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Women's Running Academy

Learn to train with purpose for YOUR body and goals. 

The Women's Running Academy Mentorship is a 12-week group coaching and education program to help female runners ditch the cycle of injury and burn out and finally make real, consistent progress towards their goals.

 

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You love running…

…but you have this nagging feeling like you haven’t yet reached your full potential. Or maybe you feel like those days in are your past and you’ll never get there again.

Maybe you are wondering if you’ll ever break this plateau or pass that nemesis mileage where the wheels seem to always fall off in your training and the aches and pains (hip, knee, IT band, feet…) or pelvic floor symptoms inevitably creep back in. You feel heavy, clunky, or inefficient in your stride, like there is something you are missing.

You know there are strategies out there to improve your performance but there are so many variables to manage between the running programming, strength training, and recovery that you end up feeling like you are aimlessly going through the motions.

There is a better way!

With a little knowledge, focus, and strategy you can streamline your efforts so that every workout gets you one step closer to your goals (no precious time or energy wasted)!

You can feel strong, powerful, and efficient in your stride and run that dream distance, hit that PR, and enjoy every minute!

FACTS

​Runners need to strength train!

Strength = Stability
Strength = Power
Strength = Efficiency
Strength = Resilience

Deficiencies in strength are typically a major part of pain in runners (IT band, knees, hips, pelvic floor symptoms…). Stretching and foam rolling won’t "fix" you.

You know this… but you also JUST want to run. I get it!

Maybe you just don’t like the strength training at all, maybe you struggle to find the time to efficiently incorporate it with your running, or maybe when you do you end up with soreness that you feel negatively affects your running performance, or maybe some combination of it all.

I got you!

The Women's Running Academy Mentorship is unlike any other training program you've experienced before!

It's time to ditch the cookie cutter running programs and stop simply going through the motions with your strength workouts.

​It's time to train like an athlete and unleash your true running potential using my 4S System.

 

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My 4S System

Strength Training

Six weeks of intentional strength training to build strength and resiliency as you fine tune your body to capitalize on instead of fear those ground reaction forces.

Targeted to the Demands of Running

You’ll learn to not just absorb ground reaction forces but to store them as elastic energy to propel you forward while staying strong and stable with every step!

Energy Efficiency

We'll identify and address the 3 main energy leaks I see with running and use specific form cues combined with intentional strength training to minimize energy lost with each step and improve your running economy.

Progressive Overload

You'll experience it through the six weeks and then I'll show you exactly how progress your strength workouts through a full training cycle in any season.

WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER

 
It's cliche but also true.
 
Whether you started early in life or relatively recently running can quickly become an invaluable part of your life.

I started running relatively early in life with my mom and her “running friends.”

Little did I know at that time how important having my own group of running friends would become to me someday. Even if at this point most of them are virtual.

In high school, I ran track and cross country. My uber competitive streak must not have been fully developed yet because I found every reason to cheat my workouts and do less.

...or it might have been that I didn’t understand the why behind all of the workouts. It’s tough for me to get motivated to do something unless I really understand “why” I’m doing. For that reason, and for those of you like me, I include the why behind all that we do in the Mentorship.

In grad school, a switch flipped. A group of friends and I decided to run our first half marathon together. "Sure, I’ll try a half, but I'll draw the line at a full.” Famous last words, right?

I ran the half, and then another, then another and before I knew it, I caught the bug. I needed to try a full.  At that point it was only still a mild obsession.

After my first full and a few beers, pleasantly surprised by my performance, I asked my significant other at the time if he thought I could qualify for Boston. I “only” had to shave 20 minutes off my time…

...well, I think THAT’s where my real obsession began because … HE LAUGHED AT ME!

It. was. on. after that! I read every book on running science I could find; I hired a coach and less than a year later I got my first BQ!
 
 
 

Fast forward through many, many more years of running, two career changes (engineer to teacher to now), and two children. Now as a certified personal trainer and running coach, pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist, and eternal student of all things running and movement science, I help women ditch the cycle of injury and burn out and finally make real, consistent progress towards their goals.

 While I haven’t run another marathon since becoming a mom, I have PRed in every other distance since. I look at the race photos from that hard earned Boston Marathon and KNOW I could smoke her.

I think it’s partly the experience and education I’ve built up and partly because I’m a mom.

​Because of, not in spite of.

In motherhood, now more than ever, I have to train with efficiency and strategy!

Efficiency first! The engineer AND the mom in me thrive on efficiency. No wasted time or effort!

Having babies also brought to light some biomechanical inefficiencies. They reared their ugly head in the form of constant hip, knee and back pain and pelvic floor symptoms. I had it all!

I firmly believe these inefficiencies were holding me back from reaching my full potential well before my child bearing years. For many women the stress of pregnancy simply reveals the invisible ink that was there all along. Addressing those inefficiencies not only eliminated my symptoms, it made me a stronger, more efficient, and more powerful runner overall.

This refers back to my 4S System where I said the goal is to minimize energy lost with each step. I think of energy lost as both energy you can't use to move forward AND energy lost typically means force is poorly distributed across your joints - which can lead to pain, injury or pelvic floor symptoms. That is where the purposeful strength training for the demands of running and strategy based on the needs of your body can make a HUGE difference in the way running feels.

 

 

In my Women's Running Academy Mentorship, I’m going to coach you through this 4S System that's not only helped me but hundreds of other runners.

Step by step, week after week we'll apply the system together so that by the end of the 12 weeks you've confidently ditched the cycle of injury and burn out.

​AND, through the education along the way, you'll have all the tools to continue to apply it to make real, consistent progress towards any goal you set in the future.

 

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HERE'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU GET

A full set of purposeful running programs ($679 value*)

 
Each run is planned out specifically (distance, pacing, warmup and cool down) so that you know exactly what to do each day and get the most out of your training.

The programs include both base building and base maintenance plans to complete during the 12 weeks, race specific training plans for your big goals after this base building/maintenance period, and the guidance on choosing the best plan for you.

​We'll meet you where you're at now and train specifically towards any big future goal. The runs are all purposefully paced so that you can get the most out of every mile as you improve your endurance, speed, and running economy.

Weekly, purposeful strength workouts fully prepare your body for the demands for running ($525 value*)

 
Two “required” and one “bonus” strength workout per week including mobility, strength, and plyometric training tailored specifically to that demands of running and the needs of your body so that you can plug up any energy leaks and feel stronger and more powerful in your stride.

The workouts will be progressed intentionally through a full training cycle beginning with strength in foundational movements, building on that strength with power, and tapering ahead of a race. Yep! You need to taper your strength workouts too!

​Each workout will include written cues and a full playlist of videos to follow along so you are fully equipped to master each movement.

Weekly educational modules that include resources and actionable steps to effectively incorporating the topic of the week into your training ($750 value*)
AND
Live, weekly group calls to recover/review the educational materials and provide you the opportunity for feedback and questions so that you can confidently apply the strategy yourself ($1,400 value*)

 

The first 6 weeks will be more geared towards understanding the needs of your body and the demands of running and how to adapt the strength training specifically to those needs.

The second 6 weeks will focus more on the logic behind my programming and the formula I use to put it all together (and all the templates you could ever need).

I’m basically turning my whole training system into a plug-and-play formula for you to use and apply to any goal. Crush this 12-week goal and leave with all the strategy and tools you need to crush the next (and the next, and the next...)! 

Bonus live presentations from 4 amazing guest speakers to support you as a whole person and athlete ($500 value*)  

 
We will have a registered dietician, a mental health specialist, a yoga instructor, and another hot topic for the women's running community.

A private Facebook group for questions, accountability, sharing additional resources as needed, and creating our own intimate space in the greater virtual running community.

A membership portal with all the resources, workouts, and recordings from mentorship that you will have access to forever.

 
 

$649 or 3 Monthly Payments of $223

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**Value calculated based on my rates for 1-on-1 coaching. The beauty of a group coaching model like this mentorship is that it is more efficient (cost and time) for everyone! Prices are in USD.

12 WEEKS OF EDUCATION AND ACTION

​The weekly lessons, live group calls, and accompanying resources include all the education and tools you need to understand your unique body and train with purpose for your goals!
 

We’ll lay some foundations so that everything we build from here has context within the demands of running.

This is the core of it all, literally. It's so important we are spending 2 weeks on it! Learn to intentionally transfer energy through your core and master your breathing to increase your performance.

With each stride, your body goes through a cycle of absorbing and propelling. The hips (including the pelvic floor) play an integral role in doing this efficiently (without losing energy).

This week will include lots of time to play and feel. We'll connect all the pieces - hips, core, pelvic floor - and practice how they work together with every stride.

Pronation and supination are not bad words. We need to do both efficiently to get the most out of each stride! This week we'll work on both strength and mobility in your feet.

Do your right and left feel or move differently? This week we’ll talk about why that might be and some strategies to feel more balanced.

Learn my secret weapon for minimizing the stress on your body while maximizing performance. You’ll be practicing these exercises starting week 1, but this week you’ll understand why.

We’ll look at gait and what additional clues it can provide for the development of your strength training program and how what we've been doing all along ties back to your gait.

I've been doing it for you up until this point. Now I'll walk you through the logic behind selecting the exercises your body needs most so that you can train as efficiently as possible.

I provide you with your running plan from the beginning. Now I'll walk you through my strategic formula so you can apply it to any future goal. Plus, all. the. templates. you could ever want!​

We’ll take everything you learned in the first 11 weeks and put it together in my complete training formula.

A full library of supplementary content including training with your menstrual cycle, more specific pelvic floor education, breathing for performance, and recordings of past guest speakers.

 

Ditch those cookie cutter running programs and stop simply going through the motions with your strength workouts that keep you spinning your wheels.

Instead, learn and apply my 4S System with streamlined running programming, strategy based on the needs of your body, and purposeful strength training for the demands of running so that you can crush your goals.

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MEET OUR GUEST SPEAKERS

 

COLETTE BERRY
FEMALE PHYSIOLOGY - TRAINING AS WE AGE

Colette is a New York City based Pre- and Postnatal Strength and Conditioning Coach. She is also a Boston marathon qualifier and Ironman triathlete who struggled with pregnancy-related injuries following the birth of her daughter in 2016.  
Colette founded her personal training company, Cat Hill, with the goal of providing the quality of coaching she wished she’d had during her pregnancy. She uses research-based techniques and her professional experience to help people better understand their bodies and become stronger, healthier, and more confident.
 
IG: @cathillnyc

ALEXANDRA LARSON
FUELING FOR RUNNERS

Alex is a Minnesota-based registered dietitian that helps endurance athletes improve performance and body composition through a flexible eating style. She’s a mom of two little boys and their fluffy golden retriever Marley.
​
IG: @alexlarsonnutrition

JESSICA PATCHING-BUNCH (JPB)
BRAIN BODY RESILIENCE

JPB a stress resilience coach on a mission to provide practical approaches to understanding and managing stress. While working in neurodevelopmental research, she realized she wanted to let her knowledge serve a larger community outside of academia. After struggling with stress related illness most of her life; she set out to address a real gap in accessible alternative mind-care and wellness education for women. Translation: She teaches practical ways to manage stress so you can get out of your own way, stress less and live more. 
​
IG: @jpb.brainbodyresilience

MAGGIE UMBERGER 
YOGA INTEGRATION

Maggie is a Mindful Movement Specialist passionate about helping you build strength, feel good, and unlock your potential through mixed movement modalities that are accessible and fun. Known for her intelligently-designed class experiences, she creates space for her students to move safely, breathe more deeply, feel better, and improve overall health and vitality.
She offers private yoga, mobility and fitness training, an on-demand membership platform, and workshops and retreats around the world.
​
​IG: @maggieumberger

Plus a full library of past guest speaker recordings.


More on nutrition from a panel of registered dietician, some additional education from pelvic floor physical therapist, and other incredibly inspirational members of the women's running community including Roberta Groner, Sophie Power (aka. ultrasophie) and Ali Feller (aka. Ali on the Run).

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Frequently Asked Questions

 
If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to reach out. Send me an email here.

Women's Running Academy

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