The Lane 9 Podcast

"I think runners specifically are convinced that sh*tting your pants is normal...I see stuff all the time online of people saying, 'Oh, running causes me to have GI issues.' No, running plus your nutrition is the cause."

Grace Kelley really wants you to be able to run without sh*tting your pants. And she's got the myth-busting reels on Instagram to help! Kelley is a sports dietitian, part of the Lane 9 Directory, and a runner training for her first marathon, Fall 2025. Throughout the process, she's testing out a variety of gels so you don't have to, and keeping a spreadsheet with the facts. She's also making reel after reel of objectively bad nutrition advice from the internet, to save your gut and your run from an ill-informed fueling strategy.

We had a great time chatting with Grace about how she started running on Dry Land (IYKYK) after swimming through high school, how an appointment with a dietitian changed her career path and her own relationship with food, and more about her private practice.

Then we dig into some nutrition trends that may be affecting YOUR gut, and what might help.

Follow her @GraceKelleynutrition on Instagram. And send her bad nutrition things! For the content!

Connect with a registered dietitian near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport clinicians, by going to Lane9Project.org/Directory. If you dont' see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!

Follow Lane 9 Project on Instagram @Lane9Project.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter via Lane9Project.Substack.com, and go to Lane9project.org to get in touch if you'd like to send us a note!

"I saw the tie between, you know, delaying recovery, restricting food and ending up with a bone injury in my foot. And it was part of why I took six years off."

Mary Denholm was a dual-sport athlete in college, competing in ski racing and cross country, track and field. After her first (and so far only) bone injury in college and struggling with restricting food intake, she took a long break from the sport. It ended up being six years off, while she went through law school and started her law career. "I can count on one hand the number of times I went for a run in those six years," she shared.

She has navigated a lot of change since getting back to the sport, times of very high stress, big moves, career transitions and more. But running has been a constant for her, since 2015. She shares her story within this sport, which includes qualifying for both the 2020 and 2024 Olylmpic Trials Marathons. Last year (2024), she finally got into trail running, and it's gone pretty well, to say the least! She signed her first professional running contracts at the end of last year, and at age 38, feels like many of her best races are ahead of her.

We talk about:

• her experiences as a college athlete, and what happened when someone told her she'd be "faster" if she was "lighter"
• how she's become in tune with her body to try to minimize injury risk, even with the timing sucks
• changing your mid, leaving a career and other life transitions
• why she's been intersted in trail running, but held off until 2024
• her year on the run in 2024
• the reason she had some menstrual cycle disruptions a few years ago
• how she stays on top of her health now
• how she recovered from her trail races, including Leadville 100 (which she won!) and JFK 50-miler (2nd place)
• and what she's training for in 2025

Mary is a coach for Lift Run Perform. Follow her on Instagram @eatrunandbemary

Follow Lane 9 Project: @Lane9Project on Instagram and BlueSky. Subscribe to our newsletter at Lane9project.substack.com.

And head to Lane9project.org/Directory to find a clinician or coach that specializes in women's health and sport, and wants to support you!

" ...definitely we're underrepresented and I think especially with the state of our country and the world now, it can be really scary to put yourself out there."

Ari Hendrix is the third fastest US-Born African American marathoner (2:35, CIM 2022), and ran the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials Marathon in 2024. She works for HOKA and lives in Portland with her wife and two dogs.

Ari joined the Lane 9 podcast to talk about her recent move to the trails, on which she's already had some success! She recently finished 9th in her 50K debut at the 2025 Canyons Endurance Run by UTMB, and also happened to win a road 5K in Portland this spring. She played college basketball before getting into endurance running, and has navigated mental health, injuries, and setbacks in the sport.

We also talk about:

• the challenges she navigated with both injuries and mental health during 2020
• her CIM race in 2022, finishing in 2:35 to qualify for the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials Marathon and becoming the 3rd fastest US Born African American woman in the marathon
• her experience at the 2024 Marathon Trials
• why she got interested in running trails instead of sticking to road racing
• how she met her wife, and her experiences as an open LGBTQ+ and African American athlete
• what she's excited about in the sport

Follow Ari Hendrix on Instagram @ari_hendrix1

Follow Lane 9 Project on Instagram @lane9project, on Bluesky, and Substack.

Connect with a clinician in the Lane 9 directory by going to Lane9project.org/Directory. Find a dietitian, mental health therapist, physical therapist, and/or coach to support you as an athlete in women's sports.

" We have a lot of work to do to help improve the health of [running] culture, like the basic understanding of what it means to be a healthy runner," shares Renee Hodges DPT.

Renee Hodges is a physical therapist (DPT) based in the Phoenix AZ area, specializing in endurance athletes. As an endurance athlete herself, Hodges shares that she has experienced REDs, low energy availability, overtraining syndrome, and more. She breaks down the basics of bone health (pop quiz on osteoclasts and osteoblasts!), and how low energy avability impacts our body's recovery, and overall health.

Stay tuned for more of Renee's athletic story, why she's excited to be training for a 70.3 Ironman this year, bone stress injury rehab and recovery, and more.

Follow Renee Hodges DPT on Instagram: @reneehodges_DPT

Follow Lane 9 on Instagram: @lane9project

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: Lane9project.Substack.com

She's part of our Lane 9 Directory, as well! If you are looking for a clinician who specializes in women's health and sport, go to Lane9project.org/directory to match with someone who is a good fit for you.

Contact us anytime: Lane9project @ gmail dot com.

And find more of our resources for athletes in women's sports by going to Lane9project.org.

" I just needed to do all of those things for myself before I really talked about it publicly. Plus, I was not in a great head space about it at first, as most people aren't with a big injury," says well-known sports dietitian Meghann Featherstun, RDN MS CSSD, in regards to the post where she shared her sacral stress fracture injury at the end of 2024.

Meghann Featherstun, aka "Feathers" (if you're a "Fuel for the Sole" listener), and maybe best known by her private practice's name and Instagram handle, Featherstone Nutrition, joined Lane 9 to talk about her running experiences—including her first marathon, the 6 World Marathon Majors in 18 months, her recent injury, and more. Featherstun is a 2:51 marathoner, breaking the 3-hour mark for the first time in 2019 and getting faster from there. And she's on Instagram weekly sharing accessible and easy-applicable sports nutrition information for the everyday runner.

(Think you can't fuel before your run? Her graham-crackers say otherwise!)

This episode also covers:

• the real reason Meghann signed up for her very first marathon in 2009
• the lessons she had to learn for herself before specializing in sports nutrition
• how everything came together for her to complete the 6-star World Marathon Majors goal in only 18 months
• the process of coming to terms with her sacral stress fracture and then sharing with widely, which isn't easy to do
• how she's been recovering from that injury
• and of course, sports nutrition! Trends, carbs (not a trend!), sodium (also not a trend, but kind of is!), and eating adequately for performance.

Follow Meghann on Instagram @FeatherstoneNutrition.

Follow Lane 9 on Instagram @Lane9project.

To find a clinician to work with, go to Lane9project.org/Directory and match with a dietitian, therapist, physical therapist, and/or coach from our network.

And hey, if you like this episode, let us know! We love to see it.

" I think I was just trying to make only running work for me and I just am not the kind of person that can only run. I need other things in my life," shares Jess McClain, who most recently finished 7th overall and first American across the finish line at the 2025 Boston Marathon, in 2:22:43, a 3-minute personal best.

Jess McClain is professional marathoner for Brooks Running. In 2024, she placed 4th at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, placed 4th at the U.S Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 10,000m, won the 2024 U.S. 10K road championships, and placed 8th overall at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. In other words: She had a big year!

McClain went on to PR in the 10K on the track, placed 4th at the US Half-Marathon Championships in March, and again, 7th at the 2025 Boston Marathon. This time around, as a professional runner for Brooks once again, she's doing things differently. She's clearer on what works well for her, when it comes to work, life, and running competitively, and she's leaving her own footprint on the sport because of that.

She joins the Lane 9 podcast to talk about all of the following:

• lessons learned by underfueling and overtraining for the marathon (a sacral stress fracture in 2022 became a reset for her)
• why she sticks to about half the weekly mileage of her fellow professional runners when training for the marathon (at least for now!)
• her experiences on competitive high school and collegiate track and cross country teams, the team cultures around fueling and periods, and what she learned from her coaches along the way
• her first experience as a professional runner—plagued with injuries, stress, and setbacks
• why she came back to compete at the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2024, and what she thought would happen after that race
• how she's fueling NOW for her marathon training and racing, and her pro tips for finding gels/fueling options that work well for you
• and how she loves to celebrate after her races

Follow McClain on Instagram @JessTonn.

Follow Lane 9 Project @lane9project on Instagram and Bluesky.

If you're looking for a clinician who specializes in REDs, sports nutrition/health, and women's health, head to Lane9project.org/Directory to match with someone in our network.

"My big fear with all of this is the trickle down," Dr. Sasha Gollish joins us on the episode, to chat about her work in Gender Equity in sport, her time as a professional runner for team Canada, how she knew she was in perimenopause, and much more.

Gollish ran at a younger age, but took some time off and worked as an engineer in Toronto before getting back to the sport at a high level. We talk about what it looked like to go back into competitive running, working with Oiselle and Asics, going to the World Marathon Championships in 2023 for Team Canada, and eventually navigating perimenopause.

As a gender equity advocate, Gollish worked to bring awareness to the World Athletics decision to resume "sex testing" for athletes competing in the female category, so we discuss her thoughts and perspective on that, along with concerns about how it may impact athletes down the line.

Follow Dr. Sasha Gollish and Yellow Running Shoes on Instagram: @Sgollishruns.

Connect with Lane 9 on Instagram @lane9project, email us Lane 9 project at gmail dot com, and/or go to Lane9project.org.

Find a clinician and/or coach to work with as you navigate fueling, mental health, and menstrual health by going to Lane9project.org/directory.

"I didn't know what I was doing at all...I didn't take any gels in my first marathon...Now I take gels like every 5K or sometimes every 30 minutes."

Emilia Benton is a freelance health and wellness journalist who is particularly passionate about sharing diverse stories and elevating underrepresented voices. Her work has been published by outlets such as Runner's World, Outside RUN, SELF, Women's Health and the Houston Chronicle. Emilia is also a 14-time marathoner, 50-something-time half-marathoner and USATF Level 1-certified run coach.

We talk about the races she has run and worked at this year (including riding on the lead vehicle in Boston), and:

• Why she keeps running marathons (14+), and why she loves the Houston Marathon
• How she has approached training for races lately & why she hired nell rojas as her coach
• A plea for wider carbon-plated shoes
• How she approaches fueling now and what she has learned along the way
• Her hydration tricks for getting through the heat of a Houston Summer
• How she transitioned from being a FT journalist at the Houston Chronicle to a job in healthcare to freelance work
• and more!

Follow Emilia @emiliambenton on Instagram.

Follow @lane9project on Instagram, and reach out anytime: Lane9project at gmail dot com.

To find a clinician or coach who specializes in women's health and sport, go to Lane9Project.org/directory.

"For so long, every conversation, every day, was like, 'what is your weight?' So really like reinforcing confidence and performance all around the number on the scale."

Alexa Efraimson signed a professional running contract with Nike when she was just 17 years old. She hadn't gone through puberty yet, and while did shortly after that, her cycles were "super inconsistent" for the next six+ years. She navigated challenges with weight, body image, and fueling for performance. She got a college degree while running professionally, and had some success during her eight years as a pro. But in 2022, after enduring an emotional time with her partner and their families, she began to reevaluate her relationship to running and sport. She retired, and started pursuing an additional degree to eventually become a registered dietitian.

This episode covers the following topics and more:

• Efraimson's current running and a big goal she has

• the Dietetic internship (she's graduating in May 2025)

• Navigating racing professionally, weight, body image, fueling, and harmful nutrition advice

• Going through puberty as a professional runner
• How she felt about the Mary Cain story when it came out and she was also competing as a pro runner for Nike
• What happened during the last year of her professional running career
• The nutrition book that totally shifted her perspective on eating and health

Follow Alexa Efraimson as she becomes a registered dietitian this year (2025) and begins supporting fellow athletes: @alexa.efraimson.

Looking for a clinician to support you through REDs, fueling for performance, or navigating mental health in sports? Go to Lane9Project.org/Directory to connect with a Lane 9 provider.

Follow Lane 9 on Instagram @lane9Project and Substack: lane9project.substack.com.

"{Houston} was a really great season opener and showed me again that I could fuel like I even fuel in the half marathon now, it's I'm able to take fuel. It's, and sustain my training and feel healthy and finishing strong in my races," shares Molly Bookmyer.

Bookmyer is an elite distance runner based in Columbus OH. She walked onto the Ohio State XC/Track and FIeld teams, but left the sport before graduating because of some frustrating injuries and health issues. She wasn't getting regular periods, which actually led to her healthcare team discovering a small brain tumor.

After some time away from the sport she got back into distance running and eventually qualified for both the 2020 and 2024 Marathon Olympic Trials. While her marathon and half-marathon times have improved over the years—she ran a PR and won the 2024 Twin Cities Marathon in 2:28, and ran a half-marathon PR at the 2025 Houston Marathon with a 1:09—she has also navigated some intense challenges with gut health and fueling.

We recorded this right before she traveled to DC where she ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, which she finished in 52:42, 8th overall female and 7th american. As she shared on Instagram, she "Ran over a minute PR in the 10 mile race and snagged a 10k PR of 32:11 in the process". Next up is London, so we'll be virtually cheering for her in a few weeks!

This episode covers a lot! We discuss:

• Her 14th place finish at the Half marathon championships in March 2025

• Why she's planning to do more races this year

• How she walked onto the XC/TF team at Ohio State in college, her experience as a collegiate athlete, and why she quit after a few years

• How she found out she had a small brain tumor,which may have been related to her experience with amenorrhea

• Why and how she got back into high level/elite running, which only a few years later landed her in 3rd place at the 2019 US 25K Championship

• How her fueling has evolved, especially after two stress fractures in/around 2020, and then a very unpleasant experience during the 2022 Houston Marathon

• Her gluten-free fueling strategies and what's working well for her now

• Her water bottle secret for elites

• And her post-race journaling prompts!

Follow Molly on Instagram to cheer her on, @MollyBookie.

Follow Lane 9 @Lane9Project.

Connect with a women's health and sport clinician to get support with YOUR fueling, mental health, and/or period health by going to Lane9Project.org/directory.