I love coaching! There are few sweeter times in life than seeing the look on someone's face when they realize (and show the world) the potential that you know as their coach has been waiting inside for the right moment to appear.
I had worked with small groups and indivduals coaching back in England. Moving to Colorado, and starting life here in Boulder, presented me with many opportunities that I greeted with open arms! We had rented an apartment in Boulder using Craig's List - from 4,000 miles away we picked what we felt (in an intiutive sense) was the right place to be - location, cost and how it looked in pics. Around a week after we moved in I met another runner in the car park - we got chatting and it turned out he was the manager at Fleet Feet Sports Boulder. He said that I had to meet his flatmate, who just happened to be English as well and the Training Director for the Bolder Boulder Training Club. What are the chances of that happening? Picking an apartment next door to those 2 guys - make a decision and providence moves!
I met up with Ewen North soon after and we've never stopped talking since! I now coach for Bold Running - they have a year round program based on specific goal races. The current Spring program is geared towards the BolderBoulder, taking place on May 26th, one of the USA's largest road races with 50,000+ runners and walkers. The Estes Park Marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K and KIDS FUN RUN! are also on the program - races take place on June 14 &15.
I coach a grouop aiming to run the BolderBoulder 10K in less than 60 minutes. The group is pictured on the CU cross country course in Boulder after a training run. Every individual in the group brings their own strengths and qualities - they rock! It's like having 10 coaches as we all help each other along. I'm more like a facilitator than a coach sometimes! The program works very well and we've had some incedible improvements in running performance. Carrie (4th from the right in the picture above) is a great example - she has improved her 5K time by 15 minutes in a little over a year!
Check out more on Bold Running and the BolderBoulder at http://www.bolderboulder.com/Start_Training/runwholeway_schedule/trainingcluboverview.htm
Estesa Park Marathon at http://www.epmarathon.org/