Nike Pacific Head Run Coach, competitive trail runner, and Femmi co-founder Lydia O’Donnell sits down to talk about unlearning toxic fitness norms and rebuilding a sustainable, empowering relationship with movement. Lydia opens up about navigating disordered eating, losing her menstrual cycle during her elite road racing career, and the life-changing pivot to cycle-based training sparked by Dr. Stacy Sims’ ROAR.

She also takes us behind the scenes of founding Femmi in a male-dominated tech landscape, navigating capital raising, weathering layoffs, and coping with the grief of losing her father while managing a startup. Plus, Lydia breaks down the biggest misconceptions around training through your period and shares the mindset shifts required to run for longevity rather than comparison.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Trail Running as a Reset: How shifting from 20 years of competitive road and track racing to technical trail distances (from 21K up to 50K) helped Lydia rediscover pure playfulness and stripped away external pacing pressures.

• The Toll of Disordered Eating & RED-S: Confronting the damaging myth that "smaller equals faster," surviving restrictive habits, and the hospital wake-up call that forced Lydia to prioritize hormone health over aesthetics.

• Cycle-Based Physiology: The turning point of learning female physiology through Dr. Stacy Sims’ research, why cycle tracking is a competitive advantage, and why your period is actually a high-performance window.

• Building Femmi in Tech: The grit required to scale an app designed specifically for women when less than 2% of VC funding goes to female founders, alongside the painful realities of team restructuring.

• Movement Through Grief: How running served as a daily sanctuary and emotional release while caring for her father during his battle with brain cancer.

• Sustainability Over Speed: The danger of chasing arbitrary metrics on apps like Strava and the essential questions every runner should be asking instead: How do I stay consistent, and how do I become a sustainable athlete?

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

"The thing that's going to make you a faster athlete is consistency in your training. And to get consistency in your training, you need to fuel properly, sleep properly, and do all the good things."

"Running doesn't guarantee you anything; it doesn't owe you anything. All you can focus on is yourself, your strengths, and your superpowers."

"We grew up speaking so negatively about our periods... but changing that conversation to 'I’m healthy, my risk of injury is lower, things are clicking' turns it into a celebration. Let’s go train hard."

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@hurdlepodcast
@emilyabbate
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It is sweater weather in New York, and life has a way of reminding us that we never truly know what the people around us are carrying. In this week’s 5-MINUTE FRIDAY, I open up about navigating heavy personal news, holding space for loved ones, and finding grounding in the small, daily gratitudes—from a quiet autumn sunrise to choosing how we show up when life throws curveballs.

Plus, with marathon season in the air, I weigh in on the buzz around race-day traditions and tackle a listener question from Easton on two of the trickiest race-day logistics:

Prompt of the Week: What is one thing you can do for yourself right now, within the next hour? Put on your own oxygen mask first.

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@emilyabbate
@hurdlepodcast
@iheartwomenssports

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From chasing an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier for over a decade to standing atop the podium as the 2026 HYROX Elite 15 World Champion in just seven months, Alyssa McElheny’s athletic trajectory is nothing short of extraordinary. But behind the rapid ascent lies years of disciplined foundation, relentless perspective, and an infectious commitment to finding pure joy in the process.

In this episode, Alyssa sits down to unpack what happens when your entire life pivots overnight: navigating imposter syndrome on the elite stage, learning to embrace strength training as a lifelong runner, and the mindset reframes that turn unexpected race-day hurdles into podium performances. She also breaks down the two-minute penalty she got in Scotland for spitting on course, how a sprained ankle three days before Worlds became her secret weapon, and why keeping kindness and community at the center of sport matters far more than any podium finish.

IN THIS EPISODE

• The Overnight Shift: What it feels like to go from full-time wedding photographer to sponsored pro athlete with camera crews following your daily routine.

• Redefining Runner Identity: How dropping mileage from 100-mile weeks to 60 miles while adding heavy lifting eliminated chronic overuse injuries, unlocked PRs across every distance, and shattered body-type stereotypes.

• The 12-Year Marathon Pursuit: Relentlessly chasing the Olympic Trials Qualifier (OTQ), hitting 2:34:28 after the standard dropped, and learning to leave no stone unturned in training and fueling.

• Beginner’s Mindset & Community: Overcoming intimidation when stepping into a CrossFit or HYROX gym for the first time, prioritizing movement quality over heavy loads, and the power of team-driven training.

• Navigating Unexpected Curveballs: In the wake of "Poopgate" (IYKYK) Turning the Glasgow “Spitgate” penalty into a qualifying rebound in Toulouse, and how severely spraining an ankle days before Stockholm flipped her mindset to race free and take the World title.

• Taming Imposter Syndrome: Strategies for staying grounded in your own lane, muting social media noise, and building self-worth around character and connection rather than accolades.

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

“If you haven’t taken a dive into strength training, I would really encourage anyone out there to give it a chance. I think you’ll be really surprised by where it takes you.”

“When I look back on this period of my life when I’m 50, 60, 70 years old, no one will give a shit about the win. People will give a shit about how I made them feel on the course and how I was welcomed and treated others.”

“There’s potential for a silver lining, or for that negative thing to turn into something really beautiful. That was truly what happened on that day.”

“There’s so much more out there than how your body looks. It’s about what your body is capable of, and then being able to fuel it and treat it in a way that allows it to perform at that highest level.”

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@alyssamcelheny
@hurdlepodcast
@emilyabbate
@iheartwomenssports

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