Strength, Habits, and the Runner’s Mind: Allyson Hurley on building a resilient body, flexible routines, and a kinder approach to nutrition

We explore how small, smart strength work and flexible habits can make running feel better, hurt less, and fit real life. Allyson shares behaviour-change tools from her probation work, a candid story of burnout, and a practical approach to food that leaves room for joy.

• Allyson’s non-traditional path into coaching and running
• Behaviour change principles that transfer from probation to performance
• Why runners neglect strength and how to fix it
• Simple home-based strength moves for hips, glutes and core
• Progression, recovery timing and weekly structure
• Growth mindset versus fixed mindset for endurance
• Habit strategies that reduce friction and build consistency
• Nutrition lessons from overtraining and under-eating
• “All foods fit” approach for sustainable weight loss and energy
• Key takeaways and preview of part two

Don’t forget to tune in to part two next week, or if you’re listening in the future, check out both interviews in our catalog

 Brian's Run Pod has become interactive with the audience. If you look at the top of the Episode description tap on "Send us a Text Message".  You can tell me what you think of the episode or alternatively what you would like covered.  If your lucky I might even read them out on the podcast.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Guest Intro
• 1:45 Alison’s Path: From Academia to Coaching
• 5:40 Behaviour Change: Probation Skills to Fitness
• 6:55 Why Runners Skip Strength Work
• 8:35 Injury Prevention Through Strength
• 9:50 Home Workouts and Accessibility
• 12:25 Core Moves and Bands for Runners
• 15:15 Progression, Recovery, and Scheduling
• 18:05 Mindset: Fixed to Growth
• 20:25 Habit Building and Practical Barriers
• 23:05 Nutrition, Overtraining, and Burnout
• 26:30 Relationships, Disordered Eating, Balance

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:00

So you're thinking about running, but not sure how to take the first step? My name is Brian Patterson, and I'm here to help. Welcome to Brian's ROM pod. I've got a great episode lined up for you today. My guest is Alison Hurley, a coach who's specializing in helping athletes strengthen not just their bodies, but also their routines and habits. We all know running isn't just about lacing up and heading out the door. It's about building that foundation both physically and mentally so we can stay consistent, avoid injury, and actually enjoy the process. Alison brings a wealth of knowledge when it comes to strength training, creating sustainable habits, and finding the motivation on those days when running feels like it's the last thing you want to do. And I've been there, I know. So whether you're training for your first 5K or just looking to break through the plateau, her approach can help runners at every level. So stick around. We're going to cover the kinds of tools and strategies that can make a real difference. And I'd like to give a very warm bronze rom pod welcome to Alison. Welcome. So um have you had a good day today? I s I saw on Instagram that you're on a boat or something.

SPEAKER_00: 1:45

Um we took we're on the Mississippi River.

SPEAKER_02: 1:52

Oh, right. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:54

So I got a little work in and was able to take some time on that. We also just adopted two cats. So I apologize in advance if I get a little distracted if I hear them. But um we have a third cat, so we're trying to integrate them. But it's been it's been a fun morning.

SPEAKER_03: 2:10

Yeah, my um daughters would be jealous. So we don't we don't have any pets, but I know um uh uh my eldest daughter is like really into cats and keeps taking we we have this sort of like group chat. We will get into running in a minute, but we have a group chat about cat pictures. So we call it cat pit central.

SPEAKER_01: 2:28

So I love that.

SPEAKER_03: 2:31

Yeah. Um now like I do with most of my guests, I kind of like to go back to um what was your experience of exercise or whether you kind of a bookworm at high school. So, you know, uh over to you, Alison.

SPEAKER_00: 2:48

Yeah. Oh gosh, way back in the day. I go back to high school, I would say um, you know, I I did not really exercise much in high school. I was I it really started when I was in college.

SPEAKER_01: 3:01

Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 3:02

I really started doing strength training and more so getting into running in my in my mid-20s, which was a lot of fun. So when I was in high school, I was really focused on getting done with high school. Oh, right. Um yeah, I wasn't I wasn't as active as I am today.

SPEAKER_02: 3:20

Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 3:22

So did you go to college in in your state or did you sort of go out of state?

SPEAKER_00: 3:29

Um, I went to college in my state. In fact, I actually went a few hours away. Um, and I ended up going back to closer to my hometown, but then I ended up finding a full-time position at this, like near the school in the town where I was originally at. So that was kind of nice because I really enjoyed the community. It's very pretty here. Like I said, we're on the Mississippi River between Minnesota and Wisconsin and the United States. So it's it's very pretty.

SPEAKER_03: 3:56

And so did they have um when you're at college, was um they uh, you know, a good basis or a kind of a good resources foundation for doing exercise and offering you, let's say, a lot of sports that are available so you can sort of pick and choose, or or did you have to go elsewhere?

SPEAKER_00: 4:16

Um there were a lot of sports to choose from. I was really kind of stuck in my academia though at the time. Um I went to school for criminal justice and sociology. So I actually don't even have I don't have a a bachelor's in sports science. Personal training specifically, yes, but I have one in criminal justice and sociology. So I have two hats that I wear. I have my probation officer hat, and I also have my personal training and nutrition coaching hats. So and that's really shifted in these last maybe five years or so. Uh so it's really been an identity change from when I was younger to where I'm at now.

SPEAKER_03: 4:53

Right. Okay. And did you, you know, having that shift, because I know you do the you're a NA, is it N A S M, is that right? Qualified National Yep Um personal trainer. So do you like that shift that you could now incorporate this other discipline of offering, you know, having your own business as opposed to, you know, you being a probation officer? Or did they, I don't know, do do do does kind of one help the other?

SPEAKER_00: 5:26

Yeah. Um believe it or not, they do. So in probation, we work with behavior change, and really those same skills apply to helping someone change their behavior when it comes to nutrition and exercise. So it was a natural shift for me, which was really great. And it also kind of made me, it like helped me apply my skills that I learned through probation to something that I'm a little bit more passionate about, which is the exercise and nutrition side of side of things.

SPEAKER_03: 5:54

Right. So moving on to obviously running, because this is a uh this is a running podcast, um, and specifically on the strength training side, what in your opinion, why or do why do runners tend to overlook the the strength training?

SPEAKER_00: 6:11

Yeah, I think running runners tend to overlook the strength training. And I'm in this category too. I ran for many, many years. Um I think it's time constraints. You know, when you're training for any sort of race, especially if it's a long distance race, you're typically running three to four times a week. So then adding strength training on top of that can can really be a challenge just due to time. Um and there are a number of other things, like I know as a runner, we might not see strength training as something that's going to really help improve our running. And we might think running is enough. Again, I know I was one of those people who when I was running, I just ran. I never strength trained. I didn't do anything. I was focusing just on that. Um, and just ultimately the fear of kind of bulking up to can inhibit folks from wanting to strength train.

SPEAKER_03: 7:01

So how do you sort of kind of you know overturn those those fears with you know with your clients and sort of her slowly incorporating that as part of a training regime?

SPEAKER_00: 7:15

Yeah. It really starts with just education and understanding that using strength training along with our running schedule can really benefit our muscles overall. Um it can reduce injury. And and we know as a runner, if we're consistently doing running, we will experience injuries. I don't know if I've talked to any runner who hasn't had some form of ache or pain. Yeah, I can lie. Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 7:43

It's a running theme of this podcast. I talk about one of my injuries. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 7:48

Yes. So strength training can definitely help with help reduce those injuries and just help us feel good overall. And it can kind of switch up our training a little bit too. So we're not doing that same repetitive movement over and over and over again. We're just adding something different.

SPEAKER_03: 8:04

Because I think one of the reasons why I kind of reached out to you is because you can offer the sort of home-based workout. So it's not like you have to sign up for a gym and you know, a 12-month contract, which can prove expensive, or even you're not able to, you know, if that if you if you're working in a remote place and they don't there isn't a gym which is nearby, so can do things at home.

SPEAKER_00: 8:30

Absolutely, yes. And you can go all the way from at-home workouts with no equipment to a full gym and still get some sort of benefit if you have no workout equipment at all at home. Body weight exercises are great for improving strength to a certain point and also helping with endurance, um, depending on how quickly you can slow your movements down so you have more holds or isometric holds.

SPEAKER_01: 8:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:54

There are so many different options. And just like you said, if you're traveling, um, you're able to do it. I know one of the reasons that folks like to run is because it it's it's accessible. You can just go outside, weather dependent. I live in Minnesota, so it gets pretty cold. Oh, right. You don't really want to do that. But yeah, you know, a treadmill or running outside, it's really accessible. And it's the same with workouts too, is we can tweak them to be more accessible for the equipment that you have.

SPEAKER_03: 9:23

Okay. And so what would you I mean, I know everyone's different, and it's very hard to sort of do a sort of generic, you know, training program. But let's say, for instance, you had someone coming to you, they're a runner, casual runner, uh, what would be the basic exercises that they'd need to be doing and and how would they look to sort of progress that?

SPEAKER_00: 9:48

So if they're somebody who is running a few times a week, I would look to add basic maybe glute bridge exercises to improve um and strengthen their glutes or their hamstrings, also any sort of body weight squats or anything that if they have a resistance band, putting them around their thighs and doing more of that uh hip abductors.

SPEAKER_01: 10:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 10:13

And also any core work. Because certainly, depending on if they're training for something more long distance, that core work is really beneficial. And that's, I mean, something as simple as planks and timing planks and doing that repetitively can really help improve, improve that too. So in in kind of the basic form, that would be the best, like the first core basics for somebody to work on if they're if they're running and want to add some strength.

SPEAKER_03: 10:40

Yeah. Because I know um to my physio, he got me using a like a resistance band and sort of going side to side, you know, crab-like type of thing. Um, and then sort of doing standing and then having the band up around sort of the mid-thigh level and then putting one leg behind and then the other one leg behind. So um those are sort of a couple of exercises that are quite good. And you know, to sort of warm up, I suppose. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 11:10

Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Yeah. And that and that resistance band around your thighs, like that, walking side to side, is really good for preventing that IT band syndrome that we can use.

SPEAKER_03: 11:19

Oh, right. I kind of did wonder why. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 11:23

Yeah. That's the why behind it. Oh, right. Strengthen those ab those hip abductors, and that can help be be reduced too.

SPEAKER_03: 11:32

Yeah. So would the way of progressing that is it to go to a stronger band, or is it Yeah, any additional resistance is going to help you strengthen.

SPEAKER_00: 11:42

So you can start out with a band that doesn't have as much resistance and slowly progress up um to one with more resistance. You can do slower movements. So kind of counting out one through five as you move left to right and slowing down the movement. There are a lot of a lot of different ways to kind of increase that resistance to help strengthen.

SPEAKER_03: 12:05

Do you think um the strength training should be done sort of separate to the running? So let's say I'm a casual runner, I'm going two to three times a week, sort of peppered within the training within the week, I do an isolated strength training, or can I incorporate that as part of, you know, when I finish my run and then I do those exercises at home?

SPEAKER_00: 12:33

Yeah. So so much of that depends on kind of what you're currently doing.

SPEAKER_01: 12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 12:38

If you're doing if you've been a runner for a long time and you're just doing it casually two to three times, you can put the strength training before you go out for a run. If it's more leg focus exercise, you want to give yourself just a little bit of time to recover. That's one thing that if we're doing, if we're doing too much and not giving our body the time to recover, we're really not helping it as much as we think we are. So depending on what your plan is or your long-term goal is, that would kind of alter, alter the plan for running or for strength training. But typically you want to do that strength training before going out for a run. And again, if it's if it's leg focus or lower body focus, giving your time, giving yourself time to recover from that. So consider the day between that and running. Um just so you're not overdoing it, because the point we don't want to hurt ourselves.

SPEAKER_03: 13:32

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, um, so if you do have that time, you know, you can either do it as an isolation, not, you know, on the days you're not running, and maybe do it, you know, like twice a week and then it kind of as a supplement to what you're doing as a as a running. Yeah, absolutely. So um now I I I I was quite interested because I was I was listening to uh a podcast the other day um uh that you're on and I think you were talking about sort of both behavioural methods and motivation. Uh the the name of the podcast escaped me, but and I know you talked about sort of the um uh fixed mindset and then the growth mindset. I mean, I've heard of that uh talked about in learning. Um if you're looking to learn something like I For example, I wasn't learning computer programming and that's a way of learning sort of uh sort of the growth mindset. Do you feel that there's there was there was there's there's something there that could be applicable to helping someone mo motivate themselves with helping them doing more exercise?

SPEAKER_00: 14:43

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I even think when it comes to running, yeah, what what runners use to kind of continue to improve their running or do longer distances is is growth mindset. Right. Uh telling ourselves that we can do something and we can push ourselves versus versus that fixed mindset. There's some there's some friends that I have when I encourage them to run longer. They're always like, I can never, I could never. And that's fixed mindset, right? Yeah. So knowing that absolutely shifting somebody from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is personally, I feel like one of the biggest key elements in helping them change their behavior because it's so important to know that we have the ability to improve or change or accomplish what we're what we're setting out to do.

SPEAKER_03: 15:33

And and how would someone sort of go about doing that? You know, so how would they go about changing their habits? So maybe they've new to running and basically maybe they're a bit reticent because, well, you know, it it may be that, you know, they're they're a bit wary of your going outside and well, especially women, you know, that it's you know, it's a very different environment. So you know, how they look and that kind of thing. Um or someone who, let's say, maybe men who haven't been running or done any exercise for a long time, maybe put on a bit of weight, that kind of thing, and looking to get back out there. How would they sort of slowly incorporate that?

SPEAKER_00: 16:17

Yeah. Well, first step, I think, to any change at all is just awareness and having an uh understanding kind of what's then holding you back in the from the get-go. So you talk about kind of two different scenarios, the woman who's kind of unsure about getting out again and the guy who maybe has gained a little bit of weight, they might have two completely different reasons for kind of not wanting to put themselves out there necessarily. So once you have an awareness, then I think it's developing a plan from there. For example, if it's time constraints, but you have say 15 minutes that you can dedicate in the morning to exercising you do um at your home, or if you want to just get out for a quick one mile run. Finding small pockets of time will help you make that change. And again, so building the awareness, but then also figuring out how to work around that awareness and make small little incremental changes. I know for others it can be as simple as setting out setting out clothes the night before.

SPEAKER_03: 17:21

Oh, yeah, you know, sending those views.

SPEAKER_00: 17:24

Yeah. Um trying to make it fun in some way. If you know, if you're the person who struggles with like, I don't really feel good in my body, it could be trying to find nice workout clothes that you do feel good in so you can feel more comfortable getting out there. I mean, there's so many different strategies really to meet you where you're at. And I think typically in certainly in fitness programming and in nutrition programs, we tend to want to pick a program and fit it into our life when we should be doing the opposite, is finding a program that works for us and kind of tailoring it to our needs and our barriers that we have.

SPEAKER_03: 18:01

Okay. I mean, I I just heard you say it to and also it could be it's a a nutritional thing that you kind of focus on on that as well. So you you're so it's not just about the exercise, but also you're having to because you're making changes, nutritional changes. Because I noticed that on that podcast, I remember you uh I I remember you were saying that basically um you were pretty much doing a lot of exercise, you were going on low calorie diets. And if anything, it it it wasn't you it wasn't you weren't doing yourself very good mentally. And I think you you did say there was a point where you just said, no, enough's enough. Could you talk about that?

SPEAKER_00: 18:45

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm I'm also a nutrition coach. So when I work with folks, I don't just work on um on fitness programming, I also add nutrition in with it because that is also so important, especially running got me started in this entire journey that I'm on right now. And I think about that. It was my first marathon. I think you're referencing when I was at the time not, I was not eating well, um trying to under-eat and I was over-exercising because I was running four days a week, training for my first marathon, but I was also going to a boot camp class three to four times a week. I look back on that now and I don't know. Knowing what I know now, I'm like, what was I thinking? But at the time I was just so enveloped in this is what it's gotta be, that that's what I did.

SPEAKER_02: 19:32

Um how did you how sorry to interrupt, but how did you you must have been totally drained all the time.

SPEAKER_00: 19:39

Oh, 100%. Absolutely. And I remember being, I remember getting all of these injuries with running. And then in my head, you know, at the time, not connecting the dots, thinking like, oh gosh, here we go, another injury. This is just how it is as a runner. And the reality was this when you're not giving your your body the fuel it needs. But yeah, 100% I was exhausted. And had it not been for the pandemic and being forced to work from home and gym shutting down and all those things happening, I don't know, I don't know if I would have slowed down. So that was kind of that benefit that came out of being forced to slow my schedule down because that's when I had that realization of what am I doing? You know, like it was taking up so much. I always say it took up so much brain space of mine to constantly be thinking about when I was gonna work out, when I was gonna get my run in. Um, I mean, I remember getting up at 4 30 in the morning, going to work, then punching out around 9 a.m., going to boot camp, like showering, going back to work, working till four, going home and running. I mean, it was it wasn't it was just wild. And I also know that I'm not the only one who does that.

SPEAKER_01: 20:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:55

Um I talk to a lot of other women who are very busy working out, have very busy lives, and they think that it has to be that way to get in shape. Yeah. It doesn't.

SPEAKER_01: 21:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 21:08

So that's kind of been my message is just helping people under size understand too that we can simplify fitness and nutrition, that it doesn't have to be so hard.

SPEAKER_03: 21:16

Yeah. Because yeah, that was Do you think is it exhausting? Yeah. I mean, I was gonna say, I mean, there are a couple of things. I mean, did it affect your relationships with I don't know, your uh other friends and family? Um, did they notice, you know, oh my gosh, um don't talk to Alison now, otherwise, you know, she you know, because you know, she's either overtraining or she hasn't, you know, been eating properly or something like that. Did that did you find that being the case?

SPEAKER_00: 21:50

Yes and no. So with my husband, certainly with my husband specifically, now was better than before. And at the time, at the time I was really experiencing disordered eating that I didn't know was disordered eating. And so kind of that cloak was taken off of it. So looking back now, I realized how much it was impacting my relationship. But when I was in and I feel like it was just kind of who I was.

SPEAKER_01: 22:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 22:19

But I think about little things like getting frustrated with my husband because it's 5 p.m. and it's time to eat and I haven't eaten yet. Yeah. And in my head, like for him, he was like, wow, you get really hangry. All that was was to me not eating enough. Um once I started actually eating enough, those sorts of episodes changed. But you know, this is another thing that tends to get overlooked, I think, when it comes to fitness and nutrition too, is I had friends and family look at me and think, wow, you're really healthy, you're really exercising all the time and eating really well. Well, really, I was struggling with disordered eating and I was over exercising. Yeah. So being mindful of kind of what we praise to in those situations. Like that wasn't really that wasn't really healthy. But for my husband, certainly, now there's a difference, right? Because I'm not, I'm not that person anymore. We have more time for just doing fun things together as opposed to me having to be on this very regimented, strict schedule of eating and working out.

SPEAKER_03: 23:24

I mean, there's something it's something that is good to bring up because obviously maybe other people, like you said, are experiencing the same sort of thing. And it's good to sort of take a step back. And I know, I mean, I'm sort of trying to lose a bit of weight, but I think it's kind of now it's kind of on my own terms. And I think that was the message I got from listening on that particular podcast study. It's kind of on your own terms. You don't, you can still have the good things, you know, you can still eat, I don't know. I mean, we have here what's called fish and chips, or you can have, you know, the burger and chips and and still have uh you know, eat normally and don't feel you have to um completely uh dec decline or the the good stuff, as it were.

SPEAKER_00: 24:14

So yeah, yeah, absolutely. I and that's a mentality that I take with coaching too, is that all foods can fit. Like we don't have to restrict things, let's add things in, add the more nutritious foods in, because that was one thing I was also doing at that time too. I've I love candy, love candy. And I was avoiding it. Like I was just completely avoiding it, cutting it out. And now, you know, I've been able to achieve um weight loss and all those things, still incorporating candy into my life. And I look back and I think, what have I been missing? I did that for 10 years, and I was trying to avoid candy. And I'm like, I don't know what I was doing. So, yes, my message is definitely to make sure that people know that we can we can include all of those things. I would have been such a happier person if I would have just had some candy, you know, five, six years ago. For sure.

SPEAKER_03: 25:08

Yeah. Wow, what a fantastic episode with Allison. We kicked things off by chatting about how she didn't come from a traditional fitness background. Quite the opposite, actually. Then she shared how running really got her into fitness and all the hurdles she had had to overcome. Once she got hooked on fitness, she decided to get qualified and use her experience as a probation officer to help others reach their fitness dreams. Plus, I really appreciate that she mentioned at the end that you don't have to be a slave to your diet and deprive yourself of the occasional treat. Don't forget to tune in to part two next week, or if you're listening in the future, check out both interviews in our catalog. So for now, goodbye. Till next week.