Our Coaching Philosophy

This comes before everyone else for us at FRC. You spend so much time running. You need to enjoy it. So many have an unhealthy to harmful relationship with running. Running should be a celebration of what you’re capable of while also being therapeutic and meditative. If you find yourself not looking forward to your run, take a step back and remember why you fell in love with this sport in the first place. You’ll be so glad you did. Here at FRC, we want to make sure you love running because you love running. With that, everything else will be easy and fun. This is part of our slogan: Here at Freedom Running Club we want to give you "The Freedom to Just run."

Core principle for FRC training. This is one of the most challenging things for distance runners to grasp as they are naturally some of the hardest-working people; always thinking how can I do more. However, this principle applies to almost everything with training. Your long and recovery runs need to be slow and easy to get the desired benefits. Also, for your faster days to be fast you need easy miles to build aerobic capacity and keep you fresh for more intense days. This also applies for faster runs and races when you want to start out slow(er) and finishing fast(er). Here at FRC we'll show you how to be smart about training by running slow to run fast.

With FRC, you'll never be wondering why you're doing a workout session each day. We believe that when you know why you're doing something you'll always be more committed. At FRC we have a clear goal for each training session and clear goals as the season progresses through the training year. If the goal for today's workout is easy miles, do it. If the goal is VO2 max, do it.  We encourage our athletes to ask why any part of a training session was created. We love educating about training and will be happy to explain any aspect of training. After all, we created the workout. We'd better be able to explain why it will benefit you.

FRC lives by the saying if you're failing to plan you're planning to fail. Along with that idea, runners should know just because they're running today doesn't mean they've made themselves better. The more trained you are the more targeted and refined you're plan must be. Novice runners will benefit from any kind of running, but after about a year you need a plan. This should take into account the events the athlete is preparing for, what has worked and not worked for the athlete in the past, and all other details that would impact successful adaption. 

AT FRC, we want to give you the information to help you eat enough to stay health while training. The only way to perform well and love your runs is to be properly fueled, and this requires more food and more good food than most people think. A runner should never think about underfueling to lose weight as a way to get faster. You might get a very small, temporary boost, but in the end underfueling will set up poor performances and injuries from not having enough food to rebuild from runs. Underfueling is also a key contributor in stress related conditions like stress fractures. DO NOT DO THIS EVER. Nourish your body to flourish. A runner should only be thinking did I eat enough today. The fastest car won't go anywhere without fuel, and a runner works the same way.

We make this a huge point at FRC as we're based in Florida. This should come as no surprise, especially for us training in the southeast United States, but it's worth repeating. A hydrated body will perform well. This includes water and electrolytes to replace what's lost from sweat. Water is super important, but it's only part of the answer. In most places during summer months and the hottest part of the day water alone won't help. We encourage all of our athletes to know what the important electrolytes are and what dietary options will help replenish them.

Everyone wants to succeed and at FRC we want to help you do that. We believe the best way to reach the desired goal is to take the next step in front of you along that path. We will always have a long-term plan in place, but we can only take the next step today. Distance runners tend to try to do too much. If you're a 5:30 miler you shouldn't expect to break 5 your next race, and this applies with training. No one can hit a new PR, win a state championship, get a scholarship without focusing on the next step in front of them. At FRC we will encourage you to relax and just take the next step so no one falls on their face. 

It's easy with Strava and other social media to be sucked into the trap of copying what other runners do. At FRC we want you to have running friends and to take an interest in them, but remember everyone's plan is their own. Looking at a few workouts and thinking I should copy those to be like them is a sure way to train outside of yourself. You have no idea what others are planning for later this season, what they did before, and what they’ve done for years leading up today. You’re also dealing with an entirely different situation from work/school, workout locations, and other factors. Focus on you and you alone.

FRC believes in recovery both within workouts, with sequencing workouts and between workouts. You are not getting better during your runs. You’re only getting better from your workout after you run based on how you recover. This requires good post workout routines (stretching, rolling, other preventative measures), proper eating/hydrating, and getting enough sleep. Don’t undo a great workout by not recovering. At FRC we will help you with your recovery steps while also creating plans that maximize you're recovery processes so you can actually use all that hard work in races when it matters most.