DEC 2024

I’m hopping in a race this month!

And you could race there too! I signed up for a community 5k on the track in Los Angeles on Dec 13th. I want to use this race as an opportunity to test the fitness I’ve built this fall. I’m not looking to set a PR or break any records, but I do want to know where I’m at in order to guide my next training block and I know I will get more out of myself in a race scenario than a hard workout (I’ve never been good at time trials).

The fun part about this meet is that there will be heats of the 5k as well as 2-mile, mile, and 800. There are race options open for anyone with any fitness/ability level! It’s hosted by Trials of Miles and they’re calling it “December Distance Night.”

I’m so grateful to say that training has been going well. I got to see my new form coach, Paul Mackinnon, twice since the last update. We worked on some funky stuff that’s happening with my left lower leg and that’s been helping me a TON with feeling less pain during my runs/workouts but also afterwards. I feel less beat up and I’m able to walk around more smoothly the rest of the day and the next day after a hard workout. The movement pattern stuff has been SO eye-opening and I recommend it to ANYONE. It’s been a huge piece of the puzzle for me. Last week was my best week of training so far and here's what I did:

Monday: Easy run plus 6x strides after (9 miles)

Tuesday: Threshold workout- 3 miles warmup, 6x mile at 5:40-5:50 with 1 min recovery, 3 miles cooldown (12 miles)

Wednesday: Medium-long run and gym (10 miles)

Thursday: 5 miles easy, 12x 35 sec pickups with equal jog recovery (8 miles)

Friday: Extra short, easy run plus 6x strides (6 miles)

Saturday: Track workout- 3 mile warmup, 5x mile cutdown pace every lap (80, 78, 76, 72-73) 5:05-5:07 per mile with equal recovery as walk/jog (10 miles)

Sunday: Long run and breathwork on the beach (12 miles)

67 miles for the week: the most I’ve done in a LONG TIME

🎁 Gift Ideas 🎁

If you’re looking for gifts for the movement-lovers in your life, I’ve got some ideas for you! I put all the product links and discount codes all on one convenient page on my website so that you can refer back to it at any time (not just during the holidays). I keep it updated as new products come out so you always know what I’m loving, wearing, and using! See below for my favorites from lululemon, ROKA, WHOOP, and Runna.

Ask Me Anything

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions after the last newsletter! There were so many great questions, but I had to choose just a couple to share here. If you have a question for next month, use the link below to email it to me.

Isabelle: “Hi from Richmond, Virginia. I was wondering if you could break down the warmup routine you do before runs. Is it the same every time? How do you know when you’ve done enough?”

Colleen: I love this question because I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of folks are not warming up properly before their hard workouts. This can be risky in terms of causing injury, and it can also result in not getting as much out of yourself in the workout if it takes you half of the reps to truly warm up. My workout looks like: 15-20min of easy running, 10-15 min of drills and stretching, and then 4-6 20ish second strides before I start my first rep. I pretty much do the same thing every time as I have my routine down. The first few strides usually feel a bit stiff and I know I’m ready to go when I can open up my stride and feel more fluid and powerful. It’s just kinda a feeling that you develop over time. HERE is a video I posted with Runna on IG showing a few warmup options. HERE is another one! These are both pretty quick videos, without too much detailed instruction on how to execute each drill. I officially have “full, detailed warmup for a workout” on my content creation list! Keep an 👁️ out for that!

Annie: I’m a mental health therapist for teens and have a few clients who are competitive athletes who are gaining national recognition and competitive school offers. I’m excited for them, yet I can also see much hardship for them. What is something you would have liked your teenage self (& the people around you) to have known?

Colleen: I think about this so often. When I was in high school (and even in college) I didn’t have access to as much info about what workouts other athletes were doing, let alone what NIL deals people were signing, etc. via social media. And even without all that, I still struggled to focus on me and what I was doing to be my best and to enjoy the process along the way. That challenge seems even greater for student-athletes today.

I’m so grateful that my coach (my dad) in high school understood two things very clearly. 1) High school athletes need to be high school athletes. These athletes are going through physical and hormonal changes and already have so much pressure on them to be an A student, win state titles, and now even develop their personal brand… at age 18! Coaches and parents can inadvertently add to this pressure. My dad knew how to keep it fun and direct my competitive fire in a healthy way. The training left me room to grow in college and beyond. 2) No one is harder on an athlete than herself. Anything that anyone has said negatively about me, you can just assume that I’ve already said that (and worse) to myself. Coaches, parents, and mentors don’t need to pile on. Sometimes they can provide accountability, but usually if an athlete is falling short, it’s not because they don’t care or aren’t trying. Gently dig deeper to find what’s truly holding them back.

This feels like a perfect segway to share a resource for any coaches or parents of young female athletes. WILDWOOD RUNNING is an organization based in Portland, OR that is doing the real work to educate and support those involved with developing female athletes. I highly recommend following along with them and checking out both their in-person and virtual clinics.

In closing…

This is my last newsletter of 2024, so happy holidays and happen end of the year! This was definitely not the year I wanted back in January. I wanted to at least be able to have a track season and to get a chance to race at the Olympic Trials. I didn’t get to do that. But in the depths of my pain and disappointment, I was still able to find healing for both my body and my mind. Thanksgiving is over, but I have a long list of people to thank for this year.

• Hunter and Tara Davis-Woodhall for encouraging me to go to Austin, TX to see Dr. Moos and trust his alternative methods.

• Dr. Moos and the entire team at Health-Plus ATX for giving me my hope back.

• My parents and sister for picking up the phone every time I called and for listening to the crazy stories I would tell them about my sessions with Dr. Moos AND validating me and my experiences every single time.

• Coach Harvey for agreeing to coach me again, 9 years later. I needed her and she said yes.

• Elena, my social media video editing rockstar. She helped free me up to make the main thing the main thing this year and still be able to tell the stories along the way.

• My strength coach and guru, Jeff Moreno, for being a constant voice of reason and one of the most humble, generous, and understanding people I know.

• The UCLA cross country team for allowing me to be a part of a team again. It feels good and I’m excited to keep building with y’all.

• All my friends- those who I met this year and those who have been with me through all this shit. Your love and friendship is invaluable.

• All my sponsors- lululemon, WHOOP, Roka, Factor, and Runna. These brands believe in me more than I believe in myself most days. And they all make me feel like I’m winning just by being authentically me.

• My dogs. Pie and Six make sure I see more sunrises and sunsets on the beach than I would ever make time for on my own. They constantly remind me what matters and keep me grounded.

• Kevin for being my rock. 15 years we’ve been rocking together and we still are getting better. This was a great year for us.

Lastly… thank YOU for being part of this journey with me. I probably don’t express this enough, but it’s so much more fun for me to do my job when I know I’m not celebrating a win alone or suffering a setback on my own. Having a community is so key and I feel like all of us are in community together.

I hope you have a great holiday season with people (and pets) you love and I’ll be back in your inbox in 2025!!!!!! 🎊