*Each Sunday night I send an email Newsletter to each of the athletes I coach who train with me via 3-month programs. A few of my "Tips for the Week" recently revolved around my main service, which is the mental approach to training and racing. The following paragraphs offer some insight into how I approach being a running coach.
Scheduling and
Prioritization
These 2 terms are
synonymous to me. Scheduling is prioritization. Each week of a runner's program,
there are workouts highlighted in green.
These are the key workouts that I want them to hit no matter what. When scheduling gets tight, always
put the priority on key workouts.
If you value your race performance and/or improving your fitness, then
make these the priority. I want the
athletes I coach to look forward to these workouts, so I encourage them to let me know if there are motivational issues that need to be addressed. Adults know how to shuffle their days
around as they need to, but my objective is to ensure they are always
relatively fresh for the track/speed workouts because then proper
pacing, or intensity, can be learned more easily.
Structure &
Accountability
The training programs
are designed with the general assumption that the athlete will hit every
workout on the program, knowing that OFF days and recovery weeks are already
built into the program. I bring up
this point to remind folks that recovery weeks and OFF days are designed with
the assumption that you'll need them
at specific points in your training.
However, when you miss workouts, or a string of workouts, that will most
likely alter the program. Depending on what workouts you miss and how that coincides
with your race/vacation schedule, there may be a major overhaul to your
program. This is the major
difference between following an online program vs. having a personal
coach. A coach can adjust on the
fly and account for reality. I
understand no program is set in stone and that's a phrase I use myself. So, we have to account for missed
workouts.
The other side of the
spectrum is that I also assume an athlete I coach won't overdo it with the
training. This is my reminder not
to go above and beyond the call of duty.
The practical implications are that you may do too much, too soon. This is a relative variable, not an
absolute variable. In other words,
an hour run doesn't affect each of you the same way. Generally, I assume that a runner won't add any extra
running into the program that had not already discussed. I tend not to be an overly conservative
coach, but I lean toward the conservative side based on the fact we are not
professional athletes and we are built with more (specific) limitations than
our immortal running counterparts.
Bottom line: You should not slack on your end by always doing the bare
minimum (or less), nor on the other hand do I think a runner should try to be competitive against
the training program by doing more than what is designed. Weekly recaps are a great way for me
and each runner to have this conversation.
Runners and athletes
invest in DC Running Coach for many, many reasons. Many people sign up with DCRC to "have accountability
and structure in the training." Accountability is a sometimes too strong of a word to me, but
I get the point. You feel more apt
to hit the workouts and stay dedicated to training (and live an active, healthy
lifestyle) if you have a mentor and/or someone helping to guide
you. The programs that a runner
receives from me in the first few phases have more structure in them compared
to the programs they get from me after about a year or more of training with me. As I mentioned above, if a runner
misses a workout (or two) for a given week, then that typically shifts the
priority and/or focus of the workouts for the next week (or even within that
week). The point? I need runners to check in with me each
week. Therein lies the
accountability. I need a constant pulse
on the training. In terms of valuable feedback to a coach, completing a
workout and missing a workout offers the same value.
Are the athletes I coach
allowed to improvise when they need to or be spontaneous? Absolutely! Remember that freedom of choice and flexibility are the most
powerful tools in a training program.
However, my definition of "significant deviations" from the
program are usually what would cause an athlete to "draw outside the
lines" and risk a nagging injury.
I'm here to guide the training, which to me means keeping a healthy
balance between offering freedom of choice in the training and keeping the
training between the lines, or not flying off the rails. So, there you have the looser definition
of the word "accountability" that I prefer.
Finally, related to
prioritization, there is room to be more selfish in your life once you get
closer to your peak race and really want to ensure you feel great during race
week. To help you understand what
that means and to give you peace of mind in doing so, here is the link/blog
I'll be sending to my runners a few times in the Fall:
Train hard!
Mike
