How Jersey Women Strong Fosters Community and Strength with Founder and Head Coach Dana Anello EP. 163
May 08, 2024
Ella Go Podcast
Ever wondered how a leap of faith into the world of running could not only transform your own life but also ignite a vibrant community? Dana Anello, the founder of Jersey Women Strong, joins me, to unfurl her journey from competitive swimming to creating a sisterhood of runners and multi-sport enthusiasts who support each other and give back to their local Northern New Jersey community. Dana's story is more than just about fitness; it's a narrative of empowerment, endurance, and community.
As we unpack the incredible strides made by Jersey Women Strong, we also zero in on practical advice for women over 40 who might be eyeing the track or trail with a mix of excitement and trepidation. From the significance of recovery to the myth-busting realities about age and running, this conversation is a treasure trove for both the novice and the seasoned runner. It's proof that with the right community and mindset, the race isn't just for the swift but for anyone who dares to lace up their shoes and aim for the finish line. So, whether you're looking to crush personal goals or simply find a tribe of inspiring women who run the world, this episode is your starting block.
Ever wondered how a leap of faith into the world of running could not only transform your own life but also ignite a vibrant community? Dana Anello, the founder of Jersey Women Strong, joins me, to unfurl her journey from competitive swimming to creating a sisterhood of runners and multi-sport enthusiasts who support each other and give back to their local Northern New Jersey community. Dana's story is more than just about fitness; it's a narrative of empowerment, endurance, and community.
As we unpack the incredible strides made by Jersey Women Strong, we also zero in on practical advice for women over 40 who might be eyeing the track or trail with a mix of excitement and trepidation. From the significance of recovery to the myth-busting realities about age and running, this conversation is a treasure trove for both the novice and the seasoned runner. It's proof that with the right community and mindset, the race isn't just for the swift but for anyone who dares to lace up their shoes and aim for the finish line. So, whether you're looking to crush personal goals or simply find a tribe of inspiring women who run the world, this episode is your starting block.
Welcome to Ella Go. My name is Lisa. Join me on the journey in having real raw and uncomfortable discussions about fitness, health and everything in between, because, let's be honest, this journey would suck if we don't get our shit together. Okay, welcome back to the Elego Podcast. Today's guest is Dana Anello. Welcome, dana.
Speaker 2:
Hey, lisa, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:
I'm happy to have you here. Dana is pretty badass and I want everyone to know what she's laughing, because she's very modest, but she is badass and that's why I have her here. So, dana, why don't you introduce yourself to everyone and where you're from, and why do I think you're such a badass?
Speaker 2:
Sure. So I currently live in Northern New Jersey, so I've been here now for 14 years. I'm originally from Buffalo, new York, go Bills I'm a huge Bills fan, so I always have to get my Go Bills in A shout out to my hometown. And so I'm the head coach and founder of Jersey Women Strong. We're an all-women's running multi-sport boot camp community outreach group based here in northern New Jersey, bergen County, but we do occasionally get people outside of Bergen County. We're about 15 minutes north of the George Washington Bridge, just to put it in perspective.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, now I get it. Now, I see I already know where it is Okay. No, seriously, you're from downstate, you know exactly where that is Okay. Um so, Dana, how did you get into running and why did you do it Okay?
Speaker 2:
So it's kind of a funny story actually. Um, I was an athlete my whole life. I was a competitive swimmer, played a bunch of different sports and I I went on to swim in college. I swam collegiately and my swim coach was a triathlete and because she was a triathlete, she always, in our, in our preseason and off season, encouraged us to stay active and so we did some running and she really uh, probably in the first off season I was there, she got me into running a little bit more and into cycling, and so I basically progressed into triathlon.
Speaker 2:
To be honest, I didn't really love running, um, I loved running short distances. Um, I played softball in college and I played one year of college softball as well, and so short running was kind of my thing, long running not my thing, but I really fell in love with it. As I progressed through the sport of triathlon, I fell in love with running and just kind of did that. I had probably 10 to 15 years of doing triathlons. I still do them occasionally, but I did take a nice long break when I when I had my kids, but I kept running.
Speaker 1:
So OK, and you're still doing it, and that's amazing. Yes, so I know that. For those of you who don't know, I actually reached out to Dana because I had a lot of questions in regards to her club and what she's doing. I actually saw Dana's name on our RCA Facebook group and it's amazing how many people you can meet in that group. Jersey Women Strong is a club that you started. Why did you start the club? And, based on our conversation and your website, it has grown tremendously. So why did you start the club and how did you grow it?
Speaker 2:
you grow it, yeah. So I have been involved in coaching really again probably since the end of high school and into college. I coached swimming, age group swimming, so little kids up through master swimming. I co-founded a master swim team back in Buffalo that's actually still functioning today, which is pretty awesome, and so I coached kind of all along the way. I have a degree in exercise science and a degree in physical therapy, so that kind of realm was always my thing. But, as happens right, I started a family and things just took us to different places and so, kind of after I had my kids and started to settle again, I got back into training, a little bit personal training, and at that time actually we were up in West Point, new York, and I started working at the gym there and actually started a small running club there that actually grew into a big running club.
Speaker 2:
But we left West Point and ended up in New Jersey and honestly it was a really tough move. Didn't know a lot of people, didn't have a lot of friends, but I knew that running and fitness and exercise brings people together. So I decided to do a couch to 5k type program, um, and I convinced friends who really hadn't run before, but people who just did it because I asked them to do it. Uh, I convinced them to to train for a 5k. We did a nine week program. That was back in the summer of 2012. So we ended up having 20 plus people join that group. We trained for a 5k over the summer. They did the 5k and at that point, honestly, I didn't have, I wasn't sure what was next. I knew I wanted to continue to do it, but I didn't know what that would look like, honestly. And we finished and, as happens with runners and people doing the sport, they were like what's next?
Speaker 2:
So we continued, we trained for another 5K, some of them went on to do a 10K and within kind of a couple cycles of running, like an eight or a nine week training program, we decided we'd become a year round program and from there we've just continued to grow, and I think one of the nice things about our group, too, is we do do a lot of community outreach, so that gives people a lot of connection as well. So it's not just running. We do have opportunities, usually monthly, if not more than once a month, for people to do things in their community We've morphed into. We have people doing triathlons and ultra marathons, but we have walkers, we have people that choose not to compete. We have a bootcamp. That's kind of attached to our program now. So it just organically grew, just kind of focusing on that. It just organically grew over the years.
Speaker 1:
That's amazing and you know, I think that you know, as women, um, there's something to be said to be a part of a tribe of women, because working out is intimidating for some women and when you're with other women, you feel like, oh, wow, I'm not the only one. Or you know, oh, I'm accepted, you know, I'm part of this group. I can't just imagine how empowering those women feel to be part of that group.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think they do and I think that that's why we've been able to continue to grow. I think, no matter what, it's intimidating but having an all women's team does break down the barrier a little bit for some of those women.
Speaker 2:
But I see it when people come for the first time and they're kind of tiptoeing out of their car over to the group, and so I know that feeling and especially, I think, for women who maybe didn't grow up around sport, I think it's more intimidating. So now having so many people come in that that were not athletes at all and started running in their forties and even fifties I mean we had women that picked up running in their fifties. So once they see that and hear that, it's just completely, I think, inspiring to them.
Speaker 1:
Oh my God, I mean you're saying that it's just, it's like, I guess for me, you know, and I resonate with a lot what you're saying to be part of this group and then when you hear that women in their 50s and 60s I mean even 60s, starting to when they are running together, you all are running together or walking together or doing any type of sport together, I am, I'm going to assume that long lasting friendships are forming, as that's happening.
Speaker 2:
Yes, I mean, that's really what it's all about. We have such a you know, diversity of age, ability, life experience, job experience, so we always talk about we kind of joke, we say what happens on the path stays on the path A lot of conversations that happen out there.
Speaker 2:
A hundred percent. It really is very therapeutic. It's very therapeutic and there have been some very close bonds. We've had people who move away and stay connected to us and we share race photos. You know people running down in South Carolina and California, and so it's a really, a really strong bond, I think people have being a part of the group.
Speaker 1:
I love that. I love that. Okay. So I know you kind of mentioned this a bit. You said that this is multi-sport. So there's running. You said there's walking triathlons. What else I mean would those women all have to like? I mean, do you have, like your running ladies and then you have your triathlon ladies, or do they mix with each other? What does that look like? Membership?
Speaker 2:
So we do have triathlon specific memberships, groups in the area. So we have some of those people that they'll join in with us. But if we have people who are training for a triathlon, we try to pair them up and maybe they'll go out on rides together. We've focused, we've done triathlon training programs. I've mostly circled back to strictly sticking with running now because it became complicated to do that. You know, to have the triathlon group and the running group and stuff. But we do have people that'll go out for rides together or open water swims together and things like that. I would say primarily running and fitness. You know, just overall fitness is our thing. But we have people doing ultra marathons. We have someone training for a 50 miler right now. So we run the gamut of anything where it's forward motion. That's what I tell people.
Speaker 2:
It's not about speed or just you know, it's about forward motion.
Speaker 1:
Okay, dana, so you kind of triggered me, because isn't that such? I always say one of the hardest things about especially coaching new folks, new women, women that are new to running, is wanting to go faster and focusing on the speed and focusing on distance. And focusing on the speed and focusing on distance how do you, as a coach, try to break that cycle? Because, I mean, this is how you get injured. You're going faster than you need to and it's like this is a journey, ladies, it's a journey. Where are we going? How do you, as a coach, break that type of mindset?
Speaker 2:
You end up sounding like a broken record. That's exactly yeah, you know that's just, and we talk about them.
Speaker 2:
They laugh at me because what I'll do oftentimes I talk about this probably incessantly Like hey, you guys, you need to 80, 20, right, like 80% of you're running a conversational pace A lot of times.
Speaker 2:
What I'll do now is I'll find another coach that says that and I'll share it. You know, in the Facebook group or I'll. I'll oftentimes even to like, I'll, I'll find an article with with one of the top runners, olympic runners, and I'll show them their race time and their training time, like a lot of times, and they'll talk about in those articles. They'll talk about, hey, training pace, you know Karagash or whatever, whoever it might be, and their training paces. You know 839 minute miles, maybe 930. I'm like you guys, you know this is what they're running and this is what they're running most of their miles and a lot of times then it clicks a lot of times and it click, but it's counterintuitive. I mean, you, you know, we know cause, we know the science, but saying to people you have to go slow to get fast is a very hard thing to understand when you're actually have to implement it.
Speaker 1:
Okay, I'm not alone in this. No, all right. So, as a running coach for women over 40, what is the biggest misconception for women running over 40?
Speaker 2:
Well, I mean, I think I would say the biggest misconception, especially if you haven't been a runner, is that you can't start running. You can't be a runner, you didn't have that background, and I personally, I think that couldn't be. You know, further from the truth. Some of our best runners started running later in life. Um, maybe they're not as as broken down, they're not as jaded as those of us who have been competing for the rest of the entirety of our lives, but it always creeps up like, well, you can't run because you're going to get injured and running is bad for your knees and all of that, and so it is a lot of talking through that and listen, sure, running can be hard on your knees. Running can be hard on anything, just like anything else, though. So it's not just about running. It's about recovery and preparation and warm up and taking care of your body outside of running as well.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
All right. So, with that being said, what are a few things that women over 40 need to pay more attention to when it comes to running, that they did not focus, you know, on in their early years, because even though, like you said, you can always start, but let's be honest, we're older, you know. Then we got menopause and we got a whole.
Speaker 1:
You know we got a life, we got stress. All those things are happening versus when we're in our 20s. So what are some of the things that you know as some tips that if there's a woman who's in her 40s thinking of going into running, what are some tips that you can provide to her?
Speaker 2:
I would say, paying attention to that recovery time, taking some time to do mobility, whatever mobility looks like for you, a little bit of stretching, lots of hydration, I think that's super important. I would say the other important thing um being myself, you know, going through my forties and I'm 52 now. So, um, yeah, we're tired. We're just more tired. There's a lot more stress. So I think stress management is super important. I think sleep is super important.
Speaker 2:
So, this is something that I talk about not just with my runners, but my personal training and nutrition clients. I often say to them like all the salad in the world is not going to make up for you sleeping five or six hours a night, so it's it's hard to put that higher on the list of taking care of yourself.
Speaker 2:
Um, because it's not as appealing right it's appealing to be like I'm going to eat salad and chicken and to a point, it's easy, it's black and white, but saying I'm going to work on my sleep or I'm going to work on my stress, it sounds so vague and big. So that's really. What I would say is that it's a think of this as a whole training and a whole lifestyle change. Right, we don't want to just think about running.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, absolutely. I like that. You said lifestyle change. It's a lifestyle. It's not like this end goal. I was just saying that this morning to my ladies. This is a journey, ladies. Okay, it's not an end goal, and I think that when you put that in your mindset, you're more apt to be to enjoy it, you know. So, okay, let's do a speed round of things women say to themselves. And this is kind of new. I wanted to try something new with you. So this is a speed round of things women say to themselves, or to a coach a running coach when it comes to running. So first one I am too old to run.
Speaker 2:
People who say they're too old to run. Go to just watch a local 5K and watch the people coming across the finish line. It will change your entire perspective. You're absolutely never too old.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. So I just had one of my runners volunteer at a marathon she's training for a marathon and she said the exact same thing she's like different sizes, different ages. It was like I couldn't believe. I mean, it's so empowering. I always say to these women do you know how many times I've been passed by a 70 year old person? Yeah, yeah, happens. Yes, I love that about running. Okay, I am too slow to be a runner. How many times do we hear this? I'm too slow, I'm not a runner, I'm considering myself a runner.
Speaker 2:
I'm too slow, oh, man, that's such a common conversation and, yeah, as a coach, it's hard. It's hard to hear that and we have a Facebook group and people will say, oh, I ran super slow today and I'm like you guys, let's take that word out of your vocabulary Slow like slow compared to what there's no slow.
Speaker 2:
Right, there's slow compared to what there's people that aren't doing any kind of movement. So any again. I go circle back to forward motion, one foot in front of the other. You are moving forward every single time. You go out for a run or move out for, or go out for a walk, and um, there is no slow.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, absolutely. Um, okay, Running after 40 and I hear this a lot running after 40 will make me more prone to injuries.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean, I just don't think if you do some research on this, I just don't see that there are without guidance. I do think it's important to do those things with guidance, but I think we'd be hard pressed to find that the pros you know that the cons would outweigh the pros in that department.
Speaker 1:
I like how you said no movement. You're absolutely right. No movement is worse. I mean, how is that not the truth, right? Okay, I only need to run to keep me fit and healthy.
Speaker 2:
Well, listen again. There's many, many pieces in the journey to health and lifestyle transformation. So if you run and then you're sedentary for the rest of your life and don't pay attention to your nutrition and hydration, then that's not necessarily what we want. So I do try and that's one of the things in my coaching, and I'm sure you do this too. Lisa, you're whole, the whole body, the whole picture. You know your nutrition, your physical activity, your community, the. You know your stress level, the things that you surround yourself with. So and I know that can feel overwhelming sometimes like I just want to run and that's it.
Speaker 1:
That's enough to focus on. But I try to look at it as this is a big picture thing and we have to address kind of all of those things in our life. Am I going to lose everything that I did in the last couple of days because now I can't run? You're telling me I can't run, Lisa, because I'm sick and I don't want to lose all that work that I did. What is your response to that?
Speaker 2:
Well, listen, it takes a long time to undo the miles and miles that you've likely put in, and I do think there's a balance right. You have to know when you'd be better off going for that run versus staying in bed and sleeping it off, whatever it might be. So I don't know that there's an exact answer to this, but your mind is a very powerful thing. So if you think that you're going to lose everything by taking off two or three days, then that's a barrier. We have to get over that barrier and talk through and think through Like you could. You know maybe you've been training for months and missing two or three days is certainly not going to derail you.
Speaker 2:
But if you think it will derail you, that's a big part of it. But if you think it will derail you, that's a big part of it. I mean, some of the the strongest athletes I've had have run marathons, coming back, you know, after injury or coming back after illness and the really only thing powering them through. Because if you look at the training, strict training and I've seen this with a lot of athletes certainly didn't get in the mileage that would have been ideal, but they get themselves across the finish line because they're so strong mentally. So I think we really, as women, have to pay very close attention to our self-talk.
Speaker 1:
Oh my God that's a big one, the negative self-talk that women, um you know, say to themselves while running. I mean especially women who don't I'll never forget. One woman said so. I have to run outside. People are going to look at me. I'm like, yeah, that's kind of how it works. You know, it's sad that that is what we're thinking, and some women are thinking that they don't even feel comfortable to run outside, but nobody else is doing it. You're the one running. They're sitting in the cars watching.
Speaker 2:
They're not doing it Right. You know, I think, especially for older women. I mean, that's the society that they grew up in and so, you know, women kind of unseen, unheard, and so it's a hard thing to break, it's a hard habit to break, but it's a conversation we definitely have and and hopefully being in a group really does help break those barriers. I was just thinking.
Speaker 1:
I was thinking of another one um getting your clients, your athletes, to rest. Like that's hard. It's hard to rest and do some cross training and the importance of that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it is. It's very hard to get, to get people to rest and, again, I think the only way to get through is to just keep talking about it. You know I just just try to talk and educate. You know, share what I I believe through my training I share a lot of uh podcasts and other coaches and just try to get people to to see what the science says. I think for me, I always try to get people to circle back to the science because I think that that really helps to ring a lot of. You know it kind of like the light bulb lights up when you can see oh okay, this was studied and we can see cause and effect here.
Speaker 1:
Yes, yes, okay. So, dana, this was great. I love all the. You know the things that you're doing with your ladies. I was following you on Instagram and I feel so empowered, just like looking at the photos and all these women together, bonding together, doing these races is such an inspiration, and what you're doing you are creating a space for women to feel comfortable and safe and be part of this amazing tribe. So I just want to thank you as a woman to another woman, as a running coach to another running coach. Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 2:
Well, it's my pleasure and I'm so happy that we are able to connect and I know that you're doing the same thing where you are and it's always nice to know there's other people out there and bounce ideas off of each other and things like that. So I'm so happy that you reached out and we connected.
Speaker 1:
I am too Okay. So what races do you have coming up? Any projects for your ladies?
Speaker 2:
races. Do you have coming up Any projects for your ladies? We have. I mean, honestly, we have people running every weekend. So I finally we've gotten together and just created a race calendar of what big events you know people are running. We'll have a group training again for New York New York City Marathon. We always have a bunch of people doing some kind of half marathon or full marathon. In the fall we do a pretty big 5K in July. It's an all-women's 5K over in Rockland County, so just over the border in New York that's an all-women's 5K. So we'll have that coming up and we just continue our monthly outreach. We work with the group Project Kind and it's a homeless outreach based out of Newark, new Jersey, which is about 40 or so minutes from here. So we just continue to do that and look for other opportunities to get involved.
Speaker 1:
I love it. I love it Okay, so where can people find you?
Speaker 2:
I know you're on social media. Can you just let us know what are those social media platforms that you're on? Dana Anello on Instagram and Dana Anello on Facebook, so come give us a follow and you can. Also, if you want to reach out through email, you can reach me at Dana at JerseyWomenStrongcom.
Speaker 1:
And we're going to have all of Dana's links on the show notes how to get a hold of her if you're in New Jersey. I'm sure I know there's women in New Jersey listening to the podcast. So if you are like, wow, I didn't know that there's this, this is, this group is is there, now you know how to get ahold of Dana. So, dana, thank you again for coming on the show. I'm so glad that we connected in the most oddest ways. It was worthy, worth it, and I just wanted to talk to you more and hear all the amazing things you're doing. So thank you so much for being on the podcast.