Dave M.

I have 17 years of experience as a running coach - at the high school level, NCAA Div. I and Div.II levels, and more recently as a private coach. I have coached upwards of 1000 different runners, ranging in ability from professional runners to absolute beginners.

At the high school level, I coached at Lake Washington High School (WA) and helped them to a Team State Championships win in Track & Field in 2001. I coached at Brentwood High School (TN) from 2005 to 2008, and was Metro Cross-Country Coach of the year three years running, with our team never losing to another middle TN team. We won the State Championships in Track in 2006, 2007 and 2008, with Sean Keveren winning 6 state titles (XC and track) in 2007 and 2008 and posting what is still the #2 fastest 3200m of all-time in Tennessee.

At the collegiate level, I had two stints at Belmont University. First in 2002-2004 as a graduate assistant, and then again from 2008 to 2012 as a full-time coach, where I oversaw the recruiting and strength training, and coached the middle distance runners. During that time, the school records were set at 800m, 1500m, 1 mile, and 3000m Steeplechase, and the all-time top 10 lists completely rewritten.

In 2012, I coached at East Tennessee State University for a semester, with our male middle distance runners securing the program's first outdoor conference title in over a decade. I then joined the coaching staff at nearby King University, where I oversaw the training of the men's cross-country team and led them to their first ever appearance at the NCAA Div.II National Cross-Country Championships.

In 2013, I began a job as a sales rep in the running shoe industry, and switched to only coaching private clients. Currently, I have 20 clients, ranging in ability from a 1:46 800m runner who placed 5th at the U.S Indoor Championships in 2018 to a runner trying to break 4 hours in a marathon for the first time.

I guess I am somewhat unique in that I competed at the NAIA, NCAA Div.I, and NCAA Div.III levels as a collegiate athlete, having started off at Belmont University (who made the leap from NAIA to Div.I) and then running at State University of New York - Cortland, where I had the good fortune to be coached by legendary coach and exercise physiologist, Dr Jack Daniels. At Cortland, I earned two degrees, in Psychology and Exercise Science.

As an athlete, I was a pretty average college runner, getting down to 4:19 for the mile, but having way too much fun at the weekends! I have run 6 marathons, all between 2:45 and 2:52. I am currently training for the World Masters Track & Field Championships in Australia in October '16, where I hope to contend for medals in the 800m and 1500m. My other goal for 2016 is to run a sub-4:30 mile.

I always have an initial, in-person consultation before taking on a client, just to make sure that we are the 'right fit' for each other, personality-wise. We discuss running history, injury history, goals (both short term and long term), and my training/coaching philosophy. I then put together a tailor-made training program based on their ability, injury history, goals, and schedule. It's pointless designing a program that a client cannot adhere to!

I typically meet the client in person for their first key workout to ensure their are no biomechanical issues that need addressing. From that point forth, the client is welcome to attend the group workouts on Tuesday mornings and Saturday mornings with my other clients, or they can schedule 1 on 1 sessions with me.