mmmtjo wrote:
What was the difference for having a coach vs. doing it yourself?
My view: I believe we are all different, but I have never had a coach or used a standard training plan. I simply identified which type of things that works best for me after trying different methods; from having small amount in race pace (more over and under pace) to have the key sessions focused on race pace. I don't believe it would have helped me much to have a coach as they wouldn't have known what worked for me and once you know what works its fairly simple to set a plan. Thankfully I don't need too many miles to get to a good time, but need key long run sessions.
We are all different, but I believe before you get to an elite level where you need a very deep relationship with your coach that know you as well as yourself - the main advantage of a coach is to make sure you stay motivated and don't miss your workouts (which I luckily have not needed so far).
Thank you so much for your thoughtful and insightful reply. I think coach/no coach is obviously a very personal decision, but having done four marathons without a coach it was undoubtedly the right one for me (the key being "for me"). I have been running since I was a freshman in high school and have some level of "talent" (2:00/4:40/10:40/17:37). I also had completed four marathons (time range of 3:22-3:35) with fairly light training, largely because of my long history of leg injuries.
Working with my coach Matt Llano allowed me to ramp up my mileage to 55-60 a week while remaining 100% injury free. In addition, he provided me with weekly training plans completely tailored to my fitness level, schedule, and how my body was feeling. We also had weekly 20-30 minute debriefing/planning calls, and I could pretty much text him whenever and hear back fairly promptly (e.g., if a particular workout went really well or poorly). In addition, he helped me with race planning, preparation, and strategy (I did a 10-mile race and a half marathon earlier in the summer in addition to the marathon).
I am really happy with my results--in addition to the BQ marathon in very difficult conditions, I ran a 69:47 ten-miler and a 1:31:42 half marathon. But once again, if you are happy with your self-coached results (which BTW I am 100% content with my self-coached triathlon results) or do not have the means for coaching I completely understand!
http://achukumba.blogspot.com/