Breakthrough Women's Running : Dream Big and Train Smart

Breakthrough Women’s Running is written just for you—a woman runner who has big goals and needs a plan to achieve them. In her trademark fun and upbeat style, professional runner and coach Neely Spence Gracey will set you up for success with an inside look at her own story in the sport—paired with the science, experience, strategies, and insights that have worked for her and countless other female runners who set challenging goals and achieved them.

Told with engaging storytelling and packed with colorful images and practical recommendations to improve your running, Breakthrough Women’s Running offers 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon, and run-walk training plans to suit your current distance or pacing goals. With the strength and mobility workouts included in the plans, you don’t have to wonder where and how to fit in these important (but often overlooked) components of a successful running training program. Learn how to breathe in rhythm and how to focus with mantras and mindfulness exercises. Get specific guidance on how to best manage unique challenges that women confront such as hormone fluctuations; training through the menstrual cycle, while pregnant, or after childbirth; and training while also raising a family. Know how to train to prevent injury as well as how to return to running should an injury occur. And fuel your training with five simple recipes that are nutrient dense and simple to prepare.

You’ll hear from well-known, successful women runners such as Sara Hall and Nell Rojas on how even elite runners experience highs and lows in their training as well as how they themselves overcame obstacles to reach their goals. At the ends of chapters, you’ll find Breakthrough Goals—a section of small, tangible actions that you can apply in your own training to overcome specific obstacles.

If you’re looking for a strategic and progressive approach for breaking through your physical or mental barriers to achieve more successful and fulfilling running, you’ve found it with Breakthrough Women’s Running.

Neely Spence Gracey began running in eight grade and quickly saw success, which deepened her motivation to pursue big goals. At the high school level she won four Pennsylvania state championships. Upon graduation, she attended Shippensburg University (SU) and became an eight-time Division II national champion. During Neely’s time at SU, she studied human communication with a coaching minor because she knew she wanted to become a pro athlete and start coaching other runners toward their goals.

In 2012, she signed her first pro contract and married her husband Dillon, and in 2013 Get Running Coaching was born. The business has continued to grow, as has Neely’s family, with the addition of sons Athens in 2018 and Rome in 2021. She’s worked with hundreds of runners all over the world to help them achieve their breakthroughs, from the mile to the marathon. On the roads, she’s a three-time Olympic Trials qualifier, was the top American at the 2016 Boston Marathon, and is the 11th American female ever to break 70 minutes in the half marathon. Her personal records are 4:36 for the mile, 15:25 for the 5K, 32:16 for the 10K, 1:09 for the half marathon, and 2:34 for the marathon. She looks forward to her next breakthrough season and has her sights set on qualifying for her fourth Olympic Trials in 2024. The running community inspires her to keep working toward her goals as an athlete, coach, and mother.

Cindy Kuzma is a freelance writer, author, and podcaster; a regular contributor to Runner’s World, Women’s Running, and a wide variety of other sports, fitness, and health publications; and the coauthor of Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger From Sports Injuries. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes who accomplish extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those athletes brave enough to train through it. She has run 22 marathons—including seven in Boston—and she never gets tired of plotting her next breakthrough.