Dr. Elisabeth Ogbonmwan is a powerhouse—sports and exercise medicine doctor, triathlete, and new mum. Just nine weeks postpartum, she joins me on the Tough Girl Podcast to talk about the realities of balancing training with a busy career and family life.
Lis shares her journey into sports, from loving swimming as a child to discovering running in her late 20s and ultimately embracing triathlon. She opens up about training while pregnant, navigating body image changes, and how she’s approaching her return to sport after giving birth.
We also dive into her passion for female athlete health—why it’s so important for women to fuel properly, listen to their bodies, and have access to the right medical support. Plus, she shares practical advice for new mums who want to get back into movement without guilt.
This is an insightful and inspiring episode for anyone juggling sport, work, and family—don’t miss it!
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Show notes
- Who is Lis
- Having her daughter 9 weeks ago
- Being a busy mum, triathlete, doctor
- Having a sporty childhood
- Loving swimming from a young age
- Balancing sport and studying
- Travelling an hour to and from her 6th form
- Not doing as much sport at university as she wanted
- Getting into triathlons in 2020/2021
- Finding running in her mid to late 20s
- Starting to swim while rehabbing injuries
- Swimmers who transition into running
- The impact of running on ankle joints for swimmers
- Volume of training to keep injuries at a minimum
- Getting into strength and conditioning later on
- Working as a General Practitioner (GP) and Sports Medicine Doctor
- Going back into training again
- Working with a variety of different people
- Wanting to set up a paediatric sports medicine clinic in Manchester
- Wanting to work with women who take part in exercise at any level
- Wanting to encourage women to participate in sport
- Training and doing sports medicine part time while working as a GP
- Training and balancing it with work and children
- Finding a coach that she trusted
- Fitting in training and making it work for her life
- Being use to having full and busy days
- Planning in time for recovery and what that looked like
- Not training to her menstrual cycle
- The importance of fuelling and what worked well for her
- Meal prepping and needing to up her protein
- Having a recovery shake after every session
- Using gels from Protein Rebel
- Competition day and what race strategy looks like
- Being on the start line of a race and what’s going through her head
- Doing races for fun
- Having a “process goal” - especially for triathlon races
- Training throughout pregnancy and what that looked like
- Feeling very tired during the first trimester and needing to reduce training volume down
- Needing to let training take a back seat while studying and taking a consultancy exam
- Loving her training while pregnant
- Having a baby girl and wanting to show her what women are capable of
- Pregnancy and body image
- Being body conscious and having your body on show when you are an athlete
- Feeling proud of her body and having a deep appreciation for what her body is capable of
- Being a new mum on maternity leave
- Getting back into training and racing but not knowing what that would look like at the start
- Feeling guilt for leaving her baby
- Knowing how important it was for her mental health to get that time for herself
- Being a better mum and feeling more confident
- Using her support network
- Stomach and pelvic floor recovery
- Moving Medicine - Post Natal Guide
- Wanting to encourage people to be more active and how women can get back to running and impact activity after having a baby
- Barriers for entry for women to get back in exercise, sports and movement and how those barriers can increase after having a baby
- How to connect with Lis online
- Final words of advice and wisdom for other new mums
- Don’t feel guilty
Social Media
Instagram @the_running_medic
Moving Medicine - Post Natal Guide