Miran McCash on Women in Run Coaching, and the Conversations Girls Aren't Having With Their Male Coaches

What does it actually take to build a girls' running program from three athletes to a full roster, and what does it cost the coach who gets it there?

That's at the heart of this conversation with Miran McCash: high school cross country and track head coach at Highline High School, and owner of ANA Run Coaching, an all-women adult running coaching business based in Seattle. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, and Miran talk about what it's really like to be a woman in a head coaching role, how she's creating space for girls to talk about their bodies and their periods, and why representation on the coaching staff is the reason girls stay in sport.

08:54- Teaching girls' weight training and building confidence in the weight room

11:11- Growing up with all-male coaches and how it shaped her

15:31- Growing the girls' cross-country team from 3 athletes to a full roster

16:29- Incentives, belonging, and why cross-country culture matters

23:28- How Miran talks to her athletes about periods, REDs, and changing the language around bodies

29:18- Balancing the financial and emotional load of coaching at a Title I school

36:59- Why women aren't signing up for coaching positions

40:16- Over-scheduling, under-recovering: the injury surge Miran is watching in real time

46:09- Going part-time teaching to grow ANA Coaching, and South End Running Exchange

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