What’s your coaching philosophy?

Our philosophy in coaching is rooted in the same fundamentals we use to guide our own training. Exercise and training is simply targeted and intentional stress on the body. By understanding the causes and effects of different types of training stresses, we can work around your schedule to put the right ‘stress’ in the right place at the right time to make sure it has the optimal effect. This process also allows us to weigh your training stress against general life stress and figure out how to make that balance be as optimized as possible for maximum effectiveness.  

What are your qualifications as coaches?

We have been lucky to get to spend basically our whole life immersed in endurance sport, and many years at the professional/Olympic level. Because of this we have been able to benefit from years of training knowledge from coaches and other performance experts whose use the latest scientific literature as well as wisdom from years of working with athletes to help guide training and understand it in an effective way. Even more importantly though, by being able to spend so much time dedicated to training and sport, we have been able to use our own experience to create a mental framework for training and racing that makes sense to us and is informed by science, but also by personal experience and feelings. This has given us a very holistic view of training which we are able to use to guide training decisions on a day to day basis, with the big picture in mind. This is especially helpful for adjusting training for maximum effectiveness around other life commitments and stresses we have. 

Is this only for skiers? What if I’m not a skier and want to train for a running race or a biking race or don’t even want to train for any race at all?

While it’s true that our background is primarily in cross country skiing, the fundamentals that underlie intelligent, smart training in any endurance sport are very similar across the board. The specific mode of training (whether it’s run, bike, ski, or whatever) will obviously impact the actual workouts you are completing, but the methodology behind the design of the plan will be informed by the same principles. If we ever meet with someone who we think has goals too far out of our wheelhouse, we will say that right away. These aren’t cookie cutter plans. Running one hour easy, biking one hour easy, and skiing one hour easy are all different loads on the body. We will make sure that our plans reflect these differences and are tailored for whatever goals you have. We stay up to date on training trends/practices across endurance sports to see if there is anything we can integrate into our own training which gives us a well rounded view of general training ideology across endurance sports, which we can use to help you.

I’m not a high level athlete and don’t have any experience being coached, is that alright?

Absolutely!! Many of the same principles of ‘smart training’ are more or less true whether you are exercising 2 hours a week or 30. Consistent and personalized training built around your specific goals is possible no matter the level you are at. If you want to be able to run your first ever 5k, or you are hoping to maximize your performance in a competitive endurance event, we will use the same SIMPLE and reliable strategies to build your plan so that you like it and especially so that it works.

I have a race in a few months and just want a plan to get ready for that race, and that’s it. Is that ok?

Definitely! All of our plans are month to month. This is just in case you only need a couple months of coaching to get ready for something, but also is good because it keeps us on the hook to keep on providing you with a good service month after month. We will never make you pay for more than one month at a time. 

How much does this cost, and what am I paying for?

We charge two different prices depending on the level of communication you are interested in. No matter what, you are getting a personalized plan which is built around your life, your goals, and your needs. If you’re only looking for communication/check-ins once or twice a week, we charge $180 a month. If you want an extra level of communication with more daily check-ins, then we charge $220 a month. See Services for more details. Either way you will receive input and communication from all three of us as we look to give you the best plan to reach your goals. We thought about having different ‘level’ plans, but we want everyone to be getting our best effort regardless of the ‘level’ they are at. We also considered that someone may come in with no specific goals and think that they don’t want a lot of coaching, but then find they really like it and want to take it to another level. We don’t want to have to make you pay more for that so that we can have a fluid dynamic where we are able to give you as much or as little as you want. Again, we will never make you pay for more than one month at a time.