057: What Happened in that Race? A Coaching Conversation

It’s time for a look behind the scenes of the Real Life Runners, and a chance to listen into a coaching call.  The conversation this week is between Kevin and Angie about her latest 5k race over the weekend. The results were a bit mixed as it was a personal best, but it also fell short of the goal time.  

In this episode, we really look at the relationship of coach and athlete.  We cover how communication is key and how the long term development of an athlete should be at the front of a coach’s mind, even if that may have some short term issues.

We discuss pre-race nerves that hit Angie hard.  These nerves started about a week out and created some serious stomach issues the night before and morning of the race, not to mention the race itself.  

We cover the questions that Angie had after the race including did I put in the right work and enough of it?  Was the speed work over emphasized while longer intervals were neglected? Did cross training and strength work take a back seat to running and hinder the performance?  

The answers are small adjustments in the continuous relationship between coach and athlete.  Sometimes the training needs a big switch, this plan worked but was derailed by nerves. Even when training plans are on point, the ability to express the new training is not always perfect.  Through this discussion, and several off-mike as well, it seems very clear that some longer workouts and mental training checkpoints will significantly help the individual racing plans. Angie is definitely in better shape than last year, but just needs a few chances to express the new ability.  

What takeaways do we have for the general audience?  Avoid fads, distractions, the fear of missing out, and the tendency to search for greener pastures.  Running is a long term journey and the relationship between a coach and athlete takes time to develop.  Sometimes the best plan is to keep moving forward knowing that the plan is working, you just need the time to show it off.   

Resources: 

• Our Favorite Products to Make Healthy Living Easier

Hope you enjoy it!! Let us know if you have any questions that you would like answered on our show!   

Thanks for Listening!!

Do you love the show and want to help us to continue to produce great content for you?  Please consider becoming a patron to support us and show your love and appreciation!  Pledge as little as $1 per month or $1 per episode!  

Need a new running and strengthening plan handed to you every month?  Check out our all new RLR Tribe Membership, which takes out all of the guesswork, giving you a 30 min and 45 min option for your running days, with time-based and effort-based workouts so that you can become a stronger runner, no matter where you are right now on your running journey!  It also includes runner-specific strengthening, drills, mobility work, and HIIT workouts to keep you running strong and injury-free.  

Come join us for the Key West Half Marathon on January 20, 2019!  It is our first Real Life Runners destination race, and we would love to meet you in person!  We currently have a discount code for our listeners, so if you are ready to register, use the code REALLIFE when checking out on Active.com for 15% off of your registration!  Also, be sure to add yourselves to part of our team, Real Life Runners!  Come and join us!

If you have a topic you would like us to talk about, please send us an email at [email protected]  or [email protected] 

Come find us on Facebook and Instagram and say hi!  

Click here to request to be added to our private Facebook tribe!

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one!

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or Google Podcasts

Interested in Custom training plans and Personalized Coaching? Check that out here!

Check out our other episodes here

Don't forget: The information in this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.

*Note:  Some links above are affiliate links and by purchasing through our link, we earn a small commission from your purchase.  Your purchase price is the same whether you use the link or not.