Welcome to the second series of Am I Nuts. This is the second episode in a series of ten weekly podcasts from us at the Women’s Running podcast. I am your host Esther Newman, and she is your other host Holly Taylor.

In this series, we wanted to explore some of the things that we’ve talked about on our big podcast – that’s the Women’s Running podcast – that don’t necessarily have anything to do with running. Hol and I are natural born worriers, and we’ve realized that in almost every episode, we talk about at least one of those worries – and we also realized that with many of them, we’ve thought we were the only ones. We thought we were nuts. If you have something you think we should talk about, then please email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk

In this second episode, we’re getting our knickers in a twist about strength training. Should we all be doing it? Are we doing enough? And what should we be doing if we’ve never done it?

Thank you so much for listening. Do please like and subscribe, so that you’ll be first to know when the next episode in this special series drops

Am I Nuts has been brought to you by the Women’s Running podcast – do please check it out wherever you listen to your podcasts for longer episodes to keep you company while you run. And if running is your thing, or you’d like it to be your thing, check out Women’s Running magazine – right now you can save up to 50% off the cover price. Just go to shop.womensrunning.co.uk to find out more.

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Welcome to episode 272 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

We’re talking about the most important thing on our minds at the moment, and that’s obviously Celebrity Traitors. Spoilers are here, if you’ve been saving it up to watch at another time, so be warned. But then we start talking about the running we’re doing and the races we’re looking forward to. I fancy taking on a huge race next year – who’s with me?

Then we’re on to a contentious subject that I’d read about: is depression more prevalent in runners who complete multiple marathons? If so, why? It’s a headline designed to get us cross, but we have a lot of thoughts about it. Pretty sure you will have too – get in touch at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with your take on it all.

We also mention the release of Am I Nuts series 2, which we’re very excited about, and we get it completely wrong! While yes, the series is out this week, we are NOT talking about strength training, we’re talking about protein! Do please go and have a listen to it and tell us what you think

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

The Guardian article that started our conversation

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Am I Nuts. This is the first episode in our second series of ten weekly podcasts from us at the Women’s Running podcast. I am your host Esther Newman, and she is your other host Holly Taylor.

In this series, we wanted to explore some of the things that we’ve talked about on our big podcast – that’s the Women’s Running podcast – that don’t necessarily have anything to do with running. Hol and I are natural born worriers, and we’ve realized that in almost every episode, we talk about at least one of those worries – and we also realized that with many of them, we’ve thought we were the only ones. We thought we were nuts.

In series one, we talked about everything from cancer to sugar. This series, we’ve got another mixed bag. If you have something you think we should talk about, then please email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk

In this first episode, we’re dealing with a biggie, and we’re pretty sure we’re not alone here. Are we nuts for worrying about not eating enough protein?

Thank you so much for listening. Do please like and subscribe, so that you’ll be first to know when the next episode in this special series drops

Am I Nuts has been brought to you by the Women’s Running podcast – do please check it out wherever you listen to your podcasts for longer episodes to keep you company while you run. And if running is your thing, or you’d like it to be your thing, check out Women’s Running magazine – right now you can save up to 50% off the cover price. Just go to shop.womensrunning.co.uk to find out more.

And if you want a fantastic guide to protein, including 30 simple high protein recipes, you can still buy 30 Days to Increase Your Protein for just a smidge under a tenner.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 271 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Holly has been on her very exotic travels to the Body Holiday in St Lucia, and she has many tales to tell. Many. Honestly, she only gets off the plane at about 20 minutes in because of all the new friends she’s made. We all know what she’s like, right? So she’s had a jolly old time, training with an Olympian and is giddy with it all. Even unsociable me is desperate to go, especially now it’s gone full-on UK winter weather. Shall we all go next year….?

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

· Holly had an incredible stay at The Body Holiday in St Lucia, training with Julien Alfred

· check out Maaree’s lovely range of bras, specifically the Empower in a beautiful pink, from which they’re donating 10% of the profits to Coppafeel

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 270 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Holly is actually in St Lucia this week, but we pre-recorded so you don’t have to worry about missing her lovely voice. We have an update on the whole plumbing situation, which we know you must be very worried about. This leads into some nasty poo chat, so be warned.

But the main event in this episode, is our October cover star, Lavina Mehta MBE. We talk to her about her book, The Feel Good Fix, and her mission to encourage everyone to move a little more – in fact, for just 11 minutes a day through something she calls ‘exercise snacking’, which we really like the sound of. We talk squats while the kettle boils, calf raises on zoom calls, and perimenopause when you least expect it.

We come back afterwards to talk about marathon recovery, specifically about lung function. It has occurred to me that running long distances can really affect my asthmatic lungs, and my spot of google research has underlined this.

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

· Pick up Lavina’s book The Feel Good Fix

· Also check out Maaree’s lovely range of bras, specifically the Empower in a beautiful pink, from which they’re donating 10% of the profits to Coppafeel

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 269 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Apols to all for a slightly scatalogical start to the pod, but I’m a tiny bit traumatised by my plumbing (not a euphemism), so you’ll have to bear with.

Eventually I get into my race report – I ran the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath marathon at the weekend and I have a LOT of thoughts about it. It was absolutely brilliant!

One thing I fail to mention in my report is a podsquadder I met at the finish line – so a quick shout out to the lovely Rosie, thank you for coming to say hello. She was a total hero who had signed up to the event, had become ill, and decided to volunteer for it instead – the best kind of person.

And Holly is off on her travels next week, on a very exciting trip indeed. She talks about training with Olympians and bikini-shopping. We’ll find out more in a couple of pods’ time.

Before I forget, do please vote for us in the Running Industry Awards – there are lots of categories and lots of brilliant people to vote for, including us, so it’s worth hopping on to the site to register your vote for everyone you love (not just us). But if you *did* find yourself there and wanted to vote for us, we would be thrilled, honoured, and would hug you all. (um, that’s the Running Industry Awards, link in the show notes, or just a swift google should bring up the page, google fans).

• PLEASE vote for us in the Running Industry Awards
• I ran the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath. Sign up for next year!
• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 268 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

I’ve come back from the Circuit of Bath, which is organised by Bath homelessness charity Julian House. This was 20 miles circumnavigating the city, taking in all the beautiful sights, and let this be a lesson to us all: 20 miles at a slow trot is WAY easier than 13 miles in a race!

But speaking of races, we get on to our 2026 goals – what on EARTH is Hol going to do? That’s the question on everyone’s lips.

I talk about a couple of bizarre perimenopausal symptoms that I’ve been experiencing, one of which has completely blown my mind as I would never have realised it was anything to do with menopause without deciding to google it. Ugh. Please let me know your weirdest menopausal symptoms.

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods (we've got one next week)! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

· I ran the Circuit of Bath for Julian House

· I’m also going to be running the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 267 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Today we’re talking about university life, and how it has changed from when we were there. We talk about empty nesting, and the heartache as well as the small blessings that it affords. Lots of love to all of you going through this right now.

Hol has been doing a sterling job at the Take the Baton conference interviewing the legendary Kathrine Switzer and getting lots of behind the scenes knowledge about that day in Boston.

We get back on to the thorny subject of when we stop our Garmins / Strava when we’re racing – do let us know your thoughts. What I’m trying to say is that I feel like I’m somehow cheating if I stop before the finish line, but also that I want to show off about the distance – so if I stop at 26.2 but run 27.2, did that final mile even count?

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

· I’m going to be running the Circuit of Bath for Julian House

· I’m also going to be running the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.