Since the beginning of February I had the pleasure of coaching Alexis as she trained for her marathon on May 3rd. I already mentioned how she did an amazing job in her race, but I asked her to share a little bit about her experience working with a running coach.
I know that personally I always wondered how it would be any different to work with a coach than to just find or create your own plan. After becoming a certified coach I started to see how it can really be beneficial (I am thinking of getting a coach once I start training again) so I thought it would be helpful to have Alexis talk about how it was helpful to her.
What it was like working with a running coach
“Working with a running coach completely changed my marathon training. I’ve been running competitively since I was in the 6th grade, so I graduated from college with 11 years of running experience dictated by a coach.It was awesome to have the freedom to run how I wanted when I wanted after graduation.
In May of 2013 I ran my first marathon, just a couple of weeks after my graduation. I had loosely followed a training plan for about 16 weeks, and I finished that first race in 4:11. I knew that was definitely not the time I was capable of running, but it was a great feeling to say I had finished my first full marathon.
It took me 18 months and two DNS before I completed my second marathon in November 2014. A stress fracture in my foot kept me out of a spring race in 2014. I almost didn’t run the race in November either because my training had been so sporadic, but I decided to just run it anyway, and managed a 3:54. I was psyched to be under 4 hours, but again, I knew I was capable of doing a lot better.
When I started thinking about a spring 2015 race, I decided it was time for me to take things more seriously. I knew that I could find tons of free plans online or use one of the many books I had on marathon training, but that just hadn’t been working for me. It was too hard for me to figure out what would cause injury or burnout, and I was really unclear on what paces all of my runs should be.
I’m an avid reader of healthy living and running blogs, and Lisa’s is one of my favorites. She just has such an authentic voice in her writing, and I can tell that she cares deeply about running and all of the different things that go into it. When I saw a post about her coaching programs in January, I decided to reach out.
Lisa could not have been more accommodating. She offered to give me a 4 week plan to start my training and then move on to personalized coaching for the last 8 weeks because that system better fit my budget. She was super clear about what paces I needed to hit for my easy runs, workouts, and long runs. And she even got me consistently foam rolling and strength training, all while keeping my busy schedule and injury prone body in mind.
Lisa’s weekly plans for me were consistent but not boring. I also knew about what to expect, but things changed enough week-to-week that running felt fresh and exciting for my entire training cycle. She was great about responding to emails, and she was super flexible about adjusting days for me when something unexpected came up in my schedule.
As my race approached, Lisa suggested that I go for a BQ in my race. I was psyched that she thought I was capable of that, and her confidence in me made me feel like it could be a real possibility. She was even kind enough to create and order custom pace bands for me so that I would know exactly how to run my Providence race.
On race day, I barely had to think. I just had to do what Lisa had helped make me capable of, and I managed to run a 26 minute PR and qualify for Boston, something that’s been a dream of mine since I was about 10 years old.
I cannot wait to run my 4th marathon in Boston next spring. I’m hoping to run a speedy half this fall to keep me in racing shape, and I’m definitely planning to ask Lisa to help me train for those two races as well! I really couldn’t have asked for a kinder or more thoughtful coach, and I am so thankful she was there to help keep me motivated, healthy, and strong for the last 12 weeks.”
Alexis really did make my job easy, but I am just so proud of her! I can’t wait until she gets to run Boston in 2016!
You can learn more about run coaching here! Or if you’re not ready to commit to a 1:1 coach, check out my Race Preparation Guide for the 5k to the Marathon!
Have you ever thought about working with a running coach?
Love this! Lisa, you are clearly an amazing coach, and a big congrats to you Alexis for the huge accomplishment. I also wonder if coaching would help me look at my running from another perspective and approach training in a new way. It’s easy to get stuck when you’re in it alone.
That’s how I feel about it…Im sure it would be nice to have a fresh set of eyes and different ideas to take training to a new level.
That’s so great! Way to go Alexis!
My favorite part of having a coach is getting the race day game plan. I love having someone tell me “okay miles 1-4 run this pace” and “miles 5 through 8 pick it up to this pace” etc. Having someone else tell me exactly what paces I need to hit to make a goal time happen makes my life so much easier!
That is such a great benefit to having a coach! Thanks for sharing:)
Awesome! This is so great, and we all knew that you would be an incredible coach. Now if only you and I can get our acts together (or, our bodies, more to the point), so that we can see some of the success of our clients!
Seriously, that would be nice, right? However, it was fun to be able to live vicariously through Alexis while I wasn’t running or racing over the past few months.
Congrats!! So exciting for your athlete to be so successful! I would LOVE to have a running coach some day. I really think it would be helpful and force to me to vary my training a bit and give my runs more of a focus. I’d love to run sub 305 in NYC this fall and have thought about dabbling with a coach but we will see : ) !
Wow, a 3:05?! That is an awesome goal! I do think there are alot of benefits to having a coach with a different set of ideas and such.
Not only a coach, but a group of like minded athletes to train with will help you reach your goals…
Good Luck
That’s so awesome! You are a talented coach, and congrats to Alexis on a huge PR! I haven’t hired a coach yet, but I’m sure I will once I get a marathon or two completed. Coaches off such a beneficial and motivating outside perspective!
I think it can be so beneficial! I am definitely considering getting a coach for my next marathon, whenever that might be:)
The best part of this is that Lisa gave you a big, audacious goal! She encouraged you to BQ — even if you fail, it’s good to make goals that you might not reach. I think that’s the sign of a great coach 🙂
I think that is one of the biggest benefits of having someone with an outside perspective to discuss things with. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own training its hard to see the big picture!
Lisa’s the best! And great job to you for sticking it out and getting it done. Congratulations on your big fat PR and BQ!
She really did awesome, right?!
Congratulations to Alexis for reaching a BQ. I’m sure that made you feel very proud and that you are doing a great job w coaching.
It definitely made me proud, but she put in all the hard work!
Wow congrats Alexis and kudos Lisa for an excellent coaching job! I can speak from experience from both sides of the fence: a good coaching relationship is SO fulfilling and worth it’s weight in gold!
I can definitely see that being true! And I think that be having a coach it will only help me to be a better coach by knowing what its like to be on the other side.
This is so awesome! I worked with a coach when I was training for Boston, he was also a PT so I got the best of both worlds. I felt stronger than ever and it was well worth it!
Oh that sounds perfect- I think if I hire a coach it would be helpful to have someone with a PT background as well!
How awesome Alexis! I love hearing success stories like this because it shows that working with a running coach certainly has it’s value! Lisa, you should be very proud that you were able to really help her!
I am very proud:) And that is exactly why I asked her to share her story- it seemed like the perfect success story to show how coaching can really take an athlete’s training to the next level (if all goes according to plan, of course):)
Congrats to Alexis on her BQ and big PR! That’s awesome!!!
I love hearing about your success as a coach too, Lisa!! I know you must be wonderful at tailoring a training plan to your runners 🙂
I would love a coach one day, but I’m actually a certified running coach too. And I’m trying to use myself as a guinea pig until I feel comfortable coaching others! (I feel like I need more experience first.) But once I get to a certain point or plateau I will definitely consider taking that step forward and getting a coach!!
It can be intimating to start coaching others but I am sure you would be great at it! And I think as I coach it will be helpful to have someone coach me to see what its like from the other side.
Congrats to Alexis on her BQ! It sounds like you’re a great coach! I’ve never worked with a running coach nor have I ever been involved in organized running. I kind of just fell into it. At this time, I am comfortable with the training plan I am following. I do feel, however, that if I was looking to become more competitive, a coach would be the way to go.
Thats definitely how I felt about it for awhile too. Its always been easier to just do my own thing…although Im sure I would benefit from having a coach!
You are def an amazing coach 🙂 I love working with a coach instead of alone (plus there’s accountability when you email your coach updates)
Yes, great point!
Congrats Lisa on coaching Alexis to a successful marathon and a BQ!! Congrats Alexis – such a huge PR!!
I think having a coach makes all the difference in the world 🙂