My name is Alex Garcia, and I am a running coach located in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
I have spent most of life in and around competitive environments, mostly around the track but not always on foot. Let me explain:
It took me some time to develop the love of running and the sport, but it has remained with me my entire life.
I began competing, like many children do, running track when I was in elementary school. Initially a sprinter with limited success, I was fortunate enough to have been mentored by some truly remarkable coaches, both in my home country of Venezuela and later after moving to Atlanta in 1987.
Coach Valentin Marcano was my first PE teacher when I was 5 years old. Lucky for me, he was also one of the most highly regarded track coaches in my home country.
As it often happens, my coaches broke the news that even though I could compete locally in sprints, my speed would not carry me beyond that level. I was very disappointed until they explained that I was meant to run middle distances. I was given Alberto Juantorena and Seb Coe as role models, and what else could I want.
I first ran the 600 meters, which is what 13 year olds ran back then in Venezuela. Finding immediate success, I was invited to train with a competitive team in my local city.
Then in 1987came the move to the US.
I came to the United States not speaking English, but fortunately I did not have to. Running is a universal language. A kilometer is a kilometer everywhere, and running doesn’t require much talking.
I landed in good hands with two coaches that were incredibly positive influences in my life. Coach Ed Hullender was the cross-country coach at Wheeler High School in East Cobb. Even though I was only 13, he took me in and let me run and train with his high school team.
During this same time, I also found coach Murray, who ran what was then the local East Cobb Track Club for youth.
These two coaches were a huge influence in my life. They guided me through a difficult adaptation to a new place and took me to races as often as possible. Coach Hullender even took me to a high school indoor track invitational where we had to jump in without a bib because I was not old enough to compete.
I went on to find great success in both the 400 meters and 800 meters. This journey eventually lead to a Hershey National Championship in the 800 meters and TAC Junior Olympics finals.
While in High School, I was influenced by the memory of my uncle Lucho, who had died when I was younger, but not before planting a seed for the love of cars and auto racing. I told my father that I wanted to be a race car driver, and my parents, being the supportive type, pushed me to pursue my dream to race cars.
I spent the better part of 20 years around auto racing. I began as a driver but eventually grew into a team owner before long. I loved every second of racing, but running and auto racing are very different activities. I felt the pull to return to running and ultimately to coaching runners and athletes.
Auto racing brings along a number of challenges that are not easily addressed, most importantly the need for money to keep the effort moving forward. Unfortunately, it becomes about the money, and less about talent or effort.
I find that running, or any endurance sport for that matter, provide the participant with benefits and rewards that far exceed the effort put in. I refer mostly to age-group athletes, as it is understood that elite runners need money so that they can train full-time. Professional running is very difficult as well, and the rewards are not guaranteed.
For the majority of us, who are age group athletes, masters and youth, endurance sports provide a competitive platform that will challenge us to put our best effort forth in exchange for the satisfaction that we did our very best. Not all goals look the same, and we don’t have to win a race to achieve goals. Go watch the end of a marathon or runners on the run course of an Ironman triathlon. It doesn’t matter where you look in the field; you will find thousands of stories of people that decided to challenge themselves to do something that many think is insane. Be it competing for an overall/age group win, or to complete a challenge that you thought impossible, each can be deemed a win.
This is part of my story, it is full of key people that influenced me along my journey, and for me, all these life experiences are exactly what a coach brings to the table. Not only knowledge or experience, but someone in your corner that provides objectivity when needed and believes in you even when you may doubt.
My life has been spent in highly competitive environments. I like to blend what I learned in auto racing with my coaching. I like technology, so heart rate and power-based programs key tools for me to analyze an athlete. However, I also understand that sometimes running, just to run and without any data, is what the athlete needs. I am able to adjust to the type of runner you may be.
I spent countless hours working with sports psychologists and have a firm grasp of the mental aspect of running, goal setting and dealing with pressure. I believe that we are all capable of running and achieving greatness in our own right; I don’t care how fast or slow you may be. What counts is that you set big goals and go after them.