Meet Matt Van Donsel
Matt has been running for as long as he can remember. Even as a child, if he needed to get somewhere, he ran there. Late to class? He ran. Bored at home? You could find him running around the yard. Best place to bat at tee ball? Last! Because he got to run all the bases at once!
Matt has been fortunate to experience a variety of sports and have countless opportunities to develop his athletic background and coaching ethos. He realized the importance of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning as a collegiate rugby player-coach. To set the example for his players, he practiced body building and raced marathons while still in college. After graduating, he founded a rugby team at a local college with his best friend and coached them to successful first seasons, even defeating his alma mater in their first semester!
Matt ran his first marathon in 2007 and his first ultra in 2009. He has won numerous age group awards in races from the street mile to the 5k. In 2019, he won his age group at the Superior Man Triathlon. He placed second at the Zumbro 34 miler and 15th at the Superior 100 miler in 2023.
More than the awards and podiums, he is most proud of his most difficult achievements, among which include: completing the Zumbro 100 in the blizzard year, the Grindstone 100 in the humid year, and a self-supported, 1.6-mile looped course 100 miler with his buddy in the snow and rain the year COVID cancelled everything (Mt. Kenwood 100!!).
Matt excels in the toughest conditions and loves to show others how to do the same.
Outside of running, Matt holds a degree in Physics and has a career as an engineer in the healthcare industry. He is currently diving into the intricacies of entrepreneurship and leadership, and loves being a cat dad.
Coaching Philosophy
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Running Should be Joyful
I did not say running should be "easy", although you should have a fair number of "easy" days. The point of training and racing is not to suffer. The point of training and racing is to run faster or farther at a given effort. You will have hard days, but you can handle it by structuring your training and building your mindset.
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Consistency is Key
Consistency and progressive overload will improve your physiologic ability to run better. A coach's job is to ensure you can achieve consistency and improvement while maintaining joy in training, avoiding burnout, and most importantly, staying healthy.
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Performance is More Than Fitness
In order to race and perform well, an athlete must consider all aspects of their training, which includes what you eat, how much you sleep, the things you do to recover, and how you think about your goals. Achieving balance with training, racing, work, family, and down time are all pivotal to improving performance.
Next steps
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