Frequently Asked Questions
Is this program right for me?
Your pace and race time are irrelevant when it comes to our coaching programs. However, our coaching is not for everyone. We believe we deliver the best service around, but we also expect a lot from you, the athlete. Our coaching programs require that you are committed to the process, are willing to work hard, have an open mind, and have the capacity in your life to dedicate quality time and focus to your training. If you have these qualities, then we believe you’ll be a great fit for our program!
As a team of coaches, we’ll help you navigate your training schedule around your life, but you need to assess if you have time to commit to the training that match your goals. If you are unsure, you can discuss this during your free initial consultation with your coach before you commit to anything We know there will be bumps along the way (no training block or life schedule is perfect) and that’s why we as coaches are here, to support you through those moments.
Is there a minimum commitment?
For 1:1 athletes we have a 4-month minimum commitment. Many of our athletes stay with us for years (we still have athletes that started with us in 2020). It’s difficult to make meaningful progress in a short time span and it’s our hope that you find our coaching valuable so that we can continue working towards your long-term goals. From our experience, it takes time to understand you as an athlete and what you truly need to support you as well as to build a solid athlete-coach relationship to maximize your coaching experience. Knowing who you are, what your strengths and limitations are, areas for growth, how your body responds to training, and how you can best be supported is the foundation of what has made our coaching so successful for so many athletes. You can cancel at any time with 2 week’s written notice if the experience isn’t working out for you, but we will not initially accept athletes looking for less than 4months minimum commitment.
Do you coach by heart rate?
To get the most from your coaching experience, we strongly recommend that athletes use either a chest or armband based heart rate monitor. This data is much more reliable and consistently accurate than measurements taken from a wrist watch. If you are using a chest strap or armband heart rate monitor, we will use this data (combined with other data points such as, pace, perceived effort etc.) to analyze and guide your training.
For clarity, we do not coach BY heart rate, but we do like to coach WITH heart Rate. This means that it’s very rare we’ll ask you to perform a run at “X” beats per minute, but we will use that heart rate data post run too assess if it matches up with the other data points and what that might mean for our training and goals.
If you are relying on your watch optical heart rate sensor, that’s fine, but your coach will not be using that data as part of their analysis (reliability and accuracy is important to us).
Do you coach by power?
While we do not currently offer any “power specific” coaching plans or coaching, However, Coach Mike personally trains WITH power using a Stryd power foot pod and works with some athletes that use a Stryd foot pod. If you have a Stryd foot pod, and are interested in being coached by Coach Mike using power, reach out and he’ll be happy to discuss this in more detail.
How will my plan be delivered?
An athlete’s plan will be uploaded to Final Surge (our training platform host). You will be able to see your training runs in a calendar view here.
Will my workouts be synced to my watch?
We rarely include pre-structured workouts that sync to your watch. We get that this can be a convenient feature for some and this feature is used in other training programs, however, our experience tells us that what you gain in convenience you lose in personalization and quality. Although we have a global plan of where we want to go with your training and what workouts we should do week-to-week, with our workouts and coaching, we are constantly making tweaks and adjustments to your training based on what is happening week-to-week. This can be completely shifting a workout, adjusting the splits, pace, number of reps or sets, adding or taking away elements of a workout etc. This is what great coaching is about and with pre-structured workouts, you lose this.
Additionally, we see many athletes over rely on their watch with pre-structured workouts rather than utilizing the important skill of listening to our bodies during exercise. If the workout is pre-programmed, we are less likely to deviate from that pre-programming even though the conditions and/or our body are telling us we need to adjust in that moment. We are here as coaches to guide you through that process so that you can achieve the purpose of that workout to help you progress.
Put simply, we’ve seen great progress and results in athletes who rely less on their watch and instead listen to their bodies and have access to a more fluid training plan with quality coaching. We believe this is why our athletes have been able to achieve the success they have and something we pride ourselves on compared to other coaching businesses. It takes more work to constantly monitor, recognize when a change may be needed, and make the necessary changes in the right way, but that’s what we believe is part of a great coaching experience and why you choose us to be your coach.
How will my workouts be uploaded after completing them?
Your workouts will need to be recorded on your watch (preferred) or your phone and these will automatically sync and upload to Final Surge. Your Coach is then able to see any workouts you have completed along with all the data points.
How far in advance will I be able to see my plan?
All athletes can usually see the next 5-10days of their plan in Final Surge. Although you may only be able to access the next 5-10days of your training, your coach has mapped out a general outline of your training over the next few days, weeks, months, or even the year, depending on your goals. In coaching terms, your coach plans out your micro-cycles, meso-cycles and macro-cycles starting with the micro-cycles, which includes very specific details, to the macro-cycle which is more of a general outline at this point. The athlete only sees the next 5-10days because your coach is tweaking and adjusting your training as you go. You can ask your coach for a broader outline of your training in needed as we know this can be helpful when planning out trips or coordinating life/work events.
Personalized Training Plan athletes will be able to see the following 6 weeks of their plan. The athlete can provide brief feedback at each 6 week mark that the coach can use to slightly tweak the following 6 weeks of training (such as adding in a race(s), slightly adjusting overall volume, shifting typical workout day to a different day for the remainder of the plan etc.). Your coach is not analyzing or assessing your training so any changes are based off your own feedback.
How are Payments made?
1:1 athletes will be billed every 4 weeks. You will receive an invoice 2 weeks before your expiration date and payments can be made online via bank transfer or check.
Personalized Training Plan athletes will pay for their whole training block in advance. Athletes will receive an invoice for payment and once payment has been made, your coach will begin designing your training plan.
Will I be able to run with other people from the team?
We host a social group run every Tuesday at 6:30pm from OpenTap Run Club (Carmel Rd) which is open to the public. We also frequently have track/road loops/hill meet ups in the morning depending on the time of year which you can also attend. Team members also informally organize group runs throughout the week, including longer runs on the weekend which you can be part of too. We can’t always guarantee there will be a run available at your desired time or people of the same pace, but we do have lots of options with team members of varying paces, so usually there is something for everyone if you have some flexibility with your schedule. You can also bring a friend to any of our groups run for free too.