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g'day team welcome to Runners only with
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dom Harvey that's me today on the
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podcast Rachel gronwell uh she's an
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author she used to be a journalist won
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some awards for her work with the Sunday
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star times and then she sort of fell
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into Marathon running and ran 25
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marathons over a quick succession uh she
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will tell you all about how that
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happened and I feel like you get the
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most out of this podcast if you uh a
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non-runner or you're just sort of
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starting out there's lots of lots of
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helpful tips for beginners and stuff
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like that lots of nutrition tips and a
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good dose of our mental health chat as
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well so thank you very much for
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downloading great to see you here
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remember if you like the podcast please
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suggest it to someone else that you
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think may like it I find uh the word of
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mouth advertising is the most effective
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sort yeah rather than me punishing my
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friends on Instagram sorry about that or
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honestly I reckon I've lost followers
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over the last couple of weeks because
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every story I do is like just re-sharing
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something all right here she is Rachel
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grunwell on Runners only
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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but I thought about it there's there is
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run in your name I know I'll spend a
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lifetime trying to live up to that name
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Dawn hey um thank you very much for
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joining me on the podcast
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um you actually asked to come on the
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podcast you message me and asked to come
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on and uh I thought [ __ ] that's awesome
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she's got balls yeah well you know what
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there's so many Elite Runners out there
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and the relatability is not well we're
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all aspire to be like them but I'm just
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an on Airy Runner and I love to share
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that message that if I can anyone can
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you know I really I'm not saying that in
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a bad way because I really like the
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confidence and you're not the only
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person that's done it I've had a few
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other people reach out which is great oh
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and that makes my job easier but I just
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wish I um I don't know if it's
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confidence the word I don't know but I'd
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be like oh I'd start to write the
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message and I'll go I'm not going to
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send that they'll think I'm you know
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whatever but um I was I was pleasantly
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pleased to hear from you and it's great
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to have you on so this is Rachel
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grunwell she's a she was a journalist
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and then um you you sort of fell into
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running really by chance
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yeah completely by accident yeah give us
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the backstory so you what were you doing
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as a journalist by the way journalists
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are the absolute worst aren't they awful
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humor I'm still laying one
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yes I I was a sugar addicted
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caffeine-fueled stress addict journalist
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and I was on maternity leave and an
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editor reached out and said hey Rach do
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you want to write a weekly column about
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Wellness trying and surviving all these
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crazy Mad ideas so was the stick sort of
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that you were basically Couch Potato to
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trying these weird things yeah like only
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got me to do it because I could write
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and they wanted me they wanted a writer
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so they could articulate what it's like
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for readers and whether they might be
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into it so I had zero Health experience
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I wasn't fit I was the opposite so I was
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really excited because I thought yay I
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can learn some stuff here I was
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completely confused about how to get fit
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how to eat well how to sleep better yeah
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so yeah you book had a few years ago
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which is available now it's called
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balance food health and happiness by the
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way we can where can you buy it
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depository or I sell them on my website
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inspiredhealth.co.nz yeah reach out the
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thing that gets me about um about books
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like this like and it's a huge market
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and there's you go into Paper Plus or
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whittles or whatever and there's a
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massive section of books like this but
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you flick through it now it seems common
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sense
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you know what I mean do I like drink
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drink more water and uh you know you
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sleep you sleep more and uh they eat a
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bit of vegetables why why is there such
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a demand for this sort of stuff people
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can't be reading it and going oh yeah I
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gotta do that five plus a day only
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because you're in that zone Dom you know
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how to get fitter people who are
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starting from scratch are really
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confused so it's just all these little
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tips of like why are you doing this why
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is it smart to do that and so I used I
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don't know about you but I used to be a
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snackaholic I used to be hitting the
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sugar in carbs at three o'clock I'd be
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like my energy was low and I was really
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really hungry but if I eat enough
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protein I'm I'm full for a long time and
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I'm not snacking which means I'm losing
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weight and yeah great by the way that's
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the time of day we are recording this
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it's three but literally three p.m no
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treats out for me or I have some protein
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um the in this book there's a chapter
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about goal setting I agree my goal
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setting is a great thing and it's a
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necessary thing but often in life things
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just like sort of fall across your path
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that can change the trajectory of your
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life like is what's happened with you
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like you're ready to give you an
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assignment you did this uh weekly column
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and now this is your entire life
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yeah well
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you can sort of you can fall in love
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with this industry it's amazing if you
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learn some things on how to be healthier
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and happier
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you know change your Fitness you know
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increase your energy levels it can
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change your life what about when you um
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and I'm I suppose I'm talking about
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myself here what about when you know you
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know the common sense thing and you know
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the right thing to do but you still do
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the wrong thing anyway like I'm um I'm
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sometimes troubled by my relationship
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with alcohol and particular red wine I I
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love the stuff I know I drink too much
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of the stuff I know it's bad for me then
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I'll wake up in the morning and I'll
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feel a little bit [ __ ] and then I will
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repeat the same thing again that night
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you've written this book balance food
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health and happiness is there a lot of
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pressure on you to be um like a saint
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no so I get a lot of Wellness clients
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because I believe in Balance I eat
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burgers I drink when red wine I eat
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chocolate like I do all those things the
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thing is no one should look like living
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a perfectionist would be not only boring
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but like you don't have to you've got to
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have those things that you love in your
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life and look that is one of the massive
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things that I learned on my Wellness
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journey I remember when I first went to
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a nutritionist 10 years ago
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and I said hey I've got to admit like
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I'm sorry but I eat chocolate I eat it
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every day I love it
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no one should have to have that as a
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confession or something they feel guilty
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about really yeah exactly and he was
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like
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so what like enjoy it like you should be
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able to eat chocolate and I still eat
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chocolate every day I switch now to a
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higher carco content um I've got good
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fats in it right so it's full of
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antioxidants it's full of good fats it's
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actually good to eat like oh come on now
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you've killed yourself into it it tastes
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like [ __ ] give me the Cadbury stuff with
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the palm oil oh one of the figures you
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can have that but just have an imbalance
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a little bit a little bit like
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everything like enjoy the red wine enjoy
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the chocolate enjoy those things and
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balance just don't have them for
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breakfast lunch and dinner yeah it's
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easiest no easier said than done though
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like I'm I'm yeah I'm I'm being serious
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here because I I know the right thing to
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do but I still make the wrong decisions
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you know quite often yeah so it's about
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psychology so I have dealt with some
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I've helped some amazing
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um male clients they are the ones that
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particularly come to me with um
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alcohol management
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and so I'll look at how they drank and
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give them tips and tricks on how to
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moderate that
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um so what like what sort of tips so
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okay so I had have one really cool
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client he's pretty famous actually and
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he's in my book so I could probably name
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him but I won't
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um he's really cool he came to me and he
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sees oh look Rach I want to get fitter I
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want to understand nutrition better I
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I'd really like to uplift my happiness
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because I'm a bit you know down on the
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dumps and but the main thing is like I
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actually want help to moderate what I'm
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drinking so I said well look talk me
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through what you're having it says he
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walks on the door and his partner like
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handsome or brandy and then whoosh goes
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down and so that's the taster right and
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then he's like then I'm onto the whiskey
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and I'm like oh yeah cool cool no why
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are we talking like a Monday night a
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Tuesday night a Wednesday night a
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Thursday night every night and then he
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go and I go okay cool and what next and
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he goes yeah and then we sit down and
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you know we have you know a red wine a
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really nice beautiful red wine and then
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we're on to the like the cocktails and
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so how I got him because it's like he's
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living at dinner row I know he's on
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holiday
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um so what I did with him was Ice Age
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well okay is there any of those drinks
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that you don't enjoy as much and he says
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he thought about it and he said yeah I
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guess the Brandy like my partner she
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really likes the Brandy I can't remember
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it was a brandy the whiskey
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um and she just hands it to me when I
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walk in the door and I just Chuck it
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back I don't really like it I don't
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really enjoy it but you know she's gone
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to all this trouble
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um and I said well okay well how do you
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feel about just dropping the Brandy and
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maybe in between these drinks maybe have
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a water so you're starting to feel
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Fuller so think about what you enjoy the
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most and he was like actually Rachel I
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like the whiskey I really like the
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whiskey love it it makes me happy taste
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amazing
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and then I really like the red wine and
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I said well let's drop those other
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drinks and focus on sitting down pausing
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like really enjoying the moment like the
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taste of it the smell of it how the cup
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feels in your hands mindfulness really
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yeah drinking right yeah totally yeah I
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thought those two would go hand in hand
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sorry I'll use any tactic I can mate but
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yeah he moderated it I had another
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awesome very highly successful male
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client he was drinking eight beers a
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night right and
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when he came to see me how I helped him
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was
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um yeah he just he was sitting down he
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was actually thirsty when I got home
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from work and so he was having eight
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beers when he was actually thirsty just
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glugging them back
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um we worked on like I gave him
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different ideas on how to approach it
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so I said look you could have a couple
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of nights off if you felt you could do
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that we could hit it that way to just
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reduce the amount or how about you just
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get home you have some water you feel
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you know you've quenched a thirst and
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then mindfully enjoy a few beers and you
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know what
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um a few weeks into him working with me
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he was really tearful and really
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emotional
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and he said right she was actually
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really scared I was an alcoholic when I
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came to you and I just didn't know what
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to do but you just gave me these tasks
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to hurt and you know what he had he
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actually chose the hardest approach I
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was like are you are you sure are you
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sure because you guys are going to go
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cold turkey before three nights a week I
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was right are you sure you know he's
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like yeah yeah I'm quite a motivated guy
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when I get got it yeah and
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um he was incredibly successful got got
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him down to
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um three nights a week just mindfully
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enjoying some beers he lost a lot of
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weight he even more exciting for him he
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got his Fitness back yeah so he got a
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lot of his mojo back yeah okay maybe
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maybe I'll try that um yeah because I I
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can easily knock off a bottle of night
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of red wine and the thing is I've never
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had any any health issues yet
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um but the the recent death of Shane
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Warne who's like a few years older than
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me that makes you makes you worry about
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what you're doing to your body
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um and I've either like missed a day of
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work I've never I don't turn into like a
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belligerent person or anything like that
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so I don't know it's like you do wonder
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if you're an alcoholic because it's like
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I'll plan to have like alcohol three
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days and then you let yourself down and
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I don't know it's a strange relationship
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and it's um something I've been
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questioning deeply but yet I it's a
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relationship that I'm not I don't think
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really to leave yet
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does that make sense yeah yeah sorry
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these different stages on when you want
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to work on what I call Wellness pieces
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of the puzzle
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um so basically there's different stages
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where people actually jump sometimes
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it's a pain point they have to like
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they've been given Health advice and
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they have to so they're really Keen to
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get curious on how to approach things
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um look people have different tolerances
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so uh like I used to run with a lawyer
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who would
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um you know have several bottles of wine
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and then you know outrun me on race day
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and like and Jog up next to me and then
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go oh [ __ ] right I'm running your pace
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okay I need to kick it up again
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sorry like oh it's probably got a lot of
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sugar in his system
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I don't know I was like rocket fuel for
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him but um yeah so people have different
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tolerances like if I had a bottle of
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wine job oh you'd be on your own size of
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me it would be oh yeah yeah I'd be
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having a good time yeah I don't know
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yeah but having him wake up feeling
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guilty about it it's not a great way to
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wake up I've even a couple of times like
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thought maybe I need to go to like an
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AAA session or something but then I just
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worry that that'll uh be a bad thing for
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me in the respect that I'll go well [ __ ]
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that person's lost their house and their
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marriage and their kids don't speak to
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them I'm not that bad after all you know
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what I mean like I'm not I'm not um I'm
00:14:01
not hiding bottles in the recycling bin
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I'm not drinking a coffee cup that's are
00:14:05
you having any impacts like are you
00:14:07
feeling tired or sleepy oh I I normally
00:14:10
like wake up at three or three in the
00:14:12
morning feeling [ __ ] from the alcohol
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yeah yeah so it it interrupts your REM
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sleep so if you want a better quality of
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sleep so to have like I know you're
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probably having the right amount of
00:14:27
sleep for an adult at seven and a half
00:14:28
hours for kids it's much longer for
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elite athletes or even like you who
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wants to really perform well and they're
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running you need more sleep
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um and that's a free tool right we spend
00:14:40
all this money on all this money on
00:14:42
supplements and all these fancy things
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to fuel our performance but actually you
00:14:46
know what strength and conditioning
00:14:48
coach for Team New Zealand is in my book
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and he's in a sleep chapter and he's
00:14:53
going that that is my superpower tool
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for my athletes uh he used to be
00:14:58
strength and conditioning coach for the
00:14:59
blues and he's like and it's free
00:15:04
that's true yeah a good night's sleep
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it's quite funny I like when I was
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younger I used to have the oh you know
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I'll sleep when I'm dead sort of thing
00:15:11
all right now I love I love sleep and I
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love talking about sleep as well can't
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get enough of it yeah so if you if you
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pull back you're drinking you'll get
00:15:19
more REM so you get that higher quality
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of sleep and then that affects affects
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your
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um brain function so you get more
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creative you get you know sort of more
00:15:31
capacity of your brain to draw from now
00:15:35
tell us about you and your first
00:15:36
marathon so you got into running sort of
00:15:38
by accident because your editor got you
00:15:40
doing this column where you're doing
00:15:41
things so running is a difficult sport
00:15:44
to start yeah that sucks for everybody
00:15:48
doesn't it it's really it's really hard
00:15:50
I think I think everyone everyone not
00:15:52
everyone but a lot of people have a bad
00:15:53
bad memories or bad experience from
00:15:55
running because you get forced to do the
00:15:57
school cross-country or whatever and
00:15:58
well you're forced to run as punishment
00:16:00
in PE so what about for you what about
00:16:02
for you so how old were you when you
00:16:04
started out running as an adult I was a
00:16:06
music geek in school so I used to skip
00:16:08
the cross country used to have a valid
00:16:10
excuse I'm like offer it and listen is
00:16:13
to play the saxophone hey go you Lisa
00:16:16
Simpson yeah and
00:16:19
um yeah so I wasn't into fitness at all
00:16:22
so when I started it was 10 years ago
00:16:25
and like I said I was really unfit
00:16:27
writer
00:16:28
and I started from scratch and it was
00:16:30
really really hard I would run around
00:16:34
the block twice a week 20 minutes run
00:16:37
walk routine like walk a power pole run
00:16:40
a power pole where did you get is that
00:16:41
just what felt comfortable or where did
00:16:43
you get that idea from because it was
00:16:44
all I could manage I was crawling around
00:16:46
the block Dom I was like
00:16:48
fire engine I hated it it was really
00:16:51
hard I was that unfit because that's
00:16:53
what I tell if someone messages me
00:16:54
saying I want to start running what
00:16:55
should I do I tell them just he's into
00:16:57
it like yeah he's a smarter star yeah
00:16:59
Walk and Run Like run for two minutes
00:17:01
walk for a minute or if that feels too
00:17:03
hard walk for a minute run for a minute
00:17:04
then when the running gets easier
00:17:06
running a little bit longer and walk a
00:17:07
little bit less yeah so I'm a qualified
00:17:09
coach these days and I am I giving the
00:17:12
right advice then no no
00:17:14
that is golden that is golden advice so
00:17:17
the worst thing you can do is go too
00:17:20
fast too hard too soon that's what I say
00:17:22
especially especially the guys that
00:17:24
approach me because I figure out like a
00:17:26
lot of guys are probably like well you
00:17:27
know when I was 19 I could do a 10K and
00:17:29
a 45. I'm just gonna go out yeah
00:17:32
or wake up with um crazy delayed onset
00:17:36
muscle soreness the next morning and
00:17:37
then not run for a week and then that's
00:17:39
not fun yeah you're too
00:17:41
so yeah
00:17:42
so just a
00:17:44
little takes a while [ __ ] for your
00:17:46
ligaments and muscles to get used to it
00:17:48
and get used to the load
00:17:51
um so it it was the smartest start but I
00:17:53
had no clue what I was doing at the time
00:17:55
I was just wanting to move and a magical
00:17:59
thing happened a couple of weeks into it
00:18:02
I realized I could run a little bit more
00:18:04
than I could walk and that felt like
00:18:06
absolute success
00:18:09
um Aussie frog I was so happy I was so
00:18:11
proud of myself you know I looked amazed
00:18:13
and then everyone's ugly when they run
00:18:16
right so ugly
00:18:20
that's good I love that the finish line
00:18:22
of an event in particular like marathons
00:18:24
and half marathons everyone's reading
00:18:26
the face
00:18:27
um dudes with bleeding nipples it's an
00:18:30
ugly sport it's an ugly spot that's so
00:18:32
rewarding so so how old were you when
00:18:34
you did your first marathon
00:18:36
what
00:18:38
so this was part of your you're part of
00:18:40
your journalism
00:18:41
[Laughter]
00:18:45
yeah just a progressed um got stronger
00:18:49
and ended up running a little bit longer
00:18:52
and I think it took me I was about nine
00:18:55
months from starting getting off the
00:18:57
couch starting from scratch to running
00:18:59
my first marathon
00:19:01
I was really dedicated oh that is a
00:19:03
really fast turnaround it's a really
00:19:05
fast turnaround and I wouldn't actually
00:19:06
recommend it
00:19:08
um I'd say because I I became really
00:19:10
dedicated committed I got actually
00:19:12
addicted to the feeling of how I felt
00:19:15
finding flaw in a run
00:19:18
um once I got past that you know once
00:19:20
you can run 5Ks like it's really hard
00:19:22
it's really hard work to get to that
00:19:25
first five k's but after that you're
00:19:27
running it's almost like meditative and
00:19:31
it's enjoyable and you feel amazing so
00:19:34
yeah yeah all right can you remember how
00:19:37
long you first went I I don't fix that
00:19:39
on time here because I think time's
00:19:40
quite a personal thing in terms of um I
00:19:43
don't mind sharing how [ __ ] I am yeah
00:19:44
yeah so I broke the golden
00:19:48
um rule I've done it once and I've
00:19:51
learned from my mistake um please don't
00:19:53
ever ever do this please learn from my
00:19:56
mistake I ran too hard too fast in the
00:19:59
first half so you was supposed to really
00:20:02
Pace it in the first half and just
00:20:04
Cruise it and I just like took it to the
00:20:07
edge and a bit further back and I blew
00:20:10
up I hit the wall and you know when you
00:20:12
get to that 34 kilometer Mark I was
00:20:14
crawling and I was like why am I here
00:20:17
what am I doing this hurts it's so hard
00:20:21
um and I had to mate I'll meet me at
00:20:24
that point Thank God and he kind of
00:20:25
picked me up off the tar seal it was
00:20:27
Auckland marathon and and we got to the
00:20:30
stand it was um flat Coke and it was
00:20:33
like right oh yeah that is like it's
00:20:35
like rockets like jet fillets
00:20:39
James about this he because he ran his
00:20:41
uh first marathon in Auckland recently
00:20:43
and he goes and there was flat Coke
00:20:44
there and I was like he was like why
00:20:45
would I want flat Coke and I'm like bro
00:20:47
never turn down the flat card I don't I
00:20:49
want that on every Run course now and
00:20:52
anyway I did want the sugar-free stuff I
00:20:54
wouldn't no no give me the sugar Bloody
00:20:56
Run 42 kilometers I deserve it
00:21:00
um no sorry it was really I was I was so
00:21:03
precise back then you know there was
00:21:05
always this Mantra of if you haven't
00:21:07
tried it don't have it yes and I said to
00:21:10
Al I said I haven't tried it so I
00:21:12
shouldn't have it and he said
00:21:14
bloody will have arranged like you need
00:21:16
it and he like he's you know bossed me
00:21:19
into taking it so I drank it and I did
00:21:21
my fastest ever part of the marathon
00:21:24
after anything I just literally flew
00:21:26
through it how long did it take to hit
00:21:29
the bloodstream what do you reckon like
00:21:31
immediately some awesome research around
00:21:34
it um so you shouldn't have the caffeine
00:21:36
too early
00:21:37
um you should have it in the last part
00:21:39
of that race and then it just it's like
00:21:41
rock of fuel it's great it really is the
00:21:44
thing you said before about not trying
00:21:46
something new for the first time on race
00:21:47
day yeah that's um they talk about that
00:21:50
with gels because you have these um
00:21:51
energy gels which are the most
00:21:52
disgusting things available hey they're
00:21:54
awful never found one that I like
00:21:57
um but until they offered a sponsor this
00:21:59
this podcast
00:22:00
I will lie
00:22:05
hawley's lemon lime gels they are
00:22:08
delicious sometimes in the evening I'll
00:22:09
just have it for a snack in front of the
00:22:11
TV
00:22:13
no they are I offer but they're very
00:22:15
effective but a mate of mine um Matt
00:22:17
Heath who does the uh the breakfast on
00:22:19
radio heraldic he he did the half
00:22:21
marathon in Queenstown a few years ago
00:22:23
and uh a friend of his Scotty was
00:22:25
running it as well and he said to Matt
00:22:26
have you got any nutrition or anything
00:22:27
and that was like oh I don't know what
00:22:29
do you mean he goes yeah have some gels
00:22:31
so he handed met a couple of gels and
00:22:33
Matt was like okay so he just like
00:22:35
ripped them open and and had them there
00:22:37
at the start line with without any water
00:22:39
or anything he goes oh it was disgusting
00:22:41
I'm like you you're not supposed to
00:22:42
you're not supposed to have it like then
00:22:44
and there and you shouldn't have them if
00:22:46
you haven't had them in training either
00:22:48
that's why it's good to get a qualified
00:22:50
coach because you learn how to feel when
00:22:52
to feel how much to feel how to work it
00:22:55
and how how to rig it so it enhances
00:22:58
your performance yeah because that's a
00:23:00
bit of a rocky mistake yeah the other
00:23:02
thing you were talking about about the
00:23:03
uh the rookie mistake about going out
00:23:05
too fast that is so hard to get that
00:23:07
right yeah so so hard because
00:23:09
um if you've trained to run 42k you're
00:23:12
at the start line there's other people
00:23:13
around the adrenalines pumping as well
00:23:15
you're going to be feeling good it's
00:23:17
really hard to run within yourself when
00:23:18
you're feeling that good you're Swept
00:23:20
Away by the excitement of the crowd and
00:23:22
it's like it is so exciting like I love
00:23:25
you know
00:23:26
um that start of the race but you really
00:23:28
got to look at your watch and what pace
00:23:29
you're running because slow it down you
00:23:32
just try to keep up with the person next
00:23:33
to you and then like way fitter and
00:23:35
faster like they might not look it but
00:23:39
they are oh it's so good so good is your
00:23:42
first one your most memorable like when
00:23:43
you're when you're the feeling that you
00:23:45
get at the finish line
00:23:46
for [ __ ] ups oh really yeah
00:23:51
um you know what not today more like
00:23:54
that right but the incredible oh is that
00:23:56
right yeah because I hit the wall so bad
00:23:58
I'd gone so fast so soon that I ran out
00:24:01
of juice so how are you supposed to run
00:24:03
a marathon is you know
00:24:06
um so you're faster at the the end of
00:24:08
the race so you've got you know you're
00:24:10
supposed to Pace it well so you've got
00:24:12
more you know when you've got um near
00:24:14
the end you can kick it up a gear you
00:24:16
can go as fast as you want in those in
00:24:18
kilometers but if you've used it up
00:24:20
early on you can't get it back
00:24:24
um so yeah there's some science around
00:24:25
today it's so interesting I love it yeah
00:24:28
yeah there's um there's a truth that I
00:24:30
really like and he uses the analogy he
00:24:31
says it's like matches matches in the
00:24:33
box and you've only got so many matches
00:24:34
you can burn and once all the matches
00:24:36
are gone they're gone so you want to go
00:24:37
out you go out gently
00:24:39
um but it's also worth noting like um I
00:24:41
think in those last sort of 7 to 12 K's
00:24:44
of a marathon like from case 30 to the
00:24:46
Finish everyone's in a shitstorm yeah
00:24:48
everyone's Gonna Hurt
00:24:53
long athletes and they're like right
00:24:55
we're hurting as much as you are we just
00:24:58
you're just not going as fast
00:25:01
which is true
00:25:03
people hurting we're all hiding it but
00:25:05
it's mindset stuff at that point it's
00:25:08
and that's where you learn this amazing
00:25:11
thing you learn this
00:25:13
um you know incredible life tool like
00:25:17
not to give up to keep going even though
00:25:19
it hurts and it's really hard that you
00:25:21
can do this and in fact you can do
00:25:23
anything you want in life
00:25:25
um if you just hold on you stick with it
00:25:28
you keep keep going I've run 25 now
00:25:32
um which is crazy I wouldn't probably
00:25:33
recommend that to everyone oh over how
00:25:36
many years like 10 years or something
00:25:37
yeah yeah yeah
00:25:38
um they do just add up I don't know I do
00:25:41
is Auckland the biggest one in New
00:25:43
Zealand or Rotorua what would be the
00:25:44
biggest yes or Auckland would be biggest
00:25:46
in terms of numbers uh Rotorua is the
00:25:48
most iconic marathon in New Zealand
00:25:50
special because you lack the lake but
00:25:52
also it's been going way longer yeah and
00:25:55
it's got what they call the survivors
00:25:57
Club so it means you've got to run 15
00:26:00
Rotorua marathons to join that club and
00:26:03
it's amazing like on race day Dom the
00:26:06
survival what do you get for being in
00:26:08
the survivors Club I don't know a
00:26:09
t-shirt or something
00:26:11
bragging rights mate bragging rights if
00:26:14
you're in that club man you're pretty
00:26:15
special and like I've seen years though
00:26:18
if it's just a t-shirt make it five I
00:26:22
know are you done with marathons or you
00:26:24
still got more in you I feel like a bit
00:26:26
of a retired horse at the moment what
00:26:28
was that well oh covert has ruined it a
00:26:32
bit um look I'll do a distance like I
00:26:34
love the marathon events so I met
00:26:36
Rotorua Marathon event every year and
00:26:39
mostly these days I'll do the half or
00:26:42
the 10K and it's really joyful and I
00:26:44
love sharing that with like one of my
00:26:46
sons Loki yeah yeah it's good that's
00:26:49
good I I get terrible in event anxiety
00:26:52
that's that's terrible and it makes no
00:26:54
sense because I'm never gonna I'm never
00:26:55
gonna win so I'm gonna I'm racing myself
00:26:57
really but uh there was an event last
00:27:00
year the fitting at half marathon and I
00:27:01
turned up and I was I was so nervous I
00:27:04
was um I sat in the car and I almost
00:27:07
contemplated just driving away and just
00:27:09
saying I I woke up I didn't feel good
00:27:11
and you know I didn't feel like running
00:27:13
today yeah so mate I really like that
00:27:15
you share that I really like the issue
00:27:17
it but yeah we all kind of feel nervous
00:27:19
and it's good it means that you care
00:27:21
about the results you care about doing
00:27:23
well like it's actually a really good
00:27:25
thing it's like if you're speaking on a
00:27:27
stage it's really helpful to feel
00:27:29
nervous because it means that you really
00:27:30
care about doing a good job that's good
00:27:33
to hear because that have been in
00:27:34
particularly end up being um quite quite
00:27:36
a good run I remember the time because
00:27:38
it was a very strange number it was an
00:27:39
hour 23 45 so one two three four five
00:27:42
which for me was a bloody quick half
00:27:44
marathon sorry Craig and I was ecstatic
00:27:46
afterwards because you got the
00:27:47
endorphins flowing from the run and also
00:27:49
the Run went well so like driving home
00:27:52
back to Auckland from video I'm like
00:27:53
what the [ __ ] was that all about like
00:27:55
thinking about pulling out before
00:27:57
starting it's just a really weird
00:27:58
feeling but then you you speak to some
00:28:00
um proper Elite athletes and they talk
00:28:02
about
00:28:03
being like excited the night before or
00:28:06
the morning off so I'm just wondering if
00:28:07
they sort of have the same energy but
00:28:09
they frame it differently
00:28:11
yeah they're nervous too they're so
00:28:13
nervous and a lot more rods on it right
00:28:15
yeah well that's the thing I'm only even
00:28:17
running for myself well look I'm I'm at
00:28:20
the back of the pack and I get nervous I
00:28:21
mean come on I've got all the medals for
00:28:25
the marathons there's so many of them
00:28:28
and a half ones and it's just like where
00:28:31
do I put on this junk
00:28:33
um but I'll keep the marathon metals
00:28:34
because some of them are pretty special
00:28:35
yeah of course and stuff big and
00:28:38
beautiful yeah it's kind of cool um my
00:28:40
mom said to me she was um like I'm
00:28:42
dating her well a couple of years ago
00:28:43
she said oh she said you're the runner
00:28:44
of the family I'm gonna I'm Gonna Leave
00:28:45
My medals to you and I'm like
00:28:48
what the [ __ ] do I want with them I've
00:28:49
got my own medals that junk anyway did
00:28:53
you buy a Marie condo book for Christmas
00:28:56
mum your medals don't spark Joy actually
00:28:59
your mum is so inspiring like you know
00:29:02
your mum is where it's all at she's so
00:29:05
inspiring she can she can run and you
00:29:09
know what she's my goals I want to be
00:29:11
running when she when I'm her age and
00:29:13
look I beat you she is you know way
00:29:16
cooler than you know a lot of women that
00:29:19
age because she'll be super onto it she
00:29:22
looks amazing
00:29:24
um you know running actually keeps you a
00:29:25
little bit youthful it's the way to
00:29:27
shake some streus and she's 70 now and
00:29:29
she she runs most days she's not
00:29:31
training for a marathon at the moment
00:29:32
because she's not sure when the next
00:29:33
event will be yeah I mean she does she
00:29:35
does great oh there's an embarrassing
00:29:37
she ran the New York Marathon a couple
00:29:38
of years ago and it was the same year
00:29:39
that art Green from The Bachelor in the
00:29:42
New York Marathon I think he had some
00:29:43
happen he had some injury he didn't he
00:29:44
didn't run that great but he's a he's a
00:29:47
big heavy muscle dude so she she beat
00:29:49
art green
00:29:55
a couple months later five months later
00:29:57
the week after the the Christchurch
00:29:59
mosque shooting I took mum to the the
00:30:01
mosque in um ponson in Auckland where
00:30:03
there was like a like a minute silent
00:30:04
thing and um art and Matilda were there
00:30:07
mom was like I'm gonna go and say hi
00:30:10
and uh
00:30:11
she went up to him so he was there just
00:30:14
to pay his respects like everyone else
00:30:15
was and she goes I beat you in the New
00:30:17
York Marathon
00:30:19
hahaha
00:30:20
I was mortified ah
00:30:22
what a giggled he's actually like really
00:30:24
good yeah yeah he would have gone
00:30:26
respect yeah but just time and place mum
00:30:29
don't come in place I'll give you his
00:30:31
number you can text him and don't do it
00:30:32
outside of mosque the week after this
00:30:34
mess
00:30:35
unbelievable she's a little bit cheeky I
00:30:38
wonder where you get that oh come on
00:30:40
come on no she's um she's fantastic I
00:30:42
wouldn't be surprised if she outlives me
00:30:44
she's great yeah I bought her an
00:30:46
apartment and the idea was that it was
00:30:47
going to be like part of my retirement
00:30:49
plan like you know she'll she'll die and
00:30:51
then I can sell it or whatever but like
00:30:53
she's 70 now and I'm 48 and I'm starting
00:30:55
to do the sums and it's like she's
00:30:57
probably gonna be around like another 20
00:30:59
years so she'll be 19 I'll be like 68.
00:31:02
I'm gonna be like come on mum you gotta
00:31:04
you gotta You Gotta Die I need the money
00:31:06
you don't need the money how's your
00:31:08
mental health thing your mental health
00:31:10
being good you ever had any issues with
00:31:11
that no thankfully
00:31:14
um well I mean everyone gets those low
00:31:16
days
00:31:17
um but I've lost friends through suicide
00:31:21
um yeah and look one on four kiwis
00:31:24
suffers from depression at a really
00:31:26
really high level
00:31:29
um and I think look how suicide suicide
00:31:31
rate is really high anxiety levels are
00:31:34
really escalating they're getting worse
00:31:36
and worse and kids are getting getting
00:31:38
this a lot why are they getting it do
00:31:40
you think it's like a covert thing the
00:31:41
streets of the last couple of years
00:31:44
earthquakes covered but also
00:31:47
yes social media stress of life and you
00:31:51
know so much pressure
00:31:53
um schooling is a bit different today
00:31:55
than it used to be in our day you know
00:31:57
it's a bit more relaxed
00:31:59
um yeah so we've got all these mental
00:32:01
health issues escalating and look one
00:32:04
way to manage there is just to move move
00:32:06
your body
00:32:08
um and like if you live in Japan like
00:32:11
doctors will prescribe
00:32:13
um you know go surfing was it Japan or
00:32:15
Hawaii like there is one antidote and if
00:32:19
you go to the GP and you say hey I'm
00:32:21
feeling low they'll actually say well
00:32:23
you could start with doing some Fitness
00:32:26
so you get so the runners high is
00:32:29
actually science backed and yeah so
00:32:32
there's an actual thing and there's also
00:32:35
another psychology concept called flow
00:32:37
that helps to uplift your happiness
00:32:40
levels so what flow is is it's a state
00:32:44
that you enter into so you can do it you
00:32:47
can find flow through music or art or
00:32:50
physical activity so many different ways
00:32:52
to access it uh what how you know you're
00:32:56
in flow is so take my running example
00:32:59
when I first started I hated it it was
00:33:01
really really hard so I wasn't on flow I
00:33:04
didn't have much of a skill set it
00:33:06
wasn't very good at running found it
00:33:07
really hard but fast forward to six
00:33:10
months down the track and I could run
00:33:13
really freely easily I could chat while
00:33:17
I was running running and you get lost
00:33:20
in the moment you've got a high skill
00:33:22
set and yeah you kind of yeah that whole
00:33:26
getting lost in the moment is the key
00:33:28
and that is flow it's a psychology
00:33:31
psychological state that you can enter
00:33:33
into and that's what makes you happy so
00:33:36
going out for a run definitely lifts
00:33:39
uplifts your happiness levels so it's a
00:33:41
way to keep your mental health Baseline
00:33:44
so when I
00:33:46
um share this with clients
00:33:48
um most important thing to me about
00:33:51
being fit is that I've inspired my kids
00:33:54
to run to and be fit and that their
00:33:57
barometer of Fitness is quite high so
00:34:01
why that matters so much to me is that I
00:34:03
want their mental health to be okay I
00:34:05
want them to be I just want them to be
00:34:07
happy I'm just thinking out loud here do
00:34:09
we place too much emphasis on being
00:34:10
happy because I I feel like you need
00:34:12
some unhappiness or some misery in your
00:34:14
life to appreciate the happy moments you
00:34:16
know what I mean yeah it's impossible to
00:34:19
to be happy all the time no only only a
00:34:21
dog is happy all the time
00:34:25
throwing his little
00:34:27
for the last half very sulking under the
00:34:28
table
00:34:29
yeah yeah it's a funny thing either quiz
00:34:32
for happiness it's not a normal um human
00:34:34
State like you're not you'd be there'd
00:34:36
be something wrong with you if you're
00:34:38
happy all the time yeah it's normal to
00:34:40
have those derps and they give you that
00:34:42
huge appreciation for the highs right
00:34:45
yeah you wouldn't be human if you didn't
00:34:46
have those lows yeah it's just managing
00:34:49
those lows yes dips and they can they
00:34:52
can go they can deep dive right yeah I
00:34:55
am I agree with you I think running for
00:34:57
me personally has um I I don't know any
00:35:00
science or anything like that all I know
00:35:01
is what's worked for me and exercise is
00:35:03
definitely um like a tool in the toolkit
00:35:06
for me it's something that makes me feel
00:35:07
better but having um lived with um
00:35:08
someone with uh depression you know my
00:35:10
ex-wife JJ
00:35:12
um
00:35:13
I don't know I feel like it's more of a
00:35:15
chemical imbalance in her brain and I
00:35:17
I'd say to her I was an ass of a husband
00:35:20
as well I'd say come on get up we'll get
00:35:22
out we'll get some fresh air you'll feel
00:35:24
better and uh turns out I've done that's
00:35:27
not the thing to say to people with
00:35:28
depression
00:35:29
I don't know I've learned more about it
00:35:32
since then like it came from a good
00:35:33
place but it was the wrong way to deal
00:35:35
with it yeah absolutely and you know
00:35:37
what
00:35:38
um when you are in that high end
00:35:41
um the best thing you can possibly do is
00:35:43
go and see a doctor and they can advise
00:35:46
whether you should be on medication and
00:35:47
that's exactly what you should be doing
00:35:49
people go through a lot of wanting
00:35:51
wishing and dreaming for sometimes
00:35:54
forever and they never make the jump
00:35:55
they go I wish I could be fitter I wish
00:35:58
I could be you know stronger or whatever
00:36:00
I just never hit the Go Button yeah they
00:36:01
never have it so the hardest part Dom
00:36:03
about starting a run journey is actually
00:36:06
just jumping just just start the Beauty
00:36:10
and the magic isn't just starting and
00:36:12
there's this circles so you start
00:36:14
um a habit and then it takes a little
00:36:18
while to become a behavior so the really
00:36:20
hard part of starting their habit and
00:36:23
then it circles into a behavior after a
00:36:26
certain period of time what is that like
00:36:28
a month five weeks what is that yeah is
00:36:29
it a number of days
00:36:31
so different for different people
00:36:33
depending on how often you do it and all
00:36:35
that kind of stuff so for me it was
00:36:36
maybe six weeks until it became a bit of
00:36:38
a behavior started it as a habit became
00:36:41
a Behavior now running for you and I is
00:36:44
what you call lifestyle we just do it
00:36:46
without thinking we just yeah if I've
00:36:48
got an injury I'm like what am I going
00:36:50
to do what am I going to do now yeah I'm
00:36:52
grumpy without it yeah yeah yeah
00:36:56
I've got a couple of days without it
00:36:58
people around me definitely start to
00:36:59
notice
00:37:01
can be actually a really positive thing
00:37:03
um so for my 40th birthday I had entered
00:37:07
into the Chicago marathon
00:37:09
I was a bit of a dumbass and I ran three
00:37:12
marathons in quick succession I was
00:37:15
about 32 kilometers in I was running
00:37:17
Christchurch with Mike McRoberts and my
00:37:20
league winch is that because um a lot of
00:37:22
women go weak at the knees
00:37:28
chatting so yeah I got in in the Cross
00:37:30
Church Marathon but it already entered
00:37:32
the Chicago marathon and I'm not
00:37:35
canceling a trip to shy town and it was
00:37:38
like it was three months away so I'd
00:37:40
booked it I'd paid for it it was no way
00:37:42
out I was like because if I hadn't done
00:37:44
that I would have just sat on the couch
00:37:45
and felt miserable and why was me you
00:37:47
know I ate the chips but because I had
00:37:50
paid paid for it I was like oh my God
00:37:52
what am I going to do
00:37:54
um so I it ended up being the most
00:37:57
incredible
00:37:58
um thing that could have ever happened
00:37:59
to me I hated it at the time found it
00:38:01
really hard but I cross-trained so I
00:38:04
went to the gym I did a poll run a week
00:38:06
I did strength training bit of yoga and
00:38:10
a lot of cycling on a static bike and a
00:38:12
gym so those are things I could do and
00:38:14
you know what I learned you don't have
00:38:16
to run and run and run and run to run a
00:38:18
marathon cross-train it's so much more
00:38:21
fun and yeah I've trained that way ever
00:38:24
since I don't do the long runs anymore
00:38:26
domain you probably still have the
00:38:28
muscle memory maybe and or was it just
00:38:30
like no expectation on yourself in
00:38:31
Chicago so you got to enjoy it more was
00:38:33
that part of it yeah I didn't wear a
00:38:34
watch because I thought oh my God if I
00:38:36
finish this I'll just be elated if I get
00:38:38
to the finish line but you know what I
00:38:40
ran at 12 minutes slower than my fastest
00:38:43
ever marathon time
00:38:46
all I did was cross-train yeah I mean
00:38:48
you're still getting that um cardio
00:38:50
aerobic activity on a bike so when
00:38:54
people
00:38:54
um feel like an injury coming on so I've
00:38:57
worked with a lot of athletes with
00:38:59
disabilities and when they're feeling a
00:39:02
niggle I'll really rein them in and pull
00:39:05
them back and I'll get them pool running
00:39:07
or get them cycling because I'm going
00:39:12
it's hard if you're doing it properly
00:39:15
it's three times harder than running on
00:39:19
land yeah so you actually become you can
00:39:22
work on your form you get a better run
00:39:24
gate you can get faster honestly it's
00:39:27
three times harder than running on land
00:39:29
so when you come out of the pool you fly
00:39:31
no if it was that good Elliot kipchogee
00:39:33
would be doing it all the Kenyans would
00:39:35
be in the pool oh if they get a nickel
00:39:37
like you you look at like the All Blacks
00:39:40
and all these Elite athletes when they
00:39:42
start to get niggles or injuries they're
00:39:45
like in the water or they put in the
00:39:47
water before then because they they're
00:39:48
going to get their active recovery yeah
00:39:50
for sure smart way to train yeah
00:39:52
absolutely absolutely although um yeah
00:39:55
no that's true
00:39:59
um I've I've become better at that over
00:40:00
over the years like uh just before
00:40:02
Christmas like 10 days in an in my Q
00:40:04
spot and uh the old me would be like oh
00:40:06
I need to get a treadmill in the room
00:40:08
I'm going to lose so much Fitness and
00:40:10
now it's like you control what you can
00:40:11
and try not to worry about the external
00:40:13
stuff so if I get an injury now I sort
00:40:16
of think well it's my body telling me
00:40:17
that maybe I need a little break and I
00:40:19
enjoy it because you realize yeah it's
00:40:20
not nice to get to get on fat and to try
00:40:22
and start again from Ground Zero but you
00:40:24
realize you know a couple of weeks off
00:40:25
you're not gonna lose everything but I
00:40:27
think it's about six weeks and you'll
00:40:29
lose your run Fitness six weeks that's a
00:40:33
long time
00:40:34
it's a very long time that's encouraging
00:40:37
to hear yeah
00:40:38
yeah so but you but you're going like if
00:40:40
you can do something yeah yeah jump on a
00:40:42
bike or whatever but if it's just a week
00:40:44
or two and like the physioces just take
00:40:46
it easy it's probably actually good for
00:40:48
you to just have a bit of a break yeah a
00:40:49
taper I mean it's been it's been running
00:40:51
for you and me but I I you know I bang
00:40:53
on about running and you do as well to a
00:40:55
degree but I say to people it's like
00:40:57
it's about movement and fresh air so
00:40:59
whatever it is like for me it's running
00:41:01
you find your own thing maybe for you
00:41:03
it's not running yeah but whatever it is
00:41:05
just get out there because you do feel
00:41:07
so much better after doing something
00:41:08
yeah I agree yeah you feel good uh fix
00:41:12
your telomere length so that's it sounds
00:41:16
that sounds rude
00:41:19
uh so tell me Leaf is
00:41:22
um so this helps you to look youthful so
00:41:26
running helps you manage stress so um
00:41:29
these at the end of your chromosomes are
00:41:31
telomeres and so if you've got long
00:41:33
telomeres you're looking really youthful
00:41:35
and gorgeous and you're healthy
00:41:38
um and not that stressed if you've got
00:41:41
short telomeres you're growing you know
00:41:43
you're looking older beyond your years
00:41:45
you've probably got a really [ __ ] diet
00:41:46
probably stressed out to buggery and um
00:41:50
you're probably not moving your body so
00:41:53
you know move because you want to look
00:41:54
more youthful and you know you want to
00:41:57
be more joyful you're nicer to be around
00:41:59
yeah now yeah you and I have got
00:42:02
something else in common we're similar
00:42:04
sort of Ages I'm a little bit older than
00:42:05
you but we've uh got something in common
00:42:07
that um happened to us at similar times
00:42:09
I don't know if you want to get into
00:42:10
this match or not but um we both went
00:42:12
through our marriage breakups which
00:42:13
people say is one of the most I think
00:42:15
one of the five most stressful things a
00:42:16
human being can go through how are you
00:42:18
you all right yeah yeah I'm in an
00:42:20
awesome place now did your book and
00:42:22
knowledge help navigate through yeah
00:42:24
yeah absolutely so I think yeah it was
00:42:28
for many years uh how long were you
00:42:31
married I think it was about
00:42:33
it's about 15 15 years do you consider
00:42:37
that a success like yeah yeah absolutely
00:42:39
and same with you and JJ are like we're
00:42:42
really good friends
00:42:44
um we're amazing friends and we we've
00:42:46
got boys and like we've got this great
00:42:49
team effort and raising with kids and we
00:42:51
actually get on really really well like
00:42:53
we're still best friends
00:42:55
um but you know a certain point we
00:42:57
became really different people
00:43:00
um he's an introvert I'm an extrovert I
00:43:02
want to be life on the run with the next
00:43:05
adventure and yeah we just became two
00:43:08
really different people and with you
00:43:11
know really different needs and so we
00:43:13
got conscious
00:43:16
um Consciousness
00:43:18
because Gwyneth Paltrow is it but it's
00:43:21
kind of a thing it's kind of true
00:43:23
um so we've got this cool respect for
00:43:25
each other like you and JJ yeah and you
00:43:27
know what it's like I didn't marry an
00:43:29
[ __ ] like JJ is epic she is an
00:43:32
awesome woman you married and amazing
00:43:34
woman yeah but you know it just came to
00:43:37
that time in your life where you became
00:43:39
different and you know you're ready for
00:43:41
that New Path and yeah it was there was
00:43:45
um a really stressful time
00:43:47
um it was actually when I was writing
00:43:49
the book
00:43:50
uh really hard time in the marriage and
00:43:53
I kind of fell down on my knees like it
00:43:55
was so hard I was so low and
00:43:59
um yeah I just I kind of walked away
00:44:02
from my book for six months
00:44:04
um Dom and I was supposed to have it I
00:44:05
had a book contract to have it done
00:44:07
within a year it took me two years
00:44:09
because I needed to pick myself up from
00:44:11
the floor and actually believe in myself
00:44:14
again and
00:44:16
um yeah imposter syndrome was a bit of a
00:44:18
thing but I was oh my God you as well I
00:44:21
talked about that on the podcast the
00:44:22
other week I've had so many people
00:44:24
saying oh my God I have that as well
00:44:26
yeah which is which is dumb if I go
00:44:28
through a hard period I I have learned
00:44:31
how to pick myself off the floor I've
00:44:33
learned to reach out to people who care
00:44:35
about me and love me and who help me
00:44:38
um stand back up again and yeah so yeah
00:44:41
that's good that's good I know there'll
00:44:43
be um some people listening to this that
00:44:44
have gone through marriage breakup so
00:44:45
and there's conversation with Rachel and
00:44:48
myself might sound nauseating because I
00:44:50
I understand that for whatever reason
00:44:52
you know sometimes it's not possible to
00:44:54
end up being friends with your ex and
00:44:55
maybe they don't deserve your friendship
00:44:56
at the end of it but if it's um if it is
00:44:58
possible by the way me and James Jason
00:45:00
to see it as uh you know you wanted to
00:45:02
not throw out the baby with the bath
00:45:04
water you want to keep the good things
00:45:05
about the relationship and um there's
00:45:07
still so much love there it's one of the
00:45:08
one of the one of the few things that I
00:45:10
won't I won't really
00:45:12
don't make too many jokes about because
00:45:13
there's just so much respect still there
00:45:15
yeah totally I've totally got it back
00:45:17
absolutely and same same and you know
00:45:21
that's so healthy and you know when I
00:45:24
see all these I'm on the dating scene at
00:45:26
the moment which is quite hilarious
00:45:28
you're like yeah if anyone's listening
00:45:29
what do you want are you on Bumble are
00:45:31
you on Tinder what are you where can
00:45:33
they find you no no Phineas
00:45:39
but you know this is so you meet these
00:45:41
people and they've got these toxic exes
00:45:44
and it's just oh my God it's frightening
00:45:47
like what they've got to Wade through
00:45:49
like they're just you know I've been
00:45:51
living a really stressful life because
00:45:55
um one of them just can't let go do you
00:45:58
like do you think you would have um
00:45:59
drifted a party anyway or do you think
00:46:01
part of it is like that your editor
00:46:03
giving you that assignment all those
00:46:04
years ago where you went on this like
00:46:06
wellness Journey like do you think that
00:46:07
sort of changed the trajectory of your
00:46:09
life or do you think you would have
00:46:10
ended up here anyway I think we would
00:46:11
have ended up here anyway
00:46:14
um I mean I I probably became quite
00:46:16
annoying because I was living a life on
00:46:18
the run you know I became just running
00:46:20
and actually just
00:46:22
um actually we swap roles when I met him
00:46:24
he would run and he was really really
00:46:26
fit and I was really unfit and then we
00:46:28
completely swapped he stopped all
00:46:31
exercise and fitness and you know got
00:46:34
quite low
00:46:35
um and I became this like like someone I
00:46:38
never thought I'd be someone that's
00:46:40
preaching the lifestyle yeah it's
00:46:41
interesting but I suppose yeah everyone
00:46:43
changes don't they and I suppose some
00:46:44
marriages you just make it work and you
00:46:46
deal with people's um changes and
00:46:48
idiosyncrasies but for others it's like
00:46:50
the the the sensible or the right thing
00:46:52
to do just to just to go your separate
00:46:54
ways yeah yeah yeah nothing's lost like
00:46:56
yeah we've got he's an amazing dad you
00:46:59
know I wouldn't wouldn't change any
00:47:01
decision there and I don't think he was
00:47:04
um but yeah you just you know it happens
00:47:07
life happens and you know what I'm
00:47:09
really proud of that decision Dom
00:47:11
because we are both really happy now
00:47:15
we're great friends and what I see
00:47:17
around me is a lot of people staying in
00:47:20
miserable relationships just because
00:47:22
they think Society they're trying to
00:47:25
please society and I think that's sad so
00:47:28
they're living in misery and they're
00:47:30
bitching about their Partners or they're
00:47:33
doing things they don't want to do life
00:47:35
is annoying and they're grumpy all the
00:47:38
time and they're bitching about it and
00:47:40
they're just doing nothing about it and
00:47:43
you know like what a advice I'd give to
00:47:46
people is if you're with someone and you
00:47:49
know life is hard you don't really have
00:47:51
much respect for them it's not joyful
00:47:53
you either a commit to changing together
00:47:56
to work on that [ __ ] or you you move
00:48:00
separate ways like you change or you you
00:48:03
know you accept and then find some damn
00:48:06
Joy don't stop the bitching
00:48:09
that's good advice that's good advice my
00:48:12
parents that they they hated each other
00:48:16
um
00:48:19
well you should be like it like Dad you
00:48:22
know dare to go to the fridge grab
00:48:23
another beer and be like oh you're
00:48:24
having another one tonight are you
00:48:25
Stuart and there's always this this
00:48:27
tension in the house that you could cut
00:48:29
with a knife and that argument stuff and
00:48:31
I'd grab in this household and I think
00:48:33
that's sort of normal and uh thankfully
00:48:35
me and JJ we never had like an
00:48:36
argumentative relationship or anything
00:48:37
but maybe we needed a little bit more of
00:48:40
that right maybe that was you know part
00:48:42
of my fault not communicating enough
00:48:43
there's no no people at War here yeah
00:48:46
there's no
00:48:47
um yeah chaos to kind of navigate I like
00:48:50
that that's cool yeah that's really cool
00:48:52
they must love it too so when they're
00:48:54
with you they've got healthy snacks
00:48:55
we're in there with them they're going
00:48:56
to McDonald's in Cape right is that how
00:48:59
it is
00:49:01
oh it is quite funny like I um you know
00:49:05
my kids I I buy all their life by up and
00:49:09
goes and chips and chocolate I buy all
00:49:11
that stuff right like my kids are really
00:49:14
really active and so like I'm actually
00:49:16
trying to get calories in them all the
00:49:18
time I know you probably think oh they
00:49:20
just you know exist on blueberry
00:49:22
smoothies
00:49:24
you know I'm probably desperate to go to
00:49:27
the Mike's house baking with honey and
00:49:29
instead of actual sugar oh yeah
00:49:37
well that's something to be proud of I
00:49:39
suppose for you and for you and your ex
00:49:40
to look at the kids and say we've done
00:49:42
good yeah we've done good that's
00:49:43
everything like the happiness
00:49:46
hey William with some um quick fire run
00:49:47
questions okay and then I'll let you go
00:49:49
oh there you go you must have some dates
00:49:51
lined up to go to this evening oh my God
00:49:55
okay uh Rachel grunwell what do you
00:49:57
listen to when you run are you I mean if
00:49:59
you don't listen to anything that's fine
00:50:00
there's a lot of people that prefer to
00:50:01
run Justin
00:50:04
things like
00:50:06
um pink you know okay just music yeah
00:50:08
just like pop pop stuff right what's
00:50:11
your favorite place to run do you have a
00:50:13
favorite route or was it um like a trail
00:50:15
or town or
00:50:16
a block nearby your house yes I live in
00:50:19
Mount Eden in Auckland and going up that
00:50:24
Peak I do like hill repeats so I'll go
00:50:26
up and down Mount Eden like up and down
00:50:28
up and down up and down and it is the
00:50:32
most like every time you get to that
00:50:34
Peak you look over Auckland and you know
00:50:38
see the water and it's magical it's so
00:50:41
uplifting it's so beautiful I've done it
00:50:43
a million times and it is just it's
00:50:46
Heaven it's just the most beautiful
00:50:49
sight every time I never get sick of it
00:50:51
I always feel so grateful I either I can
00:50:54
run and be there I can experience that
00:50:56
yeah it's a great spot up there the
00:50:58
volcanic cone as well and yeah the city
00:51:01
in the background it's just beautiful
00:51:02
that's gorgeous and it's on my doorstep
00:51:04
got a volcano on my doorstep right it
00:51:07
doesn't get a really good selling point
00:51:10
um do you have do you have a favorite
00:51:11
shoe or like a like a shoe brand that
00:51:13
you're like that's it I can't change I'm
00:51:15
going to jinx it on and Jimmy Choo
00:51:20
high heels baby high heels running
00:51:23
running favorite running shoe come on
00:51:26
it's a running podcast Focus okay okay
00:51:30
um Essex
00:51:31
um yeah amazing run shoe
00:51:34
yeah there's a lot of Brands I've I'm so
00:51:38
lucky like is um a wellness writer for
00:51:40
10 years I've been sponsored by every
00:51:43
name under the sun and there are
00:51:45
different shoes that are used for
00:51:47
different sports and I'm really like I
00:51:49
know the best Heights to wear for
00:51:51
running I know the Best Brands to to
00:51:54
wear for running long distance
00:51:57
um or shorter distance but yeah
00:51:59
something like a good pair of Asics are
00:52:01
amazing for the long runs right yeah and
00:52:04
yeah you get different shoes for if
00:52:06
you're doing speed training my advice is
00:52:08
to have a couple of pairs of shoes so um
00:52:10
if you're quite serious about it one's
00:52:12
for Speed one for the long runs and then
00:52:15
one to change out and don't use your
00:52:17
walk shoes for your run runs right I
00:52:20
used to be um anal and superstitious
00:52:22
about my shoes I got given a few valid
00:52:25
Air shoes and I had a good marathon on
00:52:26
them and I went for a couple years
00:52:28
without being injured and then I keep
00:52:30
buying the same shirt it was called a
00:52:31
supernova or something I keep buying the
00:52:32
same shoe over and over again
00:52:34
stop making it and I had like a panic
00:52:36
attack it's like what am I what am I
00:52:37
doing what am I going to do now I looked
00:52:39
online and I went to some went to some
00:52:41
online shoe stores like in Dunedin and
00:52:43
invercargill to see if they had stocks
00:52:45
that I could buy and then since then
00:52:47
I've run anything and everything and I
00:52:48
realized like it's yeah it's nothing to
00:52:50
do with the shoot I'm um
00:52:58
yeah some people need a bit more support
00:52:59
other people uh beer running but um
00:53:02
right getting your gate looked at and
00:53:03
you run shoes
00:53:05
um sort of super smart yeah yeah dating
00:53:07
them every so often um it's the only
00:53:09
expense you have with a sport yeah the
00:53:11
only expense
00:53:13
looking at your run Gates really cool
00:53:15
it's um so I learned I wasn't you
00:53:19
you saying part of
00:53:21
the um so I was like
00:53:23
important to use the big toe
00:53:25
I know like so I just wasn't using my
00:53:29
full toolkit right
00:53:30
um yeah yeah and back to the shows I've
00:53:33
got so many peers and um yeah my bedroom
00:53:37
I've got like a wall of shows of yeah
00:53:39
like running shoes are we talking direct
00:53:41
back to dress onesies
00:53:47
if you're looking for a charity and uh
00:53:50
and this goes to any runners that are
00:53:51
listening they have got like a laundry
00:53:52
full of or a front doorstep or whatever
00:53:54
full of old shoes
00:53:56
um look up the charity lazy sneakers
00:53:57
they do a really good job if you're
00:53:59
looking for something to do with your
00:54:00
your I mean you only need so many pairs
00:54:02
of shoes to mow the Lawns on don't you
00:54:03
yeah lazy sneakers look them up do you
00:54:06
prefer to run alone or with a crew
00:54:08
I love to talk
00:54:10
you just can't shut me up yeah like if
00:54:13
I'm running like I just I love I love to
00:54:16
run I've got a bestie girl he's a
00:54:19
dentist and we normally run every week
00:54:21
in green
00:54:23
um Green Lane around
00:54:25
um that Peak and yeah like a part of it
00:54:28
is that social connection like it just
00:54:30
lifts me up helps me to keep going it's
00:54:33
called a group effect so you know if you
00:54:35
don't feel like getting out of bed and
00:54:37
doing that run
00:54:38
um if someone's waiting for you when the
00:54:40
alarm goes like you're just gonna tune
00:54:43
up so it's really good like if you
00:54:44
answer it keeps you accountable yeah
00:54:46
totally yeah but I imagine you're a lone
00:54:48
Runner no one else could keep up with
00:54:50
you I don't know that I am I do do a lot
00:54:52
of ring on my own but I love the
00:54:54
community as well like it's a fantastic
00:54:55
community so I do like running with
00:54:56
others but I find uh someone's always
00:54:58
uncomfortable
00:55:00
someone's running slower than what they
00:55:02
want someone's running faster than what
00:55:03
they want
00:55:04
um
00:55:06
being able to um
00:55:08
yeah
00:55:10
I
00:55:12
use athletes with disabilities and a lot
00:55:14
of people can't do it because they're
00:55:16
going to change their Gates or they've
00:55:17
got to change their pace so it's a bit
00:55:19
of a superpower being able to run
00:55:22
different Paces obviously not faster
00:55:24
than I can capable of but I can go
00:55:27
slower because a lot of people do
00:55:28
actually get injured do you prefer
00:55:30
running in the hot or the cold yeah yes
00:55:33
I can run faster stronger I hate running
00:55:37
in the heat like get me really early
00:55:39
early run I'm so happy but like a run
00:55:42
later in the day I'm like miserable and
00:55:45
you've run you've run 25 marathons
00:55:47
what's your go-to meal the night before
00:55:49
what's the one thing that you settled on
00:55:51
just eating normally like protein some
00:55:54
carbs some veg what would it look like
00:55:56
what would it look like on your plate
00:56:00
potatoes pasta or what
00:56:03
carb fueling's kind of old school
00:56:06
um so just like steak and some salad
00:56:09
maybe some comra
00:56:12
um but you know what I'd have fish and
00:56:13
chips the night before I'd have pizza
00:56:16
um yeah let's give those calories yeah
00:56:18
just whatever
00:56:19
get some calories in I'll um eat some
00:56:22
porridge
00:56:24
normally before I race so you're fine is
00:56:26
that the alarm
00:56:28
that's all right bring it over there is
00:56:30
that a ringtone or an alarm tone
00:56:34
no that's all good well that's probably
00:56:36
a good place to end it
00:56:37
where do you have to be is it is it a
00:56:40
day no no it's dropping my son off at
00:56:43
work
00:56:45
Uber driver
00:56:47
how old's your son oh he's coming up
00:56:50
um it's even changed how to get a bloody
00:56:53
license tell him to get his license he's
00:56:54
got his license why do you need to drop
00:56:56
him off he's got a gotta get his own car
00:56:59
right but he's one of these you know
00:57:01
he's a vegetarian he's like no Mom the
00:57:04
environment doesn't need another car on
00:57:06
the road you know like you know oh my
00:57:08
God that is such an Auckland kid I know
00:57:09
I don't know I know you've raised them
00:57:11
well hey um Rachel glenwell author of
00:57:13
the book balance food health and
00:57:15
happiness and Runner of 25 marathons and
00:57:16
heaps of other stuff thank you so much
00:57:18
for sitting down today nice to chat
00:57:20
really appreciate it thanks for the
00:57:21
laughs oh you're still here thank you
00:57:23
very much for making it to the end of
00:57:25
the entire episode of Runners only with
00:57:26
dom Harvey and my guest Rachel grunwell
00:57:29
hope you enjoyed it thank you very much
00:57:31
for being here and hopefully we'll see
00:57:32
you back next week on Runners only with
00:57:34
dom Harvey bye