I’m so glad you’re here today for another episode in our coaching series, brought to you by V.O2. Today’s guest is James McKirdy, the founder of McKirdy Trained, one of the largest coaching businesses in the United States. James has built an incredible coaching collective made up of compassionate and knowledgeable coaches, each with years of experience working with athletes of all types and abilities.
In this episode, we talk about a really exciting project James has been involved with—the McKirdy Micro Marathon. If you haven’t heard of it, this was a short-loop race held last October, designed to help fast runners run even faster. The event was a massive success and gained a lot of attention. One of James’s athletes, McKenna Myler, who placed seventh at the Olympic Trials, actually secured her trials qualifier there. Callie Thackery also ran a personal best of 2:21. It was an exciting and innovative event that really made waves in the running community.
James also works with incredible athletes like Tebello Ramakongana, who placed seventh at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Tebello’s marathon personal best is 2:07, and he has a half marathon PR of 1:00:17—truly impressive times. James shares a bit about working with athletes like Tebello and how they’ve shaped their journeys toward success.
One of the things we dive into is James’s work with athletes who come to Flagstaff to train and his professional program that they’ve developed there. The Flagstaff environment is known for its high-altitude training, and James’s program has helped many athletes reach their potential.
You can learn more about James’s coaching at mckirdytrained.com, and if you’re looking for coaching support, they offer a wealth of expertise to athletes of all levels.
I hope you enjoy this conversation with James McKirdy as much as I did! It’s always a pleasure to chat with someone who’s so passionate about coaching and supporting athletes at every stage of their journey. Enjoy the episode!
What we talked about:
5:00- Growing his coaching business
9:35- What makes a good coach
14:00- Fun coaching questions
18:00- His own running injuries
26:00- Developing his professional training group
39:00- His coaching clientelle
43:30- The Olympics Trials marathon standard
52:00- The micromarathon that James and Heather hosted
1:10:00- End of podcast questions
Show notes:
Media recommendations:
Cobra Kai
The First Conspiracy
Kristin Hannah books
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