Episode Summary

Gina Rouse has over 20 years of experience at the highest levels of the running world. As a competitive athlete, she first met success at the scholastic level as a state champion and parlayed that success into a college scholarship to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga where she became a Southern Conference runner of the year. Gina has continued her success into adulthood, after beginning a family, where she has continued to craft and update her pursuit of the highest levels of achievement as a runner. Today, Whitney and Gina reflect on Gina’s achievements as a runner, why she needed to step away from running, and what keeps her inspired to chase big goals in her forties.

Episode Sponsor

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Key Takeaways

01:17 – Whitney Heins introduces today’s guest, Gina Rouse, who joins the show to share her running origin story, her collegiate career and how she overcame an eating disorder

19:14 – A return to competitive running and becoming a mother

22:29 – How Gina met her husband, a shared bond, and delicate communication

31:04 – A gritty mentality and the capacity to dig deep

35:31 – Being comfortable being uncomfortable

39:55 – Turning forty and overcoming mental doubts

48:00 – Whitney thanks Gina for joining the show and lets listeners know where to follow her

Tweetable Quotes

“After college I really just needed to have some time to step away from the sport and not be so identified with eating, sleeping, and breathing, running track and cross country.” (11:45)

“For a good long while in the recovery process, measuring and focusing on what I was asked to do as far as I need to have this much protein, fat, and carbs. It was something I could focus on, but it was a healthy focus.” (13:06)

“It has been the most beautiful unraveling of all of that tightly wound part of me. Having three daughters has just broken that down in a great way. It’s so uncomfortable at times because I want so badly for all the ducks to be in a row, but it’s so wonderful that God uses the kids to help us get over ourselves.” (20:40)

“Matt has really taken the back burner with a lot of his training over the last few years, especially with the last Olympic Trials. That whole year before the Olympic Trials, he really backed off on his goals in a concerted effort to allow me the extra time to do what I felt like I needed to do to prepare. That’s a huge sacrifice on his part and I hope to be able to give him that time and space too.” (29:39)

“I’ve always had this drive, as soon as I started cross country, to be the best. And to be the best, I’ve got to see what they’re doing and do it.” (32:37)

“It is wise of us to be a lot smarter about training. I don’t quite train as hard as I did even just a couple of years ago. And while that’s difficult to mentally come to terms with, when you feel better physically and you’re not on the verge of overtraining, then I think we can still get a lot out of our systems even at a more mature age.” (43:53)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – https://www.themotherrunners.com/

Knoxville Endurance – http://www.knoxvilleendurance.com/index.htm

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