I'm so excited! I'm so excited!

Extra credit if you just sang that as Jessie Spano.

The costume the hair the pose OMGGGGG.

Bad week for the retirement account!

Highlights elsewhere, though, included Annie’s school dance recital (!!!); getting to speak with New Balance’s “Village,” which is a network of NB employees who are also parents; another hot yoga class; and an 8-mile run that felt slow and kind of terrible and included a ton of walk breaks but, hey, was an 8-mile run on a sunny day after weeks (weeks!) of rain, snow, and general New England gloom.

Even with all of the productivity, the to-do list smashing, and the excitement for what’s ahead, I’ve admittedly felt slightly off lately.

My brain is in a million places. I’m prepping for Boston and London, and these last few weeks of April are going to be a lot. A lot of good! Still, a lot. I’m trying to do everything I need to do to prep for these events (I will inevitably end up doing last-minute cramming in my hotel room every night in Boston, and that’s OK), while also recording regular episodes and getting them edited and uploaded for while I’m traveling, and getting slammed with admin, and planning for the next next next thing.

Truly no complaints, except that I need more time!

“No time. There’s never any time. I don’t have time to study. I’ll never get into Stanford. I’ll let everyone down. I’m so confused.” —Jessie Spano, Ali Feller

But actually: I’m so excited! I’m so excited!

I have, however, been physically feeling off lately.

I swear it’s my body saying, “You’re days away from 40. Buckle up. We have tricks up our sleeves! About to rock your world, Feller!”

I’m eating the same, sleeping the same, exercising the same. I’m no more or less stressed than any other time. But my clothes aren’t really fitting, and when I do run (I generally walk more than I run these days), my paces are minutes (minutes!) slower than they “usually” are. Movement feels hard. And it’s fine in the sense that I’m not training for anything and my pace doesn’t actually matter. But still, I feel lethargic and weighed down. My energy levels are great (that rarely changes! who needs coffee when you just have way too much enthusiasm?), and my bloodwork from last week all came back fine (a touch anemic, but that’s baseline for me with Crohn’s disease). So I don’t know. Hormones? Perhaps!

I wish I felt a bit more myself heading into this busy spring, but perspective: I’m light years away from and ahead of where I was at for the past several years at these events.

And at least I’m not addicted to caffeine pills. I mean can you even imagine?!

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This week on the Ali on the Run Show:

• Gabi Rooker, Ready to Run the 2025 Boston Marathon: Gabi is so easy to root for. She’s a Minnesota-based physician assistant who is also a pro runner for Nike, and runs a 2:24 marathon. Next week, Gabi will make her Boston debut, and this conversation is all about how she’s feeling about heading to Hopkinton.

Ali in Boston:

• In one week, I’ll be on my way to Boston for marathon weekend, and I can’t wait to see so many of you! Here’s where I’ll be throughout the weekend. The New Balance live show with Heather MacLean is sold out (we are 725 attendees strong! wow! biggest Ali on the Run Show LIVE we’ve ever done!), but you can get yourself on the waitlist here, and we’ll do what we can.

Ali elsewhere:

• In 2016, I was a guest on Lindsey Hein’s podcast, I’ll Have Another. It was my first time ever being on a podcast, and I loved it so much. Unsurprisingly, after that, I knew I wanted to keep yapping. So it was fun and full circle to be a part of Lindsey’s “Behind the Mic” series. Listen to our conversation here.

Watching:

• I watched Grand Slam Track last weekend. Not all of it, but I had it on when I could. I don’t have much to add to the conversation, but I’ll repeat what I said last week: Whether or not the stands were full (they weren’t, but I predict larger crowds in Miami, Philly, and Los Angeles), whether or not you thought the broadcast nailed it (there was a lot I liked, and a few things that I thought needed tightening or reworking, and a few of those camera angles during the races made me feel dizzy), whether or not you, personally, are invested, there is no denying that the athletes are hyped on GST, and that it’s a huge conversation in running right now. I’m excited to see how the first year plays out, and how the league continues to evolve.

• And of course I watched The White Lotus finale. I did not love it. I got super into reading fan theories and predictions throughout this season. It was really fun to read the recaps on Vulture or the New York Times, and to scour the comments sections to see what other people saw that I may have missed or interpreted differently. The speculation is half the fun of this show. And all along, I kept thinking, “The best part is that none of these will actually happen, because Mike White always sends us off course and then throws in total surprises.” Instead, I felt like everything I read and that people were speculating was exactly what happened. The blender, the poison fruit, “He’s your father,” sweet sweet Chelsea… I obviously enjoyed watching it and seeing how everything unfolded, but ultimately I wasn’t blown away, I felt like so many storylines were left unresolved, and I wanted more, better, different. (Like seriously, we don’t get to see Victoria’s reaction to Timothy’s criminal behavior?! We never get a confrontation about him stealing her pills?! Give the people what they want. They want more “Piper, nooooo!”)

SPONSOR SHOUT OUTS

I am so grateful for the wonderful brands and partners I get to work with on the Ali on the Run Show. You can always find the offers and discount codes in the show notes for each podcast episode (rate, review, and share while you’re there!). And now they’re here as well:

• UCAN: Click here to get a FREE UCAN Edge sample pack (you’ll just pay the cost of shipping). Use code ALI for 20% off your next UCAN order.

• Shokz: Click here and use code ALI for $10 off your next purchase. Code valid in the U.S. and Canada. (Check out the limited edition Boston Marathon OpenRun Pro2!)

• Oofos: Click here to make your feet happy!

• New Balance: Click here to shop New Balance's latest releases for the season.

• goodr: Click here and use code ALI for $5 off your next order.

• Lagoon: Click here to take Lagoon’s 2-minute sleep quiz to see which pillow is right for you. Use code ALI at checkout for 15% off your next Lagoon order.

• Vuori: Click here for 20% off your first Vuori purchase.

• The AJC Peachtree Road Race: The Peachtree lottery returns, and it’s open now! Click here to throw your name in the ring for your chance to get to run Atlanta’s iconic 10K on the Fourth of July.

And so…

Take good care of yourselves. Take good care of each other. And whatever you’re going through, keep going.

(You’ve got this. You’re doing great.)

Love,

Ali