Magnum Opus Coaching

Magnum Opus Coaching Coach Nelle | Integrative Running Performance

Weaving speed, strength, & health for runners seeking peak performance and longevity.

Run | Strength | Health Coaching

It is so refreshing to read posts from people saying: focus on the fun. Look at the mountains. Soak it all in.I couldn’t...
09/23/2026

It is so refreshing to read posts from people saying: focus on the fun. Look at the mountains. Soak it all in.

I couldn’t agree more.

But for a lot of runners, that freedom is built long before race morning.

They spend months poring over their training logs. Planning where they’ll complete each of their long runs. Testing new fueling strategies in key workouts. Practicing for the heat, the cold, the dark, the climbs, the stomach problems, and all the little things that might go sideways.

They do this not because they’re obsessed with perfection.

They do it because when race day finally arrives, they want to feel like no stone was left unturned and their toolbox is packed with every problem-solving wrench they could reasonably need, after all, it’s said we pack our insecurities in our drop bag, but if our virtual toolbox is completely outfitted, then only the necessities reside in those drop bags.

There is a particular kind of peace that comes from checking off weeks and months of diligent, progressive, thoughtful training.

You’ve prepared for what you can prepare for.

You’ve practiced solving problems.

You’ve built trust in yourself.

And now?

There’s nothing left to prove in training.

Look at the mountains. Laugh with your crew. Thank the volunteers. Take the pictures. Notice where you are.

Sometimes preparation is exactly what gives you the freedom to stop thinking about preparation and simply enjoy the day.

(Each person pictured here prepared thoughtfully for Grindstone or another notable ultra as a coach, crew member, or finisher. Different roles, same intention: show up prepared enough to be fully present for the experience.)

After watching Nathan Whiting shave six minutes off his marathon PR, at Boston, no less, going from 2:43 to 2:37, Michea...
09/22/2026

After watching Nathan Whiting shave six minutes off his marathon PR, at Boston, no less, going from 2:43 to 2:37, Micheal king reached out to us with his own goal:

Sub-3.

At the time, he was on a path to destruction… and fast.

His plan? Complete at least one marathon-or-longer race every month on his way to a sub-3 attempt in late 2026.

Obviously, Michael wasn’t afraid to work.

However, more work wasn’t what he needed.

So we started asking a different question:

What does Michael actually need to adapt?

We coached up sleep, which had been a struggle.

We fine-tuned nutrition before, during, and after runs.

We adjusted hydration and sodium amounts.

We discovered hypermobility was contributing to lower-limb instability and pain, so we changed his strength programming accordingly.

And perhaps most importantly?

We undertrained his fitness level.

I’m not saying everyone needs to undertrain to get faster. Many of my athletes do not. However, in Michael’s case, lower cumulative fatigue and better recovery were producing a much more positive response.

And now we’re seeing what was underneath all that fatigue.

A couple weeks ago, his 5K race prediction was around 19:30.

Then he went out for a time trial and cruised to:

17:56. 😳😵‍💫🥳

Sub-3 is no longer some distant late-2026 idea.

He’s comfortably within the fitness range to make it a reality.

Again, he didn’t get here by throwing more miles, more races, or more suffering at himself.

We figured out which pieces of his puzzle actually needed to move.

Most runners don’t have a training problem.

They have a puzzle problem.

Awesome work, Michael! 🧚‍♀️✨

One of the sweetest parts of Grindstone Trail Running Festival by UTMB happened while I was nowhere near the course.Grin...
09/21/2026

One of the sweetest parts of Grindstone Trail Running Festival by UTMB happened while I was nowhere near the course.

Grindstone has woven itself through so much of my life in this sport.

More than a decade of training and coaching. Three years on the race operations team. Seven years in some capacity racing Grindstone myself or showing up to support someone else doing it.

This year looked different.

I’m not physically in a place where pacing a 100 is something I can do right now. But when two women reached out looking for support, I realized I could still do something I’ve done for years: connect people.

So I reached into the Magnum Opus community and found athletes willing to give their time, legs, experience, and energy to runners they didn’t really know yet.

Then I got to watch it unfold from afar.

I tracked dots all day. Checked in. Watched people who began the weekend largely as strangers share miles through the mountains, and somewhere in those miles, new friendships formed.

My athletes came away with their own lessons from experiencing a 100 from the other side: how to read another runner, when to talk, when to be quiet, how to troubleshoot, encourage without taking over, and how quickly trust can develop when two people are moving through hard miles together.

And the runners?

They were risen up.

Supported in doing the thing they had trained to do.

Both had phenomenal days, ultimately finishing 3rd woman overall and 4th woman overall/1st masters. But what I loved most wasn’t simply where they finished.

It was watching community happen organically.

Runners sharing what they knew. Athletes giving back to a sport that has given them something. Strangers becoming friends somewhere between aid stations.

After this many years at Grindstone, it was surprisingly meaningful to discover that I don’t have to be physically on the mountain to still help someone across it.

Maybe that’s one of the gifts of being in this sport long enough.

At first, you measure your relationship with it by the miles you can run.

Eventually, some of the most meaningful miles become the ones you help make possible for someone else.

Congrats to everyone who participated this year!

09/20/2026

Rich in the most fulfilling ways 🥰

09/20/2026

My running and run coaching journey has gone through so many iterations, and honestly, if you’re not me, you won’t understand! Onward! 🧚‍♀️✨

“This worked for me” isn’t a coaching methodology. Copy-pasting someone else’s plan isn’t one either. Great coaching req...
09/20/2026

“This worked for me” isn’t a coaching methodology. Copy-pasting someone else’s plan isn’t one either.

Great coaching requires a robust repertoire of training approaches and the ability to evaluate the individual athlete in front of you to determine which tools to use, when to use them, and why.

Especially in the 100-mile distance, where there are simply too many variables to believe the answer is creating the perfect training plan and executing the perfect race.

The perfect race doesn’t exist.

You can keep trying to build the perfect plan for your next 100.

Or you can spend the time developing the athlete who can handle the imperfect reality of racing one.

That’s the work.

If you’re ready for an integrative approach to becoming that athlete, comment 100 and I’ll send you details about working with me.

I ran my first 100-mile race on the original Grindstone course.Truthfully, I didn’t want it to be my first. The original...
09/19/2026

I ran my first 100-mile race on the original Grindstone course.

Truthfully, I didn’t want it to be my first. The original was a Western States and Hardrock qualifier, and it was HARD. I wanted Pinhoti, but timing didn’t work.

So, off to school I went.

I learned about heat management, running through the night, and what happens when you delay fueling in 87° direct sun.

But the real lesson went deeper.

Who was I, and how did I treat myself, when the race stopped going my way?

I lost my podium position after nausea reduced me to walking, head on my poles every few steps, unable to run one of the most runnable sections of the entire race.

“I’m the slowest person in the universe,” I said.

My pacer just shook his head.

I was F4.

Perspective, Nelle.

I was tough, gritty, and unwilling to quit. But I had no idea how to coach myself with compassion.

I’d never considered myself a perfectionist, but looking back, EVERY missed goal felt like failure. And when I failed, I shrank back or quit.

At mile 87, my friend Sophie gave me the reminder I needed:

We don’t do this because it’s fun.

Eventually, it’s true, the fun curtain lifts and the real work stares back at you.

Running isn’t just about running. It’s about who you meet within yourself when you have to choose between protecting your ego and expanding.

I vowed I wouldn’t go to that dark place with myself again. I could miss goals and be disappointed, but I didn’t deserve the way I spoke to myself that day.

Grindstone changed how I raced, coached, and even parented.

You can be fiercely ambitious without making achievement the price of your own approval.

I thought the challenge was running 100 miles.

The harder lesson was learning how to stay on my own side while I did it.

To everyone racing Grindstone Trail Running Festival by UTMB this weekend: race with intention, make good choices, chase what you came for, and leave enough room for joy. A perfectly executed race isn’t the only definition of success.

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