• UESCA Running Coach

• Running (marathon or shorter)

• Beginner
• Intermediate

• Injury Prevention
• Form Analysis

0-1 year

As a young teen in 1973, my family took me to a bike race (Nevada City Classic) and I was immediately hooked. I began serious training the next year which included running high school cross country during the off season. A lot has happened in the past 50+ years, but one thing that has remained is running and riding. I have stopped riding outdoors for safety reasons (yes, cycling can be a high impact sport!) but I still ride indoors to supplement my running. My favorites are long group runs and pleasantly painful 5k races.

Post World War II, several diverse training systems were developed ranging from the pure endurance approach of German coach Ernst van Aaken to the twice-a-day intervals of Hungarian coach Mihaly Igloi. Both coaches produced Olympic athletes. Can a talented athlete become a champion on any training system or must they be suited for the training system they find themselves in? These days, it’s acknowledged that an athlete may be genetically predisposed to be a sprinter, a long-distance runner, or somewhere in between. This fact may be disappointing for someone whose body is at one end of the continuum while their heart is at the other, but it turns out most of use are in the “somewhere in between” category. My philosophy is that we progress best knowing where we are on that continuum and using methods best suited to our individual makeup. Additionally, those methods should be enjoyable.