Rd Real Talk - Registered Dietitians Keeping It Real

"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 w

"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

" ...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 Amer

" 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 s

" 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 cov

" 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 ow

"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

"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 transi

"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 professio

"{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 righ

"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

"I feel like on every team I've been on, I've been someone who has eaten the most...which is sometimes a little daunting." Annie Rodenfels joins Lane 9 to talk about everything from period health, queerness in running, body dysmorphia, and why she's still coaching herself...longer than she anticipated doing so!  Rodenfels is a professional runner based in Boston MA, coming off of an indoor track season that included two PBs in her events. After leaving the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) high performance team last year, she's been coaching herself while figuring out next steps with a sponsor and/or team. While it's not her preference, she's done it well enough to keep herself in the mix competitively.  We got to talk to Annie about her experiences from high school to D3 collegiate running to both the sub-elite and professional running environments—a conversation about periods, eating enough, body dysmorphia, and queerness in the sport of running (or...what feels like a lack thereof, compared to some other p

"I think for so many years I was married to like, if I don't get the run in, I don't feel like I got a quality workout in and I just don't feel like that anymore," shares Lindsey Hein, host of I'll Have Another, among other podcasts produced by her media company, Sandy Boy Productions.  Lindsey is a 17-time marathoner, running coach, mom of 4, race announcer, and podcast host! On this episode, she talks candidly with us about all the body things, and she's been through a lot. Tune in for any/all of these things: How running is feeling for her in THIS season of life, 2 years post-hysterectomy A case for doing long runs during the week! The hardest thing to recover from (mastectomy) physically, and the hardest emotionally (hysterectomy) Perimenopause symptoms Postpartum symptoms! The different experiences she had with each of her four pregnancies and postpartum return to running How running has changed for Lindsey since starting her show, I’ll have another, in 2016 Her kids getting into running now,  and more!

"It's an act of resistance, in taking care ourselves, especially for those of us who have had a disordred relationship with food. Take care of yourself not just because you want to feel good on your runs, but because you want to be a badass in life." Amanda Katz is a personal trainer, running coach, Equinox trainer and programmer for indoor cycling, onset trainer with the New York Times, and co-host of the podcast, "Between Two Coaches". We connected with Amanda for our "In Lane 9 with" series on our Substack (see her feature here), and wanted to extend that conversation to the podcast.  Connect with a clinician or coach from the Lane 9 Directory by going to Lane9Project.org/Directory. We match you with a right-fit provider for performance nutrition, physical therapy and/or pelvic health, mental health, and/or menstrual health. We talk about:  her year on the run in 2024, with many PRs in fueling! Getting up to 80g carbs per hour with a lot of practice and consistency how (and why) she became both a group fi

"It was pressure I put on myself. Because I saw other athletes and I wanted to be part of that, okay, look, I want to prove that they did the right thing supporting me during my pregnancy, and now I'm going to come back for them." Neely Spence Gracey ran professionally for eight years after a lot of success as a collegiate runner in the D2 program at Shippensburg University. She has two kids, has coached hundreds of athletes through her business, Get Running, and ran FOUR marathons in 2024 alone. In this episode, we caught up with Neely toward the beginning of 2025 and talked about all the things:  Her transition from high school success to collegiate running at Shippensburg University, a D2 program in Pennsylvania Why she started her run coaching business while still running professionally  Her two different experiences with pregnancy and running How she approached getting back to running postpartum with her second kid to try to avoid some of those injuries How long it took her to feel “normal” aga

"I absolutely know, had I not made that decision to go back into treatment, I would be still spinning my wheels in like a very, very harmful place. So, it was a risk worth taking." Amelia Boone, as many of you know, is an Obstacle Racing World Champion turned Ultrarunner, attorney by day, and eating disorder awareness advocate and writer. She had a weird year in 2024, with no start or finish lines for the first time in a LONG time. She navigated a difficult injury, and continues to navigate some of the long-term impacts of an eating disorder.  We talk about: What she would tell her younger self if they went to get coffee together How she's feeling on the run, at the time of our chat (Feb. 2025) What life looks like on the other side of elite level racing and competing Why we need more not-so-epic comeback stories Her hesitations in sharing this part of ED recovery, that's not as sensationalized, not as exciting, but maybe the most accurate in terms of what most people experience Why she wishes she had gone b

Eight years ago, on the eve of Eating Disorder Awareness Week in 2017, we decided to go live with our personal stories—our lived experiences with disordered eating, hypothalamic amenorrhea, running, injuries, all of it—and see what happened. We had BIG Ideas for Lane 9 Project, but the only way we knew how to start, was to write. Alexis wrote her essay first, and we're revisiting her story in conversation form for this episode. On the eighth anniversary of launching Lane 9, we explore why we keep coming back to this work (literally...we left, and came back last year!). And we share how we met, why we felt compelled to do something, ANYTHING, about the lack of knowledge that so many athletes (ourselves included) have about their own bodies, fueling, and period health.  More to come, this is part 1! Ways to work with Lane 9:  team workshops run coaching (with Alexis or Heather) share your story share our content with a coach, friend, teammate, or mentor! And connect with our clinicians! Go to lane9project.org

"A lot of us were really struggling with our own issues, particularly related to issues with eating disorders, issues with body image that sort of thing, myself included. and I think unknowingly I was kind of passing it on to my teammates," shares Julianne Morse, or Coach Jules as she's known these days!  Morse joined the Wheaton Lyons women's cross country and track team as a walkon athlete her freshman year. She competed through injuries, setbacks related to REDs, and struggles with body image. She found support in both a therapist and a dietitian, connecting with Boston's Female Athlete Clinic, and eventually ran major PRs in her 5K and 10K events. Despite what was considered a career-ending injury during her senior year, she's stuck with the sport and continues to advocate for her care so she can, hopefully, get back out on the run soon. She's now a Graduate Assistant Coach at University of Wisconsn-Platteville, where she's also pursuing her Master's degree in Sports Administration.  We talked about:  no

"I never once felt like myself while I was running in college," shares Val Rubio Meza on the Lane 9 Podcast. But she certainly found her stride with running groups, and longer distances, after her collegiate running days were over. While she specialized in the 400m in high school and college, and couldn't fathom doing a 6 mile training run, she eventually gravitated toward 13.1 and 26.2 mile races. She found running groups in Denver that she connected with, and felt supported by, which helped her find joy and fun in the sport again.  Val shares how she increased her endurnace to run longer distances, the story of her first marathon in Indianapolis (where she ran a 3:02), and the three world majors that followed. As she shares, she learned "to respect the marathon", and eventually ran a 2:55 at CIM in December 2024.  Follow Val @valrunsdenver on IG.  Mentioned on the show: SELF article by Cindy Kuzma, "Sorry, but running without energy gels isn't the flex you think" Go to Lane9project.org/directory to find a c

Katie Steele LMFT competed for University of Oregon and Florida State as a collegiate runner, and now incorporates her experiences with mental health struggles, unethical coaching practices, and the pressures of collegiate athletics into her work as a therapist. She co-authored the book, "The Price She Pays: Confronting the Hidden Mental Health Crises in Women's Sports, from the Schoolyard to the Stadium"  The title says a lot, and the book lives up to it. Telling the stories of female athletes across the country and across a variety of sports who have struggled with eating disorders, mental health, menstrual health, abuse, and more.  Katie's story is also one for the books. Her own experience as a collegiate athlete touches on most of the above, and we talk about it.  Find Katie and her team at thrivementalhealththerapy.com.  If you are struggling with an eating disorder, mental health, menstrual issues, or medical health as a female athlete, head to Lane9Project.org/directory to connect with one of our vett