Katie Kendrex Balances All Areas Of Life To Get To The Next Level
Today’s guest is an ultra runner, personal trainer, and nutrition coach.
She is gearing up for her first hundred miler and already has plans to go even farther in the not-so-distant future.
I am looking forward to going a few easy miles with Katie Kendrex today!
Katie Kendrex
Running Fostered Friendships
Katie Kendrex ran a bit growing up but never considered herself a runner.
She DNF’d her first 2-mile race in high school, but clearly, that wasn’t an accurate predictor of what type of runner she would eventually become.
As an adult, Katie came across Moms Runs This Town/She Runs This Town (MRTT/SRTT).
The group has chapters all across the nation and is inclusive and welcoming to all levels of women runners.
Katie immediately felt a connection to the group of women and found herself signing up for races just to hang out with them.
She signed up for her first half marathon in 2018, one year after the birth of her fourth child.
At the time, Katie viewed the race as a, “one and done,” distance.
That thinking would prove to be quite the opposite because only a few months later she completed her first trail race.
Katie Kendrex
The Confidence To Go Long
The second race that Katie completed was a 33k trail race which is equivalent to around 20 miles.
It was the trails that made her really fall in love with the sport.
She has found trail running to be a mix of adventures and opportunities to see what she is capable of.
When Katie isn’t on the trails she can usually be found in the Crossfit gym.
Doing Crossfit consistently has made her a stronger and more confident athlete.
The confidence she gained from both Crossfit and the trails was enough to propel her into the ultra world.
Go Big Or Go Home
After Katie successfully completed the 33k trail race, she was confident that she could finish a marathon.
She began searching for marathons with no time limit and came across the Honolulu Marathon.
While training for the marathon, Katie heard about the Antelope Canyon 50-mile race.
Katie is a go big or go home type of person and decided to sign up for the race and figure it out.
Her first marathon didn’t go exactly as planned, because as Katie has learned, race day is somewhat out of your control.
Katie struggled with the heat, humidity, and hills of Hawaii.
In preparation for the 50-miler, Katie did a second marathon in February and her first 50k a few weeks later.
She learned a lot in the buildup to her 50-mile race and was as ready as she could be.
Into The Unknown
The Antelope Canyon 50-mile race of 2020 took place the weekend covid shutdowns began happening all over the country.
The race takes place in the Navajo Nation and they were gracious enough to allow the race to continue as planned even though it was shut down to the public.
Katie would control what she could control, but she was concerned about making the cutoffs going into the race.
The race, though incredibly challenging, was an incredible experience.
Katie has found that good views can help her get through almost anything.
Katie Kendrex
Ignorance Is Bliss
Katie is currently training for her first 100-mile race that is scheduled to take place this fall in Arizona.
This has been the first race in which Katie has had to train through an Arizona summer.
In order to avoid the intense heat, Katie has to begin most of her runs in the early morning hours.
Even though Katie is yet to finish a 100-mile race, that didn’t deter her from looking ahead to longer distances.
On the last day of the Tahoe 200 lottery, Katie put her name in for the drawing.
As luck would have it, her name got picked.
Her upcoming 100-mile race will not be not only a distance PR but also a training run for an even bigger challenge.
“Ignorance is bliss,” according to Katie and just finishing the race will be a huge accomplishment.
The Strength Piece Of The Puzzle
Katie tries to consistently balance running and Crossfit.
Being active in two different sports has helped to prevent burnout along with decreasing her chance of injury.
Strength training is one piece of the puzzle that helps Katie to stay healthy and train consistently.
Nutrition and quality sleep are two other variables that when balanced are key to Katie reaching her potential.
When training in multiple sports, it’s important to be cautious not to overtrain or overload the body.
Katie is in tune with her body and aware of when she needs to pull back on training.
Libra Fit Foodie
After Katie had her fourth child, she began to learn more about nutrition through her Crossfit gym.
She was able to lose 50 pounds in one year and the experience changed her life.
Katie learned how to sustainably change her nutrition in a way that supported her athletic goals.
After losing weight, she then began to work on putting on more lean mass.
Katie began performing better than she ever had in high school.
Experiencing the positive different nutrition can have on her body firsthand, made her more passionate to help others learn the same.
Katie embarked on creating her own business- Libra Fit Foodie, in which she teaches her clients about balancing nutrition.
One of her biggest pet peeves is when people label carbs as inherently bad, when in reality they are the first source the body uses for energy.
Mentioned In This Episode:
- Libra Fit Foodie
- She Runs This Town
- Antelope Canyon Ultras
- Honolulu Marathon
- Flagstaff To Grand Canyon Stagecoach Line Ultra
- Tahoe 200 Endurance Run
Stay connected with Katie Kendrex by following Libra Fit Foodie and/or Katie Kendrex on Instagram.
Katie Kendrex built her business, health, and athletic endeavors around the idea of maintaining balance. Click To Tweet
As Always, I’d Love to Know What Stood Out to You From this Episode! Let Me Know Your Takeaway in the Comments Below!
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Thanks for this show. It was motivating to see katie’s success and ambition. I’m moving up to the 50 next year and was thinking possibly 100 in the future. But after this discussion maybe a 200?!? Who knows. Thanks for the open window to possibility and idea.