A lifelong athlete, Ann grew up swimming and running in Pittsburgh, PA, and ran track and cross country for the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Ann led the women's team in their pre-run stretching routine and became the "go-to" person for her teammates' questions about yoga to benefit their running. After graduating in 2007, Ann became a 200 hr. RYT to earn her yoga teaching certification immediately before starting her Ph.D. in English here at the University of Virginia. While in her graduate program at UVa, Ann taught nearly 600 yoga classes and went on to found Runners Love Yoga, the tagline of which is "Do Yoga Run Faster." Through Runners Love Yoga, Ann enjoys designing running and yoga apparel, but loves most of all to teach others how to use the combination of yoga and running to have happier, healthier lives. She is especially excited about adding new content on a regular basis to Runners Love Yoga TV to help runners everywhere live their best running lives! She firmly believes in the ability of yoga to keep runners mobile and efficient, and to make them faster and stronger.
Ann has never stopped running since her Notre Dame days: the sport is too much a part of her life and makes her happy, so throughout the past decade, she has continued to train in her unique method of running and cross-training, and to rather prolifically race (typically 30-40 races per year in distances from the mile to marathon). A lifetime goal of hers has been to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon. In 2017, she won the Kiawah Island Marathon in a 2:52, or only 7 minutes off the Olympic Trials qualifying standard of a 2:45:00. Over the past couple years, she has run the 2018 Grandma's Marathon in a 2:49, CIM (California International Marathon) 2018 in 2:48:31, and another 2:50 marathon at Grandma's earlier in 2019. This December, at what would be her last reasonable attempt at a sub-2:45 before the qualifying window closed, Ann ran CIM in 2:44:45 to meet her goal and qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon. Ann evenly split her race, going out in the first half in 1:22:24, and running all miles on the hilly California course between 6:08-6:21 pace.
Ann typically teaches a dozen yoga and fitness classes in person each week at the University of Virginia and elsewhere around Charlottesville. Using her skills developed during her time both within her Ph.D. and academia as well as her athletic career, Ann is excited to teach you the yoga you need to be happy, injury-free, and faster! Ann's teaching includes a balance of vinyasa and yin, along with a focus on the language and cues you need to get the most from every pose.