Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (feat. Hannah Witt)

In this episode, we’re flipping the mic and Nick’s interviewing me, Hannah Witt, so you get the full backstory.

I grew up in a tiny town in Tennessee, didn’t even start running that early, and somehow ended up running in college and building a life around this sport. Along the way, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, learned a lot, watched way too much YouTube (Old Gregg, “I like turtles” kid…you know the vibe), and played an unreasonable amount of Chip’s Challenge.

Now I live in the mountains, coach runners, have four cats (plus a stray I feed), and genuinely just love running. Like…running is great. It really is.

We talk about how I found my way into coaching, why I care so much about helping runners actually understand what they’re doing, and how I use science to build training that’s flexible, individualized, and actually makes sense for real life.

Also:

•  Why your training shouldn’t feel like a rigid spreadsheet 
•  How to build consistency without overthinking everything 
•  And how to keep running fun (because it should be) 

If you like running, learning, or mildly chaotic but thoughtful conversations…this one’s for you.

Right, that's us done. If that was useful… share it. Stick it in your club WhatsApp, send it to that mate who's always getting injured three weeks before race day. You know the one ;)

If you want to go deeper on any of this, Nick puts out videos every week on YouTube, and the entire team of coaches are sharing helpful tips on their instagram channels... links below. And if you're thinking you actually need a proper plan and someone in your corner… we've got Guided Coaching from 97 quid a month, right up to full one-to-one coaching with the coach of your choice. Either way, maximummileagecoaching.com is where you want to be.

See you on the next one.

To work with us - https://join.maximummileagecoaching.com/home-page-9835

Nick's YT - youtube.com/channel/UCgdIPeN3bF7I7-tcspyFbVg/

Faye's IG - https://www.instagram.com/fayejohnsoncoaching/

Rachael's IG - https://www.instagram.com/rachforthelongrun/

Hannah's IG - https://www.instagram.com/coach_hannah_witt/

Matt's IG - https://www.instagram.com/ultracoachmatt/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey guys, welcome back to the Maximum Mileage Running podcast. If you've been listening the past few weeks, you've heard me hosting, but today we're switching it up, and Nick's actually interviewing me. We get into my background from growing up in a tiny town in Tennessee to running in college to going through way too many injury cycles after that and how all of that shaped how I coach now. I work a lot with runners who feel stuck, especially with injuries or consistency. So we talked through that, plus some of the biggest things I see runners getting wrong. I think you'll get a lot out of this one. Let's get to it.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Hey Trailblazers and Tamaq Tacklers, welcome back to the Maximum Mileage Coaching Podcast. And in this episode, I'm delighted. Uh Nick Hancock here, by the way. I still I haven't got myself back to doing this intro properly because I'm so rusty. But in this episode, I am delighted to hear, to have here a voice that some of you who are regular listeners have probably been listening to over the last few weeks. Because I am delighted to have Hannah Witt, who is one of our coaches, but she's also been our podcaster Extraordinaire the last few weeks. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Hey, Nick, I am doing well. Thank you for having me. We've been talking about having a podcast between you and I for a while now. So we have.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Yeah, I know it is good. Yeah, I I thought it would be good for everybody to learn a bit more about you because you know you have been the voice of the podcast the last the last few weeks. You've done a great job of getting some good guests on. It has forced the Maximum Mileage podcast to be back on on the air again after a big hiatus. And and that's great because you know we did have lots of regular listeners, and yeah, hopefully we're now picking up some new regular listeners. So if you are new, thank you for thank you for listening. So you've been with Maximum Mileage now for about a year.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yeah, I think a little over a year.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

So uh I feel like it was funny.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

You get that. Congratulations on your one-year anniversary with whatever company. So I got that, and I was like, it has been over a year now, so that's great.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Yeah, yeah. No, you and uh what a year it's been, just off air, we've been talking about some exciting stuff that's happening, which uh we'll we'll start talking about soon in the coming weeks on the podcast. But in the meantime, how did we how did how was it we we came about each other? I I think I saw you on the Uesca coaches Facebook group saying, Hey, I'm I'm I'm certified. What do I do?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah, so I had gotten my UESCA certification back last spring. And or actually, well, side note, I need to get re-certified because I got an email notification, so I get to do that again. But I had gotten it just because I love running and I wanted to inform myself more about science of running. I have a biology background, undergrad, so I I have foundational information, but I wanted to make it more specific to running since I'm a runner and I'm always wanting to learn more about sport. But I had I joined the USB Facebook group, and being in a pretty unfulfilling soul-sucking role, I really wanted to get out of that and do something that was more fulfilling, obviously. And so I put myself out there and I said, Hey, I have a certification, and I'm really open and willing to learning under any coach who has more experience. I'll do whatever front work that you need me to do, administrative, etc., to help grow your business and um learn under your guidance. And you were nice enough to actually respond to me, and I I truly do appreciate you know responding and giving me this opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

Yeah, well, I think when I saw your post it, it it resonated because you know, when I first started, it is like yeah, you get certified, it's a bit like I think any job, really. Yeah, you get certified in Sunday, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh right, I'm certified. Now, how the hell do I find athletes to work with or you know, whatever your job is, you know, how do I find people who need a lawyer or people who need an accountant? It is that kind of marketing yourself. And you know, I I know how hard it is, and and I think particularly when you know I spoke to you and understood just how much of an unfulfilling, soul-sucking career you were having. And you know, I had I'd had that. Yeah, I went full-time with this in July of 2024. And up until then, I couldn't wait to get out of my you know, the of the corporate life. And you know, I don't earn anywhere near as much money as I used to in my in my senior corporate role, but I'm so much happier not having to do that sort of stuff. And and yeah, when I saw your you know, your post and your story and stuff, it it really resonated. So yeah, it's worked out well. You you've been here a year, and we'll talk about that a bit more in a bit. But what I want to know, and I I think I still want to know, like from a personal level, because I know a lot about you now. We've you know known each other for a year, spoke with each other every week daily for the last year, but there is still, I think, so much more that I want to know about your running career and you know, seeing those those YouTube videos that you you referenced the other week and young Hannah getting interviewed for King Cross Country, was it?

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yeah, King University Cross Country, and I was on track with all cross-country teams.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

Yeah, so all of that really kind of sparked my interest in wanting to find a bit more about Hannah the Runner, but now I want to know more about Hannah the Runner. So, yeah, tell us all about you know, kind of where you've come from and and and your love affair with running.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Sure. So, you know, being in social media, and I'm sure that you can relate to this as well. You we're not, I guess, true influencers to the extent that some people on social media are. Like, I don't have a camera set up in my kitchen and you don't see me meal prepping things like that, but being out in in the public, I I guess I I I try to retain some sense of privacy, I guess, and it's a hard balance because you know, people do, I guess, want to know more, but it's also like protecting your own peace. But yeah, for me, I guess it all began when you know I grew up in Chady Valley, Tennessee, which, if you're familiar with the Appalachian Mountains, it's a very, very small community in Northeast Tennessee. I think there were maybe like six kids in my first grade class.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

So wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Yeah. And it was a very idyllic childhood. Like we I, you know, born in 91, it was like probably two decades behind the times in terms of just looking at how people lived. It was a very kind of close to the earth kind of natural farm, agricultural-based community. But um it was it was nice, it was just about being in nature and having the freedom to explore. Shady Valley in particular is really unique because it's got like fog kind of geography. I think there were like glaciers there at some point, but anyway, it's it's really interesting. Nature Conservancy does a lot to try and keep the area as pure and natural as possible. But I I didn't do any organized sports, I guess, until middle school. And basketball, volleyball, tennis, did that in high school. We really didn't have a really well-formed track and field team, but there it did kind of like interest kind of grew when I was in high school, and so I joined that. And I enjoyed that more so than other sports and just kind of went with that and um did okay. And we didn't have a cross-country team, so the she was her name is Betty Brown. She was the principal before, but then her son, coach Matt Bray, she she and him, they were very fundamental in my development as an athlete. She's they're both super nice people, and wasn't a cross-country team, but they would take me to cross-country meets, and basically they're the reason that I got noticed by college recruiting people. Like I was recruited to run for Kane University because he saw me, the coach saw me at a race that they took me to, so I owe a lot to Matt Brain in the study ground. So shout out to them. But um, yeah, I was in college. It's not atypical when you have success in high school, you go to college, and you're not top you know head of the pack anymore, and that's basically what happens to me. But through the years, I worked my way to being like number one on the team and had success, went to nationals. Yeah, I had some time, I did a summer internship at an Olympic distance training center in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, here uh called Zap Fitness, then Zap Endurance. And they they're no more founders, they retired, but it was really pivotal and helping me kind of grow my passion for the sport, training alongside Olympic hopeful athletes, and I think adopting that mindset of you know, everything in your life is centered around training. It's not like, you know, oh, I'm doing my regular life and I'm gonna go train for an hour. It's like every part of your life is thinking about optimizing your running, you're thinking about training when you're not training, you're thinking about operating, eating well, getting proper recovery. Everything's about adapting, recovering from the run you did before and getting ready for the next run. But after that, I graduated from King. I spent some time in Kentucky with family, and I worked at a parks in Breck, which was cool, and I helped organize a local race that helped raise money for animal welfare. And you know, I'm you know me, I'm very passionate about animals.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

And I put how many how many cats did you go?

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Four. We actually kind of had five because with the stray. I know the number keeps fluctuating, but there's a stray that we feed, but I you know, he's very not into the idea of being an inside cat. So he, you know, no matter what, he's probably gonna remain an outside cat, but we feed him. But animal welfare is something definitely that is close to my heart and a lot that I do if I can anyway support animals. I'm gonna do it. I've had the ability with running at times to do different things that can help animals. So that's always been a real big flux for me. Um, I spent some time in South Florida and I got to work with Dr. Ann Burt, who we actually podcasted with last week. And she she was in law enforcement, she's still in law enforcement, but she became an entrepreneur, really strong female leader and voice in South Florida, advocating, running not only for the select few, but making it very available to everybody. And she educated me a lot too, just with how to work with you know people in the running industry, and that was a very great learning experience. And I kind of went off the rails. I did some modeling in South Florida, it was mostly kind of bridal, bridal wear. So, and that was it was interesting, but ultimately came back to the mountains of North Carolina to be with family, and I worked in higher education for a while. This is a super long explanation. I'm sorry. You were like, I didn't want to know this much about you, but anyway.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

This is exactly what what we wanted to know about you. We want to know about Hannah. Hannah the person, not just Hannah the coach and Hannah the runner, Hannah the person too. This is the stuff we wanted to know. Uh it's it's so because where you live is quite a small community now, right? Up halfway up a mountain, no?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

It's strange because it being highly forest-based, population can fluctuate based on season. I'm on Beach Mountain, but Fair Elf is very close by. There are three major ski resorts all within, very close proximity. And so the population can fluctuate a lot based on the season. Mostly the winter, but the summer's really growing too in popularity and people escaping summer heat, I guess, lower down in you know, lower elevation in North Carolina, but also from all over the country.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

So but um, yeah, it's still what elevated what elevation do you live at?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

It is just under 5,000 feet, so it's moderate.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Yeah. Yeah, so when you come down to sea level, you're like I haven't been to sea level in such a long time.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

I'd like to test that theory. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

It's funny, I I coach somebody who's in Salt Lake City and he's around about 5,000-ish feet, and he's doing London, which is at sea level, like literally at sea level, because it's yeah, a lot of it goes along the Thames, the Thames River, you know, but you doesn't uh doesn't get any lower than than than there, really, unless you're in Death Valley. And it is quite interesting to see when like when people who are living at elevation do come come down with us, bottom dwellers, and and race. So yeah, it'd be uh it would be interesting to see.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

I see you in your your sauna suit working out on your your social media, and I think I would probably die. That's something that I need to work on is tolerance to heat for sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

But yeah, but you've got you've got you've got the altitude tolerance and heat heat heat training is is what we call the poor man's altitude training, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:20

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

Yeah. Yeah, so yeah, you live at live at elevation. So a lot of your running during the winter is on the treadmill, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:31

For sure. Yeah, and just because up in the mountains, in order to really optimize recovery, you know, I I'm a high mileage girl, and I I can't I can't do mountainous terrain all the time. I've tried to do that and just kind of go very slow when I need to go very slow, but it's it's almost relentless, even if no matter how slow you go, if you're viewing hills, if you're going downhill, it's really, really hard to do the mileage that I enjoy doing. So, you know, I've come become very comfortable treadmill running.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean I've got my treadmill behind me here, and uh I I get it. You know, we've had a very British winter. I haven't been running much because of a niggle, but if I had been running, I'd tell you a lot of it would have been on the on the treadmill because yeah, yeah, it's uh not been much fun. Do you ski?

SPEAKER_01 16:27

I don't ski. I will I will sled, but I do not ski and I don't snowboard. That's always been just because you know, a the equipment is expensive, b I don't have an interest in going out and getting hurt, you know. So, and that's probably what I would do. But yeah, have you have you ever tried skiing?

SPEAKER_03 16:49

Oh yeah, yeah, I've tried skiing. I just wondered from because what I I particularly in the US, what I find a lot of US-based athletes and coaches do in the winter is they do things like Nordic skiing, you know, schemo, that kind of schemo, super cool at the moment, isn't it? Because of then the the aerobic engine benefits that then come back over into running when when the running season starts, they kind of have this massive aerobic engine that they then can use for their running. So yeah, that's why that that was kind of the kind of skiing I meant was you know, do you ever go up the mountain on your skis rather than just skiing downhill because it seems to be a big thing in the US?

SPEAKER_01 17:33

No, maybe maybe I'll get my old tennis rackets out and strap them to my feet and just walk about. I don't know. Maybe that'll give me some aerobic benefit.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Okay, cool. It's the the winter up here is not the picturesque, like white Christmas, snowy winter scene. It's it's kind of brutal. Like the winds will be 50 miles per hour plus, ice, snow. It's it's not a truly pleasant experience to be outside. And people who do the skiing and snowboarding at the resorts, plus their hearts. I don't see how that can be enjoyable just because it can be so brutal, um, just with the wind, but each their own.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

Yeah, each to their own indeed. I mean, yeah, you could say that about ultrarunners, you know, some of us out there in the rain and mud for two days. Why? I still ask myself that question. Okay, cool. And as uh you know, as as your kind of running career, you know, you got to that kind of national level. Where where has it kind of been since then? And I I know you know we we don't generally don't have any secrets on on within maximum mileage. You know, you have had a few injuries recently, you know, put my hand up, I've got one at the moment, so it happens. But yeah, what what's your racing been like since since your college days?

SPEAKER_01 19:02

So I I got a stress fracture basically immediately after my season ended. And I remember a conversation that I had with my college coach, it might have been the plane ride home from Spokane, Washington, after nationals ended. And and he was like, Well, you don't have me telling what you what to do anymore. And I was like, I know, I can go run as much as I want to, and I went and ran as much as I wanted to, and I didn't really take much time off at all after nationals. I just came home, it was the holidays, and you know, I celebrated by running a lot and you know was diagnosed with a stress fracture by January. So I learned my well, I did not learn my lesson because I actually had more stress fractures after that, but yeah, so racing took it pause, obviously. But then when I moved to South Florida, I did do some some racing down there and I had some success. And I tell, you know, after you have one injury, it's it's easy to kind of get that motivation to cross-train and you know, generally stress fractured six to eight weeks in the boot, you know, maybe a month of walking, getting back into running. But basically, you can your body doesn't forget fitness that quickly.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

No, it doesn't. Yeah, I say that to people all the time.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Yeah, yeah. But the more times that you go through that cycle of getting injured and trying to build back up and then not getting back to where you were before, it's almost like a stair step effect.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

And so trying to not get injured again and build fitness becomes harder and harder. And that's why a lot of the late athletes they'll be like, you know, the comeback gets harder every time because you it's mentally and emotionally draining, but also it's hard for your body as well. I don't remember where I read it or saw it, but just as far as your body cells are regenerated at such a rate that those cells that were responsible for your aerobic engine, your muscular power, mitochondrial density, everything else, like everything kind of recycles through your body. So the actual building blocks aren't even in your body anymore, the more removed you are from that prior success. So yeah, I I did race and I did well in Florida. It wasn't anywhere near what I did in college, and that was largely due to the fact that in South Florida, I was just enjoying the sun after being in a heinous winter, and I was doing a lot of miles, and I wasn't I wasn't really doing any speed work at all. I I would do strides, and that was about it. You'd run long, do some strides and work on that, pop in some races. Wasn't serious about it, but you know, I I would do okay. And then I got another stress fracture, and I spent a lot of time biking. That's why my athletes now who have any kind of injury were trying to get them to stay aerobically fit. I'm like, get on the bike, get on the elliptical, I'll help you plan to make it more interesting. You know, there's so many ways to make it not some dreary hour, whatever long session of just zone two, easy biking. You know, let's put in some intervals, let's work on RPM, you know, so many different ways to make that interesting. So no stranger to biking. But after that, I moved back up to North Carolina, and again, some did some turkey trots, but you know, it's I am not the best at coaching myself, and I will admit that obviously none of us are, Hannah.

SPEAKER_03 22:56

None of us are. If it I say all the time, like all the best coaches have coaches, and it isn't uh but because and also because we are really bad at coaching ourselves, and I I hear this from so many coaches, so many, like yeah, some some coaches you know who have been at the top of the sport will say exactly the same. Like, I can't coach myself. I'll I know and I I'm saying I look at my athletes, everybody I coach, I know exactly what every single one of those athletes needs at any given moment. And I look at my own plan, my own plan, and I go, I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

Yeah, I get it. I mean, I'll be like, I'll have like the last two weeks, for example. I'm like, I'm going to do a 5k time trial, and I'm gonna do it on the treadmill, and I'm gonna run this pace, and it doesn't feel comfortable at all, and it feels like I'm going sideways because my body isn't symmetrical because of a recent hamstring thing, but I'm gonna do another time trial in two weeks, and you know, I put this pressure on myself to improve, and you know, I'm like, okay, well, I should run easier runs a little bit harder because I'm so far behind. And you know, this is the same stuff that I'm talking my athletes into not doing, and I'll do it to myself because I'm like do as I say, not as I do. You've got that picture in your head of who you were, like the athlete that I was in college, and you think I want to be that again, but I fail to remember that I had a summer when I was at that Olympic training center at Zap and Jerks. You know, that summer was a summer that was not glamorous. I was getting up, I was attending to the adult camp adult campers that were staying at the facility. I was getting my runs and I was dead tired, but I would flood along, I would get the time on feet, no matter how slow it was, I would do some strides, and it was just building up that aerobic base of easy volume, you know. And now I'm like, I want to skip steps, and I just want to be, you know, race day fit right now, and yeah, that's not possible.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

But the good news is for anybody listening, if you're thinking, well, if these guys can't coach themselves, we are very good at coaching. No, no, it's look, we we have we have exactly the same needs as any other athlete, and all the best coaches have coaches. I say it and see it all the time. It is it is true. So yeah, don't worry. You know, I mean it's I think that's a really good segue to maybe sort of uh your relief, probably. Stop talking about your um stop talking about your own running and start talking about your coaching because you know, I do look at your athletes, I have access to to see all of your athletes' plans and you know, as you've developed over a co uh as a coach over the last 12 months. And then just seeing the the results that you've been getting with your athletes and and stuff, it's been like awesome to see you know what you've done with some of the people you've coached and and are coaching and will coach, you know, there's it's been really, really good to see. So, you know, just a quick plug for you if anybody's looking for coaching that's listening, Hannah is absolutely you know, it has come on amazingly in the last 12 months with the athletes she's worked with and got superb results from you know getting people to do ultras, 50k's, 100ks. You've had loads of marathoners, half marathons, right down to like the 5Ks and and everything. So it's yeah, shout out for Hannah. But I want to hear like from you, like you know, how has coaching been for you since you've you know you've got got into it and now doing it full-time?

SPEAKER_01 26:57

I mean, I love it, and it's it's a way for me to give back because I put so much into my own running, and you know, with running, you can pour your heart into it, but you're not always going to get the return that you expect or or want. But being able to give back in some capacity has really it's been very good for me, and I I truly hope that I've I put value out into the world and helping the people that I've helped.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

And oh I you do, you you know, I think I tell you every time I I I I get messages from your athletes, and you know, and like you've you've had a lady who's finishing with you very soon because she's got her main race coming up, and then she's going off to take take care of some other other things. You know, she messaged me to say, you know, everything's been amazing with Hannah, and you know, super, super happy with what I've gone away with. So yeah, you should always be very very proud of what you've done with your athletes and what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Thank you. I think a lot of my athletes, and you know, that's a lot of the way that I promote myself as a coach, is really helping the people who have been in an injury cycle because I get it. And the difference with my athletes, and I'm coming, I'm I'm a moving too myself, but with my athletes, it's very easy for me to objectively look at their data and help drag them away from unhealthy behaviors and set them on a path that's gonna ultimately lead them to success. And that's been the case for several of my athletes coming to me and saying that they've got some issue already. You know, maybe it's gin sponsors, maybe it's they've got you know an issue with their kids or glutes or whatever you name it. And I say that's fine, we can still work together, we can still get you to the place where you can you can run and you can sign up for a 5K. Heck, heck, you can do whatever race you want to do. Let's get you running consistently and feel confident in your own body again. And I'll have athletes that will text me daily on updates with whatever particular label they have, and you know, I want to know because that dictates how their training is going to look, and it's never this set-in-stone training plan, even though it's a training piece, but it in my mind it's written in pencil, right? We're always adjusting, always changing based on whatever it is they're dealing with.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

I I always say a plan is only as good as the moment it was written.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

You know, it could change literally in an hour.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Exactly. And that's to me, you know, I I can't really think of anybody who hasn't had something where they're a little worried about it in the back of their mind and it's undermining their confidence. Doesn't have to necessarily be an injury, maybe it's some kind of mindset issue that they're dealing with, lack of confidence, fear of the unknown, you name it, but helping athletes, it's really what what I've enjoyed probably the most about coaching is almost this exploration of human nature and truly understanding, and we've talked about this before, understanding people's why and getting to the real root of what has brought them to me as being a coach, right? And if you can find that, people aren't always forthcoming with their reasoning for seeking coaching, but if you can find that reason why, then you can ultimately connect with them. And that's where that's where the real athlete coach relationship begins.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

100%. Uh it's interesting you talk about that because I I often say to people, so you know, but one of the first questions when I when I speak to a potential athlete is why are you talking to me today? And a lot of the time I will get an answer that is actually it's not the why, it's the what. They'll say, Oh, because I've got London marathon coming up and I want to do really well with it. Okay, that's the what. Why do you want to do really well? And when you really get somebody going, Well, why I want to do this, like you know, a lot of my why is because I mean my why is has morphed over the years. It used to be because I was running away from literally physical, figuratively, and literally away from who I used to be, which was an alcoholic, drug using, smoking, manic, depressed, bloke, overweight, underweight, all that sort of stuff. You know, now my why has changed because I want to stay super healthy, fit, and healthy, because I've got two young boys and a wife that's not very well. You know, I need to be around for my family. So that's kind of like my why. And it's when when you get people really kind of delving into like, what is my why? Why do I why do I want to do well at the London Marathon or insert race here? It's so interesting what you know, what really drives people. And for us as coaches, that is so it's more important than someone saying, Well, I want to get a sub three or sub four or finish a hundred miler or whatever it is. It's so much more important than than the what.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Yeah, absolutely. And being able to grow relationships with athletes and see them, you know, you start out first of all digging their why out of them, and then seeing them progress and achieve, you know, milestones along the way, and you know, getting to their ultimate whatever goal there was, and helping them just build to that and then say, okay, let's keep building on it. You know, you but that doesn't have to be your end goal. A lot of people will do a race and then they finish the race, maybe they achieved their goal, maybe they didn't, and they walked away and they're like, okay, what's next? And I think building that momentum and helping people understand that they can they can continue to achieve and do whatever they set their mind to. And yeah, it's kind of cheesy sounding, but that's been really rewarding for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

Yeah. Awesome. So as as we start to kind of wrap up, yeah. You have kind of, I guess internally, you've become become kind of the the oh, this this athlete that we're talking to has got an injury. You've become become kind of like the injury coach. But you yeah, you have become so good at going, right, okay, so this person has got insert injury here, Hannah. You work with them. You become so good at helping them to get out of these, quite frankly, holes that they've gotten themselves into, and then turning them into you know, into racing machines in in some cases. Where what say what has been kind of your you know, your your sort of your favorite sort of athlete to work with over the last few uh the last few months?

SPEAKER_01 34:10

You know, my athletes, some of them, yeah, they come from injuries, and that's why they they come to me, and helping them is very important. I I enjoy all the different walks of life of athletes that come to me, but I think the athletes that stand out to me to the most are the ones that come to me. Maybe they're basically healthy, and we we grow and we increase intensity, volume, etc. We get to race day, and then maybe something happens during the race and the injury, and that athlete walks away from the race, they've done well, but they know that they've done something to their body, and they they feel dejected, and it's almost like, oh my gosh, I I did well at this race, and I will continue with the success and see what else I can do, but I've got this injury now. And trying to help that athlete realize that we can still go after those races, but we just need to pause for a second, get your body out of that pain cycle and slowly reintroduce running again. It's not going to be the perfect running that you were doing before. It's gonna be run walking, or it's gonna be cross-training first. Let's get the pain completely at zero. It's gonna be run walking. There might be a little bit of discomfort because your body's trying to adjust to running again. Maybe some harmful movement patterns are still lingering that we need to work through. It's what I really promote with my athletes is understanding yourself, so self-awareness. And so, you know, graduating from runwalk, being able to read your body. Is that pain? Is that irritation? Is that you guarding your body so that you don't, you know, you're subconsciously guarding your body so that you don't read your trying to understand different sensations because not every sensation is the pain sensation and just kind of re-establishing that confidence and comforting your own body as an athlete again, so that when we start building volume, reintroduce workouts, your stride isn't different because you're subconsciously guarding whatever aspect of your body, and it's not always linear, you know. We perhaps will be on a smooth progression, and then we start introducing speed work, for example, and you're like, Oh, I felt whatever mingle a little bit, and I'm like, okay, let's just calm down because you're obviously asking your body to move in a more robust movement pattern, so it's probably guarding a little bit, so back off, let's you know, do physical therapy a little bit more, and just you know, it's all about keeping athletes in a state of the world's not ending, don't hit the panic button.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

But it's but it's so easy. Like we, you know, every every every runner does it, and it's so hard. Like, you know, I am in that sort of I I would say I'm in that guarding place at the moment where you know uh I am pretty sure that 99.9% of the time now the little sort of niggle that I I have been just getting over, it's not being anything serious, but it's it's been enough for me to just let's sit back up for a while. But I am in that point now where I am getting back to running, and I'm like, is it there or is it just in my head?

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Right. Yeah, and yours because osteotitis pubis, right? Is that what you have?

SPEAKER_03 37:42

Osteitis pubis, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:44

Yeah, so that you know, that's such a I've had what I'm pretty sure is that more self-diagnosis, but you know, based on symptoms and things, I thought I had similar things. That one is such a hard, hard one to come back from because you know, your pelvis is basically your engine. And if there's so much going on on the muscular attachments, tendons, and there's so many different planes of motion that are happening right there with with your pubis nerves in relation to everything else. So it's really, really hard not to try and guard it to a certain extent. But with you, you run so much, you've got a very specific stride and gait pattern. And I wouldn't say, okay, because of this injury, you need to change how you were running before, maybe tighten things up a little bit. But if you try to change your biomechanics drastically, that's not a good thing, right? You had success before, this is just a little bump in the road. Trying to get back to that in a way that's sustainable is key. We've already talked about this. You I think you know, you said your core try to strengthen that up a little bit, and that's gonna help ultimately keep your posture and everything, your pelvis more stable. You I think you know what's going on, and it's just like you said, trying to get confidence in your body in that regard, you know.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. And that's the other thing you've become or and are becoming is our is our resident form expert. Yeah, it's quite exciting to see where that's where that's gonna go. We're looking at some software and things at the moment, aren't we, to facilitate that. But yeah, you know, any anytime we do get an athlete, and most recently it's been me, it's like, hey Hannah, can you have a look at my running form? And yeah, you're right, yeah, with me, it is yeah, it has been my my core. Again, it's that kind of do as I say, not as I do. Um, I will put my hands up and admit that I'll I love my strength work, but in historically, I will usually get to the core bit at the end and go, Oh, I can't be bothered.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

Right. And you know, people when they hear the word core, they also they immediately think about it.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

They think sit-ups. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Yeah, but for extra low back, that's that's you know, so much with the back is so it's such a huge part of it. And for people who sit a lot, and I'm not saying that you sit a lot, but with being a coach and having tons of athletes doing programming, doing calls, and everything else, you you end up sitting more than if you would think, and then you're asking yourself to get up and go run for how many hours your back to spend in this compromised position, and think about your back a lot more than your ads. Your ads are probably strong, but if you can think about your back being able to hold and sustain your pelvis in a you know neutral position, because when we had that conversation, I started thinking about some issues that I've been having, maybe more hamstring related, but it can be so much more about your back than necessarily like your abs, leaks or whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

Yeah, no, the the irony will not be lost on anyone to know that I, as a running coach, I spend 99% of my day sat on my ass because I'm looking at training plans all day, you know, and training data and and uh and having one-to-ones with athletes around the world. So yeah, you know, the irony is not lost. Okay, cool. Hannah, it's been great learning much more about you. And again, a shout out for you. You have been yeah, one of one of my best punts, I think, on you know, on a person, because I didn't know you from Adam. I saw your post on the Facebook group and said, yeah, let's have a chat. And yeah, we you know took a punt and and now here you are, one of our one of our key coaches, our athlete success manager, and you know, an integral part of the team.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

So well, can I do uh do a shout out back to you because here's Nick like talking with this rando on Facebook and giving her a shot and giving her trust before she's even earned it. Nick, let me tell you, is he really believes in other people and gives them keys to success. So shout out to you.

SPEAKER_03 42:11

Bless you. Yeah, I've been called off for doing that too much recently. So uh, no, no, look, it's uh it's all been you, and thank you very much for everything that you've done and continue to do. And if anybody wants to work with you, I would highly recommend they get in touch with you. And I ask this of every guest on the show. Is you know, obviously, we know we they can find you on the Maximum Mileage website and stuff, but where else can people find you? Instagram, email for sure.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

So I'm on Instagram, I do starting a YouTube channel. It's in its infancy, I would probably say it's more like a fetus right now. It's not even born.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

Well, what did you what did you call the channel actually? Isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 42:57

I think it's called Hannah Wit. Coach Hannah Witch.

SPEAKER_03 43:01

Yeah, and you are Coach underscore Hannah underscore wit on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 43:07

I think on the YouTube it's just all together, but on Instagram it is coach underscore Hannah underscore wit. I started my Instagram when underscores were so cool.

SPEAKER_03 43:16

So yeah, yeah. See if you can change that. But and then your your your email address is Hannah at maximum mileage coaching.com. If anybody wants to reach out, even just hey, I've got a bit of an injury, what should I be doing? I'm sure you'd be more than happy to to answer questions like that. And you know, we do talk to a lot of people out there in the world that are are injured. You know, it's a big, big reason why people come to us actually. And you know, we we as a team uh spend a lot of time working with people who are coming out of injury cycles. Thank you, Hannah. Thank you everybody for listening. And yeah, I'm gonna step back on the podcast, hand it back to Hannah because she's far better at it than me. guests and and yeah I'm sick of hearing my own voice so thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Shaking my no right now for people who can't see me because yeah it's I it's a different different personality type and it's maybe not everybody's taste but we we bring different things to the table. We'll just say that we do.

SPEAKER_03 44:19

All right Hannah great talking to you.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

All right thanks for having me.