Kyle Kranz Athlete Ambassador
Kyle is a prolific running coach and draws on his own experience of losing weight and getting fit to help others. He talks to Sundried about taking the plunge to become a full-time running coach as well as some of the amazing races he's taken part in.
Have you always been into sport?
In middle school and early high school I was depressed and obese with a BMI of 36! In high school, I had a lifestyle change of heart where I improved my diet and started exercising, dropping to a healthy body weight during high school. This inspired me to attend college and earn a degree in dietetics, during this time also making the transition from weight lifting to endurance sport.
What made you decide to enter the world of running?
I currently only compete in running events, but my entry into endurance sporting was cycling and triathlon. After my Ironman in California I decided to simplify my life and training and focus on running.
What’s been your favourite race to date and why?
The Canadian Death Race in the Canadian Rockies. It's a beautiful ultra marathon that is extremely well organised. The nice thing about those mountains is that they're not at a terribly high elevation!
And your proudest achievement?
Returning to the 100 miler that bested me during my first attempt and finishing it.
Have you ever had any racing disasters / your toughest race yet?
In the summer of 2018 we were doing a timed 3.8 mile looped trail ultra marathon on a very technical course with lots of climbing. During the late afternoon/early evening, after I had been running loops for about 40 miles, a HUGE storm came through, probably the most violent thunder/lightning/wind storm to hit the area in years. The aid station at the bottom of the loop was totally destroyed and flooded and many of the participants and crew hunkered in the back of a big rental truck for an hour to wait out the storm. The course was moved to the bike path off the trail system where we continued running. All 24-hour participants called it good at 100k.
How do you overcome setbacks?
It's important to look at setbacks as opportunities to learn and motivation to improve. A couple years ago I was laid off from my full-time job and I used that setback as an opportunity to take my part-time gig – run coaching – to my full-time attention.
During the fall of 2017 I lost a number of clients after their big fall races, dropping my coaching income by about a third. I used this setback as motivation to do better with my advertising/marketing and now two years later I've just surpassed my previous "normal job" income with my coaching income.
What advice do you wish you'd been given before you started competing?
Investing in some sort of guidance would be my advice for anyone starting anything new! If you want to learn how to play the piano, swim, start a business, having some sort of tutor or guide will improve and fast-track anything you do.
What are your goals for 2019?
Throughout my running life I've only run two marathons at best effort. The first was early on and the second was in 2018 where a quad injury sabotaged the run. So my PR definitely has some room to go down at that distance in 2019!
Who do you take your inspiration from?
The people I coach are so incredibly inspiring. They're "regular" people with busy lives who enjoy running and have invested in me to help them do it to the best of their abilities. They fit the training around being business owners, single parents, and their studies.
What do you like about Sundried and what’s your favourite bit of our kit?
Most companies don't go that extra step of practising and sharing good ethical, workplace, and environmental work. Sundried makes great products and does it in a responsible manner! It's winter here in South Dakota so I'm loving the Roteck running tights!
