Could you benefit from Coaching?

You may (or may not) be aware that I recently passed my Coach In Run Fitness qualification – and that I have a role within the club as a Coach.

So in this weeks blog I’m posing a question for you…..could YOU benefit from coaching?

Firstly, let me try to explain what coaching can offer a runner – and who it can apply to… Well coaching is a way that you can be helped towards achieving whatever running goal you want to set. It could be anything, from trying to run a 5km without needing a walking break, to beating your best time over a set distance, to running further than you do at the moment – to getting quicker, or focusing on a race you have booked, or maybe you want to beat a friend (or LBAC!), or just to be more comfortable running at the same pace as now.

There are no set rules or limits. Coaching is not all about finding the clubs fastest runners and only helping them – it’s about helping anybody who feels that they would like to improve.

At LFR we offer two types of coaching. One is taking groups of runners and coaching them all on the same thing (last year we had both Hill Running, and 5km Race Strategy coaching). The second is a more personalised approach, if you want to focus on your own aims and targets. We will be looking to offer more of the group coaching over the summer months, including a repeat of both the Hill session and the Race Strategy session, but also a theory session talking about what happens to our bodies when we run, and how we can change this.

If you feel that the personalised coaching is what you would like, then the next thing you need to ask yourself (and I’ll ask you) is are you being realistic in what you want to achieve. If you approach me and ask me to help you run a PB at a race, but its only 2 weeks away, and you’re on holiday for one of those weeks, and have a Hen party to attend the night before too….well I’m probably going to suggest that this isn’t a suitable time for aiming for a PB. If it is the case that you want to aim towards a specific event, typically its best to plan for around a ten week build up to that race (it varies depending on the race distance and your current levels) – this is known as a Mesocycle. But before starting, I would also include work with you to perform a ‘runner assessment’ to see what you are up to now, and to see your current levels of Agility, Balance and Co-ordination – all of which can effect your ‘running form’. I will be filming you during this, so that you can see for yourself ‘how you run’ and we can then discuss coaching approaches to improving!

Of course, it could be that you don’t have any race targets or goals, but just like to gain knowledge in all things you do.

If you want to have any coaching, or have any questions you’d like to discuss, please contact me!

Coach Warby.