Unlock Your Health Potential: Free Coaching Sessions Available for a Limited Time!

A Journey Rooted in Writing

My core purpose in writing this blog has always been to share free, valuable, and actionable insights to support your health and fitness goals. I've been blogging long before becoming a coach, starting in 2009. My initial motivation for earning my first training credential from NASM in 2015 was to lend more authority to my writing. Coaching people wasn't part of the plan, but life has a way of leading us down unexpected paths.

Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with many running, personal training, and health and wellness clients.

You know what they say: you only see where the path will lead once you start down it. I never imagined I'd be here today, helping many of you achieve your health and fitness goals.

While I often include links to my coaching services in my blog posts, I make a point not to be a sales-oriented blog. I want to help people, even those who can't or don't want to hire me as their coach. I’m here to help! So, I hope you will forgive me for this rare post promoting my services directly, but I need your help!

This is where you come in.

I am thrilled to offer you an opportunity to kickstart or improve your health and fitness journey with personalized, client-centered coaching sessions—completely free of charge! As a certified personal trainer, running coach, and health coach, my passion lies in helping people like you achieve their wellness goals and live their best lives.

Why Am I Offering Free Coaching Sessions?

My next big goal is to take the National Board of Health & Wellness Coaches (NBHWC) board certification exam. If you have been following along, you know I recently earned my Precision Nutrition Level 2 master health coach certification, an NBHWC-approved course. I also recently passed my physical skills assessment (oral coaching exam), which has elevated me to the next step in the process.

To qualify to apply to take the board exam, I must log 50 coaching calls; this is where you come in! By participating in these free coaching sessions, you will benefit from tailored guidance, which will help me reach my certification goal. It's a win-win.

What Can You Expect from Your Free Coaching Session?

I plan each session with your unique needs and goals in mind. Whether you aim to lose weight, build muscle, or adopt healthier lifestyle habits, I support you at every step. Here's what you can expect:

• Personalized Coaching: I will tailor every session to your health and fitness objectives.

• Actionable Advice: You will receive practical tips and strategies you can immediately implement daily.

• No Pressure: This is a no-strings-attached offer. There is absolutely no sales pressure to sign up for additional services. My goal is to provide value and support during our free session.

Who Can Benefit from These Sessions?

• People looking to start their fitness journey

• Someone who is stuck or plateaued and needs help with the next steps

• Anyone wanting to adopt healthier habits

• Those needing motivation and accountability to achieve their goals

How to Sign Up for Your Free Session

Please note that this is a limited-time offer, and spots will likely fill up quickly, so don't miss your chance!

Sign Up Here: Free Health Coaching Session

Why Wait? Start Your Journey Today!

This is an incredible opportunity to receive professional coaching at no cost while helping me achieve my certification goals. Whether you're a long-time reader or new to my blog, I invite you to take advantage of this offer. Let's work together to make your health and fitness dreams a reality.

Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to helping you reach your full potential!

FAQs

Q: How will we meet for sessions?

A: All sessions will be online using Google Meet or by phone.

Q: How long is each session?

A: Each coaching session will last approximately 30 minutes. Most appointment availability will be in the evening in Central Time (CT)

Q: What happens after the free session?

A: You are not obligated to continue beyond the free session. However, if you find the coaching valuable and wish to continue, we can discuss further options.

Q: I am a former client of yours. Do I still qualify?

A: Yes! I'd love to see you again.

Q: I am a current client. How does this affect my sessions?

A: If you are a current personal training or run coaching client without health coaching, we can add a health coaching session to your schedule.

A: If you are a current client who does health coaching sessions, we can increase the frequency of sessions for this limited time. For example, if we meet every other week for health coaching, we can meet once a week at your convenience.

Q: We’re friends. Can I sign up?

A: I'm sorry, but according to the NBHWC rules, friends and family cannot participate in these fifty coaching sessions. (But text me, let’s do lunch.)

Q: When will this offer expire?

A: This offer will expire once I satisfy the fifty coaching sessions required to submit my board application.

Thank you once again for your support and trust. Together, we can achieve great things!

FREE HEALTH COACHING SESSION
Do you know someone who might benefit from coaching? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers.

Questions? I’d love to help.

Coach Lea

I am a personal trainer, running coach, and master health coach dedicated to helping runners get strong, body and mind!

@fortworth_trainer

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Win from Within: Mental Tips for Better Running Performance

Ever felt like your mind is giving up before your body does? You're not alone. While physical training is crucial, mental exercise can be the key to unlocking your full potential. Just as you can build your muscles or VO2Max, you can also develop a strong mindset. Neglecting to train your mind alongside your body could leave performance potential untapped. By recognizing the empowerment from this dual training, you can feel more in control and capable of achieving your goals.

mental training for runners

Developing Your Athletic Identity

It all begins with identity. How do you perceive yourself? I often work with clients who hesitate to call themselves athletes. These same clients participate in half marathons, maintain a consistent gym routine, and have a fitness coach (me!). The athlete label isn't reserved for the elites or those with a specific body type or performance outcome; if you engage in athletic activities, you, too, are an athlete. Embrace this identity, and you might notice subtle shifts in your behavior. When you view yourself as an athlete, you are likelier to act like one.

Exercise: Write it down: I am an athlete. Think it, say it, believe it.

Why It Matters: It's rarely about the time on the race clock or the weight on the bar; it's about how those things will make you feel. How do you want to feel? Strong? Confident? Capable? Proud of yourself?

Start with how you want to feel and craft a vision statement. A vision statement isn't only about specific goals but combines the outcomes you want to achieve with how you will feel and how it will affect your life. It's a powerful tool that can guide your actions and decisions, keeping you focused on your ultimate vision.

Vision Statement Example: "I am happy, healthy, and living pain-free. I prioritize my health and well-being. I am a strong and confident athlete. I ran a half-marathon PR and am proud of myself for my work in achieving this goal. I have strong and visible muscles that allow me to move through life easily. I have the energy and capacity to care for myself while helping others."

Take Action: Write your vision statement in the present tense and keep it close. Are your actions aligned with your ultimate vision?

Recognizing and Improving Self-Talk

How you talk to yourself matters. Do you have an inner self-critic? Of course, you do. Welcome to being human. Learning to recognize, challenge, and quiet that voice is a mindset skill that will benefit any athlete. Improving your self-talk can be a powerful source of motivation and inspiration, fueling your athletic performance.

Exercise: Write about yourself as an athlete and include how or why you started, what activities you enjoy, your training, struggles, successes, and setbacks. Be honest and unfiltered.

Then, review what you wrote and underline any objective facts (e.g., "I played sports in school"). Then, circle judgments and feelings (e.g., "I am slow" or "I am not a natural athlete"). Recognize self-limiting beliefs to begin changing them.

Reframe: Instead of "I am slow," try "I am a consistent and dedicated athlete with room for improvement."

Take Action: Spend a week noticing your self-talk. Is it helpful or discouraging? Kind or critical? Each time you catch an unhelpful thought, reframe it to strengthen your mental resilience.

Developing a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is a game-changer. It's about believing in your ability to learn and improve, even in the face of challenges. This mindset opens up possibilities, making you feel hopeful about your athletic journey.

As an athlete, if you haven't read Carol Dweck's book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, I highly recommend it. It explains in detail how developing a growth mindset can help you achieve more in all areas of your life.

Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset Examples:

• Fixed Mindset: "I am not a fast runner."

• Growth Mindset: "With consistent practice and effort, I can improve my running speed over time."

Take Action:: Identify one fixed mindset belief and reframe it with a growth mindset approach.

Overcoming Race Day Anxiety and Fear

I know what you may be thinking: This is all great, but what can I do about that anxiety, fear, and worry I feel at the start line of a big race or in the middle when I start to doubt my ability to finish strong?

First, remember that fear and anxiety are not signs of weakness; they are signs that we care deeply about the outcome. Having these thoughts and worries is natural, but developing emotional regulation skills can help you feel calmer when the pressure is high.

Strategies:

• Recognize and Release: Notice stress and take deep breaths to recenter. Just noticing the emotions and putting some space between feeling and reacting can be calming. I like to repeat to myself, "Relax & Release!" You can acknowledge and address emotions to prevent them from interfering with your performance.

• Reframe Anxiety as Excitement: Use nervous energy to focus and perform.

• Embrace Discomfort: Understand that hard work means progress. Practice gratitude to shift your mindset during challenging moments.

When it feels hard, that is usually good because:

• You are doing enough work to elicit change. If it were easy, it wouldn't improve your fitness level. No one gets better by keeping it easy all the time.

• It is an opportunity to practice perseverance. Every time you do hard things, you reinforce that you are capable of doing hard things. You're teaching your brain you can do this and will survive to live another day. Every time you don't give up, you become more like a person who doesn't give up.

• If it is hard, that often means that there is room for improvement. Room for improvement is good as it shows you the potential you can become.

This shift in perspective can build resilience and help you feel strong and capable.

FOCUS ON GRATITUDE

Another strategy that can help when things feel hard is to switch to thinking about gratitude. Start naming everything you are grateful for, from your beating heart and capable legs to your relationships (name names!), the roof over your head, your goofy pet, or bubble baths. When I struggle, I start naming what I am grateful for until my brain can't come up with another thing. Milk it: hot showers, sleeping in, owning a dishwasher, puppy dreams, fabric softener, automatic timers on the coffee machine, my favorite song, or porta-potties (I’m serious!). Keep going. What else?

Complaining and being grateful simultaneously is impossible, so focusing on gratitude can help you overcome a tough spot. I wrote on the whiteboard in my gym, "I am grateful for every opportunity to move and strengthen my body." I glance up at it when attempting something challenging or if I am having one of those days when I "don't feel like it" to remind myself it's a privilege to be able to do this at all. (Yes, trainers have those days too.)

Find a Support Network

You don't have to do it alone. As much as we are individuals, we all have the same human brain. Building a solid support network of like-minded individuals can provide you with encouragement, motivation, and accountability. Whether joining a training group, a running club, seeking a coach, or connecting with fellow athletes online, surrounding yourself with a supportive community can fuel your personal and athletic growth.

A coach can help you challenge and counteract your inner critic, enhance your mental resilience, find your bright spots & strengths, help you see your potential, craft a plan to improve, and provide accountability.

Take Action: Join a running group, find a coach, or connect with fellow athletes online to fuel your personal and athletic growth.

Conclusion: Practice Makes PROGRESS

You get out of it what you put in. Practice makes progress. Incorporate these mental training techniques into your routine to build a strong mind. Practice some of the skills outlined in this post. What can you do daily to build a habit of a strong mind? Where do you need to improve the most? How can you incorporate some of these practices into your training? Next time, before you begin a challenging workout or event, prepare in advance how you will respond if things get hard.

Questions? I’d love to help.

Did you like this post? Do you know someone who might benefit? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers.

Coach Lea

I am a personal trainer, running coach, and master health coach dedicated to helping runners get strong, body and mind!

@Fortworth_trainer

Click to subscribe.

add your name to the wait list for July

Explore more blog posts here…