Elise Downing |From marathon meltdown to record breaking runner

Elise Downing is a runner, writer public speaker and most well known for running 5000 miles around the coast of Great Britain This achievement came as quite a surprise to everybody who knew her as prior to this the highlight of her sporting career had been running a marathon dressed as a Crayola crayon whilst crying! With no prior experience of ultra running, or solo adventuring 23 year old Elise set out on this challenge just knowing it was something she had to do and in August 2016, ten months after setting out, she became the first woman and youngest person to run a lap of Great Britain self-supported. I am am delighted to have Elise join me on the Start a Ripple Podcast to find out a little bit more about this mad adventure she embarked on! 

Find Elise on Instagram - @elisecdowning

Elise's website - https://www.elisedowning.com/

Buy Elise's book 'Coasting' - https://www.waterstones.com/book/coasting/elise-downing/9781787839816

This series is proudly sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, the outdoor experts working to change the fabric of outdoor retailing. Find out more about their sustainability mission and services on their website.

If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram  @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk

~Music - Caleb Howard Almond ~

You can find this episode on iTunes, Spotify and many other podcast platform

If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk

~Music - Caleb Howard Almond / @oakandalmondcarpentry

Transcript

India Pearson  0:03  
Hello,

I'm India and welcome to the second series of starter rebel podcast. This series is proudly sponsored by Cotswold outdoor, the outdoor experts working to change the fabric of outdoor retailing. You can find out more about their sustainability mission and services on their website. Now, this podcast is a platform for me to chat with inspiring folk that are making ripples in their lives by moving in nature. And I'm here to find out a little bit more about how this connection with movement and nature is having an impact on their mind, body and the environment to my hope the conversations that come from this podcast will encourage you to get outside, move, dream big, and see what happens from the ripples you create. Alright, it's time to introduce my guest. Elise downing is a runner, writer, public speaker, and most well known for running 5000 miles around the coast of Great Britain. And this achievement came as quite a surprise to everybody who knew her as prior to this, the highlight of her sporting career had been running American dressed as a Crayola crayon whilst crying. With no prior experience of ultra running or solo adventuring at 23 year old Elisa set out on this challenge. Just know it was something she had to do. And in August 20 1610 months after setting out, she became the first woman and youngest person to run a lap of Great Britain self supported. I'm delighted to have Elise join me on the star typical podcast to find out a little bit more about this mad adventure she embarked on. Right, so Hi, nice. Welcome to start with the podcast. Right? Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me. Just start by telling us a little bit about yourself. Your background, how you came to where you are right now, I always think of this as looking back at the ripples that you've made in your life so far.

Elise Downing  2:11  
Yeah, of course, I guess. Yeah, at the moment. I live in Bristol. That's one property from today. But I guess my kind of main thing that we'll be talking about is five years ago, I ran around the coast of Great Britain, which took about 10 months it was 5000 miles. I did that in 2015 and 16. And I was 23. When I set off on that adventure, and prior to that I had a really wasn't a very good runner out. I was I didn't I feel like people always think I'm just trying to be really humble. Honestly, I really wasn't much of a runner I hadn't, I'd like done a bit of walking and stuff. I hadn't done later directory things. And I was just sitting at my desk at work when that was my first job after graduating in London. And I just had this idea of running around. Okay, so better than I think ignorance was bliss. So Gosh, knows what, like madness made me actually do it. But I was I'm gonna go in six months. And then yes, I did that five years ago. And then my friends all laugh I'm a one hit wonder because I haven't done any more big adventures since then, since then. Yeah, I've done a lot more I kind of work freelance. Now I've done a lot more kind of running and hiking and stuff, but on a get a bit of a smaller scale, and no more 10 month adventures. And then I've just written a book about that trip. Finally, it took me a while to put pen to paper, which will be out this summer. So that's been taking up a lot of my time and was much harder than actually doing the run sitting down in one place to get it on paper. Yeah, I

India Pearson  3:41  
bet the thing is, is once you know, you do something so so impressive run around the coast of Britain, you set your bar quite high to begin with. To do something else, ask that and am I right in thinking you're the first woman to do that as well?

Elise Downing  3:59  
Yeah, I think so. I feel like it because it's kind of an easy way to describe it almost. I always end up saying I was the youngest person and the first woman. And I'm pretty sure that's true. There was a lady called Linda Pritchard in 80s did a run kind of roller coaster Bresson, but I think it was a lot more sort of like on the on the road. A lot of the trails that are around the coast now just weren't there then. But she was also like supported. She had a support driver in a van. So I was the first woman to do it and supported. Well self reported, I should say. And so yeah, that was carrying my and stuff on my back. But it's a bit of a difficult one to kind of quantify that because the coast is so varied. You can take so many different routes around it, you kind of you could make it 3000 miles to probably about 11,000 miles if you did like every squiggle on every Island. So it's almost a bit it's a bit arbitrary is a bit difficult to pin down but I'm pretty sure I was the first woman to do a self supported loop of the coast kind of as I did it, basically

India Pearson  5:00  
Yeah, I mean, so whatever it was, it was an amazing achievement. And how long did it take you? Yes, it

Elise Downing  5:07  
took me 10 months, which I was actually talking to friends about this the other day, I felt like it was a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy because I roughly worked out how far I thought it's running a day and said, Oh, I think it will take me about 10 months. And then I think especially like, at the beginning, I wasn't running loads of miles each day as of eased in quite gently. And then towards the end, I think I sort of started to be ready for it to be finished. So I was kind of working to that 10 month deadline, almost. So I kind of then ended up fitting it into that. So yes, 301 days are finished on August bank holiday weekend.

India Pearson  5:40  
Wow. So you were would have been running in the depths of the winter.

Elise Downing  5:45  
Yeah, so I set off on November the first like staring right down the barrel of an English winter. And at the time, that probably seemed like a project, like a mad idea. And I started to think it was a bad idea when I had wet feet for months on end, and it was really cold. And it was, yeah, the sort of winter of 2015 16. I don't know if I remember that probably not as well as I do. But it was. And like the trails were so muddy, I was getting battered by storms the whole time. The actual and the only real reason I set off then is because I'd had this idea around the March of that year. And it was a friend at the time was like, Well, I think I thought I'd go in like a couple of years and he was like no go in six months. Otherwise, you'll never go at all which looking back I think was actually quite good advice, because I think I would have ended up talking myself out of it. But I think it was actually quite good to set up a winter because it was took so long, I would have had to do pretty much I had to do pretty much the whole year anyway, I wouldn't really know the only real way to do it would have been to set it up in about February and then maybe Miss like December in January, but I think it would have been really demoralising. I'm back into winter. Whereas for me it was kind of always getting better. And I think it would have been really hard to go from August, like get back into winter. So actually, I think it was the best way to do it. Although that wasn't intentional at the time.

India Pearson  7:04  
And actually, it's such I love that time in spring where you start to see glimpses of hope and things come alive and it's it's I'm sure that gave you a little extra boost as well.

Elise Downing  7:16  
Yeah, definitely. I remember saying quite a few times over the winters I think I'll cry the day at light till six o'clock. Like I remember the light being a big thing. And then the day it was I was so happy and then yeah, it did just feel like it kind of just got better and better cuz i guess i got fitter. I started getting to do longer miles which kind of made it feel a bit more like I was on like a paper adventure. And then yeah, the weather like as I ran down the east coast because I started in Greenwich in London, and went clockwise, the south coast then Wales, the skirt, the West Coast, I mean, Scotland. And as I came back down the east coast of England, it just felt like I was on holiday. Like it was so hot. Quite a few of my friends and family visited because we were getting a bit closer to home. And it was it was like it was great. My time was out of control. Yeah,

India Pearson  8:00  
I've actually seen a picture. Think about somewhere of your sock line. Yes. That's impressive.

Elise Downing  8:11  
already get on really tight and but obviously I have the strongest like shorts t shirt and sock Clyde ever. Like I went swimming a few times at the beach people just looking at me like you look ridiculous. You've done a dodgy fake tan that really bad should have taken your socks off. Yeah. So

India Pearson  8:32  
I mean, what what this podcast is kind of all about is the power of moving in nature. That's why I started it. And you were saying that you were working in an office job and not feeling it. And then you just had this idea. And was part of that. And I was new man was part of that. Just that feeling of wanting to get out of the city to break free and to just be in touch with our natural world? Yeah, I think almost the back.

Elise Downing  8:58  
I think I definitely didn't kind of feel like that. So like explicitly at the time. But I think the very fact I almost made the decision to go on that trip because I like I said I really wasn't particularly like hadn't been a sporty kid I hadn't grown up doing like, drawing challenges. Like I really, really had no idea what I was doing. But I was just started working. And it always feels like a bit of a cliche to say it. But I was assessing network thinking this can't be it. Like I can't sit at this desk for another like 50 years. This is horrible. This is so bleak. And I just Yeah, kind of, I guess felt quite compelled to go and do this thing. And I think the fact that I had that feeling even though I had no idea what I was doing, I didn't really know what I didn't really know I was getting myself into. I think this show how much that kind of pull of like, I think how natural Yeah, like being moving and being in nature actually is for us in a way that I think even when we don't quite consciously realise is very true, because I think otherwise why did I want to go and do that

India Pearson  9:57  
whereas there must have been something like innate Was instinctive to go out and yeah, really get in touch with that. Well, that was obviously so different to the one that you were living in at the time.

Elise Downing  10:11  
And I think it's just like, and also, I will say that if I, if I could do it like, obviously with calves, I was very, very privileged to be able to take like 10 months my life out to go and do something like this. And I'm, like, able bodied and anybody have like a similar as I was not, yeah, fair or support it. And I think, if I could go run that far that literally almost anyone could, and like physically. And I think that shows like how much that like way of movement is natural to us? Because Yeah, I wasn't a runner, but somehow I don't know, my body put up with it.

India Pearson  10:46  
Yeah, well, it's I know, there's a quote that I read somewhere that inspired you, that was something that went along the lines of you don't need to be strong enough on day one to get to day 10. Yeah,

Elise Downing  10:57  
so that was I listened that actually fairly recently. It was podcast, Nicole Antoinette does could really talk radio, and she was talking to somebody about her their journey to sobriety. And they were talking about this idea that you don't have to be strong enough on day want to get to the year 10, or whatever it might be, of whatever you're doing, I think we really often look at a project and we think, Oh, can I do that right now sitting here? And most times is no, like, you probably couldn't. But you can do that very first bit of it, and then a bit more, and then a bit more. And I think, especially with like long, physical challenges, much more so than say, like, going to try and run an ultra marathon, a one day ultra marathon tomorrow, you do have time to kind of build up and kind of train on the job a bit. And that way, it's I actually think it's a lot. I don't say easy, but it's more doable, always because you've got 10 months to figure it out. Whereas if you try and go and run 100 kilometres tomorrow, that's, like quite an intense thing to do.

India Pearson  11:55  
Yeah, and I guess it's that whole mind over matter a lot of the time, and it's very easy to go, I can do. Yeah, I would never be to do that. And if you're already putting the blockers up, yeah, when actually, you know, it is possible. It's very possible and, and I guess you you weren't doing it as a racist such Why you didn't you weren't trying to hit a time, other than the fact that you obviously had taken realise financially, how long you can take takeoff. And so you, I'm guessing it was more about the experience of it than the actual, you know, getting from A to B in a set amount of days, for example.

Elise Downing  12:37  
Yeah, exactly. And I think it's something I was almost like struggled with, not so much now. But I especially when I first finished I bet people, I think people kind of expected me to be like super fit and like this, like really serious runner. And actually, I think when you're doing something like that, each, each day, the achievement isn't particularly that remarkable. Like most days, I was going for like a very slow not particularly long writing it lots of time, especially at the beginning when I'm sort of like getting used to it. But it's just like stacking those up in a chain, I guess makes an achievement that sounds quite big on paper. But actually, like sometimes I've only used to find it quite stressful sometimes, because I was so lucky. So people came around with me and I met with amazing people, it's fantastic. But wherever like the serious runners came, I just feel quite stressed because of like they expecting to go really fast. And I'll be like, I know that I can cover the distance in the day. But I'm going to stop and have some sandwiches and like look at the view and walk up this hill. And and I think I almost found that a bit hard to get explained to people sometimes. But yeah, it was definitely about the experience. Yeah. stayed with so many people. And it was just incredible.

India Pearson  13:45  
Yeah, and I know you're saying that you're not a serious runner. But and I love the fact that one of your first running experiences was running American dresses a crayon.

Elise Downing  13:54  
Yeah, the cry and cry, crying crayon. I've told this story so many times that stuff of legends. So basically, I see I guess to backtrack a little bit I'd started running in it was January of 2013. I was doing my year abroad while at university and i think i don't i don't know what it was. I just always liked the idea of Friday night cuz people started to keep sort of reading blogs and stuff, but I loved reading but I did it for all for a bit unfathomable. And I started running and I said I yeah, I first of all decided I wanted to run a half marathon which and at that time, sort of running for two hours was just mind blowing. I was like, I can't move my legs would do that. But I try and do this half marathon and it went okay and I finished it and I immediately signed it for full marathon because I wanted to raise the money for a charity University. And then my training like fell off a cliff. The race was about three days after my final University dissertation handed and I'd spent a week in the library drinking monster and eating Domino's Pizza and not getting anything. I've been I've been Stick around. But yeah, so I was dressed as a purple Crayola crayon to try and which was just a bit of a joke with my friends because during freshers week at university I dressed as purple Crayola crayons, they were like dresses or crayons, the marathon was sponsored a bit more. So I turn it for this marathon it's Milton Keynes marathon, which I have to say absorbs the organisers is one of the most boring races in the world. It's just like dual carriageway, like the grid system in Milton Keynes, if you're trying to like a fast time, it's probably a great race. But just to amble around is so slow. I mean, so dull, and I got about 80 miles in and just died. I didn't know that you're meant to eat anything. Like I just didn't understand running I just think had like sip of water that hit the wall in a big way and spent the next eight hours basically walking and crying. And a small child called me the crying crayon. And that was a low point of my life. To get better from there, was there a crying cry? Oh, I don't know. I don't know why that. That was in May 2014. And then it was the following March time that I kind of decided to go run around the country, which feels like I don't know how I got from there to

India Pearson  16:13  
one extreme to the other. But what's my other days? On on your 5000 mile run by you? It's a bit like the crying Cray on like he did? I'm guessing there must have been days where you felt a little bit? What am I doing?

Elise Downing  16:29  
Oh my gosh, yeah. loads of them. Whenever I like to, I actually have like, I've got some friends that I've talked to about I have a fairly like new friends. And I'll talk to them about around the case now like when he like you're gonna cry and assume because you just need to talk about crying the whole way around the coast. And I was like, yeah, just to be quite a lot of crying. Because I think they're just, I think the days that I found really hard work, there was this patch in sort of like, so I set off November, it probably would have been February of March, falling yet I was about four months in. But because of the way I like eased in quite gradually, I was probably about a fifth to a quarter of the way through the actual distance. And I just remember thinking I've run like 1000 2000 miles, which is really far. And if I'd just told everyone that I was going on 1000 mile adventure, it almost just fits into this like very long way category. It's almost no different 5000 miles, and everyone probably would have been just as impressed. And I think that was just as ridiculous. I was like, why have I added this extra like 4000 miles on. And I remember find that mentally really hard to get my head around. And then also there were just a lot of days, it was quite kind of mundane, like I think people expect going over adventures to be like, exciting all the time. And actually, it's like, there's a lot of like quite boring bits. You're just sort of like doing the same thing over and over. And yeah, there was definitely my mom jokes that she like lost a year of her life to answering the phone to me like grumpily around the coast.

India Pearson  18:03  
But equally, there must have been times when nature just blew your mind.

Elise Downing  18:08  
Yeah, so like, I kind of it would have been around the February time that I was I don't because also I was very, very aware that I was so lucky to be able to do this thing. And, and it was meant to be fun. And I think obviously things are hard. But I kind of hate it when people do big adventures and just really hammer up how difficult it is. And it's like you chose to do this, and you're so lucky to go to do it. So I didn't want to do it if I was miserable. So I came up with what are called the two week rule, which was if, if from any work, I've had a really bad day. And then two weeks later, I was still having a terrible time, I was allowed to give up and quit and go home. But if in that time something amazing happened, or even just something like faintly enjoyable. I was allowed that kind of reset that clock almost. And in that time, something great always happened. And I just I think it's just those moments when you're just out and about and you just feel so small. I was said at one of the best moments of the whole thing I was running around the xsmall coast path. So I'm like the North Devon coast on the southwest coast path. It would have been yes or no, it would have been January sometime. And it was like a really first sunny day would have for ages. And I was running on case but off. And on this section of it. You're like right on the edge of the cliff. And that was kind of a there's a big LIKE, SHARE drop I kind of either side of you up and down. And then just towards me that came this herd of x more ponies. And I was like, Well, I'm getting trampled. That's it. This is the end of me. Like there's nowhere for me to go. And they just kind of like it was like the Red Sea passing around me these ponies just like when like filtered around guards and how they stayed on foot like on these brackney cliffs. And I was like oh my gosh, Wow, that is amazing. And that was just like yeah, I think that was definitely a standout moment of just that

India Pearson  19:53  
nature. Yeah. And stop me by yourself and experience that Yeah. I think some times those moments when you're by yourself and you're just amongst, you know, the natural world, it can be so powerful because you haven't got anybody to tell you whether it happened or not, but you just know in your heart and your soul that that happened, and you experienced that, and you were at one with that moment.

Elise Downing  20:17  
I think I always, always had a sense because I've got so many fantastic friends who I've run with all the time. And for me, running is a very social thing. And I also like when I was doing the runner's low the cup running around, because I was so lucky that so many people kind of gave it their times can help me but I love running a bit outside by myself, as much as I like doing other people because of that, and I think he just sort of like, you're so much more in touch with yourself. And I think something that's quite difficult about doing like endurance things with other people is your sort of like, ebbs and flows are going to come at different times. They never match up. And I think when you're by yourself, you obviously experienced the lows, but then when you're like, I've cried before, like this is just so great. Like I'm just out here running down the hill with the sun shining, it's beautiful and and you get some sort of like biblical storm or like, Yeah, come across some ponies and it's just yeah, is like indescribable, isn't it?

India Pearson  21:11  
And speaking of a community, I know that you you did sort of tie this into the trip, because you were going into schools to give talks as well. Yeah,

Elise Downing  21:22  
so I basically when I set off I was I wanted to raise money for young my, I think especially I felt like it was a bit self indulgent, just go on a big run. But like I needed to give it some meaning of some sort. And but I was raising money for young minds as a children's mental health charity. As well along the way, I went to a knock, honestly, not quite as many as I'd hoped to just because it was a bit difficult with schedules, it got more difficult to correct things. But I went to indeed, yeah, talks at quite a few different primary schools and kind of showed them all my care. And like at one school in the Scottish Highlands, I've got to go and do the daily mile with them where they every single day run a mile around the playground. And it was just like, yeah, it was just great. And I don't know it kids. Oh, they all they everyone's knows where I went to the toilet. So very grounded. Like, is this nice to others? I think I'm not always. I don't know, some people are just fantastic. With catering. And actually, and I don't always feel like that way. But it was I didn't I feel like adults are very, like, complimentary, and like very genuine but always saying nice things. And it was nice just to go like talk to a bunch of eight year olds who just asked you random questions. But um, yeah. And it was really nice and hopefully managed to sort of like bring it to life a bit more than the maybe when they go and get people go to schools and talk to them. And just like it's all a bit far away, as I'm literally here around here from London. I left six months ago, and here I am with my back.

India Pearson  22:50  
Yeah. And that said he just turned up with everything he had. Yeah, but at that time, and it was, you know, for the kids to see that. It's not like you are going to the schools. Yeah, in retrospect, you were going there in the midst of it with the you know, the mud duck, your back your

Elise Downing  23:06  
legs and all sorts I'm sure, most of the time. Yeah, my best experiences were like, because I stayed with a lot of different people, which kind of came about really naturally, I thought I'd camp the whole time because I knew I couldn't afford to stay in hotels or anything the whole time. And it ended up becoming a bit of a domino effect. So I was putting putting video diaries up and people get in touch and say when you come through head, you need somewhere to stay. And then it'd be like a friend of a friend, a friend of friend, friend, and it will happen quite naturally. And it was just always really humbling that people would just let me stay in their homes. And I stayed with a few people. Yeah, for like a couple of nights and deadly heavy. Let me like read bedtime stories to their children and like we do paintings. And they were just like, some of my best moments are sitting at someone's kitchen table. Like they're just doing painting with the kids and just felt Yeah, yeah, very lucky to have been allowed into so many people's homes, I guess, experience that not that many people get?

India Pearson  24:01  
Yeah, and I'm sure when you set out that's not what you thought you'd be getting back from the trip. But actually, times like that kind of strange is the most incredible things. Nick can sort of give you a different perspective in the wild as well, I think.

Elise Downing  24:16  
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's completely unexpected. I know that I had friends who Well, I'd got in touch with a few different people who had done big adventures as part of planning it and asked advice and stuff. And they all said like prepare yourself for this kindness of strangers that you'll experience but I just thought they'd all done things like far flung places and come across like tribes in the middle of jungle ism. I just thought that won't happen in the UK like when I'm running around Southampton like I don't know if that's the Southampton right but it really did but and it was it was like mind blowing how kind people and I think I don't know I always like put it off fresh on myself that I was going to let people down. I used to get a bit nervous going stay with someone I don't know. Maybe they'll think I should be more exciting than I am but I'm just me, but Actually, they were all just so people were just yeah, absolutely incredible. Like it was mind blowing how many people were nice to me.

India Pearson  25:08  
And it obviously given, you know, newfound appreciation for people. I'm curious wanted to know if the amount of time you spent in nature gave you a newfound appreciation for the natural world. And I guess for our country's Well, yeah, so

Elise Downing  25:25  
I guess kind of tea thing like in nature, I think there's something really special especially about having done it for almost a full 12 months and kind of just seeing on a day to day basis how the seasons change, and just being outside through it all like, my dad's a God, and he's outside every single day of his life. And he says the same. He's like, you realise when you think especially Okay, we have this thing about the weather being terrible all the time. And I know we were chatting before we started recording, you're saying that it was really wet, rainy today. Okay, so there is some truth to that. So my dad always says that out of a whole year, there are probably five days that he's properly like wet outside gardening. And I think that's quite true that there was a lot of bad weather. But the actual days that it was like really miserable weren't that many, like, there'd be moments and then the sun would come out. And I think, actually, that contrast is something I really like about being outside in the UK, like you have like four seasons in a day. And it does, I think, yeah, sort of said, as well getting it does make it feel really special. Like you'll be in a storm, and then the sun will come out. And it just feels like the best thing ever. And it's so it's so simple. And I think I just think UK, it's fantastic. I always have to convince myself to go anywhere else now. Because I think there's so much variety of what we have here in the UK. And I think, yeah, it's a great place to go outside and actually quite like the unpredictable weather.

India Pearson  26:48  
I have to agree with you that I think the different weather gives us different. Well, yeah, it gives us balance, doesn't it because we appreciate the warmth so much. But equally, I do know that once we get to the end of the summer, I'm quite ready to cosy up indoors and have that cosy feeling and, and it's nice to have the best of both worlds in a way. I mean, saying that it is me right now and it's been raining and hailing hearing. I'm like, Alright, well may come on now. Yeah, then. But yeah, I think that is that is so true. And I do have a thing like saying there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

Elise Downing  27:28  
And I think again, I think there's a I really, yeah, one of the main things I love about like running, walking, whatever it is just being outside is how much it makes you appreciate those small things like you go outside for a day and you get battered by the wind in the rain. And then you come home and you get into your hand and you put on a dry pair of socks and have a cup of tea. And it's just the best thing. And I think like there's always like so much going on in our lives. And it's really easy to always think I need like bigger and better. And actually, I think you got outside and you read all you need is to be like warm and dry and have something to eat. And I think there's something no matter who you are. That's true. Like it doesn't matter how much money you've got, at the end of the day outside. You just want a cup of tea. And so they want to put on and I think that is like Yeah, really nice part of going outside. Oh, definitely.

India Pearson  28:13  
And I know that that would that cup of tea for you comes off on a piece of cake as well. Because I love that when I was reading about yours, like you always mentioned that you powered with cake became almost like a bit

Elise Downing  28:26  
of a running joke. And yet, I think because yeah, I was making these sort of live video, like one take like video diaries every day. And I guess like a lot of the guys wherever it saved it I was who I was talking about sometimes I just always ended up talking about the cake. And it became a bit of a kind of yet, then people would like everyone I stayed where the people came met, we would bring me more cake. And it got about 100 times to be honest. But yeah, it was it was it was funny. I definitely did eat a lot of cake going around. But you could totally justify me the energy right? So I definitely took like carb loading to a new level. And one of the main things I finished actually was also excited just come home to eat some vegetables. Because every time I stayed with somebody, they were amazing, but I think they think Oh, you've been running so you need that huge bowl of pasta, which was true, but also it's give me a side salad. Somebody give me

India Pearson  29:19  
Yeah. And did you when you were comparing the use of carrying food with you as well or were used to pop into shops, you didn't have to have the weight.

Elise Downing  29:26  
Yeah, so the good thing about the the where the British coast in general is because of our fishing history and also like tourism, it's actually really well populated. Even in the more remote parts. I would generally go through a village with a shop every day. I can't really there might have been two days that I didn't go past anything I had to stock up a bit. And obviously as you might have had to be a bit more organised and make sure I didn't miss the place with the shop or whatever it was but I didn't carry us I started off at the stove and then decided that I just didn't really I could put up with eating cold food on the days that I was like camping. So my favourite camping meal, which, when I was writing my book, my editor was horrified by she was like, you're gonna give people food, but I think it's okay, if it was really nice, but it was, you know, he had like the pouches of microwave rice microwave, it was already cooked, I used to eat cold rice. And then I used to get like a 10 of salmon, and then whatever else the corner shop might have and make this like, Jumbo thing. I mean, it wasn't very nice, but that was what I ate a lot.

India Pearson  30:33  
Yeah, I guess he gave me protein and gave me the carbs. It was you know, it's, I think the times when I've done a long distance cycle or a long distance paddle board or whatever, you suddenly appreciate food as fuel. That's amazing. Your your cravings are exactly what your body needs bit protein, carbs, sugar, whatever it is, you really tune in to those cravings. So

Elise Downing  30:56  
I totally agree, I definitely want to even now like when I'm training, if I'm like training harder for something, I eat a lot, I've just done that not even consciously at all. But I naturally find myself eating a lot less like rubbish and cake and chocolate and biscuits, obviously, delete those things. But I think because your body does tell you what it wants, and it's like, no, it needs some like nourishment, because you're training so hard. Whereas when I'm like not very doing which I feel like you don't get those cues quite as much.

India Pearson  31:21  
And, and when where was, you know, the most beautiful part of the UK for you that you experienced on this trip?

Elise Downing  31:30  
Yeah. So I think I always cheat a bit when people ask us because I just think the whole of the South West Coast path is incredible. But it's 630 miles. It's definitely not one place. But I just think that a lot of other places, especially if I miss in Scotland, the coast is stunning. But it doesn't there's not necessarily the infrastructure, the coast paths to kind of be quite a lot of time I'd be maybe like running on a road a little bit inland. And then when I got to the coast, it was incredible and the glimpses of it. But on the southwest coast path. For the most part, the coast path is literally cut into the cliffs, and you're there and you've got to stay on one side. And then yeah, all these kind of cliffs and fields and sheep and cows on the other side. And you just really feel like you are there by the sea. And it's also like it's really well signposted, really well maintained. And I just think it's beautiful there. So I think the whole southwest coast bass great basically and especially on the kind of South Coast you get this like amazing blue turquoise oceans like have holiday holiday brochures and or the secret coves. And yeah, I just think it's beautiful. But then there were parts in the Scottish Highlands that we love, like amazing as well, just because they are so remote and you wouldn't see anyone else for hours and hours.

India Pearson  32:42  
I'm glad you said those two places. Because next week, I'm heading down to Cornwall, and in the summer, I'm taking my camper van up to the Scottish Highlands. I'm glad that you said those like great chicken. Whereabouts in Cali again. And well. We're heading down to St. Ives, but look sort of the bits and pieces all over rarely. But yeah, I mean, the cuts are the Cornish coastline is incredible. And I've watched a lot of that South West Coast path in patches at it. I can't beat it. You know that that part between Ives and centre is one of the most dramatic pauses Oh, beautiful. And I think that is that is it takes your breath away and you forget, you know, you look at all these pictures I think of Thailand and place like that and paradise but actually stand you know, on the edge of the coast down in Cornwall, Devon. And that is paradise to me. Yeah,

Elise Downing  33:38  
they're great. And I just think you do just feel so like, like, like nature is here. You're like standing on the coast. And you can hear hear the waves. There's like sea birds in the sky. And I just love it. Yeah, I went down to South Devon coast yesterday, just for a few hours. And I think I always forget how great it is. And then I go back and I'm like,

India Pearson  33:59  
wow, yeah, I can totally imagine. So, so speaking about your book. Yeah. And obviously this is huge. Like, either you must have had to revisit the whole trip in order to start start writing it. So is it is it very much of a journal about your trip? Or is it more sort of story? Or how how did you get get to writing it? Yes, it's

Elise Downing  34:24  
definitely very much kind of a story of the trip more than I've been quite insistent whenever we've talked about marketing it and stuff with my publishers that I want people to realise that they're not going to get like a how to go on a long run guide and that's not what I wanted to write and I don't want people to be disappointed. That's not what they're getting. So it's very much I think it's yeah, hopefully I've Yeah, I've tried really hard to get across how incredible specifically plaister Britain it is because it is amazing. But I just think also about like feeling of just wanting to do something and kind of what that's like just to go and have a go at it but get to me About I first started talking to the publishers have heard I'm publishing it with when I was actually doing the run. And then my editor, I kept saying to her, yeah, writing and writing and like the years that followed wasn't really. But I think it takes a while to have, like, any perspective on an experience. And I'm actually really glad now that it did take me five years to get around to writing it. Because I think, if I didn't at the time, it just would have been a completely different books. Yeah, kind of, we start at the point where sort of making the decision to go and then kind of roughly chronologically sort of follows follows through the whole thing, I think, and almost tried to get across all the weird and wonderful things happen on a big adventure. Because Yeah, I just met so many people. And so and it was like, quite funny moment. So try to get try to get all that across. But it does feel a bit like I'm letting the word read my diary. We've had some reviewers read it for endorsement. So far, and all of them have made comments, but how honest is number? Oh, no,

India Pearson  35:56  
that's good, though. I think the best policy? Yeah, but I can I do understand that, you know, I think sometimes it takes time, something to really sink in. And also, you know, for you to properly reflect your most needs. I've had a few years after the trip, to realise how that trip has maybe guided you through the next few years of your life, because I'm sure it must have influenced you in what you've gone on to do in so many different ways.

Elise Downing  36:24  
Yeah, definitely. I think a big part of it for me, which I think is a reason it took me a while to write the book is that I was kind of in the year really leading up to going I was dating this guy, it wasn't great. It wasn't a very kind of healthy situation. He wasn't necessarily the nicest person. And it I don't know, I think in a way that like a relationship you have in your early 20s can really like affect you and like, kind of get crushed your confidence. And then I was and I couldn't really, I couldn't tell this story without sort of touching upon that. And now that's completely fine over it. But I think it took a while specifically to kind of get some spectrum back. Because that actually was like a really big part of deciding to go and, and everything happened. And so yeah, I was, I think, being in a place where I think I was very much that I either want to write this book really honestly and tell it all or not at all. Like I didn't want to write this like sort of sugar coated, wholesome adventure story that wasn't wasn't really the case, I guess. But yeah, I'm excited. excited for people to read it.

India Pearson  37:27  
So I mean, it's I guess it's gonna be like handing over your baby, you know, when you give it out to the world. Yeah, I can't wait to read it. I'm really excited. I'm really excited to read.

Elise Downing  37:39  
Yeah, it's out in July the eighth. So yeah, I'm really excited. I can't tell my mom, there's some bits that she can't read. I'm just gonna give you like a slightly edited version. But

Unknown Speaker  37:49  
this is the mum versions. You? Yeah, Mama, Grandma, you can have this word. Yeah, that's.

India Pearson  37:58  
So So and I guess the next step is just is focused on that book. Is that is that what it's going to be? And putting that story and everything that comes with that?

Elise Downing  38:09  
Yes, I think kind of in the sort of years, like the couple of years following finishing, I just really didn't know what to do. I think something I would always say to anyone going on a big adventure is have you have a bit of a coming home plan because I had no money left whatsoever. And I had finished this big thing. And I was living in my parents spare bedroom. And I just didn't know what's doing. I think if I if I did like a big thing, again, I'd definitely save a specific portion of like, my budget just for like coming home and having a life when you get home. About Yeah, it's easy to say that in hindsight, so I just came home and I want to do I move straight back to London and took another job at a tech startup just because I needed some money. And I didn't know what to do. And I think I almost kind of like I didn't want to talk about running around the coast anymore. And I just sort of stopped doing much exercise or going outdoors at all, because if it almost just like completely distanced myself from it. And I feel like it's taken me a few years to regain some balance. I think now like going out, all of my friends, we all just go out running and hiking and camping all the time. And I feel like now it's such a big part of my life again, in a way that's really nice. I've kind of recently gotten more started working more freelance rather than having sort of a nine to five day job like I had for the past four years, kind of as a thanks to get made redundant thanks to COVID but it's all worked out. Okay. So yeah, I think I'm definitely hoping over the next year or so hopefully, everything will go well with the book or maybe I'm not, I'm not I definitely would like I think I'd really like to go and do another adventure that was more maybe like a couple of months rather than 10 months. And like I don't know, go and live somewhere in the mountains or something so not really sure what I'm gonna do but I feel like I'm moving a bit more towards having all the aspects I loved of the adventure but in my like day to day life, whereas before it always felt a bit one or the other like either working nine to five in London or being on a 10 month run. So try and find that middle ground at the moment.

India Pearson  40:00  
Yeah, you know, when you get that feeling to do something, it just happens, doesn't it? It just almost comes out of nowhere sometimes and then that's when you know, like, okay, now's the time. Now's the next time now's the next adventure, doesn't it? You shouldn't be forced, I don't think because you don't want to be doing something for the sake of it, because that will be so on. And you're such speaking to you as such, if you're not such an honest person and genuine person, and I can only imagine that anything that comes up next will just come from a place of authenticity. Yeah. Oh, yeah,

Elise Downing  40:31  
I hope so. I think that's kind of like when I first finished, I very much didn't want to go down this sort of like full time adventure route, because I hated the idea of doing something just because it was like, well, I've got to do this so that I can like, do talk to my book about it. And I really didn't want that to be the case. Because I just knew that personally, maybe for some people, that'd be like, motivating and they'd actually really enjoy it. But I think I knew that wasn't really for me. But yeah, I've definitely got some ideas and things I like think might do something again, in the future. Let's

India Pearson  40:59  
face it. So So the final question I have for you is a question that I ask all my guests, which is looking back at the ripples you've made in your life? What are the biggest lessons you've learned? Keeping your mind and body healthy?

Elise Downing  41:14  
Yeah, so I think my like very practically, I wear a basic out, yeah, when I finished the round, I had a couple of different dogs. And then I started working at walking charity. And we had this step count challenge. We were testing different step count, step, like challenge counter things. And I still living in London, and I turned out quite festive. And I stopped walking everywhere, because I was obsessed with winning this like team challenge. And that was like three years ago now. And now I still walk or cycle like, I don't, I don't have a car walk everywhere, basically, that I can. And I think for me, like just it's fitting mood, fitting movement into your day that isn't necessarily I'm training hard and going for long runs. But just if at all possible, like walking or cycling somewhere, instead of getting on the tube or driving there, I think just makes such a huge difference. I think almost that also like opened the door a bit to me then reading out realising how much happier I was when I went outside at the time. And now actually, I am like doing those slightly more intense things a lot more as well. But yeah, my main thing would just be walking, walk everywhere. And I think you can still get that experience. We're talking about sort of being outdoors day to day. And obviously I know it's a bit different at the moment, lots of people working from home and like, but I think just like making an effort to get outside every day. And then you do really appreciate those like seasons changing and like, I've recently been worth swimming quite a lot. And I think that's sort of done the same thing for me that in like December, January was so cold and we were in for like 30 seconds. And now even though it's still cold, we can stay in for a few minutes, and you're not freezing afterwards. And just anything to like get a bit of being outside day to day, I think it's hard to explain how tangibly that actually does affect?

India Pearson  42:55  
And I, I definitely agree with that. And for me, the first thing I do is I wake up and I get outdoors. Yeah, and you know, most of the time, it always starts with walking my dog. And then depending on what the weather is. And the rest of the time, it'll be either jumping see for swim or a stop. Or if I can't fit that in then you know it later on, but at least I know that for anything. go outdoors. Yeah, totally changes your mindset.

Elise Downing  43:25  
Yeah, and I think I definitely am guilty sometimes thinking, Oh, well, I haven't got time to go for like an hour long walk. So I'm just not gonna bother. And then, and I definitely had this. In just last week, I felt really overwhelmed. I wanted to do this, I had way too much to do. And I was like, No, like, didn't go to running club. And I like didn't go for a walk in the morning. And then like three days being inside, and I wasn't being at all productive because I was just grumpy in like a horrible mindset of just being inside. I think the time you can take even just 20 minutes to go outside. I think I saw al Humphreys put a tweet up the other day that was like, everyone should like go for a walk for 20 minutes in the morning, unless you're really busy. And then you should go for an hour. And I think that's really true. Like I think it always like pays dividends, even if you think you're really busy. And I think Yeah, you can get all those benefits of kind of being outside on a big adventure on a smaller scale, I

India Pearson  44:13  
guess. Yeah, definitely. Oh, well, at least it's been so good chatting to you. And honestly, you're such an honest person. And I'm and I can definitely see this coming out in the book as well. So I can't wait. I can't wait to read it. And so if anybody wanted to get in touch with you find out that more about you. Where can they?

Elise Downing  44:32  
Yeah, so I'm at least see down in on Instagram, Twitter, and just Elise downing on Facebook. I mostly post stuff on Instagram lately and then occasionally remember to do Facebook and Twitter. I do have a website. That's Elise downing.com, which is largely dormant and I should start writing on again. So find me in those places Instagrams probably the best bet, and I can't really set up for newsletters. I can update people who don't have Instagram on things. But then and then posting is available for pre order now on all the main sites Waterstones Amazon Book Depository bookshop.org, all of them you can find coasting, and very much appreciate any pre orders.

India Pearson  45:13  
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming to China to me today. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on Star Trek podcast. Thanks so much for having me. It's been great. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the start every podcast. If you liked he heard then please do subscribe and write a review. It helps other like minded souls find this podcast and means you'll never miss an episode. If you want to get in touch then the best place to find me is by Instagram. I'm at with underscore India or you can find my wellbeing hub at fin and flow. Thanks again and speak to you soon.