Kim Conley, 2x Olympian, on Mental Health, Fueling, and Having Fun With Sports

" I was not someone that anyone, including myself, would've thought was gonna make an Olympic team one day." Kim Conley is a 2x Olympian in the 5000m, competing in the 2012 London Summer Games and 2016 Rio Summer Games. She has competed in everything from the mile to the marathon. During her debut at the 2016 NYCM she shares how she underfueled and bonked hard. Eventually she teamed up with a sports dietitian, changed her fueling strategy, and went on to run in the 2024 US Olympic Trials Marathon. Most recently, she finished 2nd at the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May 2025, and has run a few shorter distances competitively since then. In this episode we cover:  her positive experiences as a high school athlete the pressure to be "lighter" during her time in college what her first few years as a professional runner looked like qualifying for and running in two Summer Olympics, and how she navigated mental health and training afterward how her fueling on the run has changed completely a new sport she's enjoying now and what she has coming up! Follow Kim on Instagram @kfconley.     

"I think runners specifically are convinced that sh*tting your pants is normal...I see stuff all the time online of people saying, 'Oh, running causes me to have GI issues.' No, running plus your nutrition is the cause."  Grace Kelley really wants you to be able to run without sh*tting your pants. And she's got the myth-busting reels on Instagram to help! Kelley is a sports dietitian, part of the Lane 9 Directory, and a runner training for her first marathon, Fall 2025. Throughout the process, she's testing out a variety of gels so you don't have to, and keeping a spreadsheet with the facts. She's also making reel after reel of objectively bad nutrition advice from the internet, to save your gut and your run from an ill-informed fueling strategy.  We had a great time chatting with Grace about how she started running on Dry Land (IYKYK) after swimming through high school, how an appointment with a dietitian changed her career path and her own relationship with food, and more about her private practice.  Then we dig into some nutrition trends that may be affecting YOUR gut, and what might help.  Follow her @GraceKelleynutrition on Instagram. And send her bad nutrition things! For the content! Connect with a registered dietitian near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport clinicians, by going to Lane9Project.org/Directory. If you dont' see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you! Follow Lane 9 Project on Instagram @Lane9Project. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter via Lane9Project.Substack.com, and go to Lane9project.org to get in touch if you'd like to send us a note!

Rachel Drake is a professional trail runner with Nike, co-host of The Trail Network Podcast, mom of 2-year old Lew, and a newly-minted medical resident in Salt Lake City, UT. A few weekends ago, she ran, won, and broke the course record for women at the JFK 50 Miler in northern Virginia—a huge accomplishment on its own, but especially considering all of the above.  We talked to Rachel about her time as a collegiate athlete, finding trail running and a close community of friends in that space when she moved to Portland OR, and eventually getting back to racing on the trails and roads (and doing it well!).  And she shared the full story of her postpartum running process, getting a sacral stress fracture soon after she got back into high volume training. "We don't hear about the struggle, and I think the struggle is the predominating experience," she said, when we talked about her injury and how she felt like she wasn't seeing as any stories about setbacks. How so often, what's shared is centered around the wins, the course records, the "bounce backs".  Tune in to hear Rachel's full story, and what she's eyeing for 2025!  Follow Rachel on Instagram @RachelRaeDrake.  Follow Lane 9 @lane9project on IG. If you work with female-bodied athletes, and want to 1) add your services our national directory of providers, 2) join a collective of coaches and practitioners who work with Lane 9, or 3) bring a Lane 9 resource to your team/athletes, go to Lane9Project.org/contact.   

Emma Kertesz won the 2024 Bayshore Marathon in 2:37, a three and a half minute PR for the seasoned marathoner and Boulder CO resident. She's from Toledo OH, and ran for the University of Toledo. While she describes her collegiate athletic experiences as "tricky", she had a few lucky experiences with a supportive assistant coach that helped her steer clear of disordered eating habits or chasing the thin ideal (especially at the time). She went on to train with the Hanson brothers, and eventually moved out to the mountains. She has a full time job in early education, and is very intentional about her training, nutrition, and periods of rest. She trains with the The Track Club in Boulder, gave a shoutout to Caila Yates of Steady State Nutrition, and keeps a low profile on social media.  We talk about all of this, including what's up next for Kertesz as she trains for Houston 2025, in this episode.  Read more about Emma in the "9 Miles With Emma Kertesz" post on our Substack.  For more about the work Lane 9 Project is doing to improve the menstrual health of female athletes, and reduce REDS, go to lane9project.org. Follow along @lane9project on IG.