Coach Michelle Martin currently lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two kiddos and two dogs and has been involved in the run space for many years! She brings her passion for the sport and expertise in coaching to all athletes that she works with.
In addition to coaching with Pace of Me, Michelle is the Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations for the Pat Tillman Foundation as well as an active member in her community.
Pace of Me is so lucky to have Michelle on our coaching team as she truly meets runners where they’re at along their journey!
Read below to get to know Coach Michelle better! You can also learn more by following her on instagram at @mkzmartin. 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 michelle@paceofme.com, any time!
Coaching Style
Coach Michelle loves helping our Pace of Me community achieve their goals! With years of expertise in coaching and a passion for the sport, it brings her joy to create personalized, supportive, and results-driven workouts and training plans for her athletes.
Michelle’s coaching philosophy is “Meet runners where they are, focus on progress – not perfection, and make running enjoyable.”
Reaching our goals should be fun!
Favorite Workout
Above all else, running is a therapeutic tool and self care strategy for Michelle. It clears her mind, challenges her physically, and connects her with amazing people. Her favorite workouts are hill repeats and tempo runs, because she finds they both help tremendously with boosting our endurance and speed while also allowing for effort to be the priority over pace and really encourage you to find a sense of flow and rhythm!
Running Playlist
Coach Michelle’s current go-to running playlist is eclectic – anything Pearl Jam, Florence and the Machine, and a little Harry Styles!
Words of encouragement from coach michelle!
Michelle says that seeing runners overcome self-doubt and crush their goals fuels her passion. It’s incredible to witness transformation happen! Her mantra is “Believe in yourself, even when it feels tough. Every step forward is progress, no matter how small.”
coaching experience + running inspo
As a certified running coach with the RRCA and VDOT02, Coach Michelle brings two decades of personal and career running experience to our team. Her hands-on experience working with athletes, coaches, sports scientists, and nutritionists supports her vast experience and knowledge of maximizing potential, making her someone you can count on to help attain your goals.
Personally, following countless races using cookie-cutter training plans starting in 2003, she hired her first coach in 2015 and has never looked back. She was searching for accountability, support, guidance, and, most importantly, a community. Through that, she ran her first sub-4-hour marathon, then a year later ran another marathon cutting 17 minutes off her PR and running a BQ – but most importantly, she feels strong and healthy and continues to love the running journey as she pursues what’s possible through sport.
