Coach Alex Nichols

Photo Credit: Irunfar
Photo Credit: Irunfar
We could not be more pumped to have Alex join the Trails and Tarmac coaching team! He brings with him a depth of racing experience covering all types of terrain and distances. Alex’s racing style is something that we have respected for a long time. He always runs his race, pacing impeccably well, and usually ends up dismantling fields in the second half. His intelligent thoughtful style spills over into his coaching. Alex has been the women’s distance track and assistant men’s and women’s cross country coach at Colorado College for the past six years. There he has coached 7 out of the 9 conference champions in the schools history. He’s coached women to school records in the mile, 5k, and 10k! We know that with Alex’s incredible experience in training for and racing all distances as well his years of successful coaching at Colorado College that he’s the perfect fit as our newest Trails and Tarmac coach. We did a short interview where you can find out a bit more about Alex, what he’s bringing to the table, and why you want him to coach you! If you are interested in learning more about being coached by Alex or any of the Trails and Tarmac coaches you may fill out this questionnaire.
Trails and Tarmac is excited to be bringing on two new coaches! We decided to expand our team for a couple of reasons. We have grown a lot and we make sure that every athlete receives a quality experience and the attention they deserve. Keeping our coach to athlete ration low ensures that your coach will provide quality feedback, look at all of your runs, and have you ready and confident for race day.
Trails and Tarmac is a team of coaches. One of our core values is learning from other runners. Camelia and Sarah have spent years learning the ins and outs of all aspects of distance running. They work with athletes, understand the sport, and are currently pursuing their own very successful running careers. Meet Camelia and Sarah!
Road/track- it doesn’t lie. I love track workouts and road workouts because you can tell exactly what your times can equate to for racing. When I ran the 10k in college, I loved that each lap you could just focus on a lap split and nothing else- no elevation, no huge variables, just the pure competition. My road marathon was the same way. It was a huge mental advantage to be able to just focus on one mile at a time.
Long runs. I think long runs whether you are training for a 10k or a longer trail race are important. These are just as mental as they are physical. I can either dread my long run after a week of workouts and work or they can be a retreat into the wilderness. It also is a good chance try to meet up with friends and just explore and also test out nutrition for racing.
Something I am still struggling with in my training is not taking enough recovery time after races. I ran my first road marathon in May 2016 with a pretty exciting performance and time. I was eager to get back into training for a big trail marathon in Slovenia about 6 weeks later (on top of dealing with moving apartments and other life stress) and ended up hurting my hip flexor pretty badly. I still finished the race, but it wasn’t the performance I was hoping for. I have always had some imbalances in my hips, so if I could go back in time I would have taken more downtime after my road marathon to make sure everything was firing normally before ramping up training again. Following my first 100k, it has been a similar situation. Now, even 7 weeks post-race I am still feeling some fatigue when I try to push it. I’m learning to not have too many expectations for training and go with the flow.
I love racing on the road because on the road I feel free and unencumbered and fast. I can turn my mind off and just relax into a pace. I like training on trails because I feel like they require me to listen more to my body and to the world around me, instead of focusing on a specific pace. The terrain becomes an additional challenge to explore, and with which to adapt. Both are beautiful places to be and provide diversity in both training and racing.
I have a love/hate relationship with wave tempo workouts. I think they can be one of the more challenging, and daunting to see on a training schedule. However, I think they build a lot of confidence and help athletes hone in and feel comfortable with their goal race pace. I like to structure my wave tempos so that the ‘slower’ portions align closely with that goal race pace, so that the athlete (and myself) associate race pace with recovery. Inevitably, these workouts always leave me feeling strong and settled, and happy with my efforts!
So many guys had great races in 2015, I’m really honored to be named the 2015 UltraRunner of the Year.
The fact is ultrarunnning isn’t about times, awards, buckles, trail selfies or the newest gear. For most of us trail running is about overcoming obstacles and working towards the goals we have set for ourselves.