How a Competitive Runner Learned to Eat, Lift, and Continually Push Herself Towards the Hard Stuff
Katie transitioned from a successful runner to an incredible competitor in Natural Body Building.
Katie joined us on The Running After Age 40 Podcast to share her inspirational wellness journey. originally began running in high school and was a standout in the state of Kansas.
She discusses her pride in her running accomplishments, including a full-ride athletic scholarship to Drake University. She remembers the elation of her Cross Country team’s conference victory and also her role on the winning relay team at Drake Relays. Katie ran multiple races post-college and has continued to seek new opportunities in fitness.
'When something is hard, I believe you go towards it'
Katie challenged herself to tackle issues with food and continues to push herself (and you) to do hard things.
Throughout the years, Katie has dealt with lingering issues with food, like many runners and elite athletes. She admits that she underfed her body. Katie explains the shocking transformation that happened when she fueled correctly- the more she fueled properly, the stronger she got!
She is honest with her transition to redefining what strength is. A few of her recommendations for runners like you looking to get started with weight training:
- Lift heavy (heavy weights are not the enemy!)
- Give yourself grace and listen to your body for fitness after age 40
- Find a credible strength coach
- Get off the hamster wheel of dieting and eat for fuel
Katie believes consistency is key to fitness and health (and has led to success in Natural Body Building).
Katie provides remarkable wisdom to runners like you. She notes that she was scared to make the change to body building, but she did it anyway. A few words of her wisdom (listen to the episode to get them all)-
- Establish routines that you are committed to
- Stay consistent in the process
- Take time to enjoy where you are
- Maintain a morning routine with reading and quiet time
You can do hard things. Listen to all of our podcast episodes for more inspiration!
Katie's Recommendations
- App: Katie’s strength trainer App (for at home strength workouts!)
- My Fitness Pal App to track macronutrients
