This episode is a Q&A episode where I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners. This is also the season finale for the 2025 season of The Fueling Forward Podcast! Thank you so much to everyone who has been listening and submitting questions, I can't wait to come back in January of 2026 with more episodes for you. At the end of this episode, I give some bonus tips on navigating the holidays.

Today's questions include:

• I have been dealing with muscle soreness after doing PT, are there any foods that could help me like anti-inflammatory or high protein foods?
• I have a hard time knowing when I'm full. I think I serve myself enough food then feel hungry 2 hours later, but I'm not sure if I actually am. How do I know when I've eaten enough, and how should I portion my meals?
• Do you have any tips for someone who feels like they look different or bigger than teammates and feels like that's why they are slower?
• I'm a high school xc and track runner and I'm gearing up for my indoor track season. Do you have any tips on fueling for evening races, as most of my races are between 5:30-9pm?

Links mentioned in the podcast:

• Apply for 1:1 coaching
• Sign up for the waitlist for the high school boot camp series
• Sign up for the waitlist for the spring marathon group nutrition coaching program

This episode is an interview with professional runner for ASICS and 2:22 marathoner, Emma Bates. Emma grew up in Minnesota where she discovered a love for distance running that led her to receiving a full ride scholarship to run at Boise State University. While at Boise, Emma was a 12x All-American and a NCAA champion in the 10k. After college, she went on to run professionally for B.A.A., but decided that environment wasn't a good fit for her. She moved off the grid into the wilderness of Idaho, working full time and training alone while living in the mountains without running water. She ultimately decided she missed the team atmosphere and moved to Boulder, CO to join Team Boss and pursue a career on the roads. Emma was the runner up finisher at the 2021 Chicago Marathon, has been a 5x top 10 finisher at a World Major Marathon, and has been a 3x Team USA member including a 7th place finish at the 2022 World Championships in the marathon.

We talk about:

• How growing up in a small town in the midwest allowed her to find running, and how being involved in the sport inspired her whole family to create healthier habits
• What it was like transitioning to college and navigating the dining hall, while also being diagnosed with celiac disease and having to eliminate gluten
• How internal and external pressure got to her as a senior, leading to a disappointing NCAA finish, and what she learned from that experience
• Her transition to running professionally in an environment that encouraged some not so great eating habits, and why she ultimately decided she needed a change
• What is was like moving to a house in the mountains without running water, and how that experience helped her reconnect with herself and with running
• Why she ended up moving to Boulder to join Team Boss and focusing on the roads, and what inspires her to compete

This episode is a Q&A where I answer questions that have been submitted to me by listeners. Today's questions include:

• I had a running coach tell me I shouldn't combine gels and electrolyte drinks with carbs or it will cause GI distress. Is this true, or is there a way to use both without having GI issues?
• I'm 5 months postpartum and have been dealing with night sweats. They may not just be postpartum related, as I've noticed they also occur during the second half of my cycle. Is there anything I can do nutrition wise to help with night sweats?
• I'm a high school swimmer training 7x per week and lifting 2-3 times per week. I'm trying to follow the performance place models but I'm not sure what qualifies as a hard or moderate training day. How should I be using the performance plate models to fuel the training I'm doing?
• I'm a D1 collegiate runner and I think I've been struggling with low iron, but I can't swallow pills. Do you have any advice on how I can support my iron or alternatives to iron pills?

If you would like to submit a question for a future Q&A episode, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

This episode is an interview with Bobby Stuckey, a Boulder based award winning Master Sommelier, restaurateur, winemaker, and cookbook author. Bobby grew up in Arizona and is a graduate of NAU. He worked his way up from being a busboy to working with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, where he met his business partner Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson. Together in 2004, they opened Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, CO, and went on to found the Frasca Hospitality Group that now includes 5 sister restaurants. In 2004, Bobby received his Master Sommelier diploma, making him just one of 279 people in the world to have this title. In 2020, Bobby became a founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, which saved thousands of restaurants during the pandemic. Bobby is the recipient of 3 James Beard Awards, including the 2013 award for Outstanding Wine Service, the 2019 award for Outstanding Service (changed to Outstanding Hospitality in 2020 per Bobby's recommendation) and the 2025 award for Outstanding Restaurant. Bobby currently lives in Boulder, is a 2:45 marathoner, and tries to run a marathon every year with his brother.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Bobby found running as a kid who was struggling in school academically with undiagnosed dyslexia
• How his first job in the restaurant industry as a busboy led to him finding his passion in hospitality and set him on his path to work at award winning restaurants like French Laundry
• The overlap between the skills it takes to be a runner and the skills it takes to work in the hospitality industry, and why it's important to Bobby to protect his time
• What it means to be a Master Sommelier and how you become one
• What goes into opening a restaurant and planning a menu, and what inspires the food and wine Bobby's restaurants
• Why Bobby's relationship with food is about so much more than fueling, but about honoring culture and tradition
• How his background in cooking has helped him prioritize fueling to support his own training

If you would like to learn more about the Frasca Hospitality Group offerings, you can do so on their website HERE.

I did it!! I officially am a marathoner. I finished the NYC marathon in 3:07:48, and although this was slower than my A goal time of sub 3, I wouldn't change a thing about the race or weekend.

In this episode, I talk about:

• The travel to NYC and the busy weekend we had with friends and family
• What it was like navigating logistics leading up to the marathon
• How I executed my carb load starting 2 days out from the race
• What my fueling looked like the day and night before
• How I fueled the morning of the race, and what it was like getting out to Staten Island for the start
• Breakdown of the race itself, including the point at which we realized a sub 3 hour marathon wasn't happening, and how I pivoted in the moment to have fun
• I experienced no cramping or stomach issues, so I share how I fueled and hydrated throughout the race
• What my favorites parts of the race were and how I got through the dark moments in the race

Thank you so much for following along on this journey! I had so much fun training for and racing the New York City Marathon, and loved getting to document all parts of my training and race day. Special thanks to anyone who donated to my fundraiser for TrackGirlz! I was able to exceed my goal of raising $4500 for them by race day.

This episode is an interview with professional runner for Brooks and 2:22:43 marathoner, Jess McClain. Jess grew up in Arizona, where she was a 4x Footlocker qualifier and 14x state champion while in HS. She went on to run for Stanford and became a 7x All-American. Jess signed a professional contract with Brooks out of college and went to train with Brooks Beasts in Washington, but really struggled with the transition and to stay healthy. She ultimately ended up moving back home with her parents and stepping away from running professionally, and transitioned to working full time in marketing.

After deciding to train for a marathon for her 30th birthday, Jess ended up running an OTQ and placed 4th at the 2024 Olympic Trials in the marathon. She signed a new professional contract with Brooks, and since then has finished as the top American and 7th overall at the 2025 Boston Marathon and represented Team USA at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo where she placed 8th in the world in the marathon. Jess also works full time for the nonprofit LoveUp foundation, focusing on foster youth advocacy, and as the executive director and marketing consultant of her own LLC.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What is was like finding immediate success in high school and how she learned to navigate race day nerves
• Her transition to collegiate running and why it's important to give you and your body time to adjust to college without putting pressure on yourself to achieve big things right away
• How she struggled in her transition to professional running and why hitting the eject button was the best thing she did for herself and her running career
• The importance of advocating for yourself and surrounding yourself who have a good relationship with food, body image, health, and the sport in general
• What it was like to OTQ without expecting to, and how that experience inspired her to keep the joy in running
• What she has learned about fueling for the demands of marathon training, and how fueling
• The process of having her eggs frozen, and why she made that decision this year

You can follow along with Jess on Instagram @jesstonn.

Today's episode is a Q&A where I answer questions submitted by listeners. It's also my last Q&A episode before I run the New York City Marathon, so I talk a little about my training block and race day goals.

Questions answered in today's episode include:

• Do you have any good snack ideas for night time? I usually like to have something sweet before bed.
• Recently I started waking up really hungry and was wondering if this is normal or a sign of under fueling? I only have noticed this recently after being more intentional with fueling.
• What are your thoughts on caffeine pills or beetroot juice before races?
• I recently ran a 10 mile race, but when I tried increasing my carbs the week before my race I experienced tons of GI distress that disrupted my race. What did I do wrong and what can I do differently next time?

Links mentioned in the episode:

• New York City Marathon pre-race shakeout on Saturday November 1: register HERE
• Donate to my fundraising campaign for Trackgirlz HERE. For every $50 you donate, you get 1 entry to win a race day support pacakge (a free pair of Hettas shoes, a t-shirt, a race day strategy Zoom call with me, and more from brands who believe in women's sports)

If you would like to submit a question for a future Q&A episode, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

This episode is an interview with Elise Cranny, Colorado native and professional runner for Nike. Elise found immediate success in the sport as a high school runner, and went on to run for Stanford. While at Stanford, Elise struggled with RED-S and several bone injuries that disrupted much of her collegiate career, but despite these struggles she was still a 12x All-American and NCAA runner up, and signed a contract with Nike right out of college. Elise credits her post-collegiate career to learning how to properly fuel herself, and since going pro in 2018 Elise has won 4 US titles, represented Team USA 5 times, and is a 2 time Olympian.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What is was like finding immediate success in the sport in high school, and some things she wished she had known were signs of under fueling
• How allowing her body to shift in college saved her running career, and how she navigated the adjustment to that body shift
• Why it’s important to trust the process when you’re going through an injury cycle despite making changes to your fueling, and how to stay the course
• What is was like coming close to wanting to quit the sport, then signing a professional contract and finding her way back to being healthy and loving the sport
• What it meant to her to make her first Olympic team after coming out the other side of an injury cycle and RED-S, and how it helped reinforce that she made the right choices with fueling
• Why it’s important to her to create a training environment that allows her to be happy outside of running
• Signs and symptoms of RED-S, what to be on the lookout for interns of what is normal and what is a red flag, and how she adjusts accordingly if she notices warning signs

You can keep up with Elise on Instagram @elise.cranny and you find her on the Voice in Sport platform as a mentor.

This episode is a Q&A where I answer questions submitted to me beforehand by listeners. Today's questions include:

• I'm a busy college runner who relies heavily on pre-packaged foods and bars, often grabbing them for snacks or before or after runs. Do you have any recommendations for conveniences foods that won't hurt my stomach?
• Should I consume 60g of carbs per hour on all long runs, even the "shorter" long runs that are 10-15 miles?
• What is a good strategy for taking in fluids during the marathon? Should I use on course options or carry my own?
• My cholesterol recently came back as borderline high but I'm super active and don't have a family history. Should I be concerned, and are there dietary changes I should be making?

Links mentioned in the episode:

• New York City Marathon pre-race shakeout on Saturday November 1: register HERE
• Donate to my fundraising campaign for Trackgirlz HERE. For every $50 you donate, you get 1 entry to win a race day support pacakge (a free pair of Hettas shoes, a t-shirt, a race day strategy Zoom call with me, and more from brands who believe in women's sports)

If you would like to submit a question for a future Q&A episode, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

Today's episode is an interview with professional runner for New Balance, Dani Jones. Dani and I were teammates at The University of Colorado Boulder, and became teammates after college while on Team Boss. Dani was a standout collegiate runner, earning 12x All-American honors and becoming a 4x NCAA Champion. After her 5th year track season was cut short due to covid, she signed with New Balance and went pro, focusing on the 1500. Dani has competed in 8 USATF championships and most recently was selected to represent Team USA at the NACAC Championships, where she earned a silver medal in the 1500.

In today's episode, we talk about:

• How Dani found her love for running after playing every sport under the sun, and why her high school's xc/track team was so special to be a part of
• Her transition to collegiate athletics and navigating the challenging of wanting to compare herself to other athletes
• What it was like working with a dietitian in college, and how that helped Dani feel more confident in her fueling choices
• How Dani discovered she has a genetic condition called hemochromatosis that causes iron overload, and what she does to manage it
• Why working with a dietitian has been so key to her performance and confidence around fueling
• Why it's important to Dani to be happy outside of running, and how giving back to the sport inspires her

If you are interested in Dani's camp, you can learn more and register HERE.