Why get a Coach?

"Its so expensive to have a coach!!"

I completely understand but could it be money well spent?

Yes, you of course can train yourself, write your own plan, download a free running or strength training template off one of the many websites out there, buy a 12-16 week generic running plan or use a running app that you pay a monthly subscription to. I've done each and every one of these in the past and do you know what happened majority of the time?....... I ended up injured.

Now, to be clear I am not saying that there isn't a place for these training methods, there 100% is but I truly believe it depends on how you are as an individual. To clarify, are you either the type of person who can use these templates as a guide and adapt it to your lifestyle, your ability and how your body feels or are you the type who will religiously follow a plan regardless of life stresses, your own ability and how your body feels especially if you start feeling a niggle or an injury coming on?

I am definitly the latter.

If I have a plan in front of me I would tick off every planned session even if my leg was about to drop off. If it was written down, I was doing it! This was a recipe for disaster and it took me a few years to actually work it out, ridiculous I know.

Many people believe that you only need a coach if you are lazy and unmotivated so you need someone to push you. Whilst this is obviously true it also works the opposite way around. A Coach can also be great for highly motivated people who believe that more is always better, which we know is not the case, either way its someone to be accountable to. These individuals sometimes need to be held back in order to move forward. This will allow the body to absorb the training, avoid burnout and prevent injury.

Obviously, I am a Coach but I also have a Coach. This may seem a bit bonkers to some but this is why. 18 months ago I was training for a half marathon and everything was going great. I PB'd the event and felt amazing! Buzzing from this feeling I felt invincible and instead of taking rest and time to recover I chose to do the following. Run 10 km with my running club 2 days later then the following day go for a hilly16 mile run, followed 2 days later by a cross country event at the most brutal of courses, Burton Dassett! If you know, you know! That was the straw that broke the camel's back! I will write more about this injury in another blog however it illustrates that sometimes we need someone to tell us to take a step back and allow our bodies to rest and recover even if we think we dont need it. I regret this week of running so much as the Proximal Hamstring Tendonitis I suffered then still makes itself known to me to this day.

So if like me you ended up spending a fortune on heat patches, massage oils, tape, physio appointments, sports massages or anything else that promised a quick fix to get me pain free and running again, maybe hiring a coach is actually more cost effective in the long run???

Please get in touch if you want to find out about my Coaching packages.

Burton Dassett

Proximal Hamsstring Tendonitis