Kristin Wentworth Brought Her Love Of Disney To Her Coaching
Today’s guest made some big changes in her health and life over a decade ago, and now she’s helping others make similar changes.
She’s a running coach, personal trainer, and last but certainly not least, a runDisney fanatic.
I am looking forward to seeing where this conversation takes us as I go a few easy miles with Kristin Wentworth.
Kristin Wentworth
Feeling Stuck
Kristin Wentworth hasn’t always been a runner.
While in college, she was working for the Department of Public Health.
At that point in her life, she was about 50 pounds heavier than she is now and felt stuck.
Kristin dreamt up the biggest goal she could imagine to help her make some big health changes.
The goal she came up with was to run the London Marathon.
Her ultimate motivation hasn’t happened yet, but she’s actively working on making it a reality.
Even though she hasn’t yet run the London Marathon, she has accomplished a lot of other things she never imagined possible.
Consistency
Kristin was so excited about taking control of her health that she signed up for a half marathon with a friend.
Admittedly, she didn’t even train one day and wore the worst possible clothes for the race.
Not shockingly, the race didn’t go well, but that only added fuel to her desire to improve.
As a trainer, Kristin led a boot camp class a few times a week.
One of her clients was a runner and invited her to join.
Kristin began to run with her regularly and found that if consistent, running could be a normal part of her life.
It was a lightbulb moment for her that not only was running an attainable goal, but she could even improve.
Small Sustainable Changes
Kristin had struggled to lose weight for some time and had tried everything.
The only thing that truly worked for her was making small tweaks to her meals that were sustainable.
With sustainable changes to her nutrition, she was still able to fit in some of her favorite things including dessert.
Creating a food journal was a helpful way for Kristin to find any holes that were in her diet.
Over time, she realized that food wasn’t the enemy and should be enjoyed.
Kristin now views food as healing and helping her from the inside out.
Coaching
Kristin was a personal trainer before she was a running coach.
Incorporating strength is especially important for runners.
Each of her training plans also includes a strength component.
She realized that runners can get overwhelmed with how to balance running and strength training.
Kristin has found that starting small and being consistent is what eventually forms habits.
She suggests to her clients that they set a timer for 15 minutes and do what they can.
Prior to the pandemic, Kristin had a small group of clients that she would train in person.
It was during the pandemic that Kristin merged her love of strength and running to become the coach she is today.
runDisney
Kristin never went to Disney as a child and always wanted to.
Her first trip to Disney was on her two-year dating anniversary with her now husband.
She loved the entire experience and it didn’t take long for her to find out that Disney also held races.
Kristin wasted no time signing up for Tinkerbell as her first official runDisney race.
She has since run countless Disney races of all distances, including various multi-day challenges.
Her experience and knowledge about these particular races have led her to put focus on Disney-specific training plans.
She has clients that run other races as well, but her heart is at Disney.
Kristin Wentworth
Four Races In Four Days
Kristin has run the Dopey challenge multiple times.
The Dopey Challenge is a 5k, 10k, half, and full in consecutive days.
Running 48.6 miles over the course of 4 days requires very specific preparation.
Simulation weekends are a key component of the training plans Kristin gives her clients.
Mobility, strength, and core are heavy in the early months of training to ensure each athlete can handle the heavy mileage.
A focus on fueling is crucial to having successful races and can’t be overlooked.
A Unique Challenge
Dopey to Dumbo is a new twist on the multi-day challenges that Disney offers.
Disneyland is having a Dumbo challenge which is a 10k on the first day and a half marathon the following day.
The Dumbo race series is being held the weekend after Dopey takes place.
Every person that completes both challenges and runs 71 miles in 9 days will receive a special finisher’s medal.
Kristin will be doing this challenge and an extra focus on recovery will be important to staying healthy.
Included in her recovery is extra sleep, compression socks, active recovery, and dialing in her nutrition.
Run Strong
Going into a multi-day race it may be tempting to run each race hard.
Kristin suggests picking one race distance as the goal and running the others easily.
Managing expectations can help to ensure the weekend is a good experience overall.
Along with doing group training, Kristin also does one-on-one training.
She has clients of all abilities and experience levels.
Her programs typically run 16 weeks, but it’s helpful to have a strong base prior to starting.
Looking Ahead
Kristin has yet to run the London Marathon, which was what initially got her into running.
She hasn’t yet run a marathon that wasn’t runDisney, but that will all change this fall.
Kristin is signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon.
She is using that race as her virtual NYC Marathon to qualify to run the race in 2024.
Her ultimate goal is to eventually run a sub-4-hour marathon.
Kristin isn’t putting any pressure on when she will complete her goals.
Running has allowed her to realize that she is capable of more than she thought.
Mentioned In This Episode:
Stay connected to Kristin Wentworth by following her on Instagram.
Kristin Wentworth is a coach and personal trainer that found her niche by combining her career with her passion. Click To Tweet
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