Micromobility DC with Edie

Welcome back to Micromobility DC - officially one year old now! Happy birthday, pod!

This episode I had the opportunity to speak with my former colleague and wonderful friend, Nate Steele, who is a wealth of knowledge on all things transportation. We did discuss EVs and EV charging for the "macromobility" fans out there. In this vein, we discussed challenges around EV charging in urban spaces (like DC!) and integrating cars into larger transportation ecosystems. We also talked about Nate's bike commute up Klingle Hill, making cities pedestrian friendly, train comparisons with other cities, bike lane comparisons with other cities, and general impressions about getting around in DC on a daily basis. This was a fun (non-running-centric) one! I hope you enjoy!

Hello, hello! Hope everyone is staying safe during this very polluted week in Washington, DC. I've heard that listening to a podcast about running gives the same endorphin boost as going for a run itself, so hopefully this podcast does the trick until we can get back to exercising outside.*

This episode is with resident Pacers Run Club Leader, Dan Kalinowski! Many of you know him from the Pacers Monday 6 mile route or Banneker Track circles on Thursdays. On this episode he discusses how he got into running, his journey to run marathons on every continent (he's run marathons in North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Antarctica so far), his recent foray into triathlons, and how he goes about his role as an official pacer in local DC races (just like race day, don't try anything new on pace day!). This episode was a ton of fun, and even having known Dan for a while, I learned quite a bit. I hope you enjoy!

*Not scientifically proven.

Hello, hello! Welcome back to Micromobility DC. This week we hear from Willis Chen, a dedicated amateur runner who recently broke the 3 hour mark at the 2023 London Marathon. This episode is a full-on running deep-dive.

For those who don't know Willis, he can often be found trotting along the C&O Canal and around the National Mall or pacing NETC track workouts. I first met him while doing laps in front of the National Gallery of Art about 14 months ago and remember him being both friendly and humble. He is incredibly knowledgeable about running - from knowing what pros are breaking national records to keeping track of (and cheering for) his DC friends' PR successes. If asked, Willis will happily provide very useful and well informed training advice, and he knows all of the best races to run. 

In this episode, we talk about how Willis started running - he was not a high school or college athlete. We get into how Willis went from being an over 5 hour marathoner to a 2:58 marathoner. (His first marathon was local Marine Corps Marathon!) We discuss the ins and outs of the World Major Marathons. And we get an in depth recap of Willis's London Marathon quest. 

Thanks so much to Willis for taking the time to speak on the pod (and matching my enthusiasm for the sport). And thanks as always to Dan Hoffman for the soundtrack.

We are back! (Took both a podcasting #springbreak during April and am feeling refreshed and excited for what's next!)

This episode is with Amanda Earl - a running pal for a few years now. Amanda discusses how she got into running, then trail running, then ultra trail running while living in DC on this episode. Quite the progression! 

We also spend a lot of the episode discussing Amanda's most recent race - the Big Sur Marathon. I've fact checked the elevation gain, and officially it is 2,182 over the course of the 26.2 miles (but many internet runners report that they believe it is more). Amanda discusses how she prepared for this race, dealing with injury mid training cycle, and the race experience itself - think 3am pitch dark bus rides with no cell service and a piano man several miles in. We talk about running as a de-stressor from DC work life, Pacers Running marathon training community, and big next goals. I really appreciate Amanda's curiosity drive in the running space, and I hope you do too.

Thanks to you for listening, Dan Hoffman for the soundtrack, and Amanda for the conversation. Enjoy! 

(PS: The podcast is enough episodes deep for a post race beer!)

For this episode, I had the joy of speaking to Tim Choi - one of my first running friends in DC. Tim is a staple in the DC running community. You can catch him organizing happy hour runs with friends and circling the track in his Altras. (He also has an amazing food Instagram @timwich.eats.)

During this episode, we covered his experience at the Tokyo Marathon, along with all the lead up including the immigration protocols and best food spots, his experience running the North Carolina Krispy Kreme Challenge (and the best strategies for crushing a dozen donuts quickly), his favorite DC races and a pre Parkway Classic tale, and his advice for running the Berlin Marathon. I hope you enjoy! (Also, I am pretty sure we got a few digits of pi wrong while speaking, but I'll leave it to the audience to call the pod out for fake news.)

Thank you to Tim for taking the time to speak with me. And thank you, as always, to Dan Hoffman for the soundtrack.

"I credit [running] with my sense of placemaking and belonging..."

This week I had the opportunity to sit down at my dining room table and get back to recording podcasts with Louisa Sholar. We talked about running in Georgetown (where Louisa lives and studies); we chatted about how Louisa started running solo and then became involved in the DC running community after years as a dancer; we chatted about Louisa's job at Pacers Running and her current go-to running shoes; we delved into more serious topics of women's health in the movement community, the good and the bad - and the serious lack of information on period health for athletes who menstruate; then we moved to topics on policy for micromobility and ease of getting around. As a runner and a policy graduate student, Louisa has deep insight and passion for ways in which we can improve access, welcomeness, and awareness to information and community in the movement space. I really appreciated this conversation, which really covered a lot, and I hope you will too.

Thank you to Louisa for the conversation and to Dan Hoffman for the soundtrack.

A note: This conversation touches on sensitive health topics, including eating disorders. If this is not something you're feeling ready to listen to, this could be an episode for you to skip - the topic comes up a bit after minute 15. Additionally, the few minutes we spend speaking about women's health issues are no substitute for consultation from a medical professional - if you are concerned about your health, we encourage you to speak with your doctor. Lastly, Louisa passed along two resources for additional learning that I have linked below:

Runners World Article on Amenorrhea
Project Heal

Hello! Welcome back to Micromobility DC! It has been a while since the last episode because I've been doing a lot of non-podcast work and travel (that has led to a whole host of new understandings around micromobility)! This podcast has covered micromobility mostly from a sport perspective the past few episodes (many marathon training episodes!), but this episode delves into our daily movements from an infrastructure accessibility angle.

For this episode, I had the opportunity to speak to the Urban Institute's incredibly knowledgeable Beatrize Stephen-Pons. I met Beatrize at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (TRBAM) in January.  During this conversation, Beatrize covers how she began studying public transportation accessibility and its effects on previously incarcerated populations, viewing transportation through a feminist lens, her experiences traveling around the US and learning about different cities' public transportation offerings, and a bit of what she learned from attending TRBAM.

It was a joy to delve into public transportation and beyond with Beatrize - I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Thanks to Dan Hoffman for the soundtrack! Thanks to you for listening!

Hello! Happy New Year!

Many exciting things to come on the pod, and to kick off the year, we have Sarah, aka Sarita, aka Beanz talking about fresh starts and big goals. Two big goals turned accomplishments for Sarah last year were completing both the High Bridge 50K and Marine Corps 50K. 

We talk about the ultras, and we go beyond the races themselves to talk about how Sarah got here - able to run multiple speedy long distance races in the same month. There were the more obvious aspects, running and strength training. Then there were the more intangible aspects... a sense of community, a feeling of pride in identity and greater comfort embracing that identity, resiliency after repeated injury... Sarah talks about being Latina in the distance running space, joining Northeast Track Club for the first time, and her moves from Mexico City, to Texas, to Minnesota, to DC. She absolutely loves the district, where she works making maps. 

I loved this conversation with Sarah, who is incredibly open and authentic. I hope you do too. 

Thanks as always to Dan Hoffman for the music.

"Because you can do it...and I think just believing you can do it is a challenge."

Happy holidays and last episode of 2022! To finish off this season of podcasting, I spoke with Liz Grufferman, who offers both joy and wisdom to the conversation. She also offers a deep dive into what it was like to run the 2022 New York City Marathon (in a Boston Marathon qualifying time and PR)!

Liz is an accomplished runner, and in her year of living in DC, she's become an integral part of the running community. Prior to moving to DC, Liz began running inspired by her mom and ran at university in Scotland. She describes exploring the Scottish countryside through running with friends. Upon moving to DC, she began training with Northeast Track Club. A few months later, she joined Sara (Episode 13) in training with Coach Mo. This Fall, she decided to go for that sub 3:30 time and went all in on training for New York City Marathon - as she grew up on the NYC Marathon course, the race already held a special place in her heart. On race day, she was served up some of the hottest weather the NYC Marathon has ever seen, and she still managed to crush the race.

Liz offers insight on the mental side of getting over the 3:30 barrier, how training with a coach has helped her, why the running community is amazing, and how she appreciates training for a big goal.

As always special thanks to Dan Hoffman for the soundtrack. And thanks to YOU for listening!

Another duo episode!

In this one I spoke with Tim Hughes and Tatsu Osada - accomplished marathoners and triathletes in the DC area. The two have been friends since 2014, when they met at the fateful polar vortex run referenced in Mike Katz's episode.

Tatsu and Tim are supportive friends AND intense competitors. For many of their races, they have "bets" over who wins. This includes betting on whose version of a peanut butter jelly sandwich is "correct" and betting on which of them will have to buy the other a beer every month for the rest of their month. (Listen in to find out who won what.)

Tim talks about going from an 4+ hour marathoner to a 2:35 marathoner. Tatsu discusses crushing six ironman triathlons. The two mention their favorite races and what advice they have for those hoping to get faster and stronger.

Shoutouts to Pacers Running and YTri Program in this episode!