Like many of us, Holley never liked running before, her primary sport for 20 years has been equestrian, and she avoided running at all costs as a kid. Moreover, she had asthma, disliked cardio, and even got out of running the mile in the gym... However, sometimes life has other plans, or better say - college. When Holley got to college, she couldn’t spend as much time riding horses, had anxiety, and struggled with her identity in sports. On top of this, she stressed out over adjusting to college and the transition of becoming an adult.
In high school and college, Holley had a mentor, who was an avid marathoner and inspired her to get started. Holley had a purpose again and never looked back. Since then, she has run dozens of half marathons, multiple Ragnar Relay races, trail races, 8 marathons, including the Boston Marathon twice, which she had the goal of qualifying for early on due to her running mentor’s influence, the bombings, and living about an hour away from Boston.
Later on, Holley became a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer due to her endless passion for learning about how to fuel and train the body to achieve its optimal potential. People cannot perform their best in their sports or in life when they are restricted, so she approaches nutrition education through a lens that emphasises having a good relationship with food, body, and mind.
Moving to our main questions, can you please tell us more about your background and what or who inspired you to become a trainer?
I was always physically active and a lifelong athlete in various sports, so I knew helping others be active too was something I wanted to do, and originally majored in pre-med to become a physician. However, early on, I realised that being a doctor wasn’t quite the right fit for how I wanted to help people, and my advisor in college helped me understand that how I wanted to help people would actually be more in the role of a dietitian.
Can you share your journey from being an athlete to becoming a dietitian apart from being a trainer?
In college, I didn’t have the best relationship with food. Learning about nutrition at the collegiate level and beyond, making peace with body image, and healing my relationship with food were the key to my success in becoming a dietitian and also having longevity as an athlete. I had been competing in horses as an equestrian at a high level for 20 years and some time in college found a passion for running. This fueled my desire to become a sports dietitian along with approaching nutrition through a non-restrictive lens. Once I started running more, I developed a passion for training others as well which encouraged me to get my personal trainer certification one year into being a dietitian.
What are some of the most memorable moments in your career?
Starting my private practice in March 2020 is definitely a highlight. I started working with athletes and built my business as well as a brand online reaching a wider audience. Passing my board exam in sports dietetics in 2023 at about 16 weeks pregnant with my first baby is also a highlight after accumulating the thousands of hours I needed to qualify to sit for that exam. Being mentioned in various publications such as NY Times, Self Magazine, and Runner’s World over the course of my career in private practice as an expert in sports nutrition has also been really cool! It is great to be able to contribute to these resources to help a wider audience of athletes. Most importantly though, , when any of my clients achieve their goals, it brings me so much joy. I also love being able to cheer them on in person at races!
Do you have any role models?
I admire Taylor Swift a lot as an artist and master of her craft, but also as a businesswoman who is extremely authentic, prolific, and flexible in the space.
Let’s talk about your coaching philosophy now. What’s your approach to your athletes, and how do you tailor it to each individual, as there are beginners, intermediates, etc.?
I approach my athletes individually. However, my general take is that athletes, especially female athletes, need to incorporate strength training at least 2x per week to be their most strong, resilient, and functional selves, so I program strength training for my clients.
For running I have a very flexible approach. Some athletes do well with higher volume and others simply can’t, so it depends on what their stress load is like outside of running, what they want to do, how their body responds, and what their goals are. I have clients running the same time in the marathon doing completely different things in terms of mileage! I also tend to take a more RPE/objective approach instead of giving specific paces all the time. For example, it’s important to me that clients understand what threshold effort FEELS like vs. hitting a certain pace or bust.
How do you set goals with your athletes and balance pushing them to their limits while ensuring they stay motivated?
Most of my athletes are extremely motivated and often need more help from me holding them back and keeping them grounded so they don’t get injured or burnt out. I’m happy to hype someone up to hit their goals if they’re nervous, and if I believe they truly can hit those goals. Often, I’m equally as excited and applauding clients when they choose to take an unplanned rest day because they feel like they need it. We try to make decisions while always keeping the big picture “why” in mind.
How do you measure success as a trainer and dietitian, both for yourself and your athletes?
I measure success by how we feel. If we feel like we accomplished our goals most of the time, continue being motivated to participate in sports and enjoy the process, as well as staying healthy in mind, body, and spirit most of the time, it’s a big win. As a coach, it’s also a success when my clients feel empowered to take unplanned rest days or provide me with feedback because they listen to their bodies and need an adjustment in their schedule. As a dietitian, I feel successful when my clients feel like they have the tools they need to navigate their health and nutrition without my input at all or as often.
Can you name some common challenges for your athletes, and how do you help them to overcome them?
Most of my athletes would probably identify themselves as overachievers, people pleasers, and/or perfectionists. Of course, with these titles comes many strengths, but qualities within these titles can also lead to the athlete’s detriment. Most of my clients need to be encouraged to eat more, rest more, listen to their bodies, be more respectful of their energy and time, establish boundaries, be more comfortable taking up space, believe in themselves, and know it’s okay to ask for help.
What do you believe are the most important qualities of a successful runner?
Obviously, dedication and patience come to mind since consistency pays off a lot in this sport, but more importantly, I think successful runners also have hobbies and passions outside fitness. I have found my clients are the happiest and feel less internal pressure (and therefore actually perform their best in sports) when they also have hobbies and passions outside of running. We are also seeing this pattern in elite athletes, which I find extremely encouraging.
Moving to our last section, future vision, can you share what your long-term goals as a dietician and trainer are?
I would like to continue to expand my reach so I can help more people with the various resources and services I create and provide. I would also like to continue focusing on helping mother runners during their pregnancy and postpartum journeys, as this has become a passion of mine since having my first child this year.
How do you see the future of running and nutrition evolving over the next decade?
I hope people will be more accepting of diversity in the running space: race, ethnicity, body size, gender, age, pace, experience level, and goals. People run for a variety of reasons and not everyone feels welcome in the running space currently, so I would like to see that continue to evolve. I hope we see less fad diets in the nutrition space but I doubt that will change since the diet industry is large, impactful, and has a large budget, unfortunately! I hope we can move to more messaging around eating enough food instead of constantly trying to fight biology by restricting it.
What advice would you give to people, who want to begin their running journey?
Just start- don’t worry about all the terminology, tech, and noise on social media. Get out there, pace yourself, and if you feel like you want to keep doing it, do go to a running store to get fitted with and invest in proper running shoes - your joints will thank you :)
What’s one piece of advice you wish you had received when you first started training?
Eat more food, and drink more electrolytes, and more training isn’t always better.