Greg Ottinger – San Diego Running Coach
From: $225.00 / month and a $19.00 sign-up fee
Helping you take your first steps onto trails, competing on 200+ mile endurance runs, strength training, or simply work/life balance.
Description
Greg Ottinger is a San Diego-based running coach and personal trainer passionate about helping people build their trail running skills. Whether you’re looking to run your first 100 miler or your tenth, or move up in distance beyond the 100 (yes, that’s a thing!), Greg is your guy.
LEVELS: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
TYPES: Trail
DISTANCES: Ultra
TRAINING PLATFORM: Final Surge
TRAINING PLAN: Individual, customized training plan
COMMUNICATION: Unlimited email, unlimited text
RESPONSE TIME: Within 24 hours
LOCATION: El Cajon, CA
IN-PERSON SESSIONS: Yes, meet within 15 miles from El Cajon – Mission Trails, El Cajon Mountain, McGinty Mountain – or other trails. Options include: In-person conversation, running/hiking/walking together to assess goals and progress, or visual assessment of gear, stride and/or form
SPECIALTIES
- 50k – 200+ Mile Races
- Strength Training
- Hiking (All Distances)
- Fastpacking (Gear, Preparation, Nutrition)
- Nutrition (Plant-Based Athletes)
- Balancing Career Stress/Demands w/ Athletic Performance Goals & Training
PHILOSOPHY
Challenging ourselves to overcome barriers and obstacles is a key component to keeping joy and love in our lives. For example, I believe that finding the strength and clarity to focus on what truly matters (up to each of us) in our own lives will lead to inner-peace, strength, and a fulfilling life. For me, exercise and connecting with nature has proven to be a critical force in my own emotional and physical health and allows me to bring my whole self as a father, husband, and contributor to the world.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
As a long-time (20+ years) personal trainer and endurance athlete, I am happy to support those who are are seeking to go deeper or to the deep end of their endurance. I am a specialist in 50k-200+ mile endurance endeavors, and I’m also happy to support beginners who just want to get started hiking. With decades of experience supporting individuals reach their individual goals, inclusive of balancing work stress at the executive level, I love working with athletes of all levels.
In addition, I am honored to have coached/mentored/supported kids and adults of all ages with running, weight lifting, plant-based nutrition, and professional performance.
ABOUT ME
Hey there! I am doing my best to live my best life, help make the world just a little bit better, and spend time with what matters most.
Athletics
Pushing my body and mind to new limits. By this, I include: 200+ mile adventures like the John Muir Trail (July, 2021) or Tahoe 200 or Bigfoot 200 (planning Moab 240 in 2022), natural (yes, truly natural) bodybuilding (I preferred the training vs the actual competitions), or track and cross country competitions while in school.
Professional
Have been a career educator as a teacher, professor, and executive. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-ottinger-856406a/
Family
When I talk about “what matters” to me, it is family. As a father, husband, son, brother, uncle, friend, this is the aspect of my life that matters most.
Nutrition
I am a life-long student of nutrition, especially as it impacts our body and athletic performance. Throughout the years, I have been “Pritikin, Paleo, Hunter-Gatherer, Pescatarian, Vegetarian” and made a choice to try and follow a whole-plant-based diet several years ago. Primarily I made the shift for athletic reasons, yet I also appreciate the global sustainability impacts.
As a note, unless someone specifically asks for nutrition advice, I do not tend to discuss. We are all on our own food journey and have different relationships to/with food, and certainly would not want anyone to feel like my own food choices/study leads me to judge or try to “convert” anyone to a particular dietary approach. Food is deep stuff!
Big picture
Life is precious, and I truly enjoy trying to lead a fulfilling life and helping coach/guide/support others on their own journeys.
BIG INFLUENCES
Marshall Ulrich’s writings, adventures, and spirit inspires me to believe in myself. On top of that, he reminds me that our own limits are generally inaccurate limitations we’ve foolishly placed on ourselves.
Plus, my friends who continue to be willing to support adventures and strap on trail shoes and headlamps to run endless peaks at all hours of the day and night.
RACING HISTORY
- Cocodona 250M Endurance Run
- Bigfoot 200M Endurance Run
- Tahoe 200M Endurance Run
- Zion and Chimera 100M Run
CERTIFICATIONS
- UESCA Ultrarunning Certification – United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy, 2021
PRs
- 211M: 8 Days (7/27/21) John Muir Trail SOBO+ Extras, Ultralight Fastpacking
- 200M: 67:26:40 (9/11/2015) Tahoe 200 Endurance Run
- 100M: 22:58:32 (11/15/2014) Chimera 100M
- 50M: 7:35:36 (7/11/2015) Mt. Hood 50
- 50k: 4:25:23 (5/18/2013) Rohring Rock 50K
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
- 5th Overall – Bigfoot 200 Endurance Run – 200 Miler – Mount St. Helens – (76 Hours, 55 Min.)
- 3rd Overall – Tahoe 200 Endurance Run – 200 Miler – Homewood, CA – (67 Hours, 26 Min.)
- 8th Overall – Mt. Hood 50 – 50 Miler – Clackamas Lake, OR (7 Hours, 35 Min.)
- 4th Overall – Chimera 100M – Cleveland National Forest, CA (22 Hours, 58 Min.)
- 2nd Overall – Rohring Rock 50K -(4 Hours, 25 Min.)
CONTACT GREG
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.
SOCIAL
Lee L’Oste-Brown –
I could not recommend Greg more. His passion and commitment to coaching is only exceeded by his experience. He is not only knowledgeable about running but also other key areas like nutrition and overall body fitness. His coaching method is well thought out and balanced. He structures your training to give you building blocks so you can build upon from week-to-week, month-to-month. He continuously offers advice to improve your running performance and at the same time offers up suggestions from running gear to fueling. He is very well organized and very responsive to communications. He will go above and beyond to take you to the next level.
Jason Pohl –
I’ve been making the transition from road marathons to long days on the trails for over a decade, often crafting my own training plans and winging it. That’s come with injuries and burnout. Having Greg as a coach these past two months has been an absolute game changer! Not only does he have the technical knowledge about building smart running blocks, he truly cares about your overall physical balance and stability — those critical things we runners often phone in to our own detriment. On top of that, his attention to mental well-being is extremely helpful. Greg is responsive, always willing to swap ideas, and clearly sees this sport as a lifestyle. That’s helped me reframe how I think about training and everything that goes into it. I’m pumped to get some races and epic weekends in the Sierra on the books this summer thanks to Greg’s continued guidance.
Rebecca Walker –
I selected Greg as my coach because of his expertise and experience in 200 mile races. Greg has been instrumental in creating a training plan that works around my full-time work schedule and crazy Colorado weather. He is extremely responsive to emails and texts and truly cares about my goals and training. Looking forward to continual improvement under Greg’s guidance.
Patricia Gomez –
Wow! Where to start! First of all, Greg’s coaching expertise is unparalleled than any other. Not only is he knowledgeable about running, trail running, physical fitness, and nutrition but he is also an inspiration. His advice and guidance has been a game changer for me, both personally and physically. I am in the best shape of my life, thanks to Greg. I’ve been able to conquer so much self doubt and negative thinking with Greg’s help. Lastly, I’ve pushed myself in ways I never thought possible because of Greg. If you truly want a coach who is passionate, knowledgeable, and an inspiration is his own right, Greg is the coach for you. He’s not going to hold your hand, but if you are self disciplined and motivated, Greg is the coach for you!