Mike Urbanski – Tucson Running Coach
$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.
$115.00 / month and a $19.00 sign-up fee
Running Coach 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 ***
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.
Race 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
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
Personal Records
- 5K – 15:45 — 1981
- 10K – 33.09 — 1982
- 15K -51:08 — 1983
- 13.1 – 1:14.09 – 1983
- 26.2- 2:32.08 – 1984
Publications
Contact Mike
3 reviews for Mike Urbanski – Tucson Running Coach
Joe U. –
I’ve been training with Coach Mike for decades, and I just started on the VO2 app with him recently. He coached me in high school to a D1 track/cross-country team, and after college into a strong distance runner – 10ks, 1/2 marathons and marathons. Just a few of his stellar attributes:
1. Expert knowledge; 2. personal experience as a long distance runner; 3. decades’ long experience as a coach of amateur and elite athletes; 4. work with athletes of all genders, ages, body-types, and goals; 5. individual and thoughtful attention; 6. mindfulness and comprehensive understanding of his athletes.
After all these years I STILL love running, in large part to a coach that truly loves the sport, the act of coaching, and all of his athletes. You get the encouragement you need to just keep going with this man. Truly lucky to be part of his roster!
Leslie McElligott –
I’ve been training with Coach Urbanski since January, and the results have been nothing short of transformative. Under his guidance, I recently competed in a half marathon and placed first in my age group—a testament to the effectiveness of his programming.
Coach Urbanski builds incredibly thoughtful, personalized plans that have systematically improved my speed, endurance, and mental toughness. We are currently transitioning into a program specifically designed for a hilly half marathon, and I’m consistently impressed by his ability to adapt the training to meet new, technical challenges.
His expertise shines through every workout he prescribes. Beyond the data, what sets him apart is the support; whenever I put on my shoes, I know Coach Urbanski is right there with me to cheer me on and ensure I’m putting my best foot forward. I couldn’t recommend him more highly for any runner looking to see real progress.
Jonathan Wills –
I started working with Mike at the beginning of the year, and he’s been an awesome coach. I think a few key factors are these:
* Knowledge/skills/experience: He’s helping me train for a half in May where I’m targeting a PR, and he’s formulated an approach for the whole training cycle that’s reflected each week and across the individual workouts. He’s kept things at the right level of challenge for steady improvement, which for me has also involved caution around a recurring hamstring injury (to where yesterday I was able to run a hilly 16 mi with no issues).
* Setup/interaction: He’s set things up with the V02 app so that besides my having all the workouts synced with my watch, we can exchange comments about any workout. We also do weekly google meet video calls to look back on the prior week and plan for the week ahead. I feel like with remote coaching especially these things are a big upgrade from just having a training plan or intermittent phone checkins.
* Personality: Mike has what seems to me to be a really good combination in a coach of being easygoing but also clearly caring and being conscientious. He’s encouraging in a thoughtful way, including around navigating my hamstring. I feel like I can rely on his guidance while he’s also always ready to listen.
To sum it up I feel very lucky to be working with Mike!