109. Jes Woods, Nike Run Coach
Ali on the Run Show
Ali Feller
4.9 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2018
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“I was like, ‘I need more friends, so I’m going to start running. Everyone looks like they’re having a good time — maybe I can have a good time!’”
Jes Woods is always. smiling. And she has good reason to be as happy as she is! As a Nike Run Coach and Flywheel Sports studio manager in New York City, Jes is living a good life — one she carefully crafted herself after an eight-and-a-half year career in broadcast journalism. Jes is an ultra runner who has completed 16 ultramarathons, including four 100 milers. (Most recently, Jes ran the Javelina Jundred.) On this episode, Jes talks about how she went from TV to a life on the run. She talks about working for NBC during the Beijing Olympics, and what it was like being a runner and covering the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Plus, Jes opens up about a recent breakup and the effect it had on her running, talks about why she struggles not to get too involved with the athletes she coaches (she loves them too much!), and talks about the rewarding parts of her job and what she says is "her Christmas."
Thank you to AfterShokz for sponsoring this episode of the Ali on the Run Show! CLICK HERE for $50 off your wireless headphone bundle!
What you’ll get on this episode:
- What did Young Jes want to be when she grew up? Plus, how Jes used her engineering degree to pursue a career in television. (2:55)
- The big news stories Jes loved — and didn’t love — working on during her time at NBC (5:15)
- How Jes got her start as a runner (6:50)
- When and how Jes realized it was time to make a career change (10:45)
- Jes’s advice for people considering a major career switch (23:20)
- What makes Jes a good run coach? And what’s her favorite type of runner to coach? (24:10)
- Jes’s best “game” to play to make your next run more fun (26:30)
- The most common question Jes hears from runners she coaches (28:30)
- Why running? (36:50)
- How Jes got her jobs at Mile High Run Club and Flywheel, and what a day in the life for her looks like now (41:10)
- What Jes says is the most rewarding part of her career (49:45)
- Jes talks about her recent breakup, and how it affected her latest 100 miler (56:00)
- Jes's advice for getting into the fitness industry (57:00)
- What's next for Jes Woods? (58:00)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by Aftershocks. |
| 0:08.4 | Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show. |
| 0:10.5 | I'm your host, Allie Feller, and today I am super psyched to be joined by one of my favorite runners. |
| 0:16.0 | Do I say that every week? Probably. |
| 0:18.4 | My guest today is Jess Woods. Jess is fresh off her latest 100-hundred-mileer, |
| 0:23.5 | the Havaleena 100, because that's what Jess does. She's an ultra runner among many other things. |
| 0:29.2 | She's also a Nike Run coach and is the studio manager at Flywheel's Chelsea |
| 0:33.6 | location in New York City. Now what I love about Jess in addition to her love for donuts and her |
| 0:39.4 | long-amazing hair is that she's built the career she wants. She has a background in television, |
| 0:44.5 | so you'll hear us talk about her time working at NBC, and I asked about which news story she loved |
| 0:49.7 | and didn't love covering. But then we talk about her aha moment. The moment when she realized |
| 0:54.7 | she wasn't quite spending her days the exact most fulfilling way she wanted. |
| 0:59.5 | And of course, Jess shares how she made all that happen, how she made major career moves, |
| 1:04.0 | and how she got to living the dream on the run. Jess of course tells it all better than I do, |
| 1:09.4 | so let's give her the mic. |
| 1:16.2 | All right, Jess Woods. Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show. I'm so excited to be chatting with you today. |
| 1:21.6 | I am excited and nervous to be chatting with you. Don't be nervous. Listen, part of what you've |
| 1:26.6 | done in your career is you have stood in front of rooms full of people and lead classes at Myel High |
| 1:32.3 | Run Club and led coached all these runners. You're nervous about this? It's um, contrary to popular |
| 1:38.0 | belief, I am uncomfortable when attention is turned towards me. Yes. Oh, all right. Well, |
| 1:43.2 | we're going to talk about that in a bit then. But first, what I need you to do, you know, your |
| 1:47.1 | run coach, we start with a warm-up, right? That's how we, in theory, start our runs. Oh, good, |
... |
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