Coach Brian Vogelsinger: Transformative, Motivating, Invested
Written by Alissa Brown, Grit Endurance Athlete
Coach Brian Vogelsinger and Grit Endurance have completely transformed my running journey. When I think about my running career-there are two distinct chapters: before Coach Brian—and after.
It has been my lifelong dream to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Growing up, I watched my Dad race competitively. I remember when he qualified for Boston and that blue and gold adorned unicorn on his jacket that he wore so proudly. It filled me with hopes of someday qualifying for that race too. Fast forward several years, I started training on my own in pursuit of this goal. I ran two marathons, missing my qualifying time by 2-3 minutes each time. It was heartbreaking. Priorities changed and life moved on. I graduated veterinary school, met my husband and had three beautiful girls. With my 40th birthday on the horizon, I decided to start training again-with the seemingly impossible goal of qualifying for Boston. Following a Hal Higdon plan-I trained on my own and had a defeating experience at the OC Marathon in May of 2024.
Enter Coach Brian Vogelsinger. We were introduced through his brother Kevin who is a close friend of mine. I live in California so when Kevin told me about Grit Endurance and his brother Brian-I wasn’t sure a long distance coaching relationship would work. I could not have been more wrong.
Within 5 months of working together, my marathon time improved by 20 minutes and my Boston dream came true at the St. George Marathon in October (3:23:43). It was the race—and moment—of a lifetime. My goal now is to keep getting faster! I ran the LA Marathon in March, shaving another 10 minutes off my PR time-finishing at 3:13:53, placing 42nd overall female. Over the last 12 months, I’ve run two marathons, three half marathons and two 5ks under Coach Brian-all personal bests. He is the mastermind behind every training block-each workout is personalized to me and my goals. He knows my strengths and weaknesses and adapts the training plan to improve both. He is intentional with how he creates each block with my goal races in mind (like preparing me for hills with focused hill workouts ahead of a known hilly race like the LA marathon). We go over race strategy, fueling, pacing and recovery with each race and training block. And he caters to my daily commentary on every workout-providing me with helpful insight, critique, praise and support. The mental rollercoaster of marathon training has been harder at times for me and Coach Brian has been there every step of the way to understand, reassure and get me out of my own head. I consider myself a more high maintenance athlete-he assures me I’m not-but his willingness to embrace my need for more frequent communication and feedback has grown my confidence and potential just as much as the actual training.
There is no question that I’ll continue working with Coach Brian going forward. I tell everyone he is my super power, my magic. If you’re thinking about joining Grit Endurance or getting personalized coaching-look no further (although I hesitate to share such a sacred resource!) ;)