Finding Strength in Struggles: Bailey Kowalczyk's Story of Mental Health and Running

Bailey describes herself as a dedicated friend and dog mom, runner and science nerd. Born into a running family, the sport is in Bailey’s DNA, and today she competes as a professional trail runner for Nike. Bailey opens up about struggles with an eating disorder, toxic coaching and team cultures, and her identity as a runner. 

In this episode we talk about:

-navigating an ever evolving running identity 

-being fuelled by curiosity and the unknown 

-the impact of coaching relationships: both good and bad

-mental health struggles and recovery growth

-running at an elite level, happy and healthy: competing can be fun!

TW: This episode does discuss eating disorders and recovery, so if that's something that can feel triggering for you, we understand if you need to skip this one. We'll be here for you next week!

Follow Bailey on Instagram @baileykowalczyk and For The Long Run @forthelrpod 

--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/forthelongrun/support 

Past guests on For The Long Run include: 177. Molly Seidel; 226. Mike "Kofuzi"; 228. Kara Goucher; 59. Shalane Flanagan; 234. Camille Herron; 198. Courtney Frerichs; 229. Jes Woods; 207. Tyler Andrews; 197. Dean Karnazes; 206. Katie Arnold; 220. CJ Albertson; 153. Joe Holder; 199. Kelly Roberts; 188. Gwen Jorgensen; 205. Emily Abbate; 209. Sara Vaughn; 174. Nick Bare; 97 Amelia Boone; 101. Courtney Dauwalter, 219. Dylan Bowman; 191. Matt Chittim; 200. David Roche; and more!

Skratch Labs

We are proud to be sponsored by Skratch Labs, a local, Boulder-based sports nutrition company.

You can grab energy bars, energy chews, hydration mix, recovery drink mix, and super high-carb drink mixes for your big days from Skratch to fuel your training and upcoming adventures. Get 20% off your order with the code FTLR20 when you shop through this link.

Darn Tough

Thank you to Darn Tough for sponsoring this episode. I’ve been a fan of, and running in Darn Tough socks for years now, so we’re excited to welcome them to the For The Long Run family. Use code FTLR-SOCKS to get 10% off and free shipping when you shop through this link. 

2Before

Thank you to 2Before for sponsoring the podcast. 2Before is a natural sports performance supplement made from New Zealand Blackcurrant berries. These are the most researched berries, and those studies are showing that these berries have exceptionally high antioxidant levels and are proven to enhance athletic performance, improve endurance, help kick-start recovery, and strengthen immunity.

So go ahead and try some out over at 2before.com. The code FTLR will save you 30% on 20, 10 and multiserve packs. And remember, supporting our brand partners helps to support the greater For The Long Run team.