Mike Urbanski – Tucson Running Coach
$95.00 / month and a $19.00 sign-up fee
$20 off your 1st month! 40+ years of coaching all ages and abilities, using holistic, individualized plans that blend science and art to help runners thrive.
Description
As a Tucson running coach, I work with runners of all abilities and stages of life. Like most coaches, I utilize the latest scientific research of the sport to develop training plans. Truly, almost anyone can follow the science and write a training plan. However, the “art” of coaching is just as, if not more, important. My years of experience in working with all ages, all personalities, all body types, all levels of ability and motivation help me see what my athletes need as individuals. I have proven success in working with fast, young people, but also know what it takes to keep an older runner thriving. As an older masters runner, I have developed a growing expertise in working with runners as they adapt to the inevitable aging process and its associated physical and emotional challenges – including slower speeds, longer recovery times, and issues with strength, balance, and nutrition. I love working with anyone who wants to run, whether it is someone who wants to get started, someone who wants to compete and get faster, or someone who is determined to maintain fitness as he/she ages.
*** $20 off your first month for month-to-month Coaching – Coupon Code: 20offmurbanski ***
LEVELS: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
TYPES: Road, Track
DISTANCES: 5k/10k/Half Marathon, Marathon
TRAINING PLATFORM: VDOT
TRAINING PLAN: Individual, customized training plan
COMMUNICATION: Unlimited email, unlimited phone, unlimited text
RESPONSE TIME: Within 24 hours
LOCATION: Tucson, AZ
IN-PERSON SESSIONS: No, online coaching only
SPECIALTIES
Because I have been coaching for so long and at so many different levels, I do not have a true specialty. I can train a 16-year-old middle-distance runner to grab a PR in the 800 and I can guide a 70-year-old masters runner to a Boston marathon qualifier. And, anything in between. I love working with people who want to make a lifestyle change and start running, with people who are burning up the roads and running at an elite level and with people who are struggling to hang on as they get older. I have proven success with all of them.
PHILOSOPHY
As a runner for 63 years and a coach for over 40 years, I have come to realize that running can truly make life better. Not easier, but certainly more satisfying, enriching and joyful. Work ethic, patience, perseverance, resilience, goal-setting skills -these are all characteristics that people can develop as runners. I love helping and watching runners get there. And, I do it by seeing people as individuals and building relationships of mutual respect and trust. Adding to that, I use proven scientific principles of training integrated into a holistic plan that includes nutrition, strength, recovery and general wellness skills. If people stick with it, the rewards are enormous- not just in terms of fitness and personal bests but in the way they experience life.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
I have been coaching runners for over 40 years, ranging from beginning high school distance runners to Boston and Olympic marathon trials qualifiers. I recently retired as a high school Track and Field and Cross Country coach. Those teams won multiple state championships. 52 of my high school athletes were individual state champions and over 100 ran at the next level. In addition to coaching young people, I have always worked with beginning adult runners and post-collegiate and masters level runners. Now that I am no longer coaching high school, I can devote more time to coaching individuals and help them achieve their goals, whatever they may be.
ABOUT ME
When you are old enough, you have the opportunity to have explored different careers. I have been a teacher, restaurant, running store and gym owner, family therapist, high school counselor, administrator, and coach. Regardless of my profession, the one constant in my life has been running. I continue to compete. And, I coach. I love seeing my former high school athletes continue running into their middle age. I love coaching a post-collegiate runner achieve sub-elite status and qualify for the Olympic marathon trials. I love helping a middle of the pack runner finally qualify for Boston. I love working with an older master’s runner get started or start over. Running and coaching take second to being a husband, father and grandfather – but they are a close second!
BIG INFLUENCES
It has been my great fortune to have learned, in person, from Jack Daniels, Joe Vigil, and Vin Lananna. I have integrated their coaching methods into much of what I do. Daniels and Vigil were scientists and Lananna was a master of the art of coaching. They all knew, in their own way, how to get the most out of their athletes. I also continue to learn from my network of fellow coaches. We continue to collaboratively look for ways to improve what we do.
RACING HISTORY
I have been running and racing since I was a 13-year-old 8th grader. In my first race, I almost passed out after running what was then called the 1320 (now 1200 meters) but caught the bug. After competing in cross country and track and field in high school, I attended a university that did not have those teams so I spent four years on the rowing crew. We ran lots of miles as oarsmen. I began competing again after college just as the running boom was exploding in the early 1970s. After competing in numerous shorter events, I ran my first marathon in 1978 and was hooked. I memorably (for me and my patient family) had to run three marathons to finally qualify for Boston. Back then, if you were under 40, you had to run a sub-2:50 to qualify. I ran a 2:54, then a 2:52 (agonizingly close) and then a 2:48 to make it. Like breaking any barrier, after you do it once, then you know you can do it, and I never looked at a slower time again until age finally slowed me down. I ultimately ran a 2:32.8 in the marathon while continuing to be a strong age-group competitor in all distance events.
CERTIFICATIONS
- USATF certified Track and Field Coach
- USATF Cross Country Specialist
- USATF Safe Sport Certified
- RRCA certified Running Coach
- RRCA certified Race Director (currently race director for two road races in Southern Arizona)
- NFHS certified Track and Field/Cross Country Coach
- Arizona Interscholastic Association Track and Field, Cross Country Official
PRs
- 5K – 15:45 — 1981
- 10K – 33.09 — 1982
- 15K -51:08 — 1983
- 13.1 – 1:14.09 – 1983
- 26.2- 2:32.08 – 1984
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
- Southern Arizona Coach of the Year 22 times
- Arizona Coach of the Year 2 times
- NFHS Western Region Coach of the Year 1 time
CONTACT MIKE
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
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.