The Lane 9 Podcast - podcast cover

The Lane 9 Podcast

Heather Caplan RDN and Alexis Fairbankslane9project.org
Lane 9 is helping female athletes navigate sport, menstrual health, and life through all seasons. Talking about nutrition, body image, period health, and having some fun.
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Episodes

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 mi...

Jul 10, 202556 minEp. 56

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 Maratho...

Jul 03, 202547 min

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, sh...

Jun 19, 202548 minEp. 54

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 ca...

Jun 12, 20251 hr 3 minEp. 53

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 rece...

Jun 05, 202559 minEp. 52

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 osteoblas...

May 22, 202546 minEp. 51

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...

May 15, 202558 minEp. 50

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 th...

May 08, 20251 hrEp. 49

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 t...

May 01, 202558 minEp. 48

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-maratho...

Apr 24, 202539 minEp. 47

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 degr...

Apr 17, 202549 minEp. 46

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 period...

Apr 10, 202544 min

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 th...

Apr 03, 202545 minEp. 44

Annie Rodenfels: Period health, Queerness in running, Body dysmorphia, and coaching herself (for now!)

"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 p...

Mar 27, 202555 minEp. 43

Lindsey Hein on Running After a Hysterectomy, Mastectomy, and Four Kids!

"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 ...

Mar 20, 202553 minEp. 42

Equinox Trainer Amanda Katz on Nailing the Basics (Fuel!), Eating Disorders, and "Looking" Fit

"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 o...

Mar 13, 202558 minEp. 41

Neely Spence Gracey, Running 4 Marathons in 2024 and What's Next

"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...

Mar 07, 202558 minEp. 40

Amelia Boone, on Eating Disorder Recovery in Her 40s

"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...

Feb 27, 202540 minEp. 39

Why we started Lane 9, 8 years ago (Part 1)

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 kee...

Feb 24, 202549 minEp. 38

Julianne Morse on how therapy and nutrition counseling fueled her to big PRs as a D3 athlete

"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....

Feb 11, 202543 minEp. 37

Val Rubio Meza, from 400m to a 2:55 Marathon at CIM

"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 he...

Feb 04, 202548 minEp. 36

Katie Steele on Mental Health in Sports, Coaching Dynamics, and "The Price She Pays"

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 a...

Jan 28, 202554 minEp. 35

Cate Barrett: Unlearning "faster is better", and rebuilding postpartum

"I've done a lot of work trying to unpack the ''faster is better, or faster is the only way to run...it sounds so silly saying it out loud, but it's just been like, weighing on my consciousness." Cate Barrett shares about this process, of unlearning the one and only way she knew how and was trained to run, as a competitive collegiate athlete and finding her post college stride. She ran an Olympic marathon trials qualifying time in 2018 at CIM, and ran the 2020 Olympic Team Trials Marathon in Feb...

Jan 21, 20251 hr 1 minEp. 34

Caila Yates RDN on Running Groups and Diet Culture, How to Fuel Adequately Anyway

"Okay, no one on your team is fueling. But, what if you're the person to set the example?" Caila Yates is a sports and eating disorder dietitian based in Boulder CO, in private practice (Steady State Nutrition). She started running in college because one of her friends was doing it, and the rest is history. For her, running was supportive to her own eating disorder recovery, though we know that's not always the case. Now she works with runners at various levels of the sport, and knows the ins an...

Jan 16, 202557 min

Marine Corps Marathon Winner Tessa Barrett on Navigating Early Success, Grief, and Post-Collegiate Running

"When I was in college I saw a lot of people struggling, not just myself, because it's just a very difficult time." Tessa (Tess) Barrett won the 2013 Foot Locker National Cross Country Championship as a senior in High School. She was featured on a billboard in her hometown! The highs were high, and it could seem like everything was going well at the time. But she was also struggling with her own health, and with a sick parent. She went on to compete at Penn State, grieving the loss of a parent a...

Jan 09, 202552 minEp. 32

5 Big Changes to Lane 9 in 2025!

Hello 2025! The year we are connecting female-bodied athletes to the clinicians and coaches who are trained and equipped to support their fully body health—menstrual, mental, and physical wellbeing that keeps athletes in their game(s). Tune into this short n' sweet episode to hear from Lane 9 Co-founder, Heather Caplan, about what we're up to this year and how to work with us. For more about the Lane 9 Directory—how to find a clinician or how to join us if you ARE a clinician—go to Lane9project....

Jan 06, 202513 minEp. 31

2x Olympian, Weightlifter, and RD2Be Jourdan Delacruz, of Her Athlete

"I think making two Olympics was easier than trying to figure out what I want to do now." Jourdan Delacruz has been competing as a weightlifter for ten years, from training as a highschooler at the US Olympic Training Center, to multiple international competitions, to both the Toyko and Paris Olympics. Meanwhile, she completed her degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, on her way to becoming a registered dietitian with the hopes of working with athletes like herself. We caught up with Jourdan at the...

Dec 19, 202452 minEp. 30

Georgetown Athlete Fiona Max on Performance Anxiety, Owning Your Training, and Recognizing Perfectionism

" Own what you're doing. And, if you're really riding a wave of inconsistency or doubt, remember that you're always on your own side." Georgetown athlete Fiona Max, running Cross Country and Track & Field in her last year of NCAA eligibility joins us on the Lane 9 Podcast. Fiona competed for, and completed her undergraduate degree at Princetown University from 2020-2024, then transferred to Georgetown to pursue her Master's in Sustainability and compete again. She wrote a blog post for GU En...

Dec 12, 202450 minEp. 29

Rachel Drake Wants to Share the Struggle, and her JFK 50-Miler Course Record

Rachel Drake is a professional trail runner with Nike, co-host of The Trail Network Podcast, mom of 2-year old Lew, and a newly-minted medical resident in Salt Lake City, UT. A few weekends ago, she ran, won, and broke the course record for women at the JFK 50 Miler in northern Virginia—a huge accomplishment on its own, but especially considering all of the above. We talked to Rachel about her time as a collegiate athlete, finding trail running and a close community of friends in that space when...

Dec 05, 202457 minEp. 28

Dr. Sarah Lesko on How the NCAA is Failing Female Athletes

Dr. Sarah Lesko is MANY things—a runner, parent, practitioner, and a staunch advocate for female athletes of all ages, devoting her work to getting and keeping girls in sports. We couldn't have been more excited to chat with her, getting the story of her days as a collegiate athlete, why she took more than 15 years off of running and how that actually felt, what happened when she came back to running and met Oiselle's founder Sally Bergesen, and everything in between. Sarah is now the Executive ...

Nov 21, 202454 minEp. 27
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