Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristina Bhimineni. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kristina, thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

When I first began pursuing my personal training certification, it never occurred to me that I would become a business owner. I assumed I would be working for someone else, but still helping others get healthy and fit. Without even realizing it, I was giving advice to friends of mine when we were out running. It would be something small and simple like how to relax your arms or to breathe correctly when you are running so you aren’t constantly short of breath.

My friends then suggested I do run coaching. After doing quite a bit of research, I realized I could start my own business. It would allow me to do something I loved while still having time at home with my children while they are so little. It has been hard work to reach my current work-life balance, which is forever changing but also gratifying. I discovered not only do I enjoy helping people reach their goals with running, losing weight, and figuring out how to fit in workouts while balancing mom life, I am fascinated by the ins and outs of running a business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started running when I was 14 years old, and in full disclosure – I was terrible at it. But fortunately, with great coaching, I not only found a love for running but became a strong runner. I stuck with running all through college and eventually ran 9 marathons. I then began to realize that not only do I love to run but I enjoy coaching others. Over the years, due to training injuries, and with my background in both Sports Medicine and Nursing, I developed a training plan that differed from traditional ones. As I found what a difference my new training program made for me, I was able to share it with clients. Although I love coaching all runners, I specifically focus on ones who have had major life events (pregnancy, age, injuries) and want to return to training and fall back in love with running.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I want every potential runner I work with to know I have truly been where they are – frustrated with their training, wondering if they will ever love running again. I have a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis which is a form of autoimmune arthritis in my hips and spine. Being diagnosed with this at the age of 22 can be daunting. I had always been active since I started running when I was 14 years old – would I still be able to? Thankfully I had physicians who encouraged me and still do to keep running. In fact my first marathon wasn’t until 4 years after my diagnosis. Because of this diagnosis, and along with chronic running injuries, I really had to start listening to my body and stop training the traditional way. Since my diagnosis I have run 9 full marathons, 2 half marathons, and multiple 15Ks, 10Ks and 5Ks. My point is that despite all of my reasons to quit, I instead used them to find a different way to keep running. Please take to heart that I have been where you are and want you to love running and feel like a runner again.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If I could go back in time, I would without a doubt still choose to be a business owner and running coach. I have such a love and passion for running and helping runners. I have been told my enthusiasm for it is so strong that I can make almost anyone want to run. I also would not change any part of my journey that led me to this profession. I took the long way to get to this point but my education in multiple health care fields really helped build my knowledge base so I could find a new way to train runners.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kbhealthyandfit.com
• Instagram: @kbhealthyandfit @coachKristinaB
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/coachKristinaB www.facebook.com/KBHealthyandfit
• Other: FB group The Runners Route Back To The Race (https://www.facebook.com/groups/runnersroutebacktotherace)

Image Credits
Art Swenson Photography