Ep #253: How to Navigate Health Setbacks with Julie Anna Johnson

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a woman who has never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running and life coach, and I teach women how to start running, feel confident, and change their lives. And now I want to help you.

Jill: Hey, runners. So I am here this week with a very special guest, you’re absolutely going to love her. Her name is Julie Anna Johnson and she is, let me make sure I get this right. She is a dreamer, she is a life coach, she is a lifelong learner, and she’s an athlete. And by athlete I mean she is a runner who has chronic pain, who has found freedom in movement.

She’s also a member of Run Your Best Life and has really achieved some amazing things with her running, with her life. And I don’t know, I’m just so excited to bring you her story this week.

So Julie Anna, welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast.

Julie Anna: Thank you Jill.

Jill: So let’s kind of set the scene for everybody because you ran your first half marathon last year.

Julie Anna: Correct.

Jill: But in 2012 you were using a walker.

Julie Anna: Right.

Jill: So some shit has happened in the past 10 years. So let’s take everybody back to 2012. What was going on with you? And kind of like talk through, and we’ll have a conversation about it, but I kind of want to start hearing about where were you? What was going on? And then how did you make the journey to half marathon from being in a walker 10 years ago?

Julie Anna: I have fibromyalgia which is a neuromuscular condition. And one of the symptoms that’s persistent for me is neuropathy in my hands and feet. And if I’m not getting the rest I need, the fuel that I need, then I have issues. And I was in a highly stressful time in my career at that point. And wasn’t taking good care of myself.

And so it got progressively worse to the point that to go to the grocery store, anywhere that I had to walk a lot I had to use a walker, or to my husband’s horror, the wheelchair cart at Walmart. He didn’t realize he truly was marrying an older woman.

Jill: Right, actually let’s share that too. Because you ran your first half marathon, you were 59 when you ran it?

Julie Anna:  Right.

Jill: And you’re 60 now.

Julie Anna: Right.

Jill: So just in case people didn’t recognize, because we’ve got a lot of people who are like, “Well, I’m too old to be a runner. I’m almost 50.” I’m like, oh, no, no, no.

Julie Anna: No, my goal was the half before I was 60.

Jill: Oh my gosh, that’s amazing.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: Okay. All right, so let’s go back to 2012.

Julie Anna: Okay, and so things happened with the career and I left where I was and had to do a whole lot of healing physically, emotionally, spiritually, just a whole lot of stuff. And I realized I could let my medical issues define me or I could use them as an opportunity to thrive and to grow.

And so it was a lot of bumps and hurdles along the way. But I had tried the Couch to 5K, which did not work for the body I was in, and I did a gym membership, I did a bunch of different things. And it just was never anything that was sustainable for my life. And we live in a very rural area so there’s not a lot of access to things that we can do so you have to be real self-sufficient with it.

And I wasn’t always as motivated as I became and I had also put on a lot of weight. And so I didn’t want to diet because I knew that they didn’t work for me. And so I heard this sassy southern woman who cussed a lot, and that’s Corinne Crabtree. And I learned about thought work and didn’t realize I had kind of been using it without even knowing that that’s what it was called.

And so I started losing weight. I got almost to the Century Club and just fell short, put a few pounds back on recently. But she had a turkey trot, when would that have been? In 2020. And it was just movement for an hour. And I did it and I did more than a 5K. And I was so excited.

And then afterwards I was thinking about, well, what do I do next? Because I’d always dreamed of being a runner my whole life. But the runners that I saw didn’t have the body that I had and I was older. And so I noticed on her training plan, that it was written by Jill Angie. So I searched you and found your podcast and your Facebook group and started participating.

And then I did the roadmap, I guess it would have been January of 2021. And it was, it was just amazing, it was life changing for me in so many ways. Not just that I saw myself in the other people in the community, but also the thought work is such a central part of how you work with women.

And so I did the roadmap. And, I mean, the decision was made like the first weekend that I was going to join because the support was just so amazing. And it wasn’t just the coaches. I mean, there are people in the community, the ambassadors were reaching out and checking in. And it just, I had never experienced that level of support before.

And so I joined and within a couple weeks, I think, was the self-confidence retreat. And I am still part of a polo group that came out of that retreat. And they’re the sisters that I will someday meet all of. I have met Stormi Campbell, and in October I’ll meet several more at Mo’ Bell, which is here in Tennessee where I live. So it’s just been, it’s been incredible.

But through the process of the roadmap and really thinking about what I wanted for myself as an athlete and as a runner, I wanted to do a half marathon before I was 60. And so I did a few 5K’s, I did a 10K, I did a 10K trail run. You know, why not? I picked a half marathon in August in the southeast, so it’s hot, it’s humid, and it was at a state park and the elevation gain was ridiculous.

It was ridiculous. And no matter how well I was trained it just still, it was a lot. But my A goal was to finish under four hours and I did that.

Jill: Wow, that’s amazing.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: Really, that’s amazing because a trail race is always going to be slower than a street race. And then with elevation and humidity and so forth, like that’s a huge accomplishment.

Julie Anna: Yeah, and then I had a coaching session with you and kind of thought about, well, what’s next? Because I’ve always been a planner, there’s got to be the next thing, the next thing, the next thing instead of resting in that place of accomplishment. And the thought that you offered me that I’ve held on to is I will run with no expectations and see where it takes me.

And I’ve had a few more health setbacks, so I haven’t been able to really run since December. The one thing that I will say to anybody listening is strength training is the most important thing you’ll ever do as a runner because it’s helped me maintain my core strength. You know, one of the things with neuropathy is I don’t always know where my feet are in relation to the ground so I fall. But at one point in time I couldn’t just be in a squat and stand up, and I can do that now.

I didn’t know that was a thing that runners needed to do. So it has been crucial as something that has helped me maintain, not necessarily my endurance, but my fitness. I mean I also have asthma on top of everything else. And I think even in my darkest times with my physical condition I’ve had that to hold on to, and I’ve had though work to hold on to. And then the incredible support of the community, coaches and other athletes.

And it’s just, I come from a background where we put the fun in dysfunctional, but I’ve always been a person who I don’t want to just survive, I want to thrive. And the tools that I’ve learned have really helped. And I have some recent answers now and a path forward with my physical condition. And I don’t think I’m ever going to be a Sierra or Rachel, who run these incredible distances.

Jill: The ultra-marathoners, that’s all right.

Julie Anna: Yeah, I mean, it’s          just at one time I had this little bit of envy that they were younger and more able. And they may argue that, but I think for me my sweet spot is the 10K because it’s a push, the continuous time on my feet isn’t as difficult for my body to handle. And so the only race I signed up for this year was the Mo’ Bell in October because I had some other things going on that I had to train for.

Jill: So let’s kind of like take it back a little bit because you kind of live with chronic pain and you run with chronic pain. So can you talk a little bit about how you manage that, both the physical experience and the mental and emotional experience?

Julie Anna: One of the things with the interval running is that I’m able to adjust it depending on what my pain levels are like. And that took some thought work too initially because it’s like oh, no, I should just be able to run through. But actually, the intervals freed me from feeling like I had to run constantly to be a runner.

And so there are days that I can only do a 30/30. And then there are days, I mean, when I was at the peak of my training I was running for two to three minutes, just depending on conditions and my body, and then walking for 30 seconds. So intervals really help.

Now, on days when I’m just really having a hard time, I can’t run. I mean I just can’t. But I also don’t beat myself up over it. I think one of the things that I learned is that people don’t do 100% of their training plans. I didn’t know that was a thing.

Jill: Its true, right? I don’t think I’ve ever met a single person who has said, “I did not miss a step of my training plan.”

Julie Anna: Yeah, and that was freeing for me as well. But, I mean, I’ll be honest, I have to do a lot of thought work because it would really be easy to hate the body that I’m in. One of the areas that mind drama gets me is feeling like my body has let me down again. So a friend did some coaching with me and she said, “Can you not look at all the things that the body you’re in has let you do?” And it was like oh, wow, what a shift.

So whenever I go to that place where I start to have a lot of drama it’s like what can I do in my body right now? And that allows me to be gentle with myself.

Jill: I think that’s a very powerful thought, what can I do in my body right now?

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: And whether you are somebody that experiences chronic pain or whether you don’t, we all have ups and downs in how we feel, especially women, right? Because we have like a monthly cycle of hormones and then as you’re going through perimenopause, then there’s like that whole thing. And there are some days when you’re like, “I feel great,” and other days when you don’t. And it’s very tempting to say there’s something wrong with me because running feels hard today.

And your thought is just so beautiful and so simple. Like what can I do in my body right now?

Julie Anna: Yeah, well, and I remember too, in the roadmap you talked about injuries. And I thought oh, never happen to me. My body’s such a mess, it won’t happen to me. I had a partial tear to my meniscus and it had nothing to do with all the other crap in my body. And if it hadn’t been for the groups that I connected with through the retreat last year, I don’t know that I would have kept at it.

But again, it was that strength training, the support of the community, and my training plan became my PT plan. And what was fascinating to me was the exercises she had me doing were a lot of the ones that you introduced in the roadmap. I was like, “I know how to do this.”

Jill: Not uncoincidentally, right? It’s so funny, because I think of strength training as pre-hab. Like instead of going to rehab, let’s just do the strength training ahead of time. So yeah, a lot of the basic strength that I teach in the roadmap are the things that we use to build our muscles back up after an injury because if you can just build them up ahead of time, right?

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: And it’s all pretty, it’s simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple stuff. It’s uncomplicated. I just love that. I’ve had a few people say that to me, they’re like, “Oh, I went to PT and they gave me all the same strength training exercises that I didn’t do when I took your class.” I’m like, “Oh, interesting.”

Julie Anna: Well, I will say that the physical therapist that I saw, who was wonderful, she was a great addition to my team of folks. She was like, “Wow, you really do know how to do this.” And I was in PT a lot less longer than they expected as a result. But I also did the work. You know, I didn’t just kind of half-ass it. If I was going to do this I was going to do it, that’s just kind of how I’ve always been. I’m willing to go all in.

Jill: Now, have you ever had a doctor or other professional helping you with your various health issues that said to you, “Hi, I don’t think you should run.” Have you ever had to have that conversation?

Julie Anna: Funny you should ask that, the guy that I’m seeing for my back, first conversation said that.

Jill: Yeah.

Julie Anna: And I said that’s your opinion. I’m going to do it anyway. I’m not here for you to tell me what I can’t do, but to help me do what I want to do.

Jill: So powerful.

Julie Anna: Well, and again, it goes back to listening to the stories that women share in the community, on the podcast. It’s like the whole thing about having to get weighed when you go to, I don’t know, the ear, nose, and throat doctor. You know, totally irrelevant. But as women we need to advocate for ourselves.

And I think it took him back a bit because I don’t think women talk to them that way.

Jill: Nope.

Julie Anna: I live in the south and, you know, there are certain roles people are expected to play. And my next appointment with him after I’d had all the diagnostics done, the MRIs all that stuff, he was much more engaged. And he said, “I’d prefer you not run right now until we figure out if the plan is going to work. But definitely keep doing your strength training.”

Jill: That’s awesome.

Julie Anna: And I was like, “Oh, okay, I will.”

Jill: Right, because that’s a totally different diagnosis than you shouldn’t run. It’s more like while we’re figuring this out, I’d prefer if you don’t run.

Julie Anna: Right.

Jill: It kind of gives you the power to make the decision but taking in all of the information as part of your plan, versus just being told by somebody who has just met you, “Oh, you shouldn’t run.”

Julie Anna: Yeah. Yeah, he told me a walk would probably be sufficient. And I said, “Well, not when you’re a runner.”

Jill: Yeah. I mean, and honestly, that’s like my landlord, who came over to fix something and he saw our gym set up in the basement, my gym set up in the basement. And he said, “Wow, your husband has a really nice gym down there.” I was like, “That’s my gym.” Right? I’m like why would you just assume it’s his, or at the very least ours?

But I I think that there is this belief that like, oh, that’s so cute you want to be a runner, you’re 60. You know, you’ve got these like, just go for a walk. And it’s like, no, this is what I want to do, right? Like, why won’t more medical professionals encourage that and say, oh, you want to be a runner? Oh, this is awesome. Okay, let’s figure out how we can make that happen.

Julie Anna: Well, you know, and I don’t know if it is when people have trained, because the guy that I went to for my knee, totally not like that.

Jill: Yeah.

Julie Anna: But he didn’t do backs, so I can go to him.

Jill: Damn it. Be like, oh, come on, bones are bones.

Julie Anna: Yeah, and I remember when he put the brace on my knee he was like, “Don’t worry, it’s just for a little while. You’ll be running again.”

Jill: I love that.

Julie Anna: Yeah, but I do think until we speak up, no matter our age or what’s going on in our bodies it’s our responsibility to advocate for what we need.

Jill: It really is, right? Because in the defense of all the physicians out there, they’re busy, right? They’re seeing probably way more patients than they can possibly. So it makes sense that they might want to err on the side of caution and just be like, “Listen, you just probably shouldn’t run,” rather than take the time.

And I think that knowing that, it’s even more important for us to speak up. And we don’t have to be angry. We don’t have to be like, “Hey,” right? We can just be like, “Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear.” Right?

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: That’s all you have to do. So I’m really proud of you for doing that. I think that it sets an example. And here’s the other thing, the next time that physician talks to a woman that is kind of in similar circumstances, he or she might take a moment and think, “Oh, wait.” Right? So you’re not just helping yourself, you’re potentially helping future patients kind of get better care.

Julie Anna: Right.

Jill: So yeah, it’s awesome.

Julie Anna: Which I think that that is something that I’ve always wanted, to make the world a better place than the way I found it. I mean, we learn that early on as backpackers, that you leave something better than you found it. And that was one of my dad’s things and it stuck. Haven’t always known how to use my voice but.

Jill: Well, that kind of leads me to what I want to talk about next, which is you decided, so you joined the roadmap in January. You joined January 2021, you joined Run Your Best Life at the end of that class and then a month later you came to one of our virtual retreats. And at that retreat you made the decision that you were going to pursue life coach training.

Julie Anna: Right.

Jill: And so I want to know everything about that. What made you decide? Like why now? And what was it like? And tell us all the things about that.

Julie Anna: Oh gosh, it was so many things. I think part of it was I have been helped so much by life coaches in the last two to three years. And I thought what a cool way to make an impact in the world around you. And I just really like the quality of the coaches that are coming out of the Life Coach School.

At the time I was in a job that I tell all my haggard friends was a soul sucking job. And it really was. I ended up my primary care doc said I needed to either leave the job or it was going to kill me, that’s how bad the stress was. And during the retreat last year, that was like my big audacious goal, was to get certified. And I got real specific with it and I was going to sign up for certification by the end of 2021.

Well when my doctor told me about that I left that job, took another one that I make like half of what I was making, but my mental health was that important. But the payout from that job allowed me to pay to go to the Life Coach School, so it was a huge thing. In October I signed up for the November class, six month program. And if I were to never make a dime as a life coach, I learned so much about thought work about myself.

The resources were just incredible. And on the, it was May 23rd, I was officially certified as a life coach.

Jill: congratulations. I love that. I love that.

Julie Anna: It’s just, I mean, we all are coaches but for me there was something about the process where you really look at how the mind works and all the crazy stuff our brains try to tell us. And now I can go nope, that’s just a thought. And I don’t have all the mind drama about stuff. Not that I don’t sometimes, I mean, obviously I still do.

But I don’t know if I would have gotten through the last several months without it. During that time, we also lost my mother-in-law.

Jill: I’m so sorry.

Julie Anna: Yeah, so I had to get coached because I was trying to prevent my own grief because of my husband’s grief and I had to do some work around that. And without that and, you know, the work that I’ve been doing, between that and my physical stuff, I don’t know that I’d be looking forward to the race in October.

Jill: So you’ve used the thought work that you’re now, like you haven’t just learned it from working with Corinne and working with me. You’ve now become a master at it. You’ve used that to get yourself through some pretty difficult situations and circumstances.

Julie Anna: Yes. And it’s so easy to be critical of ourselves, I mean, we see it all around us. And I think we’re socialized to believe that we have to look out there for the answers. And we don’t, it’s all between your ears, it really is.

Jill: We are taught that like, okay, if you can just have the perfect body, or if you can just make more money, or have the perfect partner, or wear the right clothes, like all of these external things then your life will be happy. And it’s like, you know, actually, if you’re still thinking shitty thoughts about yourself it doesn’t really matter how much money you have, how much of anything you have. Because the marketing that is done when you live in a society like ours is so effective that it really does convince us.

A perfect example today, somebody posted about how the new Apple Watch was going to have this new fancy feature or whatever. And I’d be damned if I wasn’t like, “Oh, I should go check that out.” So I went to Apple website and next thing I know I had a brand new Apple Watch in my car.

I’m like, the one I’ve got is two years old, it works fine. But I just was like that is fascinating. Because I read through the whole page and I was like, well, I don’t think I can – I was like, can I pick it up today? Is it in stock at the Cherry Hill Mall? It just kind of blew my mind how quickly I got sucked into it.

And that was like just a silly watch. And then I was like what am I talking about? I don’t need a watch. My justification was I can’t find my Garmin since we moved, like it’s somewhere in the house but I can’t find it. And so I was like, the marketing had me believing that I needed to go spend several hundred dollars on a brand new Apple Watch just so that I could, like ultimately it was selling me like feeling better about myself.

I’m like, oh, wait, wait, I know how to feel better about myself without buying a new Apple Watch.

Julie Anna: And I think that’s what’s so important about thought work, is we think we want all these things, when really what we want is we want to feel better.

Jill: Yeah.

Julie Anna: And it’s our thoughts that make that happen. It’s not the stuff. It’s not what’s out there.

Jill: So can you share some of the thought shifts you’ve had around running? So like imagine there’s somebody out there right now listening who is similar circumstances to you, right? Like in her 50s, maybe her 60s, and she’s got some chronic pain. And she’s always wanted to run but she thinks that her circumstances prevent that. What are some of the thought shifts that you used to get yourself to where you are now?

Julie Anna: I wanted to be able to thrive in my body, that has been the big one. And I shared what can I do in my body right now. But I realized if I didn’t keep moving, I would never move and I didn’t want that for myself. I wanted to be, I’m a grandma and I wanted to be active with the grandkids. I wanted to be able to continue to have adventures.

And we’re at the point in our lives, my husband and my lives where retirement is right around the corner and what does that look like? I’m not going to be somebody who sits home and watches daytime TV. it’s just not my way.

Jill: There is nothing good on daytime TV.

Julie Anna: Yeah, and so it was, you know, how can this body that I can’t change, I mean, I can do things to mitigate things but I can’t change what I have. And the other pleasant thing about getting older is arthritis sets in and all that other fun stuff. But I can take care of my body so that I can continue to use it.

That’s not been an overnight thing and it definitely hasn’t been something that I don’t struggle with, because I do. And it is, you know, sitting down and I actually will make a list, what can I do in my body right now? And I write it down so I can see it. And that’s probably been one of the greatest gifts that a coach gave me.

Jill: Yeah, I love that. I love that. And would you say that moving your body regularly, even though it is uncomfortable, going through the immediate discomfort of moving your body based on what your pain levels are at any given day, ultimately prevents more pain down the road?

Julie Anna: Oh, absolutely, it does because the more I move, the more I can move if that makes sense.

Jill: Yeah, even though moving isn’t always super comfortable.

Julie Anna: Right, and the other thing that I do is if it’s a really high pain day I may not run. I may do some extra strength training, I may do some yoga, I may just stretch. It may be that none of those things feel good and so I’ll meditate, but I don’t give up on that time. That is my time.

Jill: Oh, I love that. So you’ve got time carved out on a daily basis for you that can either be filled with meditation or movement of whatever works for you.

Julie Anna: Right.

Jill: Do you do your self-coaching during that time or is that a separate?

Julie Anna: Generally yes. So I have a specific time in the morning, I’ve always been a morning person. And that’s, I think, the key, is you find that time that works best in your body. And so I do my food plan, I do my thought download, I’ll do a quick model, it may not always be a clean model. And then it’s time to move.

Jill: I love that.

Julie Anna: And then that’s when I do that. And then I shower and get ready and go to work. But if there’s stuff that just I can’t let go of, then I’ll keep writing and I’ll keep doing the self-coaching until I’m able to get to a place where I can let it go.

Jill: Yeah, I love that.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: So let’s talk a little bit about your practice of coaching other people. Like who’s your favorite kind of person to coach?

Julie Anna: Well, so far it’s mostly been folks that I know through the Run Your Best Life community. And I have coached a few other people outside. And then of course part of the process through the Life Coach School is you’re with a group through the whole six months. And so we would coach in class, but we also coached one another and I would coach four to six times a week just, you know, I mean, why not do it while I can practice?

But I don’t know that I have necessarily a niche at this point. I do know that I don’t want to put out my own shingle, I’m just not interested in that. So, you know, I would love to coach other women that are my size, my shape, my age. Women who don’t see themselves when they turn on the TV or get on Dr. Google. But definitely women that’s about as far as I’ve taken it.

Jill: Well what I’m hearing is you almost want to coach women like you that have had some of the same issues.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: And I do feel like that’s why I coach plus size runners who struggle with body confidence and body image, because that was me. So I do feel like we get really good at coaching people when we’ve already gone through it ourselves. But yeah, we’re going to have to have you do some coaching on chronic pain in Run Your Best Life, I think.

Julie Anna: I would love that.

Jill: We’ll talk about that.

Julie Anna: I would because it’s, you know again, the medical community can drive how we see ourselves. When I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the 90s they thought it was all in your head.

Jill: I remember that. That was a whole like, oh, she’s got fibromyalgia, and there would be an eye roll.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: And I’m thinking like, I don’t know, she looks like she’s in a lot of pain. Like I don’t think that’s all in her head.

Julie Anna: Yeah, and it’s been a real misunderstood condition. But, you know, I can tell you just based on what I go through, it’s real.

Jill: Yeah.

Julie Anna: I mean, does stress have something to do with it? Oh, absolutely. But I mean it’s just like anything else, if I feed my body the foods that are good for it that I enjoy, I move my body, I’m better able to handle my symptoms.

Jill: Yeah.

Julie Anna: But if I don’t do those basic things, then I have more pain.

Jill: Yeah. So like, a portion of the pain is under your control and then the rest of it is like, all right, we’re going to use our brains to decide how we’re going to think about it.

Julie Anna: Yeah, because I mean especially here lately with what I’ve had going on with my back, I literally wake up, you know that feeling that you get when you sit on your foot too long, that tingling? That’s what my nerve pain feels like and it’ll wake me up at night.

Jill: Yeah, that’s not fun.

Julie Anna: No, it’s not. And it’s easy to get real down when that, you know, because I wasn’t getting restful sleep. And it’s real easy to slip into old habits when that happens.

Jill: Yeah. Right. Right, and to soothe yourself with activities or, you know, like food or just like, oh, poor me, I’m not going to walk today or run today, right? It’s easy to slip into self-pity.

Julie Anna: Absolutely.

Jill: But you use your thought work tools to kind of keep yourself out of self-pity. And I mean, I just love your thought, like what can I do in my body today? It’s so simple.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: So simple.

Julie Anna: Yeah, it doesn’t have to magically rhyme or anything.

Jill: Yeah, I love that. Okay, so how can people find you? If they want to follow you, if they want to connect with you what’s the best place to do that?

Julie Anna: I am on Instagram more than anywhere else. It’s ama, A-M-A, _running, ama running is what it is with an underscore in it. On Facebook. I’m Ama Bear Johnson, it’s my alias. And then I have a Calendly link.

Jill: Okay. And I’m going to read that out. It’s C-A-L-E-N-D-L-Y, so it’s calendly.com/

Julie Anna: Ama.

Jill: Ama coaches, A-M-A coaches. We’re going to have all of those links in the show notes. But that calendar link, so if people want to schedule a session with you, that’s where they would go.

Julie Anna: That’s where they would go. And if they lose the show notes or whatever they can always find me.

Jill: DM you on Instagram.

Julie Anna: Yeah.

Jill: I love that. Okay, so real quick before we go, what piece of advice do you have for a new runner?

Julie Anna: If it’s just one thing it would be be gentle with yourself, but do your strength training.

Jill: She’s like, be gentle with yourself but do your fucking strength training. I love that.

Julie Anna: It really made all the difference for me.

Jill: Yeah.

Julie Anna: It really did.

Jill: Yeah, I love that so much.

Julie Anna: Yeah, but look to this community, don’t look to others. They’re not going to see you.

Jill: I do feel like the Run Your Best Life community is like, yes we have coaches, and yes we have lots of learning. We also have this ridiculously supportive, welcoming, inclusive community.

Julie Anna: Yes, without drama.

Jill: Without drama. There is zero drama in that group. It is a delight. It is an absolute delight. There are very few places on the internet that you can go where there are not people arguing. Nobody argues in Run Your Best Life, like we’re all just managing our own shit.

Well, Zoom kind of cut us off there unexpectedly just a few moments before we were wrapping up, so I didn’t want to leave you hanging with no explanation as to why the conversation just ended. But I really, really hope that you enjoyed my interview with Julie Anna Johnson and that you will check her out on Instagram and Facebook, and maybe even set up time to speak with her.

She truly is an amazing human, a very interesting story, and a great, great coach. So until next week on the Not Your Average Runner podcast, stay safe, I love you, and get your ass out there and run.

Hey, real quick before you go, if you enjoyed listening to this episode you have got to check out Up And Running. It’s my 30 day online program that will teach you exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you have always wanted to be. Head on over to notyouraveragerunner.com/upandrunning to join. I would love to be a part of your journey.