**Tune in for a special intro this week - Stef shares a gnarly/ cringe-worthy story that explains her absence in this episode! It's like a train wreck, you want to look away but you. just. can't. 

This week we chat with Ashley Paulson - a mom of four, Ironman athlete, Olympic Trials Qualifier (OTQ), recent winner of The Bear 100 miler, and a coach for iFit. She does it all in the world of fitness and you can tell from listening to her that -- besides her family -- fitness is her life and her greatest passion. 

We get to hear about how Ashley got into running when growing up, how she progressed into competitive sports, and how she remained active throughout her pregnancies. She shares some incredible stories from her last (3rd) pregnancy that will make you do a double take. I won’t spoil it for you but she did an insane amount of races while pregnant and ran NINE miles TO HER C-SECTION to have her baby boy. What?!!  

It's fun to hear about her ups and downs leading to getting her OTQ and what it was like finally racing in the trials. And recently she was able to switch gears from fast road marathon to mountain ultra when she signed up for the Bear 100… 10 days before it started! She had an amazing performance but some controversy in the ultra world surfaced around a six-month sanction Ashley served for a USADA violation back in 2015. I asked Ashley about this and she openly and honestly shared about her experience, about contamination, about living under public scrutiny and judgements even though people might not know the whole story, and about showing up on the other side to keep competing even though it would have been easier to run away and hide from all the media and hype. It was a really tough time in her life but one that cemented inside her the reason she shows up to races - she shows up for herself, to do what she loves. She chooses to focus on the positives and keeps doing her thing, which she does very, very well!

Listen to this one for an energy boost! As always, don't forget to subscribe and share! 

Our sponsor this week: GIRL GET AFTER IT! Go to girlgetafterit.com, browse their awesome apparel and use code RUNHARD15 at check out for 15% off your order! Shownotes: 

Show Notes:

Find Ashley on Instagram

iFit coach

Ashley’s Favorite Race: The US Olympic Marathon Trials

Ashley’s Favorite Meal: Good Ol’ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

This week our episode is a little different. It’s a hard one but a topic we believe is important to talk about because it often gets left in the dark even though so many mothers have struggled through this. Stef recently found out she was pregnant but in this past week and a half she has gone through her fourth miscarriage. Our hearts are heavy. Stef bravely shares what her experiences have been like, the grief and guilt that she has carried, the physical trauma she’s endured and she shares resources and an ear and virtual shoulder to lean on for anyone else who might be experiencing similar situations. Nothing can “fix” the sadness that comes with such loss, but we at least hope others might feel less alone with this episode. Give it a listen and please share with any mamas who need to hear it. Thank you!

Resource Links:

https://www.miscarriagehurts.com/find-help/support

https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/your-feelings/counselling-after-a-miscarriage/

https://www.talkspace.com/blog/you-are-not-alone/

Sentiments for you or someone you know who has gone through a miscarriage:

Made By Mary: Rainbow Collection

Seeded Hope Jewelry 

Self Care tips from Stef: 

This week we talk with Amy Leedham - a Salomon athlete, sustainability consultant and new mom to an 11 week old little girl.

We get to hear about her evolution into ultra running, how she became a sponsored athlete and many fun stories about big races overseas (OCC, IAU World Championships and CCC). She had a tough 2019 with a hip injury that prevented her from competing in most of her goal races and soon after found out she was pregnant! Amy shares what her pregnancy was like, the birth of her daughter, Aila, and her return to running postpartum. She talks on how she had to readjust a lot of her expectations of running while pregnant and she shares a bit of her fast birth story (she puts it into terms of showing up ready to run a 50 miler but instead the race was an 800 m sprint). Amy honestly talks about the hard times of early postpartum days and how she is slowly starting to build her fitness back up. She is focusing on strength, protecting her hip to prevent more flair ups as she gets back into running and is mindful of her energy balance in these early postpartum days, always asking herself if certain exercises will fill her tank or drain it.

It was a blast chatting with Amy and hearing her stories. And we were so inspired by the running she’s done and the big goals she still has and will no doubt achieve once her body is ready and the world opens back up. Like her instagram handle implies (@amy_the_punisher) she has a knack for pushing hard and punishing herself and friends in the best way when it comes to moving down the trail, so I think she’s going to use this newfound mom strength to keep punishing and doing great things in the mountains!

Give this episode a listen via the link below or search “Run Hard Mom Hard” wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and share this one with your mom tribe! Thank you!!

***A huge thank you to this week’s sponsor: GIRL GET AFTER IT! Girl Get After It is a wellness community that brings womxn together through sweatworking events and gear that gives back. They are all about womxn supporting womxn, creating diverse and inclusive community, fostering connection and getting after what it means to be healthy. Go check out their CUTE apparel and be a part of this amazing girl squad movement! Plus, 10% of all profits are donated to a nonprofit that helps make a difference in women and girls lives all around the country! Use code “RUNHARD15” for 15% off your order and follow them on instagram @girlgetafterit

Show Notes:

Find Amy on Instagram

Amy’s Blog

Her Sponsors: Salomon, Inside Tracker, Equator Coffees

Amy’s Favorite Race: North Face Endurance Challenge San Francisco 50 Miler

Amy’s Favorite Meal: Burmese Chicken Soup

This week it’s Stef and Nikki as we chat a little about our lives and a little about sports bras. This is a short follow up to Episode 19 when we talked with Molly Hanks, the head "bravangelist" from Title Nine who answered our questions about finding the right sports bras through our mother running seasons!

We give some details about the particular bras we received and tried out from Title Nine and share our favorites with you! Check the show notes for links to some pretty great bras! And as always, don’t forget to subscribe and share with your mom tribe!

Thank you to this week’s sponsor: XOSKIN! Check out their running apparel and use code "treeline" at checkout for 20% off your purchase!

Show Notes:

Bras we talk about:

AC Sports Bra by Anita

3 Reasons Sports Bra by Brooks

Run It All Cross Back Bra by Brooks

Run It All Strappy Sports Bra by Brooks

Run It All Adjustable Sports Bra by Brooks - *** Stef’s Favorite (and she’s never going back to a different bra fabric after this seamless bra!)

Boobyah Sports Bra by Handful - *** Nikki's Favorite!

In this week’s episode we get to know Elisa Laverty a little bit - a multifaceted woman who is a partner, mother, runner, cyclist, climber, food lover and baker and soon-to-be yoga instructor. She recently completed an FKT on The Grand Loop in Olympic National Park, which was a 43 mile loop with over 13,000 ft of elevation gain. She did this unsupported and alone in remote wilderness. We get to hear about all the factors that went into an effort like that from anxieties the day before, to helpful mindsets that got her through, to her hopes of inspiring women to keep going after big goals.

We talk about being adaptable in COVID times, Elisa's postpartum running journey (impressive!), avoiding burnout with running, the behind-the-scenes emotions before and during her FKT and the logistics of that big day out on the trail. What Elisa wanted out of this experience was to go out and set a high bar for other women. And she did just that. So ladies, who’s next?!

We hear such inspiring perspectives, there's so many golden nuggets to take away from this convo! Enjoy!

Show Notes:

Find Elisa on Instagram

The brands that support her:

Spring Energy

Picky Bars

Lilly Trotters

Branwyn

Elisa’s Favorite Race: Gorge Waterfalls 50k

Elisa’s Favorite Meal:

Bowls with:

-Brown rice cooked with Turmeric (for inflammation as well as taste)

-Roasted veggies like red cabbage (turns out to be so good) - chopped into bite size chunks, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted at 425/450 to get it crispy. Roasted sweet potato with salt, pepper, garlic powder and spicy chili flakes. And anything else like broccoli and mushrooms.

-Might add ground turkey or crispy chickpeas for protein - (chickpeas rinsed, drained, tossed with olive oil and spices and roasted)

-For sauce Elisa makes tahini dressing (tip - add sweetener if you’re struggling with a recipe) or green dressing - pureed salad greens with lemon juice, garlic and olive oil.

Or taco bowls!

This week we have the privilege of talking with Jonnah Perkins - an ultra runner for La Sportiva, a farmer, food activist, writer and mother. She is doing all the things! She’s one of those people where you can immediately feel her passion for the different pieces of her life and how she has intertwined them into a meaningful existence. She’s an advocate for the local food movement and shares with us how she got into farming, what it’s like living closely in-tune with the seasons and how she has intentionally shaped her life to hold all her roles, pursuits and values. Jonnah resides in the Driftless region of Wisconsin that provides her trails for running and a fertile valley for her family’s organic seed producing farm. 

We talk about training while farming, what it was like to train while nursing, upcoming races, the current food system in the U.S. and how to be part of the solution, being close emotionally and physically to our food and caring about where it comes from, how Jonnah fuels her body for training, some very exciting writing and film producing projects she has coming up in the future and SO much more! You're going to want to give this one a listen!  

 Show Notes

We have our first podcast sponsorship!! Go to xoskin.us and check out their running apparel! We love their 4.0 Mid Compression Mid Rise shorts and toe socks! Use code “treeline” at checkout for 20% off!

This week we hear about Stef’s virtual self-supported 50k! She was going to run the Fire Tower 50k in St. Croix State Park in Northern Minnesota. It became a virtual event for 2020 but Stef and her family are up North camping with friends right near where her race was going to take place so she ran the course anyways. She had to navigate her way through an unmarked state park and her friend, Mary Jo, biked the 31 miles with her. They spent many miles tromping through bogs and shuffling over slow terrain, but were able to make up a bunch of time later in the race. They suffered together, worked off each other’s positivity and got it done!

We heard Mary Jo’s perspective for a couple minutes and it was so fun to witness this first experience for her with an endurance endeavor! She’s never biked that far, let alone on tough, muddy trails and we were so impressed with how she handled it, pushed past her comfort zone and remained cheerful. Ultras are always a grand adventure - they are big efforts and unique experiences happen to you when you’re outside on your feet for so long. It’s part of the charm we all thrive off of. I was so happy that Stef got this long, hard run in, with a good friend by her side and her sweet, proud girls at the finish. What is better than that?! And I’d wager that this won’t be the last time Mary Jo dabbles in the ultra scene. Stef is going to hook her for sure!

Show Notes:

Fire Tower Trail Races

Stef's Shoes: Brooks Glycerin

Stef's Nutrition:

Salt Caps Plus

Honey Stinger Waffles

Untapped Waffles

We have our first returning guest this week! In Episode 8 we talked with Renee Jacobs back in May about her Fastest Known Time on the California’s 14ers last year and now she’s gone out and done it again! Different route, different challenges, but same endeavor of going after a fast time on a hard, multi-day adventure. Renee, just last week, got the first female time for The Sierra High Route in 4 days 23 hours and 53 minutes. Many women have attempted it, but none have finished it. It sounds like the kind of route that can chew you up and spit you out. About half of the route is on trail… which means half of it is off trail! Renee describes scrambling up boulders bigger than her sprinter van - using hands and feet to make for a “full body experience” to finish this kind of journey. Luckily for Renee, she is a great navigator and is knowledgeable with tools like CALTOPO (a backcountry mapping system created by her husband) and she was able to plan this out, prepare in her regular engineering fashion and complete this huge accomplishment! Plus, even though she’s the ONLY woman that has a time on this route, her time is impressively close to the fastest male time of 4 days 3 hours and 36 minutes held by David Ayala (as of August 7th, 2020).  I loved the extra motivation Renee had of thinking, “There should be a woman on this (FKT) page” and she really wanted her time to start with the number FOUR, signifying a time under 5 days like the leading men. She sprinted her heart out down thousands of feet of trail to make sure that happened.

An FKT for Renee is a really big goal that is an excuse to be better and pursue incremental improvements in yourself and with your performance. It’s a chance to learn and grow. We loved hearing about this adventure and no one but Stef and I can see her smile as she laughs, but it’s so contagious. And the fact that she is still out there inspiring other women and particularly moms to keep doing their thing, keep setting goals and embracing challenges is amazing. She says to all moms, “Don’t give up! It’s hard but it’s possible!” And she reminds us that not all FKTs are this involved - there are other routes, many short and doable, so go find your own challenge to undertake!!

Show Notes:

Find Renee’s FKT on fastestknowntime.com

Renee's Race Recap

CALTOPO

InReach Device

We mention the book “Roar” by Stacy Sims

This week we chat with Lindsey Ulrich. Lindsey recently ran the Fastest Known Time for the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail. We hear about how she got into running ultras, how a stroke eight years ago was ultimately a big part of what led her to attempt this huge undertaking, and what it was like to be moving her body down a trail surrounded by a support crew for 9 days, 13 hours, 39 minutes and 20 seconds! 

It was an honor to hear Lindsey's story and we hope you’re as inspired by it as Stef and I were! 

Show Notes: 

Read Lindsey’s write up on the FKT website here

www.pctoregon.com is a neat resource for information for the PCT! 

@theneuronerds - a podcast and support group for people that have experienced a brain injury #changethefaceofstroke 

Coach: Paul Lind. 

Lindsey's Sponsor: rabbit

Gut Hook App 

Spot Tracker article from Treeline Journal 

Bemer recovery tool for inflammation 

Favorite Race: Race the Wolf in Northern Idaho. 

Lindsey’s Favorite Meal: Tacos with Spanish Rice. 

Stef’s favorite thing: Goodr Sunglasses 

Nikki’s fave: Hydrapak bladder