ADHD, Anxiety, and Running: What No One Talks About with Mary Johnson
The Running Explained Podcast
Running Explained
4.6 • 534 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2026
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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 offers a thoughtful and compassionate perspective.
Topics include:
• ADHD in women and athletes
• Anxiety, burnout, and masking
• Running and dopamine regulation
• Executive functioning and perfectionism
• Parenting with ADHD
• Why structure and coaching can help
• Mental health support for runners
• The connection between endurance sports and neurodivergence
Mary Johnson of Lift Run Perform (@itsamarython)
Mary Johnson is the owner of Lift.Run.Perform and a full-time running and strength coach. She lives in New Haven, CT with her husband, two kids, and golden retriever puppy, Sally. After rowing for four years in college, she ran her first marathon in 2010 and now considers herself a loyal student of the sport of running. Her mission is to empower people to realize how strong they are, inside and out, and to build a relationship with running and athletics that's focused on longevity.
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Transcript
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| 1:10.1 | Welcome to the Running Explain podcast, your go-to resource for learning the how, what and why of running so you can train smarter, race stronger, and actually enjoy the process with a more human approach. |
| 1:13.1 | I'm coach Amanda, and I'm joined. |
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... |
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