39 Weeks to Go: Ultrarunning Coach Nina Davies shares advice on training, endurance mindset and how to be a Green Runner

Today, we’re joined by Nina Davies, Hannah’s coach and a truly inspiring figure. As the co-founder of The Green Runners, a passionate running community advocating for a healthier planet. Nina brings a wealth of experience and motivation to the table. Her mission? To guide Hannah on the incredible journey from zero training to running 100 marathons in 100 days. Tune in as we dive into Nina’s story, her role in this ambitious project, and how she’s helping shape a more sustainable future through running.

Show links:

• National running show 
• Running channel app 
• Track Brewing
• Givestar
• Better Business Network 
• 1% For the Planet 

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In the face of unprecedented environmental challenges, Project Salt Run aims to inspire action through an extraordinary journey of transformation. Hannah Cox, a sustainability advocate with Indian heritage and a first-time runner, will undertake a life-changing challenge across India, following the historic Inland Customs Line. 

This colonial-era boundary enforced a devastating salt tax, causing immense suffering and millions of deaths, but has been largely forgotten from history.
By retracing this route, Hannah seeks to honour its legacy and transform its meaning, inviting others to discover their own version of extraordinary. This journey is not about guarantees of success—Hannah faces the real possibility of failure—but it’s a powerful reminder that taking bold steps, even in uncertainty, can inspire meaningful change.

The Challenge

Partnering with Givestar, Hannah will run 100 marathons in 100 days, covering 4,200 km, to raise £1,000,000 for 1% for the Planet. This journey is a powerful testament to the potential within all of us to make a real difference.

Want to get involved in Project Salt Run? Shoot us a message at contact@projectsaltrun.com we would love to hear from you!

Want to get involved in Project Salt Run? Shoot us a message at contact@projectsaltrun.com we would love to hear from you!

Transcript

Today's episode of Project Salt Run is bought to you by GiveStar, the platform empowering people to fundraise and give back with ease. Also the platform that we are using for this very project. The podcast is also supported by 1% for the Planet, a global movement where businesses commit 1% of their revenue to environmental causes that matter. And without further ado, on to the show. Hi, welcome to episode 2 of Project Salt Run. I'm sat here with Joel Chevaillier. Hello. And where are we, Joel? We are in the NEC Convention Center in Birmingham. I can feel the jealousy. Don't do that. Don't do that ever again. It's... Wow, I know I can feel everyone's jealousy. They were like, wow, why are you spending your weekend in a big, soulless corporate structure, Hannah and Joel? Well, I'll tell you. We didn't want any access to nature this weekend or adventure. No, sorry. What we did want was access to runners and we bloody got it, didn't we? Yeah. And we sat down with one of my favorite runners, Green Runners co-founder and running coach extraordinaire, Nina Davies. And this is the... I don't know why my brain is really farting on this. How many weeks? The running... The National Running Show? I know. I'm here and I signed up for it. I have a wristband, but I can't remember the name of it. And it's 39 weeks until we leave for Project Salt Run. The account learning is on, guys. It worked out exactly nine months till we leave yesterday. So, yeah, let's go. Let's chat to Nina. Okay, so if you can't hear, because we're always on the move and on the road, we are recording this live in Weather Spoons. I know, wait, everyone's going to think we're obsessed with Weather Spoons. One, we are not sponsored by Weather Spoons. Two, we all know all the awful stuff that he did during COVID, so we're not supportive of his political views. Just so happens, we're in such a horrible space. It's in the entire arena. Weather Spoons is the most glamorous place around here, that says something. Yeah. Yeah, I think the fact on both occasions, we've chosen to be in a Weather Spoons just as probably said, where we are in life at that time, personally. The struggle. The struggle. But yeah, so if there's any background noise. Struggling in the spoons. That's a whole different podcast, can't we, on? Yeah, so if there's any loud noises in the back, I want to apologize to everybody. It's not our fault. It is just, we are in public. Yeah. So, but yeah, today, really excited. Actually, before we dive in with Nina here, because now we actually have a good chunk of the team together for once. And we can record nicely. What is an update of what's happening with Project Salt Run, if I may? Okay, when's this podcast coming out then? I don't know, that's up to us. To decide, okay. Could be the next one, actually. Okay, well, website is live, projectsaltrun.com. So, we'll be posting all our updates on there. Obviously, this podcast is live, so it's so exciting. How many downloads? In the tens, in the tens, in the tens, in the tens, in the tens. Actually, the last time I looked, it was 5.0, so, yeah, 50 going on there. And in regards to running and training, so we're currently at the National Running Show, as you said, Joel. I've just spoken on a panel on The Green Runners stage, which is really cool, with some amazing ultra runners. And I guess we are nine months away from heading out there. Yesterday was officially nine months until we leave. It was the 25th of January, so things are getting real. We may be in double digits in podcasts, but we're in single digits for leaving. So, yeah, Nina, please introduce yourself to the Project Salt Run audience. Oh, thanks, guys. Yeah, I am Nina. I'm one of the co-founders of The Green Runners. And that's one of my hats. I'm a running coach. My background is more in kind of like brand and marketing, to be honest. That was my career background. But I've been very lucky in the last sort of five years since exiting from that to be able to sort of lean in on my passion. And that has led to me being able to kind of combine, wanting to give more back in the sustainability space and to link that with running and helping people achieve their dreams with running, which is such a privilege to be a part of. And for it to lead me to Hannah and you guys and the team in this project is a pretty amazing thing for a newbie run coach. But also in the running community, so you helped start The Green Runners? The Green Runners, yeah. I mean, to say you're a co-founder of The Green Runners is quite a lot of us, to be honest. But I guess that's part of the beauty of it, is that we're quite a diverse bunch of runners. Like some of us are, it combines kind of sustainability experts that run and then runners that just want to be better. And I love that kind of like diversity of it. Very lucky to have some key ambassadors as well, like the amazing Jasmine Parris, who you guys just met, which is awesome. And Damian Hall and Hannah Ritman and some other incredible runners that hopefully will inspire Hannah along her journey. But yeah, we're a community to help people make small changes in the right direction through running. I mean, for me, the sustainability space can sometimes be a pretty hard space and a pretty lonely space. So The Green Runners is about attaching some of those actions to something that you really love, like running and a space where you really belong in the running world. And to be honest, generally, runners are like a pretty positive, proactive bunch and friendly bunch as well. It's like super welcoming community, isn't it? Yeah, really welcoming. So yeah, no, it's been great. We've been going for three years, The Green Runners, and we've now got 3,000 members. Wow. Well, plus plus, I hope, after this weekend. So yeah, and a lot of those are all around the world as well. Majority UK, but we've got runners over in the States and New Zealand and across Europe. And I will add the most packed stand in... We had the most packed stand, didn't we? Your stand at the running show has been insane the whole weekend. It's been consistently super, super busy, which is amazing. Yeah. No, we've got some awesome partners on there as well, which is good. Can you describe to us how your running journey got started? Have you always been a runner or...? Yeah, I have, actually. In fact, I was joking with somebody about this yesterday, because we were talking about cross-country and everyone was like, oh my god, cross-country is so horrendous. It's like we hear all these stories about people that have had horrific cross-country stories from school. And I was one of those sad people that actually enjoyed the cross-country and had to pretend not to because it was so uncool. You were that kid in high school. We would not have been friends at school. No. Basically, it's what we're getting from them. I was avoiding PE like the plague at school. Yeah, I know. Well, I did pretend not to like it because that would have been my street cred right down the plan. But no, I did love running. My dad was a runner as well. And my dad was a marathon runner in the days when marathon running was really quite niche. For the Olympics, right? He was like, yeah. I mean, jogging for pleasure only became really popular in the 70s. He was running marathons in really short shorts and tiny vests. And I used to cycle around the lanes in Devon when he was training and put drinks out for him on his long runs. And I just kind of loved that whole spirit of pushing yourself even from an early age. So, yes, I've always run. I ran a lot of marathon. I mean, to be honest, I didn't run when I was at uni, right? Yeah, like beer, nightclubs, you know. This is when we would have become friends. We're thinking of the alternative universe and how we met. It would have been at uni. It would have been in the sticky floors of jesters. The student union. Torpedoing reefs. But I did. Yeah, I rediscovered it after I had a pretty tough time of work, to be honest. And yeah, I had a few kind of like health problems. And like running became my solace. And it has been ever since. But it completely step changed when I discovered trail running. I used to sort of run around the pavements of London. And that was cool. But like after a long, you know, long time later after kids, whatever, when I was getting back into it, we got a dog and I discovered trail running. And I just, yeah, love affair has blossomed from there. And it's, yes, it's just become a huge part of my life now. And so how did Hannah manage to wrap you into this whole mess? Have you discovered by now she has a slightly magnetic personality? No, I mean, I feel so, you know. Nina was there like day one. Yeah. Day one of the idea. Nina was there. In fact, I was sitting next to her mum at a conference. Like a few months before we even met with Dan and even started talking about Hannah being a runner, at which time she obviously wasn't a runner anyway. But yeah, no. So I had listened to Hannah talk about Better Not Stop and the network at an event down there and thought she's pretty cool. But like, you know, certainly didn't like look at her and think she was a runner or anything and then met her. Also, it's weird because I just for the audience to get some context here, like I don't take my mom everywhere, right? But it's just like the first ever conference I took my mom to because it was in Cornwall. I didn't have a car. Also, I wanted to spend time with her, finishing that sentence very quickly. So I said, you know, I'm going to, and it's not really a conference. Not just bombing with your mom. No, it's not really, it's not really a conference good fest, I think. It's kind of gathering of like-minded souls. It's amazing, incredible, everything that's been put together by that team. And yeah, Nina, so I take my mom and Nina obviously saw me speak. But the fact she was sat next to my mom was just so random, because there was about 300 people there. And we didn't speak up. We didn't speak. I think I said to your mom, because I looked over at one point, and I was like, you must be really proud sitting here listening to her. And she sort of looked at me like I was a bit of a nutter. Yeah, honestly, like my mom, I think she still doesn't know what I do. I was like, let me take you to Cornwall. I'll literally stand on a stage to tell you what I do. And she's still like, still don't really get what you do. She's like, well, you survive now. So I guess it's. Yeah. So anyway, but so we never met then. So but the night we met was we were invited to an Earth Day dinner by a guy called Josh Ford and his team. And I took Dan as my plus one. And he was talking about Nina on the way to the dinner. And we. So you knew Dan before as well? I had been introduced to Dan by Josh, by Josh at Enviro. Yeah. No way. So it's all Josh's fault now. Yeah. We're tracing it back. We're tracing it back. This is what this podcast is about. It's not about Hannah Cox. It's tracing it back, blaming it all on Josh Ford. And so what did you think when you first, was it Dan who kind of threw it at you first? Well, it was really, just to put it into context as well, like Dan and I had massively hit it off. So when Josh introduced us, he said, I'd put in at least an hour for this chat. That was all he said. He said, introducing you to put in at least an hour. And Dan and I met for a coffee in Bristol, and I think we were there for three and a half hours, talking about running mainly. Yeah, and we hit it off. So when he started talking about Hannah, I kind of thought, okay, this person's gonna be interesting because any person that, you know, Dan is singing the praises of, I'm looking forward to meeting. And yeah, and so obviously when I first met Hannah and we started talking about that, it was super exciting. And it just so happened that that weekend was the Bristol Running Show. And so we obviously quickly signed Hannah up to be a Green Runner the night before. And then she came and gave up her Sunday and helped out on the whole of, on the stand. Yeah, still not having gone for a run at this point. I was a Green Runner that didn't run volunteering on The Green Runners, so at a running show, which I'd also never been to a running show. Yeah. But it was, I mean, it was, it was, I guess that kind of slightly serendipitous timing thing. And I do believe in these things that you sort of like, if you're open to stuff it, you know, and you lean in on the things you're really passionate about, that they can take you to good places. And I think I had literally like that week, finished my run coaching. I've done a lot of kind of long adventures, not a hundred days, but I, you know, pretty confident about my own running abilities and being in that community. But I was, you know, I'm a relatively new running coach. But I, I guess I was, I have a strong philosophy around running. And for me, I was trying to find a space to sort of think, well, I'm really excited about helping people to run, but I'm not interested in helping people to run a 10 minute faster half marathon or, you know, a 10k PB. You know, for me, running isn't about performance. Running is about finding your purpose, finding you, finding space for you, bringing people together in community, connecting people to nature. It's all the other things. It's all the things that it's served me well for in my life. As soon as I, in my running, you know, journey, as soon as I've been able to let go of performance, running has become so much more enjoyable. And funnily enough, the performance has followed. So, you know, I was searching for really a way to kind of articulate the type of run coaching I wanted to offer people and work with people. And I'd also done a health coaching course, because for me, I think, you know, such a big part of run coaching is not just the running. It's everything else that goes around it. And particularly for a challenge like this, it's mindset, so much of it. It's how you feel about yourself, how you find your confidence, how you manage yourself in difficult situations, there's always so many aspects of that, which Project Salt Runners is going to throw at us along the way. And yeah, I'm just super excited to be a part of supporting the team on all of that. And recruit number two, like we decided that day that I was running across India that I met Nina, and it didn't have a name. No, that's right. Yeah, it didn't even have a name. And here we are sort of reeling off Project Salt Runner for time all the time. It was just like this crazy project, yeah. And as a coach, I guess, how did you, as you jumped on to the project, how did you kind of approach it from a coach's perspective of, how are we gonna groom, how are we gonna beat Hannah into- Not grooming, hopefully. Into becoming a, well, I mean, you know what I mean. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it was all about, I mean, the first part of working with a new runner is always just taking time to get to know each other. Like for me, it's about relationship, trust, kind of understanding how each other works. So there was a little bit of that to begin with. Hannah had already in her head started to break it down, which was great. She had this kind of initial goal of saying, well, I want to do my first ultra, because that will help me feel like I've reached a milestone. So really, it was never, in a way, it was like never even thinking about Project Salt Run and India. The first task was to help Hannah feel like a runner. And to do that in a super simple, friendly. Hannah's life is like, you know, Joel is like, crazy busy. And, you know, I think Hannah deals with juggling so many things in the rest of her life. What I was hoping in our approach, kind of like to the first bit of her running, was just to carve out a super simple space time for her. And so we've always kept it and still are. And to be honest, probably we'll do a whole way through because it's kind of working. There's never been any, I don't let on to Hannah any of the kind of details behind it. It's always just super simple. It will be like run for half an hour or run for an hour or run for a certain distance, but never more than one thing. Yeah, actually, can I jump in and ask what the regimen is? I just realized we never really covered that. What, as in the schedule for the running? What's your schedule? I don't even know that. Well, it's super simple. So, Nina puts all my training schedule onto an app called Training Peaks. And it's connected to my watch. So, I just look on there what I'm supposed to do, and then I do that run. I start and stop my run on the watch, and then it uploads to Training Peaks, and Nina can see what I've done. But at the moment, we're aiming for like five runs a week, and strength training. Strength training is really, really important. And we've just introduced Run Commutes, which is me running into work, so it fits into my work day. But like Nina said, and this is something I've said to a few people when they've asked me, like, you know, is the training not difficult? And I'm like, well, I'm only ever having to focus on the one thing, which is either the time or the distance, and never both. And that for me, as long as I've got time at the weekend before to work out where that's going to fit into my week, and me and Nina are having an open dialogue about that, we found it quite easy. I think the only time that has really been a struggle was actually post the altar, wasn't it, when I just kind of fell off a cliff. And festival season, like, you know, but even then you started, like, running at festivals and, like, you know, a whole different, like, way of doing festivals. Then, yeah, but it is trying to keep it simple, and running is simple, so it shouldn't, but, you know, there is a plan to that. So, you know, yeah, it will be either, as Hannah says, a kind of time or distance, but we'll also put in, you know, it might be that actually the next session is trying to do hills. I've tried to convince Nina that there are no hills in Manchester. There just aren't any. I've never seen one. But running hills isn't necessarily to train for running hills, and actually it's looking like, you know, as you guys do all the work building the route for India, it's looking like it's not going to be super hilly. But what training on hills does is it brings in strength without it, with it being very low injury risk. So there's lots of things we're doing to kind of, yeah, to build consistency and strength for Hannah is the key things, from a physical point of view. And then there's loads of fun stuff we're just about to start getting into in terms of like mindset. Hey, let's not. Let's not spoil the secret. Yeah, so what do you think is, just because now that since I have both of you sitting here in front of me, what is gonna be in your mind is gonna be the biggest challenge for Hannah, I guess either maybe before or while we're on the road? Yeah, I mean, I think one of the things that I loved about Hannah, you know, straight away from even first meeting her was she clearly has an ability to kind of do hard stuff. You know, she's one of these people that fills you with a sense of confidence that she's gonna do it and commit to it right from the beginning, even if at that point she might not have the skills or the knowledge or whatever to do it, if she puts it out there. So I feel quite confident about her mindset, if I'm honest. I think, you know, I know obviously there's gonna be difficult, really, really difficult periods, but I know Hannah has got a lot of experience of managing, you know, running it. There's so many tools and things that Hannah has used across the rest of her life. She's been training for this event all her life in a funny kind of way. You know, every time some shit goes down at work and you have to find a way to deal with it and, you know, move that puzzle piece to sort that puzzle piece and juggle with that, you know, those are all of that adaptability and resilience will be amazing. Hannah used to like scuba dive. She used to be a scuba dive instructor. This is another thing. Did you not know this? I've got a really weird story about her. I forgot that we had you like dropped this once. And you know what we talked about? I just got my skipper license. I got my advanced open water. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, of course, I'm addicted like everybody else when they first start out. And you're just like, get me back in the water right now. Yeah, and it's funny because like I learned to scuba dive and teach scuba diving, and I didn't learn to drive till I was like 37. It's like the underwater world. Yeah, I just had the underwater world. I knew how to drive in just not like normal world. But that's like that's really like, you know, again, things like that. You just mustn't forget because those are like, you know, learning how to breathe in that way, control your breath. All those things are going to be stuff that we can tap into. And so, you know, and has got loads of like, you know, tools in her armory from a mindset way of you. She's old and wise. I'm old and wise. But also Nina, what really attracted me to Nina as well as a running coach, is not just her philosophy around running, but also because she is a previous business owner. And there is a mindset of a business owner or an entrepreneur or someone who works themself that is very different from many other people in having to become comfortable with uncomfortable situations, like you were saying. So, you know, the amount of business owners that we'll talk about, do you have that thing on the 15th of the month where you check the bank balance and you wonder how you're going to pay everyone's wages on the first, or if you lose a client or lose a pitch. And you're constantly, as a business owner, juggling so many plates that there needs to be an understanding that that resilience helps, it definitely is helping with my running, 100%. But also I needed a running coach that understood that about my work and that she knew that I was really prioritizing Project Salt Run as an adventurer and as a project. But there will be occasions where the reason I'm not doing a run might not always be because I can't be bothered, but that something's happened at work and that just has to be prioritized that week, unfortunately. And Nina's very understanding about that. And I wonder if I had a running coach who didn't have the understanding of running a business and the stress that entails. I think we wouldn't be able to communicate as easily about that. Does that make sense? No, it totally makes sense. But it also means that we've got a slightly common language when things will go wrong. And they will. It's kind of going, do you remember when you did this? Yeah, it's not a question of if, it's a question of when. Yeah, and it will be like, do you remember when you were flying above a seat of your pants and you couldn't play for ages and like, how did you get through that? And let's use that. And so the mindset stuff, I think, funnily enough, is often the piece that most coaches worry about because it's harder to train. But actually, you know, I feel confident Hannah is going to be going to be great on that front. So if I'm really honest, it's just, you know, it's the fact that she's so new to running, you know, and hasn't, you'll talk to a lot of ultra runners and they've just got years and years and years and years of miles in their legs. And, you know, we can't shortcut that. There's nothing we can do to replace that. And that's why we're concentrating on strength and conditioning and consistency and, you know, back to back days and just trying to replicate, you know, as we go through the next nine months, it's going to be building that confidence that Hannah has got to kind of replace the fact that she hasn't got those years and years and years in the legs. But she knows she knows how to get up the next day and balance the recovery and the endurance. But that's the thing, you know, we're at the National Running Show today, first time I've ever been here. And, you know, people are banding around names of people I don't know, like rock stars, you know. And it is that has been hard actually the last couple of days. Yeah, I can imagine that. Yeah, because also there's if you tell a non-runner what I'm doing, they think it's completely insane. But if you tell a runner what I'm doing, they not only think it's insane, they don't think you can do it even more because they're like, well, you're not, you know, that's why that first ultra was so important to me to just have as that milestone. Because being able to say to someone, I went, well, it was actually in five months, zero to ultra in five months. It lays some validity to runners about that physical ability of this challenge. You know, you're both involved in Project Salt Run. It's not just me, it's like a group of us, but it's that bit where I think there were some runners who were like, I can feel them kind of going, she's not gonna do it. How does that make you feel? Well, I mean, I've had, you know, I've had a lot of times in my life, people tell me I can't do stuff. So it's making sure you surround yourself with the people that tell you, you can do stuff, right? And that's what's great about Project Salt Run is we're a group of people telling each other we can do it together. Like I was talking about this with Natalie and Alex earlier, and I was saying we're a group of people that have just come together at the right moment, at the right time. We didn't meet at Goodfest, for example, and then we met all because of Joss Ford at that dinner. And it was the right time because you had, by that point, worked out, one, you wanted to be a running coach, and what kind of running coach you wanted to be. And perhaps if we'd had the conversation months later, it wouldn't have been the right fit, the right time. In the same way, I've known you for eight years, Joel, and we tried to do a project together before, and then we didn't, and then we did that weird project that we don't talk about. I had the pleasure of that story last night. Involving a weird cheese, we're not, maybe we'll cover it someday, but we will not cover it today. It's still on the internet, folks. Yeah, this is not the fromage conversation. But yeah, I don't know. I feel like with Nina working on this, it just feels like she's the perfect, the only one coach that could take me through this. But I think you're right that, and you used the word like believe in each other. You're the only one that can do this. Yeah, yeah, of course. One and only. In the running world, we call them goats. Greatest of all time. This is the only time I'm ever going to be a goat. Yeah. No, I think it's that belief. When something feels right, you intuitively have a belief in that person, that project, that team, that connection. And I think at the moment, I'm sorry, I'm getting a bit of a pride twice today. I just like to play that. You saying that, I think is the closest I felt of what everyone talks about when they talk about love. Just having a bunch of people who are like, you can do it. In the talk you're on today, yeah, it was tough to hear about all the support that they had from the people in their lives. Can we talk about that? Yeah, let's talk about that. Hannah gave a chat today and all the women that were involved are long-term runners. They're all married with long-term partners. All with kids. All with kids. And Hannah doesn't have any of these things. To put it in the lightest way possible. Like, do you know what's funny about that is? Are you laughing or crying? No, yeah, I was just on the bench, tears, so thanks for that, Joel. But I walked away from that being like, oh yeah, I don't have a husband or kids. And you've just reminded me, you're also not a runner, Hannah. You've not got any of the running that they've all done. I'm like, oh yeah, I hadn't actually considered that extra bit that also ostracized me. Just want to slide that in for you. Ostracized me from the group of women I was with. But that was actually, it was almost felt, it wasn't diverse in that experience. But I found that actually very challenging part of that panel. Because it was like, I found that quite challenging. But the thing that was interesting about it was it worked. Because although you didn't have any of those experiences, you do have a absolute ton of experience and resilience, and problem-solving. And again, going like you were saying earlier, Nina, with a mentality, mindset, being able to walk in and make things work. And a lot of this running stuff, as I'm learning, it sounds way more mind over matter. But it's also, it's a belief bit, right? Because I was like, okay, maybe I don't have a husband or kids, or running adults. But what I do have, was when I was stood there, is I had four people there who have all, well, and that, you know, extras, but four that I could see in my eyesight at that point, are people that were there for Project Salt Run, as part of Project Salt Run, who it wouldn't happen without you there. And I was like, all these people know we're going to do this together. And I was like, and I was like, that's what I've got. I've got a bunch of people around me who are like, we're gonna go do this thing together. And I was like, that is actually, you know, pretty good. I think it was great. It worked out in the end. Yeah. Yeah, it did loop back really nicely. And actually it made me think of a talk that I sat in on yesterday at the National Running Show with two other incredible female runners, Emma Stewart and Nikki Spinks. And they talked together and it was really clear that they had a really tight friendship. And Nikki's, you know, has been in the sport for years. She's older than me and Emma's young and new coming into the sport. But they- There's a great documentary on YouTube about her doing the Barkley Marathon by the way. Have you seen that? Yeah, it's great. She's an absolute legend. But what was so lovely is that they had obviously formed a connection around their belief in each other. And like they are very crew for each other a little bit now. And they, I mean, you know, Nikki, you know, is married and has a husband, you know, but she's found her belief person out on the hills. And like, you know, that's super important to, and, you know, surround yourself with people that believe in you. But also, Hannah, it's that kind of, and the ability that you have to empower others, I think is something that's going to be really important in that team dynamic. Joel, I don't know if you feel that. You managed to root up all of us in a little shit, so. Joel is, Joss Ford, I'm coming for you next. It's even X Podcast guest. Going back to the, I'm curious about it, I want to go back to the breathing that you were talking about within running, because me being not a runner at all, and just kind of starting to get into my running journey, I have a lot of experience with free diving and climbing, and you get this zen state within free diving and climbing. As I'm sure you know, where you start to learn that if you just slow your body and your brain screaming at you for air this whole time, but if you can just get it to shut up and just be very slow and lethargic, you can see that with free divers, you can see it with master climbers as well. Master climbers move like sloths. Free divers, they look like they're not in a rush to go anywhere. And that obviously allows more blood to stay within the circulation, and it allows the body to do something it definitely shouldn't be doing. However, with running, I don't know how you can achieve that kind of zen state, but they obviously do. Can you explain to me a little bit how that kind of works? Yeah, and there's two parts of it really from a kind of training point of view with Hannah. So like the first we talked about is in terms of like, you know, in her training, we're training to run much faster than she's going to need to run when she's on the project. And so that means that she's learning to understand the difference between her breathing rate when she's running that fast, so that when she's actually running at the kind of pace that we hopefully will be able to maintain for the most of the time across India, it's a lower heart rate, lower effort, you know, slows down the body's function, slows down the kind of use of energy from the body, not depleting the body of oxygen, glycogen resources in the same way. So that's kind of like what we're working on, is, you know, train harder and faster so that when she's actually on it, she's operating in a zone that feels easy. But full context, like, we're not hard and fast at the moment. We're hard and fast for me. But like, I don't want to be... All of this is relative to where every individual is. It's very relative. I mean, if you follow me on Strava, you'll know that I'm not a fast runner, but also follow me on Strava, because I need the kudos. So there's the kind of training, like training faster, harder than you need to be, so that when you're actually on it, you're running in a much lower zone, as we call it. But then there's also the actual using the breath to help you control those zones. So on a lot of easy runs, one of the classic mistakes so many people runners make in running is they'll run too fast on their easy runs or on their recovery runs. And easy runs should be really, really low perceived effort, almost like just above walking effort. Definitely be able to have a conversation and it's more like active recovery. And so you can use your breathing again to help you actually control your pace. So nose breathing is a really good technique to use to say, I should be running at a pace where I can in and out through my nose rather than be so out of breath, I've got to gasp through my mouth. And if you are, then you're running too fast for an easy run. So, yeah, using breath is really helpful. From a beginner's perspective, do you have any tips or like techniques to kind of get started on something like that? No, I think probably just don't expect too much of yourself too soon, just to do it. Just to try it and do it and, you know, try and nose breathe for the count of 10 breaths or whatever, and then, you know, just slowly kind of like build it up. But always with running, it's just to, you know, not to have too higher expectations too soon. I think we all put so much pressure on ourselves. And the beauty of running is it's something that we can slowly find our own route into. And, you know, and that's how you make it work for you and something that will serve you well for life rather than get you to the start line of some 10K race or whatever. Yeah. So I asked you what you thought Hannah's biggest challenge was going to be. But what was what do you think your biggest challenge is going to be either through coaching beforehand or while we're in India on the road? Oh, good question. Oh, God, I've got to try and get to India first. I've got to try and carve out a time. And then when I'm there, I think it'll probably be missing the kids. Can't bring the kids? We're bringing in me. I want him to come. In a funny kind of way, I think at the moment, I'm the only one in this team that does have kids. And so in a way, I'm finding that quite hard in the sense of I haven't got the same sort of freedom that the rest of the team have to feel like, can talk about being out there for 100 days. And I'd love to be a part of it in that way. So in a funny kind of way, I think knowing that I probably can't be a part of it completely like that is quite hard. I know I'm going to have massive sort of FOMO, but also just a slight sense of missing duty of care to be there for Hannah. And I'd love to be able to be there for the whole thing for her. So yeah, hopefully. You're going to be there for the tough bit. We've been told that the first three weeks are going to be brutal. And then after that, somehow better. So Nina's going to be there for that, kind of, hopefully, there for that beginning bit. Yeah, they say there's like, you know, a euphoric high in the first week, the kind of like, the grim reaper kind of like sets in towards the end of the second week. And then, you know, by the time you get to the third week, your body starts to adapt. I mean, obviously, there's going to be things along the way, but throw that out. But we've been like, so lucky, haven't we, to speak to people like Niki Love and people and, you know, other people have done these crazy, continuous day-by-day stuff, and they've been so generous sharing their knowledge and experiences with us. So yeah, loads to learn from those guides. Yeah, but it's, I know, well, I mean, I want Imi to come, so. Yeah, we'll try and tie her in. Yeah, let's get her in. Christmas in India. Yeah. Where will we be for Christmas, Joel? We need to work that out, actually. Yeah, we do need to work that out. I'm gonna have to plot that out. What do you want to do for Christmas? Yeah. Last time I was in India for Christmas, I had a pizza. And I think we can better that. Yeah. Yeah. It was and it was really rubbish one as well. I think we'll have to we'll have to maybe treat ourselves and rent a rent a spot out, rent out like an actual bed rather than, you know, a shower for Christmas. And I was in a windowless bedroom, you know, like the really cheap hotel rooms where they're like, you can have this. You're like, why is the room so cheap? It's like no windows. No windows. Yeah. I mean, those are the like the hotels. Do you need windows? No, you don't. If you're in London, you always, I always get a no window room. Oh, yeah. Cheapest ones. I mean, obviously it would be different in India, but I always think it makes me laugh when you go to like hot countries for Christmas and they like appropriate so many of the like tradition, like when you're an English person, but like Australian, the like, they have like 42 degrees outside. Yeah. Santa hats and all the like woolly hats and all of that and you're all like sitting on the beach. We'll have to do so. We'll work out when we're going to be there. Yeah. We'll make a plan. I'll make sure we pack the Santa hats ahead, you know, so we can. 100 percent. Stocking. Yeah. And just to finish us off, you know, I'm a new runner to this and I find it really fascinating and kind of, I think it's running as a whole is quite intimidating, especially when you see the groups that are out there. And as I'm learning more and more, you know, the community aspect is very welcoming. More dependent on the different running groups. But for example, like The Green Runners are really inclusive and are really, you know, just amazing, wonderful people. I don't think I've met a single one that I didn't like. But what would you say for somebody who's a novice, that's trying to get into running, what would be kind of your advice to start? I think it's really important to try and have a think of what you want running to bring you. Like, I hear a lot of people sort of saying like, oh, God, I'm trying to get into running, I've got to go for a run today or I have to do this. I'll do that. And I always try and sort of flip it and sort of think like running is a gift that can give back to you. And if you're using, whether you're using it to have a bit of headspace to escape the kids, to have some peace and quiet, to try and help you manage your health, your weight, whatever it is. Just kind of understand why you want to do it. And then think about, just dial into that a little bit within each run because you write your own story with it and you build your own narrative. And then that stops you comparing yourself to others or wondering where you fit in this funny kind of running world. You actually, you create your own running identity. And I think that's a real lovely thing to be able to equip yourself with. And then slowly you can find your tribe that helps to make that happen. Because I mean, there's loads of groups, right, like throughout the UK? Yeah, different ones in every city. So I'm a member of The Green Runners, but I'm also, where I live in Manchester, there's loads in major cities. I, because I'm not a fast runner though, and I don't run like to a pace. I never put the two together like we talked about before, the pace and the time. Often when you go to some groups, they will put you in pace and time groups, and they just make my head explode. Also, I can't keep up. But there are some really inclusive groups. So I would always say like, check out where they are, and then maybe reach out to them first about, you know, do you stop and start on your 5Ks? No man let. There's quite a few really good like no man left behind style groups. That's really cool. In Manchester, I go to one called One Foot Forward with Natalie on a Wednesday night track, Ruri, which I love. And the same guy does one at All Press in town, which is a 5K, but it's no one's left behind. It's just whatever pace is the people. And he stops like a couple of times on the way. And it just makes it such a nice experience. So you can be having a chat and stuff. And just try and find... Like for me, I struggle in big groups like that. So it's always helpful for me to take a mate with me when I'm doing it too. But yeah, I mean, there's just loads out there, isn't there? We are really lucky now because the whole running scene has changed. Like it used to be the sort of like athletics clubs where it was like around a track. But you mentioned like the two that you mentioned there, like they both, one's linked to a brewery and one's linked to a roastery and a coffee shop. You get like a beer afterwards and then when you get coffee in, cast on afterwards. What I did, actually I joined, I spent some money this weekend. Uh-oh. Yeah. I noticed you've taken a Green Runners badge off. What? What have I done? I thought you were gonna say you were gonna, you'd bought some like, you know. I've not bought much. I bought, I bought some food in front of me. Oh, that's all right. I bought a subscription to the Running Channel Club. So, they've just started. So, this is for anyone that's listening not somewhere with Green Runs or potentially thinks the idea of them is absolutely horrendous, which I understand. It's a, it's a, it's a real, well, I think annually it's 30 something quid. I've got a discount at the running show, but they've bought their running community on, they're a great YouTube channel, but they've also bought their running community onto this app so people are able to talk to other runners. They, when you sign up, it's like, where are you at? 5K, 10K, and they'll kind of put you in groups. It looks, I've had a play around on the app today. It looks amazing. So I feel like that's probably going to end up being quite a good resource for me. So you should get that, Joel. That's why. I will have to check. Yeah, that is, I mean, there aren't you, no, you don't have to go to a physical run group. Now you can get a bit of community online, which is lovely. And there's also like, you were asking me about, you know, running in London the other day. There's some amazing new like run groups, like Friday Night Lights, which is almost like half running, half clubbing, just without alcohol. It's like the high of running. There's Midnight Runners, who, you know, run the streets of London with music. And, you know, it's, it can be a really extrovert, out there, uplifting thing, or it can be a very private, introverted space for yourself. And, you know, there's a place for everyone in running, which is lovely. Choose your path. Yeah. Choose your hedge. Choose your hedge. Oh, damn. Damn, we nearly got through the whole podcast without saying the word hedge. Oh, is that the thing? By the way, if anybody didn't know, Hannah's following this old hedge. Go back to the first episode. You'll know all about it. Nina, thank you so much for letting us pull you away from the The Green Runners stand. Actually, he's been so busy, it's quite nice. Bit of peace and quiet in the spoons. Yeah. Well, this isn't the last time you'll be on the podcast. And yeah, I'm so looking forward to working with you. And we're going to do it nine months to go. Right. Or is it eight months and 30 days? Is that? It's my little baby. It'll come when it comes. Which is the 25th of October, 2025. What a scary thought. Thanks, guys. That's our show, everybody. Thank you so much for listening. We will be putting together a new episode every week until Hannah starts the run. Big shout out and thank you to 1% for the Planet and Giftstar for their amazing support, the Better Business Network, and of course Better Not Stop. Please make sure you check out all their links in our bio. If you want to stay up to date with everything that we're doing in real time, make sure to follow us on our social media links. This episode was recorded and edited by myself, Joel Chevaillier, and until next time, safe travels.