Yesterday, I had the fortunate opportunity to be able to sit down and chat with a woman who was a 6x All-American college runner but claimed she ran in high school just for fun.  She is also now finding her return to running after bearing her first child and is a young Iowa businesswoman who co-owns the Heartland Soles Running Shoe Store.  Meet Lindsey Andrews, a mother, a runner, and a businesswoman thru today’s blog post and my RMC podcast.

Planting Running Roots and Transitioning thru Life’s Milestones with Running as Her Guide

Lindsey tells family tales of how she got started running and developed her love for the sport.  She remains humble with her honest claims that she only ran cross country and track in high school “for fun”.  But, also speaks towards the culture change that she adopted in her development as a college runner who peaked with eighty-mile training weeks and running at 6000 feet altitude and “challenging terrain” on long runs.

She elaborates on the lifestyle that was necessitated to support running that kind of mileage and intensity.  She attributes the modalities that worked for her, and the importance of how and why.

Lindsey the Mother Runner and Business Woman

When I first stepped in the front door of the Johnston, Iowa Heartland Soles running shoe store, I was greeted with tiny giggles and toothless grins from Lindsey’s now seventh-month-old daughter Layla.   The immediate vibe I observed was that the family-owned business and cogs behind the machine are well oiled with an all-inclusive family and “salt of the earth” atmosphere.

Lindsey and her husband Jordan were actually celebrating their 2 year anniversary of the store’s conception on paper.  She actually anecdotes a funny story of a small snafu the day she and her husband biked into downtown Des Moines to submit their dream store’s legal documents.  The twister is that they ended up at a local eatery and found inspiration to what now adorns the store’s interior walls.

Lindsey also opens up about her personal journey with running thru her pregnancy and her uphill climb and return to the sport now with her husband as her coach.  She aspires to run in Bean Town and the Boston Marathon someday.  Perhaps she’ll even be able to run in the Master’s Division in tandem with her daughter as a high school runner on the Blue Oval at the Drake Relays.  These are a few of her “next chapter” dreams.

The RMC Podcast Keeps Plugging Away

As I was interviewing (perhaps more informally, chatting about running and life) with Lindsey, my brain was spinning with ideas for future podcast interviews and topics.

There are so many interesting individual stories waiting to be heard and individuals I would love to meet.  The mother’s who ran thru pregnancies or returned to running successfully post-partum, professionally or recreationally.  I.E. professional Mother Runners I’d love to meet or interview, Gwen Jorgensen, Paula Radcliff, Kara Goucher.  Or, the collegiate runners who found themselves and developed their identities thru running in college and the lifestyle of being a full-time student and athlete.  And, runners who experience and train thru the acclimatization process and science of running at elevation and the adaptations their body goes thru while doing so.

My blog and podcast have been such a blessing and inspiration for me as well, even though I set out with the purpose to inspire and motivate others.  If you’ve taken the time to read this, or listen to my podcast and think you would like to share your personal story or know of someone in your life that inspires y...

I’ve been a Cedar Rapidian (Cedar Rapids resident) for almost forty years.  I’ve also been a runner for the large majority of those years and have trained thru many miles on the trails and streets of our town.  I’d like to share this blog post called, ‘A Runners Guide to Downtown Cedar Rapids and the NewBo District’ and hope that it will be helpful to you whether you’re visiting the city for the first time or looking for a runner’s perspective and resource tool for a new route to get you going in a new direction.

Rejuvenation after the Flood of 2008

As with most everything in life, there is a yin and a yang or relative concept of balance.  Although our city experienced a devasting blow with the massive flooding that occurred in 2008, the silver lining of what came from that was a rejuvenation of the city and a few specific areas like the NewBo Market and New Bohemia District, the Downtown Riverfront and the Czech Village area.

The new thriving area and beating heart of the New Bohemia District and Czech Village area include easy access to the Cedar Valley Trail System.  The paved trail travels south all the way to Ely and includes several “pit stop” and restroom amenities at about every 1.5 – 2 miles.  Much of the trail on this stretch going south as it transitions into the Hoover Trail system, is tree-lined and offers a nice “tunnel” of shade for enjoyment even thru the blazing hot summer months in Iowa.  There are only a few slight elevation changes along this stretch and could mostly be considered “slightly rolling”.  For a runner training for any longer distances of a half or full marathon the distance, one way, if starting at the NewBo Market, is approximately 8.5 miles thus making a great training run of 18-19miles total.

Cedar Valley Trail – Southbound

If traveling southbound on the trail you’ll get a chance to run along the river and past a couple of our cities factories.  You’ll also experience running up and over the train tracks next to Tait Cummins Sports Complex and past some watershed area, where the occasional woodchuck or deer can be spotted.

A few additional perks of running an out and back route from the NewBo Market are that you can choose a nice refreshment or snack after your return to the NewBo Market.  I personally love a smoothie from Get Fresh Juice Press.  Perhaps even take a little time to stretch on the lawn or meander thru some of the fun shops like RayGun, The Iowa Running Company Shoe store, or even the NewBo Market vendors.

Prairie Park Fishery Trail and the Sac and Fox Trail

The Prairie Park Fishery Trail is one of my favorite spots for any sort of speedier running or specific shorter distance work because the 1.6 mile trail loops around the Cedar Lake and is marked at every tenth of a mile.  The scenery is not too bad either.

Additional Perks to this section of trail are that you can hop right onto the Sac and Fox Trail extensions and wind your way all the way to the Indian Creek Nature Center.  This part of the trail becomes pea gravel and is a nice surface to run if you’re looking to get a break from pounding the pavement.

Nurture the Brain and the Body

Have you heard of the RunCRwith.us app?  It is an internet based app that a very bright group of high school kids at the Iowa ...

This Monday morning started off blissfully with a post-race easy five mile run with the rising sun and on the waning high of last weekends, Drake Road Races Festivities in Des Moines.  Congratulations to all of the runners who participated in either the 5k, the 10k or the half marathon and were able to catapult and kick-off the infamous Drake Relays week.

After getting my 13-year-old off to school, I drove straight down to the NewBo district of Cedar Rapids where the Iowa Running Company is located and met up with Clifton Smith and Jim Dwyer (and their store mascot, ‘Buddy’).  I’ve known Jim for probably almost 20 years now within the local running community but wanted a chance to get to know both he and Clifton as individual runner’s and as the business partnership duo with the Iowa Running Company.

“Don’t Let The Name Fool You!” – The Iowa Running Company Isn’t Just for Runners

Jim and Clifton were good sports and allowed me to interview them for my RMC Podcast on iTunes.  It seems that a few of their driving principles revolve around giving back to their local running community and supporting runners on a down to earth approach offering a nice broad selection of running shoe brands and paraphernalia.

However, with a pleasant reminder despite being contradictory perhaps to the store name, they also support ALL genres of bi-peds thru their various lines of comfortable feet saving shoe options.  Jim says it’s quite common for them to receive customers who have been referred to them by podiatrists, health or fitness experts, or people who don’t necessarily run but are just plain active or consider themselves as ‘walkers’.  They don’t want their name to “fool you” or fend off any non-runners per say.

A Local Business with Morals

I have experienced first hand the support of our school running programs from Iowa Running Company.  Numerous times they’ve hosted trail runs from their store with fittings of running shoes or track spikes, and even donated coupons and awards for our 5k cross country fundraisers.  They stand behind their declared principles!

Jim also encourages listeners during our podcast interview to seek out 5k races with a purpose of giving back to its community.  He recommends participation in races with morals you can get behind.  And personally, I love that message!!

Clifton’s Passion for Running Translates Thru His Own Life Milestones

You’ll just have to listen to the podcast itself and get a feel for Clifton’s humble description of proposing to his now wife, at the end of the Marion Arts Festival races.  Clearly, running and its significance in Clifton’s life carries some serious worth. So much that he wanted for he and his wife to share that forever memory of their engagement.  Maybe the Marion Arts Festival races and festivities will be an annual Anniversary celebration for the two of them.

Listen to the Podcast for More I.R.C Highlights & Details

There is, of course, more Q&A coverage with Jim and Clifton on my RMC iTunes podcast under Episode #5 – Iowa Running Company Q&A.  If you like hearing about prominent figures within the running community, there are several other Q&A episodes included there as well.  Please pardon my amateur and “learning as I go”,

Last week I blogged about our upcoming RUN CRANDIC road races in an effort to build the hype and spread the word.  I continued that momentum with interviewing Mark Powers with Corridor Running and did my first official Q&A interview for my new RMC Podcast available on iTunes.  It was a ton of fun getting to know Mark’s own personal running journey and to hear some of the details and a little about the inaugural Cedar Rapids and Iowa City marathon, half marathon and 5k.

RMC Podcast Interviews Monica Nieves About the Run CRANDIC Races

Today’s post takes the Run CRANDIC baton and keeps it moving with an interview with Monica Nieves.  Monica is the Director of Special Events for the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.  She is this year’s RUN CRANDIC race director and was accompanied by Laura Jaime, who is currently a U of I student doing an internship with the ICCCVB.  Both of these women were able to give another insider’s perspective and tell us about some perks of the race as well as some more details pertaining to the course itself.

Run to the Toe of the Nile Kinnick Statue and Chocolate Milk for All

If you’re able to tune in and take the time to listen to my podcast, you’ll get to hear Monica speak about some of the other aspects of the race and the festivities surrounding race day.  Her first point was to talk about the course.  According to Monica you can be rest assured, safety was a major priority when working with the Public Safety entities of both Johnson and Linn counties and the course succumbs to this by traveling south on Hwy 965 in a single lane of the two-lane highway.  From personal experience with a point to point marathon, this can be seen as a bonus for the spectators and supporting family or friends of runners.  With the course still being split 50/50 and open to traffic, it allows spectators to travel along its route and enables fans more opportunities to cheer.

Monica mentions some “cheer zones” that will be designated along the route and posted to the Run CRANDIC website.  Stay tuned for that!  She also mentions the unified efforts of some of the other corridor communities, like Swisher and North Liberty, partaking in the race day cheering and fan support.  From some perspectives, the route includes some quieter zones where there may not be a considerable amount to entertain or look at.  But, perhaps this is the nature of living in Iowa and we should see it as more relaxing and zen?  It will make coming into Iowa City and the Kinnick Stadium area even more climactic.

According to Monica, the 26.2 goes to the very tippy toe of the Nile Kinnick Statue.  Apparently, there will also be some sweet tummy filling rewards as well like chocolate milk.  We all know that chocolate milk has the perfect 2:1 ratio of carbohydrate and protein and is the quick and easy post-run fuel choice of many.  Hats off to Dan and Debbie’s creamery in Ely (also located at the head of the Hoover Bike Trail) and the Amana Creamery for supplying the post-race beverage. We run for chocolate milk!! This needs to be a t-shirt slogan if it isn’t already!

iTunes RMC Podcast Interviews Monica Nieves About the Run CRANDIC Races

My podcast was officially accepted and went public with iTunes on Monday.  Yay!  My aspirations with it are to continue carrying forth my incentive to motivate, inspire, inform, and nurture camaraderie for runners.  As well as lend positive karma back into the running world.

Again, as with this whole blogging thing I’m lear...

About Runnermomcoach & the RMC Podcast

Runnermomcoach, Corrie Enyart and her new running podcast called RMC Podcast, performs interviews and Q&A’s with various figures and prominent people within the running community in an effort to nurture camaraderie, inform and educate listeners, motivate and inspire runners and to return positive karma back into the running world.

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A Local Run Club Defines Itself by Community Outreach

Last week I wrote a blog post about the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City partnership and inaugural marathon distance and RUN CRANDIC races happening on April 29th – Excited About Our Local Road Races.  Within that post, I mentioned an upcoming podcast and Q&A with one of the RUN CRANDIC race contributors, Mark Powers and his role with the Corridor Running Club.

Today, I’m excited to share the 2nd official podcast for another new endeavor of mine, RMC Podcast (stay tuned for a link on the Runnermomcoach.com website homepage to my iTunes podcast channel).  I highlight Corridor Running Club and Mark Powers role with the Run CRANDIC races but also dig deeper with asking some specific details about race morning and the course challenges.  “A Local Run Club Defines Itself by Community Outreach”

In the Presence of a Local Icon

I met up with Mark at a local coffee house (thanks Scooters Coffeehouse) and I think I could’ve sat there all day and listened to him tell me stories of his own running adventures and lifelong journey with running.  I was immediately humbled and with perked ears of his most recent travels running 50k races and ultras.  One each week for the last month in fact.  We laughed and both agreed that it’s another level of ‘crazy’. ;D

Mark has been running for over 40 years and has been an active member of the local running community for 10 years. He enjoys the camaraderie that comes with being involved with Corridor Running, knowing that there’s support and motivation when running together you just can’t get running by yourself. Mark joined the Corridor Running Board in August 2013 hoping to make an even greater impact on our running and racing community. He looks forward to serving the needs of the local running community and the members of Corridor Running.

Mark enlightened me with his honest and candid stories of how he developed a love for running and how he now just wants others to give it a try no matter what pace or how far it ends up being.

Mark also sets aside race times, finish placement or bragging rights by spending most of the last half of a decade ditching his watch or any GPS unit.  The “Run by Feel” is a concept I am personally still tuning in to and have difficulty with, being Type-A.  But to his point, when you’re running those kinds of distances the race becomes more of a function of getting to the finish and no watch or stats tracking is going to change the mental tenacity and grit that it requires to pull yourself thru.

Along with getting to know Mark as an individual runner, I also asked him a little about his role as the current Corridor Running President and what the running club is all about.

Any Time. Any Pace

“Corridor Running welcomes runners and walkers of every age and athletic ability. It is common for prospective members to worry that they are too slow to join a running club. We’re here to assure you: You’re not. Whether you run a 13-minute mile, a 5-minute mile or anything in between, we’re happy to have you become a part of our running community.”   https://corridorrunning.com/become-member/

Corridor Running supports the running community thru its volunteer board of directors and hosted races.

A Local Run Club Defines Itself by Community Outreach

Last week I wrote a blog post about the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City partnership and inaugural marathon distance and RUN CRANDIC races happening on April 29th – Excited About Our Local Road Races.  Within that post, I mentioned an upcoming podcast and Q&A with one of the RUN CRANDIC race contributors, Mark Powers and his role with the Corridor Running Club.

Today, I’m excited to share the 2nd official podcast for another new endeavor of mine, RMC Podcast (stay tuned for a link on the Runnermomcoach.com website homepage to my iTunes podcast channel).  I highlight Corridor Running Club and Mark Powers role with the Run CRANDIC races but also dig deeper with asking some specific details about race morning and the course challenges.  “A Local Run Club Defines Itself by Community Outreach”

In the Presence of a Local Icon

I met up with Mark at a local coffee house (thanks Scooters Coffeehouse) and I think I could’ve sat there all day and listened to him tell me stories of his own running adventures and lifelong journey with running.  I was immediately humbled and with perked ears of his most recent travels running 50k races and ultras.  One each week for the last month in fact.  We laughed and both agreed that it’s another level of ‘crazy’. ;D

Mark has been running for over 40 years and has been an active member of the local running community for 10 years. He enjoys the camaraderie that comes with being involved with Corridor Running, knowing that there’s support and motivation when running together you just can’t get running by yourself. Mark joined the Corridor Running Board in August 2013 hoping to make an even greater impact on our running and racing community. He looks forward to serving the needs of the local running community and the members of Corridor Running.

Mark enlightened me with his honest and candid stories of how he developed a love for running and how he now just wants others to give it a try no matter what pace or how far it ends up being.

Mark also sets aside race times, finish placement or bragging rights by spending most of the last half of a decade ditching his watch or any GPS unit.  The “Run by Feel” is a concept I am personally still tuning in to and have difficulty with, being Type-A.  But to his point, when you’re running those kinds of distances the race becomes more of a function of getting to the finish and no watch or stats tracking is going to change the mental tenacity and grit that it requires to pull yourself thru.

Along with getting to know Mark as an individual runner, I also asked him a little about his role as the current Corridor Running President and what the running club is all about.

Any Time. Any Pace

“Corridor Running welcomes runners and walkers of every age and athletic ability. It is common for prospective members to worry that they are too slow to join a running club. We’re here to assure you: You’re not. Whether you run a 13-minute mile, a 5-minute mile or anything in between, we’re happy to have you become a part of our running community.”   https://corridorrunning.com/become-member/

Corridor Running supports the running community thru its volunteer board of directors and hosted races.  Mark speaks towards the Corridor Running race calendar and gives a brief description of each during his Q&A.

A few months ago the co-owner of a new specialty shoe store coming to town, reached out to me via my school e-mail address and was excited to show their support of our school running programs.  The shoe store is called Heartland Soles and they currently have a store in Johnston, IA and are opening up a new store in Coralville.  Yesterday, I finally got the chance to meet two of the store owners, Jordan Andrews and Madison Waymire.  They were good sports and let me run a Q&A with them, which I’m posting below as my inaugural RMC podcast episode called “Meet the New Kids in Town”.

A Little Background First

Two high school sweethearts from Kansas City, both avid runners, got married and opened their dream store together this summer in Johnston.

“We met on the high school cross country team, then we ran in college together,” Lindsey Andrews said. “We were undergrads at Columbia College in Missouri, where I was a six-time All American.”

A little background first – Lindsey and Jordan Andrews are the owners and operators of the Heartland Soles store in Johnston, IA and both have impressive running backgrounds.

Lindsey is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri and completed all 4 years of high school and in college in XC/T&F. In high School, she was never an all-state runner, but qualified for both XC and Track State meets. After high school, she competed at Columbia College where she dropped her 5k PR from 20:07 to 17:00 and earned 6 All-American honors. She then competed for the University of New Mexico for her 5th year and was part of the 2015 NCAA XC Champion team.

“We believe this is a great opportunity to serve high school athletes in the area, to help them stay healthy and have a great track and field/cross country season and career.”

Jordan also grew up in Lee’s Summit, MO and was able to compete in 2 high school cross country State meets and 2 NAIA National Championship cross country meets. Since the age of 15, he has wanted to work in a running store and loves learning about the differences of shoes and how they can greatly impact a runner’s success.

Coralville Heartland Soles

Lindsey and Jordan chose to expand on their vision of growth into the Coralville area and brought on board Madison Waymire to help them.  Madison has her own legit running history as well and is currently closing out her senior year running for the D1 local University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

Madison grew up in the Des Moines area and went to Dallas-Center Grimes High School. While at DCG she accomplished many top 4 finishes at the State meet including two 800-meter State Titles. In cross country, she was able to finish in the top 14 in all 4 years that she competed. After high school, she ran 1 year at the University of Missouri and transferred to the University of Iowa. Currently, she is competing in her last year of track. While at Iowa, she won the Big 10 Sportsmanship award and has been one of their top distance performers.

The new Coralville shoe store will have their grand opening this Friday and Saturday 3/30 – 3/31.

They have a great location right down on the Coralville Strip, close to the U of I and the bike/run trails.

A few months ago the co-owner of a new specialty shoe store coming to town, reached out to me via my school e-mail address and was excited to show their support of our school running programs.  The shoe store is called Heartland Soles and they currently have a store in Johnston, IA and are opening up a new store in Coralville.  Yesterday, I finally got the chance to meet two of the store owners, Jordan Andrews and Madison Waymire.  They were good sports and let me run a Q&A with them, which I’m posting below as my inaugural RMC podcast episode called “Meet the New Kids in Town”.

A Little Background First

Two high school sweethearts from Kansas City, both avid runners, got married and opened their dream store together this summer in Johnston.

“We met on the high school cross country team, then we ran in college together,” Lindsey Andrews said. “We were undergrads at Columbia College in Missouri, where I was a six-time All American.”

A little background first – Lindsey and Jordan Andrews are the owners and operators of the Heartland Soles store in Johnston, IA and both have impressive running backgrounds.

Lindsey is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri and completed all 4 years of high school and in college in XC/T&F. In high School, she was never an all-state runner, but qualified for both XC and Track State meets. After high school, she competed at Columbia College where she dropped her 5k PR from 20:07 to 17:00 and earned 6 All-American honors. She then competed for the University of New Mexico for her 5th year and was part of the 2015 NCAA XC Champion team.

“We believe this is a great opportunity to serve high school athletes in the area, to help them stay healthy and have a great track and field/cross country season and career.”

Jordan also grew up in Lee’s Summit, MO and was able to compete in 2 high school cross country State meets and 2 NAIA National Championship cross country meets. Since the age of 15, he has wanted to work in a running store and loves learning about the differences of shoes and how they can greatly impact a runner’s success.

Coralville Heartland Soles

Lindsey and Jordan chose to expand on their vision of growth into the Coralville area and brought on board Madison Waymire to help them.  Madison has her own legit running history as well and is currently closing out her senior year running for the D1 local University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

Madison grew up in the Des Moines area and went to Dallas-Center Grimes High School. While at DCG she accomplished many top 4 finishes at the State meet including two 800-meter State Titles. In cross country, she was able to finish in the top 14 in all 4 years that she competed. After high school, she ran 1 year at the University of Missouri and transferred to the University of Iowa. Currently, she is competing in her last year of track. While at Iowa, she won the Big 10 Sportsmanship award and has been one of their top distance performers.

The new Coralville shoe store will have their grand opening this Friday and Saturday 3/30 – 3/31.

They have a great location right down on the Coralville Strip, close to the U of I and the bike/run trails.

They show their support of all the local schools and runners with a school singlet from...