Coach Jerry Ziak fell in love with running at the age of 10 after being exposed to the sport of cross country at his small elementary school outside of Courtenay onVancouver Island. 26 years later his passion for training and competing is as strong as ever. He credits both his physical and psychological longevity in the sport to his increased involvement in coaching over the past 8 years. Through teaching and exploring with others the best way to progress their training, while both enjoying the process and staying healthy along the way, Jerry has developed an approach in which he actively “practices what he preaches”.
As a result, in 2011, at the age of 35, he succeeded in having his most consistent injury-free year ever and capped off his competitive campaign (9 top 3 finishes and 5 top 10) with a 5th place showing at the National Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, qualifying him to compete for Canada at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships in Trinidad in 2012.
Over the years, Jerry has had the fortune to be taught by no less than 7 coaches, 4 of them having worked with Olympic and World Championship caliber runners. Jerry realized that each of these coaches had their own style and philosophy and that, despite any differences to their approaches, there were certain universals that each of them applied that made them successful. It is the identification and development of these universals that drives Jerry on in both his own training and in his coaching.
These universals can be encapsulated in the following 4 words: Health, Progression, Variety, and Specificity. In Jerry’s training programs you will see that all of these elements are addressed. He encourages health through the practice of mobility, form, and strength exercises, progression through the gradual and methodical increase in training stimuli, variety through training over a wide range of paces and workout types, and specificity through the inclusion of workouts that centre on the requirements (both distance and intensity) of the event being built towards.
Jerry currently coaches over 30 individual athletes (from beginners to 2:35 marathoners) and is the head coach of all the running programs at the North Vancouver Forerunners as well as the Wednesday night speed clinic at the Vancouver location. His personal accomplishments include times of 2:17:23 for the marathon,1:05:22 for the half marathon, 29:25 for 10 km, and 13:56 for 5 km. He looks forward to a long and healthy life of running and to encouraging and nurturing the same in others.
For more information on Jerry’s coaching and upcoming clinics please contact him at jerry.ziak@forerunners.ca.