The Women's Running Lab

In this episode, Alison Marie challenges the common belief that midfoot striking is superior to heel striking. She explains that switching to a midfoot strike isn't always beneficial, as every runner's body functions differently, and forcing such a change can reduce stride efficiency. Instead, she stresses the importance of proper whole body mechanics, focusing on stacking, mid-stance loading, and powering through hip extension for more efficient running.


Resources Mentioned:

• The Runner’s Lab: The Runner’s Lab is a 2 hour virtual masterclass, part powerpoint style education and part practice to move, feel, and experiment with your physiology, stress resilience, running biomechanics and my 5 essential skills for an efficient stride in your body.
• The Foot Fix: The premiere rehab program designed specifically for female runners struggling with plantar fasciitis, numbness and burning, Achilles issues, and chronically tight ankles and calves.
• Pelvic Floor Fundamentals for Runners: Support your pelvic floor through a whole-body approach so that you can run freely in just 30 minutes a week!

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In this episode, Alison shares the importance of going beyond simply trying to manage your symptoms on the surface level with the rolling, stretching and icing and identifying the root cause so that you can fix them once and for all. She walks you through the 4 main contributors to true strength and mobility at the foot: Range of Motion at the ankle and big toe, Managing your Center of Mass above the foot, strengthening through a full and dynamic Tripod, and moving through pronation and supination through Rotation. She introduces her FREE virtual workshop “The Foot Audit” to help you determine the main contributors of YOUR foot symptoms.

Resources Mentioned:

The Foot Audit: A FREE virtual workshop to help you determine the main contributing factors to your:

• plantar fasciitis
• numbness and burning
• Achilles issues
• chronically tight ankles and calves

…so that you can stop randomly treating your symptom flare ups and finally address the root cause so that you can run pain free longer and faster for good!

Click here to learn more.

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Yesterday, Sept. 14th we hosted the Third Annual Compatible with Life 5k to benefit families of children with trisomy 13 and 18 through the celebration, advocacy, and community offered by The Stella Effect.

This is such a special event and near and dear to my heart. 

Our daughter, Charlotte Grace, was diagnosed with trisomy 13 (an extra copy of the 13th chromosome) at 16 weeks gestation. We were hit with all the grim stats, myriad potential birth defects, and the term “incompatible with life.”

We made the difficult and emotional choice to carry her pregnancy to term and invested in finding the best medical care possible. She was born full term at 39 weeks, breathing and fully alive, and began to defy every statistic we were given.

She lived for 6 days. We were discussing ways to improve her quality of life. Her QUALITY of LIFE, after being told she was “incompatible with life.” I have trouble not believing that, had the infection not happened, there is a good chance she would have still been with us here today.

During the live event yesterday as people ran and walked to honor and celebrate our families, I shared a bit more of Charlotte’s story, a few other mothers shared their child’s stories, we learned how The Stella Effect is continuing to support these families, and we heard a bit of the history behind and what the future might hold for the medical treatment of children with trisomy 13 and 18 from one of the doctors who pioneered 

The following episode is the recording of our live stream. It is out of the norm for a typical Women’s Running Lab podcast but I would be truly honored if you would give it a listen and maybe even share to help us continue to build awareness.

If you feel so included as to donate to our cause. Donations to the race specifically will stay open through Friday Sept. 19th but you can always donate directly to The Stella Effect at any time. 

Click here to donate to the race through Friday Sept. 19th.

Click here to donate directly to The Stella Effect any time.

But it’s about so much more than money!

The more we spread awareness, the more opportunities for hope we create.

• Hope that families given this diagnosis in the future will see this and have a community to turn to.
• Hope that medical professionals who are quick to offer the grim stats and “incompatible with life” wording will see this and open their minds and hearts to possibility.
• Hope that this awareness and advocacy leads to more support, more medical options, and more hope in the future!

In addition to the live stream during the event, we had a group chat where participants shared their stories and photos. If you want to check out that full experience, you can do so here.

Thank you to the Run the Day Platform for making this all possible!

As always, please share this episode with others so we can continue to grow.

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In this episode Alison delves into the importance of glute strength and proper foot mechanics for runners, particularly focusing on the concepts of lengthening muscles to optimize performance. She shares her personal experience with weak glutes, which led to hip pain and pelvic floor issues, and discusses how traditional exercises like clamshells and hip thrusts may not fully address these problems. Instead, she emphasizes the need for finding muscle length through internal rotation, particularly during mid-stance in the running stride, and explains how proper foot pronation plays a critical role in this process. Alison provides practical strategies for improving these mechanics, including specific cues for deadlifts that integrate the action at the hips/glute with those of the foot. 


Resources Mentioned:

• Glute Accelerator: A FREE 7 Day Crash Course on Building Strong Glutes for Female Runners 
• The Foot Fix: Ditch those frustrating foot symptom flare ups for good by addressing the underlying cause! 

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In this episode Alison discusses the intricacies of foot mechanics, particularly focusing on plantar fasciitis and how whole-body movement patterns affect foot health in runners. She introduces her new program, The Foot Fix for Runners, designed to address common foot issues by retraining natural foot mechanics. Alison emphasizes the importance of moving through pronation and supination during running, explaining how body posture, hip rotation, and proper foot positioning are all interconnected. She provides actionable advice on improving foot strength and mobility, encouraging listeners to explore how their feet and body work together during running.

Resources Mentioned:

• Glute Accelerator: A FREE 7 Day Crash Course on Building Strong Glutes for Female Runners 
• The Foot Fix: Ditch those frustrating foot symptom flare ups for good by addressing the underlying cause! 

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In this episode, coinciding with the launch of the new program Foot and Ankle Fundamentals for Runners (now called The Foot Fix), the focus is on understanding the critical role your feet play in your running mechanics. If you've been struggling with persistent foot issues like plantar fasciitis, numbness, burning, tight calves, or even unresolved hip and pelvic floor pain, this episode is for you. The host explains how addressing the underlying causes of these symptoms through proper foot and ankle movement can lead to lasting relief and improved running performance.

Throughout the episode, you'll learn the top five things every runner should know about their feet, including the importance of pronation and supination, rotational mechanics, and the role of footwear. The discussion emphasizes that while the right shoe is important, it is not a cure-all—training your feet to move well is key to supporting the rest of your body and avoiding injuries.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Foot Fix: Ditch those frustrating foot symptom flare ups for good by addressing the underlying cause! 

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In this episode of the Women’s Running Lab Podcast, we dive deep into the biomechanics of running and how understanding these principles can enhance your performance and reduce injury risk. As a self-proclaimed running nerd with a passion for simplifying complex concepts, our host explores how pain and performance in running are influenced by a multifactorial mix of social, emotional, mechanical, neurological, and physiological factors. The discussion emphasizes that running is a uniquely human experience and highlights the importance of addressing both visible and invisible aspects of running, including psychological and physiological factors.

The episode introduces the concept of energy management in running—how to accept, store, and utilize ground reactive forces efficiently. Listeners are guided through five essential skills for an efficient running stride, which are crucial for optimizing performance and making running more enjoyable and empowering. The host explains these skills in detail, offering insights into how they contribute to a more effective and powerful stride.

Resources Mentioned:

• Foot and Ankle Fundamentals for Runners (now called The Foot Fix): Ditch those frustrating foot symptom flare ups for good by addressing the underlying cause! 
• The Runner’s Lab: A 2 hour virtual masterclass to gain a deeper understanding of the physics and physiology of running and what that means for your body and your training so that you can unlock your full running potential. 

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Welcome to the Women’s Running Lab Podcast. I’m your host, Alison Marie teacher, coach and self proclaimed running nerd. Here you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the physics and physiology of running and what that means for your body and your training.  We are going to get nerdy, but we are also going to break it down into the simplest form of what actually works AND in a way that you can consistently do it.

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