Episode 162. LIVE From Sydney: Personal Bests with Lydia O’Donnell, Riley Hemson, Isobel Hume and Elyse Sene-Lefao

Recorded in front of a live audience at Pace Athletic in Sydney ahead of race weekend, this special installment of the After Dark Tour series brings together coaches and athletes to break down what it really means to pursue a "personal best". From redefining race-day goals beyond the finish-line clock to navigating pre-race nerves, training sacrifices, and the power of community, the panel shares honest, grounding perspectives for every runner toeing the line.

Cheers and thank you for listening!

Coach Bennett

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Get Better at Running Without Running With Pauline Lopez

Coach Bennett sits down with Taekwondo athlete and coach Pauline Lopez to talk about the lessons she’s carrying from a lifetime in martial arts into a new chapter as a runner.

Pauline shares how being told Taekwondo “wasn’t for girls” only made her more determined to step onto the mat, eventually leading her to compete at the highest levels of the sport. She reflects on training alongside her dad, chasing the Olympic dream, learning to move beyond wins and medals, and discovering that some of the most important parts of sport happen in the process. These days, Pauline is finding new ways to apply those lessons to running. She talks about this with Coach B, talk about reframing “I have to” into “I get to,” showing up when training gets hard, being intentional about rest, staying present, and remembering that no single pursuit has to become your entire identity.

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Cheers and thank you for listening,

Coach Bennett

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Episode 160. Own Your Fitness

🌟NEW EPISODE🌟Episode 160 “Own Your Fitness”. I recorded this episode of Coach Bennett’s Podcast in my hotel room in Sydney, Australia. So, you know what that means... that means this episode is a straight up banger. And this episode is once again inspired by you! Specifically, all of you that I’ve been talking to at Book Tour stops. Owning your fitness is essential to running the right way because owning your fitness is all about the present. Too many runners run the run that’s meant for their ghosts of running future and running past. Well, your ghosts can inspire and influence the work you need to do but your ghosts can’t make the investment of work you need to make. That’s why we’re talking about this topic on this episode. We need to start respecting the one and only athlete that can do anything about anything. And that athlete is the athlete you are. Not the athlete you were. Not the athlete you may one day be. Own this version of you. And you do that by owning your fitness.

Listen to Coach Bennett’s Podcast anywhere and everywhere you get your podcast fix fixed!

Oh yeah, if you haven't already bought my book This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running. I'm going to make it easy for you and drop all the links you need to order yours right now.

US BOOK ORDERS CLICK HERE

UK BOOK ORDERS CLICK HERE

AUSTRALIA BOOK ORDERS CLICK HERE

IRELAND BOOK ORDERS CLICK HERE

GLOBAL BOOK ORDERS CLICK HERE

Cheers and thank you for listening to the podcast,

Coach Bennett

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Episode 159. Lessons From The Pack With Queenie Azabeth & Rehana Jade

Coach Bennett shares two stories from the Nike After Dark Tour, sitting down with Queenie Azabeth from Shanghai and Rehana Jade from London to talk about the unexpected paths that brought them to running and the people who have helped them discover what they’re capable of.

Queenie went from bodybuilding and group fitness to finding her place in running, eventually co-founding a run club and taking on the After Dark Tour Shanghai 10K alongside a friend. She shares how running became a space to be with her thoughts, why community can push us beyond the limits we set for ourselves, and how showing up, even when you’re nervous you won’t fit in, can open the door to something bigger.

Then, Rehana shares her journey from road marathons to trail running, coaching, and building a community of women through Club 99 in London. She talks about the friendships and friendly competition that have made her a stronger runner, returning to the site of her first muddy trail-running adventure to complete a 50K. Plus, she talks about the joy working with her Coach Cana (peep her here on Instagram, @canapeek) and why finding people who believe in you can help you accomplish things you might not attempt alone.

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Episode 158. This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running.

My book This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running. is out in the wild! You can order it online. You can pick it up at your local indie bookshop. You can download the audiobook. You can get one for yourself. You can get one for your friend or someone in your family. You can get one for your teammate or neighbor or someone that you believe needs to read about courage and faith and hope and strength and endurance and Dirty Dancing and running and not running.

This special episode is all about the book. Why I wrote it. How I wrote it. Where I wrote it. And so much more. I hope you love the episode. I hope you order the book. Actually, I hope you order lots of copies of the book. I'm really proud of it. And I wrote it because of you and for you.

I hope to see you out there on the Book Tour or one of the (many) races I will be out!

Cheers,

Coach Bennett

SOME COOL LINKS

Order the book in the USA here

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Order the book all around the world here

Listen to the playlist I listened to while I wrote the book here

Check out the amazing artist that created the end papers illustration here

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Episode 157. Goal Setting On The Run With Joan Benoit Samuelson

Today’s a big day: Coach Bennett’s new book, This Is About Running, This Is Not About Running, is officially out in the world. One of the chapters is dedicated to Joan Benoit Samuelson, so celebrating publication day with Joanie on the mic felt like the only way to do it.

Every runner knows the feeling of setting a goal that makes your stomach flip a little. For Joanie, that feeling has never really gone away—not after winning the first-ever women’s Olympic marathon gold medal in 1984, not after 150,000 career miles, and not today. But if you ask her, the numbers aren't the point. The point is the story that happens along the way.

That’s what this conversation is really about. It’s about choosing storytelling over rigid goal-setting, learning to embrace the moments that scare you, and understanding why a runner's journey is rarely a straight line. Joanie opens up about the chaotic weeks leading up to the 1984 Olympic Trials—undergoing knee surgery just days before, trusting her gut on a risky 17-mile test run, and finding the quiet conviction to step up to the starting line anyway.

We get into the critical difference between a workout that feels hard and one where you feel completely flat, why cross-training and balance keep you in the game for decades, and how the sport of running creates a two-way road where every single person has an inspiring story to share. Plus, stick around at the end of the episode for a voicemail from a listener in Seattle on navigating post-marathon burnout and finding your spark again.

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Episode 156: LIVE From Nike: Finding the Joy in Running With Brett Chody, Deepa Ramprasad and Kaytlin Lam

Recorded live in front of an audience at Philip H. Knight Campus) Coach Chris Bennett and producer Emily Abbate celebrate the After Dark Tour and the power of women’s running communities. Joined by Deepa Ramprasad (Senior Director, Nike Road Running Footwear), Brett Chody (Global Nike Running Creator & Founder of Bites Run Club), and Kaytlin Lam (Global Brand Management Specialist, Nike Running), the squad explores how running builds relationships, breaks down intimidation barriers, and creates spaces where every runner belongs.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Running as a Relationship: Coach Bennett highlights how running mirrors an evolving personal relationship—from awkward first steps to finding lifelong joy and routine.
• Overcoming Self-Doubt & Building Community: Brett Chody discusses why starting lines can feel intimidating and how inclusive run clubs give new runners the community and confidence to keep showing up.
• The Energy of the After Dark Tour: Caitlyn Lam shares her journey from dancer to half-marathoner, reflecting on the electric, supportive atmosphere of her first After Dark race.
• Footwear Insights & "Benefits Don’t Discriminate": Deepa Ramprasad breaks down Nike’s core road-running lineup (Pegasus, Vomero, Structure) and emphasizes that premium cushioning and support belong to every runner, regardless of pace or experience level.

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Episode 155: Own Your Pace With Intisar Abdul-Kader

Every runner has a moment when someone else sees something in them before they see it in themselves. For Intisar Abdul-Kader, that moment came in a school gym, when a PE teacher who also happened to be her science teacher told her the team needed another runner for the mixed 4x400 relay. She trusted him, she ran, and she never looked back.

This episode covers a lot of ground including track in Abu Dhabi and cross country in the woods outside London after her family moved when she was 13. A multiple sclerosis diagnosis three days after her 23rd birthday, and the walk, then the jog, then the 5K, then the marathon that followed. She's now completed all six World Majors, run largely on the strength of ballot entries she didn't even realize were building toward that goal until a stranger told her so in a Chicago hotel lobby.

We talk about what it means to run as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman on the world stage, why doing less is so often the harder and more important choice, and how she measures a good run by nothing more complicated than whether she'd go back and do it again (her answer, every time, is yes).

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