Michelle Poirot is no stranger to exercise and running. She’s coached local running groups for a dozen years and is certified by the Road Runners Club of America. But aging and some health challenges led her to refocus her mission. About six years ago, she started Ceiling: Unlimited, a health and running coaching business, specifically for mid-life women.
“Having women-only spaces is valuable from a comfort perspective,” Poirot told the Source. “Women want to share their stories and a lot of their stories are about, especially in life, about what’s going on with our bodies. Because, holy cow, things really change around midlife. Perimenopause kicks a lot of butts… Our need for and use of fitness really changes.”
Poirot says younger women generally experience fitness differently than middle aged women. They may be more competitive, run faster, track mileage, but in midlife, she encourages women to deliberately train for the sake of happiness.
“I’m really aware of the impact of workouts on my happiness and my energy level and that’s really the purpose of my workouts. I want to create spaces where women can focus on that as opposed to a really quantifiable goal.”
Through Ceiling: Unlimited, Poirot offers various group exercises. During bitter winter months or a sweltering summer, she focuses more on health maintenance with workouts involving walking, bowling or a pool. In the fall and spring, she offers running groups. Her next class is called Learn to Run Bend, starting in March, with the goal of training for the Happy Girls 5K on May 9. The 9-week class is for beginners who have never run or haven’t run in a long time.
Mariam Hameed joined Learn to Run Bend in 2024 shortly after moving to the area. She felt isolated and needed motivation to get back into exercise.
“I was never someone who was considered athletic. I definitely always saw people running and wanted to be a runner, but I really didn’t know how to enter that space in a way that could ensure I was successful,” she says.
Poirot eases women into running with short intervals.
“The first workout, I remember this very, very specifically,” Hameed says, “is walking for one minute and running for one minute or jogging with someone at a conversational pace. And I think we did that eight or so times.” Each meeting, the mileage is increased until, eventually, the group is ready for the 5K.
“I finished it in 29 minutes,” Hameed says. “Before I had even started this group, I could not even run for a minute straight.” She was so inspired, she ran the Bend half-marathon in 2025.
When Poirot is coaching a group of women at different running levels, she brings in mentors to assist. “We’re spread throughout the pack, so that somebody can be with the folks who are running a 12-minute mile in front and somebody can be with the folks who are running an 18-minute mile in back, so everybody gets a lot of personal attention.”
The cost varies, depending on the activity. Running sessions are generally $30. The 9-week Learn to Run course is $300. Poirot says the groups also have a social component of going out for coffee or dinner, depending on the time of day.
“I’ve been in other training groups where there wasn’t this kind of deliberate encouragement of coffee and they don’t form community as well. I learned that many, many years ago, when I was coaching with FootZone, that if I got coffee with a group that it became like the social glue and those groups are way more successful because people got to know each other and were excited to see each other and they know that people were expecting to see them at workouts. So, it turns out that coffee is a pretty key component to consistency and motivation.”
For Hameed, the group of women she met became friends, continuing to meet on a regular basis, even traveling to Guatemala together.
Poirot says Ceiling: Unlimited is built on three principals. First, joyful movement, meaning that the activity should be fun. Second, health at every size, meaning there is no weight goal.
“I am very anti-diet and very body positive,” she says. “I think there’s no reason why we have to shrink ourselves to be strong.”
And the third principal is that all movement counts, it’s not just about running.
“I think the way that we move forward as midlife women is really recognizing, what do we want our health for? Why are we doing these fitness activities? And you know, how can we alter those activities on a seasonal or daily basis to ensure that we’re energized and happy right at the end of that workout? Not like a week later, when we’re proud of ourselves for doing five workouts in a week, but like, literally, right in that moment, as I take my last step on my run, I want to be energized and happy, because if I feel that way on a Wednesday, I’m going to be motivated to do it again on a Thursday, and that way we can get through the winter,” Poirot adds.
“One of the things that has been really rewarding,” Hameed says, “is thinking about how does this make my body feel right now?… And taking that pressure away from you have to be fast the whole time. This has to feel good the whole time, really is the reason why I think I have kept running.”
Learn to Run Bend
March 14-May 9
Ceiling: Unlimited
ceilingunlimitedhealthcoaching.com/learntorunbend
$300
$10 Discount code: SOURCE25 through Jan. 15
This article appears in the Source January 8, 2026.
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