Athlete, Coach, Leader, Mom: a Conversation with Erin Williams

Erin Williams (aka @runstrongmama) is a mom, an athlete, a running coach, and an accomplished Army engineer officer. In this episode we discuss how all of those experiences have shaped her approach to fitness. Erin Williams was a Division 1 basketball player at West Point, and was commissioned as an Army Engineer officer in 2011. Since then, Erin has completed a variety of military schools including Sapper and Jumpmaster, served in the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions, earned a data science degree from Harvard, and had three children. In 2018, she also became a run coach. She holds certifications from Road Runners Club of America and VDotO2, and coaches with the service Lift Run Perform. She is a strong advocate for women in military service, and has focused her efforts in the past 2 years on highlighting shortfalls in the military child care space and how this impacts service members and families. This wide ranging conversation covers everything from how to incorporate strength training into a running program to the state of pregnancy and postpartum physical training (P3T) in the Army. Erin has some valuable insights into a wide range of topics, so we covered a lot of ground with her. And if you want to learn more about her advocacy for women in the military, follow her platforms! Erin mentioned a few useful resources that she recommends people check out, so here they are: Laura Norris' running blog: https://lauranorrisrunning.com/ Dr. Alyssa Olenick: https://doclyssfitness.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/doclyssfitness/ Jack Daniels' VDOT: https://vdoto2.com/ She coaches with Lift Run Perform, find out more about them here: https://liftrunperform.com/