Work, Play, Love With Lauren Fleshman And Jesse Thomas

It’s a new year and Lauren and Jesse are back in action. They catch you up on what’s been going on since the end of 2018, and talk about what they’re looking forward to in 2019. Lauren’s been writing more, and as a result she’s already seeing herself change through the process. Meanwhile, Jesse’s happy to get back to work after a really fun winter break with family, including a grand finale bouncy-castle blowout with Jude. On today’s show your questions include: what training metrics (like heart rate, power, etc.) are important to use, and when should you use them? Should we try to grow niche sports as a niche-sport community? And should I encourage my partner to go slower?!

The holiday break is starting and 2018 is winding down. And that means a break in childcare for Zadie and Jude! So Lauren and Jesse have been busier than usual at home. However, there’s naptime and school, and that gives Lauren a few windows throughout the day to do some writing. Meanwhile, Jesse’s fresh back from the Picky Bars retreat. A full-team meeting where team members review their 2018 goals and accomplishments, and discuss how this past year will shape 2019. Jesse and Lauren catch you up on some changes coming to Picky Bars in the new year, celebrate some recent workouts, and jump into your questions. This week's Tasty Bits include: how to keep your hands warm while running and biking in the winter. How to incorporate the caffeine and sugar into your training plans. Jesse's and Lauren's favorite running shoes. And learning about why your heart rate is elevated when running in the cold.  In the meat and potatoes section, Lauren and Jesse talk about running technique, hunger management during peak trai

Some days you have a great race day. That was the case for both Lauren and Jesse over the past week. Lauren had a fun and successful race both as a runner and as a coach at the club cross country championships. She talks about her experience and how her conditions for satisfaction have changed over her years as a runner. Jesse, perhaps to a lesser degree (but no less glamorous), had an awesome experience at the trampoline park, and went on a spontaneous 20-mile long run that prompted a dose of work/play/love advice from Lauren. Hot on the heels of the week’s athletic achievements, the two jump in to your quick, and longer form questions. In the to-be-renamed quick-question section, you’ll find out if it’s better to support a small business by purchasing directly or through a reseller, like Amazon, how Jesse and Lauren run in snowy/icy conditions in the winter, what treadmill do they recommend (on the cheap), and how the two have handled their kids using curse words.  As for the meat and potatoes? Your questio

Jesse’s been alone for a week solo parenting, and Zadie’s transition from infant to toddler is in full swing, but he’s kept the Flomas house in check and even found down time to sneak in some long runs. Meanwhile, Lauren had a very work-play-love week of travel. First out to Austin for The Running Event for Picky Bars, then to Columbus, Ohio for the USATF annual meeting, and then back home to search for a Christmas tree with the fam. In what’s going on? Jesse talks about the struggle to find balance between work and play as he comes out of his training hiatus in the coming months, and Lauren remembers holiday traditions from her childhood. In today’s Rapid Fire (pew pew pew pew pew!), you’ll learn about Jesse’s and Lauren’s pre-race warm-ups, get some gift ideas for healthy, active, expecting parents-to-be, how to manage all your running gadgets, what’s a good stationary bike, and how to manage all of the images on your phone. Other listeners had questions about: What to do in the off-season How to deal with

Sometimes going on a family vacation means finding…adventurous ways to strike the work-play-love balance. Whether you’re karate-chopping your way through jungle-like conditions on trail during a run date, celebrating an exciting Black Friday for your business, or navigating your infant’s new-found love of the word “no,” there’s rarely a dull moment. The Flomas family is back from Maui, and Lauren and Jesse are ready to kick off the holiday season with some of your questions. In rapid fire you’ll find out if you can microwave Picky Oats, the ideal sports bra for nursing mothers, and what to do with old sponsor gear. Other listeners wrote in about:      As a coach, how to help an athlete celebrate successes when they don’t stop to do so themselves. Achieving work/play/love balance in the information age Moving on from a long-term coaching relationship or training situation Applying for a coaching job as a young, female athlete Lauren points out the importance of practicing feeling satisfied with your athletic

Lauren and Jesse are fresh back from a work-meeting slash family-vacay slash race-day trip to Seattle where Lauren smashed out a 6k XC run. Truly work, play, and love at its finest. Tune in to hear what it was like for Lauren to pin on a number and race again (pain, cramps, and all), and hear about Jesse’s experience on the sidelines with Zadie and Jude. Then Jesse and Lauren dive in to a bunch of NEW news. Exciting new distribution opportunity for Picky Bars? Maybe so. New Picky product on the horizon? Yep. And an all-new segment on the WPL pod? You can say that again—three times fast: it’s rapid fire! Well, more like…medium fire? Jesse and Lauren try their best to quickly answer your quick questions before turning to your regularly scheduled listener quandaries. This week, the WPL couple tackle the following topics: What advice do you have for someone who runs marathons or half marathons and wants to transition to triathlon? (DON’T, says Lauren, jokingly). How do you bring back the passion after you find y

They’re back and better than ever (at least Jesse thinks so). After a two-week hiatus for Kona and photoshoots, Lauren and Jesse dive into a solid mix of listener-submitted questions. The episode kicks off with Jesse describing how much he missed racing at Kona this year (pinky nail). He also shares some of his thoughts about watching the race. Lauren describes her time at home with the kids and the latest coaching progressions. This weeks questions are: What have you seen from athletes, sponsors, or the industry to help diversify triathlon? How did you decide it was time to give athletics a back seat in favor of starting a family? How do you manage to balance who you were as an athlete, with who you are now as an "adult" type person? Where do your business/project ideas come from and how do you know which ones to pursue? As always, please submit follow up questions at http://pickybars.com/workplaylove. Thanks for listening!

It’s a big week in the Flomas household with Zadie’s first birthday and Ironman Championships in Kona, and the anniversary of both of those slightly large life events occuring days apart from each other last year. This go-round will be decidedly more chill, with Lauren not in the labor wing and Jesse not laboring through 140.6 miles of brutal triathloning (the debate over who was in more pain is off the table, don’t even go there). Jesse will still be traveling to the Big Island to rep Picky Bars and take in the race from the other side of the barricades - maybe he’ll shave some time off his post-race Beer Mile with fresh legs? - but not before some of Lauren’s nearly-famous birthday cake and answering some new listener questions. [Submit yours: pickybars.com/podcastQs] Topics this episode include: Innovation vs stasis Breakthrough performances Multi-year projects (athletics and other) Staying sane/motivated in the off-season A teacher looks for advice on keeping her enthusiasm high when the materi

With birthdays, anniversaries, and Jude finally realizing the joy of riding a bike (after many false starts) there’s a lot to celebrate in the Flomas house, and that’s just the family side of the work, play, love trifecta! Picky Bars is back to running full steam and the first Wilder outside of Central Oregon is this weekend, but the busyness of business didn’t keep them from their weekly date at the mics to answer some of your questions. [Submit yours: https://pickybars.com/blogs/the-scoop/work-play-love-podcast]   Topics this episode include: Eating disorders in endurance sports Why you decided to be an endurance athlete Family planning as athletes Balancing innovation and stasis in business With past disordered eating struggles, the motive (and continuing driver) for getting into athletics competitively, deciding when it was time to make a baby, and then a premature ending when question four gets shelved “so the sitter won’t quit,” this one’s personal. There’s some possibly triggering conversatio

Lauren and Jesse mic up for another discussion on sports, business, and relationships, with a mix of their own going-ons and listener submitted questions. With the first week of kindergarten under their belts, the topic of community and making friends as adults comes up, as well as Lauren’s upcoming Wilder retreat and Jesse’s race plans for the rest of the year. That’s come with a welcomed shift onto the trails, and while it took coaching, instigating, and pacing from three of his pro buddies, he finally took the top spot in the Marketing team on the coveted Lower Whoops Strava segment in town. As the turf war between he and a begrudgingly dethroned Sarah unfolds, the first listener question from this week’s batch rings especially true... The comparison trap Dealing with disappointing workouts Childcare Sponsorship as a “mid-packer” Whether it’s against yourself, the person next to you on the start line, or the Strava leaderboard, the comparison trap can turn motivation into unhelpful and unhealthy

It all goes so fast and before you know it, the kids are grown, the training’s done, and you’re staring down the moment you thought you’d been waiting for, wishing you could have back the bumps and bruises you cursed along the way. Whether that’s hiding in the janitor’s closet during the first day of kindergarten drop-off (ahem, Lauren) or showing up on race day feeling sub-par, this episode is all about embracing and making the most of any situation. Listener-submitted question topics include: Underperforming on race day Trying to do it all When it’s time to leave a job Being a boss but also a “fun guy” Chafing + chamois cream Is it overtraining, underperforming, or a mixture of both? Showing up to the big day with a book of burned matches is no good, and Lauren and Jesse give their tips to make sure you show up fresh and ready to rock, whether you’re a first timer or veteran. That same balance theme carries over to an extra busy listener running short on hours in the day, one holding on to some

Ah, the classic end-of-summer tale where a search crew gets sent out to fetch a boy playing outside past dark with his friends… No, Jude’s not grounded, but Jesse’s surf-wave privileges might be revoked for a bit. After a week of solo parenting while Lauren was on the east coast, perhaps we’ll call it work/play/love balance lesson, reminding everyone that when one well overflows another dries up, and eventually you’ve gotta even ‘em out with some river water...   A new batch of listener questions pulls everything back inline, sparking discussions on: Preparing for your first Ironman/140.6 Dealing with setbacks, in business and athletics Running safety Dream “celebrity shot” stand-in guest hosts Jesse relives his (albeit outlier) experience gearing up for his first crack at the 140.6 distance while Lauren’s birds-eye-view perspective gives some insight to those either currently in or considering tackling the distance. They talk about how setbacks in athletics conditioned the resiliency, determination

Enough about spreadsheets and triathlon and marriage and stuff - today’s podcast guest wants to get real on SCIENCE. This special edition episode covers technical topics like how the human body works, explained in a way even a five year old could understand… Because it’s Lauren and Jesse’s five year old son, Jude, explaining them! Jesse sits down with his eldest child (Zadie makes her presence known near act III) while Lauren was out of town to record this adorable bonus content about Jude’s favorite subject, and it does not disappoint. Full of feel-good chuckles, “don’t eat/touch/do that!” ’s, and some big picture enlightenment when the roles are reversed and Jude gets to ask his dad the questions. Don’t feel bad if you wind up learning something new - adults could take a few more lessons from children these days. Enjoy!

This episode is worth listening to if only to hear what Jesse thought the term “wet blanket” meant. After that enlightening moment he and Lauren dive into a new twist on the What’s Going On section, talking about the highs of a buzzing creative process, battling portion control with screen time and social media, and riding the sweet, sweet, chaka-all-day wave of the recent Picky Bars relaunch.   Listener-submitted questions then spark the following topics: Saying “no” during training season Coping with social training anxiety Supporting an S.O. through athletic disappointments When to hold on or let go of a startup dream When it comes to the social implications of training in sports, Lauren and Jesse have lots of varied experience and opinions. While being self-motivated and disciplined to work out solo is key for success, they agree that having training partners can be fun and empowering… but can also push you when you shouldn’t be pushed. Maintaining a balance there as well as in the work, play, l

Bars are back! Picky Bars has bars again, and all is right (or at least getting back to right) on the business side of the work, play, love triad. Like Rocky hiding out in the woods before his big fight, Lauren, Jesse, and the kids retreated to the lake for their annual family vacation. With Jesse not being in peak triathlon training mode for the first time for the trip (no Sly Stalone training montage, sorry) there was a definite reconnect with the playful side of sport, including a display of “stupid human tricks” as Lauren calls them. This leads conveniently to another batch of great listener questions: Toeing ‘acute injury risk’ with activities outside of your sport Dealing with short-term sickness during training The last name debate Encouraging (without pushing) kids’ participation in sport A lot of this episode’s sport conversations revolve around knowing when NOT to do things - When to settle in for a “full recharge” when you’re not feeling well, and when the risk of injury from an activity

Lauren and Jesse roadtrip over the Cascades to visit Picky Bars new co-packer, their first manufacturing change since 2012 and the official turnaround to the recent out-of-stock battles. With the updates and changes have naturally come some challenges, and they discuss the delicate balance of small business life and ownership, which as a married couple in the car alone for multiple hours… was exactly as lively a conversation as you’d imagine. “Big ships are harder to turn” as Jesse puts it, but things are back on track (!) and they dive right into some listener questions: Rebounding from a DNF S.O.’s disappointment with your lack of energy/time for extracurriculars during marathon training Sexual harassment in coaching Marketing/promoting yourself as an athlete Flat Bruce secret This episode’s topics elicit a range of emotions and some heated conversations. From Jesse reliving the DNF that springboarded a rebound win at Wildflower (his first!) they warn of the hazards of bullying through disappoi

Jesse’s feeling the burn of re-entry after Challenge Roth, having stacked his off-season plate a bit too full with all the non-triathlon things he said he’d give his full attention to after the race. It’s a classic “whoops” move, but like a good work/play/love advocate he and Lauren are making sure there’s still plenty of balance amongst the chaos. This includes some new, very literal balancing activities, and we’re sure the folks at the yoga studio and surf wave are now referring to JT as “the guy with the heart rate monitor.”   This week’s listener questions include some unique topics: Periodization in training Stuff they wish they’d done before having kids Chasing goals you can’t afford to catch Raising equally confident and feminist kids Avoiding injury and burnout are two major limiters in one’s long-term training success, and Lauren and Jesse share some of their tips for cycling workloads and carefully planning around key events to keep things fresh, fun, and healthy. They shift from athlete t

This week’s episode dives immediately into the almost-TMI honest, rough water deep end about Picky Bars’ current inventory struggles. Lauren and Jesse talk candidly about the background of Picky’s production and growth cycle, and how a perfect storm of supplier, manufacturer, and brand change decisions conspired into a massive out-of-stock issue. As the company owners and without outside investment, making the call to either “ship and duck” or address the quality issues came with big implications on both personal finances and the integrity of the brand. But just like a bad race, it’s best to be honest about the real-life struggles of entrepreneurship, rather than pretending they didn’t happen, so they lay all the cards on the table, including some news about exciting updates just on the horizon.   Another batch of superb listener questions pivot the conversation to a variety of topics including: Learning to push through pain in racing “Sharenting” Defining and pursuing your own definition of success C

And they’re back! (Stateside AND in the studio…) Lauren and Jesse battle jet lag from their trip to Germany with a special episode about the “Hallmark” of the “Cool Races in Cool Places” tour - Challenge Roth! After spending a significant amount of time apart from Lauren, the kids, and Picky Bars to tune-up (Heilbronn 70.3) and dial it in for an A-race effort at Roth, the fam reunited just in time for things to get crazy. Hear about how they managed another family race-vacation - Lauren travelling internationally with the kids, Jesse trying to stay connected halfway across the world, and turning it on for what might be a last crack at competing at this highest level. Spoiler: LF gets a gold medal for pulling off that mile 17 fuel hand-up despite every possible thing trying to sabotage it.   After a full recap of the race and the family circus vacation surrounding it, they answer a few listener questions. Topics include: Nutrition and fueling (Kona vs Roth), doubling as support crew and parent (LF), a Heather

This week the work, sport, family balance in the Flomas house was less of a flashy juggling act and more of a clumsy dropping things and throwing them at the wall. From birthday parties to high school reunions, peak triathlon training and sleep training, Lauren and Jesse keep it real on managing it all (or not), diffusing fights with snacks (works for kids and adults alike!), and this week’s listener questions: Dealing with pre-race anxiety Managing the athlete/coach relationship Maintaining healthy body image after competitive racing/training Approaching a “happiness differential” in a relationship Jesse tries to compare himself to Radiohead, then gets a little more realistic with Matchbox 20, in talking about nerves before a big event. Lauren’s reflections on how she managed her nervousness with running and now performing music prove a little more insightful, especially when Jesse adds his suggestion for sandbagging as a pressure reliever. (Hey, whatever works?) The conversation continues with ple