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Race

Running Coaches

The goal of GoGoRunning is to help each person reach their personal goals no matter what they are. Whether you are trying to run your first race, lose weight or set a personal record, we are here to help your training sizzle. With videos that show you how to do everything running and fitness related, we have provided you with a one-stop shop for your running and fitness needs. If there is a topic you would like see on our site let us know. Our goal is to keep you motivated with tips about running, nutrition, core/drills training, cross training, and much more!  Our hope is that you will come to enjoy the process of your training and not just the end results.

Founder and Coach Jay Stephenson

Jay Stephenson is the Founder of GoGoRunning. Jay served as the Head Coach for cross country and distance track at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia from January 2006 through March of 2012.  Currently Jay is CO-Owner of GoGo at The Shoe Box (a local running and shoe store) located at 1018 Martha Berry Blvd, Rome GA 30165.  Jay is currently coaching all levels of athletes.

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With over 15 years of competitive running and coaching experience, Jay has acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in coaching people of all ages and abilities. As an athlete Jay was the 2004 USATF Club Steeplechase National Champion and a 3-time All-American in cross-country and track and field.  He has PR’s of 29:43 for 10k, 14:18 for 5k, 8:53 for 3k SC, and 4:12 for the Mile.​

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Coach Daniel Seo

Daniel Seo is a running coach at GoGo Running. As a Guest Advocate at Big Peach Running Company Coach Daniel has had the privilege of working with all levels of runners and walkers on a daily basis.

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In 2003, he began to run because he wanted to quit smoking and lose some weight. Weighing in at 200 pounds (at 5’6”) and smoking a pack a day Daniel knew that something had to change. Growing up he thought he was not athletic nor did he play sports. However, one day while at a friend’s apartment gym Daniel got on a treadmill and his life has never be the same! First it was only one mile per day, five days a week. By the 4th week, he had had quit smoking and gradually, as time moved on, he lost 60 pounds.

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The next step for him was signing up for some races. Starting with a 5k, working and then working his way up to a 10K and then a half marathon. The biggest step for Daniel however was yet to come.

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Group Running
Night Running

Coach Jay Stephenson

Coach Jay Stephenson
  • B.S. Marketing, Berry College 2003

  • M.S. Exercise Science, Georgia State University 2009

  • USATF Level I, II certification (Endurance)

  • USATF Vice Chair, Long Distance Running Georgia 2011 – 2012

To be coached by Jay, and get his running plans, follow this link:

runfreetraining.com/

Coaching Philosophy

It does not matter if you have the goal of being a top athlete or if you are looking to run your first race, the process for starting is the same.  Just get moving.  Every journey begins with a single step and sometimes getting out the door is the hardest part.

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While we recognize that people are motivated by different things here are a few thoughts to help you to get out the door.

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  • Encourage yourself (have a positive attitude, believe and dream about your goals)

  • Take a quick inventory of what you will get out of your personal running.  Usually the positives outweigh the negatives.  Here is a quote that works for even the laziest runners:  “The more you run the more you can eat!” – anonymous

  • Create a good atmosphere (live with hope, exercise patience, show love, work hard)

  • “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies” – Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption.  Never give up on your goals.  We were meant to live extraordinary lives not ordinary lives.  Dare to dream big!

  • Celebration (enjoying success and putting failure behind)

  • If you reach your goal then make sure you celebrate and tell someone about it. Email us.

  • Relationships (with coach, other athletes and with self)

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Invite others to train with you.  Running alone is not a fun as running with someone and building a bond that will last. Stay consistent with your fitness and running goals.…And keep moving. Need some help with your training? Check out our coaching and training plans.

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Check out the coaches that have influenced Jay's Training philosophy:

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Arthur LydiardHe is known as the father of running in the US and perhaps the most influential coach ever. I had the very unique opportunity to be coached by Arthur Lydiard through email before he died in 2004.  Arthur and I emailed back and forth about training and coaching.  In 2002, after emailing back and forth, I had not heard from him in a few weeks when I got a typed letter in the mail from Arthur.  His computer had gone down and so he typed a letter to me on a typewriter.  Here is an excerpt from that letter, Arthur said,

“It is important to understand that it all takes time to develop potential to it’s maximum.  There is no quick way.  That is one reason that the U.S. is not developing good distance runners anymore.  Too much anaerobic training, and not enough aerobic.”

Arthur taught me about the importance of training volume.  He also taught me about the importance of multi-paced training. People associate Arthur’s training with lots of volume at an easy pace, but the true Lydiard system is far from that.  He includes lots of sprinting, hills, fartlek, and even advocates running races as short as 200m for distance runners.  I am hoping to write a blog about Arthur that includes some hand written workouts that he wrote for me sometime in the near future.

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Joe VigilCoached at Adams State in Colorado and is an incredible motivator.  He had the only perfect score at a collegiate national cross country meet ever.  His top 5 guys were an incredible 5 seconds apart at the NAIA championships.  I asked him how that happened and he said that “the guys decided that they were never going to be outside of an arms length of each other during training.”  Two things that I think this teaches.  Number one is that if you commit to an extraordinary task and work hard you will have extraordinary results.  Number two is that the responsibility to do something is on the athlete.  It was the athlete not the coach who decided to go above and beyond and they got an above and beyond result.

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Jack Daniels - I learned from Jack the importance of recovery and the ability to cross train and still have success.  I developed our levels of athlete volume by talking with Jack about the different types of runners at a clinic he put on in Rochester, NY before the Club Cross Country race in 2005.  One of the things that Jack suggested with my training was to take away one workout and make one bigger for a greater stimulus.  This has been confirmed by talking with Janet Cherobon’s husband about her training under Jack Daniels in 2011.  Also, he suggested increasing my recovery time between hard workouts and taught me how to recover with ice baths after hard workouts, and incorporating extra recovery sessions of easy running, pool running, biking, and other modalities to hasten recovery.  I also learned about how to incorporate altitude training with altitude tents and altitude training into a successful training program.

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Irv Ray - I met Irv Ray while still in college but got to know him really well in Mammoth Lakes, CA while serving on staff with the Altitude Project in 04-09.  Irv did an interesting study on the difference between Haile Gebrselassie (World record holder at the time for 10,000m) and Meb Keflzighi (U.S. record holder for 10k) where he timed for a 10k the amount of time that both athletes spent on the ground.  He concluded that Haile spent .001 seconds less per stride on the ground than Meb and that adding this up for 10,000m accounted for the nearly 1min difference in the World and U.S. record.  After spending time in Morrocco and Kenya observing their training programs he concluded that one of the main differences in U.S. runners and Foreign runners was the amount of time and attention that was given to drills and form running.  The Kenyan’s focused on never straining during training and always having good form where the Moroccan’s did extensive drills and uphill sprints to improve economy.  I have incorporated all of these ideas in my training and coaching.

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Scott Simmons - Coached me in 2005 while I ran PR’s for 800m to 10,000m.  His focus is on increasing the volume of training to result in greater aerobic ability while still maintaining speed by including hammers (designated intervals in a workout where you do exactly that, hammer).  He also taught me to include Long Runs all year round for continued aerobic development and taught me to include all zones of training all year round in the diamond “upside down pyramid” philosophy.  Predator runs are a key ingredient in his training philosophy that teaches you how to progress effort over a race.  This program is challenging and will teach you how to race in a very short time.

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Daniel Hill - Daniel advised me in 2005 when I missed the U.S. Trials steeple standard by 8 seconds and ran several PR’s.  Daniel taught me that you must get out of your comfort zone in big races and see what you can do.  He had me go out in some insane paces that I did not think I could run and this really opened my mind to the influence of positive thinking.

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Matthew Birir - Olympic Steeple champ in Barcelona in 1992 taught me to never give up.  He fell with one lap to go in the Olympic Final and clawed his way back to the lead and won with one shoe on!  My steeple workouts are modeled after his preparation for Barcelona.

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Paul Deaton - Paul is perhaps the greatest influence on me when it comes to viewing running as a sport that is a mirror to life.  He taught me that if you are successful in the sport while in college you will be a success in life after as a husband, father, in your job, and in relationships.  This is the most important lesson from a coach that any athlete can learn.

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Coach Daniel Seo

Coach Daniel Seo

Daniel Seo is a running coach at GoGo Running. As a Guest Advocate at Big Peach Running Company Coach Daniel has had the privilege of working with all levels of runners and walkers on a daily basis.

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In 2003, he began to run because he wanted to quit smoking and lose some weight. Weighing in at 200 pounds (at 5’6”) and smoking a pack a day Daniel knew that something had to change. Growing up he thought he was not athletic nor did he play sports. However, one day while at a friend’s apartment gym Daniel got on a treadmill and his life has never be the same! First it was only one mile per day, five days a week. By the 4th week, he had had quit smoking and gradually, as time moved on, he lost 60 pounds.

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The next step for him was signing up for some races. Starting with a 5k, working and then working his way up to a 10K and then a half marathon. The biggest step for Daniel however was yet to come. Daniel set a goal to run his first full marathon, on the hardest course he could find, The Atlanta Marathon. He then planned to use this race to qualify to run the Boston Marathon. It was at this time that Daniel decided to hire a running coach and a nutritionist of his own.

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In 2006, after training his butt off, he ran his first marathon with a time of 3:06:27 which qualified him for the Boston Marathon! Since then, he has run 13 other marathons, with 11 of those being Boston Qualifiers. Needless to say, in Coach Daniel’s words He has “fallen head over heels for running.”

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Daniel never stop believing and dreaming.

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Daniel's Current PRs:

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Marathon: 2:42:50

Half Marathon: 1:17:09

15k: 57:48

10K: 35:44

5K: 16:57

 

 

Daniel:

 

“I still have a vision to one day run the Olympic Marathon and run into the Olympic Stadium. I will never stop believing and pushing myself and as a USA Track & Field Level 1 Certified Coach, I bring this same type of belief and determination when coaching my clients as well.

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The pillars of my training and coaching can be summed up into two beliefs: Consistency and Smart Training. This way of training has allowed me to train for ten years injury free and with consistent improvement.

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Whatever your training goals may be, whether it be a marathon, to lose weight, run your first 5K, or just feel better and reduce stress, I would love to help you achieve your goals and beyond.”

Reviews:

I had a bucket list item of running a Half-Marathon.  My experience with running was minimal (2-3 times week / 4 miles max each run).  I knew I wanted to be successful and I couldn’t do it on my own.  We have an amazing running club in my community.  Big Peach Suwanee hosts groups runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays; I’ve been running with them for years.  Daniel works at Big Peach Suwanee and I learned that he was a running coach.

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“I signed up with Daniel and it’s been the best thing for my First Half Marathon journey.  I’ve heard horror stories from folks who wished they would have had a trainer for their first Half.  He took my age, sex, goals, past running experience, and health status to develop a plan for me.  He has been very in-tune with all of my runs; checks in on me regularly, advises me on nutrition, sleep, running techniques, Garmin watch technicalities, supplements, and overall wellness.  He’s a true educator and has a passion for sharing his knowledge.   Sometimes I needed “the gentle nudge” to move on… he did it and I conquered (because of him).  He reminded me that I have the knowledge and tools to make my training runs happen.  BTW, I’m uninjured and feel fantastic and energized.  Again, I couldn’t have done it without his guidance and coaching. 

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Daniel has proven success!!!  His story is amazing and he continues to grow and improve himself all the time.  He has achieved so much.  I continue to be in awe.  If you have a bucket-list item you want to check off such as I did with running a first half-marathon, or if you want to achieve a PR on a race, I highly recommend Daniel!  He’ll make it happen with you!  You have nothing to lose!!”

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-Cathy Woodling

“I started training with Mr. Seo on July 10, 2019 and I was a casual runner with the Suwanee Big Peach Runners doing 3-4 miles every Tuesday and Thursday at the Suwanee Greenway.  I approached Daniel on/or about the first of July and inquired about a training schedule preparing me for my first half marathon. Up until this time the longest I had run was 10K and the best time was 1:29:25.  My best time for a 5k was 33:05.

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Following Daniel’s guidance and training suggestions, I am now running 95 to 100 miles monthly, averaging 12:20:15 for distances of 6-10 miles per run.  By following his training schedule (which is designed to bring me up slowly to the half distance) I find that I can increase my running distance with relative ease.  I do not feel as tired at the end of anything over 6 miles like I used to.

I look forward to his guidance and assistance moving forward to my half marathon.”

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-Scott Linson

GoGoRunning Plans Daniel

GoGoRunning Plans By Coach Daniel

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We have designed all of our plans around what is necessary for each athlete success. One of the key elements to this coaching service is that we take all of the pieces of training and show you how to do each activity with videos. New videos are constantly being added covering training information, instructional and follow along workouts. Whatever your age, competitive experience or goal, we have you covered. We coach walkers to runners, age group winners to National Champions.

 

Check out our Training Tutorial and get a lot of your running questions answered.

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All Training Plans Include

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  • Daily e-mails with your next workout keep you on track

  • Create your own routes or search our library of routes for tracking your workouts

  • Map, graph and share workouts with your friends by e-mail, Facebook and view in Google Maps or Google Earth

  • Upload workouts from one of more than 80 training devices (Garmin, Suunto, Timex, Polar, more) or easily record your workouts manually

  • Track your fitness and gain confidence

  • Get support and answers from top coaches

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Customized Training Plans

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These plans are for the athlete needing a customized training plan for their next race with a free online Running Log to record their progress. If you are looking for a plan that is perfect for your next race and you are focused on running a personal best than this plan is for you. This plan has the added ability to have your plan changed weekly and even daily to match your progress. There is a 3 month minimum and you can cancel anytime after 3 months.

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  • Get your workouts delivered daily through email

  • Use our online log to track your progress

  • Daily access to the GoGo Running Coaching staff

  • Learn how to correctly add core training, stretching, etc

  • Diet analysis and suggestions

  • Unlimited emails and Phone calls

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Customized Plan (3-Month Minimum) – $99.99/month

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Questions? Contact us at support@gogorunning.com

Coach Daniel also offers personalized coaching by the hour. During this coaching he will be available in person to review stretching, drills, and core from the online GoGo Tutorials.

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Hours of Personal Coaching

Testimonials

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“GoGoRunning has helped me to stay motivated with my training and racing. I trust his training and credit the well rounded components of the program for my success.” –Justyna

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“GoGoRunning knows their athletes as individuals and bases their training on what works best for them. He is not going to tell you to do something that is not going to help you reach your goals. He helped me to run my first Half Marathon!” –Josh

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“I started the Free Training Plan 8 weeks ago. You really get a lot of exercise in a short period of time.  I didn’t think I could run.  I thought it was too difficult to do.  When I started I followed it exactly and after a few weeks I could jog for 10mins and now I can jog for 25mins.  That was a boost in confidence and now I think I can keep going!” –Wanda

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