Hanny Allston

Arwen Dyer is a gentle soul with a story that we believe needs to be heard. Her photography alone we could discuss for hours, but it is her work in art therapy that is at the core of this conversation.  


We discuss the use of art to heal, even for those of us that place ourselves in the non-artistic box.


“There can often be resistance to using the arts in that therapeutic context even if people want to they can get stuck in their own story and just talking. But also they might feel like I’m going to be judged on what I create or what’s going to come out of this.”


“What if we make some marks on paper about how that feels for you? What colour would you choose? It might just be a black mess on the paper but that’s what it is – that’s what you’re feeling.”


We hope this conversation gives you an introduction to an unusual but beautiful technique.

#02: Finding the Art to Healing with Arwen Dyer

Today, we sit down with Professor Paulo De Souza Jnr, an internationally recognised scientist who has recently discovered ultra running. This conversation is about being the absolute best that you can be, while at the same time not beating yourself up if you fail along the way. It’s about making mistakes but ensuring that you learn from them. Importantly, it’s also a conversation on what drives you. Paulo has a very strong sense of self and this conversation will find you questioning and contemplating what drives you.

 

“Curiosity is the basis of everything I do but I transformed that, I think I changed that, and I give purpose to that. What drives me is purpose”


A quick, and very condensed, overview of Paulo’s life:

- Grew up in the Amazon
- Excelled in Judo and considered pursing it to an Olympic level
- Studied his PhD in Germany
- Worked for NASA
- Now lives and works in Tasmania for CSIRO
- ‘Bees with backpacks’ project
- Discovered a love of ultra running and now finds a balance incorporating it with his researching career
 

“Whatever you want to do – just go for it. But be mindful of what the consequences are of your choices.”


We hope you enjoy this conversation.


Watch the link below for a better understanding of the Bees with Backpacks project.

#01: Running marathons on Mars with Paulo De Souza

Be prepared to never look at your emotions the same way again. Today we sit down with Clive Stack, an absolute trailblazer in mapping emotions. 

While this podcast may not seem relevant to you on the surface, trust us when we say that you will be blown away by how this conversation can be applied in your life; from yourself and your relationships, to your running/exercise and motivation. Freedom, anxiety and fury are all discussed in depth. We also delve into a topic that was asked when we initially released our podcast idea regarding your motivation to run (and continue to run). 

We don’t want to give too much away so we will leave you with the following quotes from the conversation. 

“Emotion is the force to help you become what you want to be. Our emotions control our behaviour.”

“The common thought that someone makes us feel something, that is such a common thing. Nobody can MAKE you feel something.”

“Perfection is about living in the now; there is no perfection except in the moment. When we search for perfection, what we are trying to do is live in the moment.”

We hope you enjoy this conversation and take the risk of learning with us.

#03: Driven by emotions with Dr Clive Stack

Today we sit down with Darryl Griffiths, founder of Shotz Sports Nutrition and author of Sweat.Think.Go Faster. Darryl is known as a pioneer in sports nutrition and if you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll have seen we've frequently showcased Darryl's knowledge through his guest blogs on nutrition and hydration and previous podcasts with Hanny.

   

At its core, we hope this podcast will show you how passionate Darryl is about helping athletes perform better along with giving some more information on the man behind the scenes. Darryl has worked with the world's top: Ironmen and women; triathletes; cyclists; runners; Paralympian's; Formula One and motocross athletes just to name a few. He even has famous faces staying with him in Melbourne on a regular basis!

   

He's inspired us to explore not just sports nutrition but exploring better ways of doing business and living our personal lives with intention. 

       

“It’s about having a respect for the body and an understanding that everyone is so different”
    
“People may be exactly the same size and yet have completely different numbers when you’re talking about hydration”
      

We hope you enjoy this conversation.

#04: Fuelling Your Intentions with Darryl Griffiths

We’ve switched things around and today are interviewing Hanny for the podcast! I’m sure that most of you are at the very least familiar with the name ‘Hanny Allston’ and know that she is a phenomenal athlete. There is a lot more to Hanny than just running though as you will see with this conversation. 

I hope this podcast shows someone with an incredible character and drive that has led to multiple outstanding achievements, while maintaining a humble and grounded personality. Our conversation dives into turning 30, Find Your Feet and the many aspects of running; from training to racing to avoiding injury.
 
We hope you enjoy this conversation.

#05: Running with new insights with Hanny Allston

Hanny Allston has accomplished her final 'competitive dream' after many years of racing at an elite level - completing the 100km distance at the Ultra Trail Australia. In her words, 'It was an emotional celebration of everything my mind and body has done for me over my running journey, and the lessons I learnt along the way'.

In this podcast we cover all things UTA: from the days before, to the actual race and into recovery. We also discuss Hanny's tips and tricks for trail runners entering UTA next year (which are also applicable to other races!)         

She now can hang her race shoes up and hand the baton to the the new ranks after competing at the pointy end of the field for many years. Hanny might be finished at elite level racing but her experience, knowledge and love of trails continues.

We hope you enjoy this conversation.

#10: Ultra Trail Australia Reflections with Hanny Allston

In this podcast, we go deep into the psychology and foundations of sustainable training, trying to uncover some of the important truths associated with mastering our crafts, be them play or performance.

We delve into:
- The humble beginnings of Hanny Allston
- Hanny’s writing process for her new trail running guidebook and training resources
- How Hanny developed her style of coaching and ethos
- Extra-ordinary benefits of taking time to develop a strong sense of self
- Sustainable training mindsets

#17 Psychological Foundations of Performance With Hanny Allston

I have decided to create this podcast series based upon my newly released Ultra Trail Australia Training Programs and Trail Running Guidebook. Whilst each episode targets athletes using these resources, they should provide informative listening for all athletes or individuals keen to embark on a more active lifestyle. A new episode will be released monthly on Thursdays up until the Ultra Trail Australia event hosted in May 2018!  My aim with this series is to support your unique journey, playing to the start line and beyond!
 
Throughout the duration of this series I will be talking with Jess- my friend, colleague and fellow trail runner – specifically with tips to tackle the most common challenges I see amongst the athletes I work with or have trained alongside. I will be sharing stories from my own experiences and busting myths about nutrition & hydration, overtraining and holistic health.
 
I would strongly recommend (if you haven’t already) listening to #17 The Psychological Foundations of Performance. Establishing a clear understanding of why we want to strive for our peak performance is crucial for sustainable training. Are our motives internally or externally driven? Are we nurturing all areas of holistic health whilst working towards our goals? These are important questions that we need to address to reduce the risk of epic burnouts, injury through overtraining and building our sense of self.
  
So, base training! It is the first aspect of physical training that I have included in the guidebook and for very good reason. The term ‘base training’ feels like a bit of an overkill signpost as to what I am suggesting to build your fitness foundations. 
 
 Take Home Points:  
- Periodising training is crucial: In order to improve, we do not have to push our bodies to the limits every training session
- Playing in the base training phase for a longer period of time will help lower our risk of stress injuries and overtraining
- Athletes can reach 80-90% of their maximum ability just from base training alone
- Identifying some of the various symptoms of overtraining that we might be overlooking
- Base training is the perfect place to come back to for recovery, and sustainable exercising

“I have no doubt that someone could get off the couch now and in 6 months time, run 100km. But it’s to the expense at what that is going to do in the long term – and that’s physically and psychologically. I think you can have a much better experience if you try and pick goals in keeping with where you are at and you allow yourself to just enjoy the beauty of base training.” ​

#19 Base Training With Hanny Allston

“If there was one element I could retain in my training and I had to get rid of all the others, the one element I would retain is hills.”

Main Points
- Recap of Hanny's epic mission to Federation Peak
- Why run hills? The importance of hill training for injury prevention
- How hill training can actually reduce the likelihood common running injuries such as ITB syndrome and Achilles injuries.
- Uphill and Downhill Running Techniques
-- Cadence
-- Stair Running
-- Technical Trails
- Advice for improving our psychological approach to hills
- Glute Activation for injury prevention – tips for strengthening our deep gluteal muscles.
- How to start hill training
- Hanny’s advice for hill training without hills
- The importance of nutrition for uphill and downhill running – caffeine = life saver 

Trail runners have to accept that the ground isn’t always flat and on almost every run we will encounter some kind of hill. So, what happens now?
 
Behind every step that we take when we hit the trails or brave the bush lands is an intricate series of energy ‘ins & outs’. The alterations in surfaces and slopes change the way our muscles need to respond. Sometimes they will be contracting strongly to propel us forward and other times they will be eccentrically contracting to slow us down. Sometimes gravity will be working in our favour, and sometimes completely against us.
 
Therefore, it is important to begin thinking about the way you catch, create and utilize the energy that you have available to you. This might be the difference between having enough energy to think clearly to the end of your run, and bonking out before you have truly reached your peak performance.
 
I get a lot of questions regarding how to incorporate hill training into race preparations – especially for those looking to compete in the UTA. I hope this podcast can answer some of these questions and help to bring a greater feeling of confidence and efficiency to your running practise.
 
I have a plethora of free resources available online, so take some time to explore all the links below if this topic interests you

Videos
Hanny’s Federation Peak Mission - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32pgo3YRGR0
 
Podcast Recommendations
Find Your Feet Podcast Episode #19 Base Training Podcast –
http://www.hannyallston.com.au/base-training.html
 
Find Your Feet Podcast Episode #15 UTMB with Brook Martin –
http://www.hannyallston.com.au/brook-martin.html
 
Blog Posts
Training for Mountains without Hills- http://www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/training-for-mountains-without-hills
 
Uphill & Downhill Running Technique –
http://www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/uphill-downhill-running-technique

Hanny Allston
Website – www.hannyallston.com.au
Blog - www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/hanny.allston/
 
Hanny Allston Training Resources
Guidebook – http://www.hannyallston.com.au/trail-running-guidebook.html
UTA Training Packages - http://www.hannyallston.com.au/ultra-trail-australia.html
 
Contact Me – hanny@findyourfeet.com.au
 
Find Your Feet Retail Store – www.findyourfeet.com.au

#25 Hill Training & Running Technique With Hanny Allston

This Injury podcast has been on our minds since we started the UTA mini-series this year (full playlist available here). Now a month after UTA, and we are super excited to share this episode. Jess and I went in with an intention to talk about common trail running injuries, specifically overuse injuries and my own personal experience with Achilles tendonitis, however the conversation evolved to discuss injuries on a more holistic scale. How dealing with injuries can catalyse internal personal growth beyond just dealing with the physical pain.
 
I get a lot of questions about running with injuries so I hope you can find some valuable information in here that could help you to troubleshoot your own situation. That being said, I am a massive advocate for seeking professional help at any stage of your journey as an athlete. I have a great list of recommended health service providers on my website, that I would encourage you to check out. 
 
My biggest take away from having an injured Achilles for the past seven months, is that without a strong sense of self beyond the gratification your physical body can give you, injuries can be an incredibly difficult time. They also have a healing timeframe that often you cannot rush. Take the time to incorporate preventative practices into your everyday activities and if you do get injured, relish in that time to re-evaluate your life, goals and see where you can make the next step.  
 
Topics we covered:
Overuse injuries 
ITB issues 
Knee injuries
Achillies tendonitis 
Maintaining growth through sustainable loading to prevent overdoing
Hanny’s experience with injuries, specifically Achilles tendonitis 
Injuries: Men vs. Women 
Mentally and emotionally dealing with injury 
Prevention exercises and practices 
How to realign our mindset after not being able to run - finding your 'normal'
Treating yourself like an athlete – supportive networks and services

I hope you enjoy this one!

​I really value your feedback. If you have any thoughts about the podcast or any of our resources/services with Find Your Feet, you can let me know via email hanny@findyourfeet.com.au, Facebook or Instagram :)

#33 Growing From the Common Trail Running Injuries with Hanny Allston

#50 A wink from a guru with Aaron Schultz

An original and helpful voice on this landscape of digital connection for which there are no maps. Seth Godin is a singular thought leader and innovator in what he describes as our post-industrial, post-geography "connection economy." Rather than merely tolerate change, he says, we are all called now to rise to it. We are invited and stretched in whatever we do to be artists — to create in ways that matter to other people.

Seth Godin — The Art of Noticing, and Then Creating (Jan 24, 2013)

There are so many extraordinary people achieving outside of the ordinary.  From athletes to artists, adventurers to entrepreneurs, scientists to everyday people embarking on huge adventures.  However, it is not what they achieve that fascinates me, but rather, how they achieve such excellence.   

Through my Find Your Feet Podcast, I want to pull back layer upon layer to find out what drives these members of our community who are striving hard to find their feet & live a rich, purposeful life.  I want to help their powerful messages and stories to be heard so that they can continue to make a ripple… or potentially even a splash!  

I hope that through sharing their journeys and an insight into what makes them tick, we can provide an avenue for your own self-exploration for a meaningful life filled with excellence, in whatever that field may be.  Because ultimately, I just hope that these inspiring individuals can help us all to progress one step closer to finding our feet as people, and in whatever dreams we dare to dream.
Visit www.hannyallston.com.au

#33 Growing From the Common Trail Running Injuries with Hanny Allston

Find Your Feet Podcast

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