45. RUNNERS & CHEERERS: Marathon Life with Shalane Flanagan

1. How a marathon is an analogy for life: the danger of comparison, the ride of emotions and self-doubt, that love is fuel, and that the world needs both runners and cheerers. 2. The question Abby kept asking herself throughout the race—and why she’s still wearing her marathon medal while doing the dishes and running errands. 3. Why race day was so profound to Glennon— even though she is strongly committed to NOT running—and how she experienced her first sports injury while cheering. 4. A special visit by the kids’ middle school cross-country coach, Coach Loux, who became Abby’s marathon coach—and what she said at the 24-mile mark that shifted everything for Abby. 5. A conversation with marathon champion Shalane Flanagan about the bond and joy of running—and how she played a magical part of Abby’s marathon day. About Shalane Flanagan: Dedicated to giving back to the sport she loves, Shalane Flanagan is now an elite coach to the Bowerman Track Club, global spokesperson, and a mom, after retiring as one of America’s most decorated distance runners. Flanagan’s accolades include four-time Olympian, Olympic silver medalist, 2017 TCS New York City Marathon champion, World Cross Country Bronze medalist, and multiple American record holder. She is the third fastest American marathoner in history, with a time of 2:21.14. Shalane is the fastest American woman to run the Boston Marathon, 2:22.02. Along with her coauthor, Elyse Kopecky, she is the 3-time New York Times bestselling author of Run Fast. Eat Slow. and Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. and Rise & Run, which became an instant bestseller. Shalane attributes her long career and incredible success to her nutrient-dense diet. Shalane has left the track behind, but you’ll still find her logging high mileage on trail run adventures with friends! Recipes from all three of her cookbooks fuel these strenuous miles. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indeed, we can do hard things

This episode really spoke to my heart. I ran my first half official marathon with a couple of months ago and in my training I used the mantra “I can do hard things” and then used that as my caption on social media post celebrating this milestone. Your book helped remind me what I’m made of as I found my way in the pandemic. I first started training for a half marathon early in the pandemic because I did not have a car, was scared of public transportation and my mom lived about 13 miles away and wanted to know I could get to her if I needed to (not the most efficient plan but I wasn’t fully logical at the time). After I trained myself one day I plotted the route, creating my own race and my mom drove around and cheered me in my solo journey- it meant everything to me. That solo race and my mom’s encouragement was on my mind as I completed my first official race a couple of months ago and now I’m starting training for a full marathon, because indeed I can do hard things.