There's glitter on the floor after the party...

Just kidding. It's dog hair, stray pieces of Scotch tape, and many cookie crumbs.

Happy holidays from my best girls and me.

She’s baaaaaack!

I launched the Ali on the Run newsletter during the 2022 holiday season. I was so wonderfully consistent for five months. I had missed writing, and loved having a new place to ramble every week that could easily exceed the Instagram caption limits, which you know I’m always down to push.

Then I got diagnosed with breast cancer.

And then I was going through a divorce.

I talked about one publicly, but never the other.

That made writing challenging. It’s silly, really, because writing is so editable. It’s how I made a living for the first chapter of my adult life!

But I struggled to put thoughts and emotions onto digital paper, and to dance around the big stuff. It felt disingenuous and dishonest. Also, I was a whole mess, and anything I could’ve written was bound to be a big ol’ bummer. (Which is fine! But I often exhausted myself.)

Then, once I finally “announced” (ew, who am I?) the latter, it lifted a huge weight. I no longer had to hide this very big, sad, scary, all-around shitty thing that was dominating my life and my thoughts. The details, yes, of course. But at least it was out there. (My DMs, as you can probably imagine, had become an invasive, weird space. I’ll always understand curiosity. I’ll never understand making demands of personal information from a stranger. But hey, social media has made the world kind of weird, so here we are! Boundaries? Who needs them?!)

By then, enough time had passed that I didn’t want to just pick up writing again but also was never going to fill in all the blanks.

And so, like any mature adult professional woman: I ghosted you.

Sorry about that!

(No one cares. No one was waking up on Friday morning devastated, wondering where the Ali on the Run newsletter had gone! I. know. that.)

I really am hoping to get back here consistently in 2025. This is the time of year when I love to reflect and brainstorm and talk a big game about all that I’m hoping to accomplish in the year to come. (Spoiler: My follow-through leaves much to be desired.)

So, let’s see what happens!

For now: I hope you’re enjoying a happy, joyful, peaceful (ha) holiday season. I hope there is an abundance of love in your home and your heart (that was cheesy but I liked it). And I hope you know how much love I have in my home and heart for you, for your support, for your kindness, for your care, and for the way you bring joy to my world and to the running world.

You’re great. And you’re doing great, I bet.

By way of catching up and telling you what I’m into lately…

Heard lately on the Ali on the Run Show:

• A Holiday Message from Ali: Brief, sentimental, with a surprise special guest who was supposed to be in bed at the time but clearly was not.

• Lee Glandorf, Sports Marketer & Creator of The Sweat Lookbook: An excuse to catch up with an old friend and talk running fashion? Sign me up! This was fun, and a nice brief break from the standard interview-style episodes. (And then: Lee interviewed me for her newsletter! Check it out here. Legwarmers forever.)

• Emily Saul, Sports Psychology Coach, on End-of-Year Anxiety & New Year Goal Setting: TIMELY. Helpful!

Ali elsewhere:

• 321 GO! I was a guest on my friend Carissa Galloway’s podcast! We talked a lot about all things New York City Marathon.

• Talking to Smart People. This show is hosted by Catherine Smart, one of my first friends in the world! We grew up together, and she has gone on to do incredible things. (She’s the founder of Not Just, which is the only pasta sauce I cook with. The 10-Veggie is my favorite and is the closest I’m getting to eating a vegetable these days. It’s fine!) This was a fun one, and a great way to catch up with someone I adore and admire.

What I’m watching:

• Terrible-awful-silly-delightful holiday movies, of course. The “Holiday Cheese” highlight has all the hot and lukewarm takes from the season. I put a hard stop on holiday movies and music at midnight on December 25, so as this chapter closes, I have to figure out what’s next for me.

• Nate Bargatze’s new Netflix special. Not my favorite of his stand-up specials, but this man can say nothing at all and I will live, laugh, love my way along. He’s my favorite.

SPONSOR SHOUT OUTS

I am so eternally 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), including the new Mocha + Caffeine gel and the Chocolate gel. (My dream!) Then, use code ALI for 20% off your next UCAN order.

• 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.

• Sidekick: Click here to get 15% off any recovery tool.

• Lagoon: Click here to take Lagoon’s 2-minute sleep quiz to see which pillow is right for you. (Emma Bates and I are both Otters!) Use code ALI at checkout for $25 off your next Lagoon order.

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

• The Eugene Marathon: Register for the Eugene Marathon (April 27, 2025) and save $10 with code ONTHERUN.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for sticking with me. I’m so happy to allegedly be back, and can’t wait to see you all in 2025. Let’s hang out!

And so…

Take good care of yourselves. Take good care of each other. Tell someone you love them today. Thank you so much for being here. And whatever you’re going through, keep going.

Love,

Ali