82 | Ladia Albertson-Junkans Part 2: Motherhood and Canyons 100k

We have Ladia on the podcast again this week for part two! Ladia opens up our conversation with a bang by challenging the prescribed narratives we feel we have to fit into as women and mothers in this place and time in society. For example, the “bouncing back” culture we experience after having babies and seeing body changes as a disservice to the other parts of our life (including running) often does not honor what we go through or how we want to embrace the growth we can find in that space. Ladia says, “but I don’t want to go backwards. I don’t need to be the person I was yesterday or ten years ago…. Whether in pregnancy and postpartum or not, that’s not what I’m trying to move towards. I want to embrace who I am, where I am, today and every day moving forward.” We ponder how to find, process and represent our true experiences with language that will free us and others from societal expectations. The things we go through shape us and we can hone the power of that growth and channel it when facing hard things (like ultra running and motherhood). We talk about the need for mothers to have space to talk candidly about their struggles without being dismissed or having to prove their gratitude of being a mother and the importance as mothers to show our kids our full humanity. Ladia mentions, “The most important thing we do as mothers is be ourselves”.

Ladia shares a little about her birth and feeling the contrast of grief from losing her best friend, Gabriele Grunewald, while looking forward to new life through her son Gabriel (named after Gabe of course!). We hear about how Ladia moved through the early postpartum days when building up running in a way that showed kindness to her body and honored her emotions and anxiety of leaving her baby for long runs. AND! We hear about her INCREDIBLE 4th place finish at Canyons 100k in April! From funny stories to positive energy to trail beauty to racing as a way to feel connection amidst the loneliness of motherhood to numb legs to oozing poison oak, it was so fun to hear Ladia tell the race day tales.

We were so lucky to be in Ladia’s presence again and we hope you enjoy this episode! Don’t forget to subscribe and share this with your people! Thank you!

Show Notes:

Find Ladia on Instagram

Check out the Brave Like Gabe Foundation and read more about who Gabe was and how you can support their mission to raise money for rare cancer research!

Brave Like Gabe 5k is happening on June 25th, 2022!! Don’t miss it - sign up and run it wherever you are while being connected to a greater purpose and all the Brave Like Gabe community.

This episode is sponsored by Treeline Coffee - a woman owned business out of Bozeman, MT who ethically source all their coffee beans from sustainable and socially responsible farms. Use code RUNHARD10 for 10% off your order of the most delicious (and necessary) mom fuel! It is liquid encouragement in a cup, no lie.