I became an RRCA Certified running coach and started RUNNING STRONG because I want to support everyday runners like you — beginners, returning athletes, and goal-setters alike.  I want to help you avoid the pain, frustration, and wasted effort that I expended early in my journey. And I am confident that with personalized training programs and consistent encouragement, RUNNING STRONG can help you to go farther, feel stronger, and achieve more than you believe is possible.

My running journey truly began later in my life. I had participated in some 5K and 10K events in my 30s, but I didn’t train beforehand and always walked more than I ran during the race. The year I turned 40 I felt called to endure a running challenge and signed up for a 12-mile race as an act of faith, but I knew that I was going to need to train and learn to run.

When I started, I couldn’t run for 5 minutes, much less a whole mile. I tried using various online programs to guide my training and found pain and frustration waiting for me. Those programs didn’t fit my needs and I didn’t know how to make adjustments. I struggled to find balance in my training so that I could gradually increase my ability without overtraining. I encountered a lot of challenges along the way. And, I had so many questions.

But I wasn’t willing to give up.  As the journey continued, I discovered strength I didn’t know I had, and the confidence I gained in running also built up my confidence in all other aspects of life. That is where “Sweat today. Sore tomorrow. Strong for life.” came into being.  It became my motto and my “why”. I found that I was capable of so much more than I knew. It didn’t matter how fast or how far I was running. All that mattered was that I continued doing what I could do on that particular day, and eventually I could do a whole lot more.

After more than a year of trial and error, I finally found my stride and completed my first half-marathon in 2018. My running journey began as an act of faith and has become an unexpected precious gift.

Each run is the start of a new day. Witnessing the beauty and wonder of God’s awesome creation each morning, I’m reminded that each day can hold something unexpected and beautiful. And as I experience the sun coming up during my morning run, I sometimes feel God has given me a personal gift as a reward for getting up and getting it done!  Over time, I’ve started taking sunrise photos on my morning runs, and I’m always amazed at how each one is different — full of color and hope for the day ahead.

That feeling of hope and renewal is exactly what I aim to bring into my coaching. I want you to feel that same sense of possibility in your own training. My goal is to help you start where you are and gain confidence, avoid burnout or injury, and joyfully celebrate every step of progress along the way to reaching your goals!