Work, Play, Love With Lauren Fleshman And Jesse Thomas

Lauren are Jesse are BACK with allllll the 2020 vibes to answer your questions about the balance of work, play, and love. But first?! Rewind. Back in November, the New York Times published an op-ed by pro runner Mary Cain about the culture of body shaming and abuse in Nike’s (now defunct) elite running group, Project Oregon. Lauren and Jesse dedicated an entire episode (WPL 63) to discussing the article, as well as issues of eating disorders, RED-S, and body shaming that are all-too commonly experienced by athletes. In this episode, Lauren and Jesse answer follow up questions about Cain’s story, and talk about how you can cultivate a culture of balance, health, and positivity for yourself and your communities.

Advocating for yourself and your well-being can be challenging and intimidating—especially in the workplace, with family, or in a competitive team environment. And for many of us, setting boundaries isn’t the most well-honed skill. Lauren and Jesse answer questions about asking a coach for more support, how to not feel like a pushover in the workplace, and what boundaries you can model for your kids around time spent with devices and technology. Plus, Lauren shares her experience growing up with alcoholism in her family, and she and Jesse talk about a recent relationship “discussion.”

The holiday season is in full swing and your favorite Work, Play, Love hosts are going bananas with packed schedules for Picky Bars, sport, and family. And, no. The use of “bananas” is not a food pun. Lauren and Jesse catch up after not seeing each other for a bit and then dive into your WPL questions. They talk meditation and visualization, training while sick, and sponsorships. Plus, Lauren and Jesse go deep on developing a healthy relationship with food and body image, how to deal with a sibling taking over the title of “runner of the family,” fitting music into your busy life, and much more.    

On the eve of Thanksgiving, Jesse and Lauren settle in for a late-night edition of Work, Play, Love. Around the holidays, everyone’s thinking about family, food, exercise, and work, and Lauren and Jesse answer your hard-hitting questions. Things like, what’s their favorite Thanksgiving food? And why are age-groupers peeing on the bike during triathlons? Plus, the Work, Play, Love duo talk about gift ideas for young athletes, how to fit in exercise in an already packed schedule, when to have kids, and how to work with a partner who has wildly different reactions to some situations than you do.

Sometimes it can take a long time (like Long-with-a-capital-“L” Long time) to achieve a goal. You might train to run a marathon for years, but persistent injuries and the balance of work, play, and love may keep you from your goal performances. It’s those experiences, though, that can prepare you for best races, relationships and achievements. Lauren shares the story behind her recent New York Times Op-Ed, I Changed My Body For Sport, No Girl Should, and explains how her decades of experience as a student, and then professional female athlete informed the article. Jesse and Lauren also get their gobble on for some meat and potatoes questions about improving marathon performance, finding love, avoiding burnout while pursuing your career, and what Picky Bars success looks like to them.   

Last week, the athletic community was shaken by Mary Cain’s op-ed in the New York Times, I Was The Fastest Girl In America, Until I Joined Nike. The article outlined a culture of body shaming and abuse by one of the most elite running teams in the world. Lauren and Jesse discuss the article and how this story illustrates a far too common experience for athletes. They field questions about how you can create a safe and positive environment for athletes as a coach, parent, and teammate; and they offer athletes advice about nutrition and performance, and what to look for in a coach, program, club or team when it comes to your health.    Important links from the show: Mary Cain’s New York Times Op-Ed, I Was The Fastest Girl In America, Until I Joined Nike Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook Stacy Sims’s Roar Stacy Sims’s TEDx Talk National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Amelia Boone on RED-S and struggling with anorexia Jesse Thomas on disordered eating for Triathlete.com Lauren Fleshman: Dear Yo

Fatigue, burnout, and feeling overwhelmed. That’s what can happen when you overdo it. It’s not too far off of how you feel when you…underdo it? Jesse and Lauren reply to a marathoner who may be over-training. They talk about the controversial (and maybe over-engineered) Nike Vaporfly shoes that helped achieve a 2-hour marathon time. They respond to a listener who’s worried about her husband’s complete lack of exercise. And they talk about how to not overdo it at work. Plus, the Work Play Love duo shares the origins of the Flat Bruce, offer advice about tempo workouts, and more.  

After a wild week away, it’s only fitting that Jesse and Lauren sit down for a rapid-fire episode filled with your tasty bite questions. The Work Play Love duo covers some “fun” workouts to try when you’re injured and relegated to the pool, they talk about how to introduce yourself when you’ve got a crush, they offer advice about using caffeinated gels on long runs, and they give a peek behind the scenes into the Picky Bars test kitchens. Plus, listeners write in to follow up about traveling with kids to triathlons, swimming in groups, and more.  

To plan or not to plan? That is the question. Whether you’re training to close the gap between you and your competition, or you’re hashing out parenting disagreements with your partner, or you’re rebuilding your relationship to sport after grieving a loss, making a plan can help you overcome tough obstacles. And sometimes? The plan is to just be present and not have a plan at all! Lauren and Jesse are back from a short hiatus to answer your questions about the intersection of work, sports, and relationships, and they talk about how they’re implementing their own plans—or having their plans disrupted (and what they’re doing about it).   

When you’re trying to strike the balance of Work, Play, and Love, there’s a lot of experimenting, seeking, learning, testing, and re-trying things. And that’s totally normal! Jesse and Lauren answer questions and share their experiences about striving for a goal vs. being content with where you are, how to navigate mental health issues as they relate to sports and personal well-being, how to stay sane while solo parenting, and how to end a coaching relationship that isn’t quite working out. Plus, Lauren talks about her recent Wilder retreat, and the Work Play Love duo offer some advice about improving speed during long runs, how to think about heart rate during training, and more.

The leaves are starting to change, and the Work Play Love duo’s wild summer schedule is starting to settle down. So what better time than now for an episode all about calming down, acknowledging the good things, and building balance into your life? Lauren and Jesse answer questions about how to handle nerves on race day, how to make race events more fun for a spectating partner, and how to build a business that leaves room for your other life goals. Plus, they count the ways having kids has improved their lives, they tell the story behind Picky Bars flavors, and more.

Lauren and Jesse sit down with Sarah Bowen Shea of Another Mother Runner for a live podcast recording at FootZone in Bend, OR. Sarah turns the mic around and asks the Work, Play, Love duo about the balance of family, sport, and business in their lives. Jesse and Lauren talk about sports and competition after having kids, their communication styles, Lauren’s writing goals, what they’re working on at Picky Bars, and much more.

After a short hiatus, Lauren and Jesse are BACK in action. Hey, it’s summertime y’know? A family getaway filled with play was in order and sets the tone for a sport-filled show. From how to handle niggling injuries during your training season to amenorrhea as a young athlete, and from preparing for Kona to dealing with disappointment when you’re new to a sport, Lauren and Jesse offer advice, tips, and insight to folks at many different stages in their athletic journeys.  

When you’re trying to achieve balance and stability in your career, on the field, or in relationships, it can be tough to take risks. Maybe you don’t have the data you need to feel confident in a business decision. Maybe you’re struggling with the differences in parental roles. And maybe you’re running your butt off, but you can’t ever seem to close the gap with the leaders in the pack. Jesse and Lauren talk about each of these topics through their own experiences and suggest that taking risks is a great way to switch it up and find new paths forward.

Sometimes you gotta unplug to recharge so you can come back to work, play, and love on your A-game. That’s just what the Flomas duo did over the past few weeks. Fresh back from a lake vacay with family and friends, Jesse and Lauren share their reflections about getting away from technology and spending some much-needed quality time with people they love. They also talk about athletes making political statements, whether high mileage is a good idea for young runners, and how to battle injuries as an aging athlete.

Belief systems have an enormous impact on work, play, and love. Cultivating a belief in yourself can impact your performance on the field, at work, and in a relationship. Believing in a new training plan can help you get unexpected results on race day. And believing that your career doesn’t leave ample room for training can cause stress when you’re trying to achieve a big goal. Lauren and Jesse answer questions about faith and belief, concerns about training when working towards a marathon and a triathlon, how to find balance with passion career, and taking on a coaching role with a partner. Plus, Lauren’s just back from the USATF championships, which means a week of solo parenting for Jesse. They both share their highest highs and lowest lows from the week apart.

Lauren and Jesse are just back from a hilariously disastrous family camping trip. Still, despite the nightmare of being in a poison-oak-infested campground with kids under 10, your favorite podcast hosts managed to have a pretty fun(ny) time balancing play and love. They recount the story of the trip and then dive into your burning questions, like: are used running shorts a good deal, or just plain gross? Should you race when you’re sick? How do you build confidence? How do you build a healthy team? And much more about work, play, and love.

Sometimes you gotta go all-in on business while sacrificing some play time. Sometimes you and your partner are feeling the exact opposite of one another like yin and yang. It’s not perfect, but maybe that’s what balance is! There’s no precise science to juggling work play and love, there’s no “shoulds” or spreadsheets to tell you where to spend your time and energy. Lauren and Jesse take a look at how you can still find balance even in unlikely circumstances. How can you train to be your best when you’re already on your feet all day? How do you handle a big wealth gap in your relationship? Should climate change factor into your discussions about starting a family? And if you’ve been all-in on business, how can you use that experience in sport? Lauren and Jesse tackle these questions, plus they wonder about the meaning of life and share a bunch of follow ups about love.

In celebration of PRIDE and love, Lauren and Jesse answer your burning relationship questions about love, intimacy, on-again-off-again relationships, and even how to deal with a partner playing musical instruments in the house. Plus they talk birth control for athletes, polyamory, inclusivity in sports and business, and more. This one’s all. about. love.  

In your athletic career and in life, keeping your eye on the horizon can take on a few meanings. When you’re balancing your busy life today, how can you stay prepared for athletic goals in the future? How do you come to terms with an aging body on and off the field? Lauren and Jesse jump in to a fast and action-packed episode to answer these questions and more. You’ll also hear about how to support your partner through a tough time, some recommendations for race-day apparel, and how to handle hilly runs.