How Did I Get Here?

I never set out to be a coach.

In fact, I was a chubby young woman who hated to run.

What did I know about running? I was a mere running mortal, fresh off of earning a degree in Exercise Science and working in a corporate fitness center.

Coaching found me. 

Employees started asking me to help them train to run for weight loss, to reduce stress and to reach finish lines.

So I scoured the running world to learn more about how to train mortal runners – you know, folks that are trying to balance work, life kids, friends, significant others, pets, shopping, sleeping, eating and oh yea, running.

But all I could find were traditional running formula’s (running 6-7 days per week – lots of miles – really fast).

I learned mortals didn’t want to run every day like the traditionalists. They wanted to do karate, yoga, cycling, skiing, skating, strength training, volleyball, basketball, and aerobics.

So I sat down with them one at a time and created personalized training programs that evolved around their busy lives, their active interests and most importantly, their unique fitness level.

And you know what? I kind of liked it. I actually loved it. Because it was like figuring out a mystery.

We learned together and I had the pure and utter joy of seeing cool people reach incredible goals they never imagined they could (a.k.a. High Five Moments).

And soon, a handful of people turned into my first training company. And that turned into co-founding Chicago’s largest multi-sport company (Chicago Endurance Sports).

So I branched out and started answering running questions via email for over 30,000 participants at the Indy Mini Marathon, which led to writing a blog on RunnersWorld.com, a column in Women’s Running Magazine and authoring two books.

And every question fueled an expedition to find an answer.

Question by question, I learned what confused you, what inspired you, what hurt you and most importantly, how to guide you.

So I kept answering your questions, and together, we paved the way to a new paradigm of running. A world that included realistic workouts, easy to understand words and training regimens that were fun, effective and didn’t require you to abandon your family.

And along the way, I found my coaching voice, my writing voice and my passion in life–my sweet spot.

Thank you for that.