Coach Stefan
I decided to become a coach mainly because I love the competition and camaraderie that the endurance community provides. I was a kayak athlete for 9 years before turning to running and participating in multiple long-distance races, with my most notable achievement being a hilly 215km road ultramarathon in Greece! Evidently, I love all things endurance-related and spend most of my time reading up on the latest science and how it can be applied to the human body. When I am not coaching runners, I partake in several high-adrenaline activities such as scuba diving and skiing!
Coaching Philosophy
Any training plan needs to take into consideration various elements and not just "I want to accomplish x race in x time." This is one of the reasons why preformatted programmes simply do not work. My philosophy when coaching an athlete of any level is focused on where they are today, not where they want to be (which many times is unrealistic because we have x weeks to train for that goal). Training, in my point of view, is simply a balance of providing specific physiological stressors at the right time while balancing that stimulus with enough recovery time. If this balance is not in symphony, adaptations do not occur efficiently, and we risk the possibility of injury and/or overtraining. At BFL, the specific sessions are not determined more than a week in advance, simply because training needs to be adaptive to the person and based on their life stress, health, and schedule! In summary, I always follow the athlete, not a training plan.
Notable Sports Achievements
- Sea to Sky Extreme 135km (CY)
- Immortals Race 140km (GR)
- Euchidios HyperAthlos 215km (GR)
- Rasselbock Backyard Ultra (24 yards), 160km (UK)
- Energy Run Lakatamia, 10km (CY); 3rd Place Age Group Finish
- Paphos Marathon, 3rd Place Podium Finish - 42.195km
- Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship
- Various Unsupported Solo Ultramarathons
Qualifications & Certificates
- BSc Sport & Exercise Science, University of Nottingham
- Certified UESCA Running Coach
- Certified UESCA Ultrarunning Coach
- RunDNA Essential Elements of Running
- TICTA Emergency First Aid (CPR/AED/First Aid)
- WADA Coaches of High-Performance Education Programme
- Various Crewing and Pacing Duties in Europe
