Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Baxter.
Michelle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story has come full circle with an ending that started where it began. I was born and raised in Waseca, MN–Southcentral Minnesota–full of flat land and farmland. I grew up on a pig, corn, and soybean farm and have somehow landed back here. But the 20 years between graduating from high school and until now, I spent 15 of those years in the not-so-flat land of Anchorage, Alaska–marrying my husband and starting a family. We had a lot of unique experiences there with moose bedding down in our front yard, fishing for salmon, hiking and camping in Denali National Park, seeing the Northern Lights, and the occasional bear roaming in the neighborhood. It was there that my running career really took off, and I started my coaching business and working with runners virtually, all over the world. I have been coaching 16 years and 8 of those years, I have run my own business: PR (Personalized Running) Coaching. Many of my athletes have found me through my blog or my Instagram account: The Runner’s Plate. A great deal of my work also happens on Instagram, where I share my own running journey and my quest for a sub-3 hour marathon.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I may be in the minority for truly loving what I do and having very few setbacks along the way. It has been a very long road to get to where I am though. I started blogging in 2010 when I ran my first marathon, and it wasn’t until the last couple of years all that *free* work paid off, and I am now able to make this my full-time job. It is both a blessing and a curse to be able to work whenever you want, which often means I am working late into the night after my kids have gone to bed or on the weekends since I am also a stay-at-home mom.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am probably most known for my presence on social media and Instagram specifically. I have 50,000+ followers who follow my running journey there. I share videos on how my hard work has paid off and how I have gotten faster after having kids. I also share outfit inspiration and running clothes I am loving. People also come to me with running-related questions and want to know what I eat, what workouts I am doing, and advice for their own running journey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
When Instagram came out with the Reels function, that’s when my Instagram account really took off. Ha! I went from about 3000 followers to 30,000 followers in a year. I started using the Reels function right away and posted various videos on running and trying to encourage and support others runners on the platform.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.therunnersplate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therunnersplate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therunnersplate
