Lauren Fleshman: Eating Disorders in the Running World

Life has been busy. Not only have I started a Running in Silence YouTube channel, but I’ve also been scheduled for numerous speaking engagements, one of which I most recently completed this past Saturday with Yoga For a Cause.

As for the YouTube videos, it’s been a lot of trial and error. There have been numerous many retakes, what seems like minutes of “nothing-happening” recording time as I stare at the ground to try to gather my thoughts (promptly deleted in the editing process, of course), and admittedly, fears that people will not always agree with what I have to say. I’ve felt that any time I’ve worked in the eating disorder world, it’s been a tricky atmosphere. Perhaps that’s what makes it so difficult to talk about–especially for athletic coaches.

This brings me to professional runner Lauren Fleshman’s most recent podcast on eating disorders. Recently retired from the sport of running, Fleshman is in a phase of “rewiring,” which means bringing important issues to light in the running world–one of which is eating disorders in athletics. She recently spoke in an amazing podcast on the subject, to which I responded as a coach, and as someone who has dealt with an eating disorder herself:

Eating disorders–and the shame and isolation surrounding it–affects so many of our loved ones. It keeps alive this false sense of “success.” It’s time to push awareness out there to help develop our young athletes into more whole, balanced, happy people.