367. Maddie Alm, Professional Runner & Registered Dietitian

"I'm pretty close to living the dream right now."

What do you do when you can't decide whether you want to go pro as a runner, or pursue your dream of being a registered dietitian? For Maddie Alm, the answer was "do both." Maddie lives in Boulder, CO, where she trains with Team Boss (coached by Joe Bosshard) and is the owner and founder of Fueling Forward, a sports nutrition consulting business. She's a former All-American from UC Boulder, and was a two-time USA Championships qualifier. Today, she's chasing a 5K qualifier so she can compete at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials this summer. (She recently ran personal bests in both the 3K and the 5K, so things are looking good.) And when she's not chasing down her running dreams, she's working with athletes to help them improve their relationships with food. On this episode, Maddie talks about what her training is like right now, and talks about experiencing her first year being fully healthy since college. She talks about building physical and mental toughness, and shares what failure means to her. Plus, she talks about entrepreneurship during a pandemic and shares the five foods she recommends for all runners.

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What you'll get on this episode:

• How was your run today? (3:15)
• Maddie reflects on her first year since college being fully healthy on the run (6:30)
• On failure (11:45)
• Maddie's road to professional running, and how she became a member of Team Boss (15:00)
• What is a registered dietitian? (26:30)
• On launching Fueling Forward — during a pandemic! (28:15)
• How Maddie grew her business (33:10)
• Maddie talks about her own relationship with food over the years (37:30)
• What is "the dream?" (42:15)
• What are the most-asked questions Maddie gets as a registered dietitian? (43:45)
• What Maddie does when she's not running or RD-ing (50:15)

Follow Maddie:

• Instagram @madsalm12
• Instagram @fueling_forward
• Fueling Forward

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