Running with RED-S

In today’s episode I will be answering a further 6 questions that were sent in by you guys a month back. I talk about my nutrition, calorie intake and my headspace towards gaining this weight since struggling with RED-S. I give examples of when I struggled mentally with this weight gain but in the long term how beneficial it has been towards my sporting goals and life goals. Hope you enjoy this podcast and comment below if you would like to hear anything more….

Idea of this series is to answer all the questions sent through Instagram and Facebook. In each episode I will answer only a few questions. This means I can really share my experiences and honest opinions. Hope you enjoy and the questions answered in this episode are the following:1) What is RED-S and the main symptoms?2) How do you know if you are eating enough as an athlete?3) How long do it take to start feeling physical improvements in life?4) Can RED-S occur even if the athlete isn’t lean?5) Does RED-s affect your max HR?6) What do you do with the voices in your head telling you that you need to lose weight?7) How do you convince yourself that you are worthy of food?Let me know if you enjoyed the episode? If this keeps improving and people enjoying it I may ask people to come on and share their thoughts once more. Enjoy

On this weeks episode I just talk about my history struggling with food and overtraining. I want to explain how it had affected my life not allowing myself the food it has needed. I speak about Uganda and various other holidays where they have been spoiled due to not eating sufficient calories. I don’t count calories and haven’t weighed myself since my foot stress fracture which has made me incredibly happy. My training is increasing each week which means that the nutrition needs to also increase to compensate for the calories burned. I just wanted to use this show to explain how hard it can be to train and keep it together even when it’s your job. I really hope you enjoy this episode!

What an episode with this "World Laser Run Champion". It was amazing to hear her thoughts about "RED-S" and suffering with lots of nutritional problems during COVID. It seems like her coach was exceptional of noticing that she was losing weight quite quickly after COVID and sent her straight to see a sports nutritionist. Since then and speaking to this nutritionist she has just become a much better person both mentally and physically. She even mentions that since putting on some weight she feels stronger and actually hasn't picked up an injury in months. She speaks about the importance of sleep to allow the body to fully recover and how hard it can be sometimes on social media when you see these skinny athletes. She is actually competing in Germany next week for the Europeans and is currently ranked 2nd. We need to cheer her on and hopefully she can pick up that gold medal for GB. Follow her on social media: @Victoria Bradbury

What a show!! Everything he was saying was inspiring and it seems like both of us were dealing with the same awful situations during our worst times. This young, talented runner who has run 1:49 over 800m was explaining to me what he perceived was essentially "rock bottom" during his time in America and how it affected his mood. He is hopeful of running quicker than ever this year after coming back to the UK and really working on his lifestyle first. He found it tricky in America dealing with his course and nutrition not allowing his body the full potential. He even admits that he was sometimes doing core 3 times a day to get more and more training out of his body. He was scared that his career was ending abruptly at the age of 19 losing a lot of motivation for the sport he loves. He explains to me about him weighing himself, speaking out earlier this year and the challenges he faced. He is now in a much better place but there is always something to work on as he looks towards some big goals in the upcoming future. What a legend!

Speaking to Josh about all things running was incredible. We spoke about his recent injuries, races he has smashed in the past and his livelihood at the minute. He absolutely loves running quick whether that be for an easy run, session or a race. He has struggled with a few things quite recently which has put him down both mentally and physically recently but he is constantly looking towards the future idolising what he is capable of running over the marathon. We spoke about his journey in Spain and how fast he was running for sessions feeling incredible for the time being there. He gives us an insight into the pressure he attained going into London Marathon and how it actually impacted him quite a bit. I loved talking to him and many of you will know him as being the presented on "Inside Jogging Podcast". Please do listen to his journey and take an insight into how hard he trains.

In this episode we discuss everything about running, nutrition and racing. We last had Kieran on quite a while back and since then he has run a 2:17 marathon and won the Edinburgh half marathon in 65 mins. It was lovely speaking to him again as I am at his house doing a small few days of training. We spoke about a hint of an injury he was struggling with and how he has progressed ever since in terms of working alongside it. He has a full time coaching job alongside his running and he is constantly outside trying to become the best he can possibly be. Had a lovely chat with this endurance athlete who is looking to progress further!

What a TALK!! That was incredible speaking to such an intelligent person about all things running. Lewis created a running coaching business not too long ago and aspires to help out every individual no matter what ability they are. He speaks about his struggles with nutrition and weighing himself at university. He thought when he was younger he head to spend 3 hours a day smashing his body in the gym to get the best from himself, however now being older and working with other individuals he knows it wasn't the smartest decision. Yes, he has struggled with his fair share of injuries and some may have been down to stress and sleep deprivation but this talented runner is trying to become the best he can be. We talk about other races he wants to do and his goals in mind before really going through the subject of nutrition and what he finds so useful about the topic. We dwelve into his thoughts about "RED-S" and how it can become bigger around the world and what needs to be done in order for this to happen. I absolutely loved this talk and I would say you HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT. Follow his coaching page - LJagger Coaching and himself on Instagram. I absolutely loved it.

Again what a call and I am very fortunate to have such amazing people come on to the show to talk about the experiences they have had struggling with RED-S and training. Vladya first got in touch with me a week back to tell me that she had been struggling with RED-S and a foot fracture. She had been struggling with her menstrual cycle for a couple of years and finds that not allowing or restricting herself from such important food may have impacted her in such a bad way. Unfortunately, in March she picked up this stress fracture and mentioned feeling awful a few weeks back as she felt it would take a long time for her to get back into shape. She works 9-5 in a stressful job and felt as though this has impacted on her training plus recovery which just pushed her to her limit. Before speaking to a nutritionist and doctor she had little practices in mind whereby she would only eat her first meal at midday, not eat before training and sometimes not really socialise with friends. However, now putting more research into this topic and speaking to more people she is in a much happier place and is invested in triathlon training with the idea of racing. Again what an amazing talk and I really hope you enjoy it. Her instagram is: @Vladya Reverdin

This was honestly such an amazing talk with Sam. We speak about her experiences with running, nutrition and coaching over the last few years since moving to the UK from Zimbabwe. She mentions the struggles of leaving home to university at the age of 18 and believes that it played a part in her struggling with RED-S. Unfortunately, again she didn't really have amazing support during the first stages of struggling with this as she was thrown around different doctors. She has unfortunately picked up another injury due to a fall on a training camp in Portugal over Easter, however trying to turn this around in a positive manner she is just thinking about her body and making herself the best person possible. We speak about her losing weight and weighing herself constantly during her struggles and that she felt as though she missed out on a lot of social experiences due to feeling "hangry". Please do give this a listen and follow her on instagram: @Samanthamare_