Some days you have a great race day. That was the case for both Lauren and Jesse over the past week. Lauren had a fun and successful race both as a runner and as a coach at the club cross country championships. She talks about her experience and how her conditions for satisfaction have changed over her years as a runner. Jesse, perhaps to a lesser degree (but no less glamorous), had an awesome experience at the trampoline park, and went on a spontaneous 20-mile long run that prompted a dose of work/play/love advice from Lauren. Hot on the heels of the week’s athletic achievements, the two jump in to your quick, and longer form questions.

In the to-be-renamed quick-question section, you’ll find out if it’s better to support a small business by purchasing directly or through a reseller, like Amazon, how Jesse and Lauren run in snowy/icy conditions in the winter, what treadmill do they recommend (on the cheap), and how the two have handled their kids using curse words.

As for the meat and potatoes? Your question topics this week included:

• How to be supportive and helpful when your partner is dealing with injury but maybe not in the best way.
• In triathlon, how to build speed during the run (when you’re a slow runner).
• How to feel comfortable and maintain self-worth when running group dynamics spur negative self-talk.
• What a day in the life of the Flomas family looks like.

The episode rounds out with some follow-ups to last week’s episode. Listeners wrote in to weigh in on things like recovering from a bike crash or other athletic trauma and how to feel satisfied with your athletic accomplishments.

A lot of the questions this week dealt with the balance of play and love. Lauren and Jesse offer some advice about how to approach your partner when they are down and out due to injury. It could be as simple as asking if they want to take a break, or just acknowledging that there’s an issue to open the door for conversation. When it comes to increasing your running speed in triathlon, especially when you’re a stronger swimmer, Lauren recommends spending less time in the pool to build a stronger foundation on your legs while Jesse suggests sticking to your speed training rather than working on it intermittently. If you’re in a running group (great life choice!) that is making you question your abilities or self-worth (not as fun), you may want to simply find a run group that is more aligned with your approach to running, plus Jesse offers some advice on how to combat negative self talk. And rounding out your questions, Jesse and Lauren give you some insight into a day in each of their lives, and how they fit in work, play, and love—you can take a guess as to who’s more free-form with their time, and who schedules their day in 5-minute increments ;)

Some links referenced in today’s episode:

Dealing with trauma and athletic injury: https://soundcloud.com/the_sharp_end/psychological-first-aid-ep-34

Marianne Elliott: a resource for conditions of satisfaction - https://marianne-elliott.com

Jennifer Louden: a teacher who teaches about “enough-ness” and cultivating self worth - https://jenniferlouden.com

New Picky gifts for the holidays: https://pickybars.com/collections/gift-bundles