Coach MK responds to a listener request: a mom asks for a mantra to manage uncertainty as she enters the IEP (individualized education plan) process as well as fallout from recent medical diagnoses that likely stem from her child’s Celiac disease. Coach MK reminds her that all any of us need to make a blueprint is a diagnosis, and she has been preparing for his moment for years...even if she doesn’t know it.

Latoya Shauntay Snell, aka runningfatchef, breaks down imposter syndrome and social media. Every day isn’t necessarily f*cking awesome, and those imperfections are actually what make us perfect. Even body positivity activists get the blues, and you will love Latoya’s take on all of it.

Coach MK is still spitting nails after hearing Michael Strahan praise Lady Gaga for ‘toning it down’ for the Oscars. Where has he been? She’s been stripping down her look and sound slowly since 2011 and we don’t notice till Bradley Cooper shows up with a wet wipe 7 years later? This mantra is for every woman who has been encouraged to tone any part of themselves down. I hope you break the damned roof before you trim back your wings. **Credit to Erin Van Vuren @papercrumbs on Instagram for the awesome quote that inspired today’s mantra.

LaTOYA Shauntay Snell, aka Fat Running Chef, takes over the podcast today to remind us that thick skin is a callous and HELL NO you don’t need it! ***** if you love her work as much as I do, please support her upcoming trip to Tokyo! https://www.gofundme.com/happy-anniversary-latoya

A listener asks for a mantra to keep her grounded in the coming weeks between the anniversary of her alcoholic father’s death, his birthday, and Father’s Day. This one has nothing to do with running...but can have everything to do with the feelings of inadequacy and not being good enough that so many athletes project onto their race performances.

Coach MK concludes #poetryslam week with closing thoughts on the self-love poem we’ve been building all week. Sure, it’s hard not getting your first choice. But it doesn’t have to SUCK.

Day 4 of the self-love poetry challenge takes it all to a new, esoteric level as Coach MK tells us to think of the ups and downs of life as squats and reminds us that ‘our people’ are the ones who hear waves crashing around us and decide to have a dance party.

Day 3 of self love- do your elbows bend? Yay! They work! How about your will? No? SOLID!!! We are going to take a minute to celebrate a few simple bodily functions and remember that complex movements are comprised of simple ones. There are parts of you that work, and they add up to something SOLID.

On Day 2 of our journey towards self-love, Coach MK builds on yesterday’s momentum by pointing out two more body parts that likely function in ways that can work for you and encourages you to appreciate them. Point out their function, and follow up with a big, YESIDOO!!!!

It’s easy to look st your body and see things you don’t like, when is the last time you looked in the mirror and celebrated the things that DO work? Coach MK plans to spend this week helping us focus on what we can do, and these body parts that help us do it.