Coach Jill Galarneau
When it comes to coaching Jill has range - from running, to strength, to yoga and leading retreats, Jill has put down deep roots in the running community.
Jill’s running career truly started after she wrapped up her basketball career at the Medicine Hat College. Basketball and soccer were her main sports growing up, and after high school she pursued a basketball scholarship at the Medicine Hat College. In her final year she was named to the ACAC All Conference team and leading scorer. Jill continued her education at the University of Alberta, which is where she discovered her love for the sport of running. After recreationally participating in 5k and 10k races she realized she had the potential to run for the University Cross Country team and decided to head down to the park for a try out. Jill was a member of the University of Alberta Cross Country team for her final 2-years of post secondary school.
Following University Jill continued running recreationally, enjoying various distances from half marathons to 50km trail races in addition to teaching fitness and yoga classes in local studios in Calgary.
Alongside with running, Jill is an advocate for the importance of incorporating strength and yoga into her running practice which she views and crucial pieces of her training.
Personal Best Performances
5k 18:55
10k 39:14
Half Marathon 1:26:06
Marathon 3:00:57
Q+A with Jill
Best Coaching Advice?
Recovery! It looks like many things but in order to perform your best + allow your body to achieve what you are truly capable of you need it! Rest + recovery is needed after a big race to allow your body time to regenerate all the systems in your body! It’s much more than just giving your muscles time to recovery, you are putting stress on all systems of your body so allow time to heal! Giving yourself recovery time prevents burnout + mentally invigorates yourself for your next training block!
Recovery in a training block can look differently too - allowing yourself to take your easy days truly easy for active recovery and not training in the “gray zone” sets your body up for success when it comes to your big long runs or quality sessions! So slow down to speed up!
Favourite Running Mantra?
It’s a Privilege! We can do hard things, run for those who can’t!