Sarah Whipple’s 3-year-old son, Beckham, returning from school one day, asked her, “Can we watch some videos of you running around the track super fast?”
Her Instagram post (@sarah.j.whipple) continued: “I Googled back to when I raced the 1,500 and 800 meters at the University of Oregon @oregontf . . . He asked me, ‘How do you get super fast?’ I told him I worked really hard. It wasn’t easy. I Iearned how to be patient. I put my heart into it. Ate well. Trained hard. Got injured, recovered. Made my best time.”
Born and raised in Paradise Valley, the four-time All American participated in three NCAA championships at UO, a premier collegiate track program. Whipple demonstrated patience and heart. She ran through the pain. She targeted making improvements each day.
That’s the spirit of Whipple’s business, SW Training, which focuses on strength conditioning for athletes, the general public and small groups.
From a backyard gym, detached from her home, she’s training clients up to 30 hours per week. “I like to target a lot of different audiences, athletes, moms, the general public, and, with my individuality approach to training, I can hone in on what that person needs,” says Whipple.
From L to R: Sarah running in the desert. Photo: Andrew Neugebauer, @andrew_neugebauer; Healthy tacos by Sarah
She loves putting clients through sprints because, as a runner, she knows it’s hard but productive. “Mix sprinting with strength training, and people see themselves getting leaner, stronger, sleeping better, having more energy in the day, better posture and overall lower anxiety or stress throughout the day,” she says.
Her social posts, though, are not just about conditioning. They’re about life, being immersed, as a wife, mom, entrepreneur, an achiever running the good race. They’re about Fitness, Family and Food—all central to what she is. Whipple lives fully; her posts are about her business and her life.
“There are some Instagram channels out there that make life look absolutely perfect, even though it’s not. They offer fitness in a vacuum, under a glass. I like to be real because that is the type of person I am, says Whipple. ”I show what I buy at the grocery store, the benefits of healthy, simple meals I like to prepare for my kids and my husband. Family is a part of my everyday life, and I think this adds personality to my IGs.”
While taking care of Beckham, daughter Peyton and her husband, Alex, she’s expecting another girl in July and contending with those changes. And with that, she’s pivoting her workouts according to her pregnancy.
Whipple says: “I post a lot about my kids, what we do on trips, goofy things my kids do, what we are going through as a family, what I am cooking up in the kitchen and how I try to balance it all the best that I can.”
Follow @sarah.j.whipple if you want to see more of Family, Clients, Workouts, Cooking and Nutrition.
“I absolutely love my job!” Whipple says. “Give me a top-class athlete, a 5-year-old-boy who wants to play soccer or a 94-year-old woman who just wants to be able to sit down without pain. I got them!”
Follow Sarah on Instagram @sarah.j.whipple.
Sarah Whipple’s E-books on sprinting, 5K and half-marathon training and cooking as well as “My Pregnant Mama” are available on www.sarahwhipple.com under E-books.
