Invite the Whole World to Play: Meet Gini Fellows

“You’re continuing to grow.”

Actually, no, I’m not, and wouldn’t that be wonderful, but I know what she meant.

Jamie Dodge is my new running coach at RunnersConnect, and in our initial meet and greet we were talking about how ridiculous I feel sometimes about training hard and doing races.  I had just joined RunnersConnect, an incredibly supportive online community of 600 runners of all ages, coaches, a team doctor, and a team nutritionist.

I had a great experience with my first running coach, Ann Alyanak at the RunSMART Project, who got me across the finish line at the Reggae Marathon in Negril in December, and it was a natural progression for me to join RunnersConnect as I began to understand how my personality can impact my fitness goals.

“Some people choose to stop growing at some point, they think they're finished,” Jamie said. “You’re always wanting to develop yourself and continue to learn.”

Saucony elite athlete Tina Muir, host of the RunnersConnect podcast Run to the Top, had contacted me several months ago, and we quickly made a personal connection. In my fitness journey I had often heard the phrase, "we can learn a lot from the elites." I agree, but I also know how much recreational athletes - weekend warriors - can learn from each other.

I came across Ironman Gini Fellows, who's competing in her first full Ironman in November, and like Tina who reached out to me, I gave Gini a call.

Wait 'til you hear Ironman Gini Fellows's story, I wanted to tell Jamie.

After a telephone conversation with Gini, who lives in Mississippi and turns 70 this summer, I invited Gini to guest blog on Be the Dog. I'm pumped to roll out my new Guest Bloggers feature - check it out!

See you next time!