Coaching to help you thrive

My mission, through Elements Running Education, is to empower you to run with more confidence and skill; to share knowledge that allows you to train smart and stay healthy; to help you overcome obstacles and push your boundaries.

I want to help you find sustainable ways of making running a fun and exhilarating part of your life, and connect you with a running community you can identify with and feel welcomed by.

Start running with us

Not coaching for elite runners.

Coaching for your real life.

My clients are real people with busy lives. As recreational runners, we have so many responsibilities to juggle aside from getting in a run. I create training programs that are realistic and easy to balance with your commitments and routines — while keeping in mind that you are worth prioritizing.

As a coach, I research, read, and study so you don’t have to waste time sifting through the internet looking for credible information. When you work with me, you’ll benefit from my combined coaching, racing and sports massage experience. You’ll learn how to tune in and listen to your body, when to safely push harder, and how to prevent common running injuries. I emphasize the body’s interlinked connections and holistic wellness, and help you work WITH your body.

A little more about coach Heini Tallent

CERTIFIED RUNNING COACH, LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST, CERTIFIED RUNNING GAIT ANALYST

As a sports massage therapist, I worked with runners long before I became one myself. I worked on their achy muscles and listened to their stories of training and racing, fascinated by the concept but dismissing the idea that distance running could be for me. Occasionally, I would try going for a run but made all the rookie mistakes. I ran too fast, tried to do too much, my lungs burned, and I didn't enjoy it at all. It was certainly not love at first mile.

But things change. Eventually I came to running the same way a lot of women do: at a time of transition in my life, searching for the “old me.” I have been an athlete most of my life — a sprinter in my teens and a basketball player into my 30s — but in the hectic early years of motherhood, I felt like I had lost that piece of myself. After a particularly tough couple of years with multiple miscarriages, I just needed to be me again. I looked up a beginners' running program and stuck with it. I became a runner at 34 and took my first steps into coaching later that year. It has absolutely changed my life.

I love working with newer runners eyeing their first goals beyond a beginner program, “on-and-off” recreational runners looking to reignite the spark, and intermediate runners training for races and reaching for improvements. I love sharing the science behind training and technique with those who want to learn. I really enjoy groups and community — for the friendships, the shared experiences, and the way you can inspire and learn from each other!

I believe variety keeps you stronger and healthier and I mix things up in my own training too. Now at 44, I’m still getting faster, having fun training and racing, and feeling more confident than ever in what my body can do. Running brings me such joy, and I want to share that with you!

I approach running and life with positivity and openness to possibilities. Training can be really hard, but hard can be fun too. I'll never know what I can accomplish if I don't push myself and find out! Setting new challenges is what keeps me on this journey.

What could YOU accomplish given a little help along the way?

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Running achievements

First place: Willamette Valley 10K (2019), Happy Girls Run Bend 10K (2023)
Multiple age group wins in the 35-39 and 40-44 age groups, including Western Pacific Trail 10K (2017), Devil Mountain Run (2018), Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll 5K (2019), Bend 10K (2022)
20ish half marathons
4 marathons: LA, Nashville, Chicago, CIM
Boston Marathon Qualifier (2023)
PRs on all distances from 5K to marathon in my 40s