Today I was to do a recovery run since I did a hard hill workout yesterday. I went ahead and got that in and the average was about 7:25 or thereabouts for 8 miles.
During my run I started thinking about the benefits of having a coach. Don't ask me why I started thinking about that but I just started thinking about it. Maybe its because I was reading a blog by a guy who was a professional Ironman athlete who was coaching others and coaching himself in running. The guy seems pretty knowledgeable, he reads a lot and has some insightful thoughts. I don't agree with a lot of what he says but he knows more than I do. Well he broke down and hired a coach. I think this was a good idea. There are several benefits to having a coach manage your training. One of them is pressure. When you build your schedule and start training yourself you immediately look at expectations. You start to make goals during certain time periods. You start to say I want to run a race at x time in y time period. Sometimes when you don't make quick progress you may have self doubts. So you raise the intensity, or switch workouts, which could leave you injured or without results. Sometimes it takes a cool and steady hand like a coach to tell you, "Look its ok, you are slower now, but your efforts will pay off at the end of the month". There is no panic and you can leave all your worries on their shoulders. A coach can also give you a very objective assessment of your merits. Sometimes we are a bit delusional and think we can just outwork everyone else and the success will come quickly. Sometimes we just think that we have more talent than we really do. Whatever the case, many times it is good for someone else to really tell you what you can and can't accomplish in the given time period. It's a good thing. Distance running is a very strategic thing and planning must be done with the long term in mind. That is very hard to do on your own. As for me, I'm glad I have a coach.
On a side note my ankle started hurting at work. It was sore from yesterday's hill workout. There was some slick and loose footing and I had a minor tweak in my ankle because of the footing. I didn't feel it at the time but I definitely felt it today. I'll skip speed tomorrow and take it easy again.
Adios,
Bill
Posts
2 comments:
Good post, and very true words. It helps to see the value of a good coach when Sean is that coach. Sometimes, if you end up with a coach that your running and her/his coaching don't go well together, you can be disillusioned into thinking that you can make a better go on your own.
Sam,
I can imagine that it can be very frustrating to the runner and the coach when there is disagreement about the coach's strategy. I'm glad I have not had to deal with that.
Bill
Post a Comment