This episode is an interview with professional runner for Saucony, Vanessa Fraser. Vanessa grew up in Northern California where she discovered and fell in love with running through Girls on the Run. She went on to run at Stanford University where she became a 10x All-American and the PAC-12 champion in the 10k. While at Stanford, she received her bachelor's degree in symbolic systems and her master’s degree management science and engineering. After college, she went on to run professionally, signing a contract with Nike and joining Bowerman Track Club right out of college. Vanessa has competed in multiple US championships in the 5k and 10k, and has a 5k time of 14:48. In addition to running professionally, she also works full time as a partnerships manager at a health care tech company.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How she found the sport of running through Girls on the Run and what her progression looked like
• How an assignment to track calories from a middle school health teacher led to hospitalization, and what she learned from the experience
• What it was like going through periods of weight restoration and why she’s thankful her coaches, parents and doctors put her health first
• How she ended up running for Stanford, her dream school, despite not earning a scholarship right away
• Her transition to becoming a pro runner and advice for being patient during periods of lack of progress and injuries
• How increasing her carb intake has been instrumental to her success, and why fueling on long runs has been a big part of that
• Why working in addition to being a pro runner has helped her mindset around the sport and finding life balance

You can keep up with Vanessa on Instagram or TikTok @nessafraser.

This episode is a Q&A episode where I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Questions for today’s episode include:

• As a pre-med student, I feel like I’ve turned to running and training as a coping mechanism to handle stress. How do you know if a training load is too high and inching towards overtraining?
• I’m a high school senior who runs track and xc and I’ve been working on getting my period back for over a year. I’ve gotten one cycle, but haven’t had any since. I feel like I’m doing all the right things, but also feel like I can’t stop gaining weight. Do you have any tips or advice for how to get and keep my period?
• I’m a high school track athlete and mostly compete in field events, but I will also do the 800. How would my fueling differ from an endurance runner?
• I’m a former collegiate runner and current dietitian working in an athletic department with the track/xc teams. My body has changed over the past year since I’m no longer training at a high level, and I find myself struggling with comparison and body image. Do you have any advice on how to navigate this?

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! If you would like to submit a question for future episodes, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

This episode is an interview with the food blogger and recipe developer behind Recipe Runner, Danae Halliday. Danae grew up in Arizona, where she discovered running through her older sister. She ran throughout high school, but found herself burnt out and took a break from the sport when she went to Arizona State University. When her sister started training for marathons, Danae found herself inspired to pick it up again and fell in love with the longer distance.

Despite her love of food and recipe developing, Danae found herself struggling with an eating disorder. This led to a vicious injury cycle that she couldn’t find her way out of. She eventually reached out for help, and has been in treatment and active recovery since 2022. She hopes to get healthy enough to line up to race again soon!

In this episode, we talk about:

• How her sister inspired her to start running in high school
• Why she took a break from the sport in college and how she found her way back to running
• How a comment from a coworker about her body led to restriction around food that resulted in an eating disorder
• Why she finally decided to seek help and what that has looked like for her
• Advice on how to be there for someone in your life struggling with an eating disorder
• Why it’s important to approach recovery and treatment from a way that works for you
• How she founded Recipe Runner and why developing recipes has been a healing tool for her throughout her eating disorder recovery

You can keep up with Danae on Instagram at @reciperunner, and you can find her recipes and food blog on her website https://reciperunner.com/

***A trigger warning for this episode: we do talk about an active eating disorder and eating disorder behaviors. If you are not in a place to hear that, you may want to skip this episode***

This episode is a Q&A episode where I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Questions for today’s episode include:

• A running influencer that I follow recently got a stress fracture but blamed it on biomechanics. This got me wondering if bone stress injuries are ever not related to fueling and overtraining in some way? Do you have any thoughts on this in the running culture?
• I’m a collegiate runner running 50-55 miles per week and am trying to put on weight. I’ve been drinking ensure drinks, but do you have any other tips for meals and snacks for weight gain?
• I recently experienced my first bone stress injury and I’ve also been dealing with chronically low ferritin. I’m in a healthcare system that is reluctant to provide more care than they deem necessary. How do I make sure that I’m getting all of the information I need to treat my injury with limited access to tests and treatment? How do I know which tests are important and worth advocating for?
• What are your thoughts on meal kits and how to navigate healthier options?

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! If you would like to submit a question for future episodes, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

This episode is an interview with sports psychologist and former professional runner, Lennie Waite.

Lennie grew up abroad, where she primarily played soccer. She was recruited to play D1 soccer at Rice University, but after her sophomore year ended up switching to running and became a 2x All-American. She went on to run post-collegiately and represented Great Britain at 3 Commonwealth Games, the World Championships in 2017, and the 2016 Olympic Games in the steeplechase.

Lennie did all of this while completing her PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and becoming a Certified Mental Performance Consultant. She currently works with athletes and is also the chief science officer at Hite EQ, while being a mom to her 2 daughters.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What it was like growing up abroad and how different the rhetoric is around food and sport
• How being good at a sport from a young age automatically creates pressure and expectations, and how she dealt with this
• Why she decided to pursue soccer instead of running initially in college and what led her to make that shift
• Her tips for helping athletes navigate pressure and comparison when it comes to racing
• What she sees athletes struggle with when it comes to fueling as a sports psych and some tips to work through those emotions

If you would like to learn more about Lennie's and her services as a sports psychologist, you can go to her website HERE.

This episode is a Q&A episode where I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Questions for today’s episode include:

• In college I experienced a stress fracture, and since then I’ve been stuck in an injury cycle. Can you talk more about the science behind fueling to help heal injuries?
• What are your go to meals and snacks for track meets? I don’t have many resources at the meets and I’m someone who often runs 3 distance events.
• Is there a connection between motivation and energy levels, especially in a race? I notice lower motivation on days I don’t fuel as well, could these be related?
• You mentioned in a previous podcast that high cholesterol can be a sign of RED-S. What would you recommend for an athlete who tests high in cholesterol?

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! If you would like to submit a question for future episodes, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

Today's episode is an interview with Ali Feller of Ali on the Run. Ali discovered running when she was living in NYC as a way to be social, and ultimately fell in love with the sport. She created her blog, Ali on the Run, that eventually evolved into podcast and ultimately led her to become a race announcer and broadcaster. Ali completed the 2023 Eugene Marathon, after which she discovered a lump in her breast that led to a breast cancer diagnosis. Ali has been navigating life with stage 4 cancer while continuing to be a force in the sport, and has so many inspiring things to share.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What it was like when she discovered running, and how she found herself falling in love with the sport
• Her relationship with food growing up as a dancer in the 90's, and how a diagnosis of Crohn's disease at the age of 7 impacted that
• What it has been like dealing with an inflammatory bowel condition that impacts running, and how she has navigated that over the years
• How she created Ali on the Run and what it's like being at the finish line of major marathons
• How her cancer diagnosis has impacted her ability to run, and how the running community has rallied behind her with support

You can find Ali's podcast, The Ali on the Run Show, on all major platforms and you can find Ali on Instagram @aliontherun1.

This episode is a Q&A episode where I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Questions for today’s episode include:

• I’ve been struggling to get through an entire year healthy. I always make it through the fall and winter, then struggle with soft tissue injuries in the spring. Do you think this might be nutrition related or are these just things that come with running?
• What is your take on bicarb? Does it really make a difference and do you recommend it for high school athletes?
• I’m a high school swimmer and I’ve been struggling with GI issues immediately after races. This never happens during training. Can you think of anything that might be causing this and is there anything that might help from a nutrition standpoint?
• What advice would you give to an athlete that is struggling with fatigue, soreness that doesn’t go away, and is struggling in races? As her coach, how can I help an athlete recover from LEA/RED-S mid season?

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! If you would like to submit a question for future episodes, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].

You can find the links to the waitlists for the Fueling Forward programs below:

• High School Summer Boot Camp Series
• Fall Marathon Group Nutrition Coaching Program
• Healing Your Relationship With Food

This episode is an interview with NYC based RD, Natalie Rizzo. Natalie is the owner of Greenletes, a plant-based sports nutrition company, and she works primarily with plant-based athletes to help them learn how to fuel for health and performance on a plant-based diet. She has her Master's in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology from Columbia University and is the author of the cookbook Planted Performance. Natalie has been a vegetarian herself for over 15 years, and has completed 2 marathons and over 20 half marathons. She's also a mom to 2 boys.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Natalie found running later in life and caught the bug after finishing her first race
• Natalie's winding path to finding nutrition as a career after originally going into sales
• Her decision to become vegetarian and how she learned about plant-based sports nutrition through her own experiences
• Myths around plant-based eating for athletes
• How to navigate fiber intake as a plant-based athletes, and ideas for lunches for runners training in the afternoon/evening
• Top nutrition recommendations for plant-based runners and tips for anyone who is interested in becoming plant-based

If you're interested in working with Natalie, you can learn more on her website https://greenletes.com/ and you can find her on Instagram @greenletes

This episode is a Q&A episode where I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Questions for today’s episode include:

• I prefer not to weigh myself or know my weight, how do I go about telling my doctor I don’t want to be weighed or see my weight?
• I’m a high school runner and I haven’t PR’d since my freshman year. I still have my period and feel like I’m getting stronger, so I question whether or not it’s fueling related. Do you have any advice?
• I’m a collegiate heptathlete and was wondering if you have suggestions on how to fuel during a heptathlon?
• I struggle with knowing how much to eat during my taper weeks with a lower training volume and get anxious about eating too much. How do you recommend approaching this for peak performance?

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! If you would like to submit a question for future episodes, you can do so on my website HERE or email me at [email protected].