Welcome to episode 243 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.

In this episode, we talk about freaking out ahead of our last long runs, which are staring us in the face. Have we run long enough? Are these mental demons going to disappear? Should we be aiming to go all out? Or should we be aiming to feel comfortable at the end?

We also talk about an event we’re holding before the Bath Half in 2026. We’d love to see you there! Tickets are just £10 and you can get them here. It’ll be a live pod and a great way to meet lots of friendly runners before running the Half.

We’re joined by a special guest, Shakira Akabusi, who is an expert on women’s health and fitness. Among other things, we have lots of chat about pelvic floor exercises, and training to our cycles.

We come back after to talk about uncomfortable things that happen on a run – Hol has a grim story to tell. As ever, do please share your thoughts and experiences over on Discord.

To find your way on to Discord, join us over on Patreon. You can now join our official Inner Circle for just £6 to shape what we talk about. Go to patreon.com/womensrunnning to find out more.

Lovely extra bits

This episode is sponsored by Coopah. Coopah are offering all pod squadders a 2-week free trial of their app and then giving 20% off their standard annual subscription price. Just download the Coopah app and use the code WOMENSRUNNING when you sign up. Or visit coopah.com/womensrunning where you can find all of these details.

We picked up our lovely hotel rooms through Marathon Tours: you can pick up hotel rooms for the Marathon here: TCS London Marathon 2025 | Marathon Tours & Travel UK

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you’ll save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Follow Shakira on Instagram
• 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 242 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.

As we get closer to Marathon Day, our maranoia has reached epic proportions. We talk about comparing ourselves to other runners on social media, about not matching our training plans, and about the fear of the last long runs.

We have Jordan with us today, thankfully, so after 20 minutes of pure waffle, she stands in as Agony Aunt to give us a much-needed dose of reality in the face of our raging maranoia. Have we done enough mileage? Have we actually run enough? Have we eaten the things we should have eaten? Have we rested enough? We talk about logistics, we talk about crying, and the wobbles we have about those last long runs.

After we chat to Jordan, we are back to talk about another controversy – and we would love to hear your thoughts. This isn’t Lisbon this time, this is the practice of finish line proposals. What do you think?! Email us as ever at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk.

Do come and see us at the London Marathon Expo on Sat April 26th at 10:15am: you'll hear our live pod up close and personal, it’ll be lovely to see you.

And before we forget to mention it, come on to Patreon NOW cos changes are afoot. You can now join our official Inner Circle for just £6 to shape what we talk about, and to hear about the Big Exciting Thing that we’re doing in March 2026 first. And from there, jump into Discord to talk about it all with a bunch of lovely women. It’s ace! Go to patreon.com/womensrunnning to find out more.

Lovely extra bits

This episode is sponsored by Coopah. Coopah are offering all pod squadders a 2-week free trial of their app and then giving 20% off their standard annual subscription price. Download the Coopah app and use the code WOMENSRUNNING when you sign up. Or visit coopah.com/womensrunning.

We picked up our lovely hotel rooms through Marathon Tours: you can pick up hotel rooms for the Marathon here: TCS London Marathon 2025 | Marathon Tours & Travel UK. Do also check them out if you’re eyeing up one of the other marathon majors.@marathontours_uk on Instagram

· Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you’ll save 50%

• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Download a FREE mini mag to help you run 5K! Go to womensrunning.co.uk/run
• Buy a Pod Squad t-shirt!
• 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 241 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 begin this normally controversy-free podcast to talk to you all about blisters – specifically Holly’s blister on her big toe, which is so enormous it has defied the experience of actual medics. So bit of a trigger warning, cos there’s a lot of gross foot content ahoy.

Plus, we’ve got more on the Lisbon Half from a couple of listeners who also had negative experiences at the Super Half. Do please get in touch with your experience of either this or other races that should be doing better – they’ll only get better if we hold them to account, right? Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with your thoughts.

And before we forget to mention it, come on to Patreon NOW cos changes are afoot. From this week, you can join our official Inner Circle for just £6 to shape what we talk about, and to hear about the Big Exciting Thing that we’re doing in March 2026 first. And from there, jump into Discord to talk about it all with a bunch of lovely women who support each other and our running. It’s ace! Go to patreon.com/womensrunnning to find out more.

This episode is sponsored by Coopah. Coopah are offering all pod squadders a 2-week free trial of their app and then giving 20% off their standard annual subscription price. Just download the Coopah app and use the code WOMENSRUNNING when you sign up. Or visit coopah.com/womensrunning where you can find all of these details.

We picked up our lovely hotel rooms through Marathon Tours: you can pick up hotel rooms for the Marathon here: TCS London Marathon 2025 | Marathon Tours & Travel UK

Do also check them out if you’re eyeing up one of the other marathon majors.@marathontours_uk on Instagram

· Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you’ll save 50%

• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Download a FREE mini mag to help you run 5K! Go to womensrunning.co.uk/run
• Buy a Pod Squad t-shirt!
• 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.