It was an honor to speak with the wonderous Lisa Mueller for this episode of the Rambling Runner Podcast. 

A year ago she listened to Mary Johnson and Lauren Floris detail their "Project: Breaking 3" women's program in episode 199. It inspired her to chase her own sub-3 goal. But, she was a bit unsure as the women in that program had already run close to 3:00, making her wonder whether a bigger improvement was possible.

Lisa is a 35 years old political science professor at Macalester College. One of the best liberal arts colleges in America. Before she got seriously into sports she was a champion debater. A few years later Lisa "flunked out" of cross country in both high school and college, due to crippling race anxiety and toxic teams that fueled depression and eating disorders. A male coach told her when she quit that "running just isn't for everyone." She then made it my mission to show him!

Lisa switched from running to bike racing in grad school and found a fun and supportive community. She broke too many bones and moved from California to snowy Minnesota, prompting her return to running. After swearing that she'd never run a marathon she fell into a marathon-centered club in the Twin Cities and caught the bug. Lisa proceeded to run three marathons between 2018 and now (3:24, 3:14, 2:57).

Going from being an cyclist to being a runner was her biggest challenge . It turns out running was way more complicated than just putting one foot in front of another! A stress fracture last year taught her the importance of form. Since then, she has gone all-in on form analysis, drills, mobility, etc. Her philosophy is to train like a pro, just a bit slower.

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