Mindful RunsThe coach behind the plan
Hi, I'm Reji.
I've been running for over ten years, through plenty of half marathons and road races. But the running I care most about coaching is the very first mile — the one a beginner isn't sure they can finish.
Why beginners
The first 5K is the one that rewrites your self-image.
I didn't start as a natural runner. I started slow, got it wrong plenty of times, and learned — mostly the hard way — that the people who keep running aren't the fastest ones. They're the ones who found a pace that felt sustainable before their motivation ran out.
That's why I coach first-timers. Experienced runners have systems and scar tissue. Beginners have the hardest, most important stretch in front of them: the few weeks where running either becomes something you do, or something you tried once. Getting that stretch right is the whole game, and it's the part I find most worth doing well.
I also run an everyday coaching journal on Instagram — @mindfulruns — where I share tips and my own training, unfiltered.
Credentials
Trained to coach, not just to run.
Enthusiasm matters, but so does knowing what actually builds a runner safely. I've put in the certification work so your plan rests on method, not guesswork.
- RRCA Level 1 Certified Coach — the Road Runners Club of America's foundational coaching certification, covering training principles, physiology, and injury-aware programming.
- Lydiard Level 1 — training in Arthur Lydiard's aerobic-base method, the approach behind the easy-pace, build-before-you-push philosophy at the heart of Mindful Runs.
- Ten-plus years of running — multiple half marathons and a 10K on the legs, so the advice comes from the road as well as the textbook.
How I coach
Fewer rules. More attention.
I keep plans simple enough that you always know what this week asks of you. No 40-line spreadsheets, no pace targets you can't hit yet. We watch effort and breathing first, and let the numbers follow.
When it helps, I'll look at your form — I do frame-by-frame gait analysis to spot small things like overstriding that quietly make running harder than it should be. One cue at a time, never a list of everything that's "wrong."
Mostly, I'm the person in your corner making sure you start easy enough to come back tomorrow. That's how first 5Ks get finished.
Let's find your starting line.
Tell me a bit about where you are now. There's no cost to ask and no pressure to commit.