Pace Setter : April 2022

Mat Nark: Coach Interview Questionnaire

What is your background/qualifications that led you to coaching? I was an avid runner through high school, college, and on the roads up until a few years ago with 25+ years of running experience. Competing at almost all distances from the 100m to the marathon. In my first semester of junior college our cross country coach quit and my first opportunity to guide runners was born. From there I ran and coached simultaneously throughout my college experience. 2. Years of experience coaching? Years of experience running? McMillan Certified Run Coach, FMS 1-2, Original Strength, Over 20,000 hours of strength coaching experience and 500+ current and past run coaching clients. With athletes ranging from multiple Olympic Trials qualifiers to five hour marathoners, we coach all ability levels.  Six years of college coaching experience, followed by another thirteen or so guiding runners of all ages on the road racing circuit. 3. Do you have a personal coach, why or why not? Over the years I've had multiple coaches. but do not have one these days as I haven't raced in years. 4. What distances do you specialize in/PRs in those distances? In my early years I ran cross country and focused on mid-distance events in track. As I got older I worked my way up to the marathon.  Personal Bests:  200m - 22.3  400m - 51.6  800m - 1:59  5k roads - 17:40  15k - 57:50  HM - 1:21:38  Marathon - 2:56 5. Do you program unique schedules for each athlete, or have pre-written programs for specific distances/time goals? How do you program around your athlete’s      schedules? All of our athletes are programmed individually based on their seasonal goals and upcoming races. It’s critical that runners have a program that compliments their lifestyles. Thus athletes have the ability to request scheduling modifications as needed within our software system. 6. Do you specialize in coaching specific distances and or surfaces, i.e. road or trail?

I cover all of them. Do you prescribe cross-training as a part of your training schedule? We focus on runners who are trying to run their fastest possible times while balancing the demands of life. In most cases it's about our folks trying to beat their personal bests, while in others it's a very specific time goal like the Olympic Marathon Trials standard.  NRS is a one stop shop experience for all runners with nutrition services, strength, run coaching, and our network of clinical professionals to keep runners healthy and consistently training on the roads. Our primary training group is here in the Capital District but we have a global reach and coach runners all across the US and internationally. 8. Do your athletes have the ability to contact you as needed? Or are check-ins planned on a weekly/monthly basis? At NRS, coaching is not a hobby for me. Delivering strength and run coaching services to our athletes is my full-time job. I live, eat, sleep, and breathe running and racing. My phone is always on and we're dedicated to giving our runners everything that they need to be successful and consistently shooting for their new personal bests.  Communication is never limited and the needs of our athletes is a top priority. What is your first step when an athlete comes to you with a pain/niggle/ or injury? If an athlete is experiencing some sort of injury it's our top priority to obtain the proper diagnosis and establish a treatment plan to get them back to training in as timely of a manner possible. 10. Do you offer free consultations to your prospective clients? Prospective clients can set up a free consultation on our website to see if they are a fit for our program.  Our training programs are delivered via Final Surge with amazing support from our private Facebook network.  Our group/team is far less about me and more about the athletes that we work with. Our training group is a team of individuals that all work together towards common goals. We train together regularly and are part of each other's lives on a daily basis. We work in the trenches as a group and push each other day after day. Regular team practices every week and long runs each weekend are the keys to our success and our team continuity. There is strength in numbers and having training partners that you can count on is probably the single most important component to your success as a runner.  Training is definitely easier with a little help from your friends.  What is the address of your coaching website? Narkrunningstrength.com

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