Inside the training plan

Wednesday, August 13, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair. My coffee this morning is Adventurous Joe Guatemala Medium, a nice smooth organic blend that meets all my requirements for a good healthy cup of coffee. If you are looking for healthy and smooth, I definitely recommend this particular coffee. This week is certainly rolling along and as I bemoaned previously, I am in the midst of working with two running groups over the next two weeks, so no doubt that fact alone will blur those weeks. I most definitely have to think about my schedule and think twice about which group I have to prepare for daily. Thankfully my clients are understanding of my schedule and aren't demanding of my time right now. The 10K Intermediate training group that I am coaching in Portsmouth is in their final days of preparation for the Saunders race and I believe strongly that we have served this group quite well. Each runner has made such wonderful progress through a combination of mileage and track workouts. Some may not meet a particular pace goal, but I believe that each will run a strong race and that is really the overall goal of this training group. As a running coach, I continuously strive for the perfect training plans for training groups and individuals. While individual training plans should be unique to each runner because of individual variables, training groups can be a far greater challenge because of those same individual variables. Within a particular training group you have a varied range of runners who each have a different running DNA. With individuals we work with their particular needs based on experience, ability, health, goals and life style. With training groups we have anywhere from 20 to 30 something runners to try and accommodate with the same basic training plan. While it would be simple and less time consuming to roll out the same training plan each year, I take each groups success quite personal so in my 5 years of working with Runners Ally training groups I have not used the same training plan yet. With each new group I consider the previous years results, particularly focusing on what worked for keeping my runners healthy. Of course within a training group runners have varied goals and we certainly try to accommodate them all as best we can, but truly keeping people healthy and getting them to the finish line is our main goal. I have yet to come across a runner that doesn't want to stay healthy and make it across the finish line, but most more experienced runners tend to focus more on their individual running improvement. While that is understandable, we have to consider what type of training plan to craft that will get our runners to the finish line healthy while allowing for self improvement as well. Evolving to time based training definitely allows for us to help each runner within a particular training group, but even then we have to consider what will work best for all levels. Most of our training groups are geared toward beginner level training but what beginner means is often gray and that is why a training plan should be designed with great thought and consideration. For me the actual time with the group is more about fun, but designing a training plan is the most critical element of my job. Whether I am designing a training plan for an individual runner or a group, I spend many hours considering many factors and even when I have published it, I continuously question it and adjust it. My experience with designing training plans is quite extensive, but my desire to evolve with each new day and experience drive me to improve with every plan I write. At NFLR that's what sets us apart from other coaches as well as the training plans you find in books or out on the world wide web. Well, I have hung out much to long! Hope you enjoyed some of what goes on "behind the scenes" when it comes to preparation for training groups. Enjoy your day and stay dry! Mike