I had the pleasure of chatting with Tom Bell from the Easy Thrills podcast. A podcast about adventure, motivation and transformation.
Thank you Tom for the invitation. It was my first guest appearance on a podcast episode.
Since recording the episode in the summer, the Easy Thrills podcast project has been parked. It seemed a shame for the episode not to be shared, after the preparation made. Tom Bell has kindly given his permission for the episode to be hosted by Run With Less, so that I can share the podcast episode with you.
Listen to the full podcast episode below:
The episode can be found externally at anchor.fm/runwithless and in all good podcast platforms, including spotify.
Easy Thrills podcast episode details
In the podcast episode, we discuss:
- How my Dad inspired me to start running,
- How discovering meditation was a primer preparing for a mindset ready for change,
- The benefits of simplicity and how minimalism has helped my running progress,
- How my 4 stone weight loss journey has been a ‘happy accident’,
- The highlights from my first parkrun to 3:48 marathon,
- Event day experiences & memories,
- The evolution from running for fitness, to speed & then to running for meaning, by inspiring my daughter.
Preparing for my first podcast appearance
It was an opportunity for personal growth, to be open to new opportunities that present themselves and taking a risk to step outside of my comfort zone.
To be fully transparent, it was a challenge and I was nervous leading up to the recording, as it was my first podcast and didn’t know what to expect.
I tend to use over-preparing as a coping mechanism to try and control uncertainty.
The over-preparing for the podcast appearance involved:
- note taking,
- recording a voice note whilst running a 10K to practice telling my story,
- replaying the recording to learn which parts were most relevant & worked best for storytelling,
- more sleep the night before,
- conserving energy on the day of the recording,
- paying attention to what time I ate to make sure I wasn’t too full & lethargic,
- 40 minute run two hours before to get the endorphins flowing
- and finally a brief 10 minute meditation prior to the call.
It took a lot to get there but I did it.
It was a great experience. Tom was the perfect host, I had a lot of fun and learnt a great deal about the process and work that goes into making a podcast.
I have done the work now, so if I was to appear on podcasts in future, the process would be a lot simpler. Recording my thoughts while running is a technique that worked well & something I will do in future.
Attitude of gratitude – the roll call
Inspired by Stormzy’s Glastonbury Pyramid Stage performance, were he stopped mid-set for a few moments with a roll call to credit a list of artists that have helped & inspired him, along with new artists coming through.
I wanted to do something similar and take the opportunity to show gratitude; saying thank you to the running & minimalism communities and special individuals who have personally inspired me and helped on my journey to marathon runner.
In no particular order:
- Dan Woodgate (@half_the_man_dan),
- Alice Millican (@alicemmillican),
- Anna Harding (@anna.the.runner) from the @runningchannel,
- Ian Mortimer, author of brilliant book ‘Why Running Matters‘,
- Anthony Ongaro (@anthonyongaro) of Break The Twitch (@breakthetwitch),
- Cait Flanders (@caitflanders), author of ‘The Year of Less’,
- Rich Roll (@richroll), brilliant podcast & author of inspirational book ‘Finding Ultra’,
- Ben Parkes (@benparkes), amazing running YouTube channel & Training Plans,
- Matt D’Avella (@mattdavella), the Minimalist Filmmaker and director of minimalismfilm.com on Netflix,
- Courtney Carver (@bemorewithless), creator of minimalist fashion challenge #project333,
- The Minimalists (@theminimalists), creator of the Netflix documentary ‘Minimalism: A documentary about the Important Things‘, that was the catalyst for change,
- Vassos Alexander, author of two amazing running books, Don’t Stop Me Now (Marathon-focused) and Running Up That Hill (more Trail & Ultra-focused) #RunWithVassos,
- David Goggins (@davidgoggins), author of epic and inspiring book (audiobook is best) ‘Can’t Hurt Me‘,
- rameshruns (@rameshruns), low heart rate training inspiration,
- Marcus Brown (@themarathonmarcus), the real deal. Aiming for a sub3 marathon whilst fitting it in around full time work & family life. Big Respect for this guy.
- Marie Kondo (@mariekondo), author of ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up‘ and bringing Minimalism to the main stream with the successful Netflix series ‘Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.’,
- Joshua Becker (@joshua_becker), inspiring others to own less and live more at becomingminimalist.com,
- Andy Puddicombe (@andypuddicombe), creator of meditation app Headspace (@headspace),
- Charlie Dark (@daddydarkrdc), massive influence & inspiration and my running family, Run Dem Crew (@run.dem.crew),
- Leigh Venus (@leigh_venus) and the Newcastle Minimalism meet-up group,
- Tom Bell, host of the Easy Thrills Podcast (@easythrills),
- my Wife,
- my Daughter,
- wider family & friends,
- and finally my Dad, who inspired me to start running. This podcast episode is dedicated to you.
Show notes
The following items were also discussed in the podcast episode:
- Jessica’s parkrun heroes – 10 mini documentaries,
- Streak running with @molly_runs_365,
- Running event pacer, Pick Up The Pace Paul Addicott (@pauladdicott),
- MyFitnessPal app that assisted with weight loss,
- Book by Ian Mortimer ‘Why Running Matters‘.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast episode. Please feel free to share any feedback in the comments below…
