Runner Becs Gentry Shares the Worst Training Advice She's Heard and What She Recommends (Exclusive)
Runner Becs Gentry Shares the Worst Training Advice She's Heard and What She Recommends (Exclusive)
Meredith WilshereSat, February 28, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
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Becs Gentry for HokaCredit: Courtesy of HOKA -
There is a difference between good and bad running advice
Becs Gentry — runner, mother and Peloton instructor — shares the worst and best advice she's gotten
She tells PEOPLE what gets her to lace up her shoes
Becs Gentry has heard a lot of bad advice in her career. The running coach, Peloton instructor and Global Ambassador for HOKA tells PEOPLE there’s “so much” bad advice people have given her without knowing she’s a running coach.
“It's funny because a lot of the time I won't tell people what I do or I'm a runner, I’ll say I'm a runner and not a coach for over a decade. Then they'll say many funny things,” Gentry, 39, shares.
One of the worst things she hears is when people buy new outfits for races and wear their new clothes for the first time on race day.
“It feels really bougie to wear those brand new sneakers and that corny running top from the bag and take the labels off and you feel so fancy, but you need to have worn it at least once. When it comes to sneakers, you need to have at least, like, 10 miles in those trainers before you put them on race day,” Gentry says.
Becs GentryCredit: Courtesy of HOKA
She also says to be wary of anyone who tells you should keep running and don’t stop to use the bathroom, despite what your body might be telling you.
“Please stop, use a restroom and let us the rest of the runners have a nice race, not be going down when somebody who has made a mess on themselves, because then really the time doesn't matter. The humility is better,” Gentry shares.
One big piece of advice she has for those who are looking to get into running is to understand the “end goal,” and break down the different ways to get there.
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“It's really important to scale it back and see your long-term goal. Break it down," she says, explaining that you need to have a "short-term goal in order to get there, like, 'I'm gonna need to start walking every day.' Understand that walking and running at the same thing, it's a different pace. I use that mantra for all of my coaching forward as a pace of as long as you're moving forward, you're still getting towards your goal it doesn't matter how fast you're moving, you're moving.”
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Becs GentryCredit: Courtesy of HOKA
People often forget, Gentry says, that there is a process involved with getting faster and doing as many races and they can.
“You can do it, you have to find your route. More often than not, your route is gonna involve some walking and that's super cool because you're gonna take it steady. I hope that most people's goal for starting running is that it's something to do with longevity. That they want to be healthy for as long as possible and be present on this planet for as long as possible,” the running coach shares. “Take as long as possible as you can to get to that goal healthily, because then you'll keep going at it. If you rush anything, it's not gonna be your best output.”
The longtime runner shares that her personal favorite thing about running is “the release it gives me.”
“Having gone through so many different chapters of my life with running as my best friend by my side, it has given me the chance to switch my mind off from stress. It's given me the opportunity to get completely lost in a podcast or reminisce over some nineties playlist," Gentry says. "It's like the Rolodex is in a complete mess when I start a run some days and I go through it and it's perfectly alphabetized and looking pristine by the time I get back.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
