Episode 27: "the ultimate hot girl walk"

Emma finally completed her marathon and this week we're doing a full debrief 🎉 From the early morning start and race-day nerves to the highs, lows and everything in between, she talks us through the entire experience. 

We of course throw in a couple other life updates, one you won't be expecting 👀

Enjoy! 💗

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Episode I'm not sure. Twenty-seven? Twenty-seven. Yeah. Wow. Fly seven. How are we, my girly pops? I hope we're having a lovely week. I hope we have some lovely weekend plans. Apparently the weather's gonna be really nice this weekend. Let me have a quick look actually at the weather forecast. I've been hearing whispers. Been hearing whispers. Because we've had rain all bloody week, guys. All bloody week. What areas are we talking? Because it looks like London. But it's 27 on Friday. Oh I'm seeing 30% rain. Okay. It's one of the girls. Okay. I don't know. You know what? I'll take it. I'll take it. Surely the sun will make an appearance. Yeah, no, it is looking hot. As long as there's no wind. Wow. Okay, yeah, no, no wind. Actually, no rain while we're at it. Cool, cool. Welcome back, girly pop. Welcome. How are we doing? How are we feeling? I hope we're doing something lovely whilst we're listening to this. Also in productive, you cleaning your house. You get ready to go out. Are you hungover because you went out um to a pub last night? Because it's a Thursday, and if you live in London, Thursdays are the days that people have pubs. That is true. Guys, today's format is less structured. Yes. It's more of a storytime app because we've had some some great things happen recently. Great and not so great. I was gonna say, we'll start with great. I thought about the first thing, and then the second thing is is uh you can't write it. T. Um, it's T. So we just thought we'd do a really chatty episode, less advice segment focused. Um, so first things first, I'm gonna hand over the floor to Emma. But way back when, I'm not sure in what episode Emma signed up for a marathon. It did to support um cancer research with Macmillan. Yep, that's correct. Um and it came around really fucking quickly. It did, really quickly, and it was on the weekend just past, so Emma's fucking completed a marathon. Oh my god. She's gonna tell us all about it. Yeah, buckle up, guys. No, yeah, this is gonna be a really chatty episode, as we just said. I feel like me and Lydia haven't really seen each other that much, not really, and I feel like the time that we have had to catch up, we've had like an hour slot, and then we have to keep it stepping. Yeah. So I feel like this is needed, not just for you guys, but also for us. We need to get down to the nitty-gritty. Yeah, we need to be having like a proper chat. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I did the marathon, guys. Um She's only gone and bleeded done it.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Oh my gosh! Shall I put my medal on? Put the medal on! It's the wrong way, right? Oh, Twizzle Row, we can correct it.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Do do do. We'll do a bigger interlude. Do do do do do do do. I need to put my hair through it.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Yeah, but yeah, I would put it through it.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

You know, sometimes your hair looks nice tucked into a jacket. It's not quite the back. It's not quite. I'm gonna keep it on, I think. I think I deserve it.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

I think you should attach it to your keys. Yeah. Attach it to your house keys.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Should we get our frames? I'll definitely. Oh surely does something. Yeah. Hopefully, I don't knock it down. A little box frame. Yeah, if not, I'll have to take it off. So, yeah, the marathon came round, guys. I signed up for this sort of in the early episodes of this podcast. I told you guys I was gonna do it. I was dreading it. It came around fairly quickly.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Really quickly.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Um, did I train? No. I didn't do an ounce of training. Was I worried? Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. So much so that I didn't know if I needed to feel nervous or not. I felt nervous the night before, yeah, for sure. Because I just thought there's there's no way that I can't fail at this. Like I have to do it. Yeah. Because if you get to 18 miles, yeah, for anyone who doesn't know, the total was 26 miles. 26.3. Yeah. Right. Actually. Um, but you're there's no one coming to pick you up on a golf course court. Golf court? Golf cart. Yeah. If you can't do it, right. You know, you're out there in the fields. The the one that I did was along the River Thames, so it started in Windsor and ended in Henley, which is so funny because that's where the pilots live. That's where I've been following us on socials. I did not think I would visit there, but I visited the place. Wow. See any pilots? I was in the middle of a field and I was preoccupied. Okay. Um, but so no pilots or planes. No, it would have been lovely if a plane came down and scooped me up on my all 21 because it was that was the hardest. Um, but yeah, it was me, seven other cheekas, 26 miles. The ultimate hot girl walk. Oh my god, yeah. And we all we all pulled up, we're all excited. I'm like, there's cameras everywhere, and when the cameras are out, I'm acting up, you know. The guy on the mic, I I did like a pose where I like put my hands around my face and like popped my leg. Like, you know, pop, like from Princess Diary squeezing your leg off in the distance. Um, can I please insert the video? I have got a little video, yeah. And not a little one. I've swear you followed me until I disappeared into the bushes. Yeah, but I've got the clip where you like pop your leg up. Oh, and the guy says, I'm pretty sure I've got the clip. Okay, for the visual, visual watchers, visual watchers, visual listeners, whatever. You'll see the video. You will. Um, but yeah, so we set off, we um the the walk was at eight o'clock, and it could have taken anywhere from like eight to ten hours. Yeah. Before you even get there, can we start from 5 a.m. Yeah, yeah. Actually, because that's where the real fucking story starts. Oh my god. I'm here to guide the story and ask questions, I'll interject. Yeah, I've given bits and bobs, and you might have to keep me on track. So the night before, I had all I had already been planning for this marathon and how I was gonna get there and things like that, and it wasn't Windsor isn't exactly a nip and a pop, especially it's a bit awkward. You kind of need to go into central London and go out. Yeah, if you're not driving, yeah, if you're not driving, there's a ballake, it's yeah, such a ball egg. Um, so I um made plans with my friend for me to go to hers in the morning and then for us to all drive together. Road trip. Because I think sometimes the drive there is a part of a journey. It's like when you get a flight to Ibiza, yeah, you want to get on the flight together. You'll probably have a sleepover before it's all part of it. Yeah, it the journey is part of it, 100%. Anyway, night before, I'm looking at tickets, and usually the direct train that I can get to my friend's house like isn't running. So I'm looking at one train, one tube, and another, another train, like another overground train. So long. The journey was looking like two hours long, and I was gonna have to set off at like I was gonna suppose to get up at 3 a.m. and then get the train at four, which is like an airport run sort of time. I was like, am I like before you've even done this marathon, you would have been up for time. Yeah, and I just thought, okay, this is probably not a good idea. I've signed up for a marathon, not even done a half before. I'm gonna get get up at three, be sleep deprived, and walk 26 miles. Am I okay? Are you okay? So, but you know, it's all part of it, I guess. Anyway, I'm making bracelets the night before with names on for all my team and stuff like that. I'm getting ready. Time's ticking, time's getting on. I booked my train ticket. I think we probably went to bed at like 12. So my way, yeah. Set my alarm, closed my eyes, woke up, it's 5:30. Guys, can I just give my perspective of this story? Right? I'm fast asleep, and as we've expressed previously, I'm a very deep sleeper. Sle sleeper? Sleeper, right? I hear my door opens. I missed my train, I stepped in. You know, when you like literally rise from a deep sleep and you're in so much shock because of the way you've woken up, I I automatically broke out into sweats. I was like, I'm so sorry. I was like, what? I checked my phone. At that point, I was meant to get up at five because we were gonna drive down separately and meet you there. But I was gonna get up at five and was getting picked up by the rest of our family at six. So my alarm went off like five minutes later, and I was like, right, Emma, you're just gonna have to get in the car with us. There must have been a reason that you weren't meant to get on that train. Yeah, true. Like, there must have been that there was a reason you weren't meant to get on that train. Yeah. So you so you got ready with me and we went together. Which actually was better, to be honest with you. Yeah. And I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place. Yeah, but I think because I had already made the plans. You were sticking to the that's just what I was gonna do. I just didn't want to switch up and you know, it felt too late. Yeah, and we were supposed to go in two cars, we ended up only having one, and yeah. It was a bit of a squeeze, but it was okay. It was a bit much anyway. We head off, we make it in time, we actually make it with a lot of time to spend. Oh, tons of time to do that. Everyone else was so much later than me. If anything, we were down to the wire with a few of them. Oh, sorry, it's not the mic, sorry guys. I do that every episode. Um, yeah, everyone was like, it's gonna take two hours, something to drive. It's like an hour 20. Yeah, it was quick time, and I'm like, who's gonna be on the road at 6 a.m.? Yeah. What chocker block traffic? Yeah, it's not six in the evening. Do you know what I mean? On a weekend, it's 5:30, 6 o'clock in the morning. We were gonna be fine, and we were, yeah, we really were. Anyway, we're at the starting line, and I was like, hey, here we go, you know. Honestly, had no idea what to expect, was really hoping that I could just push through, just get it to that, get to the end, anywhere between eight and ten hours, you know, while the sun was still up. Because you know, some people do marathons and they finish and everyone's packing up and going out. Yeah, because they did say I I feel like I didn't quite gather how long something like that takes. Because obviously you were walking the distance and not running it, and to run it, to get like a sub four hours, very hard to do. So a lot of people are completing it in six hours, seven hours. So to walk it, yeah, your that time is like it's all day, and I didn't quite realise. You know what mum said when you set off from the from the start line? Mum and I walk there's there's still a barrier where we could follow them for the first couple of meters.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Mum goes, she doing a full marathon.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

I was like, Yeah, Vee. She went, No, I thought she was doing a half. I went, no, Fiona, she's gone all day, babes.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

Not half. It's a full ass marathon. Do you know how many times I've had to remind everyone that I'm doing 26 miles? Because every time, are you doing a half? No, 26 miles. Two six. Is it is it is it 13 miles? No, 26 miles. 26. Everyone kept forgetting, but then everyone sort of was underestimating the distance, but overestimating how quickly I had to do it. Because they're like, are you running? Yeah. And I'm like, no, I'm walking. They're like, oh thank god. I have to remind everyone I'm walking at least 10 times. You hear marathon, you think London marathon. Yeah. No, no, I wasn't doing that. But I think if you're someone who's wanting to do one, it's a good place to start. Yeah. So um So you set off. We set off. Team are in high spots. Five to high. We've got enough enough Percy pigs and dang fastics for the for the whole journey. Love along the way, there were coffee shops, corner shops, nice, ice cream trucks. They also incorporated a lunch and dinner, right? Love. So I'm gonna do this next year just for the food. We were well sort of looking after looked after. Uh we took a picture and a video every mile at the sticker. Add in the photos. Maybe not all 26. Do you have 26? Yeah, I have 26. Okay, add in, add them in.

unknown 13:26

Bam.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Add them all in. I thought you were gonna do more than one. Fuck it up. All at once. All at one. You don't want to. Okay, maybe a boop boop boop boop. Okay, little canon. Um, sorry the audio listens. Spirits are high, people are beeping while we're walking down the road. Yeah, no. So at this point, everyone's together. Yeah. And then obviously, as sort of time gets on, people are like splitting off. Yeah. There's dickheads who are jogging and running it and overtaking you. Oh, really? Yeah, like you should have just done a marathon where you're running it. Yeah. Don't be an arsehole. No, don't be an arsehole. Don't be an arsehole. They were overtaken and they were jogging and they're going, excuse me, sorry, you know. Yeah. Overtaking you. Because d did it get sparse at certain points? Like, or was there always quite a big crowd around us? No, at some points it was just us. Really? Yeah, we didn't know how far the people in front of us were how far the people behind us. Right. Um, but then you see people along the way and they're just sat on the side of the road trying to catch their breath. Yeah. Really? Yeah, like people are just chilling. People bring snacks with them. Yeah. So they're just chilling. Yeah, people are just relaxing. And you're walking past them, and you can tell that they probably feel like, oh fucking hell, we have to get up because another set of people have passed us. Did you chat to any groups? No. No conversation was happening. No. I just feel like everyone was in their element, everyone was in their group, everyone was just trying to get the job done. And it was a hot day. Like I have tan lines on my wrists from where I wore bracelets. I mean, I should have worn sun cream, but I just didn't. Like, I'm not doing that. You were like, don't need it. I was like, fuck it hell, absolutely not. I was like, I'm gonna catch a tan. If anything, I was like, I should have got my shoulders out, got a pair up, good tan. We should have cut the sleeves off. Yeah, I know, absolutely. There was this woman who cut her shirt down the middle and wore her wore her top like a cardigan. She's trying to be stylish. She looked like a right cat. She's trying to be stylish. Anyway, we're we're walking, we're hiking along the road. I have to say the roads were the worst because they were radiating heat off of them, and all of our bag straps, sorry, so TMI were absolutely saturated and sweat. So it was it was hot. My favourite was when we were walking through like fields or we were walking along the river quite a bit. A bit of a breeze. Yeah. But when we were walking along the river, there's like trails and they're almost sort of surrounded by bushes that probably aren't regularly trimmed. No. So you're like squeezing through hedges, and there's like massive trees, like they're in like the fucking Amazon rainforest, either side of you, and their roots are like poking up the soil. So, like when we got a bit lazy and were like staring at the houses or people watching, yeah. Tripping over something and then not actually falling over, and the pressure when your foot hits the fucking front of your shoe and you feel like your toenails gonna pop off. Did you did you fall at any other point? No, I didn't want to fall. I was like, I'm not gonna fall. I just tripped once, okay. But I was just really cautious that you can't buckle an ankle out. No, you're done. You're fucked. Was anyone's ambulance staff like jotted about there was people dotted along the way and they go, How are you feeling? You're right, you know, you get you're good. And I just thought at the start line, yeah, the guy said, if anyone gets injured, ring 999. They're gonna put you this in the same queue as the rest of the fucking UK. There ain't a specific number for people on the trail who went, if you hurt yourself or you're not feeling well, ring 999. Oh my god, no, what? I was like a cheeky bastard. How do you describe where you are on the trail? There's trained. We'll book you GP appointment right now. And people in green go where? Yeah, do what? To be fair though, I don't know. There were a few checkpoints. Yeah. There was two um stations to like hydrate or like get snacks. So there'd be like a checkpoint, then it was lunch, and then there was another checkpoint, and there was the finish line. Yeah. And those checkpoints were just like we would just count, we were counting and down until we got the next one because they've got cold water, they've got seats, they've got snacks. Well, we got to the first one, and a guy came up to us with a clipboard, was like, Right, ladies, are we gonna we're gonna set off soon? I was like, we just got here. He was like, I know, but we closed in 15 minutes. And I was like, What do you mean, close? There's definitely people behind us. No way, yeah, and and I sat down and he came back like tapping, tapping his clipboard, and I went, we'll go in in a second, you know. When the bar's closing and they're like last orders and the staff want to fucking go home. I went, God. Oh, but Jared's. Yeah, I was like, God's sake. But he was like, lovely lunch. We've got spoiled you. We've got lovely lunch. It was just three versions of pasta salad.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

I fucking love a pasta salad. Yeah, yeah, there was we had one today. Yeah, we did.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Um, so yeah, lunch was lovely. But yeah, we're setting along the way. We get to the halfway mark, we've done 14 miles, yeah, and I'm like, it's too easy. Yeah, I felt solid. Fine. Solid, you know, and just ready to go. You know, surely this is gonna get difficult. And I just didn't know what that difficulty was gonna feel like. How that was gonna translate to it. Yeah, well, how is it gonna manifest? Am I gonna cry? Am I gonna be able to get away? Are you abbrevi? Yeah, are you in pain? What's happening? Am I in pain? Do my feet hurt? Do my hips hurt? Feet start, right knee kicks in, hips are feeling stiff, right? Every so often you get a spasm, so you have to stretch, and then your shoulders hurt because you're carrying two litres of fucking water on your back.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

So it is a bit of a and your bag wasn't the lightest. No, it wasn't, and yeah, it it was just yeah, it was just it was not. But everything in there you used. Yeah, yeah. I used to roundabout, yeah. I did not need the hood. Oh no, I needed it at the end. At the end tip, I had a pair of flip-flops in my bag. As soon as I got to the end, trainers came off, socks came off, flip-flops came on. That was just you gotta let your feet out after that. Otherwise, it's just it you gotta let it breathe. Yeah, um, anyway, yeah. So after the 13th mile, I was like, okay, it's in between here and now where I'm really gonna really gonna see what I'm made of. Yeah, anyway. We're like walking, and you're I'm kind of getting tired, but like I'm at the front setting the pace at some points because I'm quite tall, got long legs, got a big stripe, yeah. So I'm walking, you know. We were in very scenic areas at this point, and there was some beautiful houses, a lot of people watching. Yeah, like I'm sorry, I I feel like I've witnessed how the other half live. Like, what do you mean these houses have like moats and they look like castles? Yeah, they've got their personal docks, personal boats. Their boats are tucked away in garages where the where the river kind of goes in. Yeah, did you feel the change in tax bracket? Did you feel it? Like a vortex. I turned around to Katherine, I was like, I feel like I've not experienced the whole UK because I'm just like, where are we? The houses were unreal. I took loads of pictures, but I feel like for legal reasons I probably can't put them in. But they were absolutely absolutely massive, and like, yeah, so we sort of went around Windsor Town initially, but after that second like half of the marathon, we were just I I couldn't believe the houses, yeah, couldn't believe it. They were just they were unreal, and to be fair, there's every house had a boat, but every person I saw on that boat was above the age of probably 45 50, so I didn't feel that jealous because I was like, I've got. Time, yeah, but I plan to do it before you. Yeah, and they've all got fat fucking pensions. So who's winning? And they bought their houses for like 20 quid in a packet of crisp. They traded it for bread, there wasn't even currency, they got trains.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Yeah, and that's why you make them stand on buses.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

No, the old one, the old bastards on the buses, they vote like they make bank as well. They're any buses. You can stand Love.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Just wait for it. You're going to hell. You're gonna get a hate comment at two for that. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

Anyway, yeah, we're in the teens of the miles, and yeah, the houses were crazy. But like you saw, like, you saw the houses that were like three four story four stories around Eton College, where all the like you know, you got money to go to that uni. The royals gone have gone to that uni, you know. Like it's it's it's crazy. Yeah. Um, but then you saw the other side too. So this is towards the 20s now, right? Where's how we feel them? You're looking like I mean, I'm talking still talking about the houses, but like you're so like mum right now. Yeah, yeah. I'm jumping for I'm jumping for the story. No, I'm saying talking about the the landscape. Anyway, well, that's all I could look at because I was gonna go fucking insane. Anyway, then the houses started looking like long bungalow sheds, and everyone had the same back garden, yeah, and the boats were not electric, they were just wooden, and you were paddling with like rowing boats, but everyone looked really cute and wholesome. Anyway, we're in the 20s. At this point, I'm like, okay, this is hurting. Oh yeah. I've now gone from being at the front and I'm in the fucking back by myself. Was it like Remember when we first started waitressing and that pain in your feet and your back from standing? It's it's not even that, it's like your feet are so numb, yeah, and you get to the point now where you're like, I'm not even thinking about walking, my body just doesn't know any different, and it's just doing it automatically. Like you don't know how to stop. Are you still walking with a normal form at this point? Are you hobbling? I probably am hobbling a bit, yeah. Right? I'm just trying to keep my feet as wide as possible so I don't trip over them. That's what I was doing. I literally I was like, I've gotten to the point now. When people would stop and go to the bathroom, it would piss me off because I knew when I stopped, I'd be like, ah, I was like, no, I can't stop, can't stop. So me and my friend Mel would walk round in circles. We would walk round in circles because it was better to keep going than to stand still. Because then to kick it back, to get back up again, to get started, was like trying to start an old car. There's dust fucking coughing out the ends.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

You just walk in circles, can't stop.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Yeah, no, can't stop. You walking in circles, walking in circles. Sophie was like, Emma, just keep going. Keep I mean, I'm so sorry. But yeah, I told everyone I was gonna hit a breaking point, and I was like, guys, at some point I'm gonna go non-verbal, and I'm just gonna have to lock in. I'm gonna tell you right now, it will happen, and I'm just gonna need to be with myself and my feelings, and I'm gonna have to talk to myself because I just I knew I was gonna be one of the ones to struggle towards the end. Tell me about that moment when you thought, fuck, I can't do this anymore. I thought I I didn't even have enough energy to get upset and cry. Right. Because I knew that wasn't gonna help.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

It's gonna exhaust me.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

It's gonna exhaust me. And I just thought you're out there in the elements on your own, and you're like, there's no one coming to help you. No, you're fucked. Yeah, there's no one coming to help you. My team can't carry me to the end. You just have to. Me, my friend Mel was just talking to me. She was like, Oh, but you can do it. Come on, there's a checkpoint up, right? And I'm now at this point now where I can't see my team, they're in front of me, but there's people behind me too. And I'm shuffling along. The beaming sun was coming down on me, and I can see birds of prey doing loops. And like, honestly, above me, and it's so hot, and you're like, God, the thing I would do right now just to just to shed alone and dash my bag into the bush, and it's like, I'll come back for it. Honestly, it was it was really like and at that point, I felt a blister under my foot. Yeah, and I'm shuffling, I'm shuffling, and I'm just I'm not even talking to anyone, and there's people, my team in front of me where people are still talking, and you're fucking fumed at them because you're like, How are they okay? And you're not okay. Anyway, I get to the first checkpoint, and at that point I had five miles left to go. Yeah, and I sat on the floor and I actually thought, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. Like, I saw the checkpoint and just thought I might just lie down here. Like, I can see it. I just thought I'll just get in the vicinity, but I'm just gonna collapse here. I'm not even gonna make it to the tent with the oranges and the pineapples and the water, I'm not even gonna make it. Yeah, um, and I sat there, I just I managed to hobble to the tent with the fruit.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

I was biting off fruit, I was just chocolate in the pain.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

And I was looking around and like, what can I do to help me? And so if he was like, Emma, I've got painkillers. I was like, give me them. Well, no, Emma rings me, like when uh the voice note before, because I'm like filling Emma in about certain bits and bobs, yeah, and she sounds so upbeat, and she rings me and she's like, Lydia, I'm in agony, yeah. And I was like, Emma, did you take that ibuprofen that I put on the kitchen table? And she was like, What can you take that for? Like, she's like my feet hurt, and I was like, You can take paracetamol for any kind of pain or ibuprofen, and it helps. But yeah, I had two, and then I had two ibuprofen, and I'm stretching, yeah, and I'm massaging my feet, and I just I just thought I need to push beyond the pain, and at that point, Candice came to me like god, like I had an epiphany. She was my voice of reason in my head, she's my voice of reason anytime I have a breakdown. And there, if you if you're if you guys aren't con uh familiar with Candice Brathwaite, you should be. You should be. She is if you want if you want someone to give you motivational talks and just really tell you about yourself and also just help you achieve your your goals. She's great. She does this series called Conversations with Candice. Yeah, it's incredible. It's a bit of a workshop. Oh, yeah, you're confronting yourself when you listen to it. It's work. Yeah, like you don't really want to listen to it at fucking seven o'clock in the morning. So you kind of have to be in the mood. Anyway, she didn't. I listened to the last episode I listened to of hers, she was saying how she feels she felt like she had pushed herself to her max when it came to running, but in actuality, she started training with someone new, and she realized in that session that she hates being uncomfortable, right? She likes being in her comfort zone. Yeah, and I'm sorry, that is me to a T. Yeah, that is me to a T. Especially when it comes to physical exercise. I am someone to give in to that voice in my head that's like I can't do it, it hurts, I'm tired, I'm not good enough. Yeah, excuses, excuses, excuses. And anytime an excuse came in my head, Candice's voice came right afterwards. And I just thought, there has to be beyond pain, there has to be something else.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

Tell me something I haven't unlocked.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

There has to be something beyond that everyone raves about when they're running that high, that you know, if you push past the pain, that's it's all worth it. There must be something past it. And I've pushed past the wall of fear, but I've never pushed past the wall of pain. And I thought, fuck it, just run. I thought, start jogging, start moving your legs, and I realized I could not stay longer on my left foot long enough to feel the weight of my body and then start feeling pain. So I was like, I have to keep pushing my pushing myself. Anyway, I did it. I pushed past that fourth wall and I did not feel pain again. Yes, again. Until that like literally, I did not feel pain at all. That's incredible. And so much so that my colleagues realized they were like, oh my god, now you're setting the pace. I was actually so far ahead that I was finding the markers for the miles, yeah, and I was doing circles until everyone caught up with me. Yeah, and then I'd be like, Right, okay, okay, we need to go again. Yeah, and then we hit hills, and then we were on hilly concrete concrete roads. Shit. And I just thought it started turning into a bit of a fever dream. We were in this really like this field went on for miles, and there was castles either either side, and then peacocks started appearing, and I was like, where the fuck are we? Like so weird. Yeah. Anyway, we were on our final stretch, it's flat. We see the finish line in the distance. I actually saw a um let me look at my notes. Uh I saw a Garrett Graham look alike on my way to the finish line, and I thought, this is heaven, I have died, I've not made it. I've collapsed this this all is a mirage.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Yeah, he really is, but he really looks and was back with the oranges and the pineapple slides. Yeah, I actually passed out because I'm allergic to pineapple. I'd actually had an allergic reaction and went, fuck, I'm allergic to the I mean, this is not how I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_03 32:15

Your tongue gets itchy, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

It was a little bit, no, just a little bit itchy, but I was like, fuck it. It was actually really nice. I've been an allergic reaction. I actually and I've actually died on mile 14, I haven't made it, and Gar Gray was with me in heaven, yeah. Um anyway, we make it to the finish line, and we all cross together and they announce our names on the mic. And at that point, I'm like, God, there's no way we've done this. Because we walked 10 hours and 40 minutes all day, all day. As I was like getting on with my day, because we were only there for the start, you couldn't stay for the middle. You either like came back at the end to to see you guys, like a while or whatever. So we actually only stayed for the the to send Emma off, and like I came home, tidied up, did the dishwasher, had a nap, went to the gym, came back, made some food. And as I was like doing these things, I was like, Emma has been walking since 9am. And then I was just waiting for you to put messages in the chat all day, yeah, all day. Our sister's partner, Liam, he just kept going, what mile is she on? Where where are we? Where is Emma? Where do you know what I mean? Because we sent you off, and it was like, right, you've got a distance to cover before we see you again. Yeah, yeah. Which was so funny to think about. Crazy. But I had didn't have a lot of reception in a lot of people. I'm surprised you were able to keep us up to date as you were. Well, yeah, I think also that was a way for me to distract myself and try and celebrate the wins. Yeah. Um, the small wins really carry you. Like we got an ice, we found an ice cream van, and that set that had me for another two miles. Um, and Zara Larson as well. I was listening to Zara Larson and I had my ice cream. What songs are you listening to? Uh Can't Tame Her. We'll add it to the playlist. Yeah. Uh Poster Girl. Yeah. Um FFF. Yeah. Uh what else? Can't Tame Her really got me through it though. Yeah. That's such a cute. Midnight Sun, obviously. Yeah. She did it again. Yeah, I did, but that was too RB. I needed more pop, more upbeat songs.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

In our you belong to me. I belong to you. Bye everyone.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Yeah, cheer. What can I do? Yeah, that is that is a banging song to try and push through some cardio. So yeah, we we crossed the finish line and they gave me a glass of no secko. No secco. What do you mean I've walked 26 miles and you give me a glass of non-alcoholic secko? Yeah, because when I when we debriefed shortly after you came home, I went, Emma, don't you feel like a glass of something would have really got you a long way? Lydia, I said that four times throughout it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

You can ask that people had boots.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

People had a bottle, but there was a guy with a bottle of vodka.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Yeah, I mean, in hindsight, would probably help.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

Do you know what I said? A glass of rose would do a lot. With some eyes. Would do a lot. Yeah. But obviously, they obviously don't condone that because I probably should do that drink at one. It was no secko in that card. No secko. Sophie went, sorry, I don't want that. She kept walking. I went, you just that's so rude. I went, take the fucking no secko, but honestly. Take it. Um the fizzy apple or whatever the fuck it is. Anyway, yeah, so we went to the pub, we had a few drinks, took us a second to get home.

SPEAKER_04 35:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

I had like two minutes to make my train. My friend dropped me off at the train station, and I was like, I've still got more to give. And I was like, I'm gonna run for this train. So I'm running in my flip-flops, like flapping my feet. And the thing is, I'm getting on at Luton. You still got your bib and you medal on the square, right? Yeah, I'm running, and to get onto Luton station, it's not flat, you have to go up two flights of stairs, up, round, and down, down again, and then you see a stampede of people. I'm like, move out the way. And someone goes, Fucking hell, she's just run a marathon and she's running for the train. I didn't run it, I walked it. Anyway, I get to the doors, and these guys are like, Come on, come on. They had the doors open, and I got on and I shook both their hands. I was like, Thank you so much. Anyway, I've got home. Lydia made me that beautiful sign. I did. I whipped, I whipped my heels on and I went out for a celebrity drink. Celebratory drink and heels, and you were celebrated, my little everyone couldn't believe that. We had some drinks. We had we had some shots insert video. Oh we had a bunch of dranks. Yeah, and I had a little bottle um from my sister Athena. Yeah. Who celebrated me. Um, and then yeah, I can't believe I put heels on. But also can believe because who else other than me? That's true. I was a bit worried that like it was gonna, I don't know, like because you said you had blisters and stuff. Oh, I did. And I didn't want it to like add to the calf pain the next day. I was like, try and stay sat as much as possible, which you did. I did, and to be honest with you, I actually didn't drink that much. To be honest, I was I didn't really eat all day because like you weren't around. I just didn't really, like I was kind of unsatisfied all day, like just didn't eat enough. And then so that big ass glass of wine that we had um when we went out, that first glass of wine. I before I knew it, I was lit. By the time I finished it, I was like, I'm gone. Yeah, yeah. I'm gone. I'm there, I'm there, and I'm like, shit, I don't know how I got here, but I'm there. But yeah, guys, that was my marathon. Still donate with the link, I'll put it in the bio. Yeah. We've done 2.4k collectively. We did a team. Oh, amazing! So you're almost you're like basic, round it up, you're gonna go, I know. Uh but it's still there. If you guys want to donate, I'll put it in the bio. Um, but we still have more to catch up on, don't we do? But first off, can I just say congratulations, thank you so much. You can do hard things, and you should take this as a sign to like oh, I'm gonna do another thing. Like, yeah, like do another one and do another one. Also for the listeners, like if there's something that you're a little bit worried about throwing yourself into that you've never done before, like do it, you know, because you don't regret it. No, I don't regret it, and if anything, it's kind of made me wanna challenge myself and do it again. Yeah, um loved out for you. So yeah, no, it was fun. I dare I say I I'm this close to maybe buying running trainers and just doing some running. Do it 100%, but yeah, we'll see. We'll see. You're still walking like a pirate at the minute, so maybe wait until you get your full stride back before you start looking at anything else. But anyway, Lydia Babes, we'll take it away to you. You know what? Can't you update us about yeah, why not? Um, do I have much to update you about? Nothing much other than I had a little girls' trip with the uni-girly pops. That was so fun. Not last was it last weekend? I think it was last weekend. We rented a cottage. Take this as a sign to rent a little cottage with your girly pops. Um, just somewhere you haven't been before, like Lake District, wherever, somewhere with with greenery, guys. Windsor. Like at that point, Windsor, Henley. Henley. At that point, I I was like, shit, I've been too much City Girl, party pop. I'm like, I need I need a little bit of wholesome vibes. Yeah. Um, so we rented this cutie little cottage insert picks, yeah. Um, and we got loads of wine, and we went into like the little town, and we bought a bunch. I was like, girls, I need to manifest like a loaf of bread, some local cheese, some cured meats, some chutney. Do you know what I mean? So we got all those things, brought it back to the flat. I mean the cottage. Had all of that. The host like thought of fucking everything. She dropped around some cakes for us. They looked delightful. They were so good. I mean, you had some. The chocolate cake, I brought it back. That was that slice of cake. Oh, they look like little cake. The vanilla cake. Yeah, they did, didn't they? That vanilla cake, Sal's mum made that, and that was Chef's Kiss. But the the chocolate slice, that was from her. Um, so 10 out of 10. Um, we booked dinner somewhere. Well, like we we hiked all around the place, um, and we were like in a bowl. Like the way this landscape was set out, it was it was a steep hill to walk back to the cottage the next morning. Like my bum hurt from like my glutes were on fire. That's good. On fire. So I was working off the bread and the meat and the cheese and stuff. Um booked dinner, had dinner, and then where we had dinner, there was like a strip of bars, so we like went out after you got ooh, I was young, you know. You're doing the wholesome, but sometimes you do young girls. Literally, we were in Holmes Firth, big up Holmes Firth. Then I had to get down. I was enjoying it. But everything shut at like 12, of course. There was nowhere really to go after. Um, and then we went to the chip shop, got some cheesy chips, jumped in an Uber, put the wrong address in, didn't we? To get back to the cottage. So we were trying to navigate this Uber driver back to our address. Sophie and I sat in the back seat, Abby's in the front.

SPEAKER_01 41:48

I'm like, fuck, Abby's bite in the wrong address.

SPEAKER_02 41:51

Oh god. And that Sophie looks at me, she's like, What do we do? Sophie hands me a fiver and she's like, Talk to this this driver, Lydia. I went, boss, if I give you this fibre, will you help us get home? Because we're literally in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, and it's pitch black outside. Anyway, we find where we we need to go. He stops, drops us at the end of the road, right? I'm like, Thank you, sir. Thank fuck. I just want to get in the house at this point. Get to the front door and realise my bag isn't around me. And my car keys are in the bag, and my car is at the end of the drive. My bag. Your bag, yeah. Whoops. And the car keys are in the bag, and my car is at the end of the drive, so I'm blocking everybody in, and we're leaving the next morning. I go, Soph, my bag isn't around me. It's in the Uber. So sprints like a fucking track star. She sprints down the street, I follow her. She's like, Wait, sir. We get to can I just please check the back? You went, yeah, okay. Show's back, she grabs my bag. Oh my god, the bag was in the car. Fuck. I was like, thank God. And I took my fucking car keys out with me. And the girls went worrying. You got them, and I was like, Well, I had them on me earlier, and because we left the house in a rush, I've just still got them. So all night I was worried I was gonna lose my keys. Like, never do that. Do you know what I mean? Um, get into the flat, realize the next morning I've left my fucking sunglasses in that car, lost them, mate, they're gone. Tell everyone about the bar. Um, oh, the bar we were in, it was lit. Yeah. There was a DJ, and then there was this second room that kind of went down. Um and there was like tables, and like everybody was dancing in there and not in the main room where the DJ was, which I didn't understand. Anyway, there was this table that was like it was like a it was like a what what are they called? It's like the raised um not DJ decks. No, it was like we were we were sat at like it was like a raised table with bars. Not like a booth. No, it was like the table, it was like a breakfast bar, it was like raised, and there was bar stools underneath it. Do you know what I mean? Like it's a high table. Painted the picture. Um, and so all the girls and I were around that, and um, it was up against the wall, so I was facing the wall, looking out towards like the room. Um, I'm taking that because I'm having a great night. I smack my sunglasses on my fucking face and act like I'm DJing on our wine glasses and stuff, and the girls are like facing me and they're all dancing, and like we're really selling this bit, right? Yeah, yeah. It's all funny, we laugh, we move on with the night. Anyway, this guy walks over to the table and he goes, Oh, hang on, you're not the DJ. And we all like burst out laughing. I went, No. I went, he's in there. Anyway, I'm like the girls, I'm gonna get another bottle of wine. So I walk over to the bar. This guy like locks eyes on me and he was like, Great job! Great set, great set. I just went in my head. I think I could be honest with him and tell him, or I could just say thanks and go to the bar and get my bottle of wine, and she went, thank you. Commit to the bit. Thanks, commit to the bit.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

That is so good.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

I was like, everybody thinks I'm the DJ.

SPEAKER_01 45:16

I was like, it's incredible. I love it, that's so good. Um, so we had a really good night.

SPEAKER_02 45:21

Um, what what else was I gonna say? Yeah, much needed, just to like go somewhere new. Um, so take this as a sign to do a little staycation with your girly pops, book somewhere cute, definitely. Um, where we stayed was really nice. It like it rained, but you know, that's we're fing rains at balls, you know. Um so I'd I had a fun weekend, but I'm annoyed that I've lost my black Ojo sunglasses because they were spenny. I know. So I'm thinking I'm gonna have to rebuy because I bought them in Cyprus, so I think I'm gonna have to buy them again. Well we're going back. We are, we'll get another pair. They're just expensive. I know, but you know, you just don't want to buy something again when you've got it. Yeah, I don't and I don't want like I think when you buy nice sunglasses, you realise like they're like, yeah, they're nice. Yeah, do you know what I mean? And they're not extortionate, but they're just they're just a nice brand. Yeah. So guys, make sure your shit is around you before you jump out of Vanubar, basically. Yeah, listen, I've lost a few things recently, it's not nice. It's alright.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Yeah, some that's me, girl. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 46:21

I have Emma's got Emma's leading with the stories together. I have some tea that I wanted to share with you guys, and initially I didn't know if I was gonna share it or not. Yeah, um, but I've had a think, and you know, this is a safe space, guys, and we want to be as open and honest as possible. And this particular thing that happened has been on my mind for a while, actually left a lasting impact. Oh, I can imagine. And honestly, I've sort of never been in this position before. Basically, girlies, I received uh I received a hey girly message, and you've never had this happening. I've never had a hey girly message, which if you know what it is, then you know what it is. Yeah, if you don't, I'm gonna tell you what it is once I tell you the story. So let's backtrack a little bit. Yeah. So I'm out uh for work drinks after work, I work in London, so Thursdays are popping, right? We go to this new spot, there's loads of people around, we're having drinks, me and my team stay, and me and my friends stay, whatever. Um, anyway, I'm sitting outside enjoying myself with my friend, and this guy walks past me, um, gives me like four glances. Anyway, I call him over because I'm just that bitch. I stand on business. If I like what I see, I must say hello. Anyway, we had like a good conversation. He took my number, and that was the end of the situation. He texts me, there was a little bit back and forth. Um, there was the intention to maybe plan a date, you know. Um, but yeah, bit of conversation, whatever. I'm quite excited by the interaction. Yeah, you rang me, you were gassed. Yeah, but say la vie, yeah. I need to be asking more important questions, right? Because this is a bit of a theme, all right? I need to be asking more important questions.

SPEAKER_01 48:18

You can't be recognized for four seconds and going, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

He looked at me for four seconds. That's all I needed to know. Yeah, God, I need to stop doing that. I'm a I'm a woman now, I'm I'm turning 25. I think I think I need to change my yeah, I like because not everyone is single, because they may tell you, but they are not, they act like they're single. Now, this will not be made into a short act. No, this is for the long this is for the die hard listeners because I feel like the reason why I wanted to share it with you guys is because I feel like the ones who are listening now could actually learn a valuable lesson from this. Yeah, whereas if I were to put it on Instagram and YouTube, the people who have short attention spans and just want to jump on something, just to jump on it and stir some shit in the comments section, do not deserve this. No, no, no. However, you girly. I received a hey girly message, yeah. I was actually on my way to work. I open it, I see that it's a paragraph. I have to scroll down to see the end of the message. It's like eight in the morning on like a Monday. Yeah, I'm like on the way to work. Like, first thing, yeah, and I I actually gasped out loud. I rang Athena. She asked, well, I rang you, you know, you were on turn on the transmittion. I was like, hello. So hello, hello.

SPEAKER_03 49:38

Um, I was like, just tell me.

SPEAKER_02 49:40

Anyway, and then got a cliffhanger and I was like, I want to know what's happened. Anyway, I rang Athena. I went, I'm not gonna ask you how you are, just so you just listen. I don't care how you are. Anyway, I'm not gonna read the message word for word, but like I feel like that's too much. But in a nutshell, this person who had said they were single had had a partner for a decade. This would said partner, and he told me in a text message that he was going on holiday, and when he was gonna come back, um, we were gonna potentially go on a date or something like that. Turns out this this this holiday was in celebration of their very young, young baby together, and essentially the girlfriend had a feeling, and always follow that gut, ladies. Yeah, always follow it. She found my text messages, she actually sent me the screenshots of our messages, so I knew it wasn't like a cat. Yeah, anyway, yeah, that's so true, actually. Yeah, you know, maybe crazy ex, whatever. But I was just like, oh my god, I have never been in this situation before. I have had friends who have been in those situations and I've given them advice on how to act on it, but I just thought, fuck, you cannot believe people. You can't, you really have to have thick skin. But the lesson I feel is here is I feel the signs are always there really early on. I was gonna say to you, is there anything in hindsight that made you go, huh? That makes sense now. Because not from our interaction, no, but from I don't know if I'm overstepping here. I will always be, I will always hold myself accountable for things. If you ever feel like maybe Emma, you're overstepping here, please tell me, I will listen. However, from the girl's perspective, who is absolutely lovely, we had an amazing conversation together, you know, whatever. I've checked in with her, whatever. Yeah. Um, but the signs are always there in the beginning, right? Because I think if in any relationship that has ended for whatever reason, whether it's me, them, or it's sort of come to an actual end, it's never been a shock, why? Because the reasons were always there in the beginning. But when you're in an early when you're in those early stages, you know, you want them to like you, you kind of make excuses of it, but from what I understood, was this wasn't the first time, you know. Really? And I just think sometimes as a woman, women, listen to me here. I know you're divas, I know you're beautiful. Please do not let it get to a point where you have a man with a child for you to realize who they are, like who they've been showing you who they are since the beginning. Because then you've got someone else who's also gonna have those shortcomings, you know? Because then also their kid is also gonna have to learn a really difficult lesson, and I'm sorry that is the reality of the situation. Yeah, please observe those behaviours early on in the relationship and really take note of those because the flags, the signs are all there, they are, yeah. You know what kind of you know what I took from just the way you were conversing with this girl. Like, I think often women turn against women, and I feel like you two both had a very constructive and supportive conversation because it could have been you could have very easily gone, fuck this girl, or she could have very easily blamed you and harassed you, but you guys had a very constructive positive conversation that like you guys are on the same side, yeah. And I think that's what we need to take from a lot of this because men put pit us against each other a lot of the time, and we end up hating the girl and and not you know making the man accountable for his actions. So I think that was that was incredible, and it just shows you how amazing that woman is as well. She is amazing, she sounded like a lot of things. The way she was talking, I was like, she sounds like one of my friends, you know, and and deserves so much better, deserves so much better. And she said this and she was like, Um, if it was if uh because I obviously apologized, and she was like, You've got nothing to apologize for, and she said, if it wasn't you, it would have been someone else, you know. But then she also said, Um, which I feel like for me is like if there's anything you're gonna take away from this, is she said, um, you don't owe me anything, and I said, as a woman, I owe you everything, yeah. Absolutely, I owe you everything. Yeah, I am a nobody in this situation, yeah. You know, like I'm gonna tell you everything you want to know. Do you know what I mean? But I just think, ladies, like not to not to judge and be really critical, but I just think I think I've learned a lot from that for me, and like the expectations I'm gonna have of someone, like my next partner with this shit. You do have to sometimes make difficult decisions to protect your heart. And yeah, I think forgiveness is a really powerful thing, and if you're able to give someone that, absolutely do it. But then I think there also is a fine line between giving someone forgiveness and then also compromising on your own peace and your own future for the sake of some fuck boy. Mate, what a fucking spanner. I was not expecting that from that man when you said it. I'm just glad that you weren't really far far down the line with this man and you'd been on several dates and all this stuff. Because let's just say that's what was where it was gonna go. Yeah, you know, but I don't understand what he thought he was gonna do. I don't know. Like how I don't understand how you think you were gonna juggle this in any capacity, yeah. No, you're so right. But clearly he thought he could, like an elf. But do you know what? And do you know what? These stories also aren't few and far between. No, they're very common. They're very common, they happen a lot, yeah. You know, so we are worth more than this. We are, and if you're in a situation now where you feel like you've got that gut feeling that you're like, this ain't worth it, and this is gonna bite me in the ass later down the line. As Harry Styles said, do you see he's back on tour? Yeah, if he's not if he's not making you happy, throw him in the bin. And I'm gonna leave it on that, I think. Leave it on that note, guys. Yeah, well, it was nice chatting to you guys. We've just haven't released that chatty episode, yeah. Released an episode every Thursday and promise we'll probably have less bombs next week, but guys, it's not looking good. No, we've still got so much to chat. Honestly, Emma and I, just to give you an insight into probably next week's episode, Emma and I are both on hinge again. Um I was already on it, and then I was like, Emma, I'm on it, I'm swiping, I'm chatting, I'm having fun. Um, the girls and I played hinge on our little cottage getaway. We all huddled around my phone and just just were like, oh this one, oh nice white. Do you know what I mean? Really fun. So Emma got back on it, and we've been we've been chitting and chatting. Um, but there's also been slight overlap in that we're like, this has to be a group effort because we have the same radius and the same guys pop up on both of our profiles. So it's a slippery fucking slope. Absolutely. So uh we'll give you a little hinge update next week, I think. Because it's just too much to unpack. It's just so entertaining as well. It's so entertaining. Maybe we'll maybe we'll give them nicknames. Maybe we should. On the ones we're not, you know, yeah, sure about you know, yeah, yeah. Anyway, we post a new episode every Thursday. Make sure to like and subscribe. Make sure to put our post notifications on so you get an alert whenever there's a new episode out. You can do that. Yeah. Um, make sure to follow us and show us some love on socials. Things have been popping off on socials at the minute. The Instagram family is what you're advanced at the minute. We love you. Absolutely. Make sure to comment. We want to hear your voices, we want to hear your opinions. Um, make sure to follow us on TikTok too. Um, I think that's it for socials, but thank you for oversharing, Dean. Thank you for oversharing, Emma. Very proud of you.

SPEAKER_03 58:39

Oh, thank you so much, Chris. She's a marathon walker. Mania come the floor. She's dancing like she's never danced before. Alright. Alright, love you guys.

unknown 58:55

Hi!

SPEAKER_00 59:00

Lost in the space right now. I don't think I'm too. She's the one that was always better.