Coach Croft

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When I went looking for younger menopausal athletes and coaches who understood that experience, I came up empty.

Running + Strength Coach empowering Masters athletes + women navigating {peri}menopause to thrive in their training through personalized coaching + training plans
DM to start! I’m an endurance runner, RRCA-certified run coach, and GGS Menopause Strength coach based in Oklahoma, with a form-focused approach to running + strength training. After enduring multiple surgeries, medically induced menopause, and eventually a full hysterectomy due to Endometriosis, I found myself navigating endurance training in a body without its own hormones. So I built my own path back to stronger, faster, and more sustainable running—and turned that experience into the foundation of my coaching. My running journey began in 2009, much of it self-coached. I’ve raced across distances up to the marathon, but real progress didn’t come from simply doing more. It came from learning how to train smarter, move more efficiently, and respect the body I was actually in. That shift changed not only my performance, but my relationship with running. Today, I specialize in coaching Masters + Menopausal athletes, helping them build strength, confidence, and longevity in their training. I also enjoy working with runners of all backgrounds and experience levels who are ready to move beyond grind-based approaches and toward something more sustainable. My goal is to help athletes feel less alone in their journey, more capable in their bodies, and better equipped to pursue their goals with clarity and intention.

10/30/2026

I screamed “IT’S NOT A TUTU!” through a good chunk of Boston, so consider this your pre-NYC educational announcement…

My ribbon skirt is regalia.
Not a costume.
Not some race day bling.
Not “just for fun.”

I’ll be wearing one in New York because I’m proud to represent Native Women Run and because Native women deserve to see themselves in big races, big stages, and big spaces.

Boston. Chicago. NYC. Panels. Conventions.
Representation doesn’t stop there.

It transcends start/finish lines.

10/28/2026

These poor dogs really wake up every morning and put their entire faith in a woman whose brain is apparently operating on dial-up.

I can remember every lyric to a song I haven’t heard since 1993, but ask me what I walked into the kitchen for and suddenly we’re all participating in a missing persons investigation.

The good news is that nobody in this house has ever missed a meal.

The bad news is that they’re probably going to figure out they can get fed twice if they look hungry enough and I can’t remember doing it the first time.

Cougar Puberty really is a team sport, and apparently my dogs are the only ones winning.

Please tell me I’m not the only one whose pets are taking advantage of the menopausal memory situation.

Btw, dog tax on slide 2 ➡️

10/28/2026

The content calendar had a plan. My brain had other arrangements.

Anyway, here’s nine seconds of productivity from a woman who accomplished a few side quests and absolutely none of the main objectives.

10/27/2026

Some seasons are for chasing performance. Others are for remembering why you run in the first place.

This NYC Marathon build has been short, unconventional, and squeezed into a season of life that apparently decided to throw the entire kitchen sink at me. Repeatedly. With enthusiasm.

There was no perfect training block. No massive mileage. No carefully orchestrated pursuit of a PR. Just 8 weeks of working with the capacity I had, respecting the demands of life outside of running, and trusting the durability I’ve spent so much time rebuilding. And you know what? I’m pretty damn proud of that.

I’ve been running long enough to know what it takes to chase performance. I’ve also been running long enough to recognize when the pursuit of performance would cost more than I’m willing to give.

Sometimes the opportunity itself is enough. I get to run through all 5 boroughs of NYC on Lenape lands. I get to experience the energy of one of the world’s biggest marathons. I get to carry my story, my heritage, and every messy, beautiful piece of this season across another finish line. And I don’t need a particular number on the clock to make any of that meaningful.

You don’t have to turn every opportunity into a performance evaluation. Sometimes you can just show up, take it all in, and let the experience be the accomplishment.

26.2 miles of whatever the hell happens next.
Let’s go, NYC and NWR. 🗽🪶🩵

10/26/2026

Your VO2max can be impressive as hell, but if your body is constantly filing complaints with HR, we need to talk.

Runners love chasing speed, but how much time are we actually spending building the capacity to sustain it?

Strength, recovery, progressive loading, and consistency might not be as sexy as a shiny new PR, but neither is constantly starting over because something else decided to revolt.

Durability deserves a seat at the performance table.

Being fast is great. Being able to keep running? That’s the long game. And your cardiovascular fitness doesn’t get to bully the rest of your body into adapting faster.

10/23/2026

I’ve been collecting glimmers for a while now.

Unexpected messages. Kind words. Handwritten notes. Little reminders that something I said or did mattered to someone else.

I save them because life has a funny way of getting loud enough to drown out the good stuff.

And this year? Whew. Life has had the volume turned all the way up.

Sometimes I go back through these little moments and find myself looking at a version of me reflected through someone else’s eyes.

Someone who made them feel seen. Someone who encouraged them to believe in themselves. Someone who gave them permission to do things differently.

It’s easy to lose sight of those things when you’re busy navigating your own mess.

So here’s a little collection of glimmers from a year that has asked a whole hell of a lot.

A reminder of the good that can exist alongside the hard. And maybe a reminder to tell people when they’ve made a difference in your life. You never know when they might need to hear it ✨

10/23/2026

No one really talks about the cost of increasing self-awareness

10/22/2026

A visual after our conversations with Everyday Athlete Community yesterday… Your pelvis is a bowl of water. How much are you spilling when you run?

We spend a LOT of time talking about cadence, foot strike, and stride length, but what about the position of your pelvis?

Your pelvis connects your upper and lower body, and its positioning can influence how efficiently you move.

Here’s a little exercise I use when teaching running form:

Imagine your pelvis is a bowl filled with water.

If you’re in an excessive anterior tilt, the bowl tips forward, your lower back arches more, and your knees may feel like they’re locking out.

As you bring your pelvis toward neutral, imagine leveling that bowl. You might feel a little click into alignment as your knees soften and your ribs stack more comfortably over your pelvis.

Continue rotating into a posterior tilt, and the bowl tips backward. Your tailbone tucks underneath, your lower back flattens, and your knees may bend a little more.

Now, here’s the important part…
Your pelvis isn’t supposed to be locked into one position. Running requires movement, rotation, and the ability to respond to changing demands.

The goal is to develop awareness and control so you’re not spending unnecessary energy compensating for positions you don’t even realize you’re holding.

And those knee changes? They’re cues you might notice as you explore these positions, not rules that apply to every body.

Sometimes improving your running form starts with paying attention to what’s happening ABOVE your feet.

Give the bowl-of-water exercise a try. Can you feel the difference between the three positions?

10/20/2026

We went from waiting by the radio with our fingers hovering over RECORD, hoping the DJ would shut the hell up before the chorus, to having basically every song ever made living in our pockets.

We survived tangled cassette tapes, scratched CDs, LimeWire giving the family computer 37 viruses, and spending an entire afternoon finding the perfect song for our MySpace profile.

And now we’re entering Cougar Puberty, forgetting why we opened Spotify, and needing three business days to recover from a concert.

What a time to be alive.

Anyway, if you ever used a pencil to rewind a cassette tape, you’re my people.

Address

Tulsa, OK

Website

https://hustle-eat-thrive.myshopify.com/

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