ADHD, Anxiety, and Running: What No One Talks About with Mary Johnson

About this episode

The episode discusses the intersection of ADHD, anxiety, and running, particularly in women athletes, featuring insights from coach Mary Johnson.

What does ADHD actually look like in runners and athletes, especially women? In this deeply honest conversation, Coach Amanda and Coach Nick sit down with running coach Mary Johnson to talk about the realities of living, training, parenting, and working with ADHD. Mary shares her experience being diagnosed young, masking symptoms through achievement and structure, and eventually reaching a point where anxiety, burnout, and overwhelm forced her to stop pretending everything was fine. Together, they explore how ADHD often shows up differently in women, the connection between dopamine and endurance sports, why so many athletes are drawn to running, and the shame that can come with struggling silently as an adult. This episode covers perfectionism, emotional regulation, burnout, executive functioning, coaching, mental health support, and the role running can play in helping people feel grounded and regulated. It is also a conversation about community, vulnerability, and learning to ask for help. Whether you have ADHD yourself, suspect you might, coach athletes who do, or simply want a better understanding of the intersection between mental health and endurance sports, this episode…

People in this episode

Hosts: Coach Amanda, Coach Nick

Guest: Mary Johnson

Topics covered

• ADHD in women
• anxiety
• burnout
• running and dopamine regulation
• mental health support
• executive functioning
• community

Keywords

• ADHD
• anxiety
• burnout
• running
• dopamine
• mental health
• coaching
• emotional regulation
• executive functioning
• community

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