Women’s Running Collective

International Women’s Day: Trailblazing Women Who Changed Running (Plus UTA Training, Superblast 3 & Weekly Recos)

 

THANKYOU to our very first legit sponsor ASICS AUSTRALIA

Hayles and Jussie are back on the mic for another episode of the Women’s Running Collective and kicking things off with a little life catch-up. Jussie has just returned from Europe where she managed to squeeze in runs through Vienna in the snow, a run through Istanbul, and even a bit of skiing along the way.

Back home, the girls chat through their latest training block down in Forster from Sandhills sessions to sub-threshold reps, ladders and hill work as Jussie continues building strength for UTA.

They also dive into the difference between running in the cold vs the heat (and which one they’d choose), before sharing the excitement around their International Women’s Day community 3K/5K event which sold out super quickly and will raise funds for a local women’s shelter and oncology ward.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Hayles and Jussie highlight some of the incredible women who helped shape the sport we all love today.

From Kathrine Switzer’s iconic Boston Marathon moment in 1967, Bobbi Gibb running Boston unofficially in 1966, Joan Benoit winning Olympic marathon gold in 1984 just weeks after knee surgery, Alice Moore’s incredible Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra finish, and the powerful “New York Six” protest in 1972 that helped fight for equality in women’s distance running.

They also chat about the ASICS Superblast 3, share their weekly recommendations (including a Disney love story, “Fun Clothes Friday”), and wrap things up with a practical tip for runners about menstrual cups via PutACupInIt.com.

As always a mix of running chat, community vibes, and a few laughs along the way.

Timestamps

00:00 Sponsor Intro Superblast 3
00:21 Welcome Back Banter
01:31 Travel Runs Snow And Skiing
02:48 Cold Vs Heat Running
03:49 Training Week Recap
06:47 International Womens Day Event
07:52 Pioneers Of Womens Running
08:19 Kathrine Switzer Boston 1967
09:55 Bobbi Gibb Boston 1966
11:12 Joan Benoit Olympic Gold
12:24 Alice Moore Ultra Success
14:59 New York Six Protest 1972
18:21 IWD Reflections And Wrap
19:40 Midroll Superblast 3 Details
21:10 Weekly Recommendations
23:20 Period Running Cup Tip
24:57 Final Sponsor Thanks Outro SUPERBLAST 3

🎙 Women’s Running Collective Podcast
Elite Runner Insights + ASICS Superblast 3 Review
With Leanne Pompeani, Jemma Pollard & Izzy Batt-Doyle

Hayley hosts the Women’s Running Collective solo this week (while Jussie is off travelling ✈️), bringing you a special episode recorded at the ASICS Superblast 3 launch in Sydney.

Across the episode, Hayley shares short, powerful interviews with three of Australia’s elite female runners Leanne Pompeani, Jemma Pollard, and Isobel Batt-Doyle diving into performance, mindset, resilience and what it truly takes to compete at the top.

Leanne opens up about her move into marathoning, highlights from the 2025 Sydney Marathon, a scary heatstroke collapse at World Cross Country, and her sights set firmly on Olympic qualification in 2028.

Jemma celebrates her blistering 51.73 PB in the 400m, reflects on competing at the World Championships in Japan, and walks us through what a training week looks like balancing track sessions, gym work and cross-training.

Izzy shares her shift toward the marathon and road racing, her high-mileage Boston build, why recovery is non-negotiable, and offers powerful advice about avoiding comparison in the age of Strava and social media.

Hayley also discusses Ironman’s recent ban on personal recording devices in races — and whether major running events could follow suit — before giving her honest Superblast 3 review and previewing the upcoming Women’s Running Collective International Women’s Day charity event.

⏱ Episode Breakdown
00:00 Welcome & solo host setup
01:29 Meet Leanne Pompeani
03:08 Leanne Quickfire
05:48 Marathon mindset
06:28 Goals & life as an elite
07:42 Superblast 3 first impressions
08:23 Meet Jemma Pollard
09:51 Jemma Quickfire
11:35 Training structure & finding joy
12:55 Izzy tease
13:30 Izzy’s rise to elite level
15:12 Quickfire questions
17:22 Boston marathon training week
18:27 Recovery & longevity
19:16 Growing up in a running family
20:17 Advice for new runners
20:45 Superblast 3 chat
23:03 Ironman race camera ban debate
25:57 Full Superblast 3 review
29:10 International Women’s Day charity event
31:31 Sign off & thanks

👟 Product Feature
Hayley shares her thoughts on the ASICS Superblast 3 from first-run impressions to how it performs across easy runs, workouts and longer efforts.

🌸 Community Spotlight
Details on the upcoming Women’s Running Collective International Women’s Day event, where all proceeds will support local women’s charities.

Women’s Running Collective Podcast
Elite Runner Insights + ASICS Superblast 3 Review
With Leanne Pompeani, Jemma Pollard & Izzy Batt-Doyle

Hayley hosts the Women’s Running Collective solo this week (while Jussie is off travelling ✈️), bringing you a special episode recorded at the ASICS Superblast 3 launch in Sydney.

Across the episode, Hayley shares short, powerful interviews with three of Australia’s elite female runners Leanne Pompeani, Jemma Pollard, and Isobel Batt-Doyle diving into performance, mindset, resilience and what it truly takes to compete at the top.

Leanne opens up about her move into marathoning, highlights from the 2025 Sydney Marathon, a scary heatstroke collapse at World Cross Country, and her sights set firmly on Olympic qualification in 2028.

Jemma celebrates her blistering 51.73 PB in the 400m, reflects on competing at the World Championships in Japan, and walks us through what a training week looks like balancing track sessions, gym work and cross-training.

Izzy shares her shift toward the marathon and road racing, her high-mileage Boston build, why recovery is non-negotiable, and offers powerful advice about avoiding comparison in the age of Strava and social media.

Hayley also discusses Ironman’s recent ban on personal recording devices in races and whether major running events could follow suit before giving her honest Superblast 3 review and previewing the upcoming Women’s Running Collective International Women’s Day charity event.

Episode Breakdown
00:00 Welcome & solo host setup
01:29 Meet Leanne Pompeani
03:08 Leanne Quickfire
05:48 Marathon mindset
06:28 Goals & life as an elite
07:42 Superblast 3 first impressions
08:23 Meet Jemma Pollard
09:51 Jemma Quickfire
11:35 Training structure & finding joy
12:55 Izzy tease
13:30 Izzy’s rise to elite level
15:12 Quickfire questions
17:22 Boston marathon training week
18:27 Recovery & longevity
19:16 Growing up in a running family
20:17 Advice for new runners
20:45 Superblast 3 chat
23:03 Ironman race camera ban debate
25:57 Full Superblast 3 review
29:10 International Women’s Day charity event
31:31 Sign off & thanks

Product Feature
Hayley shares her thoughts on the ASICS Superblast 3 from first-run impressions to how it performs across easy runs, workouts and longer efforts.

🌸 Community Spotlight
Details on the upcoming Women’s Running Collective International Women’s Day event, where all proceeds will support local women’s charities

Episode 73: How to Hack Dopamine to Get Out the Door (Plus: Running in the Snow + A Beautiful Listener Story)

Yes… we re-recorded this one. 😅
After some technical gremlins, Episode 73 is back louder, clearer and possibly even better.

Weekly Running Catch-Up
Hayles:
Managing a grumpy back, so it’s been less running and more swimming + strength. A reminder that sometimes “training” doesn’t look like what we planned and that’s okay.

Jussie:
Deep in hill sessions and building elevation for Ultra-Trail Australia 50 under the guidance of coach Josh. Legs = cooked. Confidence = building.

Also… Jussie is about to head to Austria 🇦🇹 with plans to run in Vienna (possibly in the snow?!) and then onto Istanbul. If you have snow and ice running tips, please send them our way.

The Main Chat: Dopamine & Motivation
Why is it so hard to get out the door some days, even when we know we’ll feel amazing after?

Enter: dopamine.

We unpack:

What dopamine actually is (a reward-based neurotransmitter)

How it drives desire, habits and repeat behaviours

Why it plays a role in everything from training consistency to doom scrolling

The good news? You can work with your brain instead of fighting it.

Natural Ways to Support Dopamine

Protein + tyrosine-rich foods

Magnesium

Good sleep hygiene

Regular exercise

Reducing chronic stress

Your brain chemistry matters. But so does your environment.

Practical Dopamine “Hacks” for Runners
1️⃣ Reduce Friction

Lay your gear out the night before

Book the class

Lower the bar (10 minutes counts)

Make starting easy.

2️⃣ Use Accountability

Train with a friend

Join a group

Say your goal out loud

Social commitment is powerful.

3️⃣ Reframe the Story
Bad weather? Build grit.
Tired? Go slow.
Short on time? Two minutes is enough to start.

4️⃣ The 2-Minute Rule
Tell yourself you’re just doing two minutes. Momentum does the rest.

5️⃣ “Eat the Frog”
Train first. Get it done before your brain negotiates its way out.

Leverage your morning cortisol spike and delay your phone avoid that early dopamine hit from scrolling before you move your body.

6️⃣ Make It Irresistible

Pair runs with your favourite podcast

Gamify your goals

Rotate rewards

Vary your routes

Anticipation creates dopamine. Build that in before the workout.

Listener Story: Emma 🤍
We read the most beautiful email from Emma a working mum of three in her late 30s navigating renovations, raising a child with additional needs, and using running as an anchor for her mental health.

She shared:

Training toward 10K goals

Sizing up in her ASICS shoes after a year of pins and needles (we’ve all been there)

Completing the Afterglow Trail Run — a nighttime trail 10K in Victoria raising awareness about women’s safety

Her ride-or-die: a supportive sports bra from She Science

Her golden advice: run slower

Emma also asked to hear from other mums juggling similar life stressors. So we’re putting that call out to you, our community is stronger when we share.

Recommendations & Reminders
❄️ Jussie wants your snow and ice running tips.
⌚ Hayles recommends watching our Instagram video on setting up emergency contacts + incident detection on your Garmin.

After Josh had a bike crash recently, the alert came through immediately  thankfully he was fine, but it was a powerful reminder that these features matter.

We might be recording next week while Jussie is overseas stay tuned.

As always, thank you for being here. Train your brain. Lace up anyway. And if motivation dips, remember, you can outsmart it.

Happy running 💛
Hayles & Jussie
Women’s Running Collective

Episode 72: Busting Negative Self-Talk, Getting Back Into Training & The “so close but not Sub-20” 5K

Okay first things first… yes, we know. The mic situation. 😅

Hayles jumps on at the start to confess to a full technical microphone fail which makes her a little tricky to hear. We debated binning the episode… but decided the convo was too important not to share. Thanks for sticking with us it will be fixed by next week, promise.

And can we just say… 72 episodes?! What is happening. We are so grateful you’re still here with us.

This Week’s Running Recap
Jussie:

12K long run in beautiful Coffs Harbour

Spicy hill sessions (why do we do this to ourselves?)

Hayles:

Camping weekend

Ran the 5K leg of a team triathlon in hot, hilly conditions

Our team placed 1st female + 2nd overall 

Now… the drama.

Did Hayles run sub-20?

According to Strava… no
According to Garmin… unclear.
According to the course distance… questionable. Basically No!!!! as the course even though an official race was not (from what we can tell) was the full 5km so Hayley is not prepared to claim it.  

The Reality: Getting Back Into Training Is Hard
Post-holidays slump is real. Jussie chats about struggling to find rhythm again while building toward the Ultra-Trail Australia 50.

Motivation dips. Hills get skipped. The inner critic gets loud.

Which leads us into the heart of this episode…

Busting Negative Self-Talk (Without Pretending It Doesn’t Exist)
We unpack the work of Ethan Kross and his books Chatter and Shift — and how his tools can actually help runners.

Because negative self-talk doesn’t just affect elite athletes. It shows up for:

Mums returning to training

Women chasing time goals

Anyone comparing themselves on social media

Anyone who has ever thought “I’m not good enough”

Sound familiar?

Tools We’re Trying (And You Can Too)
1️⃣ Distant Self-Talk
Instead of “I can’t do this,” try:
“You’ve done hard things before, Hayley.”

Using “you” or your own name creates psychological distance and helps you coach yourself instead of criticise yourself.

2️⃣ Create Rituals
Small pre-run routines signal calm and control:

Same playlist

Same warm-up

Same mantra

Rituals reduce anxiety and ground your nervous system.

3️⃣ WOOP Method
Wish
Outcome
Obstacle
Plan

Example:

Wish: Finish UTA strong

Outcome: Feel proud crossing the line

Obstacle: Skipping hills

Plan: Tuesday = non-negotiable hill reps

Simple. Practical. Powerful.

4️⃣ Mental Time Travel
Fast-forward to the finish line. How will it feel?

Then time-travel backwards to your “ace in the hole” the toughest thing you’ve already conquered. You’ve survived worse. Your brain just needs reminding.

5️⃣ Reset Your Nervous System

Look at photos of people who support you

Spend 13 minutes in green space

Engage your senses: scent, music, touch

Your body needs regulation before your mind can shift.

6️⃣ Be a “Chatter Advisor”
When a friend spirals:

Listen

Validate

Share perspective

Offer small practical help

Add appropriate affection

Don’t judge. Don’t immediately fix. Just be with them.

(And practice doing that for yourself.)

Why This Matters
The shame spiral of self-criticism is heavy. And we know so many women carry it silently.

If this episode does one thing, we hope it helps you realise:
You are not weak for having negative thoughts.
You are human.
And you can train your brain the same way you train your legs.

Thanks for being here for 72 episodes. We love this community more than you know.

Now we’re off to pick up our kids. 💛

Hayles & Jussie
The Women’s Running Collective