Ken Tanner – Provo Running Coach
$80.00 / month and a $19.00 sign-up fee
Focused workouts to achieve goals with a realistic, personalized schedule and balanced approach to marathon training.
Description
Provo running coach Ken Tanner is here to help you get that BQ or work towards a faster time in distances from the 5k up to the Marathon. If you’re looking to take your running and commitment to the next level in order to hit your personal goals, reach out to Ken today to see if you’d be a good fit!
LEVELS: Beginner, Intermediate
TYPES: Road, Track
DISTANCES: 5k/10k/Half Marathon, Marathon
TRAINING PLATFORM: Final Surge
TRAINING PLAN: Individual, customized training plan
COMMUNICATION: Unlimited email, unlimited text, unlimited phone
RESPONSE TIME: Within 24 hours
LOCATION: Cedar Hills, UT
SPECIALTIES
The marathon is my specialty and I love focusing on those trying to become Boston Qualifiers. I find I’m best suited to for runners who have some previous experience, who are looking to take their running and commitment to the next level in order to hit their personal goals.
PHILOSOPHY
My passion is helping people be successful (whatever that looks like for you) in running at a lower mileage. Every run has a purpose, and my job is to align those purposes as dominos for you to knock down and crush to reach that greater goal: a PR, or in some cases, a BQ.
I’m very goal-oriented and systematic in my approach. Less isn’t necessarily more, but more isn’t more either. I’ve found success and sustainability in running 30-50 miles a week while still managing to PR. While the total mileage will vary depending on the goal race, I believe that there is a lot of untapped potential at a reasonable, lower mileage. Training the Goldilocks way is going to lead to fewer injuries, more success, and less burnout in your running. It takes time to build the right systems and muscles, but taking the appropriate steps lets us build incrementally for long-term gains. While it may not seem as glamorous, there is a beauty in the methodical and measured approach to success.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
I’ve spent about 15 years running and was the kid who always asked the coach why we did certain workouts. From then, it progressed to training my brother and myself for a marathon before helping out friends and family once I realized I was good at it. Eventually, I found I really passionate about helping people hit their goals in a variety of distances.
ABOUT ME
I’m just a normal guy who enjoys running. I was a good runner in high school, but didn’t run in college and am not running professionally. I love running, but have other interests in life including disc golf, reading, and spending time with family. Even though I’m not doing 70-mile weeks like I was doing in high school, or heaven-forbid 80-100 mile weeks, I still want to progress at a more manageable workload. I feel like I relate really well to people who may be trying to improve and achieve goals, while still balancing all the other interests in their life.
BIG INFLUENCES
Some of the biggest influences for me have been Jack Daniels and Renato Canova.
RACING HISTORY
One of my favorite moments was when my brother and I trained for the mile. I’ve spent the last 5 or 6 years training for and racing marathons but we wanted to shake things up. So we set the goal to “Break 5” again, like was the goal of many freshman or sophomore male runners. We trained and did our workouts together and after about four months, I “re-broke” 5 in May of 2020. It was a huge mental refresher to train for something shorter and fun to work towards the goal together.
Another huge moment was running the Boston Marathon with my Dad in 2017. It was such a cool experience to be able to run it together with him after watching him do it for years.
PRs
- 1600: 4:35 (April, 2011)
- 5k: 15:00 (September, 2011)
- Marathon: 2:43 (September, 2017)
CONTACT KEN
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.
Casey Kimball –
Ken has been a great coach. He always checks up on me and makes sure I’m hitting my goals. I was able to shave off 40 minutes in my last marathon, with only 5 weeks of solid training. He really knows his stuff and is always available to answer questions I have. I also really like how he caters the workouts to my level and is willing to be flexible with my schedule. It’s really nice to have a solid week of workouts already planned and I don’t need to think about it. I’m excited to continue working with Ken to achieve a BQ hopefully next year!
Ken Anderson –
I’ve been with Ken for a few months now. I’m training for a marathon in November (12 more weeks out) and I’m excited we’ll be able to meet our goal. I want to qualify for Boston which would be sub 3:10 but with Ken’s training and motivation we think I could even be able to go sub 3:00. Ken has shown me how to train properly without overdoing it and actually get better results by doing so. I’ve never had a coach before (aside from high school) and it’s a great advantage.
Ken is also very flexible based on your schedule and communicates well.
Highly recommend no matter your goal.
John Urban –
I have been working with Ken for about 2 months now. He responds quickly to my questions. Most importantly, he has adapted my training to help me prepare for a triathlon and a duathlon. I also went through COVID and he is getting me back in shape. I have long term goals. I know this will be a journey and Ken is a great guide.
Daniel Kelly –
Coach Ken has been fantastic to work with and has haloed me improve my running significantly! Not only have my times improved, but thanks to Coach Ken’s help I now understand a lot more about run training and technique. Normally, I’d run for a couple weeks and then my effort would taper off and ultimately I’d just stop running. But with this training, I have been enjoying my runs a lot more! I’ve been injury free and enjoyed the variety of workouts that Coach Ken had provided. I would highly recommend Coach Ken to anyone who wants to improve their running!
Robert Tanner –
Ken has been an amazing coach. He’s worked with me for over 2 years, but only recently on this platform when he moved his coaching to Team RunRun. Ken has very extensive knowledge of training programs and strategies, all focused towards helping me hit my goals.
One of the things I’ve really appreciated about Ken is his ability and willingness to work with me through unexpected hurdles, like sickness or scheduling changes. I can comment on a workout something like, “Long day of travel yesterday, so I missed this workout today.” Ken will respond positively with motivation, and make alterations to the training plan to help me get back on track. With preset training programs, if I ever missed important workouts, I would lose motivation or miss additional days, thinking that it was too late to make up the missed work, and couldn’t get back on track with the static schedule I was looking at.
Ken is a great coach, and I hope to continue using him to improve my times and stay healthy! I’ve been injury-free for the 2+ years I’ve worked with him, and been able to run my best times since high school in several distances.