re george gandy not being professional;
loughborough is a fantastic set up for both academics and running. if u want to be professional in the true sense of the word then you shouldnt be going to uni!
george is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable coach in the uk, and i would day the best, although this is of course just a personal opinion. however, taking your statement of professionalism into account we can split this up into three three distinct groups;
1. training
2. support
3. lifestyle
1. training; george's "running" training is an exceptional tried and tested method of progression. he doesnt kill you in the winter, focusing on one 3k-10k specific session on the tuesday, the rest of the week being an emphasis on aerobic development. it has been proven over and over again that if one consistently follows the gandy programme then success is inevitable. examples include jack buckner, jon brown, chris warbuton, lisa dobriskey etc. in terms of the training outside of running george is an absolute guru when it comes to strength and conditioning, running a weights session on monday, a circuits session on wednesday, along with drills session (aka "speed prep") on a monday, wednesday and thursday. basically all basis' are covered, so in terms of training the gandy lboro programme is an all encompassing, successful method of coaching.
2. support; gandy offers advice to any athlete, and will talk to you for at least 90 minutes per meeting. i think a lot of athletes get the wrong impression of george, or have been told that "he only coaches the best". this is totally untrue. of course i can agree with people when they he is quite, but if YOU speak to him then he will help you with anything. carrying out his training programme to the "T" also helps. in terms of lboro sport support the place is second to none. ice baths, physio, massage, you name it it is there and open to anybody in the AU team. again many people are afraid to ask if they can use such facilities, but pretty much everyone can access them. Being a performace athlete (ie. have gone to a major champs or run fast) has its perks though.
3. lifestyle; completely up to the individual. in halls the food is very healthy, you can literally stuff yourself three times a day with excellent "running fuel" and not need to eat between meals. the only downside to halls is that you often miss the scheduled evening meal due to training, but what is stopping somebody making a risotto or something similarly easy and cheap to make? in terms of lboro's environment, it is very conducive to running, being situated a stones through away from the beacon hill country park, where most of the runners steady running is done.
now, after reading this please explain to me why Gandy is not "professional"