Feb 19 2025 64 mins 1
In this episode of the Miles with Moms podcast, we welcome Nick Klastava (@nklastava), a running coach and father, to discuss the intersection of running, fatherhood, and personal growth. All four of us are HUGE fans of Nick and his approach to fatherhood, running, coaching & just being an overall good human.
The conversation explores Nick's journey as a runner, his coaching philosophy, and the challenges and joys of being a present father. We delve into the unique pressures that fathers face, including dad guilt, and how these experiences shape their parenting styles.
Nick shares valuable insights for single mothers raising sons, emphasizing the importance of connection and understanding in parenting. Nick also shares about his journey in running, the pressures of competition, and the importance of finding joy in the sport.
He discusses how detaching from numbers and focusing on effort led to better performance. The conversation also touches on the dynamics of parenting, the need for support among partners, and the significance of communication in relationships. Nick emphasizes the importance of accountability in parenting and the need for both partners to be involved in family responsibilities
MORE ABOUT NICK KLASTAVA:
Nick started running back in 1996 and has been competitively running for 24 years now with a brief break in his 20’s. His spark for running came back in High School, being a part of a team and finding a sport that brought out the best in himself. He ran competitively in college for Monmouth University in New Jersey after college he took 8 years off from running and thought he was done forever. After moving to Maryland in 2010, Nick found his spark again with running and found a new outlook on running with less pressure and less emphasis on the numbers and broke all of his college PR's by age 38.
Nick lives just outside Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and two daughters (Chloe and Amelia). Nick has a degree in Software Engineering and currently works as a program manager by day. He works as Head Coach of 1:1 Run Coaching at Running Explained and also is the Co-host of the Between Two Coaches Podcast. His favorite thing about coaching is to uncon
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 long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. IG: @themotherrunners.
- Shanna Birchett is a mom of 6 kids six years apart, including twins. She returned to running in 2022 after an 11-year break, running 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. With a 2:57 PR, she's cut more than an hour off her marathon time. IG: @watch_oliviarun...
