Lo and behold a heck of a lot happened since I last posted. I now have a baby girl (the main reason for such a long time between posts), I have gone through my umpteenth achilles problem (not bad as I was getting really fit.... but I wasn't going to run through it, although thankfully I hooked up with a great physio out here in Langley who has really helped me with my reoccurring hip issues which were adding to my achilles 'whip'), the kids I've coached at HS have begun to finally make an impact and last but not least I have now entered the phase of focusing on actually coaching, as opposed to more mentoring.
I recently accepted a position as the endurance coordinator at Trinity Western University (a short run near my house thankfully). Coaching at a more serious level has been something I've been himming and hawing about for while (if it was up to Julie I would have done it a long ago as she has been my biggest supporter in that regards), and it pretty much fell into my lap.
An old friend (I realized in going through this process I've know him for almost 25 years)was recently hired as the head coach after coming back early from his position as the Scottish National team coach asked me to come on board. I had originally gotten hold of Laurier to give him some names of some kids who I thought would be a good fit for his program and to offer him any support to assist him when he asked me if I wanted to take the coaching gig on part time. As I told Laurier, " You really threw me for a loop", as it wasn't something I had even expected.
After some conversations with my wife and some more with Laurier I decided I would give it a try. It certainly is a new direction for me in that I am now willing to give up some of my own running (I will try to still training , but no more 100 mile weeks for me....not that I had been putting in many recently) to see if I can make a difference for some others. Hopefully, we'll be able to provide some new ideas and options for young runners.
I recently accepted a position as the endurance coordinator at Trinity Western University (a short run near my house thankfully). Coaching at a more serious level has been something I've been himming and hawing about for while (if it was up to Julie I would have done it a long ago as she has been my biggest supporter in that regards), and it pretty much fell into my lap.
An old friend (I realized in going through this process I've know him for almost 25 years)was recently hired as the head coach after coming back early from his position as the Scottish National team coach asked me to come on board. I had originally gotten hold of Laurier to give him some names of some kids who I thought would be a good fit for his program and to offer him any support to assist him when he asked me if I wanted to take the coaching gig on part time. As I told Laurier, " You really threw me for a loop", as it wasn't something I had even expected.
After some conversations with my wife and some more with Laurier I decided I would give it a try. It certainly is a new direction for me in that I am now willing to give up some of my own running (I will try to still training , but no more 100 mile weeks for me....not that I had been putting in many recently) to see if I can make a difference for some others. Hopefully, we'll be able to provide some new ideas and options for young runners.
1 comment:
hey dude, that's awesome mark. a body can only take so many years of abuse, but the mind is so much stronger. you will always be a canadian legend, start teaching the next (or next next?) generation how its done. good luck bro.
pk
Post a Comment