About Me
My Story
It all began January 4th, 2013. I woke up that morning and had an “enough is enough” moment. I was tired of living the way I was living at 252 pounds. I started walking mailbox to mailbox and joined Weight Watchers two days later. Over the course of 9 months, I was walking three miles, five times a week! My weight loss started to plateau, so I stepped outside of my comfort zone and joined a local beginner running program in the tri-city area in the western suburbs of Chicago, IL in 2014. I also privately trained for four years with Shelley Simmering from Foot Mechanics in St. Charles and that changed my life forever! She was exactly the kind of coach I needed. Along with Shelley, my brother Anthony, Weight Watchers, Dr. William Epperly, Dr. Jabbar, and the local running community at the running store, they became my own personal weight loss team. But first and foremost it was God placing me in the right places and with the right people who have helped me along the way. I have gone on to run a full marathon, 8 half marathons, 5 10K’s and over 50 5K races – and I love long distance running!
I genuinely believe that with hard work, commitment, motivation, and loving yourself through the ups and downs, reaching all of your dreams and goals is possible.
I became a running coach because running has changed my life and I want to bring this joy and the love of running to others. I became a volunteer head coach and successfully have coached hundreds of new runners for 6 years in the Next Step Running Club created by Shelley Simmering at the local running store. I also was one of the assistant volunteer coaches with their beginner running program. The same program that two years prior I began my health and wellness journey.
I have been the head coach for the Fox Valley Food and Health charity team for three years (2019, 2020 & 2022), as well as the head coach for the Salvation Army / Run4Change charity team (2021) training for the Fox Valley Half Marathon races.
I have a passion for running and I would love to share this passion with you! All my clients will be set up with a Final Surge Account where I can view your daily activity and make comments. You also can become part of my private Facebook group where you will have the ability to ask questions, read articles written about running and make friends with like-minded runners in our local community.