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Today we are hearing from someone who has lived and breathed running pretty much her whole life.
Angela Reckart ran Division III at The College of New Jersey, where she was a seven-time All-American and part of two national championship relay teams. From there, she moved into coaching — North Florida, North Carolina, six seasons at Penn State helping lead the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten title, and Duke.
But off the track, she's 'Coach Reck' — girl mom to two daughters, a woman of faith, and someone who's had to figure out, in real time, what it looks like to build a career around running while also building a family.
Today, Angela is going for an Olympic Trials Qualifying time in the marathon in her 40s. That, after she didn’t race for 16 years, and then went from a 2:55 to a 2:45 marathon in 16 months, running her PR just this past April in Boston.
In this episode, we dive into:
🌀The transition from competing to coaching
🌀Her experience in returning to racing
🌀What her training looks like as a mom in her 40s going for the Olympic Trials
🌀Her top mother runner hacks...and mistakes
TIMESTAMPS:
1:39 — Motherhood and running’s “busy season”
12:45 — Navigating coaching, travel, and a newborn
14:23 — Why she started marathon training
15:54 — Marathon running as a personal reset
17:36 — Racing goals in your forties
18:47 — The power of stacking training cycles
20:27 — Running mechanics for stronger, more durable runners
22:53 — Think like your own coach
24:39 — Identity beyond motherhood and running
42:18 — Managing injuries without spiraling
RESOURCES:
IG: @coach_reck
Site: NGU Coaching
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Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.
