173. You Can Run a Marathon with Dawn Grunnagle

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Run, Health & Fitness, Women, Inspiration, Runner, Entrepreneur, Sports, Fitness, Health, Running

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At about mile 9, I was in the porta-potty, wishing and praying that somebody would pick it up. I was like, ‘If I stay here long enough, somebody will pick up the porta-potty. I just want to disappear in here.’ That’s how terrible I felt.""

At 41 years old, Dawn Grunnagle is proof that you can, in fact, keep getting faster with age. Dawn is a Nike-sponsored professional 1500-meter runner turned master's marathoner. (Before going pro, she spent 10 years teaching third and fourth graders. Aw!) She has qualified for the Olympic Trials three times: first in 2012 in the 1500, and then in 2016 and 2020 in the marathon. Last year, she ran a 2:34 personal best time — but the road to OTQ glory hasn't been easy or pretty for Dawn. On this episode, she talks about her earliest marathon days, which involved a lot of porta-potties and puking. (Relatable!) She talks about how she chipped away at her time over the years, going from a 2:49 to a 2:34, and talks about her adventures in fueling. (Key takeaway: Just because it works for someone you admire doesn't mean it will work for you!) Dawn is currently training for the 2019 Berlin Marathon.

Thank you to Generation UCAN for sponsoring the You Can Run a Marathon series on the Ali on the Run Show! Click here and use code ONTHERUN for 20 percent off your order, plus free shipping. (First-time buyers, check out the UCAN Run Starter Pack here, and get 50 percent off.)

What you’ll get on this episode:

How Dawn got into the marathon distance — and why she stuck with it despite getting off to a rough start (2:00)
What Dawn considers her breakthrough race (17:50)
How Dawn went from a 2:49 marathon to a 2:34, and what her marathon training looks like (19:00)
What Dawn’s recovery looks like (26:50)
What race week is like for Dawn (33:00)
What Dawn’s goals are for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials (39:30)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You can run a marathon on the Allianne the Run Show is brought to you by Generation You Can.
0:09.3	Welcome to the Allianne the Run Show. I'm your host Allie Feller and we have just a few more
0:14.0	episodes left in this seven-part series on the show. The goal of the You Can Runne
0:18.6	the marathon series is to hear from professional and elite-level athletes and a few experts
0:23.4	who are making a living by figuring out and mastering this 26.2 mile distance.
0:28.4	So whether you're a first-time marathoner or you're chasing a big goal this fall,
0:33.2	I hope you soak up all the advice in these episodes so you can run your best, strongest,
0:38.2	happiest race. Today's guest is Dawn Grunegal. Dawn is someone I've been following for years.
0:44.2	She's a Nike-sponsored master's runner who has chipped away at her marathon time over the years,
0:49.2	running a personal best of 234 last year. Right now she's two weeks out from racing the Berlin
0:55.2	marathon where she hopes to keep taking that time down. But of course the road to a 234 has not
1:01.0	been easy or pretty at times. On this episode Dawn talks about her road to marathon glory and how
1:07.1	it started out involving a lot of porta-potties and a bit of vomit. Yes, relatable. Dawn is the
1:13.7	perfect example of the fact that what works for one person may not work for you. Now that she's
1:19.0	figured out what works though, this former track start is crushing these long races. So let's talk
1:25.0	marathon shop with Dawn Grunegal. Dawn, welcome to the You Can Run a marathon series on the Allie
1:36.8	on the Run Show. You are pretty darn brilliant when it comes to this distance. So we're going to
1:41.8	soak up everything that you know and learn a lot today. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me.
1:48.0	All right, so you run a 234 marathon. That is nothing to scoff at. That's a pretty amazing time.
1:55.6	So I have to know did young Dawn know that being a Nike sponsored professional runner Olympic
2:01.2	Trials qualifier, did she see that in her future bio? I would say no. I really thought I would be
2:07.9	in the WNBA when I was younger. Really? Yes. Okay, did you play basketball? I did. So I have
	...

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