The Mother Runners Podcast with Whitney Heins

Send us Fan Mail This one is for the first-timers—but really for anyone who wants to take on the marathon distance & feel like they nailed it (well, the best they can…). On this episode, we give our top marathon advice for first-timers but it’s really lessons and tips that can benefit any runner. We share lessons, experiences, and mistakes to avoid.  As with most episodes, we start with a tang...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Miles With Moms Podcast, the four of us reunited after a hiatus (summer schedules are hard) to chat about summer running, including our tips & experiences.  We start off with a big tangent on the show Love Island in which Olivia talks about the need for filth in a mom’s life (ha!). And discuss Tricia’s experience pacing a friend running a 200-miler in Ta...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we have guest Dr. Leah Avery; a mother runner, physical therapist, & former competitive swimmer who was abused by her high school coach. Leah bravely shares her story & offers advice for us parents on how to create a safe environment for our kids involved in sports. We also discuss what parents can do to ensure our children don’t place too much of their identity in...

Send us Fan Mail Just as things really heat up this summer, we are sharing everything you need to know about Heart Rate Training, an important tool for runners including in the summer heat! (This episode first aired on our Patreon. It is an example of the bonus content you will receive when you sign-up to our Patreon -- http://www.patreon.com/mileswithmomspodcast ). In this episode, Olivia & S...

Send us Fan Mail You know—Iife is busy and we haven’t had a chance for all four of us to talk and catch up. So that’s what this episode is! We just banter about whatever and cannot be held responsible for what comes out of our mouths.  We discuss our experiences during summer break, the challenges of parenting and managing kids' sports, and the competitive nature that often arises in youth sp...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Miles With Moms Podcast, we are so honored to interview Jen Hughes (@jenhughes56 on Instagram). Jen is a remarkable woman who has overcome significant challenges in her life.  Jen shares her journey from a life-changing car accident that left her in a wheelchair to becoming a competitive runner and enlisting in the military at the age of 45, being the oldest...

Send us Fan Mail This week marks our last installment of our special Mother’s Day episodes where we are interviewing amazing moms. Today we chat with Tess Chupinsky (@tesschupisky on Instagram), an entrepreneur/founder of @therunmylifejournal, homeschooling mom of 5, foster mom, and marathoner.  Tess shares her experiences with running during pregnancy, the transformative power of journaling for m...

Send us Fan Mail (We wanted to call this the Snail Trail episode--you will have to listen to find out why...) But ok! THIS WEEK on the Miles with Moms podcast we were so honored to have Elizabeth Ropp , a pediatrician and homeschooling mom of 6, as our guest as we continue featuring fellow mother runners all month long to celebrate Mother’s Day. Elizabeth is a 40-year-old mom who started running a...

Send us Fan Mail This week we are so honored to have Natalie Mitchell as our guest as we continue featuring fellow mother runners all month long to celebrate Mother’s Day. Natalie is one of those people who is just a bright shining light, filling any space around her with positivity. Her heart is so pure and her perspective so moving. We think you are going to just love our conversation with her....

Send us Fan Mail This episode kicks off something fun we are doing for May (the month of Mother’s Day)—we are featuring fellow mother runners to shed light on their journey, insights, and how they “make it work.” Our first feature is of Kayleigh Schwartz Hendricks, an athlete that Whitney has coached for three years.  Kayleigh is a pediatric nurse practitioner who works in the pediatric hematology...

Send us Fan Mail “We had been in and out the hospital so many times and thank God for my mom's my rock. She's my best friend. She was with me through everything.  So she knew that I needed to start running again for like my own mental sanity.”  This week we feature Francesca Barbetta ( @5ammommyrunner on Instagram) because she is truly inspiring. And while her accomplishments & day-t...

Send us Fan Mail This week we are doing something extra special. We have two special guests Polly Cunes (@mommytosubthree) and Michelle Baxter (@therunnersplate) to talk about getting FASTER as a MASTERS runner.  They share what they changed to keep feeling good and nabbing those PRs. Polly has been slaying her PRs at the age of 41 including a 2:43 marathon and a 1:18 half. Michelle has PRed in 5...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Shanna & Olivia catch us up on their training which leads them into an inspiring conversation about chasing goals as a mom. Olivia never thought she would be chasing sub-3 hour marathon times as a mom. In fact, she talks about how she still struggles to see the paces she is hitting. And Shanna discusses what it's like to compete on the track as a mom amon...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we (Olivia, Tricia & Whitney) answer a question we’ve been asked often by listeners: what it was REALLY like for us to return to running postpartum and when we finally felt NORMAL running after having a baby. (Shanna could not make it today—we missed you Shanna!)…. SPOILER ALERT: None of us had a BOUNCE BACK story to share. In fact, quite the opposite.  -We ta...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Season 2 of the Miles with Moms podcast! In this episode, we share our “mother runner hacks” for making our mom lives easier.  These hacks help with: -Keeping the house clean -Post-run recovery -Fitting in strength training -Meal prep -Treadmill running with small kids around, and -Making your kids self-sufficient (the gift that keeps on giving!)  We also catch up since...

Send us Fan Mail For this fun episode, Tricia, Olivia, Shanna, & Whitney answer a wide array of listener questions sharing our advice & experiences. Some questions we covered: -at what age do you stop doing stroller runs with your kids? -how do you push past your mental barrier in a race? -what is harder? breastfeeding or training for a marathon? -where to stash your energy gels during a m...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode,  we (Whitney, Shanna & Olivia -- we missed you, Tricia!) share our running hot takes. Some of many: Running is NOT self-care. The running culture can be TOXIC. Strava is RUINING RUNNING. Downhill races need an *. & MARATHONS are OVERRATED. We also share our usual shout-out and banter. We would love to hear your thoughts on our hot takes as well as your own...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we share how we got faster—something we have been asked about a lot. But this conversation comes with many caveats: running is not just about being fast or getting faster. And we don’t know everything there is about running & getting faster. But we do know what helped us shaved time off our PRs—so we are sharing that.  In this episode, Whitney, Olivia & Sh...

Send us Fan Mail It is National Eating Disorder Awareness week. Sadly, eating disorders are far too common in the world of running for females, at all levels and ages. This is why we felt it was important to openly discuss this topic, especially as moms, hoping we can help ourselves break the cycle & the generation we are raising. = TRIGGER WARNING: We do share our own experiences with eating...

Send us Fan Mail  In this episode of the Miles with Moms podcast, we welcome Nick Klastava (@nklastava), a running coach and father, to discuss the intersection of running, fatherhood, and personal growth. All four of us are HUGE fans of Nick and his approach to fatherhood, running, coaching & just being an overall good human.  The conversation explores Nick's journey as a runner, his coa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Whitney & Olivia get to know each other better (so you get to know us better, too!). (Shanna & Tricia couldn’t make it—we missed you ladies!).  We ask each other questions we have always wanted to do know about the different chapters in our lives. You’ll find that Olivia has lived a million lives by the time she was 20 & Whitney changed careers & n...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Miles and Moms podcast, Shanna, Tricia, & Olivia (not Whitney, she couldn’t be there today) put each other in the hot seat asking the tough questions about topics like mom guilt, last race of your life choices, and unexpected lessons of being a mother runner.  We share openly and honestly about what makes us feel guilty, give each other pep talks with th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Miles with Moms podcast, we take on dealing with other people's opinions and trying not to care what other people think--whether in real life or on social media.  The discussion emphasizes the struggle to balance personal identity with societal expectations. We also talk about the challenges of authenticity, the fear of judgment, and the importance of v...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Miles with Moms podcast, we talk about your typical random stuff (caffeine and catheters, anyone?) and then we dish the dirt on the types of moms we are vs. the types of moms we thought we would be.  We cover a wide array of topics such as how we deal with messes, our husbands, discipline, chores, big emotions, and bedtime routines--to name a few. Per usual,...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Miles with Moms podcast, we address a question we have been asked about a lot: what to look for in a running coach & how to find the right running coach for you? We all have had different experiences with running coaches and share what to look for based on your needs, goals, and life stage. Like with most things as a mother runner, you may need a differe...