Running On Om

This month’s Soul Sister Sessions episode returns to focus on eating disorders, inspired by Eating Disorders Awareness Week on February 24th – March 1st. ROO 223 was a powerful conversation when Abbey and Julia first shared their respective stories of eating disorders, and this episode is a follow up to that. Abbey and Julia answer five listener questions, all specifically focused around eating disorders. This is all shared from their own experiences, and we encourage anyone that is experiencing an eating disorder/disordered eating or any physical or mental health issue, to consult a qualified professional in any instance you feel you require additional support.

Alex Pavon is a downhill skier turned professional mountain biker. She retired from competitive skiing in 2013 and found her way to enduro racing. She lives in Flagstaff Arizona and works as an emergency room EMT.

Emma Spencer is an elite distance runner, running coach, software engineer and runs for the Tracksmith Hare AC. She has a marathon best of 2:37 (BMW Berlin Marathon 2018), which qualified her to race the 2020 US Olympic Marathon trials. This interview is in two parts, and takes place the day before and day after the trials in Atlanta.

For this month's Soul Sister Sessions episode, both Abbey and Julia are back at their respective homes after spending time together in Flagstaff when Abbey was on her altitude training camp. This month’s episode focuses specifically on running, answering five listener questions that cover a range of past experiences, funny stories and general insights that both Abbey and Julia have gained over the years on their individual running journeys.

Jenny Jurek is a runner, climber, designer and author. She is an accomplished athlete having run many ultras including UTMB, climbed in Yosemite and most recently, bike touring around Japan with her husband Scott and their two young children.

Clare Gallagher and Abby Levene have been best friends for a decade, are professional trail runners living in Boulder Colorado, and activists. Clare is a Patagonia athlete and works for Patagonia doing advocacy work. She has won the prestigious Leadville 100, CCC (101km sister race of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc) and was the 2019 Western States 100 winner, where she ran the second fastest female time in race history. Days after this podcast was recorded, Clare was announced and awarded the #2 Female UROY (Ultra-runner Magazines Ultra Runner of the Year award) for 2019. Abby is a former national champion professional triathlete, who took up ultra trail running after stepping away from triathlon. She now runs for Adidas and works as a writer. Most recently, Abby placed 5th in the deeply competitive North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile race in San Francisco. Clare and Abby bring high energy and candidness to this episode, which really highlights their friendship.

In this months Soul Sister Sessions episode, Abbey and Julia recorded together in Flagstaff, Arizona. This first SSS episode of 2020 checks in with both Julia and Abbey, and goes through some more listener questions.

Molly Seidel is a professional runner for Saucony, living in Boston, MA. She graduated from Notre Dame with four NCAA national titles to her name and remains the only woman to date with wins at both the high school Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships and the NCAA National Cross Country Championships. Molly recently qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon trials with her win at the San Antonio Half Marathon, and will be making her marathon debut at the 2020 trials in Atlanta in February.

Molly Seidel is a professional runner for Saucony, living in Boston, MA. She graduated from Notre Dame with four NCAA national titles to her name and remains the only woman to date with wins at both the high school Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships and the NCAA National Cross Country Championships. Molly recently qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon trials with her win at the San Antonio Half Marathon, and will be making her marathon debut at the 2020 trials in Atlanta in February.

In this episode Abbey and Julia discuss several listener questions on the topics of personal challenges they’ve overcome and eating disorders in running. Abbey and Julia share some powerful and impactful experiences from their past, much of which has not been shared publicly to date. Both Abbey and Julia reflect on how they’ve grown and reconciled these experiences.