Welcome to episode 34 of the Final Surge Podcast with our guest Jason Hartmann. Jason was a very successful professional runner who in the last few years Jason hung up his racing flats and traded them in for a coaching whistle. Jason is quickly building a very successful program at Saginaw Valley State and we talk to him about that process.
How did you get your start in running?
At what point would you advise a kid to start running full-time in high school based on your running history?
You ran at Oregon, what lead to the decision to go there?
When you were running at Oregon at what point did you think it may be something you wanted to pursue after college?
You had a very successful running area including a couple 4th place finishes at Boston and a top American at Chicago, what was the most memorable race for you?
You retired from running in 2014 and decided to get into coaching, what made you want to get involved in coaching?
You mentioned you coached Elise Cranny, was that your first time coaching?
With many high school kids, we see them peak or burn out after high school. What is it with Elise that has lead to her success in college too?
You are now coaching at Saginaw Valley State. How did that come about?
What was the program like when you took over vs. now?
What type of athletes are you looking for to be part of the program?
What is something your program does that you think all successful college programs do
What is something that you think you guys do that may be unique or different?
When coaching everyone has to find their own formula, their own voice, but we get influences from other coaches. Who has been a big influence in your coaching career and philosophy?
If you could change something about our high school programs, what would it be?
Is that your biggest challenge making it fun and getting the kids to be consistent?
You are making the transition from xc to track how do the workouts change from cross to a 1500 on the track?
So is the biggest change race paced workouts?
How are you using Final Surge in your coaching?
Are you laying out the week before hand for them? Or how are you putting the workouts in?
Are they required to log in and give you notes on how they feel or what do you expect from them?
Are you still doing some running on your own?
What does the future hold, where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
Rapid Fire... 5 questions in under 1 minute
Favorite running book? - Jack Daniels
Current trainers you are wearing? - Vomero’s
Favorite race? - Minnesota Twin Cities Marathon
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Pizza and Coke
Your favorite workout - Hill Runs
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