Another Mother Runner

Sarah and co-host Amanda Loudin converse candidly with four women who fell out of their running groove to learn how they are finding their way back—or discovering a new way. The first guest, Maggie Palmer, was just starting to get in a post-move groove when disaster struck—literally: She and her family endured Hurricane Irma on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. Maggie shares how she and her family are getting back on their feet after being evacuated and landing in Chicago, including how Maggie is enviously eyeing women runners staying at same hotel. Then Jen Rucker tells how back surgery sidelined her. She and Sarah dive into a discussion about the lies we sometimes tell ourselves to get through a challenging situation. Now on the road to recovery (she’s up to running two miles!), Jen stresses the importance of being kind—and patient—to yourself. Next up is Ariel Garl, who shares how she’s been battling severe asthma and collateral health issues for the past two years. Ariel explains how, despite numerous stays in the intensive care unit, she is still striving for a Boston-qualifying marathon time. This mother runner who “falls hard but bounces well” reveals why she sets a 15-minute timer to vent her emotions, and how every day, she chooses to move forward. Finally, Tarleen Weston, a new mom who talks about getting repeatedly “knocked on her bottom” during pregnancy and post-partum. Hear how triathlon training pulled her up and out—and laugh along with the trio when Tarleen tosses out mermaid and Snow White references! The inspiring interviews in this extra-long podcast start at 11:05. To save $30 on purchase of AfterShokz Trekz Titanium headphones + get free sport belt, go to amr.aftershokz.com and use code AMR at checkout. To enjoy a free month of Bark Box with order of 6- or 12-month subscription, visit barkbox.com/AMR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and co-host Dimity dive deeply into Dimity’s long-term injury—and the fact it’s going to keep her from running for the foreseeable future. With her signature candor, Dimity talks about why her quarter-century of running has come to a close—and how she is coming to accept that prognosis for the next six months (or longer). Discover why it’s a relief for the AMR co-founder to deliberately take control of her non-running situation, and how she’s remaining active and strong despite the lack of miles on her feet. Hear the determination in Dimity’s voice when she says she’s not going to stop being an athlete, and learn what athletic adventure she’s scheming with a friend. Dimity talks about the importance of “thinking beyond the daily release” running provides and the need to “widen the lens” to see the long-term landscape. Whether you’re in the same proverbial shoes now or know it’ll come one day (hello, aging!), this is an episode we all need to experience. In the intro, Sarah elaborates on the smoke-situation in Portland, and Dimity humble-brags (as well she should!!) about her daughter’s volleyball experiences. The meat of the conversation starts at 22:42. To save $30 on purchase of AfterShokz Trekz Titanium headphones + get free sport belt, go to amr.aftershokz.com and use code AMR at checkout. To enjoy a free month of Bark Box with order of 6- or 12-month subscription, visit barkbox.com/AMR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and co-host Adrienne Martini dig deep for a highly informative (and entertaining!) conversation about pelvic floor health with Julie Wiebe, a physical therapist specializing in women’s health and sports medicine + a mom of two. Julie starts by telling of her decade+ mission to find solutions for women athletes for a host of issues and injuries—and how so many of the answers lie in what’s called the “core stabilizing system.” She explains how the three components work together to maintain stability at your center—a crucial element of running form. Julie tells how to improve access to your system, allowing you to regain energy and get more propulsion in your running stride. (Score!) Find out why you should “blow before you go.” And, yes, there’s a lot of talk of leakage, including Julie explaining how incontinence can be a signal of a problem in the system that can lead to (or be the cause of) a host of injuries. She also tells how to find a pelvic floor physical therapist. Laugh out loud at the hashtag the gals bandy about—and delight along with Sarah when Julie gives her full-throated approval of looking for #foundchange while running! To save 20% off registration to Julie’s online course that she talks about at the end of the interview—it’s called The Pelvic Floor Piston: Foundation for Fitness--use discount code MotherRunner20 before midnight PDT on September 15, 2017. (Code is case sensitive.) The convo with Julie begins at 16:20. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and co-host Amanda Loudin are here to help you get moving more quickly and how to get yourself (and maybe your kids!) out the door, back at your desk, or off to bed after a workout. This episode is all about trimming time and simplifying your routine to fit in your runs. First up, Sarah and Amanda share tips and hacks from other mother runners plus anecdotal advice from their own decades of running (and, in the case of Amanda: coaching!). Ways to wake up--and get out of bed--more consistently and how to start putting your miles as soon as possible after your feet hit the floor. How to remove obstacles that slow you down, like contact lenses or having to prepare a pre-run snack (thank you, GoGosqueeZ!). Then the duo talks to Sally Kuzemchak, the genius behind the websiteReal Mom Nutrition and author of the time-saving cookbook, Dinnertime Survival Guide. A font of great advice, Sally suggests figuring out your mealtime “pain-points” are (no, she doesn’t mean the kids constantly bickering!!)—then offers solutions to eliminating that barrier. (Including this website and downloadable handouts from Sally’s site.) Sally offers loads of lunch-making guidance, plus ideas for healthy snacks for mother runners. Laugh along with Sarah’s slip of the tongue for another name for a slowcooker, and find out what YoYo Night is—and why it’s a brilliant idea! The advice-giving from Sarah + Coach Amanda starts at 08:22. Special thanks to GoGosqueeZ for sponsoring this episode.  Go to www.gogosqueez.com for product details Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This show is almost like a trio of co-hosts: Sarah and co-host Molly pick the brain of Coach Amanda for insight into training slumps—and advice on how to pull yourself out of one. The coach asserts that, despite what it may feel like, mostly likely the source of your ennui is mental, not physical. She breaks things down, assuring you feeling “tired, hungry, and harried” is to be expected when training for a race, then she outlines how to discern those symptoms from overtraining. Discussing the common conundrum of wanting to skip a run due to exhaustion, Coach Amanda grants you a hall pass to skip an occasional run. Talk turns to the seasons of life—and why sometimes it’s just not the right time to run a race. Molly introduces the notion of “the pleasure of discomfort,” and both she and Sarah give anecdotal advice on how to lean into that feeling. Learn the Rx for missing a week of training, plus the value of a throwing in a benchmark run or workout to re-kindle your enthusiasm. In the introduction, Sarah and Molly talk about #OReclipse mania. The conversation with Coach Amanda kicks off at 12:40. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and co-host Molly are joined by two guests who offer valuable insight into prehab: the simple moves that can help you avoid running injuries. First is Britny Fowler, a personal trainer who leads education session on TriggerPoint Therapy products.  This mother runner speaks from experience: After getting talked into running several races by friends, she qualified for Boston Marathon—then ran the race 23 weeks pregnant! Britny provides enlightened advice for starting a prehab routine (just one minute a day!) and how to make it successful. Find out why she suggests we take cues from cats and babies, and how the ABC’s enter into the picture. She answers all sorts of foam rolling questions—including why, when, how long, and how intensely. (And why adding vibration is a game-changer!) Next, the BRFs welcome on MK Fleming, the Train Like a Mother Club heart rate coach and multi-time marathoner. Pregnant with baby #4, MK talks about how her workouts are morphing along with her body. In answering questions culled from the AMR Facebook page, MK explains how to let attitude be your guide on workouts plus the importance of making easy days easy enough. This leads to intriguing side conversation about what constitutes true “rest” on a training plan—and why us mother runners have such a tough time doing it. Coach MK stresses the importance of a short pre-run warm-up and why to ditch an all-or-nothing mentality. Whether it’s Britny’s analogy of training for a fight before getting beat up or MK’s sage advice about the importance of continuing to ask questions, we guarantee words from this episode will reverberate in your head for miles to come! Be sure to nab one of our new hats or visors for $15—sale ends August 20. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A repeat episode although the guest’s life has changed radically since recording the show: Alison Overholt gave birth to a second child last summer, and a few months prior to that, she was named editor in chief of ESPN The Magazine. The first female editor to head a major sports magazine. A BAMR, for sure!!  Sarah and Dimity welcome Alison, one of the contributors of Tales from Another Mother Runner, who starts by telling how--and why--she morphed from being a hoops player to a runner. Alison reads from her poignant TAMR essay, which deals with the death of her mother and the birth of her daughter. Then, taking the AMR game up a notch, she quotes Sheryl Sandberg's recent talk at Davos (fancy!), followed by lessons she learned about mother running from Kara Goucher. This prompts a conversation about "power words:" Alison's 2015 power word is "focus." (Dim and Sarah land on theirs toward the end of the podcast.) Alison shares a panic-inducing tale of the day before she ran the NYC Marathon; call it The Case of the Missing Shoes with Orthotics in Them. What makes this podcast even more noteworthy? It's the first one to be recorded in Sarah's basement, in a room that does double-duty as the Mother Runner Store shipping hub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and co-host Adrienne Martini talk about running injuries and prevention with Dr. David Geier, a respected orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Charleston, South Carolina, and host of his own podcast. Dr. David answers a slew of questions garnered from the AMR Facebook page, starting with what’s causing that (literal!) pain in the butt so many mother runners are feeling. He explains why an MRI isn’t the best test for a labral tear. (Speaking of tests, you’ll definitely ace the word “medial” on the SATs after listening to this podcast!) Dr. David describe the classic symptoms of a stress fracture—and tells why heeding early signs will limit time off running. The good doctor—or, rather, the “Good News Doctor” as Sarah dubs him in the show due to his optimistic outlook on injuries and recovery—talks about how age tinkers with a runner’s body and how to allay some of those changes. The trio covers a whole lot of ground: shin splints, IT Band issues, piriformis syndrome, knee pain, and more, as well as “gear” such as KT Tape and cortisone injections. A must-listen episode, even if you’re currently injury free!! In the introduction, Sarah and Adrienne talk about why shorter long runs are often tougher than lengthier ones. The interview with Dr. David Geier starts at 16:43. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and Ellison Weist convene for the fourth annual summer reading podcast to discuss their favorite new books—plus a few fabulous classics. They start with fiction, and the duo soon realizes how many of the novels have a British bent to them. Fittingly, Ellison makes excellent use of the adjective “twee” with regards to a ballyhooed book she recommends steering clear of. Sarah voices her Jetsonian desire about a new way to experience books. Sprinkled amidst the literary conversation are mentions of film and TV adaptations of stories—and numerous “hot vicar” allusions! The BAMRs recommend a few non-fiction tomes. Ever-in-the-know, Ellison also offers numerous suggestions for books coming out in the next few months, including a collection of short stories by Tom Hanks. Below are all the new books mentioned in the episode, plus a few novels Sarah and Ellison can’t let go of. The gals talk movies (and more) in the intro; the book talk starts at 13:49. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah and co-host Molly Williams tackle the topic of amenorrhea (the cessation of menstrual periods) with two guests. First up: Retired professional runner Tina Muir, who candidly talks about not having a period for nine (9!!) years. Tina admits she ignored the issue for years—and expresses her frustration that experts had no advice to rectify the problem. Tina shares what it was like being the center of a whirlwind of attention when she stopped running specifically to resume her menstrual cycle and start a family—and why she wanted to make the often hush-hush topic public. Find out what Tina, co-host Molly, and Kate Middleton have in common. Then Molly and Sarah welcome on Jennifer Carlson, M.D., a doctor who studies and treats amenorrhea at Stanford University. Jen explains how amenorrhea is part of the female athlete triad—and how the understanding of the triad has evolved over the years. The good doctor tells what factors, in addition to an energy imbalance, could cause amenorrhea, such as stepping up mileage or running intensity. As she says, “It’s surprising how often you see amenorrhea.” The doctor also suggests steps to take to resume having periods if they’ve stopped. In the intro, hear how Sarah uncovered 11 pennies on a recent solo run: intrepid--or idiotic?!? The Modcloth-clad twinsies talk about missing each other while Molly has been sidelined with an injury. Conversation with Tina, then Stanford doc, starts at 11:17. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices