Lane 9 Podcast
Talking about performance nutrition, periods, and mental health for athletes in women's sports. Lane 9 raises awareness of REDs and eating disorders in sport, and hosts an international collective of Women's Sport & Health clinicians to help athletes build their care team.
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REDs & Running a Marathon: "How much damage will I do if I run anyway?"
11/12/2025
REDs & Running a Marathon: "How much damage will I do if I run anyway?"
" Consider why you want to do this. What are the motivating factors for completing the marathon right this second? What are your long-term health and movement goals, and does this get you closer to them or further away?" Lane 9 co-founder, and dietitian, Heather Caplan RDN takes on two more listener questions in this episode. 1) How do clinicians navigate what may be REDs, with an athlete who has an IUD and doesn't get periods? 2) If I'm undertrained and experiencing symptoms of REDs (haven't had a period in about a year), but I want to run marathon, what should I do? As always, remember that all of our episodes cover these topics to raise awareness and engage in the converastion around REDs and women's health in sport, but they are NOT intended to (nor do they) provide individualized medical, nutrition, or mental health care. Please check in with your clinicians before you make any changes. If you are looking for a healthcare team to support you as a woman in sport, navigating REDs or not, go to Lane9Project.org/directory to match with a clinician in our Women's Sport and Health Directory. Connect with Lane 9 Project via Instagram , or visit . Submit a question for our next Q&A episode by sending us a DM, or a message on our site!
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Q&A: Overall health, with irregular or absent periods & What if I recover from REDs...and get slower?
10/30/2025
Q&A: Overall health, with irregular or absent periods & What if I recover from REDs...and get slower?
"You might think, 'On the other side of this, if I'm not even guaranteed better performance, Why would I do it?' That comes down to our values," shares Lane 9 co-founder, and dietitian, Heather Caplan. This Q&A episode tackles two questions: Is it possible to be 'healthy' even with extremely irregular periods or absent periods, if everything else is going well? Will I recover from REDs and get faster? What if I get slower, or get injured? Have your own question to submit to Lane 9 for a future episode or resource? We'd love to hear them! Go to Lane9project.org and contact us. Or follow us on Instagram and come on into our DMs. Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Erin McDonald: From Rigidity and Restricting to Running Her Fastest Times, and Getting Her Life Back
10/23/2025
Erin McDonald: From Rigidity and Restricting to Running Her Fastest Times, and Getting Her Life Back
"I'd rather suck at running and have my life back," Erin McDonald, who just won the 2025 Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon in 1:16. She objectively does not suck at running, but she does have her life back! Erin McDonald recently opened up about her struggles with restrictive and rigid eating in college as a runner at Michigan State University. She was primed and favored to make nationals her senior year—staying "disiplined" with her food, rest, and training routine—but the race went totally awry. With a job lined up after graduation, she was ready for a long break from running. Four years, in fact. When she came back to the sport, she had gained weight from fueling adequately and listening to her body, as well as taking care of her mental health. She was curious about the marathon, and was about to find out, she was pretty good at it! But as she shares in this episode, her motivation for recovering from restrictive eating and chronic injuries had nothing to do with fast times. She just wanted her life back, and in this case, the rest came together. Follow Erin on Instagram to cheer her on as she tackles another marathon this year, @sunkistErin. Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Nutrition Support for College Athletes with former D1 Athlete Lauren Segal RDN
10/16/2025
Nutrition Support for College Athletes with former D1 Athlete Lauren Segal RDN
"Athletes aren't immune to that messaging of like, 'carbs are bad, you shouldn't have carbs, and they're the worst thing ever.' But we know that carbs are our body's preferred source of fuel, especially when you're doing these intense bouts of exercise like most athletes are doing," shares sports dietitian Lauren (or Lo) Segal. Segal is a now in private practice, after almost 10 years of working as a collegiate sports dietitian, most recently at the University of Utah. She's part of our Lane 9 Clinicians and Coaches Membership, and listed in the Lane 9 Women's Sport and Health Directory. We talk about her experiences as a D1 collegiate athlete, playing volleyball for Kent State University, and why that fueled her passion for supporting female athletes. She specializes in sports nutrition and REDs, and shares more information about what she wants collegiate athletes to know about nutrition, and accessing support. Connect with ! Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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"We Loved to Run" author, Stephanie Reents, on Women's Cross Country teams and their stories
10/09/2025
"We Loved to Run" author, Stephanie Reents, on Women's Cross Country teams and their stories
" You can't ultimately control what happens in a race. And so you convince yourself you can, right? Or you tell yourself, well, if I control these other things, I might be able to control what happens in the race." Stephanie Reents ran for four years on the Amherst College women's Cross Country team in the early 90s, and is the author of "We Loved to Run" her debut novel. Reents wanted there to be a novel about women's running, stories about the identities athletes hold and how those identities shape and change team dynamics, friendships, and relationships...to themselves, to their sport, and to each other. She didn't shy away from including the full spectrum of a collegiate athlete's experiences—disordered eating, body shaming, navigating trauamtic experiences, and still, continuing to compete. In this episode, Reents shares her own experiences as both a high school and collegiate athlete, and of course, why she wrote the stories of these young women athletes from the perspective of their Cross Country team, on a quest to make Nationals. Buy the book: by Stephanie Reents (Lane 9 Bookshop affiliate link) Connect with Reents: on Instagram. Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Jess Cerra: Former Pro Cyclist & Nutrition Entrepreneur on Body Image, Disordered Eating in Cycling, and Joining Alete Active Nutrition
10/02/2025
Jess Cerra: Former Pro Cyclist & Nutrition Entrepreneur on Body Image, Disordered Eating in Cycling, and Joining Alete Active Nutrition
"I've never had a very lean body type. I kept showing up to these triathlons with lean-looking people and second-guessing if I deserved to be there...then smoking them on the bike and in the run, and gaining that confidence," shares Jess Cerra, a former professional cyclist, a sports nutrition entrepreneur, and now VP of Product and Community Development at Alete Active Nutrition. Cerra joins us to talk about her unusual path into high level endurance sports, and then professional cycling, while studying aspects of sports nutrition, and eventually founding a sports nutrition company. She created the JoJé bar while competing professionally, and navigating her own highs and lows in sport. She shares her experiences with the stress of professional athletics, body image, disordered eating in cycling sports, and learning how to fuel her body. And, what the story behind her bar being acquired by Alete Active Nutrition. Go to and use code LANE920 for 20% off your order! Connect with Jess Cerra on IG , and the Alete Active products via . Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Periods & Nutrition Q&A: How to know if "a lot" is "enough" for energy availability
09/25/2025
Periods & Nutrition Q&A: How to know if "a lot" is "enough" for energy availability
"I've found that athletes vastly underestimate their [energy] needs," shares Heather Caplan RDN, co-founder of Lane 9, in this Q&A-style episode. Listen for this one if you're wondering... How often is it okay to have sweet things/desserts? Is it possible to have REDs without weight loss/changes? Why am I not getting my period back, even though I'm eating a lot more? This one tackles flexibility with food, decades of carb-fearing and how it probably still impacts what most people eat on a daily basis...even in sports, weight stigma in athletics and the variety of REDs symptoms, and what "a lot" might actually mean, when it comes to eating for energy availability. Have your own question to submit to Lane 9 for a future episode or resource? We'd love to hear them! Go to Lane9project.org and contact us. Or follow us on Instagram and come on into our DMs. Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Leah Avery DPT with Coaching Advice to Avoid Overtraining
09/18/2025
Leah Avery DPT with Coaching Advice to Avoid Overtraining
"Once I started to really add fueling into the long runs...I realized how much that was helping the next run," shares Dr. Leah Avery DPT. Leah Avery DPT was a D1 collegiate swimmer, who qualified for NCAA championships and the Olympic Trials (2008). On paper, her athletic story reads as inspiring and exciting for a young athlete. In reality, it was a pressure-filled struggle to keep up with expectations, training, and results. She was ready to be done. When she graduated and started her DPT program, she couldn't have been happier to stop swimming, and start running. "It wasn't all rainbows from there, though," she adds. We talk about Leah's story as an athlete, and clinician, and how she got into coaching runners after becoming a parent. From there, we dive into some training practices for runners to avoid overtraining, and REDs. Easy days, deload weeks, and more! Dr. Leah Avery DPT is part of the Lane 9 Women's Health & Sport Directory. ! Or follow her on Instagram, To build the rest of your women's healthcare and sport team, visit Lane9project.org/directory to connect with our dietitians, mental health providers, and coaches. Lane 9 on IG:
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Maddie Alm RDN on REDs Without Disordered Eating and Body Changes After Pro Running
09/11/2025
Maddie Alm RDN on REDs Without Disordered Eating and Body Changes After Pro Running
"I weighed more as a professional runner than I did in college, and I ran faster as a professional runner," shares sports dietitian Maddie Alm MS RDN. You might know Maddie Alm from her Instagram account and podcat, Fueling Forward. She started her journey to becoming a registered dietitian after meeting with a sports RDN in college, as a collegiate athlete. In college, she was feeling exhausted between workouts and training sessions, but as she shares on this episode, "didn't even realize that fueling was important." That all changed with a pretty simple suggestion from the dietitian: Fuelg between workouts! In this case, with chocolate milk. We don't hate it! Alm shares her story as a walk-on collegiate runner at CU Boulder to becoming an All-American in her 5th year of eligibility. As she completed her additional dietetics coursework and then internship, she started training with Team Boss and began racing professionally. Now she works in private pracitce helping fellow runners fuel adequately and avoid REDs, while pursuing her own training goals on the other side of elite racing. Connect with Maddie Alm MS RDN on Instagram . Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Jenny Grimshaw on how Understanding ARFID, Food Intolerances, and Anxiety Changed her Running
09/04/2025
Jenny Grimshaw on how Understanding ARFID, Food Intolerances, and Anxiety Changed her Running
" When I eventually figured out my food intolerances and a better relationship with fueling, I brought [my marathon PR] down to 2:44 within a little under a year." Jenny Grimshaw, VP of marketing at EQUIP*, and now a 2:36 marathoner, joins us on the Lane 9 podcast. Jenny is also a mom of 2, and navigating prophylactic surgeries to reduce her risk of breast and ovarian cancers (with the BRCA-1 gene). Her postpartum running experiences have been full of PRs, as she has figured out her own fueling needs, how to balance her identity as a runner with all the other things she does, and has worked with a coach to better balance her training volume and find her confidence as a runner. Jenny shares: her early experiences with food intolerances and GI distress that were assumed by physicians to be anorexia, but would later be more correctly classified as ARFID the anxiety and panic attacks that she dealt with as a young runner, and injuries that plagued her through college, related to fueling, mental health, and wanting to explore life outside of running why she got into longer distances after her collegiate T&F years the gastroenterologist appointment that changed everything for her how she brought her marathon PR from a 3:13 to a 2:36 (not to say "you can, too!" but to give just one example of how fueling and mental health impact our experiences in sport) why she was drawn to EQUIP, and her role there * is a virtual eating disorder treatment company that offers care in all 50 states. They're also part of the . Connect with Jenny Grimshaw on Instagram , and follow her training for her next marathon! Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Kaleigh Cornelison on Teens in Sport & Social Media Use, and How to Talk About Eating Disorders with Loved Ones
08/28/2025
Kaleigh Cornelison on Teens in Sport & Social Media Use, and How to Talk About Eating Disorders with Loved Ones
" I think young people often don't get that chance to like take a step back [from sport] and say like, is this working [for me]?" shares Kaleigh Cornelison, who specializes in working with teens and adolescents. Kaleigh is a licensed clinical social worker with over 15 years of experience working with teens and the adults who care about them. She leads workshops, creative resources, and writes the both, and newsletter for parents and professionals who wanna embrace both the challenges and the joys of the teenage years. She takes a balanced approach to social media use, acknowledging both the benefits and the downsides to how it impacts development, connection, experiences in sport, and more. This episode covers her experiences in sports growing up, through college, and training for her first half-marathon why she decided to specialize in working with teens and adolescents as a social worker the ups and downs, pros and cons to teens participating in sports—from social connection to identity to body image and disordered eating how social media can both help and harm our experiences in sport (and of course, as a human, in general) how to talk to teens in a way that actually connects with them, especially when it comes to the hard stuff (like disordered eating behaviors) Connect with Kaleigh Cornelison through her newsletter bothandnewsletter.com. And on Instagram Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Stevie Lyn Smith RDN Knows You Can Eat More Carbs, and Why Breaks from Training are so Important for Athletes
08/21/2025
Stevie Lyn Smith RDN Knows You Can Eat More Carbs, and Why Breaks from Training are so Important for Athletes
"There's nothing wrong with getting a little out of shape. It's okay! We shouldn't be in our peak or prime all the time," shares Stevie Lyn Smith, sports dietitian and endurnace athlete. Stevie Lyn Smith is a Registered Sports Dietitian, avid endurance athlete, and dog mom. Her mission is to help educate and coach athletes on how to fuel their goals without sacrificing their health and happiness. And, she’s also part of our Lane 9 Directory of Women’s Health & Sport Clinicians! This episode covers: Why she took 4 years off of training for triathlons Her year of racing (and PRs!) in 2025 after that long break Setting boundaries and structure for your own racing and recovery, especially when your social circles are also your training circles Why she doesn't want to hear that you "can't eat more carbs", and HOW to do that Fueling strategies for ultra-endurance endeavors, like an Ironman (of which she's raced 10!) and the importance of taking mental and physical breaks from training for big goals, even if it means you lose some fitness. It's okay! As mentioned: Heather's episode on Stevie's podcast, Follow Stevie Lyn on Instagram @StevieLynLyn, or connect with her through the Lane 9 . Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Coach Asia aka Brown Bambi, from Sprinting 400m Hurdles to World Marathon Majors
08/14/2025
Coach Asia aka Brown Bambi, from Sprinting 400m Hurdles to World Marathon Majors
"I was the last [athlete] in my recruiting class by my senior year," shares Asia Rawls, aka Coach Brown Bambi, reflecting on the challenges of collegiate athletics and how she stuck with it. Rawls competed in multiple events, eventually excelling in the 400m hurdles. She ran for Eastern Michigan University (EMU) under coach Sue Parks. In this episode she shares how running changed her life, from a young age, after switching school districts and having more access to sport, all the way into getting a scholarship as a student athlete. Now, she's the head coach at Machine Athletics (while also working FT in tech!), running with the Detroit-based running group We Run 313, and running World Majors Marathons! Tune in to hear more of her story, why she brings the world of sprinting into the world of distance running, and how running has shaped so much of her story and who she is today. Connect with Asia on IG, Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Eating Disorder treatment to Collegiate Running, Perinatal Running, and a Double Mastectomy with Coach Maddie Barrett
08/08/2025
Eating Disorder treatment to Collegiate Running, Perinatal Running, and a Double Mastectomy with Coach Maddie Barrett
" I mean, half of our cross country team in college, I would say had disordered eating," shares Maddie Barrett, of Joyful Run Coaching. She's a full time running coach, parent, and recently underwent a double-mastectomy. Maddie is part of the Lane 9 Directory, and joined us to talk about her experiences as a young athlete navigating eating disorder treatment, her time as a collegiate skier and runner, and how she has navigated running and sport through her pregnancy and postpartum. Just last year, she had surgery for a double-mastectomy and reconstruction, and shares her experiences with that as well. Connect with Maddie through Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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OCD in Eating Disorders and Sport with therapist Hannah de Groot
07/31/2025
OCD in Eating Disorders and Sport with therapist Hannah de Groot
" Eating disorders sometimes even mimic OCD. And by that I mean there is a compulsion that satisfies an obsession or an urge," shares therapist Hannah de Groot, a clinician in private practice at Stride Counseling. Hannah de Groot is part of the Lane 9 clinician Directory, and joined us to talk about her work in helping athletes navigate symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and eating disorders. She shares her own sport story, and how she got into this work, as well as what it looks like for an athlete to work through Exposure Response Therapy. Connect with her work through , and give her a follow on Instagram . Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Kassidy Johnson RDN on the Fear of Weight Gain & Competing While Unsponsored
07/24/2025
Kassidy Johnson RDN on the Fear of Weight Gain & Competing While Unsponsored
" I believed that what it took to get back to where I was year before was I needed to lose weight, so kinda overnight did a whole 180—was restricting food, was counting calories, just kind of trying to lose weight. But it was all under the guise of being dedicated to my sport," shares Kassidy Johnson, now a Division 1 collegiate sports dietitian. Johnson is not only a helping collegiate athletes fuel adequately and navigate their fear of weight gain, she's also training and competing at high level of sport as an unsponsored athlete. She's currently training for, and will soon compete in, the US National Track Championships. She recently ran an 800m PR of 2:00.7 after, as she put it, "significant weight gain" post-college. We talked with Johnson about: Working full time in collegiate sports while also training and competing at track meets How she knew she wasn't ready to be done running and competing, even when her NCAA eligibility was up and she had no sponsor Her experience in sports in high school, and how a basketball injury triggered what would become years of disordered eating and chronic injuries, while also eventually studying nutrition in college as a student athlete Finding a master's program in dietetics that also allowed her to continue running Why she came back to sports nutrition as a specialty, and what she loves helping athletes navigate The fear of weight gain that plagues so many athletes/sports (and, our general culture around "health") Nutrition trends she's seeing in college athletics and, of course, bicab. Follow Kassidy Johnson on Instagram . Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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When diet culture meets running culture with Zoë Rom & Kylee Van Horn
07/17/2025
When diet culture meets running culture with Zoë Rom & Kylee Van Horn
"... the overwhelming majority of people who identify as women, that run, have at one time had an eating disorder or disordered eating, or at minimum low energy availability. So just assume that 60% of images you saw [on social media] were of someone who is actively not well." Zoë Rom and Kylee Van Horn RDN join the Lane 9 Podcast with Heather Caplan RDN to talk about why diet culture in running (and in general) sucks, and how athlete identities get wrapped up in performance nutrition, body image, and the next health trend. Rom and Van Horn co-host the podcast, Your Diet Sucks (YDS), to bring history, facts, and nuance to diet and nutrition trends, through their lenses as a journalist and dietitian. This conversation includes: Why Van Horn decided to compete as a collegiate athlete How Rom got into running as a "late in life" athlete, on the trails Writing about food and nutrition while navigating personal eating disorder treatment and recovery, and the responsibility that comes with reporting on both nutrition and health for athletes, and eating disorders in sport Where the line is drawn between disordered eating and eating for performance Why they started the show, YDS, together A topic there were nervous to tackle on YDS and a lukewarm take on taking bicarb! Follow on Instagram, and tune into the podcast! Follow on Instgram, and subscribe to our weekly . Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . If you don't see what you're looking for, fill out our Athlete Match Form, and we'll find someone for you!
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Carly Gill Larios, Patience with Postpartum Running, and Fueling for Marathons
07/10/2025
Carly Gill Larios, Patience with Postpartum Running, and Fueling for Marathons
" I did have some moments where I questioned if I'd ever be the runner I was [before having a kid]", shares Carly Gill Larios, a 2:42 marathoner. She joined us for a conversation about her history with disordered eating in high school, the ways in which running was healing for her through her D3 college experience, and what brought her back to running after starting her career in the TV and Film industries. She still works as a Co-Executive Producer for "90 Day Fiance", while running up to 80 miles per week and training for her next marathon. She's a mom to 2-year-old Adella, and dog, Luna, based in Boulder Colorado. We talk about: her co-executive producer job! what her first few half-marathons and marathons taught her about running, training, and fueling how her eating habits have changed over the years, to fueling much more adequately and consistently while training for marathons at the sub-elite level how she thought her prenatal and postpartum experiences might be...and how they actually were, in regards to recovery, running, and racing again Follow Carly on Instagram @Carlysheree. Connect with a clinician near you, and find your full team of women's health and sport providers, by going to . 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 . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter via , and go to Lane9project.org to get in touch if you'd like to send us a note!
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Kim Conley, 2x Olympian, on Mental Health, Fueling, and Having Fun With Sports
07/03/2025
Kim Conley, 2x Olympian, on Mental Health, Fueling, and Having Fun With Sports
" I was not someone that anyone, including myself, would've thought was gonna make an Olympic team one day." Kim Conley is a 2x Olympian in the 5000m, competing in the 2012 London Summer Games and 2016 Rio Summer Games. She has competed in everything from the mile to the marathon. During her debut at the 2016 NYCM she shares how she underfueled and bonked hard. Eventually she teamed up with a sports dietitian, changed her fueling strategy, and went on to run in the 2024 US Olympic Trials Marathon. Most recently, she finished 2nd at the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May 2025, and has run a few shorter distances competitively since then. In this episode we cover: her positive experiences as a high school athlete the pressure to be "lighter" during her time in college what her first few years as a professional runner looked like qualifying for and running in two Summer Olympics, and how she navigated mental health and training afterward how her fueling on the run has changed completely a new sport she's enjoying now and what she has coming up! Follow Kim on Instagram .
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Nutrition trends that may cause runner's 💩 with Grace Kelley MS RDN
06/19/2025
Nutrition trends that may cause runner's 💩 with Grace Kelley MS RDN
"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 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 . 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 . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter via , and go to Lane9project.org to get in touch if you'd like to send us a note!
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Mary Denholm: Marathon OTQ to Winning Leadville 100, on Staying in Tune with Your Body
06/12/2025
Mary Denholm: Marathon OTQ to Winning Leadville 100, on Staying in Tune with Your Body
"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 Follow Lane 9 Project: on Instagram and BlueSky. Subscribe to our newsletter at Lane9project.substack.com. And head to to find a clinician or coach that specializes in women's health and sport, and wants to support you!
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Ari Hendrix: 2:35 Marathoner & LGBTQ+ Athlete, on Trail Running, Fueling, and Mental Health
06/05/2025
Ari Hendrix: 2:35 Marathoner & LGBTQ+ Athlete, on Trail Running, Fueling, and Mental Health
" ...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 Follow Lane 9 Project on Instagram , on , and . Connect with a clinician in the Lane 9 directory by going to . Find a dietitian, mental health therapist, physical therapist, and/or coach to support you as an athlete in women's sports.
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Renee Hodges DPT: What endurance athletes need to know about Bone Stress Injuries
05/22/2025
Renee Hodges DPT: What endurance athletes need to know about Bone Stress Injuries
" 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: Follow Lane 9 on Instagram: 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.
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Meghann Featherstun RDN: Running after a sacral stress fracture, and sports nutrition trends in 2025
05/15/2025
Meghann Featherstun RDN: Running after a sacral stress fracture, and sports nutrition trends in 2025
" 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.
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Jess McClain on Fueling, Pro Running Round 2, and her 2025 Boston Marathon
05/08/2025
Jess McClain on Fueling, Pro Running Round 2, and her 2025 Boston Marathon
" 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 . Follow Lane 9 Project on Instagram and Bluesky. If you're looking for a clinician who specializes in REDs, sports nutrition/health, and women's health, head to to match with someone in our network.
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Sasha Gollish on Perimenopause, and Gender Equity in Sport
05/01/2025
Sasha Gollish on Perimenopause, and Gender Equity in Sport
"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: . Connect with Lane 9 on , 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.
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Emilia Benton, 14x marathoner and freelance journalist
04/24/2025
Emilia Benton, 14x marathoner and freelance journalist
"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 on Instagram. Follow 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.
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Alexa Efraimson: From pro runner at 17 to Registered Dietitian helping athletes fuel without restriction
04/17/2025
Alexa Efraimson: From pro runner at 17 to Registered Dietitian helping athletes fuel without restriction
"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: . 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 and Substack: .
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Molly Bookmyer, Elite runner on making big fueling changes, and finding what works for you
04/10/2025
Molly Bookmyer, Elite runner on making big fueling changes, and finding what works for you
"{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, . Follow Lane 9 . Connect with a women's health and sport clinician to get support with YOUR fueling, mental health, and/or period health by going to .
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Navigating disordered eating, amenorrhea, and performance anxiety in collegiate athletics with Natalie Tyner
04/03/2025
Navigating disordered eating, amenorrhea, and performance anxiety in collegiate athletics with Natalie Tyner
"I had lost my period for a year. I was definitely not eating nearly enough, eating healthy to an extreme point...it was a very unhealthy relationship with my body," shares Natalie Tyner, who was a North Carolina State Champion in high school and went on to compete collegiately for University of NortH Carolina (UNC). Natalie is now focusing her work on supporting high school athletes who are preparing to compete at a higher level, navigating mental health, performance nutrition, and balancing their training with adequate rest. She's doing this work because she knows how hard it is to compete at the D1 level, and wants future athletes to be more prepared than she was. In this episode we talk about: the knee injury Natalie has been navigating for a few years feeling wholly unprepared for the college athlete experience, and running at a higher level, during her freshman year of college the disordered eating, and hypothalamic amenorrhea she experienced in high school, and how a cookbook can sometimes feel like a rule book the performance anxiety that plagued her running experience for years the culture around food, body image, and periods that she experienced during her collegiate experience and both why and how she came into the work she does now, supporting high school athletes as they prepare for the collegiate athlete life Follow Natalie on IG to connect with her. Follow , and visit Lane9Project.org where we house our resources, including our Clinician Directory. If you are also struggling with disordered eating, hypothalamic amenorrhea, and/or performance anxiety (or other mental health issues), our directory of women's health and sport clinicians are here to help. We'll match you with a provider in your area.
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