1. Lane 9 Project and a Sub-3 Marathon Goal

“I was modeling all these super lean athletes that we see in the media and that are celebrated for their somatotype,  even though, you know, they may have achieved that by very unhealthy means.” Pippa Woolven is the founder of Project RED-S and a former elite and champion steeplechase runner in both the UK and US. In the last few years Pippa has become a first-time parent, and managed Project RED-S, while navigating and exploring this era of her relationship to running and competing. Her work and story have been featured in national publications such as CNN and Runner's World, raising awareness of the prevalence of RED-S, and its impact on athletes' overall health.  The links:  red-s.com @project_reds_ on IG lane9project.org @lane9project on IG Newsletter: lane9project.substack.com  If you want to connect with us, share your story, and/or join us for a conversation, reach out via Lane9Project.org .  

"It took me a lot of tries to get it right," shares professional ultra-marathoner Dr. Stefanie Flippin, of her journey with the 100-mile distance. Stef is not only a professional ultra-marathoner, sponsored by lululemon and GU energy labs, she's also a podiatrist (currently on sabbatical from private practice but still consulting on medical cases), and a running coach with the Lift Run Perform team.  In this conversation with Lane 9 Project co-founder, Heather Caplan RDN, Stef shares insight into how she's managed to run not one but many 100-mile races, winning the 2021 Ultramarathon National Championship (100-Mile distance), and becoming a professional athlete while also maintaining her work as a physician.  Additionally, Stef shares details about the recent lululemon FURTHER event, wherein they brought 10 women of various backgrounds and athletic experiences to run a 6-day ultramarathon, while also conducting biomedical, biophysical, and psychosocial research on the athlete's experience.  The links:  Stef Flippin and Carolyn Su, co-hosts of Making Strides podcast, hosting shakeout runs and a live podcast event in Boston. Event details here!  @stefanieannflippin on Instagram StefanieFlippin.com   Lane9Project.org. Contact us if you have any questions about the show, guest/topic requests, and/or want to work with Lane 9! Subscribe to the bi-weekly Newsletter at Lane9project.substack.com. Follow @Lane9Project on Instagram.   

"People are going to get a really realistic dose of me in this episode!" Mary Johnson, running coach and owner of the Run Coaching group and team, Lift Run Perform, joins us for this episode. She's been part of the Lane 9 project since it began, submitting personal essays and having conversations with us about all things disordered eating, amenorrhea, and working toward big fitness goals while keeping your health and wellbeing intact.  We cover a LOT in this episode:  Mary's go-to strategy for keeping boundaries with social media Current training and fitness goals (you heard it here first, she's got her eyes on something new!) Making big life decisions while keeping our short terms goals in mind, but also in check Why having her life-altering hip surgery in 2022 is something she's proud of, and how it has changed her running & perspectives The links:  Dopamine Nation book by Anna Lembke MD Opal Screentime app Milkman songs on Spotify @itsamarython on Instagram , @liftrunperform on Instagram    LiftRunPerform.com  And all the Lane 9 Project things: Lane9Project.org, lane9project.substack.com (bi-weekly newsletter!), and @Lane9Project on Instagram.   

Is running still feeling fun? What do you tell your ego when a race day isn't going as planned? Alexis and Heather check in on these big questions, recap the recent NYC Half-Marathon, and talk about the more common but less "celebrated" postpartum running journey, pelvic floor PT and all.  The links:  Lane9Project.org @lane9project on Instagram lane9project.substack.com for essays and newsletters! Contact us with questions and/or ways to work with Lane 9 Project! We'd love to hear from you.

Traditional eating disorder (ED) treatment models have fallen short on including relationships to sport and movement into the therapeutic process. Opal Food and Body Wisdom treatment center in Seattle WA opened in 2012 to change that. To acknowledge that we, as humans, are embodied beings and that sport has potential to be so beneficial to us. Kara Bazzi, Opal co-founder, joins this Lane 9 podcast episode to talk about her experience as an accompllished D1 Collegiate runner who struggled with an eating disorder, and how she went on to build Opal with her cofounders, Julie Church RDN and Lexi Giblin PhD.  The links:  Lane9Project.org @lane9project on Instagram lane9project.substack.com for essays and newsletters! Opal: opalfoodandbody.com 

Alexis and Heather check in on their own training things, and welcome your input on 1) a podcast intro hot take and 2) which spring half-marathon Alexis should be signing up for (traveling from Denver)! Tag us @lane9project on IG or send an email with your thoughts.  They also chat through a few things going on in the running world right now, including but not limited to Nikki Hiltz's fire streak that keeps on keeping on, Parker Valby chucking the norms in training and doing her 3-days-a-week thing, and what happens when new parents win big titles.  The links:  Lane9Project.org @lane9project on Instagram lane9project.substack.com for essays and newsletters!

What we consider normal, or even "healthy", is so often shaped by and evolves with the communities we're in. With increased access to the training and lives of elite athletes and recreational runners alike, it can be hard to decipher what's disordered, "disciplined", worth pursuing, and/or damanging to your overall wellbeing. Abby and I chat about her relationship to movement, her work as a sports dietitian getting athletes at all levels to eat more, and we get into a few questions from the community! The links:  Lane 9 Project community survey (come tell us about you!) Newsletter Lane9project.substack.com Lane 9 Project on Instagram @lane9project We're working on content and event partnerships and collaborations! Interested? Contact us via lane9project.org.  Abby Chan RD @abbytheRD on Instagram and TikTok, and Evolve FLG here. 

Based on a recent newsletter essay, Alexis and Heather talk in much more detail about catalysts for change, the very gradual processes they each experienced coming out of disordered eating and movement patterns, and even the soccer to endurance running pipeline. If you relate, we'd love to hear from you!  The links:  Lane 9 Project community survey (come tell us about you!) Newsletter Lane9project.substack.com Lane 9 Project on Instagram @lane9project We're working on content and event partnerships and collaborations! Interested? Contact us via lane9project.org. 

What IS the Lane 9 Project? On the Lane 9 podcast, we're diving back in and starting with the co-founder's meet cute, followed by the big goals they're working on now. A sub-3 marathon on has been on Alexis's list for a long time, but first she had to take many steps back. Hear more about that process on this episode, and read more about it in the bi-weekly newsletter!  The links:  Lane 9 Project community survey (come tell us about you!) Newsletter Lane9project.substack.com Lane 9 Project on Instagram @lane9project   We're working on content and event partnerships and collaborations! Interested? Contact us via lane9project.org. 

Listen to find out!  Thanks for being here. More to come! - Heather