35. Vanessa Fraser

This episode is an interview with professional runner for Saucony, Vanessa Fraser. Vanessa grew up in Northern California where she discovered and fell in love with running through Girls on the Run. She went on to run at Stanford University where she became a 10x All-American and the PAC-12 champion in the 10k. While at Stanford, she received her bachelor's degree in symbolic systems and her master’s degree management science and engineering. After college, she went on to run professionally, signing a contract with Nike and joining Bowerman Track Club right out of college. Vanessa has competed in multiple US championships in the 5k and 10k, and has a 5k time of 14:48. In addition to running professionally, she also works full time as a partnerships manager at a health care tech company.In this episode, we talk about:How she found the sport of running through Girls on the Run and what her progression looked likeHow an assignment to track calories from a middle school health teacher led to hospitalization, and what she learned from the experienceWhat it was like going through periods of weight restoration and why she’s thankful her coaches, parents and doctors put her health firstHow she ended up running for Stanford, her dream school, despite not earning a scholarship right awayHer transition to becoming a pro runner and advice for being patient during periods of lack of progress and injuriesHow increasing her carb intake has been instrumental to her success, and why fueling on long runs has been a big part of thatWhy working in addition to being a pro runner has helped her mindset around the sport and finding life balanceYou can keep up with Vanessa on Instagram or TikTok @nessafraser.