August 14, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode, I sit down with the amazing Tara Welling — a former professional runner who raced for Nike and Skechers — to hear her powerful story of grit, growth, and finding joy again in the sport she loves.
Tara takes us back to her first miles in elementary school, through her rise to the professional circuit, and into the realities most people never see — the burnout, the pressure, and the struggles with body image that came with competing at the highest level. She shares how stepping away from the sport allowed her to rebuild a healthier relationship with running, one rooted in balance, joy, and self-respect.
We also talk about what it’s like to run during pregnancy, the transition into motherhood, and how she’s now pouring her experience into coaching. Through her work with RunDoyen, Tara helps runners of all abilities tap into personalized training, the right mindset, and the power of community support.
This conversation will remind you that running is not just about chasing times — it’s about chasing what lights you up inside. Whether you’re chasing a PR or simply trying to fall in love with running again, Tara’s story will leave you inspired to run your own race.
Tara Welling is a former professional runner for Nike and Skechers, a 2x National Champion in the Half Marathon and 15k, and a 4x U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier (2012 – 10k & 5k track, 2016 – 10k & 5k track, 2020 – marathon, 2024 – marathon).
Now a coach with RunDoyen and a mom of two, Tara combines her elite-level experience with a personalized, supportive approach to help runners of all levels reach their goals — whether that’s chasing a PR, building consistency, or finding joy in the process.
If you want to connect with her, you can find her at the links below!
tara.erdmann11@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/tara_welling/
00:21 Tara's Early Running Journey
02:41 Choosing Running Over Soccer
05:54 College Running Experience
07:11 Body Image and Nutrition in Running
12:20 Training and Motherhood
19:16 Professional Running Career
22:02 Burnout and Rediscovering Joy in Running
26:23 Training with Sketchers
28:57 Finding Joy in Running
29:44 Running During Pregnancy
33:23 Balancing Motherhood and Running
33:42 Olympic Trials Experience
40:34 Coaching Philosophy and Approach
43:41 Personalized Training Plans
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angie (00:00):
What's up runners?
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Real LifeRunners podcast.
Today I'm sitting down with TaraWelling, a former professional
runner for Nike and Sketchers,two time national champion, four
time qualifier for the USOlympic trials, and now a mom of
two and a coach who's passionateabout helping runners of all
levels thrive.
Tara's story is powerful.
She takes us back to her firstmiles in elementary school
(00:21):
through her rise to theprofessional circuit.
And into the side of the sportthat so many people don't see
that professional level and howshe experienced the pressure,
the burnout, and the struggleswith body image that can come
with competing at that highestlevel.
And though most of us are nevergoing to compete at that highest
level or experience any of that,we as real life runners can
(00:42):
really still connect with someof the struggles that Tara had.
So we talk about how steppingaway from the sport really
helped her to rebuild ahealthier relationship with
running one that is groundedmore in balance and joy and
self-respect, and how she'snavigated running through
different transitions in herlife, like pregnancy now into
(01:02):
motherhood, and now into herexperience as a a running coach
too.
So regardless of what pace yourun or what level you're
currently at, I want you tolisten to today's episode with
an open mind and really hear herstory of grit and growth and
finding the joy in runningagain.
So whether you're trying tochase a new PR or just trying to
(01:23):
fall back in love with runningTara's journey is going to
inspire you to run your own raceand love the miles along the
way.
So let's jump in.
Audio Only - All Participan (01:54):
All right.
Welcome to today's podcast.
I'm very excited to have TaraWelling here on the podcast with
me.
What's up, Tara?
How are you?
Good, good.
I'm doing great, thanks.
Awesome.
Just finished my run thismorning, actually.
Ooh, that's good.
I did not run today.
I went out on a walk thismorning.
let's start by just introducingyou to our audience.
for those of you that don't knowyou yet, can you just tell us a
(02:15):
little bit about who you are andmaybe how you got into running?
So my name's Tara Welling.
I was a former professionalrunner.
started with Nike, went toSketchers, and then just
continued on the competitive,circuit after that, even though
I wasn't professional, but I gotinto running, oh gosh, probably.
(02:36):
I think I could start running inthe second grade, for like our
elementary cross country team.
And it was just one of thosethings that all my friends did
it.
and I said, why not?
It was, running came natural tome and I really enjoyed it.
my primary sport was, soccer andsoftball, so I played club for
both of those and.
(02:57):
If there's any soccer players,that you run a ton, in soccer.
And so running was always there.
I just didn't really focus on ituntil about oh, high school,
honestly.
I ran a fast time supposedly.
I didn't know what that meant.
in.
in seventh grade.
and then the eighth grade year,I didn't do cross country.
(03:19):
it just wasn't my thing.
but then that coach told thehigh school coach like, Hey,
you've gotta get her to run.
she's just, she's a natural,she's good at it, get her to
run.
And by sophomore year, that'swhen I started running cross
country.
Okay.
So in sophomore year of highschool.
And then were you still playingsoccer and softball at that
time, or did you really focusjust on running.
(03:39):
I was still playing competitivesoccer.
played club soccer at thatpoint.
I chose to stop softball goinginto high school.
Yeah.
I just, I couldn't keep up withtwo club sports.
with soccer being four days aweek plus the weekend.
Yeah.
so soccer was the main focus.
That's what I wanted to go tocollege for.
that was the goal.
I just thought Fine.
I'll give this running thing ashot and See what happens.
(04:01):
Yeah.
and it was great.
I really, truly loved it, whichis why I continued on.
but I was like a late bloomer tothe sport, I wouldn't call that
a late bloomer, I would say,you're still a teenager for
goodness sake.
That's true.
It's true.
Yeah.
we've got a lot of people thatstart running in their forties
or fifties even.
you were fresh face and carefreeat that point in time.
So what kind of.
(04:21):
At what point did you chooserunning over soccer?
'cause it sounds being a clubsoccer player, I know because
we're, my husband and I areactually high school cross
country coaches, and so we dohave a lot of kids from the
soccer side come over to crosscountry for their quote unquote
conditioning, right?
Yeah.
And so they just wanna keeprunning.
but it's very clear to us, withmost of them that soccer is the
priority.
(04:41):
So what, at what point did youdecide that running was really
your thing and how did you makethat choice?
Yeah, it was a hard decision.
junior and senior year I was, Iwas getting letters for running,
I was getting letters forsoccer.
I didn't know which one, I knewin the long term.
Running was something I could dofor the rest of my life and that
(05:01):
I could probably go professionalin it.
whereas, and that was probablyabout junior year in college,
but in high school it was like,I just loved soccer.
I loved the team aspect of it.
Yeah.
And so that's what I was lookingfor in college.
it was like, do I take thesoccer route, have the team, but
then I didn't feel like I had alot of control over what could
(05:24):
be beyond that.
whereas like I knew if I trainedhard, listened to my coach, did
everything right, I could goprofessional in running.
Okay.
I truly believe that.
Whereas soccer, there's just.
There's not a whole lot of Blackand white of who's gonna make
it.
it's, yeah.
with running, you've got times,you've got places, with team
sports, it could be what teamyou're on, who's the coach, What
(05:47):
are all the politics behind thesport?
Yeah.
Sure.
and I really was, I was lovingrunning, I just started to fall
in love with the running at thatpoint, and I had decided
ultimately to run in college.
but then even still, like when Iwent to LMU.
Even that college coach waslike, Hey, you could still play
soccer.
Like it's, yeah, you could doboth.
I'm like, and at that point Iwas like, man, I'm actually
(06:09):
pretty small to play soccer.
some of these girls are prettybig, And I was like, 105 pounds.
So I was like, I don't know.
That seems tough.
yeah.
So I went, I chose running.
I sure love it, but I still lovesoccer.
Yeah.
Like our daughter plays soccernow and Just the atmosphere, the
team aspect of it.
I think it's important too.
Yeah.
And you can't, you can get thatin running.
(06:30):
It's different for sure.
But I think that is the coolthing is that so many people
think that running is a solosport and there's so much,
comradery that you can getinside of the running community.
Course you ran on a collegeteam.
So there is that team aspect.
But even afterwards, I thinkthere's a lot of things that we
can do within the runningcommunity that really makes it
less isolating, which is cool.
(06:51):
So what I'm hearing you say thenis that it's really your
longevity in the sport thatreally drew you more to running
versus soccer is like you knewthat you could not only pursue
this in college, but then also,after college more on a
professional level.
Yeah, exactly.
I would just, I wanted to stayin the sport.
And so I, I had thought thatrunning was the way Yeah.
(07:14):
to continue.
So did you have that realizationin high school or was it more
like college that you decidedyou really wanted to pursue it
professionally?
Like how did your relationshipwith running evolve, like during
your collegiate years and makeyou decide Yes.
I actually do wanna go pro withthis.
Yeah, I think it was my junioryear in college.
(07:35):
I had run like one of thefastest times in the 10 K that
year, and I didn't feel like Iwas doing anything special, like
I was just.
Going to practice every day,just doing it, And then yeah,
the times just started to drop,I'd take a minute off my 10 k
time or 30 seconds off my 5Ktime.
And I was just like, wow, likethis is a lot of fun.
(07:57):
Like running fast is really fun.
Yeah.
and so it was probably by aboutmy end of my junior year, my
coach was like, you could dothis.
And I was like, really?
I could do this professionally.
And he's yeah, if you, Just,keep training and stay healthy
and you love it.
you can run professionally.
And so that was they got the bugin my ear to hey, maybe this is
(08:17):
a reality, Yeah.
so that's where it all startedwas junior year Of college.
So did you like when you were incollege running, did you feel
pressure like around body image,body weight, nutrition, like
those kinds of things?
Because I know like it dependson, from the people that I've
talked to, it depends on whatschool and what program.
(08:38):
You're in, Like what the cultureis but what was that experience
like for you, as a woman runningin her twenties and, this is as
your body is starting to changein your twenties and mature even
more.
What was that experience like?
Yeah.
there's still, even to this day,there's still a lot of.
stress or pressure with bodyimage in In college and yeah.
it was something that I dealtwith also, but I feel like I was
(09:00):
lucky that I was surrounded by areally good support system in
college.
it was never, The coach actuallylooked at it as if there are
people that are too thin, weneed to get help.
we need to stay healthy so thatwe can run.
There was never, that's good.
There was never pressure from myteam or from my coaches.
that it's like you've gotta,you've gotta be thinner to run
(09:21):
faster.
it was actually the opposite.
I remember there was a time likejunior year, sophomore year that
I did get too skinny and mycoach had told me, he's if you
lose any more weight, you're notgonna be racing.
and Yeah.
'cause he put our health beforerunning and I love that.
at the time I was the number onerunner on the team and I wasn't
(09:41):
gonna get a pass, It wasbasically like, yeah, I know
you're number one for our team,but if you're not healthy, then
you're not gonna run.
So I felt like that I was in areally good position that I
could do well in running becauseI had the full support system.
But I know there's a lot ofprograms that are not like that,
which is unfortunate, and it canultimately like, ruin people's
(10:01):
lives or careers for that point.
but yeah, it's really sad.
But I think if you find theright program and the right
coach, you can either get thehelp that you need.
Yeah.
Or you cannot, you would justnever end up going down that
route.
Yeah, for sure.
How do you think that kind ofplays out into just the running
culture at large?
Like obviously collegiaterunners and professional runners
(10:25):
are on a different level thanthose of us that are just
running for our health orrunning for fitness or trying to
set our own prs in halfmarathon, five Ks, whatever it
might be.
it's a bit of a different levelat different speeds, but like
how much do you think that ideaof Having a smaller body will
help you as a runner.
How does that kind of translateover into the general running
(10:47):
population in like yourexperience?
'cause I know you're a coach nowas well.
So what have you seen as far aswomen in body image and running?
I feel like it's, I feel likefor.
My age now it's not, I feel likea lot of the pressure is in
these, sometimes it's startingin junior high, but it's like
(11:07):
high school and college is a lotof where the stress comes from
and it's because of socialmedia.
and I think as your mentalitychanges with sport, you lose
that mentality of havingeverything under control and
nitpicking.
Every little thing.
Whereas, you actually get fasterwhen you're eating more and
(11:29):
focusing less on, or focusingmore on putting healthy food
into your body can, instead ofkeeping track of everything that
you put in your body.
Yeah.
That is greater.
I totally agree with you and Ithink that this is like
important for people to hearbecause I think that.
The everyday runner, the reallife runner as we like to call
(11:49):
them.
they look at professionalrunners and they look at the
size of their bodies and thingslike that.
And because of diet, culture andall the other things that we
have being thrown at us all thetime, there's this idea that,
oh, if I just lose weight, thenI'll be faster.
If I just lose weight, thenI'll.
fill in the blank with whatevergoal they're trying to
accomplish.
And so I think it's reallyimportant for them to hear that
(12:10):
from you as a professionalrunner.
And some people might write itoff and be like, oh, she's just
professional so she's too good.
But I think that, hearing thatmessage of you are going to
improve as a runner when youfuel your body, like when you
eat more, when you're thinkthinking about your health, not
just restricting caloriesbecause of your body size.
(12:31):
And there's a lot of things thatgo into weight.
there's There's your muscle, orhow explosive is that muscle?
How strong is that muscle?
that's gonna weigh more thanthat.
Or so it's if you're doing theright things and also building
muscle, then that will translateto running faster as well.
Like even, up until, I ran myfastest marathon at, after
(12:53):
having two kids.
So That's awesome.
you definitely, and part of thatwas like strength work and
Different type of training.
It wasn't just running more.
I was actually running less atthe time.
my long runs were long, but Iwas nowhere close to running a
hundred miles a week.
Like I used to the same volume.
Yeah.
So how did your.
we're jumping ahead a little bithere, but like, how did your
(13:14):
training change during thatphase?
Like, how was your training,like when you ran your fastest
marathon time as a mom of two?
How was that training differentthan say, the way that you
trained previously?
yeah, so there was, I had acouple different, coaches,
throughout my professionalcareer.
and I just found that.
even in college, my sweet spotof mileage was like 70 to 80.
(13:38):
I just, I felt good off of it.
I could run fast off of it.
there was a time that I wasrunning a hundred miles a week
and I was running slower almostthan ever, And, I broke a bone
every time I read a hundredmiles a week.
Yeah.
And then transitioning, postprofessionally, I ran my fastest
was 2 36 and as a mom of two andI was running, I hit 70 miles a
(14:03):
week.
A couple.
Times here and there.
which is a lot, that's a lot forYeah.
your normal runner.
but I was also, trying to hit anOlympic standard, so I was
running probably a little bitmore than average, but my, my
long runs were long, my workoutswere long, but then the days in
between were like five.
Six miles.
(14:24):
Yeah.
just because I needed to recoveror got kids waking up early or
I'm not sleeping well.
so in, in minutes, would you saylike how minutes wise,'cause
like mileage, I think that canget lost on people sometimes,
right?
Because, your paces areobviously much faster than the
average runner as aprofessional.
So minutes wise, how long werelike your weekday runs then,
(14:45):
like your, five, six miles thatyou were doing.
Yeah.
So if I was just doing, an easyrun during the week I would say
about 45, yeah.
50 minutes Is what I was doing.
and those were like trulyrecovery days.
for me recovery is like eight toeight 30 pace.
Yeah.
When training for a marathon,compared to doing workouts or a
long run.
And then my long runs were liketwo hours to two hours and 20
(15:09):
minutes.
Yeah.
And of at the peak of marathontraining.
Yeah.
And I think that's important forpeople to hear, right?
Because they sometimes hearabout mileage and they're, they
think, oh my gosh, I could neverrun that.
Which is fine, and most peopleshouldn't, right?
Yeah.
Like you were mentioning, likethat's not the average at all
because you are running at adifferent level trying to hit an
Olympic.
(15:29):
Standard time, like that's atotally different level to train
versus someone that's trying torun a half marathon or someone
that's running, trying to run,their local 5K or 10 K and just
get their own personal best.
And it, that's why I think it ishelpful to translate it to
time-based running versus justmileage because people can.
(15:50):
Relate more to that.
it's not like you're going outand training for six hours on
the weekend.
you're still, you're still doinglike a two to two and a half
hour run, which is what a lot ofpeople do, and a lot of people
can relate to that.
Their mileage is just a littlebit different during that,
during that time.
And I think that it's reallyimportant to point that out
because.
The body knows time and effort,right?
The body doesn't know distanceand pace, and so I think it's
(16:13):
really important, like your paceis just fa much faster than a
lot of people, but you're stillgoing out there and you're
hitting the same effort levelsand you're hitting the same time
on your feet.
It's just the mileage isdifferent for you.
Let's talk a little bit about,one of the things I would love
to focus on with you, becauseyou've, you started running at
such a young age.
you ran through collegeprofessionally and now you're
(16:33):
running as a mom of two.
is this idea of like transitionsbecause I think that running is
one of these amazing things andI love that you even chose
running because of the long,your ability to have running, be
there for the rest of your life,but.
You're not gonna be aprofessional runner your whole
life.
Like this is something that wejust clearly know, right?
(16:53):
you're not gonna be aprofessional runner most likely
when you're 80, unless you'responsored by like some, who
knows?
Maybe you can be right at thatpoint.
But, in general, running's goingto be different things to you at
different points in your life.
And so you've gone through someof these transitions already.
So I would love to just hearfrom you, how has your identity,
like as a runner changedthroughout the years and like
(17:15):
what running means in your lifeand your approach to running?
Yeah, in, in, college andprofessionally, like running was
my entire life, Yes, it was myjob, but it was like everything
was focused around that, like weWe'd go on trips, I'm husband
would go on trips and he'd planout like all my runs To make
sure I was able to train.
(17:37):
Yeah.
and I wouldn't miss a day oftraining, or if it meant getting
up at 3:00 AM to go for a run,like I'd get up at 3:00 AM to go
for a run, like To me, that'scrazy.
Now, probably not gonna do thatanymore.
whereas running now for me.
it's, I would say it's a verybig part of my life and I still
love to do it every single day.
(17:57):
But I'm not worried about likehow far.
I ran or what pace I ran,There's some times where I'm
just like, exhausted and we livein a really hilly area and I'm
like, I think I'm just gonnawalk this hill.
Like I need a little break.
Like I'm tired.
but I still feel good.
I still feel good mentally just.
Getting out, running, it'shealthy for me.
(18:18):
And that's what I enjoy.
But I'm not like, oh man, Ijust, I didn't hit my paces for
that run.
Or, Yeah.
I don't even really do workoutsanymore.
Every once in a while I'll feelmotivated and do some hill
sprints or Do some, fart, likerunning.
But I pretty much just enjoyrunning at the base level, like
just Putting my shoes on,getting my watch going out the
(18:39):
door.
I'm creature habit.
I'll do the same route everysingle day.
No problem.
But it's not my entire life.
I'm not gonna, oh, I've gotta goget 15 miles in this weekend.
Yeah.
It's just not me anymore.
Yeah.
and I'm okay with that too,which is wonderful.
Yeah.
Do you still race?
I have not raced in quite awhile.
(19:01):
I, my last race was, The clubCross country championships.
So we moved, from Oregon toTexas.
And so my last race with theteam that I was training with
was cross country, and I did itjust because I was like, Hey, I
love these girls.
Yeah.
This is fun.
I'm not big on cross country.
it's not what I would choose todo.
but my team was doing it and Iwanted I wanted to be there.
(19:22):
So that was the last race that Idid.
Cool.
So cool.
So what was running like foryou, as you, actually let me get
a little clarity on kind of yourprofessional career.
So you started runningprofessionally after college,
and then at what point did youstart having kids and were you
still running professionally,like during motherhood, like
(19:43):
during your pregnancies andmotherhood?
Yeah.
So I went, I turned professionalin 2012.
I ran with Nike for a few yearsand then, I actually had a few
months where I was like, I'm notrunning professionally ever.
Again, I'm done.
I was done with the sport.
(20:04):
Yeah.
and I had a friend or a coachsay Hey, you can still run fast.
yes, you are broken down and,the sport beat you up, but like
you can still run fast.
And and I was continuing totrain, I was like, I just didn't
want to follow a regimentedcalendar.
I just needed like a break fromWere you just feeling burnt out?
(20:24):
Yeah, I was just burnt out.
I had, fractured my hip fromrunning, so I was just like at a
loss, With the sport.
And I had a friend say, you canstill run fast.
And I was in this position of doI look for another sponsor?
do I not?
and that's when I had talked toKara Goucher and, what was, it
wasn't, MEB was done at thatpoint or getting outta the
(20:46):
sport.
but I had seen what Kara didwith Sketchers and the team
there, and I was like, thatseems like a company that.
I could run for just some goodpeople behind the company.
and actually my husband was theone that kind of helped me get
the contract with that one.
And I got a coach and, I talkedwith the coach and I, we were,
he was very on board with whatkind of training works for you?
(21:08):
I'm not gonna tell you.
How you should train, let's justgo back to the basics of what
you were doing in college whenyou ran your fastest times.
Yeah.
And so we started that way andstarted training that way again.
And we added in some plyometricsand speed and, that was when I
started running fast again,prior faster than what I was
(21:28):
running in college and evenprofessionally.
so yeah, a little bit of atangent, but yeah, that was, and
then.
So 20, about 15 or 16 is when Istarted running with Sketchers.
And that was really like mybreakout year with running.
I just, I did really well on theroads and ran some fast times
and I was having fun.
(21:48):
I think that's why like I wasreally enjoying the sport like
back in college, like thingswere going really well.
I was really enjoying it.
And then the fast times comewhen you're in a good position.
Can I interrupt you for asecond?
Yeah, go ahead and talk a littlebit more about that, because
like you were enjoying her a lotin college, and then what
happened, like when you wererunning for Nike, that kind of
(22:09):
led you to feeling more burntout.
Yeah, because I think this is animportant thing for people to
hear because so many people, Ithink even recreational runners,
they start in the sport becausethey want to challenge
themselves.
They wanna get in shape, they,and they find it fun.
They, so they start running andthen all of a sudden they get to
this phase where.
Times and their paces start tomatter more.
(22:31):
And like they it's almost, Iknow that you're obviously
talking about a professionalcareer here, but there's a lot
of recreational runner I thinkthat go through this too.
And they like start to see theirpaces and their times and they
get so focused on improvementthat they can.
Oftentimes burn themselves outagain and I love to hear that
you then came out of that andfound more joy and that's when
you really had yourbreakthrough, which is so cool.
(22:53):
So in that point where you werefeeling more burnt out, what do
you think was leading to that?
yeah, so there wasn't, withNike, there wasn't much of a
team.
okay.
There, there was like a couple,like my first year I was the
only girl.
but, and there was a few guys,so there was no team atmosphere.
Which is, coming from college,you just go from yeah.
(23:14):
15 girls to yourself.
and my training went up to 90.
90, a hundred miles a week.
and it was also very, sprintfocused and like interval very
fast.
which is not my strength when Irun.
really fast.
It takes me longer time torecover.
(23:36):
Yeah.
but I didn't have much of a sayin what that recovery was gonna
be.
like I was expecting okay, I dida really hard session here, so
I'm just gonna go out and jogtomorrow, basically super easy.
but we had paces assigned forour easy runs.
And so we had to run like 6 45,7 minute pace for our easy runs.
(23:58):
And that was just like beatingme down.
'cause I just like one, Imentally needed a break.
Yeah.
Because I can't run fast everysingle day, Which seven, seven
minute pace to me at that timewasn't necessarily fast, but.
It was the pressure of no,you've got around like six 30 to
seven minute pace on your easyruns.
Yeah.
And that after, that's a wholelevel of, and that's a whole
level of mental pressure aswell.
(24:19):
Yeah.
Like not just the physicalpressure of that pace, but also
the mental pressure of I need tobe on and make sure that I'm in
this zone and window.
Yeah.
And so it was just like, it wasjust really hard training and
not enough recovery.
and then just the stress of.
I was told that I needed to bethinner and things like that and
Okay.
get more muscle in certainareas, which I didn't really
(24:42):
understand how you get moremuscle in certain areas.
you can't just be like, okay, Ineed my shoulders to get bigger.
Like it doesn't quite work.
It's not how the body works.
Yeah.
When you're also told you needto lose a couple pounds.
So it was just, it was a very,like trying time with running
and it wasn't always enjoyable.
So that's why I felt like I justneeded to step away before
(25:03):
coming back.
Yeah.
So it sounds like it was reallya major focus on.
The way your body looked, focuson more intensity over anything
else, like intensity and, pacingand didn't allow you to listen
to your body, like you were justforced to be in this box and do
what everybody else was tellingyou to do.
(25:25):
And ignore some of the thingsthat your body was trying to
tell you.
Yeah.
Especially for the first likeyear or so, in, in, in that
environment.
and then I got a new coach Stillwithin Nike, and it did, it got
a lot better.
Yeah.
there was a little, there wasmore recovery, the mileage was a
little bit lower.
each session was a little bitless intense, I would say, or
(25:48):
geared more towards Hitting.
Hitting times that we're capableof instead of trying to push
beyond that.
Yeah.
and so I was doing much betterat that point with a, kind of
the new coach.
so then contrast that toSketchers.
Like when you started going intoSketchers and you started like
your break breakout year, whatdid your training look like then
that helped to really bring thejoy back into it, because I
(26:09):
think that's a huge part of ittoo, is you know, you really
started to enjoy running again.
And I think that this is such animportant aspect that a lot of
runners forget about sometimeswhen they get so focused on
their prs and their paces andtheir distances.
so what did your training looklike?
In 2016 when you had thatbreakout?
Yeah, so we had, we dropped themileage back down Yeah.
(26:32):
To like seventies, eighties.
we focused more on like strengthwork.
What I mean by that, notstrength work, in the gym, yes.
But we also did like strengthworkouts, like longer intervals,
mild repeats, progression runs.
The, that type of training forme allows me to get fit really
(26:53):
fast.
and I can also recover well offof it.
you give me five times a mile,I'll feel great.
I can go, I can do 10 miles thenext day off of that.
You make me do, 15 by 400, I'mgonna be like crawling for days,
'cause it's a different system,that you're using.
And so for me, we focused moreon that other system of just
(27:16):
running longer, still at a fastpace, but I could recover from
that.
It was, it felt easier on mybody.
and so that's what led to thattrajectory of just running fast.
Yeah.
So more of the tempo basedintervals versus like the sprint
intervals.
Yeah.
And so we did more of those.
we still did sprints, but wedid, we, yeah.
(27:37):
Went that direction more so than400 meter repeats, a hundred
meter repeats, eight hundreds.
Yeah.
we just sprinkled those inthere.
And we worked on speed in otherways with like plyometrics and
weight training.
Yeah.
and that's how we hit thatsystem.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it was very, it sounds likeit was just a very well-rounded
program in a lot of ways Thatwas working more towards your
(27:59):
strengths.
And highlighting your strengthswith that, mid-distance, tempo
type of pacing, versus trying toforce your body into something
that it's not as well set upfor.
Exactly.
yeah.
And each, each person isdifferent.
Some people just a hundredpercent really do well off of
that, and they get really fastand really fit.
Yeah.
And for me, I just get reallytired and really broken down.
(28:23):
Yeah.
And I think that's reallyimportant for people to hear is
like there is not one correctway.
every runner is an individualand every runner has their own
strengths and My husband, he ranin college as well, and he
loves, the tempo type of things.
That is not my favorite thing todo at all.
Like I'd rather go out and doquarter repeats any day of the
week, but that's just because Ithink part of it's also just
(28:43):
what you enjoy.
yes, it's what feels good inyour body, but it's also, like
you said, what's what you enwhat you enjoy and.
Seems fun to you.
and I think that's so importantfor people to know that even at
a professional level, it isstill really important to have
that enjoyment in there.
Otherwise you get burnt out andinjured, in the process of it
too.
Yeah.
so let's get into your journey,like through pregnancy and
(29:06):
motherhood and what running isnow like for you.
I know that you raced.
When pregnant did I seesomething that you set, like a,
your 5K record or your best,you, you won some, like a really
important race, like a 5K whenyou were pregnant?
Oh, it was, there was a, thePortland Track Festival, there's
a race that we do and we usuallydo a three K, like cross country
(29:29):
style race.
Yeah.
And so it's Portland versusSeattle.
And I think Vancouver was thereat the time.
Oh, sorry.
But there was like a three Kthere once and then that I ran
pregnant, but there was also the5K.
And I had won the 5K and I thinkI was like 18 or 17 weeks
pregnant or something.
Yeah.
So there was.
(29:49):
Definitely a bump, but it alsowas like awkward.
you not, yeah.
It's that phase that you're not,you told me have a bump.
Yeah.
But you also don't feel greateither, at that point.
So I was just like, I think Iforget, I won the race, but I
think it was like I had wantedto run like under.
17 minutes or something.
Yeah, because I was 17, 17 weekspregnant.
(30:11):
Oh yeah.
so yeah, I did a couple racespregnant.
I ran a half when I waspregnant.
the 5K and then one of the otherbig ones is hood to coast.
how many people know about hoodto coast?
Yeah.
but it's a pretty big likeovernight relay race That I ran
it like.
28 weeks pregnant.
Okay.
and averaged like, I don't know,5 45, 6 minute pace.
(30:33):
Yeah.
For my legs.
but I love joining pregnant.
Like I actually felt good forMost of the pregnancy.
my first one.
I couldn't run a whole lot theway that she was positioned and
moving.
There was times where I couldn'trun, but I could bike an
elliptical.
Yeah.
And then there was other weekswhere I couldn't bike an
elliptical, but I could run.
(30:54):
Yeah.
Which was like really weird.
Yeah.
so it was like a trial and errorwith pregnancy too, of is it
gonna work today?
Is it not?
Like Where's the babysitting?
so it was always sort.
I might have a plan to go runsix miles, but that plan might
be cut short because Yeah.
Something's hurting or it justdoesn't feel right.
So it was that part of my lifewith running helped me
(31:15):
transition to, it can't alwaysbe what you wanted to be.
Yeah.
Every day.
because before that I would say,this is my training calendar for
the week.
This is what has to get done.
And that's what I did.
Yeah.
and when I was pregnant.
I had a training calendar, likeI had my goals for the week.
But I quickly realized that theydidn't always happen that way.
(31:38):
Yeah.
there was times where I waslike, I think I just need a nap.
I'm just, I'm exhausted, I'mtired.
and then there's other dayswhere I would be like, I'm gonna
run five miles.
And I'd be like, oh man, I feelgreat and I'd run eight.
So it really taught me in thisspirit of my life that.
Everything's not gonna go theway that I want it to go.
Yeah.
with running.
being pregnant because Yeah.
(32:00):
You just, you.
You can't control each day Beingpregnant or know what you're
gonna feel like.
And so that was a real learningcurve for me, with running too.
and I'm sure it prepared youperfectly for motherhood too,
because it's not once you havethe babies, everything is
exactly the way you want it tobe.
Exactly.
Yeah.
so what has it been like for younow, like navigating, running
(32:22):
and motherhood?
Because I know that.
You competed in the Olympictrials last year, in the
marathon as a mom of two, right?
what has running been like sinceyou have been a mother and how
has, have things shifted foryou?
Yeah, the last Olympic trials Ihad run to qualify.
I had run 2 36.
Which, the people making theOlympic team are running two 20
(32:45):
And change.
so I knew that wasn't a goal ofmine.
I was just really happy to bethere.
Yeah.
I hadn't missed an Olympictrials, whether on the track or
on the road, since 2012.
And so for me, that was just ahuge goal of getting there.
With kids.
I had, really fit my training inearly in the morning.
I'd train at six 30 in themorning and my husband would
(33:08):
take over the kid duty for themorning.
there wasn't a whole lot ofdouble runs at that point, I was
like lucky to get in a strengthtraining maybe once or twice a
week.
Yeah.
For 30 minutes.
But I had some dedicated time totrain, and that was my time to
do what I wanted to do.
with running.
And so with kids it changed thatmy mentality changed with racing
(33:32):
that, I also just wanna show mykids that you can do hard
things.
they may not go according toplan.
You always start what youfinish.
And so I think my kids think Iprobably still won that race.
if you ask them, I crossed thefinish line, so they think I
won.
But I was like so cute.
Like I was probably like secondto last in that race, at the
(33:53):
Olympic trials.
and so I has there was multipletimes it was a loop course.
Yeah.
I was like, I had multipletimes.
It was a hot day too.
It was super hot.
We already started at 11 orsomething.
Ridiculous.
Yeah, 10 really thinking, comeon, it's in Orlando.
People like, this is not a goodidea.
All about the, yeah.
Yeah.
So it was, it was tough.
Like the whole buildup, I justdidn't quite feel right.
(34:14):
Like I felt good doing theshorter stuff, which was weird.
But once I got to 15 miles, 16miles in long runs, like I just.
I could never figure out likewhat was going on.
I just, my legs didn't quitehave it, so I was like hoping by
the time that the race camearound that it would go well,
but pretty much the same thinghappened, yeah.
How old were your kids at thetime?
(34:36):
daughter was, she had justturned six and our youngest one
was three.
Okay.
Two, yeah.
or no, two, I think it was twoat the time.
so yeah.
Super young still.
Yeah.
but they understood that mommyliked to run.
they've been to a lot of, likemy track races.
(34:57):
Yeah.
our daughter had done a coupleraces here and there, That I
would, that we would go to if wewere running, obviously.
yeah.
So to them, we had, we'd made atrip out of it.
We did the whole Disney Worldthing afterwards.
but during the race it was justsuper hot.
it was awful.
Like it was literally the worstrace I've ever run in my entire
(35:17):
life.
And at one point I got to Iforget what, how far the lube
course was, but I had missedseeing the kids like I couldn't
find them.
Yeah.
And so I was like, I'm not gonnastop until I see.
Family, So I just continued onhoping, praying I would see
them, and then I was like, maybeI'll drop out at that point,
Yeah.
And then I just kept thinking tomyself, I was like, kids don't
(35:40):
know how to drop out of a race.
that's a learned behavior, Theyalways see a race as there's a
finish line.
You start a race and there's afinish line, And so to me I was
like, I need to show them thateven if you don't feel good.
and there's nothing physicallywrong with me.
It's not like I was gonna go tothe hospital or something.
Yeah.
so finally found the kids and Iwas like, I'm not stopping.
(36:03):
Like they need to know that I'mgonna finish this race.
Because they had said that theywould be at the finish line.
So if I'm not, if I don't makeit to the finish line, what am I
gonna tell them?
Yeah.
Or what are they gonna think?
And it wasn't this like feelingof shame that I'm not gonna get
to the finish line.
It was more so of I want them toknow that if they're in this
position, they can get to thefinish line.
(36:23):
Yeah.
whether it's a race or whetherit's dealing with homework at
school or Social things, youalways have to see it to the
end.
And so that was my goal thatday.
It went from running really fastand doing well to what can I try
and teach my kids?
Of just finish the race and Igot to the finish line and they
were like, mommy, did you win?
(36:45):
Like you got to the finish line,you got a medal.
And I was like, that's exactlywhat I wanted them to think.
Yeah.
They think I won, Because youfinish the race.
So obviously they'll learn asthey get older that there's
gonna be some really tryingtimes in that.
But the finish line of whateverthat goal is the most important
Yeah.
Part to them.
(37:05):
Yeah.
And what did that race mean toyou?
'cause it sounds like obviouslyit meant a lot for you to finish
that race, like for your kidsand for the lessons, but then,
like, how did you feel when youfinished that race?
Like with everything that hadhappened?
Yeah.
It was, gosh, that was thelongest race of my life, like
time-wise and mentally, becauseit was just this constant battle
(37:26):
of yeah.
Do I drop out here?
No, I can't do that.
I want, I wanna show them thatyou can do this, And so for me
it was just, it was that battleof one, I've honestly never done
so bad in a race before, so thatwas hard for me too, to be like,
wow, I was almost last and I'venever had that feeling before.
And so I struggled with thattoo, is'cause there's a lot of
(37:47):
people, even professionals, likeonce you realize you're not
gonna hit your goal time or yourplace, step off the track,
right?
don't finish, Yeah.
It's not worth it because youdon't want, you don't wanna be
in the results and be the lastone at the On the page.
And yeah, I dealt with that ofoh, maybe like a DNF is probably
better than Last place, so thatwas like a struggle that I went
(38:09):
through.
and all this is happening duringthe race too.
All of this is happening duringthis race because I have so much
time to think about things.
but it really just came down toThe family's here.
The kids are watching, I'mphysically healthy enough to
finish this race.
Yeah.
They have no clue what placethey got.
And that doesn't matter to them,they got to see mommy cross the
finish line and get a medal.
Yeah.
(38:29):
So it's about doing it for apurpose greater than yourself.
Yeah, exactly.
I had no reason to finish thatrace for myself.
yeah.
Yes, I got a medal and Ifinished the Olympic trials, but
that wasn't my goal to just go,yeah, finish the Olympic trials.
but it was important to finishat that point.
That's very cool.
So you've gone from being aprofessional runner, from being
(38:51):
coach to now coaching others.
Yeah, and I think that's areally powerful shift,
especially as more women want tofeel strong and supported in
midlife, and you can use so muchof your own experience through,
A couple of decades now, right?
Like that you've been running.
yeah.
So to help other people.
So what would you like, what doyou wish that more women knew
(39:14):
about how to train moreconfidently as they age and as
they as running kind oftransitions for them in the, in
their own lives?
I think, important aspect for,women and men too, is that, and
part of the reason that we haveIan, is that there's not one
coach for everybody.
for a runner it's about findingthe right coach for you.
(39:37):
Yeah.
my example, the right coach forme is not gonna be.
Super analytical.
I don't need to know my heartrate, what zone I'm running in.
Yeah.
And all that stuff.
I, for me now, I want someonethat's probably gonna hold me
accountable a little bit more.
So more motivational mo Moremotivational.
Yeah.
but that may not work for somepeople.
(39:58):
some people, they're like, Ineed somebody that's gonna be
really hard on me.
Hold me accountable because lifegets in the way and I make
excuses not to go run or hit mygoals.
Yeah.
And there's a coach for that,But it's gonna be different than
what someone else wants in acoach.
And that's why we have Rene nowis because we used my social
(40:20):
network with, runners in thecommunity.
And my husband's the businessguy behind it all.
yeah.
But we've built this roster ofcoaches where, hey, we need to
have a bunch of differentcoaches that have Different that
can bring something different tothe table.
Yeah.
Because everyone who wants acoach is not gonna want the same
coach.
(40:40):
and for the people that I coach,I might not be the best fit for
somebody else.
Yeah.
And that's okay.
I'm not gonna be offended bythat.
I might say, Hey, I don't thinkI'm the right coach for you,
This person could be the rightcoach for you.
Yeah.
so now I just, I really likecoaching because I'm not so much
in the racing realm anymore.
I know the races that are outthere and what are happening,
(41:00):
but I feel like I have a lot ofexperience in the sport.
From a, physical aspect, mentalaspect that people are looking
for,'cause there's still peoplethat, there's a lot of people
who wanna be Q in their fifties,and Sure.
They're like.
Is it possible?
I'm like, yeah, it is.
Yeah.
like If you put in the work andwe alter your training to what
(41:22):
fits you well, yeah.
Not what I want you to do.
'cause I also need tounderstand.
How they perform well.
And adjust based on that.
And so that's really why we haverun Dwayne, is so that we can
help the everyday runner Findthe right coach for them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And what is your coachingphilosophy center around now,
like with, based on, all of yourexperience and now working with
(41:44):
other runners, like how do youlike to coach runners?
Like what do you think issomething important?
I don't wanna, I don't likeblanket statements in general,
but like so I, I hate to saywhat should all runners do, but
I think that there aredefinitely some very important
facets that like all runnersneed to focus on, just in
varying amounts.
so I'd love to know like yourtake and your coaching
philosophy on what are thethings that you like to focus on
(42:05):
when you're working withrunners?
Yeah.
I think, the number one thingfor running is the consistency,
which, yeah.
Which is hard.
Life gets in the way.
just travel.
People make excuses.
Yeah.
but running is not like riding abike.
What I say, you can't just pickup a bike and go for, you can
just pick up a bike and go for a30, 45 minute bike ride.
(42:27):
Yeah.
most people can do that.
You can't just decide one daythat you're gonna go run for 45
minutes.
It just doesn't quite work thatway.
So for me it's like runningneeds to be consistent.
It doesn't need to be every day,but it needs to be consistent.
And then, depending on whatthose, what that person's goals
are, if they're gonna be runninga half marathon, the staples are
(42:50):
like, first we need to make sureyou have time for a long run.
Like you're just, you're gonnahave to do a long run to run.
A longer race.
so that's always a staple.
mile repeats are always a staplein there're For the longer
races.
I guess right now I'm justtalking about the longer races.
I also really like doing theprogression runs.
(43:12):
I found those really enjoyableas a professional runner.
But I also think like mentally.
It put less stress on the longrun and more so of start out
slow, work your way into it overtime as you feel better, try and
bring the pace down.
Yeah, but like I don't wannaassign a pace to a long run.
(43:35):
Hey, you're getting ready for ahalf marathon.
You need to go run 10 miles atthis pace.
Because you may not feel thatgreat, or you may get a side
stitch, or you may come across ahill, Yeah.
I'm not running with thosepeople.
I'm writing their training plan,so there has to be some
flexibility.
So a progression run is alwaysone that it gives them the power
to.
Yeah.
(43:55):
To decide, which.
Is also training them for therace, mentally.
Because you have to have thepower within yourself to be
like, this is a good pace, or Ishould back off a little bit, or
I could pick it up here.
Yeah.
So it's also teaching themduring a progression run to
listen to their bodyEssentially.
And not just look at your watchand say, oh, I need to run this
(44:17):
pace.
I need to run this pace.
Yeah.
Because that's hard to do.
People get so caught up In whatis this pace that I need to run?
and yes, it's important ifyou're trying to run fast to hit
certain paces in certainworkouts, like mile repeats.
Yeah.
But for those longer races, it'sreally about effort as well.
and it's teaching them what thateffort is or getting them to
(44:38):
learn and understand their bodyabout effort.
So those are some staples that Ilike.
To throw in there.
Cool.
Is there anything, this is likean interesting question, but do
you feel like there's anythingthat you have had to unlearn
about running or performanceover the years?
something that you used tobelieve to be true that you have
(45:00):
had to rewrite as you've tr,transitioned and progressed
through your running career?
Yeah.
The, the number one thing isrunning more is not always,
better.
it's not always gonna make youfaster.
I feel like running more canmake you faster to a point.
And what that point is gonna bedifferent for everybody.
(45:21):
Totally.
some people they could runmarathons at and run 50 miles a
week And run really fast forthemself, Yeah.
Maybe we try and push that andgo to 65.
It doesn't work.
some people maybe they need torun more to run fast, and that's
their sweet spot.
But it's, that's where it reallytakes about finding the right
(45:42):
coach and getting to know yourathlete.
So that you know how to coachthem, because yeah, I've got a
couple people that are trainingfor half marathons, but I'm not
gonna say that they're all gonnarun the same weekly mileage or
Time on feet because Yeah.
One's female, one's male.
That's gonna be a bigdifference.
Yep.
their work schedules and whattheir body can handle are very
(46:04):
different.
So there isn't a blanket ofWe've got her run this much.
Yeah.
To run better.
Yeah.
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
I think that training needs tobe personalized and training
needs to be able to fit intoyour real life.
Because like you just said,there are some people that work
and there are people that, we'vegot, people on our team that
(46:25):
work 12 hour shifts and, allsorts of different things.
Like these training plans Cannotlook the same.
Like these bodies are different.
Your lives are different andyour training needs to be able
to adapt and work around yourreal life schedule.
In order for it to be the mosteffective, because I think that
a lot of people don't realizethat, your training is just part
(46:45):
of your life and it all needs tobe able to work together because
all of it adds stress to yourbody and to your system, and you
have to be able to manage thatstress like so that you're not
overloading the body andbreaking the body down, but
you're still.
Putting enough load on it sothat you're allowing adaptation
and allowing people to makeprogress, which is really
important.
So I couldn't agree more withthe personalized side of things.
(47:08):
it was funny when I was talkingto Jordan, your husband, for
those of listeners, we weretalking about, you guys.
Our running coaches as well, andhe's how are we gonna navigate
this?
we do the same thing.
And I was like, yeah, but we'renot the right coaches for
everybody.
And that, so that, I do lovethat you said that because there
are people that listen to thispodcast that maybe would, would
want a different kind of coachand my whole goal is to help as
(47:30):
many people as possible.
And if that's with us,fantastic.
And if not, then like I wantpeople to be able to get the
help that they need, to succeedin this because running can be
such a wonderful.
Addition to your life, and Ithink that is so important of
having a personalized plan,having that attention and having
a coach that really understandswhere you are and is willing to
(47:51):
work with you and not just tellyou what to do.
Yeah, exactly.
there's so many plans out therethat you can just, you can go
by, yeah.
a training plan and follow it,but is it really the right one?
Yeah.
Who knows?
Because there's no real thoughtI know behind it to take into
account.
Whereas like with Run, do, andyou know there's the matching
(48:12):
feature, which essentially youhave it in your own hands to say
I want someone who's supermotivational, I don't wanna run
this much, Yeah.
I don't need it to be superscientific.
I wanna male coach, and we canhelp you find.
That coach.
Yeah.
But then we also ask that, thathey, do the free consultations
meet with a couple differentcoaches.
(48:33):
Just because you meet with onethat may not be the right one.
Yeah.
'cause it's important.
It is, yeah.
to get to know them and havethat conversation because.
In my own experience, I've had afew coaches in my life, and
finding the right one isactually more so about getting
to know the coach.
Not just looking at theiraccolades on paper, Yeah.
(48:53):
there's tons of great coachesand programs and things out
there on paper, but until youreally get.
To know the coach and theprogram behind it, you have no
idea if it's gonna work for you.
Yeah, and I think it's alsoimportant for people not to just
choose a coach based on thecoach's accolades.
Like I see a lot that a lot inthe running world now is like
(49:14):
people think that they.
Oh, I've run a fast marathon nowI can go coach runners.
And it's not necessarily, likejust because you're fast doesn't
mean that you're qualified tocoach other people, Yeah.
And I think that's like a big,myth that's out there is like
your coach's success does notnecessarily mean that your coach
is a good coach.
there are plenty of really goodcoaches out there that maybe
(49:37):
didn't.
Run as fast, Yeah, I know.
I'm one of those, I didn't runin college.
I definitely do not have any,anything close to a professional
time, but I know I'm a damn goodcoach.
And so yeah, there's both,right?
there's perf, previous runnersthat are really good coaches,
and then there's previousrunners that are not good
coaches and then vice versa.
so anyway.
Tara, this has been a really funconversation with you.
(49:59):
before we wrap up, is thereanything that.
We haven't talked about yet thatyou would like to leave our
runners with any thoughts onyour end?
No, I think I just, I reallyhope that people find joy in
running and yeah.
Make time for it, and find acoach that fits you to help you.
Reach your goals is the mostimportant part, and yeah.
(50:19):
find a running buddy.
Those are always great too.
Those, that's what, absolutely.
Especially as you get older, youlose the team atmosphere and
Sometimes it's great to just.
Plan a little run date or getinvolved with a community.
Yeah.
There's tons of run clubs andthings that people are looking
for.
So just get involved.
it's a really fun community tobe a part of.
Yeah.
I couldn't agree more.
(50:40):
And I think that's, and you canfind things virtually now too,
right?
if you have people in person,fantastic.
But if not, there are virtualcommunities that you can be a
part of that are supersupportive.
like ours, like we, we do, wehave our team, that is super
supportive and there's peoplethat are all around the world
that are just supporting eachother and they're running and
connecting and it's just sopowerful to see that and I love
it.
if people want to work with youor learn more about you, where
(51:03):
is the best way for them toconnect with you?
Yeah, run Doan is the best spotthere.
they can connect with me onthere or other coaches'cause I
might not be the best fit, butif someone thinks that I could
be a good fit for them,definitely check out Run Doan.
We have about 23 coaches onthere, so hopefully one of those
will, will match your needs.
Run, doin is the best spot andhappy to connect via email or
(51:25):
video chat, whichever worksbest.
Perfect.
Awesome.
Alright, thank you so much Tara,and we'll put her information in
the show notes as well if youguys wanna connect with Tara
online.
So thank you so much for yourtime.
What's up runners?
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Real LifeRunners podcast.
Today I'm sitting down with TaraWelling, a former professional
runner for Nike and Sketchers,two time national champion, four
time qualifier for the USOlympic trials, and now a mom of
two and a coach who's passionateabout helping runners of all
levels thrive.
Tara's story is powerful.
She takes us back to her firstmiles in elementary school
(00:21):
through her rise to theprofessional circuit.
And into the side of the sportthat so many people don't see
that professional level and howshe experienced the pressure,
the burnout, and the struggleswith body image that can come
with competing at that highestlevel.
And though most of us are nevergoing to compete at that highest
level or experience any of that,we as real life runners can
(00:42):
really still connect with someof the struggles that Tara had.
So we talk about how steppingaway from the sport really
helped her to rebuild ahealthier relationship with
running one that is groundedmore in balance and joy and
self-respect, and how she'snavigated running through
different transitions in herlife, like pregnancy now into
(01:02):
motherhood, and now into herexperience as a a running coach
too.
So regardless of what pace yourun or what level you're
currently at, I want you tolisten to today's episode with
an open mind and really hear herstory of grit and growth and
finding the joy in runningagain.
So whether you're trying tochase a new PR or just trying to
(01:23):
fall back in love with runningTara's journey is going to
inspire you to run your own raceand love the miles along the
way.
So let's jump in.
Audio Only - All Participan (01:54):
All right.
Welcome to today's podcast.
I'm very excited to have TaraWelling here on the podcast with
me.
What's up, Tara?
How are you?
Good, good.
I'm doing great, thanks.
Awesome.
Just finished my run thismorning, actually.
Ooh, that's good.
I did not run today.
I went out on a walk thismorning.
let's start by just introducingyou to our audience.
for those of you that don't knowyou yet, can you just tell us a
(02:15):
little bit about who you are andmaybe how you got into running?
So my name's Tara Welling.
I was a former professionalrunner.
started with Nike, went toSketchers, and then just
continued on the competitive,circuit after that, even though
I wasn't professional, but I gotinto running, oh gosh, probably.
(02:36):
I think I could start running inthe second grade, for like our
elementary cross country team.
And it was just one of thosethings that all my friends did
it.
and I said, why not?
It was, running came natural tome and I really enjoyed it.
my primary sport was, soccer andsoftball, so I played club for
both of those and.
(02:57):
If there's any soccer players,that you run a ton, in soccer.
And so running was always there.
I just didn't really focus on ituntil about oh, high school,
honestly.
I ran a fast time supposedly.
I didn't know what that meant.
in.
in seventh grade.
and then the eighth grade year,I didn't do cross country.
(03:19):
it just wasn't my thing.
but then that coach told thehigh school coach like, Hey,
you've gotta get her to run.
she's just, she's a natural,she's good at it, get her to
run.
And by sophomore year, that'swhen I started running cross
country.
Okay.
So in sophomore year of highschool.
And then were you still playingsoccer and softball at that
time, or did you really focusjust on running.
(03:39):
I was still playing competitivesoccer.
played club soccer at thatpoint.
I chose to stop softball goinginto high school.
Yeah.
I just, I couldn't keep up withtwo club sports.
with soccer being four days aweek plus the weekend.
Yeah.
so soccer was the main focus.
That's what I wanted to go tocollege for.
that was the goal.
I just thought Fine.
I'll give this running thing ashot and See what happens.
(04:01):
Yeah.
and it was great.
I really, truly loved it, whichis why I continued on.
but I was like a late bloomer tothe sport, I wouldn't call that
a late bloomer, I would say,you're still a teenager for
goodness sake.
That's true.
It's true.
Yeah.
we've got a lot of people thatstart running in their forties
or fifties even.
you were fresh face and carefreeat that point in time.
So what kind of.
(04:21):
At what point did you chooserunning over soccer?
'cause it sounds being a clubsoccer player, I know because
we're, my husband and I areactually high school cross
country coaches, and so we dohave a lot of kids from the
soccer side come over to crosscountry for their quote unquote
conditioning, right?
Yeah.
And so they just wanna keeprunning.
but it's very clear to us, withmost of them that soccer is the
priority.
(04:41):
So what, at what point did youdecide that running was really
your thing and how did you makethat choice?
Yeah, it was a hard decision.
junior and senior year I was, Iwas getting letters for running,
I was getting letters forsoccer.
I didn't know which one, I knewin the long term.
Running was something I could dofor the rest of my life and that
(05:01):
I could probably go professionalin it.
whereas, and that was probablyabout junior year in college,
but in high school it was like,I just loved soccer.
I loved the team aspect of it.
Yeah.
And so that's what I was lookingfor in college.
it was like, do I take thesoccer route, have the team, but
then I didn't feel like I had alot of control over what could
(05:24):
be beyond that.
whereas like I knew if I trainedhard, listened to my coach, did
everything right, I could goprofessional in running.
Okay.
I truly believe that.
Whereas soccer, there's just.
There's not a whole lot of Blackand white of who's gonna make
it.
it's, yeah.
with running, you've got times,you've got places, with team
sports, it could be what teamyou're on, who's the coach, What
(05:47):
are all the politics behind thesport?
Yeah.
Sure.
and I really was, I was lovingrunning, I just started to fall
in love with the running at thatpoint, and I had decided
ultimately to run in college.
but then even still, like when Iwent to LMU.
Even that college coach waslike, Hey, you could still play
soccer.
Like it's, yeah, you could doboth.
I'm like, and at that point Iwas like, man, I'm actually
(06:09):
pretty small to play soccer.
some of these girls are prettybig, And I was like, 105 pounds.
So I was like, I don't know.
That seems tough.
yeah.
So I went, I chose running.
I sure love it, but I still lovesoccer.
Yeah.
Like our daughter plays soccernow and Just the atmosphere, the
team aspect of it.
I think it's important too.
Yeah.
And you can't, you can get thatin running.
(06:30):
It's different for sure.
But I think that is the coolthing is that so many people
think that running is a solosport and there's so much,
comradery that you can getinside of the running community.
Course you ran on a collegeteam.
So there is that team aspect.
But even afterwards, I thinkthere's a lot of things that we
can do within the runningcommunity that really makes it
less isolating, which is cool.
(06:51):
So what I'm hearing you say thenis that it's really your
longevity in the sport thatreally drew you more to running
versus soccer is like you knewthat you could not only pursue
this in college, but then also,after college more on a
professional level.
Yeah, exactly.
I would just, I wanted to stayin the sport.
And so I, I had thought thatrunning was the way Yeah.
(07:14):
to continue.
So did you have that realizationin high school or was it more
like college that you decidedyou really wanted to pursue it
professionally?
Like how did your relationshipwith running evolve, like during
your collegiate years and makeyou decide Yes.
I actually do wanna go pro withthis.
Yeah, I think it was my junioryear in college.
(07:35):
I had run like one of thefastest times in the 10 K that
year, and I didn't feel like Iwas doing anything special, like
I was just.
Going to practice every day,just doing it, And then yeah,
the times just started to drop,I'd take a minute off my 10 k
time or 30 seconds off my 5Ktime.
And I was just like, wow, likethis is a lot of fun.
(07:57):
Like running fast is really fun.
Yeah.
and so it was probably by aboutmy end of my junior year, my
coach was like, you could dothis.
And I was like, really?
I could do this professionally.
And he's yeah, if you, Just,keep training and stay healthy
and you love it.
you can run professionally.
And so that was they got the bugin my ear to hey, maybe this is
(08:17):
a reality, Yeah.
so that's where it all startedwas junior year Of college.
So did you like when you were incollege running, did you feel
pressure like around body image,body weight, nutrition, like
those kinds of things?
Because I know like it dependson, from the people that I've
talked to, it depends on whatschool and what program.
(08:38):
You're in, Like what the cultureis but what was that experience
like for you, as a woman runningin her twenties and, this is as
your body is starting to changein your twenties and mature even
more.
What was that experience like?
Yeah.
there's still, even to this day,there's still a lot of.
stress or pressure with bodyimage in In college and yeah.
it was something that I dealtwith also, but I feel like I was
(09:00):
lucky that I was surrounded by areally good support system in
college.
it was never, The coach actuallylooked at it as if there are
people that are too thin, weneed to get help.
we need to stay healthy so thatwe can run.
There was never, that's good.
There was never pressure from myteam or from my coaches.
that it's like you've gotta,you've gotta be thinner to run
(09:21):
faster.
it was actually the opposite.
I remember there was a time likejunior year, sophomore year that
I did get too skinny and mycoach had told me, he's if you
lose any more weight, you're notgonna be racing.
and Yeah.
'cause he put our health beforerunning and I love that.
at the time I was the number onerunner on the team and I wasn't
(09:41):
gonna get a pass, It wasbasically like, yeah, I know
you're number one for our team,but if you're not healthy, then
you're not gonna run.
So I felt like that I was in areally good position that I
could do well in running becauseI had the full support system.
But I know there's a lot ofprograms that are not like that,
which is unfortunate, and it canultimately like, ruin people's
(10:01):
lives or careers for that point.
but yeah, it's really sad.
But I think if you find theright program and the right
coach, you can either get thehelp that you need.
Yeah.
Or you cannot, you would justnever end up going down that
route.
Yeah, for sure.
How do you think that kind ofplays out into just the running
culture at large?
Like obviously collegiaterunners and professional runners
(10:25):
are on a different level thanthose of us that are just
running for our health orrunning for fitness or trying to
set our own prs in halfmarathon, five Ks, whatever it
might be.
it's a bit of a different levelat different speeds, but like
how much do you think that ideaof Having a smaller body will
help you as a runner.
How does that kind of translateover into the general running
(10:47):
population in like yourexperience?
'cause I know you're a coach nowas well.
So what have you seen as far aswomen in body image and running?
I feel like it's, I feel likefor.
My age now it's not, I feel likea lot of the pressure is in
these, sometimes it's startingin junior high, but it's like
(11:07):
high school and college is a lotof where the stress comes from
and it's because of socialmedia.
and I think as your mentalitychanges with sport, you lose
that mentality of havingeverything under control and
nitpicking.
Every little thing.
Whereas, you actually get fasterwhen you're eating more and
(11:29):
focusing less on, or focusingmore on putting healthy food
into your body can, instead ofkeeping track of everything that
you put in your body.
Yeah.
That is greater.
I totally agree with you and Ithink that this is like
important for people to hearbecause I think that.
The everyday runner, the reallife runner as we like to call
(11:49):
them.
they look at professionalrunners and they look at the
size of their bodies and thingslike that.
And because of diet, culture andall the other things that we
have being thrown at us all thetime, there's this idea that,
oh, if I just lose weight, thenI'll be faster.
If I just lose weight, thenI'll.
fill in the blank with whatevergoal they're trying to
accomplish.
And so I think it's reallyimportant for them to hear that
(12:10):
from you as a professionalrunner.
And some people might write itoff and be like, oh, she's just
professional so she's too good.
But I think that, hearing thatmessage of you are going to
improve as a runner when youfuel your body, like when you
eat more, when you're thinkthinking about your health, not
just restricting caloriesbecause of your body size.
(12:31):
And there's a lot of things thatgo into weight.
there's There's your muscle, orhow explosive is that muscle?
How strong is that muscle?
that's gonna weigh more thanthat.
Or so it's if you're doing theright things and also building
muscle, then that will translateto running faster as well.
Like even, up until, I ran myfastest marathon at, after
(12:53):
having two kids.
So That's awesome.
you definitely, and part of thatwas like strength work and
Different type of training.
It wasn't just running more.
I was actually running less atthe time.
my long runs were long, but Iwas nowhere close to running a
hundred miles a week.
Like I used to the same volume.
Yeah.
So how did your.
we're jumping ahead a little bithere, but like, how did your
(13:14):
training change during thatphase?
Like, how was your training,like when you ran your fastest
marathon time as a mom of two?
How was that training differentthan say, the way that you
trained previously?
yeah, so there was, I had acouple different, coaches,
throughout my professionalcareer.
and I just found that.
even in college, my sweet spotof mileage was like 70 to 80.
(13:38):
I just, I felt good off of it.
I could run fast off of it.
there was a time that I wasrunning a hundred miles a week
and I was running slower almostthan ever, And, I broke a bone
every time I read a hundredmiles a week.
Yeah.
And then transitioning, postprofessionally, I ran my fastest
was 2 36 and as a mom of two andI was running, I hit 70 miles a
(14:03):
week.
A couple.
Times here and there.
which is a lot, that's a lot forYeah.
your normal runner.
but I was also, trying to hit anOlympic standard, so I was
running probably a little bitmore than average, but my, my
long runs were long, my workoutswere long, but then the days in
between were like five.
Six miles.
(14:24):
Yeah.
just because I needed to recoveror got kids waking up early or
I'm not sleeping well.
so in, in minutes, would you saylike how minutes wise,'cause
like mileage, I think that canget lost on people sometimes,
right?
Because, your paces areobviously much faster than the
average runner as aprofessional.
So minutes wise, how long werelike your weekday runs then,
(14:45):
like your, five, six miles thatyou were doing.
Yeah.
So if I was just doing, an easyrun during the week I would say
about 45, yeah.
50 minutes Is what I was doing.
and those were like trulyrecovery days.
for me recovery is like eight toeight 30 pace.
Yeah.
When training for a marathon,compared to doing workouts or a
long run.
And then my long runs were liketwo hours to two hours and 20
(15:09):
minutes.
Yeah.
And of at the peak of marathontraining.
Yeah.
And I think that's important forpeople to hear, right?
Because they sometimes hearabout mileage and they're, they
think, oh my gosh, I could neverrun that.
Which is fine, and most peopleshouldn't, right?
Yeah.
Like you were mentioning, likethat's not the average at all
because you are running at adifferent level trying to hit an
Olympic.
(15:29):
Standard time, like that's atotally different level to train
versus someone that's trying torun a half marathon or someone
that's running, trying to run,their local 5K or 10 K and just
get their own personal best.
And it, that's why I think it ishelpful to translate it to
time-based running versus justmileage because people can.
(15:50):
Relate more to that.
it's not like you're going outand training for six hours on
the weekend.
you're still, you're still doinglike a two to two and a half
hour run, which is what a lot ofpeople do, and a lot of people
can relate to that.
Their mileage is just a littlebit different during that,
during that time.
And I think that it's reallyimportant to point that out
because.
The body knows time and effort,right?
The body doesn't know distanceand pace, and so I think it's
(16:13):
really important, like your paceis just fa much faster than a
lot of people, but you're stillgoing out there and you're
hitting the same effort levelsand you're hitting the same time
on your feet.
It's just the mileage isdifferent for you.
Let's talk a little bit about,one of the things I would love
to focus on with you, becauseyou've, you started running at
such a young age.
you ran through collegeprofessionally and now you're
(16:33):
running as a mom of two.
is this idea of like transitionsbecause I think that running is
one of these amazing things andI love that you even chose
running because of the long,your ability to have running, be
there for the rest of your life,but.
You're not gonna be aprofessional runner your whole
life.
Like this is something that wejust clearly know, right?
(16:53):
you're not gonna be aprofessional runner most likely
when you're 80, unless you'responsored by like some, who
knows?
Maybe you can be right at thatpoint.
But, in general, running's goingto be different things to you at
different points in your life.
And so you've gone through someof these transitions already.
So I would love to just hearfrom you, how has your identity,
like as a runner changedthroughout the years and like
(17:15):
what running means in your lifeand your approach to running?
Yeah, in, in, college andprofessionally, like running was
my entire life, Yes, it was myjob, but it was like everything
was focused around that, like weWe'd go on trips, I'm husband
would go on trips and he'd planout like all my runs To make
sure I was able to train.
(17:37):
Yeah.
and I wouldn't miss a day oftraining, or if it meant getting
up at 3:00 AM to go for a run,like I'd get up at 3:00 AM to go
for a run, like To me, that'scrazy.
Now, probably not gonna do thatanymore.
whereas running now for me.
it's, I would say it's a verybig part of my life and I still
love to do it every single day.
(17:57):
But I'm not worried about likehow far.
I ran or what pace I ran,There's some times where I'm
just like, exhausted and we livein a really hilly area and I'm
like, I think I'm just gonnawalk this hill.
Like I need a little break.
Like I'm tired.
but I still feel good.
I still feel good mentally just.
Getting out, running, it'shealthy for me.
(18:18):
And that's what I enjoy.
But I'm not like, oh man, Ijust, I didn't hit my paces for
that run.
Or, Yeah.
I don't even really do workoutsanymore.
Every once in a while I'll feelmotivated and do some hill
sprints or Do some, fart, likerunning.
But I pretty much just enjoyrunning at the base level, like
just Putting my shoes on,getting my watch going out the
(18:39):
door.
I'm creature habit.
I'll do the same route everysingle day.
No problem.
But it's not my entire life.
I'm not gonna, oh, I've gotta goget 15 miles in this weekend.
Yeah.
It's just not me anymore.
Yeah.
and I'm okay with that too,which is wonderful.
Yeah.
Do you still race?
I have not raced in quite awhile.
(19:01):
I, my last race was, The clubCross country championships.
So we moved, from Oregon toTexas.
And so my last race with theteam that I was training with
was cross country, and I did itjust because I was like, Hey, I
love these girls.
Yeah.
This is fun.
I'm not big on cross country.
it's not what I would choose todo.
but my team was doing it and Iwanted I wanted to be there.
(19:22):
So that was the last race that Idid.
Cool.
So cool.
So what was running like foryou, as you, actually let me get
a little clarity on kind of yourprofessional career.
So you started runningprofessionally after college,
and then at what point did youstart having kids and were you
still running professionally,like during motherhood, like
(19:43):
during your pregnancies andmotherhood?
Yeah.
So I went, I turned professionalin 2012.
I ran with Nike for a few yearsand then, I actually had a few
months where I was like, I'm notrunning professionally ever.
Again, I'm done.
I was done with the sport.
(20:04):
Yeah.
and I had a friend or a coachsay Hey, you can still run fast.
yes, you are broken down and,the sport beat you up, but like
you can still run fast.
And and I was continuing totrain, I was like, I just didn't
want to follow a regimentedcalendar.
I just needed like a break fromWere you just feeling burnt out?
(20:24):
Yeah, I was just burnt out.
I had, fractured my hip fromrunning, so I was just like at a
loss, With the sport.
And I had a friend say, you canstill run fast.
And I was in this position of doI look for another sponsor?
do I not?
and that's when I had talked toKara Goucher and, what was, it
wasn't, MEB was done at thatpoint or getting outta the
(20:46):
sport.
but I had seen what Kara didwith Sketchers and the team
there, and I was like, thatseems like a company that.
I could run for just some goodpeople behind the company.
and actually my husband was theone that kind of helped me get
the contract with that one.
And I got a coach and, I talkedwith the coach and I, we were,
he was very on board with whatkind of training works for you?
(21:08):
I'm not gonna tell you.
How you should train, let's justgo back to the basics of what
you were doing in college whenyou ran your fastest times.
Yeah.
And so we started that way andstarted training that way again.
And we added in some plyometricsand speed and, that was when I
started running fast again,prior faster than what I was
(21:28):
running in college and evenprofessionally.
so yeah, a little bit of atangent, but yeah, that was, and
then.
So 20, about 15 or 16 is when Istarted running with Sketchers.
And that was really like mybreakout year with running.
I just, I did really well on theroads and ran some fast times
and I was having fun.
(21:48):
I think that's why like I wasreally enjoying the sport like
back in college, like thingswere going really well.
I was really enjoying it.
And then the fast times comewhen you're in a good position.
Can I interrupt you for asecond?
Yeah, go ahead and talk a littlebit more about that, because
like you were enjoying her a lotin college, and then what
happened, like when you wererunning for Nike, that kind of
(22:09):
led you to feeling more burntout.
Yeah, because I think this is animportant thing for people to
hear because so many people, Ithink even recreational runners,
they start in the sport becausethey want to challenge
themselves.
They wanna get in shape, they,and they find it fun.
They, so they start running andthen all of a sudden they get to
this phase where.
Times and their paces start tomatter more.
(22:31):
And like they it's almost, Iknow that you're obviously
talking about a professionalcareer here, but there's a lot
of recreational runner I thinkthat go through this too.
And they like start to see theirpaces and their times and they
get so focused on improvementthat they can.
Oftentimes burn themselves outagain and I love to hear that
you then came out of that andfound more joy and that's when
you really had yourbreakthrough, which is so cool.
(22:53):
So in that point where you werefeeling more burnt out, what do
you think was leading to that?
yeah, so there wasn't, withNike, there wasn't much of a
team.
okay.
There, there was like a couple,like my first year I was the
only girl.
but, and there was a few guys,so there was no team atmosphere.
Which is, coming from college,you just go from yeah.
(23:14):
15 girls to yourself.
and my training went up to 90.
90, a hundred miles a week.
and it was also very, sprintfocused and like interval very
fast.
which is not my strength when Irun.
really fast.
It takes me longer time torecover.
(23:36):
Yeah.
but I didn't have much of a sayin what that recovery was gonna
be.
like I was expecting okay, I dida really hard session here, so
I'm just gonna go out and jogtomorrow, basically super easy.
but we had paces assigned forour easy runs.
And so we had to run like 6 45,7 minute pace for our easy runs.
(23:58):
And that was just like beatingme down.
'cause I just like one, Imentally needed a break.
Yeah.
Because I can't run fast everysingle day, Which seven, seven
minute pace to me at that timewasn't necessarily fast, but.
It was the pressure of no,you've got around like six 30 to
seven minute pace on your easyruns.
Yeah.
And that after, that's a wholelevel of, and that's a whole
level of mental pressure aswell.
(24:19):
Yeah.
Like not just the physicalpressure of that pace, but also
the mental pressure of I need tobe on and make sure that I'm in
this zone and window.
Yeah.
And so it was just like, it wasjust really hard training and
not enough recovery.
and then just the stress of.
I was told that I needed to bethinner and things like that and
Okay.
get more muscle in certainareas, which I didn't really
(24:42):
understand how you get moremuscle in certain areas.
you can't just be like, okay, Ineed my shoulders to get bigger.
Like it doesn't quite work.
It's not how the body works.
Yeah.
When you're also told you needto lose a couple pounds.
So it was just, it was a very,like trying time with running
and it wasn't always enjoyable.
So that's why I felt like I justneeded to step away before
(25:03):
coming back.
Yeah.
So it sounds like it was reallya major focus on.
The way your body looked, focuson more intensity over anything
else, like intensity and, pacingand didn't allow you to listen
to your body, like you were justforced to be in this box and do
what everybody else was tellingyou to do.
(25:25):
And ignore some of the thingsthat your body was trying to
tell you.
Yeah.
Especially for the first likeyear or so, in, in, in that
environment.
and then I got a new coach Stillwithin Nike, and it did, it got
a lot better.
Yeah.
there was a little, there wasmore recovery, the mileage was a
little bit lower.
each session was a little bitless intense, I would say, or
(25:48):
geared more towards Hitting.
Hitting times that we're capableof instead of trying to push
beyond that.
Yeah.
and so I was doing much betterat that point with a, kind of
the new coach.
so then contrast that toSketchers.
Like when you started going intoSketchers and you started like
your break breakout year, whatdid your training look like then
that helped to really bring thejoy back into it, because I
(26:09):
think that's a huge part of ittoo, is you know, you really
started to enjoy running again.
And I think that this is such animportant aspect that a lot of
runners forget about sometimeswhen they get so focused on
their prs and their paces andtheir distances.
so what did your training looklike?
In 2016 when you had thatbreakout?
Yeah, so we had, we dropped themileage back down Yeah.
(26:32):
To like seventies, eighties.
we focused more on like strengthwork.
What I mean by that, notstrength work, in the gym, yes.
But we also did like strengthworkouts, like longer intervals,
mild repeats, progression runs.
The, that type of training forme allows me to get fit really
(26:53):
fast.
and I can also recover well offof it.
you give me five times a mile,I'll feel great.
I can go, I can do 10 miles thenext day off of that.
You make me do, 15 by 400, I'mgonna be like crawling for days,
'cause it's a different system,that you're using.
And so for me, we focused moreon that other system of just
(27:16):
running longer, still at a fastpace, but I could recover from
that.
It was, it felt easier on mybody.
and so that's what led to thattrajectory of just running fast.
Yeah.
So more of the tempo basedintervals versus like the sprint
intervals.
Yeah.
And so we did more of those.
we still did sprints, but wedid, we, yeah.
(27:37):
Went that direction more so than400 meter repeats, a hundred
meter repeats, eight hundreds.
Yeah.
we just sprinkled those inthere.
And we worked on speed in otherways with like plyometrics and
weight training.
Yeah.
and that's how we hit thatsystem.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it was very, it sounds likeit was just a very well-rounded
program in a lot of ways Thatwas working more towards your
(27:59):
strengths.
And highlighting your strengthswith that, mid-distance, tempo
type of pacing, versus trying toforce your body into something
that it's not as well set upfor.
Exactly.
yeah.
And each, each person isdifferent.
Some people just a hundredpercent really do well off of
that, and they get really fastand really fit.
Yeah.
And for me, I just get reallytired and really broken down.
(28:23):
Yeah.
And I think that's reallyimportant for people to hear is
like there is not one correctway.
every runner is an individualand every runner has their own
strengths and My husband, he ranin college as well, and he
loves, the tempo type of things.
That is not my favorite thing todo at all.
Like I'd rather go out and doquarter repeats any day of the
week, but that's just because Ithink part of it's also just
(28:43):
what you enjoy.
yes, it's what feels good inyour body, but it's also, like
you said, what's what you enwhat you enjoy and.
Seems fun to you.
and I think that's so importantfor people to know that even at
a professional level, it isstill really important to have
that enjoyment in there.
Otherwise you get burnt out andinjured, in the process of it
too.
Yeah.
so let's get into your journey,like through pregnancy and
(29:06):
motherhood and what running isnow like for you.
I know that you raced.
When pregnant did I seesomething that you set, like a,
your 5K record or your best,you, you won some, like a really
important race, like a 5K whenyou were pregnant?
Oh, it was, there was a, thePortland Track Festival, there's
a race that we do and we usuallydo a three K, like cross country
(29:29):
style race.
Yeah.
And so it's Portland versusSeattle.
And I think Vancouver was thereat the time.
Oh, sorry.
But there was like a three Kthere once and then that I ran
pregnant, but there was also the5K.
And I had won the 5K and I thinkI was like 18 or 17 weeks
pregnant or something.
Yeah.
So there was.
(29:49):
Definitely a bump, but it alsowas like awkward.
you not, yeah.
It's that phase that you're not,you told me have a bump.
Yeah.
But you also don't feel greateither, at that point.
So I was just like, I think Iforget, I won the race, but I
think it was like I had wantedto run like under.
17 minutes or something.
Yeah, because I was 17, 17 weekspregnant.
(30:11):
Oh yeah.
so yeah, I did a couple racespregnant.
I ran a half when I waspregnant.
the 5K and then one of the otherbig ones is hood to coast.
how many people know about hoodto coast?
Yeah.
but it's a pretty big likeovernight relay race That I ran
it like.
28 weeks pregnant.
Okay.
and averaged like, I don't know,5 45, 6 minute pace.
(30:33):
Yeah.
For my legs.
but I love joining pregnant.
Like I actually felt good forMost of the pregnancy.
my first one.
I couldn't run a whole lot theway that she was positioned and
moving.
There was times where I couldn'trun, but I could bike an
elliptical.
Yeah.
And then there was other weekswhere I couldn't bike an
elliptical, but I could run.
(30:54):
Yeah.
Which was like really weird.
Yeah.
so it was like a trial and errorwith pregnancy too, of is it
gonna work today?
Is it not?
Like Where's the babysitting?
so it was always sort.
I might have a plan to go runsix miles, but that plan might
be cut short because Yeah.
Something's hurting or it justdoesn't feel right.
So it was that part of my lifewith running helped me
(31:15):
transition to, it can't alwaysbe what you wanted to be.
Yeah.
Every day.
because before that I would say,this is my training calendar for
the week.
This is what has to get done.
And that's what I did.
Yeah.
and when I was pregnant.
I had a training calendar, likeI had my goals for the week.
But I quickly realized that theydidn't always happen that way.
(31:38):
Yeah.
there was times where I waslike, I think I just need a nap.
I'm just, I'm exhausted, I'mtired.
and then there's other dayswhere I would be like, I'm gonna
run five miles.
And I'd be like, oh man, I feelgreat and I'd run eight.
So it really taught me in thisspirit of my life that.
Everything's not gonna go theway that I want it to go.
Yeah.
with running.
being pregnant because Yeah.
(32:00):
You just, you.
You can't control each day Beingpregnant or know what you're
gonna feel like.
And so that was a real learningcurve for me, with running too.
and I'm sure it prepared youperfectly for motherhood too,
because it's not once you havethe babies, everything is
exactly the way you want it tobe.
Exactly.
Yeah.
so what has it been like for younow, like navigating, running
(32:22):
and motherhood?
Because I know that.
You competed in the Olympictrials last year, in the
marathon as a mom of two, right?
what has running been like sinceyou have been a mother and how
has, have things shifted foryou?
Yeah, the last Olympic trials Ihad run to qualify.
I had run 2 36.
Which, the people making theOlympic team are running two 20
(32:45):
And change.
so I knew that wasn't a goal ofmine.
I was just really happy to bethere.
Yeah.
I hadn't missed an Olympictrials, whether on the track or
on the road, since 2012.
And so for me, that was just ahuge goal of getting there.
With kids.
I had, really fit my training inearly in the morning.
I'd train at six 30 in themorning and my husband would
(33:08):
take over the kid duty for themorning.
there wasn't a whole lot ofdouble runs at that point, I was
like lucky to get in a strengthtraining maybe once or twice a
week.
Yeah.
For 30 minutes.
But I had some dedicated time totrain, and that was my time to
do what I wanted to do.
with running.
And so with kids it changed thatmy mentality changed with racing
(33:32):
that, I also just wanna show mykids that you can do hard
things.
they may not go according toplan.
You always start what youfinish.
And so I think my kids think Iprobably still won that race.
if you ask them, I crossed thefinish line, so they think I
won.
But I was like so cute.
Like I was probably like secondto last in that race, at the
(33:53):
Olympic trials.
and so I has there was multipletimes it was a loop course.
Yeah.
I was like, I had multipletimes.
It was a hot day too.
It was super hot.
We already started at 11 orsomething.
Ridiculous.
Yeah, 10 really thinking, comeon, it's in Orlando.
People like, this is not a goodidea.
All about the, yeah.
Yeah.
So it was, it was tough.
Like the whole buildup, I justdidn't quite feel right.
(34:14):
Like I felt good doing theshorter stuff, which was weird.
But once I got to 15 miles, 16miles in long runs, like I just.
I could never figure out likewhat was going on.
I just, my legs didn't quitehave it, so I was like hoping by
the time that the race camearound that it would go well,
but pretty much the same thinghappened, yeah.
How old were your kids at thetime?
(34:36):
daughter was, she had justturned six and our youngest one
was three.
Okay.
Two, yeah.
or no, two, I think it was twoat the time.
so yeah.
Super young still.
Yeah.
but they understood that mommyliked to run.
they've been to a lot of, likemy track races.
(34:57):
Yeah.
our daughter had done a coupleraces here and there, That I
would, that we would go to if wewere running, obviously.
yeah.
So to them, we had, we'd made atrip out of it.
We did the whole Disney Worldthing afterwards.
but during the race it was justsuper hot.
it was awful.
Like it was literally the worstrace I've ever run in my entire
(35:17):
life.
And at one point I got to Iforget what, how far the lube
course was, but I had missedseeing the kids like I couldn't
find them.
Yeah.
And so I was like, I'm not gonnastop until I see.
Family, So I just continued onhoping, praying I would see
them, and then I was like, maybeI'll drop out at that point,
Yeah.
And then I just kept thinking tomyself, I was like, kids don't
(35:40):
know how to drop out of a race.
that's a learned behavior, Theyalways see a race as there's a
finish line.
You start a race and there's afinish line, And so to me I was
like, I need to show them thateven if you don't feel good.
and there's nothing physicallywrong with me.
It's not like I was gonna go tothe hospital or something.
Yeah.
so finally found the kids and Iwas like, I'm not stopping.
(36:03):
Like they need to know that I'mgonna finish this race.
Because they had said that theywould be at the finish line.
So if I'm not, if I don't makeit to the finish line, what am I
gonna tell them?
Yeah.
Or what are they gonna think?
And it wasn't this like feelingof shame that I'm not gonna get
to the finish line.
It was more so of I want them toknow that if they're in this
position, they can get to thefinish line.
(36:23):
Yeah.
whether it's a race or whetherit's dealing with homework at
school or Social things, youalways have to see it to the
end.
And so that was my goal thatday.
It went from running really fastand doing well to what can I try
and teach my kids?
Of just finish the race and Igot to the finish line and they
were like, mommy, did you win?
(36:45):
Like you got to the finish line,you got a medal.
And I was like, that's exactlywhat I wanted them to think.
Yeah.
They think I won, Because youfinish the race.
So obviously they'll learn asthey get older that there's
gonna be some really tryingtimes in that.
But the finish line of whateverthat goal is the most important
Yeah.
Part to them.
(37:05):
Yeah.
And what did that race mean toyou?
'cause it sounds like obviouslyit meant a lot for you to finish
that race, like for your kidsand for the lessons, but then,
like, how did you feel when youfinished that race?
Like with everything that hadhappened?
Yeah.
It was, gosh, that was thelongest race of my life, like
time-wise and mentally, becauseit was just this constant battle
(37:26):
of yeah.
Do I drop out here?
No, I can't do that.
I want, I wanna show them thatyou can do this, And so for me
it was just, it was that battleof one, I've honestly never done
so bad in a race before, so thatwas hard for me too, to be like,
wow, I was almost last and I'venever had that feeling before.
And so I struggled with thattoo, is'cause there's a lot of
(37:47):
people, even professionals, likeonce you realize you're not
gonna hit your goal time or yourplace, step off the track,
right?
don't finish, Yeah.
It's not worth it because youdon't want, you don't wanna be
in the results and be the lastone at the On the page.
And yeah, I dealt with that ofoh, maybe like a DNF is probably
better than Last place, so thatwas like a struggle that I went
(38:09):
through.
and all this is happening duringthe race too.
All of this is happening duringthis race because I have so much
time to think about things.
but it really just came down toThe family's here.
The kids are watching, I'mphysically healthy enough to
finish this race.
Yeah.
They have no clue what placethey got.
And that doesn't matter to them,they got to see mommy cross the
finish line and get a medal.
Yeah.
(38:29):
So it's about doing it for apurpose greater than yourself.
Yeah, exactly.
I had no reason to finish thatrace for myself.
yeah.
Yes, I got a medal and Ifinished the Olympic trials, but
that wasn't my goal to just go,yeah, finish the Olympic trials.
but it was important to finishat that point.
That's very cool.
So you've gone from being aprofessional runner, from being
(38:51):
coach to now coaching others.
Yeah, and I think that's areally powerful shift,
especially as more women want tofeel strong and supported in
midlife, and you can use so muchof your own experience through,
A couple of decades now, right?
Like that you've been running.
yeah.
So to help other people.
So what would you like, what doyou wish that more women knew
(39:14):
about how to train moreconfidently as they age and as
they as running kind oftransitions for them in the, in
their own lives?
I think, important aspect for,women and men too, is that, and
part of the reason that we haveIan, is that there's not one
coach for everybody.
for a runner it's about findingthe right coach for you.
(39:37):
Yeah.
my example, the right coach forme is not gonna be.
Super analytical.
I don't need to know my heartrate, what zone I'm running in.
Yeah.
And all that stuff.
I, for me now, I want someonethat's probably gonna hold me
accountable a little bit more.
So more motivational mo Moremotivational.
Yeah.
but that may not work for somepeople.
(39:58):
some people, they're like, Ineed somebody that's gonna be
really hard on me.
Hold me accountable because lifegets in the way and I make
excuses not to go run or hit mygoals.
Yeah.
And there's a coach for that,But it's gonna be different than
what someone else wants in acoach.
And that's why we have Rene nowis because we used my social
(40:20):
network with, runners in thecommunity.
And my husband's the businessguy behind it all.
yeah.
But we've built this roster ofcoaches where, hey, we need to
have a bunch of differentcoaches that have Different that
can bring something different tothe table.
Yeah.
Because everyone who wants acoach is not gonna want the same
coach.
(40:40):
and for the people that I coach,I might not be the best fit for
somebody else.
Yeah.
And that's okay.
I'm not gonna be offended bythat.
I might say, Hey, I don't thinkI'm the right coach for you,
This person could be the rightcoach for you.
Yeah.
so now I just, I really likecoaching because I'm not so much
in the racing realm anymore.
I know the races that are outthere and what are happening,
(41:00):
but I feel like I have a lot ofexperience in the sport.
From a, physical aspect, mentalaspect that people are looking
for,'cause there's still peoplethat, there's a lot of people
who wanna be Q in their fifties,and Sure.
They're like.
Is it possible?
I'm like, yeah, it is.
Yeah.
like If you put in the work andwe alter your training to what
(41:22):
fits you well, yeah.
Not what I want you to do.
'cause I also need tounderstand.
How they perform well.
And adjust based on that.
And so that's really why we haverun Dwayne, is so that we can
help the everyday runner Findthe right coach for them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And what is your coachingphilosophy center around now,
like with, based on, all of yourexperience and now working with
(41:44):
other runners, like how do youlike to coach runners?
Like what do you think issomething important?
I don't wanna, I don't likeblanket statements in general,
but like so I, I hate to saywhat should all runners do, but
I think that there aredefinitely some very important
facets that like all runnersneed to focus on, just in
varying amounts.
so I'd love to know like yourtake and your coaching
philosophy on what are thethings that you like to focus on
(42:05):
when you're working withrunners?
Yeah.
I think, the number one thingfor running is the consistency,
which, yeah.
Which is hard.
Life gets in the way.
just travel.
People make excuses.
Yeah.
but running is not like riding abike.
What I say, you can't just pickup a bike and go for, you can
just pick up a bike and go for a30, 45 minute bike ride.
(42:27):
Yeah.
most people can do that.
You can't just decide one daythat you're gonna go run for 45
minutes.
It just doesn't quite work thatway.
So for me it's like runningneeds to be consistent.
It doesn't need to be every day,but it needs to be consistent.
And then, depending on whatthose, what that person's goals
are, if they're gonna be runninga half marathon, the staples are
(42:50):
like, first we need to make sureyou have time for a long run.
Like you're just, you're gonnahave to do a long run to run.
A longer race.
so that's always a staple.
mile repeats are always a staplein there're For the longer
races.
I guess right now I'm justtalking about the longer races.
I also really like doing theprogression runs.
(43:12):
I found those really enjoyableas a professional runner.
But I also think like mentally.
It put less stress on the longrun and more so of start out
slow, work your way into it overtime as you feel better, try and
bring the pace down.
Yeah, but like I don't wannaassign a pace to a long run.
(43:35):
Hey, you're getting ready for ahalf marathon.
You need to go run 10 miles atthis pace.
Because you may not feel thatgreat, or you may get a side
stitch, or you may come across ahill, Yeah.
I'm not running with thosepeople.
I'm writing their training plan,so there has to be some
flexibility.
So a progression run is alwaysone that it gives them the power
to.
Yeah.
(43:55):
To decide, which.
Is also training them for therace, mentally.
Because you have to have thepower within yourself to be
like, this is a good pace, or Ishould back off a little bit, or
I could pick it up here.
Yeah.
So it's also teaching themduring a progression run to
listen to their bodyEssentially.
And not just look at your watchand say, oh, I need to run this
(44:17):
pace.
I need to run this pace.
Yeah.
Because that's hard to do.
People get so caught up In whatis this pace that I need to run?
and yes, it's important ifyou're trying to run fast to hit
certain paces in certainworkouts, like mile repeats.
Yeah.
But for those longer races, it'sreally about effort as well.
and it's teaching them what thateffort is or getting them to
(44:38):
learn and understand their bodyabout effort.
So those are some staples that Ilike.
To throw in there.
Cool.
Is there anything, this is likean interesting question, but do
you feel like there's anythingthat you have had to unlearn
about running or performanceover the years?
something that you used tobelieve to be true that you have
(45:00):
had to rewrite as you've tr,transitioned and progressed
through your running career?
Yeah.
The, the number one thing isrunning more is not always,
better.
it's not always gonna make youfaster.
I feel like running more canmake you faster to a point.
And what that point is gonna bedifferent for everybody.
(45:21):
Totally.
some people they could runmarathons at and run 50 miles a
week And run really fast forthemself, Yeah.
Maybe we try and push that andgo to 65.
It doesn't work.
some people maybe they need torun more to run fast, and that's
their sweet spot.
But it's, that's where it reallytakes about finding the right
(45:42):
coach and getting to know yourathlete.
So that you know how to coachthem, because yeah, I've got a
couple people that are trainingfor half marathons, but I'm not
gonna say that they're all gonnarun the same weekly mileage or
Time on feet because Yeah.
One's female, one's male.
That's gonna be a bigdifference.
Yep.
their work schedules and whattheir body can handle are very
(46:04):
different.
So there isn't a blanket ofWe've got her run this much.
Yeah.
To run better.
Yeah.
Yeah, I absolutely agree.
I think that training needs tobe personalized and training
needs to be able to fit intoyour real life.
Because like you just said,there are some people that work
and there are people that, we'vegot, people on our team that
(46:25):
work 12 hour shifts and, allsorts of different things.
Like these training plans Cannotlook the same.
Like these bodies are different.
Your lives are different andyour training needs to be able
to adapt and work around yourreal life schedule.
In order for it to be the mosteffective, because I think that
a lot of people don't realizethat, your training is just part
(46:45):
of your life and it all needs tobe able to work together because
all of it adds stress to yourbody and to your system, and you
have to be able to manage thatstress like so that you're not
overloading the body andbreaking the body down, but
you're still.
Putting enough load on it sothat you're allowing adaptation
and allowing people to makeprogress, which is really
important.
So I couldn't agree more withthe personalized side of things.
(47:08):
it was funny when I was talkingto Jordan, your husband, for
those of listeners, we weretalking about, you guys.
Our running coaches as well, andhe's how are we gonna navigate
this?
we do the same thing.
And I was like, yeah, but we'renot the right coaches for
everybody.
And that, so that, I do lovethat you said that because there
are people that listen to thispodcast that maybe would, would
want a different kind of coachand my whole goal is to help as
(47:30):
many people as possible.
And if that's with us,fantastic.
And if not, then like I wantpeople to be able to get the
help that they need, to succeedin this because running can be
such a wonderful.
Addition to your life, and Ithink that is so important of
having a personalized plan,having that attention and having
a coach that really understandswhere you are and is willing to
(47:51):
work with you and not just tellyou what to do.
Yeah, exactly.
there's so many plans out therethat you can just, you can go
by, yeah.
a training plan and follow it,but is it really the right one?
Yeah.
Who knows?
Because there's no real thoughtI know behind it to take into
account.
Whereas like with Run, do, andyou know there's the matching
(48:12):
feature, which essentially youhave it in your own hands to say
I want someone who's supermotivational, I don't wanna run
this much, Yeah.
I don't need it to be superscientific.
I wanna male coach, and we canhelp you find.
That coach.
Yeah.
But then we also ask that, thathey, do the free consultations
meet with a couple differentcoaches.
(48:33):
Just because you meet with onethat may not be the right one.
Yeah.
'cause it's important.
It is, yeah.
to get to know them and havethat conversation because.
In my own experience, I've had afew coaches in my life, and
finding the right one isactually more so about getting
to know the coach.
Not just looking at theiraccolades on paper, Yeah.
(48:53):
there's tons of great coachesand programs and things out
there on paper, but until youreally get.
To know the coach and theprogram behind it, you have no
idea if it's gonna work for you.
Yeah, and I think it's alsoimportant for people not to just
choose a coach based on thecoach's accolades.
Like I see a lot that a lot inthe running world now is like
(49:14):
people think that they.
Oh, I've run a fast marathon nowI can go coach runners.
And it's not necessarily, likejust because you're fast doesn't
mean that you're qualified tocoach other people, Yeah.
And I think that's like a big,myth that's out there is like
your coach's success does notnecessarily mean that your coach
is a good coach.
there are plenty of really goodcoaches out there that maybe
(49:37):
didn't.
Run as fast, Yeah, I know.
I'm one of those, I didn't runin college.
I definitely do not have any,anything close to a professional
time, but I know I'm a damn goodcoach.
And so yeah, there's both,right?
there's perf, previous runnersthat are really good coaches,
and then there's previousrunners that are not good
coaches and then vice versa.
so anyway.
Tara, this has been a really funconversation with you.
(49:59):
before we wrap up, is thereanything that.
We haven't talked about yet thatyou would like to leave our
runners with any thoughts onyour end?
No, I think I just, I reallyhope that people find joy in
running and yeah.
Make time for it, and find acoach that fits you to help you.
Reach your goals is the mostimportant part, and yeah.
(50:19):
find a running buddy.
Those are always great too.
Those, that's what, absolutely.
Especially as you get older, youlose the team atmosphere and
Sometimes it's great to just.
Plan a little run date or getinvolved with a community.
Yeah.
There's tons of run clubs andthings that people are looking
for.
So just get involved.
it's a really fun community tobe a part of.
Yeah.
I couldn't agree more.
(50:40):
And I think that's, and you canfind things virtually now too,
right?
if you have people in person,fantastic.
But if not, there are virtualcommunities that you can be a
part of that are supersupportive.
like ours, like we, we do, wehave our team, that is super
supportive and there's peoplethat are all around the world
that are just supporting eachother and they're running and
connecting and it's just sopowerful to see that and I love
it.
if people want to work with youor learn more about you, where
(51:03):
is the best way for them toconnect with you?
Yeah, run Doan is the best spotthere.
they can connect with me onthere or other coaches'cause I
might not be the best fit, butif someone thinks that I could
be a good fit for them,definitely check out Run Doan.
We have about 23 coaches onthere, so hopefully one of those
will, will match your needs.
Run, doin is the best spot andhappy to connect via email or
(51:25):
video chat, whichever worksbest.
Perfect.
Awesome.
Alright, thank you so much Tara,and we'll put her information in
the show notes as well if youguys wanna connect with Tara
online.
So thank you so much for yourtime.
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