Meet the Coach

Adam Hodges, PhD

* UESCA Ultrarunning Certified Coach
* USA Triathlon Certified Coach
* ACSM Certified Personal Trainer
* TrainingPeaks Accredited Coach
* PhD, MA, BA, University of Colorado

Background

Adam Hodges, PhD, is a trail runner, multisport athlete, and coach with credentials from the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA), USA Triathlon (USAT) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). In addition to coaching runners and multisport athletes, he has coached high school cross country and track in California and masters swimming in Colorado and California. As a USAT All-American triathlete, he has competed in the ITU World Triathlon Championships, the ITU World Duathlon Championships, and the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. As a masters runner, he has won a series title in the XTERRA SoCal Trail Series. His current pursuits include trail running, climbing, mountaineering, skimo, and cross-country skiing. He began running in his youth and enjoys passing on the knowledge and experience he has gained over the years to both new and experienced athletes seeking to maximize enjoyment, competitiveness, and longevity in endurance sports.

Approach to the Sport

“For me as an athlete, endurance training is about enjoying time outdoors, facing challenges, and growing closer to myself in the process. I believe the challenges we engage in as athletes give us a glimpse of human potential, both on and off the race course. In this way, endurance sports act as a vehicle for discovery, personal development, and adventure. Although I love to compete, my own racing is less about a single race or particular accomplishment, and more about the ongoing process that underlies a healthy, multisport lifestyle. I am interested in helping you cultivate this active, fitness-oriented lifestyle.” –Adam

Approach to Training

“Endurance athletes are fundamentally aerobic animals. I am a firm believer in the value of a strong aerobic foundation, and view all performance as arising out of this foundation. I also place importance on developing form, efficiency of movement, and neuromuscular speed while building the aerobic base. The use of drills and attention to form during aerobic base training helps ingrain positive habits that stay with us as the training intensity increases later in the season. In addition, I believe that becoming a better triathlete or runner (or swimmer or cyclist or skier) requires becoming a better all-around athlete with attention to strength, flexibility, balance, mental skills and healthy eating habits that complement our sport-specific training. I am a firm believer in the value of supplemental work and preventive care as integral components of any training program.” –Adam

Approach to Life

“In our society, we often separate body and mind as if we could live each of these aspects of ourselves independently from the other. Although sometimes it can be useful to talk about body and mind separately—similar to the way we conceptually distinguish between endurance, strength and flexibility, or swimming, biking and running—ultimately, we know that what we get when adding all these together is greater than the sum of the parts. A “triathlete,” for example, is more than simply a swimmer plus a cyclist plus a runner. Just as triathletes need to train with the whole triathlete as the focal point, so must any athlete train with the whole self—body plus mind—as the focal point. Doing so is the key to unlocking not just athletic potential, but to developing the whole self as part of a well-actualized life.” –Adam