Part of the beauty of running is that it isn’t a complicated sport. It’s simple and it’s never-changing. Wherever you are, you can lace up your running shoes and head out of the door for a run.
What runner hasn’t wished for a chance to work with someone who can answer all their questions, tell them what to do, maybe even push them out the door every now and then? The expertise and incentive a coach provides can be the difference between just running and running well. But the fact is that most runners train on their own. So how do you run yourself to success? Here is how to successfully coach yourself and begin your self coaching journey:
Become A Student Of The Sport
Self coaching takes a lot of knowledge because it’s only you and that sometimes intimidating open road. One tool on your way to coaching yourself is David’s upcoming book: Take Charge of You: How Self-Coaching Can Transform Your Life and Career, co-written by globally recognized Performance Coach, Jason Goldsmith. Read this and this will help you to run the road to success by giving you the entire self coaching plan at your fingertips.
Be Flexible
Don’t let your training program run you. If your kid’s soccer game gets rescheduled on your long-run morning, do it the next day or the following week. If your program calls for a rest day, but you need to run hard because work was stressful, do your tempo miles, and rest the next day. Your self coaching plan is the only plan. That’s the beauty of coaching yourself.
Train Yourself, Not By Yourself
Every athlete learns from others, so read forums and training articles, ask more seasoned runners for advice, or hook up with a club for group long runs. Be that Avid Learner we so often talk about. By paying attention to how others train and filtering the information through your own experience, you’ll gain insight into what works for you during your self coaching journey.