In addition to being a coach and the founder of Pace of Me, Jess is a mom of three and an artist! She and her husband Robert are currently living in Cary, NC with their two dogs Cooper and TJ and their youngest son Gus – “half nesters” as their oldest two kids Abby and Will are away at college in Chapel Hill (Go Heels!). They relocated to NC in 2016 after living in the DC area for many years and love calling the Raleigh area home.
Jess has been coaching runners of all abilities for over 15 years and has been making art for runners since 2019. Running, coaching and the creative process are all very intertwined for her. She spends her days connecting with runners and helping them dream big, train smart, work towards their goals and discover who they are athletically while achieving amazing things through this sport.
Read below to get to know Coach Jess better! You can also learn more by following her on instagram at @paceofme. She would love to hear from you if you have questions or are interested in working with her for 1:1 comprehensive run coaching. You can email her directly at jess@paceofme.com, any time!
Coaching Style
Jess describes her coaching style as wholehearted and rooted in the idea that running is a practice of self discovery and becoming. She guides her athletes with a blend of structure, heart and steady encouragement – balancing purposeful, data-driven training with the realities of everyday life. She cares about your mindset as much as your mileage, and prioritizes helping her athletes build confidence, resilience and joy while going after big and meaningful goals. With Jess, coaching is a partnership – grounded, compassionate, and designed to help you grow into the strongest version of yourself!
Favorite Workout
Coach Jess loves to get creative with mixed-stimulus workouts, combining both a sustained tempo (half marathon to 10k effort) with short high-intensity hill repeats. She loves these workouts because they build both aerobic strength and speed. Workouts with both tempo effort and short hill repeats train the body and mind to be able to switch gears, developing the ability to manage lactate clearance and the skill of maintaining an uncomfortable effort on fatigued legs, while also boosting speed and neuromuscular fitness. She often designs them with a couple of miles warm up, a sustained tempo (the distance and time of which would depend on the athlete), a short easy recovery of just a few minutes and then 4-6 hill repeats before cooling down. These workouts are also awesome for honing your mental toughness!
Running Playlist
You will find a wide range of musical taste on Coach Jess’s running playlist, though she has a special affinity for pop and Americana! Some of her very favorites are Harry Styles, The Avett Brothers, Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile and Noah Kahan. She loves music and one of her favorite things to do with her favorite people is to see live music especially outdoors!
words of encouragement from coach jess!
“Trust your path, have patience with the process and meet yourself where you are. You are building something so powerful with every mile that you run. Training for a race isn’t just about crossing a finish line. It’s about who you become and what you can learn along the way. It’s about the discipline you’re practicing, the courage your cultivating and the self belief you’re strengthening every time you show up and lace up – even, and especially, when it feels hard. Keep showing up and know you have a whole team of people who believe in you, understand you and are here for you!”
Coaching Experience + Running Inspo!
Coach Jess works with runners from entry level to advanced and is a certified running coach through both RRCA and VDOT02 as well as an active member of The Coaches Collective. She has been coaching athletes of all ages and abilities for over 15 years, through 1:1 coaching and various group training programs.
Jess signed up for her first marathon before she had even run a 5k. At the age of 23, she finished the Philadelphia Marathon in 5:36 and knew she was forever changed. Since then, she has run more races than she can count, including 28 marathons, and her fastest marathon to date at the age of 45 in 3:09.
Jess is getting ready to run her 5th consecutive and 8th Boston Marathon this spring! She continues to be curious about what’s possible and loves the process and magic of what unfolds before us in our running shoes.
in the media!
DIGITAL AND PRINT ARTICLES:
A wonderful article about how to prepare for the NYC Marathon, written by Amanda Loudin.
