Antonio Sierra – Harrisburg Running Coach

5.00 out of 5
(6 customer reviews)

From: $105.00 / month and a $19.00 sign-up fee

50% off your first month! Coach and Podiatrist specializing in exercise physiology, gait analysis, and injury prevention. *Price flexible for HS/College Runners*

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Description

Harrisburg, PA running coach Antonio Sierra has raced competitively at every distance from 800m on the track to 100 miles on the trails/road, and he specializes in nutrition, injury prevention and treatment, and sports psychology. Reach out to Antonio below to get started!

*** 50% off First Month for month-to-month Coaching – Coupon Code: 50%offsierra ***

Contact Antonio

LEVELS: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
TYPES: Road, Track, Trail
DISTANCES: 5k/10k/Half Marathon, Marathon, Ultra
TRAINING PLATFORM: VDOT
TRAINING PLAN: Individual, customized training plan
COMMUNICATION: Unlimited email, unlimited phone, unlimited text
RESPONSE TIME: Within 24 hours
LOCATION: Harrisburg, PA
IN-PERSON SESSIONS: Yes, within 15 miles of Harrisburg, PA. Antonio is available to meet for training plan consultation, race preparation, workout guidance, or just to go on a run! Reach out to Antonio for more details.

SPECIALTIES

I specialize in training motivated and competitive athletes that are looking to take their running to the next level. I focus primarily on coaching distances from the mile through the marathon but have coached runners through the 100-mile distance as well. If you’re striving to earn a Boston Qualifier, frequently land on the podium, or even land an Olympic Qualifying time, I’m prepared to guide you through the training and help you accomplish your goals.

Connecting my profession as both a podiatrist and coach, I invest a lot of time in performing gait analysis through my clinical work and then promoting gait retraining through my coaching for athletes local to the Harrisburg area. If you are looking to improve your running form, I am happy to meet with runners locally for a session or set up a virtual meeting for those that are remote to discuss and demonstrate how to properly execute the different elements that go into a fluid running form.

I have a D.P.M. (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine) degree and am able to provide complementary professional medical advice as well as telemedicine services at no cost as one of my clients. If you are a runner that frequently accrues foot and ankle injuries and are looking for looking for help staying injury free and getting answers whenever an injury comes up, I’m equipped to help prepare your body and provide medical solutions to whatever is ailing you.

I specialize additionally in nutrition, injury prevention and treatment, and utilization of current research in exercise physiology. With a bachelor’s degree in biology and personal nerdy interest in the sciences I’m always reading and staying up to date on the current trends related to training and focused on separating facts from fiction.

I have a personal interest and passion in the field of sports psychology and believe that the mind is just as integral as the body to achieving our goals. Whether you’re just looking to run for your own mental health or achieve goals beyond your wildest dream, I’m prepared to help orient your mind to accomplish your goals.

Being that I am married with a child, and have a busy career, I fully understand the difficulties of training with a full list of commitments in your daily life. I will help you juggle the business of your life and provide methods to help you best fit your goals into your life.

I am committed to creating training plans for athletes throughout a single training cycle to all year round including the off-season. I am also available around the clock through text or phone to whatever questions one may have and will work in weekly zoom calls to check in with my clients and help provide any guidance and adjustments to the training plans that I can.

If you’re ready to get to work, I’m ready to help. Let’s get in contact today!

PHILOSOPHY

I understand the physical, emotional, and mental work that go into the daily pursuit of your goals, as well as the long road to reach them. I’m committed to supporting my athletes in every facet that I can and joining them on the journey to pursue their full potential.

COACHING EXPERIENCE

  • I have coached runners in the mile all the way through the 100-mile distance over the last 4 years both locally and remotely.
  • I’ve coached multiple Boston Qualifiers (references available if requested)
  • I’ve coached high school age boys locally for the last year working on gait retraining and speed development.

ABOUT ME

My name is Antonio Sierra, and I am a husband to my wife Gina and my 2-year-old son Kilian. I have trained, raced and coached competitively at every distance from 800m on the track to 100 miles on the trails/road. As a high schooler I set the mile record at my high school, and as a medical student I ran 2:49 as my debut marathon and ran a Boston Qualifier in my first 4 marathons.

I am currently a Podiatry Resident at UPMC Central PA (Harrisburg) and have a professional and personal interest in promoting injury prevention as well as evaluating and treating injuries throughout the lower extremities that my patients and/or athletes may present with. In my free time I love to run and train for races, go backpacking (I thru-hiked the PCT in 2017!), go on day hikes with my family, and read books.

BIG INFLUENCES

I am greatly influenced by the work of Steve Magness and his scientific, exercise physiology approach to training. With a degree in Biology and being a huge science nerd myself, I am driven to provide scientifically guided training advice that will help my athletes get the most out of their bodies.

I am also greatly influenced by the coaching methods of the great Renato Canova, as well as Brad Hudson (who has taken much from Canova). I firmly believe in Canova’s perspective on long-distance running being a matter of “extension” and am a huge advocate of incorporating and using shorter distance speed work to propel the athlete into significantly faster times in the longer distance races.

In implementing proper biomechanics and helping athletes with gait retraining, I’m a steward of many individuals but especially Frans Bosch, Tom Tellez, and Paul Mackinnon. I especially admire Paul’s “New way, Old Way” approach to help athletes develop greater self-awareness of the flaws in their current running form, and I also use many of his different cues to promote correction.

Last but certainly not least, like many I can’t help but love and take much from the great Mike Smith. Like coach Smith I strive to do my best to psychologically and emotionally connect with my runners with where they are at and to be someone they can rely on in their corner through the ups and downs of training.

RACING HISTORY

I raced the 800m and mile from middle school through college, where I also competed in cross country. After college I took a hiatus from running competitively and thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017. This opened up a whole new world of running opportunities for me and lead me to get into the world of trail running. Since 2018 I have completed four 50-mile races and one 100-miler. I also raced four marathons, including the Boston marathon, while juggling the craziness of medical school. In early 2024 I had surgery on both of my hips and am currently recovering and working on progressing towards a comeback to running.

PRs

  • 800m: 2:01 (high school)
  • 1600m: 4:36 (high school)
  • 5k: 17:17 (high school)
  • Half-Marathon: 1:18:37 (2023 York Half Marathon) – 3rd place
  • Marathon: 2:44:34 (2023 Buffalo Marathon) – 10th place
  • 50 miles: 7:33:00 (2020 JFK 50 miler).
  • 100 miles: 27:49:00 (2019 Vermont 100 miler). Ran this more as a long-distance hiker than a runner back in the day. Was definitely more of a “just finish” effort.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

  • Qualified for the Boston Marathon in each of my 4 marathons, all of which were run during Medical School.

CONTACT ANTONIO

Finding a coach who is a great fit for you is really important. We encourage you to email your coach prior to signing up so you can connect, communicate, and ensure a good athlete/coach fit.

Give us a brief history of your running, and this can include what distances and/or races you’ve run, how long you’ve been running, any past or present injuries, if you’ve worked with a coach or a specific training program before, etc.
Any short term or long term goals?
Describe your ideal coach/athlete relationship.
Any questions/comments for Team RunRun or the Coach in general?

PUBLICATIONS

SOCIAL

6 reviews for Antonio Sierra – Harrisburg Running Coach

  1. 5 out of 5

    Seth Bridgeforth

    I’ve been working with Antonio for about 5 months now – it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We had an initial touch base where we discussed my background, where I was headed and why I was seeking assistance – speed.

    The questions surrounding the sport are insurmountable, especially now that anyone can be a fitness guru on medias.

    Antonio will offer insights on anything from workout structure and weekly volume to rest/recovery and nutrition to footwear, the physiology behind the sport, race suggestions, tapering, race day plans, pacing, heart rate, VO2 – anything. All 11 yards.

    Workouts are tailored to your specific goals, whether it be a 5K PB or completing a 100 mile trail race (or if it’s just the start of your running journey!), he’s going to write you the workouts to get the job done. All you do is show up!

    Oh, and did I mention he’s a podiatrist? With special interest in injury prevention, and nutrition… I’ve been very pleased with the entire experience and looking forward to the coming months!

  2. 5 out of 5

    Amy Hill

    I hired Antonio to help me get ready for trail races. He was exceptionally responsive and adaptable when I experienced an injury. I learned a lot about how to train the right way. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to take their running to the next level.

  3. 5 out of 5

    Katherine Bishop

    I started working with Antonio in March of 2023. As a coach, he immediately demonstrated a wealth of knowledge about the sport from many years of experience. Antonio was eager and determined to take on the challenge of helping me meet some relatively unconventional goals. This included training for a 1.5 mile race as well as moving with weight efficiently. Without question, Antonio jumped into researching and reaching out to other coaches. He has consistently put effort into fine tuning my training program and is always looking into new training tactics. I saw a lot of improvement early on, but one of the main benefits of working with Antonio has been the confidence I have gained in a short amount of time. As someone who is fairly injury prone, I hit a few bumps in the road, and Antonio has helped me attack every single issue head on with an open mindset. He has been determined to help me meet my goals since day one, and has shown a continuous investment in my success. He has meticulously helped me stay on track while working through nagging hip pain. Antonio has mastered the coaching relationship as someone who can hold you accountable without being overbearing or stress-inducing. He is always there to encourage me while also allowing me to listen to my body and readjust. He has also been exceedingly flexible with my insane schedule and work commitments. Antonio is responsive, passionate and dedicated; I would highly recommend him to anyone!

  4. 5 out of 5

    Linda Shieh

    I’m really glad I hired Antonio as my running coach for the upcoming Chicago marathon. He has a tremendous amount of running knowledge and experience as an elite runner and a medical professional so I have high trust in his training plans. And even though there are differences in our age, gender, experience (I’m a beginner) and skills, he has the capacity to understand what I need as a 56 yr old beginner and provide me with a custom training plan. I appreciate how he analyzes my progress/feedback then customizes as needed. He is active listener and good communicator ans makes a point to have regular check-ins to discuss the status quo and answer any questions I may have. Antonio is a great coach and I highly recommend him!!

  5. 5 out of 5

    Michael Crosby

    Timely, flexible, holistic, encouraging. Antonio and I have been working together for over 6 months, and in that time I was able to PR my 5k and 10k. His training plans for each week arrive in a timely manner, and he is always very adaptable to sudden changes in my schedule. As someone with 3 jobs, I need a training program that is both flexible and time-efficient. Antonio has not only worked within my constraints, but also been able to provide training plans that reflect my level of mental fatigue. For example, there was a time when training at very specific paces, several workouts a week, was mentally exhausting; he quickly adapted the plan to focus on effort rather than pace. I was able to make this mental shift, and felt psychologically fresh. He is able to explain training theory in terms that I, your average “bro-scientist”, can grasp easily. I can confidently say that he is taking me to the edge of my current potential, with a sober realism, while making room for me to dream big. We’ll be chasing that 2:59:59 marathon at the beginning of 2024, and excited to make the attempt with Antonio leading the charge!

  6. 5 out of 5

    James Downs

    Antonio has been my coach for three months and my running mentor for the past few years. His dedication to personalizing and optimizing my training plan specifically to fit my goals and lifestyle, topographical and geographical location (i.e. hilly or flat or mountainous) is exceptional! Going through a physician’s education and specifically podiatry training, Coach Tony has an understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the legs/feet. This, in my experience, has enabled him to troubleshoot my leg or foot issues and walk through not just training strategies, running techniques, and recovery plans, but also exercises and stretches for rehabbing my mysterious calf pain or nagging plantar discomfort (that is now resolved). Antonio communicates well and makes himself available to discuss training, how things are progressing, and takes feedback as well as he gives it. I appreciate the time and energy he puts into the training plans and explaining workouts. Would recommend.

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