Forums >Running 101>New Coach: how to present run-history
Interval Junkie --Nobby
In the next few weeks I plan to approach the community's coach and ask him to help me develop a training plan. I'd imagine the first thing he'll want to know is what I've been up to so far and how it worked for me.
Normally, I'd think sending him a link to my RA history would do the trick along with some notes on injury issues, fatigue and race performances/goals. However, this particular coach isn't very computer-comfortable. So, I need to figure out a way to present my training history in a relatively compact form that would answer any likely questions he had.
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to do this? Spreadsheet of workouts with time/distance/pace and type? Or should I go back over all the workouts and name them by objective: "6x400 intervals 30" rest, 5K pace" -- which isn't conveniently stored in RA anywhere unless I happened to add it to the comments section (and thus would be a bit of work to recreate).
Also, any suggestions on what questions he'll likely ask? I'd like to present him with a summary of those questions with my answers in case he has limited time to speak to me when I meet with him.
Thanks.
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do
Crazy thought: ask him what he'd like to see.
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Do you now your training? You should be able to summarize it in 30 words or less. "I started running X years/months ago, I've been running X miles a week, with an X long run and a workout, usually consisting of X or X." I can't speak for what this coach will want to see but that's all I would need. This sport is not rocket science.
The only time I ever worked with a coach 1 on 1, he never looked at my running log or had me write anything up for him. He just asked me some questions--wanted to know my race times, my goals and my mileage. He didn't really care what workouts I'd been doing.
Runners run
Fast is better than long
How long did you stay with this coach, and did you see the improvements you desired?
2017 Goals: Give up goals; they're stoopid
Give a man a fire and he'll be warm the rest of the night;Set a man afire and he'll be warm the rest of his life.
What in the Jehu?
Do you now your training? You should be able to summarize it in 30 words or less. "I started running X years/months ago, I've been running X miles a week, with an X long run and a workout, usually consisting of X or X." I can't speak for what this coach will want to see but that's all I would need. This sport is not rocket science. The only time I ever worked with a coach 1 on 1, he never looked at my running log or had me write anything up for him. He just asked me some questions--wanted to know my race times, my goals and my mileage. He didn't really care what workouts I'd been doing.
I agree that, to start, he probably doesn't need a ton of information. In fact, a good one realizes that TMI on day one is distracting.
I have had a lot of success with a coach, not because of the info. he had on day one, but because he was already very familiar with me.
You can't short-circuit the process, so don't stress yourself trying.
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
About 6 months and yes. He changed the whole way I thought about training and racing forever.
Would it be fair to categorize the coach as theorhetical vs. pragmatic. Which I personally think is better, because you learn the learning process rather than just receive a list of prescibed workouts.
I relate that to studying the facts of a case study rather that understanding the decisions and process demonstrated by the case study.
I hadn't really thought about that. I would say he's theoretical AND pragmatic. Mostly what he did was prescribe lot of workouts and, once a week, actually watch me do one and talk to me during it, sometimes making it up or changing it on the fly. It was the way he described workouts...the reasoning behind them. The way he talked about racing. It's hard to explain. And a lot of it took a long time to sink in...like while I was doing the workouts he was telling me, I couldn't process what I was learning. That came much later. Sometimes I still learn things from what he had me doing 8 years ago. I had a major breakthrough and ran huge PRs (a lot of which are still on the board) at every distance about 6 months after I stopped working with him, which was just because our lives went in different directions, not because I wanted a change or anything. I still saw him at races for a while after that and he would always talk to me about how things were going. I see him every so often now, and two of his granddaughters are friends with my daughter and I drive them to school a couple times a week.
Life is funny.
I hadn't really thought about that. I would say he's theoretical AND pragmatic. Mostly what he did was prescribe lot of workouts and, once a week, actually watch me do one and talk to me during it, sometimes making it up or changing it on the fly. It was the way he described workouts...the reasoning behind them. The way he talked about racing. It's hard to explain. And a lot of it took a long time to sink in...like while I was doing the workouts he was telling me, I couldn't process what I was learning. That came much later. Sometimes I still learn things from what he had me doing 8 years ago. I had a major breakthrough and ran huge PRs (a lot of which are still on the board) at every distance about 6 months after I stopped working with him, which was just because our lives went in different directions, not because I wanted a change or anything. I still saw him at races for a while after that and he would always talk to me about how things were going. I see him every so often now, and two of his granddaughters are friends with my daughter and I drive them to school a couple times a week. Life is funny.
I hear you Mike, I think more than ability, the reason that I had success (IMHO) in restarting my running career these past 2 years is because what I learned from my highschool coach. I was very much a student of the game and never accepted it when he told me "because I said so". I'd turn around and tell him,
"Coach, I'm gonna do the workout you gave, me. Just tell me why I'm doing the workout you gave me."
I think it's great your coach came and watched, I hear a lot of stories of coaches that send off the spreadsheet and wait for the next request. I don't understand how they can help without receiving or better yet seeing the feedback of the workouts.
+1. My introductory conversation with my coach went about the same way. Twenty months later, I've seen strong improvement (despite the setback of a non-running-related injury) and we're still at it. Honestly, I think the training history mostly guides the initial training load and content. After that, he'll see pretty quickly what you can do and what you need.
And what G'ville Kevin said.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Okay, wasn't sure what information would be necessary; I just wanted to be prepared w/o having to arrange a second visit (which my work makes difficult).
So, how does this sound (feel free to cross-reference my log for interpretation discrepancies):
"I started running 9 months ago to train for my first marathon in March (3:32). Since then I've been running around 50mpw (except for the last two weeks due to traveling (35mpw). No injuries so far. My week consists of [his] track workout on Wednesdays and a quality workout on Saturday (tempo, usually). My Summer goal is to turn my recent 5K PR (19:38) into a sub-19. One year goal is to BQ under 3:10. I'm running NY in the Fall."
Did I miss anything?
I'd tell him your MPW over the last year or two. March is very recent.
Best Present Ever
You walk in the shop on a weekday morning that isn't Wednesday prepared to wait a while. Bring your weekly mileage on paper and tell him what your near-ish term running goals are. Definitely don't email him anything. He's going to ask if you've had any injuries or issues. You don't need the level of detail that you're worried about. Tell him who you've been running with on Wednesdays at the track workout and how that's been going. Be prepared to be interrupted a number of times and to listen to a rant about something unrelated to you.
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