The benefits of a running coach, compared to a generic plan.

Never stop striving to reach your potential…use a coach!

At its simplest, a coach builds a training plan around your own unique circumstances, which can include your current fitness level, injury history, personal commitments, sleep patterns, recovery capacity etc...also your strengths and weaknesses (speed vs endurance, etc.)

Most plans will be built on a weekly basis, and based on 121 discussions. This means that a coach can modify workouts when you are over tired, unwell or just having a busy day! Plans can be adjusted in terms of mileage and intensity based on how you are responding, similarly tweaked when progress either slows or accelerates. Most coaches will use software that tracks both fitness and fatigue levels. 

Your coach will be watching for any signs of overtraining, avoiding spikes that increase injury risk...the key is having less time injured and more time training, which is the real key to improvement. 

A coach will help you to train smart and not just harder, through intensity distribution (easy vs hard running), the proper timing of workouts and recovery, and race specific preparation. 

Think accountability! Knowing someone is reviewing your training, will increase your adherence, and should prevent your decision to throw in the towel when the weather is poor! But of course even when that happens you have someone to build you back up...mentally! 

In addition to a training plan, think of the 121 support...race strategy and pace plan, improving your belief systems including nerves, and learning from races instead of guessing what went wrong...your coach is always there for you, and will have experienced similar discussions before...you learn from their experience. 

Want to know more...you know where I am! nick@nickbishopcoaching.com