In our inaugural BONUS episode where we spotlight amazing mother runners, we are celebrating the awesomeness of Alyse Gilliver, an incredible mother runner.

Alyse, @aleebreemcgee_run on Instagram, is a mom to three littles (6 and below). She's also a pediatric oncology nurse. She fell back into love with running after having her third and quickly made huge strides--most recently running a 2:48 marathon this October--shaving about 16 minutes in the past year!

Alyse shares how she balances being a mom, working, and training--and how she holds onto joy in training while also being goal-oriented. Her outlook on being a mother runner is as inspiring as it is refreshing. And we feel certain, you will love listening to her journey and approach to running and MOMLIFE.

Please enjoy our talk with Alyse!


Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Mother Runner Community
06:03 Training Evolution and Marathon Experiences
11:57 Mental Strategies for Training and Racing
17:57 Challenges of Long Runs and Motherhood
25:31 Training Routines and Flexibility
30:49 Communication and Support in Family Dynamics
36:51 Future Aspirations and Upcoming Races
41:55 Mental Strategies for Racing Success
50:56 The Marathon Experience: Balancing Goals and Reality

About your hosts:

• Whitney Heins is a mom of 2 kids, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. Coming out of a 5-year injury cycle which included a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon, she is training to run faster as a master’s athlete. IG: @themotherrunners.
• Shanna Birchett is a mom of 6 kids under 8, including twins. She returned to running in 2021 after an 11-year break, running most recently a 2:44 marathon in the summer of 2024. She is the co-founder of Endure 365 running, endure365.com, which offers heart rate-based training plans. IG: @motherhood_running.
• Tricia DeNardis is a mom to 3 young kids and a physical therapist specializing in the pelvic floor, pregnancy and postpartum rehabilitation. After running 10 marathons, Tricia completed her first 50k in the fall of 2024, and is now hooked! IG: @burpeesandburpcloths.
• Olivia Garcia is a mom of 2 young kids, who used to work as a paramedic. She fell in love with running in 2019, despite surviving a marathon that didn’t go according to plan. She’s since cut more than an hour off her marathon time and gunning to break 3 hours. IG: ...