hats, like helmets, which suggests to me that several many a wall has hit their heads.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess health and safety is good.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Someone gets upset, wall ball number 75 or whatever just hits the here.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: You go.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you take it.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_03: Medic.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: I will look out for some heart hats in New York, see how that goes.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's hilarious.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm actually such a nerd about these, not maybe nerds wrong.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_03: I took a big old video of the guys in Barcelona, so I'll I'll send it to you.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's very funny.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_03: They're not doing anything, but they're wearing hard hats, which I thought was cool.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: Something must have happened where they uh you know needed safety.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, this is it.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to know the backstory because I'm pretty sure in London they were not wearing hard hats.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_03: So something's happened between March and May, and they now have to wear a hard hat.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia, your social media, like you're balancing a lot, like in a good way.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like you got presenting, you're at like movie events from what I saw, you know, your training.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: How do you keep that all together, but also just relatable and just being your human self?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because one's professional, one's like, hey, here's me having fun.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I think like a couple of years ago, Instagram was very polished.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it still is, it's still a highlights reel, but everything back then was extremely aesthetic.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: And the focus was on photos, which is easier to set up and make something perfect and do it again and again.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_03: And then, excuse me, reels came in, and there's something just more throwaway about them, I guess, which I really relate to and I enjoy.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I when I was trying to sort of grow into these reels and look at the trending stuff, I just remember my director when I worked in magazines, uh Marie Claire, saying to me, she'd look through my work and she'd say, So what?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what's the point?
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_03: What's the point?
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_03: What why have you written this?
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_03: So what?
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I always think that to myself when I'm posting something, like, yeah, sure, I can post like me walking down the beach in a bikini, and I'll think I look great and I'll probably get some comments.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome, but what's the point?
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you can post an aesthetic reel every so often, but if you're not adding anything to someone's experience, why would they bother engaging with you?
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I like to find ways to either make people laugh or make them feel included because I think fitness can be quite um an exclusive feeling community.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it just it makes me happy when people say that they like my stuff or that they found it funny.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yay, I probably copied someone else, but yay.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that that's authentic, you know, sharing there.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was gonna ask, like, where do you come up with some of these jokes?
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: I saw one the other day was, hey, I'm still collecting PBs and trophies versus boyfriends.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_03: Just like, okay.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, to be fair, sometimes it'll be I've got an idea for something, and sometimes can I admit this?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: I'll put it into Chat GPT and be like, make this a punchier, because I'll put in like a paragraph explaining like this year I have been on three dates, but somehow I've managed to get a lot and I'll make it more concise.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um but a lot of what I'm posting about is about my own experiences, and it's the things that kind of you know, something happens and you're like, what?
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: Or like you just you can't quite fathom it, and you're like, I can't be the only one.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's that feeling of being like someone else must have gone through this, and then lo and behold, they have.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say like social media now rewards better authenticity personalities versus the full polished perfection we used to back then?
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: I think so.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's a weird kind of catch-22 because I think Instagram favors stuff edited on edits, which obviously has a lot of editing tools, so it's almost pushing you to spend more time creating, but I think it does also reward that real snappy.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, instance has just been launched.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_03: Have you guys got that?
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I try not to look at it.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not sure I understand it.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_03: I took one on the plane yesterday, and it just it didn't say sense, it didn't say not sent.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_03: I had to cross it off, and then a little while later I had a message from someone saying, Where are you off to?
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Oh, cool.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_03: So that like photo like this went out to whoever I don't know.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I think Instagram is do you remember that app?
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_03: It was like B U or something.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_03: There was an app a little while ago, and the idea was that you get an alert on your phone randomly, and whatever it was you were doing at that particular moment, you had to take a selfie.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think we had to know, or I didn't know about it.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: It was really weird, and I don't think it really well didn't take off, but I think Instagram is almost trying to be a bit more like that, a bit more like TikTok in that people post multiple things on their grids.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think Instagram is trying to pull people off stories because they're aware that people aren't posting on their grids.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, people like me who it's their job, we're posting on our grids.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: But like your my friends who work in the city or like our teachers or whatever, some of them, even the girl I was doing hire works with, she was like, Oh yeah, I haven't posted on my grid since like 2022.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I Think because there was that feeling it had to be perfect, people didn't do it.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I guess it's a good move.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_03: More credible, more authentic.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen more jokes about the new feature than people using it so far, but we'll see.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's always the case when something new comes out.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, you never know, maybe it will be a big win.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: I think we all just need to understand it and because it's that feeling of panic.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: So you know on WhatsApp, when you send like a sticker, yeah, it's like that, like you accidentally send the unicorn with the heart eyes, you and you don't get a chance to review it.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas an emoji or something, you click it onto the chat and then you hit send a sticker, you hit it, off it goes.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I think instances like that, so I think there's a bit of anxiety because if you take a test photo, that's it.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's your one shot and it's gone out into the world.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I think it'll take some getting used to.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_03: I know I just unlocked a new level of fear for you, haven't I?
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, every time I do the stickers accidentally on WhatsApp, I'm like, oh no, crap.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_03: It's so embarrassing.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm like, oh my god, I'm like my mother.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_03: Because she sometimes, I don't know why, but she always sends me the sharp one with the stars in its eyes.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know when she would be frequently using that in order to have a thumb slip, but here we are.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia, what does uh the challenge of doing hard things give you?
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why do you consistently show up to these things?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: High rocks, races, 5k, 10k, etc., gym F45.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I guess it's a sense of achievement.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um goes back to that thing of it's something I can control if I feel like I've done well.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like you can be having the crappiest day, and you go out and you do a run you didn't think you could do, or you even just finish a run, it doesn't matter if it was fast, when you feel like absolute, you just want to lay on the couch and you get out there and you do it and you come back.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_03: There is no way you're never gonna you you're always gonna feel good.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think that's probably like I'd like to say something loftier, but probably it's it's chasing the high of feeling good and like that feeling that I've achieved something when the rest of the day I might be sat cuddling the dog doing nothing for me out.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you would say people should challenge themselves, you know, consistently, do some fun stuff out there, but also hard.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean that's the cool thing about sort of modern fitness and gym events and races.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_03: There is an element of fun, and like I know High Rocks obviously is a very serious one, but there are more fun ones, like there's one called Nuclear Fit, which is in the countryside, it's somewhere between, I don't know if you guys have Tough Mudder, don't know if I've made it ever there, right?
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_03: So it's somewhere between Tough Mudder and High Rocks, and you're basically in a field, you do the laps, I think there's five of them, so 5k, and in between it's very functional.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_03: So like flipping a tire or like picking up milk earns because it's all on like farmland.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I think when you bring that fun side back into fitness, like, yeah, sure, you're challenging yourself, but if it becomes a sociable thing as well, so you can genuinely enjoy it.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_03: I know it's not enjoyable, I think that's great.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, why not?
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I agree for sure, and it gets more people active and you know, social in a good way versus what we used to do.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_03: Also, as a like as a world, we do sometimes lose touch with that human connection, and everything is online.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_03: I'm chronically online.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I speak to my friends via Instagram, I go on dating apps, I use WhatsApp.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like, actually picking up a phone and making a phone call makes me anxious as hell.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I I can go day well, not days.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes I'll go to the gym and I'll get there and I'll spout a load of words at whoever it is there, I'll tell them all the stories that's happened in my day and couldn't find my toothbrush or something really mundane.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I've had times before when people turn around and they go, You haven't spoken to anyone yet today, have you?
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, no, no, no, just my dog.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_03: Because I live alone.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_03: So if I didn't go to the gym, because I'm freelance and I live on my own, I would just be here on my own.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_03: Sure, I could go for a run, sure I could join like anytime fitness or pure gym down the road, and it'd be super easy and cheap.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_03: But what I like about the gyms that I go to is that feeling of community and belonging to something, and yeah, it's it's kind of my whole world now.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, I agree with that.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: I used I recently started going to uh I don't know if it's made it out there yet, but I'm like 99% if it hasn't, it will because it's going everywhere.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: The yard gym.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, of course.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_00: See?
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_03: Well, hang on.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_03: I think we have the yard.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think so because it came from Australia, I think, but it's going kind of global everywhere.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_03: I've not been, so I can't actually comment.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_03: So carry on.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: But similar to what you said, it's very community.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's either doing the hierarchs or event, and it's very social.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, you're in the trenches sweating god-awful.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: That's interesting you say that because that is one big thing I think that creates these lasting, awesome friendships.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_03: It's going through stuff together.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_03: I found it when I was at Sandhurst, and I find it in the gym.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, sure, they're very different things, but whether you're competing at high rocks or you're just getting through a class that is really, really gnarly, the people around you kind of drag you through and they're going through the same things that you are.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_03: And fitness is incredibly leveling and humbling.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like you walk into the gym with an ego, unless you can back it up by performance, people won't want to have anything to do with you.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_03: If you walk in and you show that you're there for a reason and you can do things, and you're willing to take on the extra weight or do the extra reps on the roller when no one else is, then it yeah, there's just something very cohesive.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_00: Agreed, Olivia.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you for coming on.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, two races recently.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_03: I thought you meant my toe, but yeah, that's much cooler.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that too, yeah.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I forgot.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_00: Joking aside.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, on all fronts on recovery.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, thank you for coming on um the podcast.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a pleasure.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for having me, and good luck in New York.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you some updates later on.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, thanks for tuning in.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: This has been People Run Podcasts.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: Catch you on the next one.