BY Nathalie Spencer

Nat is our Product Manager. Joining Hylo six weeks into our journey, she drives our innovation around materials - in both our footwear and apparel. Running, for her, is a means to an end. She loves the feeling but running contributes to her productivity.

Why do you run?

“I run for my mental and physical health. I know I need to set the time aside to run and get outside in order for me to perform better during the day or my week. "Depending on the time of year, I change my running times. During the winter I mostly run at lunch or late morning because I find this is when I have the most energy and it gives me some head space in the middle of my day. But when the mornings are lighter in summer, I try to run first thing, so I set myself up for the day. "I live in the city so I have to run some distance to reach my nearest park. I try to avoid the busy roads so I have a really nice route that takes me through the more residential areas of East London before reaching the park. "But my favourite place to run is the South Downs. I’m from just outside of Brighton so there is a route I used to take where I would run up to the top of the Downs, which was a bit of a struggle, but so worth it - when you reach the top and can see for miles. It’s so beautiful for running long distances!"

What do you think about when you run?

"This is a very vague answer but pretty much anything, which is why I find running gives me a lot of clarity. I tend to let my thoughts do their own thing, kind of like subconscious thinking, so I find running is great for problem solving and prioritising - I also heard that you have the best ideas when you’re on a walk or in the shower, I think running should be on the list!"

  

How far do you run a week?

"I go through phases of running a lot and then not so much, I’m currently at about 10km a week (x2 5km runs) but trying to increase this."

What stops you going for a run?

"If I don’t go for a run it’s usually because I didn’t prioritise it at the start of my day or my week and I instead focus on other tasks. It tends to happen if I get a bit stressed and have a lot on, which I know is the opposite of what I should do!"