Your Training Isn’t Broken—Your Fueling Is: RD Cortney Berling on Solving RED-S and Getting Faster
THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST
Dominic Schlueter
4.9 • 822 Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most runners think their biggest limiter is training volume, paces, or genetics.
Cortney Berling says it’s something much simpler: you’re not eating enough.
Fresh off a 2:52:49 finish at the 2025 Eugene Marathon and armed with her credentials as a Registered Dietitian (MPH, RD, CDE), Cortney sits down to unpack RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport): what it is, why it matters, and how to fix it before it derails your running and your health.
Cortney’s perspective is unique because she’s lived it on every stage: from a 3,000m steeplechase PR of 11:05.95 at the University of Cincinnati, to a 1:22 half marathon in Portland (2024), to road wins like the Old Port Half in Maine (2017), to her current life as a sub-3 marathoner in Oregon.
Along the way she’s been a board member and elite athlete coordinator with WMDP, coached high school runners, and led community seminars with OHSU Sports Medicine.
She knows firsthand how under-fueling can lead to injuries, stalled progress, and experienced fertility challenges linked to under-fueling in her own journey — and how the right fueling strategy can flip the script.
If you’ve ever bonked, felt flat despite training hard, or struggled to balance nutrition with performance, this episode is your wake-up call.
Tap into the Cortney Berling Special.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.
Comment the word “PODCAST” below and I’ll DM you a link to listen.
If this episode blesses you, please share it with a friend!
S H O W N O T E S
-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs
-BUY MERCH BEFORE IT’S GONE: https://shop.therunningeffect.run
-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run
-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ
-My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en
-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | If you were in debt, okay, right? That's essentially what this is. You're in caloric debt. |
| 0:04.8 | If you are in financial debt, you would need, if you wanted to get out of debt, we'd have to |
| 0:09.6 | change your spending habits, right? It's the only way to get out of debt. Well, and start making |
| 0:14.2 | more money. And so in that sense, if we wanted to stop spending, quote unquote, so much energy, |
| 0:20.3 | we'd have to stop running. And then to so much energy, we'd have to stop running. |
| 0:22.0 | And then to make more money, we would have to eat more calories. |
| 0:25.4 | But it's hard to eat more calories if you're still spending, right? |
| 0:33.4 | That was Courtney Burling today on the Running Effect podcast back for her second appearance. |
| 0:38.4 | And today we specifically dive into the subject of Reds. |
| 0:41.9 | If you might have it, if you do what to do about it, some signs that might make you more |
| 0:46.1 | susceptible to getting it. |
| 0:47.5 | We talk a lot about underfueling, nutrition, hacks, and tips, and the whole nine yards. |
| 0:52.4 | I always love these conversations with courtney |
| 0:54.5 | they're always a mind dump of questions i have personally that i think a lot of other people |
| 0:59.0 | do and they're always packed with wisdom i can promise you one thing if you spend the next 50 |
| 1:03.3 | minutes with us you're going to walk out of this conversation with so much information so much |
| 1:08.2 | knowledge so much wisdom that you can apply not just directly into |
| 1:11.2 | your running, but nutrition affects your life as a whole. You're studying your work, how you show up |
| 1:15.1 | in relationships, how you show up in your day to day, whether you're tired or energetic. And so |
| 1:19.2 | spend the 50 minutes with us. I can promise you that we are going to pack it with value and |
| 1:24.0 | bring you guys a really special conversation and discussion that can transform your life, |
| 1:28.6 | can transform your running. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dominic Schlueter, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dominic Schlueter and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.