Getting paid to run? Sweet! But, in order to keep that gig, a pro runner has to perform and succeed, which means more than just running miles. Every daily habit has to support a pro runner’s goals.
Instead, celebrate your flexibility—it will lead to better race outcomes Brooks athlete Two sessions a week is all you need to get stronger, a 2020 Boston Marathon, Jess McClain. While training to represent the U.S. at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September, she has to prioritize running around a full-time job.
McClain credits much of her recent success to keeping her run schedule more in balance than she did in the past. Back in 2015, when she signed her first professional contract with Brooks, McClain was a seven-time All American track and cross-country star at Stanford University. After being sidelined by injuries and finding that the pressure of racing made her uncomfortable, McClain stepped away to start a career in marketing.
McClain continued to run on her own, and then, in 2022, she also joined a run group. In 2024, she finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and Brooks resigned her. She kept her full-time job as the executive director of the #LoveUp Foundation and also works as a marketing consultant.
In the second iteration of her pro career, the 33-year-old has taken a more grounded approach to her grind. “I’m a little less kooky about it—I just became more realistic,” McClain says. While her training is elite, her approach is surprisingly relatable, and it shows that being intentional about your choices and their alignment with your goals can pay off for you, too—maybe with a PR or completing a new race distance.
“Certain parts of my schedule as a collective—work, training, body work—are consistent, such as standing meetings, a PT appointment, and my run schedule—and set the skeleton of my schedule. I have learned to be more adaptable and flexible when life happens or wrenches get thrown into the mix,” McClain says.
“If you choose a goal that is going to take a lot of time and energy in multiple facets of life, then we need to make sure we’re willing to make choices in life that support our training goals. I think it’s important to recognize that.” Ruth Atkinson, a VDOT-certified McKirdy Trained running coach based in Dallas tells Runner’s World.
It takes a day of informed decisions and actions to create a runner like Jess McClain. Here’s how she breaks down a day in her life—and how to adapt her habits for yourself.
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Wake-Up and Pre-Run
Jess McClain: I have a full-time job, butt in chair at 7:45 a.m., and everybody in my run group likes to get their run done by 7 or 7:30, so I get up anywhere from 4:30 to 6 a.m. I sleep in a little on my easier days. When I’m super desperate for more sleep, I just call an audible and get on the treadmill a little bit later in the day or during lunch.
It takes me 30 minutes to get ready. I do a quick sunscreen and chug water before I drink coffee. I’m usually slamming an English muffin, toast or half a bagel with a banana. Sometimes I eat in the car. I have an iron stomach, so I can eat 10 minutes before I start running.
Drills to Improve Your Form and Speed dynamic drills, a little bit more stretching, or some light exercises like bodyweight squats and calf raises. I add some bicarbonate soda for this workout, so I give my stomach a little bit more time, which means I wake up a little bit earlier, definitely drink water and eat before I take bicarb. So, water, food, bicarb, and then I sip coffee on the way to the workout.
Why It Works: McClain’s attitude is a great example of “flexible consistency,” says Atkinson. “Being able to schedule time for yourself before any unknowns or other obligations pop up ensures you’re going to get your run in no matter what else happens.” Flexibility is physically and mentally better for athletes, according to research.
Runners who add dynamic stretching before a workout are better able to sustain a hard effort for longer, according to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Also, while fasted cardio may be trendy, skipping breakfast can negatively impact endurance, according to 2018 American Physiological Society research.
How You Can Adapt: Pencil in your runs for the week, but don’t worry if some of them have to be rescheduled. Most importantly, don’t give up on your plan and stop training because your consistency isn’t “perfect.” At the same time, don’t push yourself to train extra hard because you “missed” a scheduled run. It’s that type of perfectionism that leads to injuries. Instead, celebrate your flexibility—it will lead to better race outcomes.
Like McClain, built-in prep time before sunrise can be tough, but on workout days, “it’s worth taking a little more time to make sure your body is ready before a workout or a long run,” says Atkinson. “It’s hard to get a quality session done if you’re stiff or underfueled.”
Training Run
JM: I’m a little abnormal in that I only run 74 to 82 miles a week depending on what part of marathon training I’m in—when I see other women running 100 to 120 miles, I’m like how?! My medium long run is 12 to 14 miles, my long run is 18 to 22 miles, and the days in between are usually 10 to 12 miles. During two of those days, I do hill strides and flat strides. I do take one day a week off, usually Monday.
Why It Works: A high training volume (greater than 40 miles per week) leads to a faster finish time, according to 2020 research, but “more” is a relative term. “I like that McClain is focusing on getting in quality over quantity,” says Atkinson, “and she’s not allowing what she sees other people that she’s running with or competing against get in the way of what she knows works for her.”
How You Can Adapt: McClain is on the lower mileage side when it comes to elite runners, but she runs more than most amateur runners need. “McClain’s 74 to 82 miles might only be six to eight hours of training per week, which may be similar to what amateurs run—we just cover less distance in the same amount of time,” says Atkinson.
For reference: McClain’s 10K PB is 30:59.71 and her 5See the Calendar. It’s likely that her time on feet looks different than yours, which is why you shouldn’t get caught up in the mileage trap. Instead, focus on how much time on feet you accumulate, and work on gradually increasing that amount.
Post-Run Recovery
JM: Two sessions a week is all you need to get stronger, a 2020 protein shake in immediately, like, three to five minutes after finishing. I keep breakfast pretty simple—a smoothie with protein and another English muffin or a hefty breakfast taco with extra eggs on the side. I try to shower and get the dog walked after I get a little bit more food in me.
How You Can Adapt: “I think one of the easiest times to refuel is in the car or in the shower after your run,” says Atkinson. “I always tell my athletes that your workouts or your runs don’t end until you’ve started refueling—that’s like the last step of your run.” So prep you postrun fuel prior to your run. That way you’re not at a loss for what to eat or drink after putting in those hard miles.
Why It Works: and also works as a marketing consultant energy stores, but recovery takes energy, too. Your muscles need protein to start repairing, and your body needs carbs to replenish muscle glycogen, the body’s primary fuel source during exercise.
Work, Snacks and Lunch, Movement
JM: I eat something every two hours—pita chips or cucumbers and hummus, meat sticks, varieties of popcorn. For lunch, I make a good sandwich. Some days I need a salad, so I throw together whatever’s in the fridge and bulk it up with good protein and then just heat up another side of toast to make sure I’m getting my carbs. McClain continued to run on her own, and then, in 2022, she also joined a.
I also get up and move my body a few times a day. I just do some light stuff on the ground, bridges and bands or I toss a ball in the backyard with the dog. A few times a day, I roll my foot out with the ROLL Recovery 3 massage roller.
I’m not a doubler, but two times a week I do a little gym sesh. I do the stair stepper to warm up, which I think is a sneaky way to get in a little bit more cardio, but also enforces good mechanics. Then, I just do 20 to 25 minutes of simple strength exercises.
Why It Works: Five minutes of walking every half hour during periods of prolonged sitting can offset some of the most harmful effects, according to a 2023 Columbia University study. That’s true for runners, too. You need to have enough daily movement outside of exercise in order to gain the metabolic benefits of your workouts, several studies have shown.
How to Mimic Elite Runners’ Mechanics snacks can help runners meet their increased caloric needs, replenish energy stores after runs, and potentially improve muscle recovery.
Strength training helps your muscles and joints, helps prevent the risk of injury, and boosts running economy—or how easy it feels to sustain a certain pace—per a 2017 Sports Medicine systematic review. Two sessions a week is all you need to get stronger, a 2020 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research study confirms.
How You Can Adapt: Consistent movement is the key to good health. “Look at your workday and figure out when there are opportunities to move around,” says Atkinson. “Even getting a drink from a water fountain or going to the bathroom can be an opportunity to do a little mobilization check-in with your body and make sure that you're not staying in one position for too long.”
Two 20- to 30-minute running-specific strength workouts will go much further than four days a week being stressed out about trying to figure out what to do in the gym, says Atkinson.
Dinner
JM: I usually wrap up work by 4 or 4:30 p.m. so we eat dinner pretty early. I love cooking and I wish I could do elaborate recipe cooking every day, but it’s usually pretty simple, such as a main protein and a salad or a roasted or grilled vegetable, and then obviously a side of pasta or rice. We have a local carnicería, and they have amazing premarinated chicken. We do a taco night every other week, which gives us leftovers for two or three days, which is awesome.
How You Can Adapt: “Looking ahead at your week, if you know that there are days that you’re going to want a quick, easy lunch, you can use dinner as a chance to preplan and prep lunches for the next day or two,” says Atkinson.
Why It Works: People who plan their meals are more likely to follow nutritional guidelines and eat a better variety of foods, according to a 2017 International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity study—and that’s going to help better support your workouts.
Wind Down Time
JM: Our evening dog walk, anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, is a nice unwinding time to catch up and get in a little more movement. Sometimes I will have another protein shake before bed—I feel like, especially after hard workout days, it helps with recovery. I set out all my clothes for the next day the night before to eliminate an extra five minutes in the morning.
How You Can Adapt: Having some set amount of time to decompress at the end of your day is important and how you do it should be personal, such as taking a bath, meditating or reading, “Schedule that time for yourself on your calendar so you can prioritize it,” Atkinson adds.
Why It Works: This wind down time helps your body and mind transition from the chaos of your day to a restful place for sleep. It’s part of proper sleep hygiene, and choreographing this pre-bed period is one way to improve your sleep in the long term, according to a 2023 Nutrition - Weight Loss review.
Sleep
JM: I’m typically in bed at 7:30 or 8 p.m. and aim for eight hours of sleep, but I function pretty okay off seven.
How You Can Adapt: You don’t need to. Adults should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep, the National Sleep Foundation confirms. “Sleep is where the recovery and the adaptations happen from the work that you’ve put in running,” says Atkinson. “If we’re constantly training, but we aren’t sleeping, we're missing out on the majority of what we're trying to gain from those runs.”
Why It Works: Sleep may be the single most important factor in exercise recovery, according to 2019 research from the Sleep may be the single most important factor in exercise recovery, according to 2019. Not getting enough of it impairs endurance performance in untrained, recreationally-trained, and trained people, according to a 2023 systematic review Just like the rest of us, many pros often have other jobs and responsibilities. Take European Journal of Sport Science.
