Episode 175: Lauren (Kort) Starek - An American and a Canadian

<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/lauren.starek/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lauren (Kort) Starek</a> and I met through my husband, Zach, at F45 in Carmel — and this year we finally got to run a race together, running the Indy Mini with Ainsley's Angels.</p><p>During this episode, sponsored by <a href="https://go.shopmy.us/p-61174071" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Huug</a>, we talk about:</p><ul><li>[1:00] How Lauren and I met through Zach at F45</li><li>[3:00] Running her <em>5th</em> New York City Marathon, including the 2012 Superstorm Sandy cancellation and the view from the top vs. the bottom of the Verrazzano Bridge</li><li>[9:00] Growing up in Colorado Springs, her parents' Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon tradition, and finding her competitive stride on the high school swim team after hating running as a kid</li><li>[15:00] The extra-credit campus 5K that got her hooked, and signing up for her first half marathon on "maybe I could just do a marathon in six weeks" logic</li><li>[19:00] Studying nutrition at the University of Dayton, and how dramatically sports fueling has changed since 2007–2008 (25 grams of carbs an hour was the goal back then)</li><li>[25:00] Being the first of her siblings to run a marathon — and her brother's all-treadmill training plan for his first</li><li>[27:00] Her second marathon, Chicago 2008, run as a Boston qualifier — working with a coach and her dad meeting her at mile 25</li><li>[35:00] Running Boston anyway after getting injured 10 days out, with her mom meeting her at mile 15 </li><li>[39:00] Her parents' continued athletic life — her mom's move into cycling and triathlon, her dad's Pacific Crest Trail hikes</li><li>[40:00] Learning to love open water swimming in San Diego — the Alcatraz swim, the current-assisted 10K Bridge to Bridge swim, and her surprisingly casual relationship with sharks</li><li>[51:00] How she met her husband, Greg, on a dating app and three years of long distance while both worked remote during the pandemic</li><li>[56:00] Greg's career jump from the 49ers to the Colts, and deciding to move to Indianapolis on days' notice</li><li>[1:04:00] Her two-year wait for Canadian dual citizenship, and finding out it finally came through via an email she opened at Costco</li><li>[1:07:00] Taking seven or eight years off from marathons after getting a puppy, then coming back to New York with a coach and a hard-won understanding of her own training limits</li><li>[1:09:00