Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonya Schement.
Hi Sonya, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have wanted to be a track coach since I was in high school. I remember watching a friend of mine high jump at my last high school track meet ever and out of nowhere I said out loud, “I want to be on the track for the rest of my life.”
That summer I went to coach for a local track club in Plano called the PSA Plano Cheetahs. Where I met my first mentor. Coach Bev. She was awesome. She was so passionate about the kids and the sport. We took kids to track meets all over the country! That summer, I knew that I wanted to build something like this one day.
I ran track in college at Emporia State University in Kansas and after two years there, I transferred to Rutgers University in New Jersey where I ran for another two years. When I transferred, I left behind my boyfriend (now husband) so after school, I moved back to Kansas to be with him.
While there, I got my personal trainer certification from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas and began working as the Pole Vault Coach for Great Bend High School and I was the Strength Coordinator/Sprints Coach for Dodge City Community College. It was a dream! I spent my days writing the strength program for the entire track team, coaching events that I loved and working with student athletes who I still connect with today.
But something wasn’t right. Kansas was not the place for me. So I decided to move to Austin, Tx!
I moved to Austin by myself; again leaving my husband behind in Kansas so he could transition out of his job. I hit the road with $100 in my bank account, a Buick from the 80’s on its last leg, a cousin’s couch to sleep on while I found an apartment for us and a crazy dream to make it as a bonafide track coach in Austin.
Things were really tough in the beginning. My husband was driving for Favor (the Buick hadn’t died just yet) and working at a restaurant while I was riding my bike to a gym in town at 4:30a 3 times a week to work the front desk. I also lead bootcamp classes with a local Austin fitness company. Because of my love for the company, I ended up working for them for nearly five years. Everything was finally getting easier and comfortable.
Cue Covid. Like most of us, the pandemic rocked me. But it’s almost like the pandemic shook me awake! What was I doing here? Where had my dreams gone? I was leading virtual workout classes that had nothing to do with my passions. It’s funny how easy it is to lose sight of yourself when things get comfortable and easy. Well, easier.
So I quit. I left an established personal training business that I had spent five years building from scratch while rubbing pennies together. It sounds scary, but it was the easiest decision I’ve made in a long time.
Now I want to be clear, I didn’t just quit without at least an idea. I had spent about four months before the pandemic hit building a website and app and trying to figure out what to do with it before I left.
Before I quit (in the middle of the pandemic), I launched my own virtual training program with my own app. The program is called Delta Performance. My mission with the program is to give runners everything they need to run farther, faster and stay injury-free. I saw that a lot of running programs stopped right there. With the running. They didn’t give runners strength work, they didn’t give runners coaching and they didn’t give runners recovery work. There is so much more that goes into running than just going out and running.
Fast forward to today and Delta Performance is coming up on its two years anniversary! Team Delta (as I call my athletes) spreads across the US! There are athletes all over Texas, yes, but also Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, NYC, D.C. and the state of Washington!
The coolest part? We might not all know each other in person but we all talk weekly and have even flown to run with one another in races. I’m planning our first Delta Performance retreat for next year! I can’t wait to get the entire team together in one house for a weekend full of running and connecting.
The pandemic has been hard. Really hard. But everyday I got up and told myself the same thing in the mirror. I’d say, “You are either going to look back on this time and say ‘what have I even accomplished?’ or say ‘look at everything I have accomplished!’” I’m glad I’m saying the latter.
Now that Delta Performance is more established and things are getting back to normal, I am finally getting back to my track roots!
This summer, I’m partnering with a gym in town, HIT Athletic, to launch a track club for middle and high school athletes. The owner of the gym, Eddie Esparza, well we go way back! He gave me my first job in Austin working at the front desk of the gym he was the manager of. We still joke about how I used to ride my bike at all hours of the day and night to get to work.
I live my life with a hustle hard mentality. If you hustle hard for the things you want out of this life, you cannot lose. I’ve been in Austin for six years now, I can’t wait to see where the next 6 take me!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to success is never smooth. Losing my Dad was really hard. It was probably the hardest thing I had to go through during all of this.
My dad passed away in 2017 from sudden cardiac arrest. He was a big motivator in my life. We didn’t always see eye to eye but it’s because I’m so much like him. He had started his own residential construction company while supporting a wife and four kids. He was the hardest working person I’ve ever known and I owe so much of my drive and mental toughness to him.
I used to call him when I was feeling low or feeling like everything was too hard. When the self-deprecating thoughts would creep into my head. I didn’t always want to hear what he had to say but that’s because he wasn’t the type to sugarcoat things that you needed to hear. I’d always hang up feeling inspired to keep at it.
Now, instead of having him tell me, I have to speak the words he’s always said to me. You can do anything you put your mind to. Figure it out. Schements don’t quit.
As you know, we’re big fans of So Fast Sonya, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a running performance coach. I train athletes of all ages to reach their running goals. Whether that’s to run their first half marathon or just get rid of shin splints.
I train most of my athletes through my Delta Performance program, but I also have personal athletes who meet me once twice or three times a week in my garage gym or at the track. I train track athletes, distance athletes and football athletes alike. Anyone who is a running-based athlete!
For most of my football athletes, we’re working on sprint mechanics and improving their 40 times. My track athletes are all over the place, I’ve got 800m runners, long jumpers, sprinters and some cross country athletes.
Team Delta, they’re a different category entirely. Everyone in the program has different goals. Some are just trying to lose weight (running is the best way to do that), others are using the program to train for fitness competitions but most are looking to make (or keep) running a regular part of their life and want to do it effectively with minimal injury.
I also recently launched a podcast called Run Like An Athlete. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. It started out as a way for me to get my Delta athletes to learn more about one another and has turned into a bi-weekly show where I interview the everyday athlete. I don’t interview pro athletes. I want to hear from the normal people who find joy in running and competing and make it work with their everyday lives. I think the most fascinating people are the ones who seem, on the surface, average. We can all connect with that!
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Hmmm… I need another running coach to help me expand Delta Performance. HA!
But on a serious note, I love teaching people that running doesn’t have to be painful. So many people see running as this extremely painful thing that they hate doing. I get asked all the time, “How do I not hate running?”
My response is always the same, “Do it right and you won’t hate it.”
I have on several occasions put on community 5k’s and Running Clinics where we go over proper warm ups, strength training and why they’re important. I want to show people that running doesn’t have to hurt. Running is one of the most primal and natural things we as humans do!
I’ve been dying to organize another community 5k fun run for charity. It feels so good to give back. So if anyone out there reading this wants to collaborate let your girl know!
I’m also always looking for people to interview on my podcast! So if you are an everyday athlete hit me up!
Contact Info:
- Email: Hello@sofastsonya.com
- Website: www.SoFastSonya.com
- Instagram: SoFast_Sonya
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonya.schement/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuDekHLZSRYj8FYutxwzT0Q
- Other: https://anchor.fm/sonya-schement
Image Credits
Amanda Kae Photography
