The Fueling Forward Podcast

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.

In this Q&A episode, I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Today's questions include:

• Why do runners get side cramps and how can you avoid them?
• What advice do you have for high school coaches for helping athletes continue to run and train if they have a history or past of disordered eating? How do you balance training along with long term health?
• How can I handle triggering comments from relatives and friends who don't run?
• I notice that whenever I get my period, my running takes a nosedive and I struggle with hard workouts because my legs feel really heavy. Is there anything I can do?

If you want to join me in NYC on Saturday November 1st for a pre-race shakeout before the NYC Marathon, you can learn more about it HERE.

If you're interested in making a donation to enter to win the Race Day Package giveaway, you can make a donation HERE.

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! 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 the founder of Running on Veggies, Lottie Bildirici. Lottie grew up in NYC, and as a freshman in high school was diagnosed with cancer. After finishing her treatment, Lottie was inspired to learn more about health and wellness and began getting into running and nutrition. She started the blog, Running on Veggies, which eventually turned into an Instagram. Lottie soon turned her passion into her career by cooking for elite athletes like Kara Goucher, and becoming a recipe developer which eventually led to the publishing of her cookbook, Running on Veggies. Lottie has completed a full Ironman and is a 6x marathon finisher.

In today's episode, we talk about:

• How going through cancer treatment in high school helped her to find running and nutrition
• What is was like connecting with elite runners like Kara Goucher through instagram and how that led to her becoming a live in chef while Kara trained for the Olympic Trials
• How she overcame imposter syndrome to create a thriving business, Running on Veggies, and eventually publish a cookbook
• What it was like competing in a full Iron Man triathlon 10 years to the day she was first diagnosed with cancer and how that helped her take back the power and celebrate life
• The process of developing recipes and publishing a cookbook, as well as some of her favorite recipes in her cookbook
• How she found marathoning, which led to her discovering that she has Crohn's disease due to a dropping iron level and chronic fatigue

If you would like to keep up with Lottie, you can find her on Instagram @runningonveggies, and you can also head to her website, www.runonveg.com, to find her blog, recipes, and cookbook.

In this Q&A episode, I answer questions that have been submitted by listeners.

Today's questions include:

• I'm a high school runner with a super early lunch period at 10:15am and I'm having trouble figuring out how to eat leading up to a 3:30pm practice. Do you have any tips or advice?
• Can you share your opinion on energy drinks?
• I'm a new college graduate running 95 miles per week, do you have any advice for how to get into a better fueling routine without the structure of school? Also, should I be eating less or feeling less hungry on my shorter easy run days?
• I’m trying to walk onto my university’s cross country team next year and I know you mentioned you went through a similar process. Do you have any tips?

If you're interested in making a donation to enter to win the Race Day Package giveaway, you can make a donation HERE.

Thanks so much to everyone who has submitted questions so far! 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 professional runner, Emily Infeld. Emily grew up in Ohio, where she found her love of running through weekend races with her dad. She went on to run collegiately for Georgetown, where she was a 14x All-American and an NCAA indoor 3k champ. Emily signed a contract with Nike right out of college and joined Bowerman Track Club, where she trained for the majority of her career. Emily was the 2015 Bronze Medalist in the 10k at the World Championships in Bejing, and she went on to become an Olympian in 2016 in the 10k. Emily recently signed with Brooks, and at 35, won her first ever US title at the USATF championships in the 10k, qualifying her for the World Championships that will take place in Tokyo beginning 9/13.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How a slow introduction to the sport allowed Emily to avoid injury and burnout, and to decide to run at the collegiate level
• What is was like running for a college coach who encouraged longevity in the sport and how that environment taught Emily to balance life outside of running
• How body comments lead to some under fueling that resulted in back to back bone stress injuries, and what she learned throughout that experience
• What it felt like to win her first US title, and how special that moment was to her
• How she uses ChatGPT to track her carb intake to make sure she's eating the amount of carbs she needs to best support her training
• Why it's so important to her to be surrounded by a network of people who love and support her, and how this has led her to be the happiest and healthiest she's ever been

If you would like to keep up with Emily, you can find her on Instagram or TikTok @emilyinfeld. If you'd like to cheer for her at the upcoming World Championships, she will be competing in the women's 10k in the evening session on day 1 9/13.