Hi, I’m Kelsey, and I’m going to help you meet your fitness goals. How do I know that? Because I’ve been where you are. Just like you, I like to wear a lot of hats and have to balance my schedule with the schedule of my loved ones.

Not only am I an RRCA certified coach, but I’m also a wife, a mother, a daughter, a working professional, a fitness enthusiast, a dog lover, and tons of other things.

I wasn’t always the woman you see in the picture at the top of this page. I was never an athlete in school, and I definitely didn’t like running. PE was a living nightmare – you know the stereotypical nerd who was the last to get picked for dodgeball? That was me.

I first started exercising because one of my good friends was on our school’s tennis team, and he needed someone to keep him company while he was running and doing strength training.

I remember my first run like it was yesterday: I didn’t own a single piece of workout clothing. I showed up to the YMCA wearing some denim Bermuda shorts and a pair of converse. That outfit didn’t last long.

When I got to college, running became a way for me to take control. My body was very slender when I was in high school, and I was proud of it. But, as I grew older, I started gaining weight. I grew hips, and I started seeing fat in places I wasn’t used to. All of this change made me uncomfortable and self-conscious and I started using running as a way to force my body to look how I wanted it. During this time, I loved running because of how it made me look, but I didn’t like how it made me feel.

It wasn’t until after college that I started to fall in love with running. Like most recent college grads, I was going through a bit of an identity crisis. I didn’t know who I was, or what I was supposed to do with my life. Shortly after graduation, on a whim, I decided I was going to run a half marathon. Training for that race over the next few months turned me into a new person. Long hours pounding the pavement pulled me out of my identity crisis by giving me dedicated time to connect spiritually with God, explore my own thoughts and beliefs, and focus on who I wanted to become.

I completed that first half marathon and fell into my Mom’s arms as we bawled at the finish line. Finishing that race was symbolic for me. It showed me how strong I was, and gave me the confidence to bring that strength to other areas of my life. Since that race, I’ve run a few other marathons, both half and full. Each of them has been as transformative as the first.

Looking back, I know I couldn’t have reached that finish line without the help of my support group, and advice from more experienced runners who’ve had to do it before me.

I want to be that support group for you. Let me partner with you to show you how you, too, can be a GoalGetter Runner.