Education: our conversations with athletes about fuelling and RED-s

Tuesday 31st March 2026

Alice Goodall and Catriona Graves have given us candid interviews on health issues

By Eilidh Miller

scottishathletics are committed to seeking to promote education for athletes of all ages and coaches and parents.

This has become a focus in recent months via a series of online education sessions through the ATS Young People’s Forum and the ATS National Academy.

Following on from our recent webinars on nutrition and RED-s, alongside an anonymous athlete story shared on social media around eating disorders, we are committed to telling stories that go beyond performance results and reflect the real experiences of athletes in these areas of the sport.

In two recent interviews, our Digital Content Creator Eilidh Miller spoke to Scottish runners Alice Goodall and Catriona Graves to explore an issue that continues to shape this sport at every level: fuelling, health, and the narratives that we attach to performance.

Through honest conversation and lived experience, both athletes offer powerful perspectives on RED-s.

From understanding nutrition as a performance tool to confronting the harmful beliefs that can lead to under-fuelling and RED-s, these short video extracts from the interviews aim to spark important conversations among athletes, coaches, and the wider sport.

Alice and Catriona candidly highlight not only the challenges that exist within our sport, but also the opportunity to create healthier, more sustainable environments for the next generation of athletes in Scotland.

Read more on Red-s

https://red-s.com/

https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/get-information-and-support/

https://www.samh.org.uk/

+++

Alice Goodall

Alice focuses on the idea that proper fuelling is not just important, but a genuine ‘super-power’ for athletes.

The GB and NI international explains how giving your body enough energy supports performance, recovery, mood, and long-term health. Rather than framing nutrition as restrictive or something to control, she presents it as a positive tool that helps athletes unlock their full potential and longevity in the sport.

Alice’s message is especially aimed at young athletes, encouraging them to see food as fuel rather than something to fear. She highlights how under-fuelling can have serious physical and mental consequences and stresses the importance of not being afraid to adequately fuel training, and crucially life.

Her tone is supportive and empowering in a way which encourages young athletes to be confident in giving their bodies what they need and challenge harmful norms in sport.

Ultimately, she encourages athletes, coaches, and parents to create environments where proper fuelling is normalised and prioritised.

+++

Catriona Graves

Catriona shares her personal experience with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-s), offering an honest reflection on how harmful beliefs around body weight and performance impacted her over the years.

She describes the common but dangerous mindset that ‘lighter equals faster’, and how this belief led her into a cycle of under-fuelling and negative health consequences. Her story provides insight into how deeply ingrained and normalised these ideas can be within sport.

Catriona goes on to talk about breaking that cycle, both mentally and physically. Through her recovery, she challenges the assumption that performance improves with restriction, instead emphasising strength, health, and proper fuelling as the real foundations of success and longevity in the sport.

Her message is both cautionary and hopeful, encouraging others to question harmful narratives and prioritise their health and wellbeing. We believe that by sharing her story, she will help other athletes to recognise the signs of RED-S and feel empowered to make healthier choices.

Taken together, Alice and Catriona’s messages underline a simple but vital truth: performance and wellbeing are not opposing forces but are in fact deeply connected.

By reframing fuelling as a strength and challenging outdated narratives around body image and success, we can begin to shift the culture of sport in a more positive direction.

Ultimately, creating a healthier sporting environment begins with awareness, and grows through a collective effort to prioritise both performance and people.

People first, athletes second.