One of the most wonderful aspects of my post-collegiate running career is the opportunity to again be coached by my dad. Running for his Blue Devils team at Davis High School was one of the highlights of my high school experience, and upon entering the post-collegiate running world, no one has been more supportive of my running dreams than my dad. We talk on the phone daily about my workouts, training, how I'm feeling, etc so that I'm as prepared as possible to chase my Olympic Trials goals. Under Coach Dad, I'm running better than ever and certainly more joyfully :-)

Unfortunately, Dad is based in my hometown of Davis, working and coaching high school runners and being a dad and husband. After living in Davis for 23 years, I needed a fresh start in a new city, so San Francisco became my new home and I decided to have Dad coach me from afar.

Ideally, you live in the same city as your coach, so that they can oversee your workouts, hold a stopwatch, give feedback, and provide invaluable in-person coaching support. With Dad in Davis and me in SF, it's been a challenge adapting to this new coaching environment. I go home to Davis as frequently as I can to train with him, but more often than not I'm working out alone in SF (or Cleveland!), without a coach or training partners. Not gonna lie, this set-up hasn't always worked out great for me, but I firmly believe it's made me a tougher, mentally stronger runner.

While I've learned to run workouts being accountable only to myself, sometimes you just really need a coach there. Today was one of those days. In the middle of some tough 80-mile training weeks and coming off a disappointing 3k last weekend, I really needed a coach to help me through today's track session.

Enter my brother, Brendan. Since Dad was in Davis, he suggested I drive down to Stanford and have Brendan coach me through the workout. It was a brilliant idea! Brendan met me at the track with a stopwatch. Just having him there, calling splits and words of encouragement, made all the difference in the world - I ran the 1k repeats faster and more comfortably than Dad or I could have hoped. I'm coming off today's workout enthused and excited to race again!

So thanks, Dad and Brendan, for the excellent coaching! :-) We make a great team!

All in the family, back in the day - Davis High School XC 2003

Go Greggs!