Coach Jason Koop Interview

Jason Koop Interview

Jason Koop lists a who’s who of elite runners on his coaching roster (DBo, Kaci, Dakota, Timothy, Varner, Ghelfi), so we thought it’d help to pick his brain a bit and find out why he’s had such success–especially after last weekend’s race at NorthFace50.

We learned that most elite athletes come to the starting line in about the same shape, but it’s the psychological and emotional factors that really make the difference. We learned that the altitude mask thingamajig is garbage, and we heard an awesome story about his run and eventual DNF at Hardrock this year (it involves a tent, booze, pot, a lightning storm, and some hippies.)

We also get a chance to ask him about the importance of rest, how to choose the right race, and what it really takes to perform at altitude.

You’ll want to listen to this episode at least once, so have a pen handy to take notes.

Episode Notes

Jason’s coaching website with Carmichael Training System

Sarah’s site is here

Outro Music: I’m Writing a Novel by Father John Misty (better live version here.)

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12 Responses to "Coach Jason Koop Interview"

Patrick Krott says:

December 18, 2014 at 3:32 pm

Eric, I loved your comment about Runners World. Haha that wasn’t far from the truth. I remember once reading an article in RW that recommended three weeks to recover from a 5k.

Great podcast by the way. It’s also nice to have Sarah on as well, it helps broaden the subject matter and ultimately make it a more interesting interview. I also like when you discuss training with the interviewees, it’s nice to hear what kind of workouts the elites are doing as well as their theory on training cycles and what not.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  December 18, 2014 at 4:58 pm
  
  Thanks Patrick. I’ve really enjoyed having both Sarah and Ethan on as co-hosts. They each offer a different perspective that really opens up the conversation.
  And yeah, Koop is a great guy to talk with about coaching, but it’s also tough. He’s vehemently anti-cookie cutter, so many of the responses will naturally be “it depends.” We’ll definitely have him on again. What kind of questions would you like to hear? Areas of conversation?
  
  Reply
Poor Girl says:

December 19, 2014 at 12:35 pm

Wow. $520/month seems to be the least expensive option for coaching under CTS at the levels that Jason coaches at, but that requires a year commitment, oh, and the $89 registration fee. And the plans go up from there (platinum starting at $1285/month). Are the elites he’s coaching paying the full price, or are all the common folk subsidizing the elites’ packages? And who is actually forking out this much for coaching. Wow. It sounds like he has a ton of athletes. 9 at the NFEC alone.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  December 19, 2014 at 12:46 pm
  
  That is a lot, but the results are pretty impressive. And I’m not sure of the intricacies of the pricing (regarding who pays what), but I was surprised to learn recently that most contracts do not include stipends for coaching.
  
  Reply
  1. Derrick Spafford says:
    
    December 19, 2014 at 6:24 pm
    
    Really enjoyed this one (well, I really enjoy them all, but found this very interesting). Some great questions and great answers. As you mentioned, I’m sure that you could have covered even that much more if you’d had more time.
    
    As for the comment about who pays for the monthly fees at that level, I would have to think that many of the top runners that Jason coaches would receive at least a decent chunk of these fees provided by they’re sponsors. I’m just speculating, but Jason’s comment about him approaching Dakota’s sponsor might be an indicator.
    
    Reply
Derrick Spafford says:

December 19, 2014 at 6:25 pm

…oops, just saw your comment Eric about ‘contracts NOT including stipends for coaching’. That kind of surprises me.

Reply
Tim Tollefson says:

December 20, 2014 at 8:20 am

I love “Eric-Science”! Haha

And completely agree with Koop’s point on performance tests. This is what I tell all of my clients. Unless you are simply interested in the hard data, you need someone that can help you interpret the results and design an individualized plan.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  December 22, 2014 at 8:14 am
  
  Yeah, my wife is a scientist and tells me that “science doesn’t work like that, Eric. You need actual evidence.”
  Whatever. That mask will make a rad Halloween costume.
  
  Reply
phil Jeremy says:

January 2, 2015 at 6:39 am

Did I miss something in the interview? Several times you mentioned that you were going to get into detail re ‘Fartlek’ but I never heard the conversation. Obviously Jason is a great coach but I think it would have been useful for him to provide some specific examples of how he improved an athlete and by what methods otherwise its all fairly general. This is just my personal opinion nevertheless I enjoyed the interview. Thank you.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  January 2, 2015 at 6:50 am
  
  Phil, thanks for listening.
  First time listening to URP? 😉
  
  The “fartlek round” is the final portion of the interview where we ask 10 questions.
  
  Sorry for the confusion.
  
  Reply
Ari Hammer says:

January 13, 2015 at 6:32 pm

Really interesting interview. Obviously Jason Koop is a very competent coach but no questions on why he would choose to work for Lance Armstrong’s coach? Does nobody care that Carmichael and CTS is so involved in ultra running? Very sad for ultra running.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  January 14, 2015 at 6:32 am
  
  Very fair question, especially directed at someone (me) who’s been so outspoken about PEDs in sports.
  Sarah and I spoke about where we wanted to go with the interview and chose to focus on current coaching and fun stories. Going down the LA rabbit hole would not amount to a very fun interview–obviously Jason would not want to talk as openly about that time period as many would want.
  If he’s amenable to coming on again, I’d love to talk about to which extent CTS is involved (at all) with its clients diets and supplements. Not implying anything whatsoever, it’d be a simple question.
  
  Reply

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