Hello beautiful people. You’ve probably noticed that this year has involved a big conversion from non-runner to running lover and I’ve had a lot of questions from fellow curious but reluctant runners about getting started and building up to finding the joy in running. So, I figured I’d turn to one of the experts to help out who also has a super interesting way to yay and is our first Kiwi on the show!

I met the lovely Lydia O’Donnell through the Nike family just after she had WON the Surf Coast marathon. As well as being an elite marathon runner, she’s also a running coach AND qualified geologist of all things! As you’ll hear, one of the things I love about her is that while her elite level might seem very serious and intimidating (and she might have treated it that way at times), she ultimately came back to running purely for joy and for her mental health and she’s even founded her own running community, One Step is All It Takes, to raise awareness of the benefits of running and movement for anxiety and depression. We had such a fun chat in the Joyride lab at Nike HQ in Melbourne and she also shared some of her practical coaching wisdom to help us all get out and pound that pavement – hope you enjoy!

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