I’ve heard this story many times. The quote to the left, however, is from a specific conference I attended in Minnesota that was led by a very prestigious doctor. Now, at first you may read this and get offended. Especially if you are an endurance athlete. Also, if you fact check and dig hard enough on the internet you will find that Pheidippides, the man in this story, actually had run a ton of miles before the final 26.2 miles and was also in the middle of war, but I digress. Whether or not I got offended is a little besides the point because what he was saying about marathons being insane is true and that goes for all endurance sports.

Endurance sports are intense. They deserve that title. The doctor leading the conference went on to talk about how with the correct programming and training, you can adequately prepare for your races and have a much better outcome than Pheidippides did. Especially with all the research and tools we have today. But again, I’ve never been one to sell short the intensity and dedication required for endurance sports and that’s because I believe that they deserve intensity and dedication to ensure your body, mind and spirit are adequately prepared to tackle whatever it is you signed up for.

My philosophy is simple. It starts with diving into the why behind your intentions. I think it's impossible for me to be the best coach I can be If I do not connect and understand why my athletes are embarking on their endurance journeys.

From there, I take a full-picture approach to someone based on their recovery tactics, the way they move, and their nutrition. Endurance sports, although rewarding, are also extremely demanding. We all need to be thinking about sleep, hydration, nutrition, the ways in which we move (push, pull, twist, bend, lunge, squat, gait), etc before we worry too much about the total volume or the intensity in which we work at it. After all the above are at a position in which we are both happy, we can start focusing more on the endurance sport itself and building more specifically towards your goals.

I’ve heard this story many times. The quote above, however, is from a specific conference I attended in Minnesota that was led by a very prestigious doctor. Now, at first you may read this and get offended. Especially if you are an endurance athlete. Also, if you fact check and dig hard enough on the internet you will find that Pheidippides, the man in this story, actually had run a ton of miles before the final 26.2 miles and was also in the middle of war, but I digress. Whether or not I got offended is a little besides the point because what he was saying about marathons being insane is true and that goes for all endurance sports.

Endurance sports are intense. They deserve that title. The doctor leading the conference went on to talk about how with the correct programming and training, you can adequately prepare for your races and have a much better outcome than Pheidippides did. Especially with all the research and tools we have today. But again, I’ve never been one to sell short the intensity and dedication required for endurance sports and that’s because I believe that they deserve intensity and dedication to ensure your body, mind and spirit are adequately prepared to tackle whatever it is you signed up for.

My philosophy is simple. It starts with diving into the why behind your intentions. I think it's impossible for me to be the best coach I can be If I do not connect and understand why my athletes are embarking on their endurance journeys.

From there, I take a full-picture approach to someone based on their recovery tactics, the way they move, and their nutrition. Endurance sports, although rewarding, are also extremely demanding. We all need to be thinking about sleep, hydration, nutrition, the ways in which we move (push, pull, twist, bend, lunge, squat, gait), etc before we worry too much about the total volume or the intensity in which we work at it. After all the above are at a position in which we are both happy, we can start focusing more on the endurance sport itself and building more specifically towards your goals.