What started as a personal challenge for Kayla Jeter seven years ago has evolved into a global sensation. From May 1 until August 31, 100MilesofSummer challenges thousands of participants across the country to simply log 100 miles. That amounts to 25 miles a month and approximately 6 miles a week.

And to make this challenge even more doable, participants can walk, run, jog or roll those miles.

I met Kayla just after she moved to Chicago and was making her way in the city in her post-professional sports career. Her vision for this summer program has always been clear (and fun to watch): create change in the sport of running to make it more inviting and inclusive.

In our conversation, you'll hear a lot about where 100MilesofSummer came from, the role of movement and community in dealing with grief, and the power of community to help you achieve your goals.

And in the seventh year of the challenge, there are some really big updates - aside from reaching folks on other continents.

• Kayla and her team created a community home on the Circle Platform.
• Kayla and her team launched their own platform-agnostic miles tracker (so if you love Nike's app, use it. If you're a Strava stan, go crazy. You'll just log your miles for the challenge on the tracker separately.)

Resources:

• Follow Kayla on Instagram
• Follow 100MilesofSummer on Instagram
• Join the 100MilesofSummer Circle community
• Start using the tracker
• Read the Chicago Tribune's Feature Story on Kayla's journey and goals
• We chat about Kayla's insane experience taking on Lululemon Further and running more than 200 miles in six days. Here's her synopsis and details from Lululemon on the project.

Haley Shapley, author of the book "Strong Like Her" is a walking history book of women's foray into sports and strength.

That's because she literally wrote the book on it ("Strong Like Her," which is now available in paperback). After the author entered a bodybuilding competition, she had the eye-opening experience of hearing first-hand the outdated ideas about women's strength. So, she started looking into the people she calls, "our Muscular Foremothers."

"Don't lift too heavy," "No man will find you attractive," and "you look like a man." No matter how much we try to move past these ideas, we still encounter them them. In our conversation, Haley talks through the rule breakers in strength as well as the link between gender, strength, feminism and suffrage.

In this conversation, you'll hear some really interesting stories of strength - some that may be new to you:

• The story of Ada Anderson and the sport of Pedestrianism, who smashed attendance records for her feats of walking.
• Cynisca and the loophole that allowed her to be the first woman to win in the Olympics in the four-horse chariot race
• Pudgy Stockton, who was not only a weightlifter, but also a gymnast

Resources:

• Find Haley Shapley online
• Get "Strong Like Her" wherever you get books
• Follow Haley Shapley on Instagram
• And get excited for her next project, Night Owl

I was never the kid who sought out a jump rope for fun, I wasn’t counting how many jumps I could do uninterrupted, and I wasn’t doing double dutch. However, as an adult I was handed a jump rope to work out and after a couple of minutes, I was gassed. So I incorporated it into workouts and developed a love for how much I hated it.

At one point, I was even teaching a fitness class called “Ropes Gone Wild,” but that’s a story for a different day.

So when CrossRope reached out, promising to make jumping rope at home a fun part of your workout (with a connected fitness component), I tried it, I loved it, and I selected a 25-minute workout my first time back to jumping rope. That was a mistake - my poor calves.

And in the world, we’re going back to hybrid everything - hybrid work, hybrid workout. I know for me, if I choose to work out at home, it's because I’m in a time crunch, so I need whatever I do at home to be efficient.

So today, we’re talking to two experts from Crossrope: Dave Hunt, Founder and CEO of Crossrope, and Jennika Landon, a Crossrope Trainer (who I’m pretty sure is also a molecular biologist). We’re going to dig in to making at home workouts fit your time and your lifestyle.

References: 

• CrossRope
• CrossRope on Instagram
• Dave Hunt on LinkedIn
• Jennika Landon on LinkedIn

As a lifelong learner, I feel pretty fortunate that I get to interview smart people, innovators, and inventors and say, "teach me something."

And this week, the big question was about Essential Fatty Acids. What makes a fatty acid essential? Spoiler: you have to ingest it and your body needs it for important functions. And what about saturated vs. unsaturated fats?

We dig in with the co-founders of Fatty15, Stephanie and Eric Venn-Watson, on the discovery of the essential fatty acid you'll find in the Fatty15 capsules: C15:0.

And the best part? Stephanie was studying dolphins when she made this discovery.

Resources:

• Fatty15: the company that Eric and Stephanie co-founded
• Stephanie Venn-Watson's TED Talk about her discovery that C15:0 is an essential fatty acid.
• From The Washington Post: mounting research that C15:0 deficiency is linked to diseases like Fatty Liver Disease
• My first interview with Stephanie and Eric

The thing about being human is that we’re born ready to discover the world - the sights, the sounds, what makes us happy, what scares us, and even who we are. Our identity is something that comes to us piece by piece as we mature and explore the world around us. Can you imagine living a life that fully supports you discovering your identity?

Today, we’re speaking with Dr. Gwen Bass about her work in creating identity-affirming environments that promote belonging. She also wrote a book Called Immaculate Misconception about her journey to finding her biological siblings who shared a sperm donor as well as her family that was created around love and belonging.

She was one of the first children conceived in the '80s to two lesbian moms.That journey of identity and hiding her identity in certain situations and being accepted in others shaped her research and her academic work since.

In this conversation, she talks about risk factors and protective factors for identity.

Dr. Gwen shares some steps that leaders can take to ensure that folks know that they an be themselves while not getting in the way of others needs being met. We talk about how the concepts of belonging apply to the fitness space. Dr. Gwen chats through how yoga is an exceptionally inclusive fitness space because of the ways instructors cue leveling up and down, using props.

She talks about:

• Leadership in a fitness space
• Music in a fitness space
• The language used in a fitness
• The Peloton App and how the instructors take the modifications and how important that modeling is

References: 

• Dr. Gwen Bass
• Immaculate Misconception
• Dr. Gwen Bass on aSweatLife.com
• Peloton Digital fitness

We kicked off season 9 of the podcast a bit later than expected. We learned of the untimely and unexpected passing of Ryan Deffet this fall - aSweatLife's friend and the longtime editor of this podcast. We waited to come back until we could mourn Ryan and find a way to properly memorialize him.

His friends and band mates from The Space Gators allowed us to use a song that featured Ryan on vocals called "Somewhere To Be" at the upfront of the episode. We hope you'll take the time to listen to that beautiful song in this week's episode.

We spend this episode going over what's to come on aSweatLife (including big updates for the Ambassador program) and on our podcast. As we come back this season, you'll hear us talking to experts who we ask to teach us something.

We're excited for you to come along with us on this journey.

Show notes:

• Remember Ryan Deffet with us and give his band The Space Gators, a follow
• The aSweatLife Ambassador program
• Email the aSweatLife team if you want to partner for aSweatLife's Studio of the Month
• the Ultramarathoner that Kelly fangirled over: Courtney Dauwalter
• Our new community platform, Circle
• The Tour du Mont Blanc
• Kelly's trip on the Tour Du Mont Blanc, summarized
• Get a glimpse at my officiating skills (and the cutest wedding ever) and the moment we all waited for
• Reflections from summer from Jeana's Instagram

It has admittedly been a weird week or so on the Internet. We went from learning that aliens might be super real (told you, Gideon) to moving on. Maybe it was the full moon, who knows.

So, we decompressed and talked it over on our monthly tête-à-tête - our podcast episode that we call "Let's Talk About It." Sure, we spent a little bit of time talking about aliens and whether or not they're just tourist, but we also covered which astrology apps we like and what we're saving on Instagram and TikTok.

On this week's episode, you'll hear from me, Jeana Anderson Cohen, and from the Senior Director of Communities at aSweatLife, Kelly Matkovich. Joining us is Dana Farber who runs Moonstone marketing and works with aSweatLife on content strategy and social media.

Resources:

• What Dana is saving on social: Snack queen baked potato dip
• What Dana is saving on social: Women living alone - extra lock
• What Dana is saving on social: Treehouse glamping in Washington
• What Kelly is saving on social: Heel hook
• What Kelly is saving on social: Tour de mont blanc
• What Kelly is saving on social: Derma planing
• UFO hearings
• Therabody smart goggles
• Mystic Monday
• Horoscope app: Co-star
• Horoscope app: Pattern
• Horoscope app: Sanctuary
• Astrology app: The chani app
• Tarot card app: mystic monday
• Dana’s playlists for moods: sad
• Dana’s playlists for moods: stay in bed
• Dana’s playlists for moods: Lazy Afternoon
• Therabody Smart Goggles

Have you ever seen a small, round sensor on the back of someone’s arm? For a long time, those continuous glucose monitors were only used for monitoring the blood glucose of those with Diabetes. My grandfather had diabetes and he would check his blood glucose twice a day using a finger prick. I remember distinctly the sound of the little device - it was like a stapler - I also remember the curse words that would follow.

So, I assumed as I was putting the Freestyle Libre on the back of my arm that it would be as painful as the finger pricks. It was not. And for two weeks, I wore it and dutifully trained the January.ai App to help me understand and control my blood glucose.

It created something called a "digital twin" which learned which behaviors led to blood sugar spikes and valleys. If creating a digital twin of yourself sounds scary, and like the robots are coming. Well, the robots are coming anyway, so, we might as well team up with them to make our lives better.

Joining me today is Noosheen Hashemi, CEO and Founder of January.ai, which uses AI to help manage your glucose and predict the impact of key behaviors on our body’s unique metabolism. 

Resources:

• Use code "SWEAT25" for 25% off January.ai
• Follow January on Instagram
• Abbott will be releasing more sensors
• Eliud Kipchoge on using the Abbott sensor for marathon training
• Exercise and blood glucose (american diabetes association)
• Noosheen’s daughter on Instagram 
• How blood glucose testing works with testing strips

If we were on TikTok right now, I’d be referring to myself as an “anxiety girlie” and as such, I have tried many, many anxiety coping mechanisms and recently, I discovered the Quiet Mind weighted pillow and I am super in love.

And joining me today on the podcast is Mikey Goldman, creator of Quiet Mind. We talk through where the idea came from, and a few of his big backers, like Nick woodman of GoPro and Chad Hurley of YouTube.

We also discuss the reasons Mikey created Quiet Mind - a diagnosis of ADHD and managing the symptoms that came with taking multiple medications - and how surprising it was to him that a weighted pillow didn't exist already.

References: 

• Quiet Mind - code ASWEATLIFE - gets 15% Off!
• Thingtesting's take on Quiet Mind
• Scholarly article about Deep Pressure Stimulation on Autism
• The effects of deep pressure on Anxiety
• Better Homes and Gardens on the Launch of Quiet Mind  
• Hugging a pillow while sleeping - advice from the Quiet Mind blog

I'm the kind of friend that keeps up with people through their posts. And this year, it's been pretty hard to miss what my friend AND yours Gideon Akande is up to: he committed to doing 365 consecutive days of movement. He's calling it Project 365, and it's a lot less daunting than you might think.

On this week's episode of the podcast, I asked Gideon to share the rules of his challenge - he didn't love the word "rules," but shared the guidelines nonetheless. Basically, he can do anything for exercise at any time of the day as long as it's "concentrated exercise" for a minimum of 15 minutes. So taking a walk for exercise versus taking a walk to commute and counting the multi-task.

At first, I was worried about his recovery. "He'll burn out!" I thought. But on a closer look, he's doing this in a safe and strategic way. (It's almost like he's a personal trainer or something).

So we talk about WHY he started and I found it completely relatable. As a new dad, he found himself moving less. And because movement is a big part of his life as a three-time Chicago Golden Gloves champion, trainer, and national winner of the Men’s Health Next Top Trainer competition.

He lives for movement and wanted to make sure he was walking the walk.

I loved this entire conversation, but my favorite part was hearing what Gideon has learned in more than six months of this challenge. I won't spoil it for you, but the key word is JOY.

Resources: 

• Gideon Akande on Instagram
• Get a 7-day trial of the get Fit with Giddy app
• Body Bar Pilates
• Gideon’s favorite Nigerian Foods: Iyan and Efo Riro 
• Restore Hyper Wellness
• According to Live Sciences, you can work out every day IF you’re strategic.
• Train moment
• Lululemon Experiential (where you can find Gideon on the schedule)
• Rise nation
• Swish house
• Communities: Movement
• Northern Lights visible in Chicago this Wednesday July 12

This week, in passing we mentioned that at the end of the aSweatLife summer intern’s time with us we would sit down and tell her everything we had to learn the hard way after college graduation. Then we realized that we should probably record it as it’s hot on our minds and is really the only thing we can think about this week.

Ever since we had the conversation as a team, I thought about the things that I learned through whisper networks or by falling on my face. They were innumerable. So, we’re not going to gatekeep it.

Julia had good questions for us:

Work related

• How should I go about getting a job? 
• What’s the best advice you could give to someone interviewing for a job? 
• What are your musts when it comes to looking for a job?

Personal

• What’s one thing you would like your senior college self to know? 
• How should a 20 year old come about looking for friends after college? 
• How would you advice a 20 year old to get used to a 9-5pm 
• What do you guys think about a hobby as a career?

And we prepared a little advice for her:

• At work -
• if someone says something IMPORTANT to you with just their voice, follow up with an email asking them to confirm. Get shit in writing.
• It's okay to quit a job if you don't have another job lined up AND find mentors
• Our advice on life:
• Ask questions.
• Have the best time with your friends - go out, go to restaurants, travel - do all the things
• Our advice as old married ladies
• Jeana: In my early 20s, I spent so much time wondering and worrying about whether the person I had been on one or two dates with liked me and very little time on whether I liked them. As soon as I started asking that question, “Do I like them? Have they earned my mindspace?” Things shifted for me. 
• Kelly: I wish I would have dated MORE And live on your own

And the aSweatLife Ambassadors shared some guidance:

Honestly, this was my favorite part: sourcing guidance from this group of really unique humans. Here's what they said:

• "Staying in a crappy job too long can let some good jobs get away from you, and can be detrimental to your self esteem." - Mariah B.
• "Know your worth and don’t be afraid to negotiate your salary! I was too scared to right out of college and was basically slapped with minimum wage wrapped up as a “salary” because I thought I couldn’t ask for anything else." -Sydney M.
• "More for personal life, but do what you want to do, even if it means going for it solo! I spent some years thinking I just wouldn’t do things bc my friends weren’t also interested in doing them, but now have embraced just going for it. I’ve gone to things solo and left with acquaintances with the same interests. Or just left solo with a great experience lol." -Sarah S.
• "Work is not who you are, and is not everything. You can always change things if they aren’t for you, you can always reinvent yourself, you can always advocate for yourself. Nothing has to be a linear path to the top." - CC
• "Two things ... One of them is from the Olsen twins… 1. No is a full sentence. (thanks Olsen twins). 2. You don't have to have things figured out. Like ever. There is no point in life at which you need to have the perfect job or be married or have kids or it's too late." -Tahnee L.
• "If you can afford to - you can take vacation even if you don't have paid time off available / used up." -Amy G.
• "2 bits of career advice learned the hard way. 1) Sometimes not getting the job has nothing to do with you. You met the qualifications, you interviewed well, it felt like a fit. There’s too many unknowns to you. The company culture, the culture of the team you’d be joining, internal candidates, etc. I spent a lot of time being hard on myself and it wasn’t until I became a hiring manager that I realized I could’ve saved myself some heartache by accounting for the unknowns. 2) At every job you will ever have, even if you own your own business, you are replaceable. It may not be done the same way, or as well even but, there are people who can do what you do to some degree. Keep that mindset and perhaps it’ll save you some serious abuse of work/life boundaries and burnout early in your career that I learned the hard way." -Alexis R.

Resources:

• Ladies Get Paid
• Ask a Manager is a great resource for any question for your career
• Questions that Julia sourced from the Internet
• January.ai