Q. For the monthly coaching, do I need to commit to a certain amount of time?
No, the coaching is month to month. However, endurance fitness spans years. The more consistent you are with structured and purposeful training over time, the more gains you will see to your running. Consistency is always KING. I recommend committing (to yourself) at least 6 months to prepare for a single goal race.
Q. What if I get injured?
If you have an injury pop up that makes it so you cannot run, you have two options:
We figure out what you can do without pain or further exacerbation of your injury and I assign your cross training in Training Peaks. Depending on the injury this can be in conjunction with your physical therapist or Doctor.
We pause your coaching until you have recovered.
If deciding to pause, that pause on payment would start the following month.
Q. How do payments work?
I use Venmo business to invoice athletes monthly or bi-monthly.
Q. What type of summit objectives do you train athletes for?
For summit objectives, my main goal is to get you aerobically fit and prepared for the amount of climbing/descending that the route requires, and comfortable training with and carrying the gear that will be required. I will not be providing technical climbing or mountaineering advice. I will happily schedule in days that would be good climbing days (if that is needed) into your training schedule.
Q. I like to cross-train, can you work that into my training?
Absolutely! We can work together to fit any cross training you would like to include in your training into your schedule.
I may suggest that we set your Heart Rate zones for these activities with a field test. But there are a few caveats to that and will be addressed on a person by person basis.
Q.Do you prescribe strength training?
Yes, but to a very basic degree. I am not a certified strength and conditioning coach, though my training does include some strength training for ultra runners & I am able to prescribe strength training under my certification. Any strength I give, will be working with the athlete to help determine where they feel as though they are strength limited or what type of strength they need to improve upon for their running. I will not be including form pdfs of analyzing form via video. Strength will include - a variation of runner focused band work, bodyweight strength that can be done at home or with minimal equipment and in some cases if the athlete has access - strength with weights.
If you want to include your own strength programming into your training, I will schedule in the best days to do so because there are things to consider when scheduling strength into your running week.
Q. How extensive is the guidance you give on nutrition?
I am an UESCA certified Endurance Sports Nutrition Coach. As of now - I am not focusing on helping athletes with daily nutrition to an extensive degree. I regularly have conversations with athletes about what they are eating prior to exercise and post exercise and give tips there, so that they can get the most out of their workouts and recovery. But I mainly focus on fueling/hydration guidance while running. This is my area of expertise.
Q. How do you structure your athletes' training week?
I do not have a set template for my athletes. Each athlete has a different schedule and a different amount of time that they can commit to training each week. Some of my athletes run 4 days per week, others run 6 days and have one off day and some do some kind of movement everyday. Rest is important, it’s where the training adaptation takes place, but everyone's life and stress cup fills up at a different rate. If consistency is always king, I like to figure out what schedule is going to be the most sustainable for my athletes over time and one that will allow for optimal adaptation to the hard work they are putting in.
If you have a question that was not answered above, please shoot me an email at high.desert.endurance@gmail.com and I'll get back to you within 24 hours.