Ep #308: Different Bodies Doing Amazing Things with Kelly Roberts

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’ve never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, your fat running coach. I help fat women over 40 to start running, feel confident, and change their lives. I have worked with thousands of women to help them achieve their running goals and now I want to help you.

Jill: Hey runners. So if you are on Instagram at all you have probably seen Kelly Roberts hilarious but always on point posts about running. If you haven’t, let me introduce you to an incredible human being. So Kelly is the head coach and creator of the Badass Lady Gang, you must have heard of that. And her philosophy measures success by confidence gained, not pounds lost. And I could not love this more.

She has coached thousands of women, from brand-new runners to those chasing Boston Marathon qualifying times. She has appeared on the cover of Women’s Running magazine. And if you’ve ever heard of the Sports Bra Squad, well Kelly is the person behind the whole fucking movement. She is an all around amazing person and I am so excited to share our conversation today.

So, Kelly, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here.

Kelly: Yeah! That’s what I have. That’s what I have for you.

Jill: That’s so much.

Kelly: It is never not weird having someone give you your bio. Have you done the iterations of your bio yet?

Jill: Oh yes. Yeah, it is. And it evolves over time.

Kelly: I’ve been at this for almost nine years now. I went viral in 2014? So this has been my job for like eight or nine years, and the amount of times I’ve had to write and rewrite and rewrite that bio, so I finally hired someone. That was written by someone and it’s so great. And I’m like, it’s the worst. My ick is having to write my bio.

Jill: But, I mean, whoever did it did a beautiful job. It’s all true, obviously, but also is it fun to hear it back? You’re just like, “Oh yeah, that’s me.”

Kelly: Of course. I’m like, “Oh, you go girl. Slay!”

Jill: I love it. I love that. So let’s talk about you and running because I think I must have started following you shortly after you went viral because I remember thinking like, “Sports Bra Squad, yeah I’m in. I’m in for that.” Right? You know, kind of like pushing the boundaries a little. But you have been a runner for a long time.

Kelly: 10 years now.

Jill: Yeah.

Kelly: More than 10 years, this will be 11 years this year.

Jill: I love this.

Kelly: It’s been a while. It’s been a minute, which is wild to me because in a way that part of me that feels like I’m a brand new runner is still there. But it’s also so gratifying to feel the mastery that I now feel and the breadth of knowledge that I know have is so affirming and it makes me feel so grounded to not really feel like I’m just like drowning a little bit.

I’m sure anyone who is newer to the sport, or I mean, honestly anytime I come back from an injury I feel a little bit like this, like you can relate to that feeling of like you’re at the bottom of the mountain and you’re looking up and thinking like, “I just don’t know if I want to climb. Is it going to be worth it knowing how hard it’s going to be?” And it always is, but it still is really challenging in the moment. And sometimes the challenge isn’t fun.

So it feels amazing now knowing, I’ve also been in therapy for about this long, a little bit longer, but on your worst days your tidal waves are pretty small and even when you’re really, really, really, in an anxiety moment it’s so freeing to be able to reach for a tool and be like, “I’m really struggling but you know what? I actually know what to do.”

Jill: Yeah. So tell me why you started running in the first place.

Kelly: Yeah. So it’s unfortunate, and trigger warning for anyone who struggles with eating or eating disorders, but I had really, really, really been working out only because I was trying to get into a body that really wasn’t healthy for me. I was trying to get into a size that is not healthy for me. I was trying to be as skinny as humanly possible. I was in my early 20s and my whole life I had been just in a body type that wasn’t a skinny body type, which is a body type, not like a beauty ideal. Well, it is a beauty ideal, but not a health ideal, you know?

And as a child, I was born in the 80s and as a child growing up in the 90s where we had rail skinny women to aspire to in terms of beauty, I really struggled with body image. So, I went to college and after my first year of college my younger brother passed away suddenly and I just kind of turned inwards, gained weight, did not feel good. And so people in my life, which now makes me cringe and ragey a little bit. People were telling me they were worried about me because I was gaining weight.

I had a doctor tell me like, if you keep on this path, you’re going to get type two diabetes, all this shit that like, yes, there’s some basis in that. But for the most part, no one was looking out for my mental health. They were just saying lose weight, period, full stop. So I got into a program, like one of those things where you eat fake food and starve yourself and go to the gym twice a day. And of course, I lost a ton of weight very quickly because I could just kill myself at the gym and I had something to obsess over, I had a task.

And that coupled with school, I was getting my undergrad in theater, which was lifesaving and this strong community where I was freely allowed to just cry all day long. Like I’m in classes where I could literally just grab monologues or scene work about death, so I was able to articulate what I was going through and find ways to articulate it in a safe place. But before and after that, I just worked out.

I would go to the gym for like 90 minutes a day. And I lost a ton of weight. And, of course, everyone in my life was like, “You look amazing. You look so great.” Just like completely like lauding me, killing myself and being so unwell and unhealthy. And when I graduated, I lost all of it. I lost the gym that I was going to and I lost that community and safety net, that space where I could hide from my grief and I could grieve in other people’s text, if that makes sense. And I fell apart.

I genuinely couldn’t get it together. I was just way too terrified to really grieve, to face my grief. So I started going to the gym locally where I lived. I got a job as a receptionist. I moved home with my parents, didn’t really know what to do, totally panicked. I was like, “What do I do?” It’s like going into Hogwarts, like what am I supposed to do with my life? No one’s like, great, would you like to try out for this movie? That’s not how it works, which I thought it was.

I don’t know what I thought. It wasn’t until I graduated that I was like, “Oh shit, what do I do?” I never once was like, I’m not going to be successful at this until I graduated. And then I just panicked and didn’t even try. Still didn’t try. So I start going to the gym before and after work. And I was totally motivated by weight loss. And any extrinsically motivated goal like weight loss, that’s not sustaining.

So my motivation started to wane and I stopped wanting to get on a bike for 90 minutes and do that kind of stuff. And I panicked and I was like, “What am I going to do? I’m going to gain weight.” And I think I was in a bit of a manic episode. I hadn’t slept in like three or four days, like my grief really was eating me alive. It was like pounding the door down, I couldn’t avoid it anymore. And I lived in my old brother’s room when I moved into my parents house, so it was just like everywhere. Like omnipresent, like deal with me, deal with me, I’m here.

And it was Thanksgiving, which is a very hard holiday for anyone. Holidays are just hard if you’ve lost someone, and Thanksgiving especially where now we have social media where everyone’s like, I’m so thankful I get to be with my family. I love my family, which is amazing and everyone should get that. But inside I’m like, fuck you, you have no idea. You don’t even know.

So I was like I need to move, I need to workout and I used to go to the gym when I was feeling like that. But the gym was closed because it was a holiday. So I was like, I have to run. It’s my only option and I don’t know what I’m going to do if I stay here. And that was a really scary thought, so I put on my 14 sports bras and the shoes that I’d had forever and I took off.

And in the back of my mind I’m like, “Bitch, you work out more than anyone, running will work now for you. You got this.” And I could not make it down my block. And I was like, this is trash. Running is trash. I’m not the problem, running is the problem. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to do this, I’m so fit, you know? And for the first time normally that’s when I would turn around and be like, fuck this. But I was like, I just need to move.

So I walked and then I ran a little and I walked a little and I ran a little. And then when I got home I could fall asleep, I had exhausted myself And I was like, “Oh, I like that. I like that I can go to bed.” And so I was like, great, I’ll do this running thing. This is what I’ll do, this will become my new personality.

And it did, I ran a half really quickly. And then I ran a marathon really quickly. And after that, I was like, if I could run a marathon, what can’t I do? So it gave me the courage to move to New York, and pretty quickly after I did that I went viral and immediately running became my job. So then I became on this new path of like, influencer, community builder, circus clown, all the things.

Jill: And that theater degree came in real handy, didn’t it?

Kelly: I use it every single day.

Jill: I feel like it does because you have such an amazing presence on camera. I’m like, this girl has had some sort of training to really show up so authentically. So, first of all, I just love that your theater degree ended up being an amazing benefit.

Kelly: Best decision I ever made.

Jill: Right? Yeah, I love that. But also, I think that so many of us have the same story that we started running, we start exercising because we think it’s going to make us thin. And we think that if we’re thin, then we’ll feel worthy and happy and all the things. And then sometimes you do lose weight, but very often it comes right back on as soon as you stop doing the compulsive whatever it is.

And also, I think when you were hearing people saying things like, “Oh, you look so good.” And I think that’s like the worst thing you can say to somebody who’s trying to lose weight.

Kelly: Oh yeah.

Jill: It’s like a triple edged sword, I guess. Because it’s like, first of all, oh, did I look bad before? And, oh, the only way I can look good is to be thin. And it just reinforces all of that fat phobia that we’re all raised with. And so I’m glad that you found an outlet, like a way to kind of exercise that’s not tied to the weight because I think when you can uncouple that –

And can you talk a little bit about how you were able to, and maybe you’re still because I know on a daily basis, like 30, 40 years I’ve been doing this work and I still have the little thoughts. But I’m curious how you untangled exercise from your body, from the appearance of your body.

Kelly: It’s a lifelong battle. That’s never not going to be tied at the hip to one another. As long as fat phobia is a thing in our culture and as long as diet culture is as omnipresent in the fitness industry and physical exercise and beauty ideals, like all the things, right? We’re never going to get away from it, which is why this idea of body image resilience really is so important. How do you learn that? Unless you’re in therapy or unless you’re following all the right people, that’s not something you can read about and be like, “Haha, I’ve done it.” It’s just like running a marathon. It is a months and months and months and months long practice. And if you’re not actively practicing, you can’t do the thing.

Now, the difference between that and marathoning is once it becomes a tool in your tool belt, it’s a tool you can always rely on. You don’t need to do it daily and constantly work on it. But there’s so much individual work that needs to be done. And, for me, it took a really long time to get here.

Running was the thing that made me really, really sick for a while. And I didn’t have anyone in my life being like, “Hey, I’m worried about you,” or “Hey, are you okay?” I didn’t have any coaches encouraging me to pull back or stop or to say like, this isn’t healthy. The way you’re running isn’t healthy. It was more like, “Yes, you’ve got this. I’m so proud of you,” which sucks. It really sucks that no one was there to be like, “Yo, you need help. I can see you’re struggling, and you can put on a brave face.”

And I’m a really good actor, I feel like a lot of people probably didn’t know. And I don’t think anyone except my therapist knows how bad it was, but the pandemic happened at such a great time for me, as horrible as it was. So I was trying to BQ for a really long time, like three years. And that threw me like I was bulimic for like a decade and it made my bulimia so bad. And then I was restricting what I ate. I was just fixated on my body because so much of my brand was body image.

I had to talk about my body nonstop, that’s what I did. I obviously didn’t have to, but that’s what we were doing. That’s what the Sports Bra Squad was. And I had to learn that we can’t talk about our bodies. You can do it here and there, but the more you talk about your bodies, the more you make it about your bodies. There’s this really great quote, “Weight won’t stop being a problem until we stop making it a problem,” right?

Jill: Yes.

Kelly: And part of that is like we’ve got to stop talking about it. We just need to be in our bodies. The more we’re like, “This body is powerful,” you’re just drawing attention to yourself. And you are giving yourself room to fixate and ideate and look. And granted, I’m an influencer, I have to post photos of myself. And because I’m in a sports bra all the time because a lot of our training happens in the summer, I’m looking at myself in motion.

And there’s good days and bad days, but since taking that year off where I didn’t have to be online really, because nothing was happening. I could be online here or there, I could really focus on therapy. Everything’s different. Everything I do post-2019 is so different. You never see me talking about my body anymore.

I’ll talk about body image resilience and what strength feels like. And I’ll talk about the dangers of positive body image and body positivity. Like that’s a band aid. It’s fabulous and we do need body representation and we need to talk about that, but we don’t need to constantly apologize for being here. Even though those are the posts that do the best, which sucks. They do the best because we want to see it.

Jill: Yeah. Well what do you mean by apologizing for being here? I’d love to hear more about that.

Kelly: It’s simple, you don’t need to apologize for your shape, which is true, right? And like we need it, but that’s all it is, right? It’s just like post after post after post after post instead of just like, that’s your body. Why do we need to constantly – You don’t see skinny people running around being like, “You don’t need to apologize for being skinny.” Sometimes you’ll see those people, but granted that’s the norm, like they are the beauty ideal.

But we have a long way to go and I think this is on an individual basis. There are really smart ways to do it, but it’s just like therapy. Therapy is not sexy, therapy doesn’t sell. But there’s a reason certain forms of those posts do so well. It’s because it’s the easier way. And I think in sprinkles, yes. You know, like, this is what strength looks like. That’s something that we say all the time. I’m good with that because everyone can say it.

But talking specifically about my size and my body in a way that calls attention to it, I’m not doing that anymore.

Jill: Yeah, I got it. I got it. Well, and I think everybody has their own way of processing internalized anti-fat bias. Whether or not you’ve had people laying that on you externally, we all have some level of internalized fat phobia and I think everybody has a different way of processing it. I feel like some people, for sure, when they hear or when they see a quote like you don’t have to apologize for the size of your body, it gives them little new thoughts to think about. And maybe if they see enough of that, they’ll start to change.

And then other people are like, “Yeah, can you just stop fucking talking about my body? I’m just trying to forget all of that. I just want to be in my body. And I just want to do things in my body and not label it.” So yeah.

Kelly: I think the more we see people doing, the more we see women like you, the more we see all of the women out there like me who look different, who are in bigger bodies doing, it does just that, right? It just does it. When you see people doing the thing you’re like, “Fuck, that person looks exactly like me and they’re doing that impossible thing that I was told, probably by your doctor, that I would never be able to do.” Right?

Jill: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it is powerful. And I think the more we show up, then the more other women do the same, right? I think because I feel like even in the past year on Instagram I have seen so many more women in larger bodies and fat bodies just doing really amazing things.

I just interviewed a woman for this podcast who is a plus size figure skater.

Kelly: I love it.

Jill: I’m just like, oh my god.

Kelly: That’s awesome.

Jill: And she’s kind of gone through just a similar journey and being a larger person in a sport that is very typically considered to be for smaller people, much like running. So I think it’s happening in every sport and it’s kind of fun to just sort of watch this movement and just see there’s a woman – You probably follow her, I think her name is Curvy Surfer Girl or something. And I’m just like, well, now maybe I could surf. Maybe that’s the thing I could do, just seeing somebody else do it. So yeah, I think it’s very, very important. Very important.

Kelly: We have to see people, and I think, one, Instagram has changed so much because it’s no longer a photo medium. As someone who came up in Instagram, making running content for Instagram was really fucking hard. It is hard to take good photos of yourself running. I was lucky because I’m in New York City and we’ve got amazing programs and I had some of the best sports photographers in our circles who were taking photos of us that I could share.

Jill: Yeah.

Kelly: But like the second TikTok came on the scene, 100,000 people entered the running space as influencers because immediately we all had equal playing ground like we all have a smartphone. We all have a world class camera that also stabilizes.

I sometimes go back and watch my vlogs where I had a GoPro in a waterproof case that didn’t image stabilize and it’s like Blair Witch Project. And I’m like, I can’t believe anyone watched this. We’re so lucky to have the advancements that we have now. It’s remarkable. And because of that, we have so many dope creators and storytellers now who are really, really, really showing people what can be done. And what has been happening for a really long time, we just didn’t see them because for a while there were like 12 of us.

There were like 12 running influencers for like six years. It was so weird.

Jill: I know. And now it’s like it’s exploded, which I think it’s just reached a tipping point.

Kelly: It’s awesome.

Jill: Yeah, I think between the changes in Instagram and TikTok. And also, I used to be really concerned with very carefully curating and using only professional pictures. And that gets real expensive, real fast. And so now I’m like, listen, I’m sweaty, my hair is all over the place. And this is what you get because the message is way more important than whether everything is perfectly done.

And also, this is what it looks like when you’re running, right? Nobody looks glamorous when they’re running unless they’re on a professional photo shoot and they’re literally running for like 20 seconds.

Kelly: Speak for yourself.

Jill: Well, okay, yes.

Kelly: Speak for yourself.

Jill: For sure.

Kelly: I’m just kidding.

Jill: But, right?

Kelly: No, totally.

Jill: I think no pressure is off to just show up as you are in the moment and not have to curate. And I think that’s a huge move forward.

Okay, so I have questions about the Badass Lady Gang. I want to know all about it. Tell us what it is, how you created it, how it came to be, all the things.

Kelly: It was just a play on words, really. At the time I was running with this really ragtag group of ladies, and a couple of guys. It was like we had older women, I think we had someone who was like late 60s, early 70s. And then we had 20 year olds and 40 year olds, and we just had people across the spectrum. Skinny women, fat women, everyone was chasing these really big, audacious goals, and we would all go to the track together and run together.

And so I just kind of, like it just came to me one day and we start calling ourselves like Badass Lady Gang. We’re a badass, we’re a gang of women, you better watch out. And it kind of stuck so then we started a Facebook group and then it just evolved into this community. And so the Badass Lady Gang as it is now is much bigger than that. We’re kind of in two different or three different realms.

We have our in-person meetups and communities that are in 10 cities in the US and Canada. And they’re a very different type of run. You’re not going to go and run 5k, you’re not going to go and do your traditional running meet up. You’re not going to really do speed work, either. It’s more like PE. So it’s like, we always say you’re going to get a fun workout, but mostly you’re going to meet some new people.

Everyone wears name tags, we spend like 15, 20 minutes doing introductions. We probably spend just as much time doing introductions as we do the run itself. The runs are like 20, 30 minutes long. They’re not long but they’re very, very inclusive because everyone stays in the same spot. And then whatever activity or workout that we’re doing, you’re in the same spot.

So you’re never outside of yelling distance from each other. So no one knows who’s running fast or slow, everyone’s just giving their best. So it’s very centered around meeting new people and connecting. I was like, there are 100 million clubs and crews out there who are helping people train for marathons, train for half marathons, who are running far. There’s no one doing this, where it’s equally as approachable for a walker as it is for someone who wants to try to walk away with two miles at the end of it.

So this, to me, is more important. We have to temper expectations if someone comes and we can tell they look like they want to run and we’re like, “Hey, this is what you’re going to get today. So lean into that and if you need to get five miles today, you’re not going to do it. So if you can’t be here today, totally fine. We totally know that time is finite and we love you and want you to come, but we also know that you might be training for something. So if you’re training and need to get this done, feel free.” So that’s kind of what you’re going to get at a meet up. It’s a very different kind of thing.

We have our online community, which is free, and it lives in something called Mighty Networks, which is where you can connect with women all over the world. And it’s kind of like a very safe message board kind of a thing where there’s no anonymity. You know exactly who everyone is. You have to request to get in, everyone has a picture. It’s a safe place. And in the three years since we’ve moved to Mighty Networks, there hasn’t been a single reported post. It’s like a lovely place, like a truly lovely place with thousands and thousands of women in it.

And we also have our paid program. So you can do, we have running plans available for people and they’re designed for people like us. If you want to BQ, we have a plan for you. But where we shine is really with our 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 minute milers, you know 23, 24. We’re not going to over train you. Every single running plan out there for the most part, like all those cookie cutter plans, cough, cough, they’re not designed for you.

You should not be running over three hours for your marathon. You shouldn’t be running three hours for your half marathon to get ready. You can do sandwiched long runs. There are better ways to spend your time without going out for a 90 minute run in the middle of the week. So you can do running plants with us or you can join our team, which is available monthly or yearly. And you get five coaching calls a week and a ton of really beautiful resources and all sorts of really great stuff.

Jill: Nice. Oh my gosh. All right, well, that’s amazing. And I love the local chapters. It is so hard to find an in person running group, that if you run an 18 minute mile or a 20 minute mile that you’re going to feel accepted and you’re going to feel like part of the group, right? Because in most cases you’re going to be left behind.

There’s a running group right here, like in my neighborhood in Philadelphia that I’m dying to join. And I know that they call themselves the Fish Town Beer Runners. They start and end at a different bar every week. And I’m like, I really want to run with you people, but I’ve seen them and by the time I show up at the bar, everybody’s going to be like halfway through into their second round, you know? And I’m like, that’s not so fun.

So I’m so glad that you’re working on creating this network of local groups that serves this particular portion of the running world, because there’s a lot of us. There’s so many of us.

Kelly: Oh yeah.

Jill: I feel like there’s more –

Kelly: You’re the majority.

Jill: Right? There’s more slow runners than fast runners.

Kelly: 100%. There really are, so it doesn’t make sense.

Jill: Yeah.

Kelly: Like it really didn’t make sense to me why anyone in that 11 plus mile range needs to go into every single group setting with terror, just like extreme terror and getting ready to be left behind. It doesn’t make any sense. But that’s why they don’t show up because that’s the norm, you know? I just find it so enraging. I truly, like Arthur fists clenched, get so mad that the party pace is now like 9:30. And I’m like, well you fuckers. That’s not for you. Party pace is not that. Party pace is slow as fuck.

Jill: That’s the back of the pack. That is where the party pace is.

Kelly: Yeah. If there’s not a 12 plus, you don’t get to use the party pace.

Jill: Yeah. No, I agree. I agree. It’s exclusionary and it’s very similar to when you’re a fat woman and you go to the mall, right? And they’re like, oh, you know, especially the stores that say they offer plus sizes, but you go to the store and the plus sizes aren’t actually in the store. You have to order them online, right? It’s the same thing.

It’s like, oh yeah, all sizes are welcome, except for you guys. Just stand over there and we’ll get to you. So yeah, so thank you for doing that because it’s very, very needed.

So tell me about the dogs that you count when you run. Like how did that start? Because I’m equally obsessed with counting. First of all, I love counting dogs when I run, but the second thing is if I see a dog I know, I get even more excited. There’s this Pitbull in the neighborhood, her name is bubbles and she wears this little foofy caller.

Kelly: Bubbles.

Jill: She is just the most adorable ever. She’s just a big sweetie. And when I see Bubbles, I’m like I run faster for bubbles. This is what I will do.

Kelly: I will run for Bubbles.

Jill: I know, I’ll run faster to catch up with a dog that I know. But yeah, how did that start? Because that’s one of my favorite things, is watching you. I think you did one, you were doing a marathon training run and you had a clicker and you were literally clicking it and counting dogs, yeah.

Kelly: So it’s not my idea. It’s my best friend Scott and his wife, Megan, who’s also my best friend. They’ve been doing it forever. So they lived with me, we lived together when they moved to New York for years. And we lived together during the pandemic and we would just go on huge walks because they’re travel bloggers. So we were both kind of grounded for a year, which was lovely to not have to go anywhere.

So we’d go on huge walks and we would have to count dogs and name them, obviously. And we would always joke like, we need clickers. Like we need to get dog clickers because it’s hard. Like if you want a big walk on a Saturday, you’re going to see almost a thousand dogs. And then we’d fight like, “We’re on 548.” We’d get really heated about it if the dog count gets off.

Jill: Yeah, okay.

Kelly: We’re normally drinking too, so obviously, we take it a little too seriously. So Scott films all my videos, he’s on my payroll now. So he films and edits all my videos and we obviously count dogs. And there was, probably our second or third long run we got really mad at each other because the dog count was off. I thought it was this and he is always right. And he was right about the dog count, because then he’s like, “Well, let’s go to the fucking tape, Kelly. We’re literally filming this. I could literally show you what we just said.” And I’m like, “You’re right. My bad.”

And then I just bought a bunch of dog counters. So then we just started, he has one and I have one and Megan has one. It’s just a thing they introduced me to. And it just cracks me up that everybody counts dogs, like everyone’s already doing it.

So now with the dog counters. During the marathon, I ran the New York City marathon last year and I had three girls come up to me with their dog counters mid-race and be like, “Look, I’m counting dogs too.” And I’d be like, “What number are you on?”

Jill: Oh, I love that so much. I had no idea that that was a thing. But I guess it seems kind of normal, but it’s really funny. What is the most dogs you’ve ever seen on one run?

Kelly: I almost hit 1,000 during the New York City Marathon.

Jill: Oh my gosh.

Kelly: I was so close. So close. I think I probably did see 1,000 dogs, but it’s hard to see that many. But normally most long runs, like you’ll probably see two or three, 400 dogs. Granted, I live in New York City where if I go for a long run on a Saturday morning, there are dogs aplenty in the city.

Jill: Yeah.

Kelly: We don’t have yards to let your dog out of, you have to walk them.

Jill: You have to walk them. And I think that’s it, that’s the beautiful thing about living in the city, is the dog count is naturally higher. We used to live in New Jersey and I’d see like maybe three dogs. And now I’m just like, everybody has to walk their dog and it’s amazing.

Kelly: Do you ever find yourself, like when you’re walking like sometimes if you come to a red light you’ll go to pause your watch? For me for a long time that was just like a weird tic I had, because I was so used to running and if I hit a red light, I would pause the watch. And now I’ll find that if I’m walking around if I see a dog, my thumb will click and I’ll be like, oh my God, I’m counting dogs.

Jill: You’re just randomly counting dogs. Like you’re in an Uber counting the dogs. That’s awesome. That is so awesome. No, but I do find that, you know, like say I’m on the train and I have my headphones in or something and one of my running songs comes on, my feet start moving. And I’m just looking around like, “Oh God, I hope nobody saw that.”

Kelly: There’s Maroon Five songs, like there was a Maroon Five album that I trained for my first marathon to. It was him and Demi Lovato, and then if I hear those songs, I’ll start sweating. Like I get really anxious.

Jill: Oh my gosh. Anxious like you’re like, oh my gosh, I’m so excited for this race? Or like PTSD?

Kelly: I was so nervous. I was so nervous training for that marathon because I didn’t know what I was doing. I think I decided to do it in March and the race was in June.

Jill: Oh my gosh.

Kelly: So I really only had like two months to ramp. Granted, I was in half marathon shape.

Jill: Yeah, okay. Still.

Kelly: I was in a space where a half marathon is halfway to a marathon. And that’s not really how that works. So I did so much so soon without knowing how to do it. I didn’t have a coach, I didn’t really know how it worked. So I just kind of lived in terror for those two months. So those songs will make me anxious and be like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my god.

Jill: Oh, that’s awesome. I hope you’ve taken them out of your playlist. Although now, you have somebody filming you, you probably don’t even –

Kelly: Oh, no, I can’t.

Jill: Yeah, that’s so funny.

Kelly: I can not hear those songs when I run, that would be so triggering.

Jill: So you have done countless races, and probably most of them in the New York City area I would assume, or a fair amount of them.

Kelly: I think I’ve done races all over.

Jill: Okay. What is like the most, because I always feel like New York City is the best place to watch a race because you just get all kinds of people. So like what’s the craziest thing that you’ve ever seen at a race?

Kelly: I mean, truthfully, someone who wasn’t running the race just taking a poop on the side of the road.

Jill: Nice.

Kelly: For sure. That, people having sex, I’ve seen that. I’ve just seen wild –  It’s New York City, you just see wild shit. I’ve seen a raccoon. Coyote, a deer in Central Park.

Jill: Oh, that’s impressive.

Kelly: Wildlife.

Jill: I feel like there’s so much wildlife in Central Park.

Kelly: I saw a bald eagle in Prospect Park this winter, which was the highlight of my life.

Jill: Wow. Just flying around.

Kelly: An eagle, right there in the park.

Jill: I didn’t think they would even hang out in the big cities. I just assumed they’re like off on the prairie.

Kelly: It was amazing.

Jill: I don’t know where eagles are from.

Kelly: I was like hand to temple, like singing the National Anthem. Like I fully felt so excited. I called everyone I knew to FaceTime. I was FaceTiming my boyfriend at work.

Jill: Oh my God, that’s awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever seen – I’ve seen deer and stuff like that out running, but I’ve never seen a bald eagle. I’ve seen someone taking a shit on the sidewalk. That’s never fun.

Kelly: I saw it today.

Jill: But I’ve only seen it once. And I’ve never seen anybody having sex while I was out running. Actually, I’ve never seen anybody having sex in public ever.

Kelly: Really?

Jill: I have not. I have just not.

Kelly: You haven’t lived.

Jill: I know.

Kelly: You haven’t lived.

Jill: I feel like I need to spend more time out and about. That’s so funny.

Kelly: I need to get a clicker for that.

Jill: Yeah, there you go, right? You’re going to have a lot of clickers. You’re going to line them up on your arm or something. So good. Oh my gosh. Okay, well, let’s ask just a couple more questions for you, which is what is your favorite post run snack and or your favorite mid run snack?

Kelly: Oh, mid run is going to be gummy bears, always. I love gummy bears. Or if I can stop and get like a 711 slushie on a hot day, oh, that’s just paradise.

Jill: That is spectacular.

Kelly: And like the summer, it’s always going to be ice cream.

Jill: Yeah.

Kelly: I live for a post-run ice cream sundae. No, I can’t have a sundae post run. I don’t want hot stuff or anything, I just want to make out with a cone.

Jill: Soft serve or scoop?

Kelly: Both I’ll do either. Like a Mr. Softee truck or my favorite place is called Sundaes and Cones and they have this lavender ice cream that I would truly murder someone for it.

Jill: That sounds refreshing.

Kelly: It’s so good.

Jill: Okay, what about sports bras? What’s your favorite sports bra? Because you’ve tried them all, I think.

Kelly: The biggest tip I have with sports bras, right, there’s no such thing as the best sports bra. There’s the best sports bra for your body shape. Learning what your body shape is, is so, so, so important. And that’s the hardest part about doing these reviews, is I want to tell people I’ve got wide sloping shoulders, broad sloping shoulders. So a cross back doesn’t work on me, it just hits my traps and it’s really uncomfortable for me. But most people should probably be in a cross back, those are the ones that cross in the back and that are tight on your shoulders.

So if you’re looking at a cross back, I think one of the best ones is the Under Armour High Infinity. The foam that they have is just really, really good. Their sizing sucks though. I wish they just invested a little bit more to make it band size, et cetera, et cetera. Instead of like they do small, extra large, through that. And then for plus they do like one XL, two XL, three XL, which is like what size am I? I don’t know.

Jill: Yeah, and their three XL isn’t really – They reached out to me one time. They were like, “Hey, we’d love you to be an affiliate of ours.” And I’m like, “I can’t fit in any of your clothes. What am I going to rep, your hats? Are you kidding me?” So I gave them that feedback.

Kelly: Yeah, I just, I wish because it’s one of the best bras and I wish they would just step up in the way that we need them to.

Jill: Yes.

Kelly: You have the tech.

Jill: And we have money. I’m like, there are fat people everywhere with money. They want to spend it with you, they have lots of money.

Kelly: And they need the bra.

Jill: And they need the bra and like, yeah. And hey, maybe if they like it, they’ll buy more and they’ll tell their friends.

Kelly: Yes, agreed. Plus one. Plus one.

Jill: Total pet peeve.

Kelly: It’s bullshit. That one for cross back.

Jill: Okay, so but we like the Under Armour Infinity.

Kelly: Okay, yeah, for H back is the Lululemon Run Times bra. I really like that one. And I’ll give it to you, the Enell is pretty great. But I don’t like the way it makes me feel.

Jill: I love the Enell. Yeah. I do, I like that feeling of being bound.

Kelly: So do I, but I don’t like where it does it.

Jill: Oh, it hits you weird.

Kelly: It makes it hard to breathe, which I don’t like that you can’t use your upper ribs.

Jill: Yeah, that’s fair.

Kelly: But I’ve got huge, giant massive tits, just like you do.

Jill: Yeah.

Kelly: So at the end of the day, you’re going to take what you need and I would wear that bra in a heartbeat. So I think that one’s really great. But the Lululemon Run Times bra is my favorite for comfort.

Jill: Yeah, I have not tried that. I’ll give that a try. I’ll give it a try.

Kelly: Yeah.

Jill: I used to try the She Fit bras, but eventually it was too hard to get in and out of it. And then it didn’t really provide as much support as I thought I needed anyway. And I know they’re pretty size inclusive, but still I just found them to be, it was like a puzzle that I wasn’t really good at putting together.

Kelly: Yeah, for me, I only support brands that ethically align with me. So that’s what I’ll say.

Jill: There you go, there you go. Yeah, I don’t know much about them as a brand. I know what they did or did not do for my boobs, and it didn’t quite work out. But other folks I know have found success with them. So we like Under Armour cross back, and Lululemon, what was the name of the Lululemon one?

Kelly: Run Times.

Jill: Run Times. And Enell as a close third. I love this. Okay, this is good because I feel like you have tried them all. So regardless of whether they did or did not work for your body, you at least can get an assessment of the quality and you know how the company interacts with people too. Because I think, for me, that’s another big piece of where I want to spend my money is like how does the company treat me when something doesn’t fit? And what kind of representation do they have on their website and so forth.

Speaking of, what are your favorite tights to run in? Because I think there’s a lot of companies out there making inclusive tights.

Kelly: Lululemon.

Jill: Are they Lulus? Okay, interesting.

Kelly: I’ve tried them all. Like I had them all sent to me. But it’s not all Lululemons, it’s the ones that have that wetsuit feeling material. It’s not thick, but it’s like, I think it’s Fast and Free. I think those are my favorite. They’ve got like two pockets on the side. I like both shorts and tights that are forgiving, right? Like they stay in place but they’re not super constrictive just because all it takes is the one weird day where your GI is doing funky things for you to have extreme pressure on your gut. Because I like shorts that go up, honey. Like I want them to my titties. I like high-waisted.

Jill: Yeah, I know, I like when the bra stops the tights begin.

Kelly: Yeah, exactly.

Jill: That is the look that we’re going for.

Kelly: Or like two inches, we want it up. And I don’t like when that is exceptionally, like it almost feels like shapewear. And I’m like, I don’t need that. I need to make sure that I’m not just cramming in there. And I feel like those Lululemon fast and free ones are super, super loose. But then they have the drawstring in them to like tighten where it needs to tighten. But then it’s like, I like how thin but also I just like those.

Jill: Yeah, well that’s good to know. That’s good to know. So it’s like more of a slick fabric and less of a cottony feel.

Kelly: Yes, it does not feel like there are lines.

Jill: Because that’s definitely personal preference. Okay. I love it. I love it. We are getting the scoop. Well, actually, what are your favorite socks then, while we’re talking about it?

Kelly: Oh, socks I don’t care. Amazon is probably where I get most of my running socks. They’re so cheap. I do like a thicker running sock, like not so thick that your feet are sweating. But I’ll wear, like I really like Bombas as a company, so I do like to rock their socks. But I would say like Bombas. I have some Balega that literally are probably like eight years old. Like those things will never die.

Running socks I find really easily. They just need to have a tab on them. I’m not like a crew sock girly. I like the ankle socks, but they have a tab on the end.

Jill: Yeah, I got you. So like something to protect your heel a little bit. Yeah, I love it. I don’t know, my feet are very picky about socks.

Kelly: Oh, really?

Jill: They are. It’s so funny, the front of my foot is a little bit on the wide side. It’s not like a wide width, but it’s maybe normal width, I guess. But my heel is like a triple E. And so I like these super skinny, it’s like the only skinny thing about me are the heels of my feet.

Kelly: That’s such sexy heels.

Jill:  I know, they’re so sexy. And so if I don’t have the exact right fit with my socks, they just, it’s awful. It is awful.

Kelly: That makes sense.

Jill: Yeah, and like I’ll end up with the entire sock like balled up.

Kelly: Oh my God, that’s the worst.

Jill: Oh my God, it’s terrible. So yeah, so for me, but Bombas is one that I like. Bombas are the only ones I can wear that are actually like the no-show socks because in general no show socks, to me, means they will be down.

Kelly: Disappearing act.

Jill: They will literally be no-show.

Kelly: They’re going to Houdini you.

Jill: So yeah, so I’m with you on the Bombas and the Balega, they’re great socks too.

So anyway, oh my gosh, so we’ve had an excellent conversation. I’m looking over my list of questions to see if there’s anything that I missed. And you answered so many of my questions. I think that’s it. Is there anything else that we haven’t talked about that you want to chit chat about or?

Kelly: No, I’m just here to party.

Jill: I love it. That’s my whole approach to running, I’m just here to party.

So how can people find you? I’m assuming at least half of my listeners are already following you, but for the rest of them, how can they find you?

Kelly: I mean, if I haven’t found you something’s wrong. I’m not paying the right people. Let’s be real. But you can find me, I’ve got special socials. Special socials, I don’t know what that is. But I’ve got socials at Kelly KK Roberts or you can follow up Badass Lady Gang, which they’re separate. Like they’re two separate little things. Or you can go to badassladygang.com and find everything you need to find.

Jill: I love it. And you have individual Instagrams for each of your local chapters of the Badass Lady Gang.

Kelly: I don’t, so the way that I approach this with my chapters is I want you to build this community and when it’s time for you, both of you leaders to leave, if you decide you don’t want to be part of the Badass Lady Gang anymore, like this community is yours, you can take the Instagram, we’ll just change the name.

Jill: Interesting.

Kelly: So they run the Instagram accounts and it’s theirs. And then if they decide to retire but let someone else take over the chapter, the Instagram remains. But the way I always see it, I just want people congregating in meetings. So I don’t care if you don’t want to be in Badass Lady Gang anymore, I just care that people have a safe place to go to run. And that’s more important to me, or free meetups, you know?

Jill: Yeah, I love that. I love that. Okay, so badassladygang.com, everyone. Go check it out, make sure you are following her on Instagram. You have such a great combination of humor and relatable reality and amazing coaching tips and support. It’s sort of like the trifecta of excellent content on Instagram. People need to just be following you immediately. Check out Kelly at badassladygang.com. And I think that is it for today, thank you so much for joining me.

Kelly: It was so fun.

Real quick, before you go, if you enjoyed this episode, you have to check out Run Your Best Life. It’s my monthly coaching program where you will learn exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you have always wanted to be. Head on over to runyourbestlife.com to join. I would love to be a part of your journey.