Meet Neely Gracey, 4-time Olympic Trials Qualifier (12, 16, 20, 24), top American at the 2016 Boston Marathon, and the 11th American female EVER to break 70 minutes in the half marathon. Neely is fresh off her 9th place finish at CIM—this year's USATF Championship Race—where she rocked a sizzling 2:30:29 PR (5:43 per mile)!

Neely opened up about not being able to run during her first pregnancy, losing her "identity" as a runner—going from one of the top distance runners in the country to "no one" for years, despite being sponsored and feeling a pressure to return to a high level.

It was a rough phase from 2017-2020, but feels she is a better person on the other side—ultimately feeling that her body needed that break—and has completely reframed her relationship with running and her approach to training and racing.

We discuss:

-Reframing her identity and relationship with running

-Evolving her approach and mindset to training and racing

-The husband & wife coaching dynamic & partnership (complete with a funny story from the Indy Monumental 1/2M)

-How coaching helps inspire her to keep chasing big goals as a runner, coach, and mother

-Mantras: "You're right where you're meant to be" and "trust the process"

-Her new book: Breakthrough Women's Running: Dream Big and Train Smart where she shares her experience from both an athlete and coach perspective to provide a road map for women runners who are chasing big goals

Such big INPSO and so many great takeaways! I look forward to following Neely’s amazing journey as a runner, coach at Get Running Coaching, and author.

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Neely:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neelysgracey

Website: https://getrunningcoaching.com/

Neely's book, Breakthrough Women's Running: https://getrunningcoaching.com/breakthrough

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc/

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc/

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

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Email: [email protected]

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© 2023 Ron Romano