This week we talk with fellow Bendite, Erika Litzer, about being a collegiate swimmer, river guide, ski patroller, having major injuries, ultrarunning and the real and raw mom life.

Her evolution to ultrarunning begins in the pool, swimming from when she was young and through a full ride athletic scholarship to Oregon State University. She has a difficult relationship with her swimming career largely because of how her education and life passions were affected by how much time and energy were consumed by swimming. She has a great way of putting into words what it was like to have so many people pulling at her to swim -- coaches, teammates, teachers, parents -- that it no longer felt like her choice to compete but a call to duty to keep going. By the time she graduated and swam in her last PAC-10 meet she was so burnt out that she got out of the pool and threw her cap and goggles in the trash.

We move on to her life as a river guide and ski patroller, what those communities mean to her, and how she transitioned into ultrarunning after a shoulder injury. And of course, we get into some real life, raw motherhood ranting and talking from the trenches. Erika notes how she’s done all these things in her life (all the badass things I’ve written above) and yet parenting is hands down the hardest, most challenging and rewarding thing she’s done to date. 

Enjoy!

Show Notes

Erika’s Favorite Race: Elkhorn Crest 50k

Fave meal: Turkey Trot meatballs and Marathon Lasagna from Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow cookbook

This week we have a special episode dedicated entirely to SPORTS BRAS!! We talk with Molly Hanks, an expert in the field and the head Bravangelist at Title Nine. A good sports bra is perhaps the most essential piece of equipment for women runners - it has life changing capabilities and allows us women to keep showing up in our sports with the comfort, support and confidence that we need. We need to be free to run and frolic along our favorite trails without unnecessary bounce or discomfort from a bra that just isn’t serving us well. So in this episode we have the opportunity to pick Molly’s brain about all things sports bras - like how to measure correctly, what are common signs that a bra isn’t working, how to care for our bras, how to find the right support levels, how to minimize chafing issues which I’m sure we’ve all experienced and what to do in those awkward phases of pregnancy and nursing when our sizes are all over the place and “it’s like the Wild West” as Molly so accurately puts it.

A huge thanks to Title Nine and Molly Hanks for all this useful information! Stef and I will also be posting a future episode about some specific bras we are trying out in the hopes that a product review could point you to your future bra love! Stay tuned!

See Our write up on Treeline Journal for more notes on this episode.

Title Nine

Title Nine's Fit Calculator

Title Nine's Barbell Rating System for finding your support level needs

Molly's pic for a Nursing Bra - 3-Reasons Sports Bra

Molly's favorite for Post-Nursing: Booby Trap Sports Bra

Molly's favorite race: The Double Dipsea

Molly's Fave Chicken Marbella Recipe:  "I don't have it written down so these are approximate levels. It's impossible to screw up and it's one of those things that my daughter has loved from 12 months ( or whenever I introduced meat ??) until now. It's salty and sweet and can be thrown together in like 5 min, and it cooks for an hour so you can go get a little run in."

2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup of white wine

2-3 table spoons of capers

1 cup kalamata olives

1 cup of dried apricots

a little olive oil

Throw it all in a covered casserole dish and bake for 50-60 min at 350.  Serve over brown rice and with a green salad.

This week I share my race recap from Alpine Running’s Elkhorn Crest 50k last weekend! I tell Stef all about my spastic mom emotions (guilt and anxiety) going into the race, what a race looks like in 2020 and what safety measures were taken to keep runners healthy.  I describe the stunningly beautiful and rugged mountain course and give the full play by play of how my race unfolded, complete with some unique takeaways from racing during a pandemic!

Give it a listen by clicking the link below. You can also search “Run Hard Mom Hard” wherever you get your podcasts! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and share it with your running community! Thanks so much!

Show Notes: 

Elkhorn Crest 50k 

Look for other Alpine Running races this fall that are set to happen still! 

Anyone know how to keep a bladder hose from freezing while running in cold temps? Message us!!

This week we get to chat with Ashley Nordell - a mother to two girls, a preschool teacher, a coach, and a very accomplished Central Oregon ultra runner with many race wins and FKTs behind her name. We hear about how Ashley grew up in a running family (her dad still runs ultras) and how her love for the sport grew out of a dislike but blossomed into a lifetime passion once she chose it for herself. Her running has evolved over time and she shares how ultimately, having kids helped the longevity of this sport for her because her pregnancies forced her into resting more than she would normally as a runner. She had to find out the hard way that running postpartum requires more patience than many of us would like to admit and after doing too much too fast in the first year after her first child, she learned to focus on quality training vs. quantity mileage. (Her first year postpartum included a ton of running and races - namely a 3 month postpartum pacing experience, a 10 month postpartum 50 miler, Western States (13 months), and Leadville (15 months). It was an amazing year but it caught up to her!

We also talk about mom guilt, creative long run hacks, training mileage for a 100 miler (it's less than you think!), FKT experiences, coaching, teaching, getting kids outside, etc! So many great takeaways in this episode!

Show Notes:

Stef’s Favorite Thing this week: Infinite Cold Brew Performance Coffee from The Feed

Nikki’s Fave: The Gym / Heavy lifting strength work

Sponsored by Rabbit

Coaches with Team RunRun

Ashley’s favorite race: Three Days of Syllamo

Ashley’s favorite recipe: Homemade Pizza

Kid’s cookbooks - America's Test Kitchen Kids Cookbook

Global Feast Kids Cookbook

This week on Run Hard Mom Hard it’s just Stef and I! We share life updates, recent family adventures and discuss how to keep running while traveling for said adventures. As a parent, I am fully aware of the unique challenges of family travel. Routines are off, alone time/quiet time is significantly decreased, our bodies feel the effects of long drives or airplane rides and suspect food choices. And of course, all of that comes into play when trying to stay consistent with training!

Stef and I share a little about what we do to run consistently while on the road; it takes extra planning (finding and mapping out trails), being flexible (always being ready to run when a window opens up and being creative so you don’t have to have FOMO about missing family memory making time), being aware of your surroundings (paying attention to gut feelings and making mental notes of where you are to decrease the risk of getting lost), and being prepared (bringing extra items you might need while in a new place where you don’t know what to expect). Lastly, we talk about navigating new places and how we deal with fear in unfamiliar places when running alone.

The world is still weird right now and a lot of summer travel plans have been nixed. But I also know a lot of people are OVER staying put and are needing at least some local escapes this summer, so this episode is intended to help keep you prepared and motivated to run even when you're out roaming new places with your kids in tow.

Show Notes:

Brave Breakfasts (Enter Treeline20 for 20% off your first order!)

Use Strava or AllTrails for finding trails at your vacation destination

Gaia App (This article will tell you all you need to know)

Spot Tracker (Read more about this nifty device here)

Scratch Labs Sport Recovery Drink Mix in Single Serving box

Colorado Brewing Running Series Virtual Race

The Outer Banks 100M Virtual Race - thank you listener for sharing!

This week we have on Anne French! Anne is a newish runner (started running at age 42), a mom of two teenagers and does Taekwondo and Brazilian jujitsu. She shares about how she got into running two and a half years ago, what she’s learned in training for her first 50k, she describes her involvement in Bend’s local running community and more! Probably our greatest reminder from our time with Anne is that it is never too late to try something new in life and you never know -- it could actually turn into one of your greatest passions!

We loved our time with Anne and appreciated the reminder of how trail running is a skill that takes learning, relearning and practicing to keep getting better at over time. I constantly forget the basics I learned when I first started running and it’s so valuable to revisit them because they are the core of this sport.

Nikki’s Favorite thing: Suunto Ambit 3

Stef’s Fave: Treeline Journal Running Hat!

Find Anne on Instagram

Anne’s Coach: Eve with Rising Mountains Coaching

Anne’s Favorite Race: Race for the Roses in Portland, OR

Anne’s Favorite Meal: Taco Bowls with Homemade Taco Seasoning

This week we had the opportunity to spend some time with Amy Clark – a local Bendite, a mom of twins, an ultrarunner, and the editor for Ultrarunning Magazine! We discuss all kinds of things ranging from IVF and pregnancy to her progression into ultras and her experience running Western States to what it’s really like to be an editor of a magazine. You will learn a lot in this episode, but maybe more importantly you will feel a lot from the stories Amy tells.

Nikki’s Favorite Thing this week: Skratch Labs Recovery Drink Mix

Stef’s Fave: Virtual Races:

– 100 Miles to Auburn (raced!)

- Beast Pacing (pick a distance to accomplish each month)

- UTMB For the Planet - Virtual Races (July 20-Aug 30 – pick your distance and elevation to complete! Free Entry, Donations go towards trail running and environmental impact projects)

Find Amy on Instagram

Editor for Ultrarunning Magazine – Subscribe here!

Favorite Race: Western States

Favorite Meal: A Chili Recipe from Eat & Run by Scott Jurek:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil;

2 garlic cloves;

1 cup onion; finely chopped;

1 cup red bell pepper; finely chopped

1 cup frozen corn 

1 teaspoon ground cumin;

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander;

2 tablespoon chili powder;

2 tsp sea salt or according to taste;

1/2 teaspoon black pepper;

1 28oz can diced tomatoes;

1 6oz can tomato puree;

1 15oz can kidney beans;

1 15oz can black beans;

1 15oz can ointo beans;

2-1/2 cups water, depending on how much liquid from the beans you're using;

hot sauce or cayenne pepper to taste

fresh cilantro; minced- for garnish.

Step 1:

Add the oil to a large pot. Saute the vegetables and spices in the oil over medium

to medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until tender. Add a few tablespoons of

water if the veggies begin sticking to the pot.

Step 2:

Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro and simmer over medium-low

heat, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir and simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes

until the vegetables are cooked through. Season with salt and, if more spice is

desired, hot sauce or cayenne pepper to taste. Serve, sprinkled with the cilantro.

This week we chat with Beth Hoeck – a personal trainer with almost 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, an ultrarunner, and a mom to a 15 month old. We hear about what it’s like to be a one-on-one fitness coach for women, how she incorporates holistic health into her personal training, and how she’s woven motherhood into her work life (AKA she does it beautifully). Beth is also a great resource for busy moms. She shares life hacks on how to meal plan and prep, how she balances running with mom life, and what her return to running looked like after having her son. 

She also shares her family’s recent struggles with us. Her husband has been battling testicular cancer since the fall of last year. In February he started intense chemo. Beth describes how hard it was and what it was like to become a single parent in a way as she tried to carry her family through it all. She compared the ups and downs of chemo to the peaks and valleys one experiences in ultramarathons. Luckily Beth had running through it all - she would squeeze it whenever she could and it helped her handle this immensely heavy time. And now, thankfully, her family is on the other side!

Show Notes:

Stef’s Favorite Podcasts (besides RHMH!) –

Ultrarunner Podcast

Trailrunner Nation

Mom Brain

Unruffled

The Fresh Start Family

Myths and Legends

Nikki’s Favorite Podcasts –

Unlocking Us

Simple Families

Work Play Love

Find Beth’s Work: Whole Movement

Beth’s Favorite Race: The Freedom 5K

Beth’s Favorite Meal: Tabbouleh with flatbread and hummus

Banana Egg Pancake:

1 banana

2 eggs

1 splash of vanilla extract

Sprinkle of cinnamon

(Any other fillers: flaxseed, oatmeal, pumpkin puree, spinach puree, crushed nuts, berries, etc)

In a bowl mash the banana and then add in all the other ingredients. Grease the pan and pour batter into the pan.  Fry under low-med heat until golden brown on both sides. Top it with nut butters.

In this week’s episode we talk with Amy Broadmoore – a mom of three, an endurance athlete and a photographer based out of Minnesota. Amy is the founder of an incredible photography and storytelling project called Onward, which focuses on women in endurance sports. A couple years ago, after she entered a gravel bike race and realized she was only one of six women on the start line, she became curious and decided to research the underrepresentation of women in endurance sports such as ultra running, mountain biking, gravel biking, and cross-country skiing.

Show Notes:

Stef’s fave thing: Brooks Glycerin 18

Nikki’s Fave: Treeline Journal Athletic Running Hats!

How to find Amy and all she’s doing with Onward:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Resources for women interested in mountain biking: 

Skirts in the Dirt

Trek Mountain Bike Camps

Amy’s Favorite Race: Squamish 50 miler

Amy does something so cool!! Her family splits the cooking duties – She cooks once a week, each of her three kids takes one night and her husband takes the rest. They keep it simple.

We jump right in to answering some questions listeners sent in (thank you listeners!!). We chat about some of our favorite pieces of advice we’ve taken with us from previous episodes with our rock star ultra running mamas. We discuss coffee habits, how to maintain running and strength as we have more kids, and how we’ve changed our running goals during this funky 2020 year. We dive into how to navigate the weight of your needs as a mother, your baby’s needs and your partner’s needs when there might be tension between running and family dynamics. We chat about insecurities, negative body image, trying to work on self-approval, what it’s like to have a podcast, what a typical week looks like when training for a 50k/ 50 miler and... farm life. Random and not random, we talk about all of it. Give it a listen!