005 Neely Gracey - Overcoming Challenges and Providing Inspiration as a Mother, Coach and Author

Episode Summary

In this episode, Whitney welcomes three-time Olympic Trials Qualifier and Founder of the run coaching group, Get Running Coaching, Neely Gracey. Neely is an incredibly real and genuine person who has an amazing running story. She’s honest about the challenges she’s faced both as a runner and as a mother, and she truly wants to share her experiences to help other runners. Neely believes that coaching helps inspire her to keep working towards her goals as a runner, mother and business owner. She’s the eleventh American female ever to break 70 minutes in the half marathon.

Today, Whitney and Neely talk about Neely’s life as a professional runner, the challenges she encountered when she became a mom, and how she has exercised patience in reaching her goals. Neely opens up about her relationship with her husband, how a surprise pregnancy affected her running career, and what inspired her to write her book, Breakthrough, due out Spring 2022. Finally, Neely provides some sage advice to runners and shares the goals she has for herself in the coming year.

Episode Sponsor

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Key Takeaways

00:52 – Whitney Heins introduces today’s guest, Neely Gracey who joins the show to share her incredible running journey, motherhood, and how she’s overcome challenges throughout her career

11:52 – How Neely attained her pro athlete status as a runner

18:11 – Cultivating a winning running culture

22:23 – How Neely met her husband

26:56 – Neely’s injury history and how she started training with a world-class Adidas coach

32:14 – How Neely got to the point of easing off and letting her body guide her post-injury

34:08 – An incredible run to the Olympic Qualifiers

39:05 – The surprise of Neely’s life

42:48 – Neely’s upcoming book, Breakthrough, and what inspired her to write it

53:04 – Goals for 2022

56:16 – Whitney and Neely express their disappointment in the recently released Olympic Trials qualifying standards

57:35 – The vital role of sleep

58:24 – Whitney thanks Neely for joining the show and lets listeners know where to follow her and Get Running Coaching

Tweetable Quotes

“Teams need a leader and they need a leader that is positive and cohesive and respected.” (18:22)

“I honestly think it was all of the hormonal stuff. I think that was literally the reason behind all of [the injuries] and that my body wasn’t ready. And I mentally was ready so I pushed harder than I should have and pushed my body into it and my body just kind of put up the stoplight for me.” (30:10)

“Finally I just got to the point where I said, ‘Ok, I don’t even care if I ever race again. For me, I just want to be able to run every day and have fun with it.’” (33:18)

“My whole goal for 2020 was just to have a very steady progression of base-building fitness so that I could start racing again and feel really good and strong. And then, of course, the pandemic hit and I said, ‘Well, it doesn’t change my goal because my goal was to run consistently.’ And I had a great 2020.” (35:39)

“The main focus of the book is kind of a big picture of all the things it takes to be a good runner and to meet your goals.” (47:02)

“There’s tons of training books out there. There’s no one right way to train. Everyone is going to have a different approach and I’ve learned that as a professional.” (50:44)