Things are changing here – and I’m REALLY excited about it. But I want to make sure you’re here for it too!
To sum it up: I’m making this blog (and my newsletter) more exciting for female runners.
First: A little re-introduction to see if we have enough in common for you to stick around.
Re-Introduction: Nicole Dobransky, Run Coach and Nutrition Coach for Female Runners
Hi! I’m Nicole – marathoner, mom of 3 girls (including twins!) and an adult onset-runner & former yo-yo dieter turned running & nutrition coach. I started my blog fitnessfatale in 2011 to share my journey training for my first marathon, along with doing the extreme home workout program P90X (actually, it was called femmefataleconqueringp90xwithamarathon.wordpress – what a name right!? Please don’t go back and read my first posts, it’s a bit embarrassing).
Back then, I was an accountant, a job I never loved. In fact, I always wanted to be a writer – but practicality kicked in during college I switched majors and went the Big 4 Accounting route.
After being a chubby middle schooler, an overweight, yet active, high schooler and a yo-yo dieter (remember the lemon cayenne pepper cleanse ?! yikes) through my 20s, I met my husband (on Match.com – desktop version!) who had just done his first Ironman in 2010.
Inspired by my athletic new boyfriend, 2011 was a turning point for me – I finally educated myself on nutrition, stopped dieting M-F and binge drinking & eating giant burritos every weekend, started to heal my sugar addiction (I honestly didn’t think I could live without frozen yogurt) and got super fit doing a combination of home strength workouts & training for my first marathon. I was immediately hooked and became immersed in both the online and San Diego running community (photo below is from our first marathon – Rock n’ Roll San Diego).
In 2016 after 5 years of sharing my experience, research (I like the data!) & insights on running (I wrote a detailed recap for every race I ran, hoping it would help someone), food and life (a detailed birth story anyone!?) on my blog and Instagram, I decided to make it official and become a coach.
In the early days, I helped fellow new moms & runners like me combine nutrition & strength training with their running – there was talk of sleep training and sports bras for breastfeeding. I loved creating community, helping women transform their bodies and see the benefit in their running as well – running faster races and building confidence to run new distances, even marathons. Later, I evolved into group run coaching & weight loss support for runners as a RRCA certified run coach and a UESCA Certified Endurance nutrition coach.
I’m now squarely in “mid life” at 42 years old (photo from a run last weekend below) and my weekend afternoons are spent at a soccer field or basketball court – but I still make time for training for marathons & good, quality food, and time in my running community. And most importantly, my family.
May 2026 will mark 10 years of coaching & while my coaching has evolved – I have 1:1 run coaching, my weight loss for runners program Run Fuel and the Run Fueled & Faster community – my initial passion & excitement remains.
And writing has always been a way to communicate that passion. First, it was blogging. Then it was Instagram. But if you haven’t noticed – Instagram is a bit wild right now. And while many of you likely found me there – I’m not able to go deep there (plus you likely don’t even see my posts most of the time because it’s so NOISY and full of ads).
What works on Instagram is hot takes, sensational headlines and black and white thinking – which yes, I can do – but what I want is to be able to talk about the grey area. The nuance. The real experience and insights of a mom, marathoner, a bit of a nerd, and coach that doesn’t have to fit in an Instagram caption. The insights that you CAN’T find on ChatGPT (I will NEVER let AI write a newsletter for me!!).
Introducing a Twice Weekly Blog for Midlife Female Runners
So, here’s what you can expect in this blog (or my newsletter if you’re subscribed), twice a week, if you decide to stick with me here:
Wednesdays – Inside a Coach’s Brain:
This is where we talk training & nutrition nuance and insights specific to female runners 35+ who are training for races and/or wanting to lose weight or improve/maintain body composition. Whether you’re a 5:45 marathoner or a 1:30 half marathoner or in a rebuilding season- if you want to be stronger, faster and/or fitter runner – this is going to help you.
Topics I’ve already got planned include: Why I recommend running a 5K (without training for it) right before you start half marathon training, what I look at first when I review what a female runner ate in a day because she’s waking up at 3 AM, what to never forget on your dinner plate when you’re trying to lose weight AND training for a race, what actually changes for runners in perimenopause, and more…
Saturdays – Go For a Long Run With Me
This is where I share the kind of things I talk about with my friends during a long run.
Sometimes it will be lighter things like what my training week looks like 9 weeks out from the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, what snack I’m eating every day right now while focusing on heavy lifting, what I’m reading, how I’ll find running routes on our trip to Costa Rica, etc. And sometimes deeper conversations like what’s changed about how I train in my late 30s/40s vs my 20s, why training is easier now that my twins are almost 8 years old, & what I changed in one of my athlete’s schedules that led to half marathon PR after 15 years of running. Sometimes it may be me venting or celebrating.
I’m excited for this new era of connection with you – and I want you to be too. If my insights do not serve or excite you in this phase of life or goals, please feel free to unsubscribe.
And if you ARE here for this – let’s go! And want to let me know, simply reply to this email. Bonus if you’d like to share a topic request.
See you on Saturday morning.