Before diving into the reasons for working with a running coach, let’s do the unthinkable and box runners into totally arbitrary, made-up, overlapping boxes!
Five Broad Categories of Runners:
- Novices: those new to the sport, new to a particular distance, or new to a type of terrain.
- Returners: runners returning to the sport after an injury or break.
- Chasers: runners who desire to attain the next level of success.
- Stagnaters: those trying to break through a plateau or achieve a long-desired goal.
- Community Builders: runners who desire more interaction and growth within the sport.
These categories are not mutually exclusive, and you don’t need to box yourself in. You likely might find yourself resonating with a few. Regardless, these subtypes are useful for the purpose of this article. A runner in any of the preceding categories may benefit from using a running coach to guide them towards their goals. However, finding the best fit for a running coach requires an investment of one’s time and finances. How does one decide if they really need a running coach? Under what circumstances does having a coach provide the most fulfillment and the most benefit to an individual?
Who Needs a Running Coach?
There are many reasons that a runner may be curious about working with a running coach. Let’s break them down using the above categories.
1. Novices
New to Running
The Covid pandemic saw running’s popularity increase (turns out that might happen when you have nothing else to do!) with new runners finding joy in movement and seasoned vets increasing their training frequency. Better yet, the running boom has continued post-pandemic with increasing opportunities to socialize and race.
For many novice runners, hiring a running coach may sound and feel like overkill. The commonly held belief is that coaches are for the experienced and competitive athlete, not for “runners like me”. How does one know when they may need a running coach, even as a beginner?
A static training plan may be enough for a runner without any pre-existing health conditions entering the sport with the primary goal of gaining fitness. Additionally, novice runners have the unique opportunity to see a high number of gains in a short amount of time compared to more seasoned athletes due to their lack of training. Runners with an athletic background may be able to appropriately gauge how hard to push themselves as the body is adapting to the new stimulus of continual running or new terrain. However, it can be harder for novice athletes experiencing rapid gains in fitness to determine the right amount of volume and intensity that can be sustained over time.
A coach can identify the appropriate level of training and tailor it specifically to the individual. By helping to mitigate the types of overuse injuries and setbacks that tend to plague newer runners, a coach maximizes individual’s fitness gains. As runners transition to different types of terrain and distance, working with a coach early on can help to establish healthy movement patterns and practices as they are being learned.
New to Distance and/or Terrain
In addition to road running and racing, trail and ultrarunning are becoming more popular among runners and mainstream media. Recent findings report a 12% increase in trail running annually since 2010, alongside a 345% growth in ultrarunning since 1996! Such remarkable increases in participation indicate that a large proportion of trail and ultrarunners are newer to the distance.
Seasoned road runners transitioning to the trails face a unique set of challenges given the many nuances to environmental conditions, terrain management, and equipment. A marathon runner who jumps into a local 5K trail race is likely to be successful in learning from the experience without the guidance of a coach. However, a marathon runner training in the southern United States has a significant learning curve if attempting an ultra-distance trail race on the west coast with mountainous terrain, different environmental elements, and altitude. Afterall, you don’t know what you don’t know. A runner with limited time or resources to train and learn the nuances of running a particular distance or terrain would likely benefit from a coach’s wisdom and guidance.
2. Returners
Returning to Sport After Injury or Significant Break
Unfortunately, and probably news to no-one, runners get injured, often. Research suggests up to 70% of competitive and recreational runners get injured yearly, with 50 to 70% being caused by overuse. Running injuries can happen to anyone regardless of experience and/or training level. However, a running coach can help athletes identify any training triggers that might have contributed, hopefully preventing future injuries too!
When injured, a runner often seeks out the help of a primary care doctor, physical therapist, or sports medicine doctor. Many specialize in the treatment of runners and may offer strength training and rehabilitation exercises to heal an injury. However, there is often a gap in return to sport specific recommendations. For example, a runner recovering from a bone issue may be told to cross train. The specifics of how much and when in comparison to the running plan prior to injury may be more vague leading runners into unfamiliar territory. A running coach can work with the guidance of the medical team to more specifically advise a runner on the best ways to maintain fitness during the injury and create a path to return to running post injury.
Whether planned or not, returning from an extended break in training has its challenges. It’s common for athletes to struggle reconciling with where they were fitness wise prior to the break and currently. A running coach can objectively assess the athlete’s current fitness, then program the correct training at the right time. Importantly, a coach can ensure the athlete progresses from non-training to more consistent training at an appropriate rate that maximizes fitness gains while minimizing their injury risk.
3. Chasers
Reaching for a Personal Best in Distance, Pace, or Consistency
Once a runner has passed from the beginner stage, improvement can become harder to attain. As general fitness gains start to level out, it requires additional stimulus to see performance increases. Here, a running coach can help fine tune the right amount of stimulus for them to achieve the desired pace and/or distance results. For those striving for big goals, breaking time barriers, achieving a personal best or qualifying time, having the support of a coach to build a plan, push training to the appropriate level, and provide a realistic timeline, could make all the difference in reaching such goals or not.
Runners desiring more consistency with training but are caught in a cycle of injury, life stress, or fluctuating motivation, can turn to a running coach to trouble shoot or align a training schedule that supports their current lifestyle. A coach can alleviate the stress of creating training plans that balance training, recovery, and overall life demands. This can be especially important for runners who have inconsistent schedules due to school, work, or family. Other athletes may benefit from and need a running coach to stay motivated and be a source of accountability.
4. Stagnaters
Assistance in Breaking Through a Plateau
Runners experiencing a plateau in running physically or mentally often benefit from a fresh perspective from someone with running experience. Sometimes, fine-tuning all the dials in a training plan can be hard to accomplish on one’s own. Coaches can also be beneficial in recognizing elements outside of a training plan that may be the cause for plateau. Think fueling, hydration, recovery, etcetera. Although a coach is often not a sports dietician, sports doctor, or psychologist, seasoned coaches can recognize common issues and themes that may be hard for an individual to identify or vocalize to non-running peers. A coach can assist with addressing issues of burnout without athletes abandoning the sport. They help runners avoid injury, and overcome continued fatigue, diminished performance, and decreased enjoyment of running and daily activities.
5. Community Builders
Desire for Connection, Learning, and Growth Within the Sport
Although running has become a popular way to connect and meet others, not every runner has access to running groups. Many runners may also lack the running social networks that allow them to learn from and relate to others. Again, this is where a coach can assist! They will be more than happy to feed your curiosity to learn about the sport. They become your go-to person to talk training nuances, and nerd out on the latest supershoes and tech!
Team Run Run, for example, not only assists athletes in finding a running coach, but works to provide greater opportunities for connection through insights into running events, resources for runners, newsletters, pre-race shakeout runs, discounts, information sharing forums among athletes and coaches, and more!
So, Do You Need a Running Coach?
Hopefully, now you can appreciate why the majority of runners who work with a running coach are not elite athletes. They are individuals striving to show up as the best version of themselves that they can be. A running coach is there to create excitement, and provide support and joy throughout a runner’s journey. They’ll help their runners continue to learn, push performance, and explore new boundaries that they desire, were unsure how to reach, and maybe never even thought achievable.
Sold on working with a running coach but not sure where to start? Check out Team RunRun’s coaching directory and browse by budget, goals, location, or level. With over 300 coaches, we have a coach for every runner!
Christina Mather is a coach with Team RunRun based in Atlanta, GA. She works with athletes running all distances from 5K to 50K on both the roads and the trails. She especially enjoys helping female athletes and those looking to balance training with a busy schedule.