Hell Freezes Over, Sort Of

"For the record, we never broke up; we just took a 14-year vacation..." - Glenn Frey, 1994

I've coached a small group of (as few as three to as many as a dozen) adult runners for six years, in the classic "stand on the side of the track" as well as the "in the pack" style.  Each style has its benefits and drawbacks; coaching revealed me at my best and my worst.  If an aspiring author were to write it without the benefit or hindrance of this blog it would most likely either look like a Charles Dickens ("best of times, worst of times") tale.  Maybe not.  More likely in the style of a Stephen King ("...heeeeere's Johnny!") screenplay.  As long as Jack Nicholson isn't playing me, I'm all right.

Coaching is stressful, especially if you feel the need to prove to athletes that the training will never get "boring," (news flash:  it will, get used to it...) or, worse yet, when a symbiotic relationship with a running emporium (''...you refer runners to me for training, I send them to you for shoes and gear...') transforms into "competition."  Add to the stress a pair of achilles tendons made cranky by too much hard training and not enough recovery, and life becomes a misery.

So, I took a bit of a holiday.  I retired.  I became a "gentleman" coach; a "quasi-guru" with a limited and non-paying clientele.  Not surprisingly, people "suddenly" become more interested in training when you're not available.  It's no different than the difference between when you're single and when you finally find that "soul mate;" every other person who otherwise would not have given you the time of day if your watch had stopped cold dead wants something to do with you.

Last weekend I decided, against my better judgment, to hang the shingle again.  I don't know why, other than perhaps the moon was full, the beer was cold, my tendons hadn't barked at me for a month, and the person who asked me seemed to be genuinely interested. 

This time, however, things will be different.  I have nothing to prove to anyone who shows up.  Except for the fact I can give them a good product at a reasonable price.  They will pay, I will coach, and they will work.  Seems simple enough to me.

The Coach's Role

"So, have you registered for Bushwacker?"

I asked this of Deena as we walked from the track after last Thursday's workout.

"Well, since there are four weeks until the race I think I'll wait until the last week. I don't mind paying a couple of extra dollars if I'm race-ready; it's better than early registration and then not racing," she said.

Such discipline, especially coming from the mouth of Deena, warmed my heart. Is this the same runner who went out through the first half of a marathon a solid two minutes-a-mile faster than she needed to - and paid for her indiscretion by losing not only the 26-minute cushion, but an additional seven, in the second half - just eight months ago? Who raced a 5K just because she "felt like it" during the last month of training for that first marathon? Who needed a complete pacing plan laid out for her when it was time for her rematch with the distance?

Surprisingly, I didn't feel the need to ask for her drivers' license, just to make certain I was talking to the same athlete. In the months since I've worked with Deena she's become more disciplined. I get a physical and mental status when I ask "how ya doing?" at the beginning of the workout.

Is it based on her own self-confidence? Most likely.

It makes a coach's job much more simple.

On my computer, there is a podcast featuring triathlon coaches Jimmy Riccitello, Paul Huddle and Roch Frey. I listen to it on those days when I doubt my own methods, or when I need a good laugh on the way to work. In between the jokes about bike shorts I'm reminded the coach's role is teach the athlete to think for themselves; act as a sounding board for those times when the athlete is less than certain. Those very experienced coaches consider the first year of coaching an athlete as one where the athletic skills are taught along the side of self-knowledge.

It's the point in the coach-athlete collaborative relationship to this point in time I've rarely encountered. But it's definitely one I welcome.

The Privilege of Coaching

When Suzanne or I mention the term "grandparent" in a casual conversation, especially when talking with new friends, many are shocked because neither of us look like we're in our fifties (more or less). I've approached grandparenting with much less fear than I had at the prospect of parenting. No children for me, thanks. A playback of my youth and adolescence, but standing on the other side of the stage? Given a choice between re-living the period between 1975 and 1981, and shoving a sharp stick in my eye; the sharp stick wins.

After the "am I really going to be okay at this?" feelings passed, I found that I do like grandparenting. It doesn't mean I'm perfect at it; there are things which still get under my skin. The benefit-to-drawback ratio for this role is, compared to my opinon of parenting, so far, much higher. The roles of nurturer, disciplinarian and role model, which are part and parcel of parenting, are augmented with a little bit of Santa Claus. Our grandchildren are young enough to still depend on either their mom and dad or us, but old enough to have personality and a sliver of insight, sometimes more than for which we provide them credit. Recently, my eldest granddaughter, said something that will ensure she can (almost) do no wrong in this ol' coach's eyes. Who knew a five-year-old would know Bob Marley?

The relationships of adolescence, adulthood, and the advance from child (to parent, usually,,,) to grandparent, and the analogies which may relate to the relationship between athlete and coach kind of leaped out at me as I was on my morning run.

As an athlete I often saw the athlete-coach relationship from the child-to-parent perspective: I do what my coach says, for better or for worse. I may, or may not, have a voice in the equation. And, if I decide to leave "home" after a time it's all on my own head.

However, as a coach, I find the perspective is not as much like parent as grandparent. There may be coaches who have complete and total control over their athletes, but those relationships are either unhealthy or the coach also serves as parent; coaching family members has pitfalls of which I will not go into detail here.

Regardless of whether we see the relationship between athlete and coach as "parental" or "grandparental" in nature, the coach has to be a reliable role model. Dedication, loyalty, work ethic, healthy lifestyle decisions; all these have to be modeled. I'd love to crack open a couple of brewskies, get rowdy and watch mixed martial arts on the television when the grandchildren are visiting but it would (probably!) be more acceptable to turn on National Geographic Channel or put a G-rated movie on the DVD player. Overtraining, overracing, or sloughing off a Tuesday night workout for no apparent reason other than there was something good on the tube are not decisions which will keep athletes on the training plan I draft, or eventually as part of the training group.

Those positive behaviors are modeled because of the privilege, not the right, of the individual to be a coach. It's the same reason I (try to) behave myself in the presence of my grandchildren; their visits are a privilege bestowed by the parents, not a right I can enforce without a high-powered lawyer. And why would I want the kids feeling forced to be with me?

So, not only do I need to display the right behavior and be a positive role model, I also have to do it with the utmost sincerity. Most children have highly-tuned "b.s. detectors." To know what a person thinks about what you're doing, take a good long look at their kids. If the child treats you with courtesy, decency and respect you can be certain that's the way the parents feel about what you're doing.

The only proof of success comes down the road when the "kids" go out to do their own thing. If they replicate the good behaviors we model and overlook the bad ones then we can consider ourselves to be a small factor in their success.

Being The Window

"People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history." - Dan Quayle

My wife has been blessed with an interesting skill. She writes a great deal about seemingly incompatible concepts like modern telephony/communications & their relationiship to anything else under the sun, & she does it with a style which highlights the underdog, the underappreciated, & the sometimes unseen members of the telecom world. She writes & markets to a degree which provides her the opportunity to interview or speak at major telecommunications conferences. Her greatest challenge is not always the naysayers or detractors in the industry, more often it is from the persons whose businesses have directly benefited, some to the tune over a couple of million dollars of income per year, by her efforts. It's particularly galling to hear those persons tell her, 'without me, you would not be who you are today.'

Stuff like that really gets under a guy's skin.

When I write about running & coaching, I try to use my foibles & mis-steps as an illustration of what not to do in their training. More often than not, I also provide these 'sea stories' to my own athletes & hope they will take them to heart. It warms my heart - after the initial fear I am about to be pummeled - to be accosted in a local bar & complimented on what I've done for a particular runner. Mark Twain was reported to have said, 'I can live for two weeks off a good compliment.' But, I've told many a person who has complimented me: 'all I do is provide the workouts.'

Regardless of who the coach is, or how much they're getting paid, it's still up to the individual runner to do the work. I can't go out & run the race for them. If I could, in a number of cases, the outcome might have been a little different. In some cases, I've heard friends & loved ones place all of the credit on the athlete, when I've known well how much hard work their coach put into polishing up raw talent & untapped potential.

This morning, as my wife was talking about something business-related, preparing for a virtual conference, I reminded her all she needed to do was be the window. What makes a window most effective is the fact it is there, solid, but allows light to shine through...an especially interesting analogy during the winter holiday season, when many put up twinkling lights & garland. It's not so much the window that is beautiful, but the things which are placed which draw the onlookers' attention. When we draw too much attention to ourselves we can affect the view through...I think stained glass is marvelous & it makes sunlight look nifty, but I've never seen a stained glass window I could see through.

So, if you know of someone who has helped in some way to make you what you are, take the time to thank them. But don't be fooled into thinking it was all them...or all you.

Who...Or What...Do You Love?

The missus & I had another chance to get away from it all...here, taking the kids & grandkids to New Orleans. I had to teach a seminar on Friday, so driving over on Thursday afternoon was naturally out of the question. However, it also provided me a few hours of my Friday afternoon with nothing better to do than point my trusty Scion xB in the proper direction, listen to some of the tunes I'd recently downloaded to my iPod & think deep thoughts.

It occurred to me I had not talked to my father in five weeks (his seventieth birthday), & it was not like I was going to be disturbed by much at that particular time...might as well burn a few cell phone roaming minutes, no? After a healthy dose of touching base with him, & getting safely past the casinos along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, one deep thought led to another & I wanted to know what some of my New Orleans friend/s were doing.

They had been on a cruise ship for a week with two dozen or more of their closest relatives. What had me marveling even more was the fact they were able to make it through that week without throwing anyone overboard...or consuming adult beverages. I knew they had cut back during the spring in Central Florida, but didn't know they had made the decision to cut back in that drastic a manner. They have their reasons, which are quite valid (even if I disagreed, validity is in the mind of the beholder), & I strongly applaud them for it.
The ramifications or the rationale for such decisions hadn't quite hit until I was driving on the trip home...Then I began to think about it all: You see, we didn't drink anything around the family because being (at the least) loose around the children and grandchildren didn't seem like a good example. There were enough people on the streetcars & on the major thoroughfares who were loosened up during the weekend, right? We went out for a bite to eat & to walk around with some of our friends after the kids drove home, sufficient opportunity to loosen up and enjoy some of the more adult-oriented venues we occasionally enjoy. And while I was loose enough to not feel major pain I couldn't help but see some of the really loose denizens of the place/s we visited, most notably the crowd in one of the city's most popular karaoke bars. Believe me, there are way too many people who think they sing well. Add an abundance of adult beverages & it's a Capt'n Fun Happy Birthday Song Audition Night, minus the cake (Robin Williams' 2002 routine about Japanese men in a karaoke bar after a couple of shots of Jack Daniels' says it best.). When you see them you begin to think to yourself, 'dude, is THAT what I look like when...?'
Right now I can say I do not have a drinking problem. There was a time in my life when you could probably say I did, but I think age & a beer-related accident (I thank God no police were around to see!) a long time ago (as well as a recent beer-related accident where we were the victims!) converted me from the quantity drinker to the quality drinker. That means I still spend the same amount of money on beer at 48 as at 18; I share/enjoy the six-pack of microbrews more than I did bogarting a case of Lone Star. I like beer a great deal, & there are days when there's nothing more wonderful after a very hot run or workout than a very cold beer. Of the friends I have, the ones for which I would say I would go through hell in a gasoline suit are very small; & the vast majority of them drink probably the same amount, give-or-take, that I do. I have many colleagues & acquaintances, however, who are perhaps one (stumbling?) step to the left or to the right of the classic hash house harrier definition: a drinker with a running problem. Love 'em, but it's the truth.

And THAT'S where my worried mind begins to operate. I know a person's character can be molded & shaped by the people they spend the most time with. Think about it: Influence of Others -> Thought -> Decision -> Action -> Habit -> Character -> Influence on Others. I've told folks on more than a few occasions we are what we consume, spiritually as well as physically. So, can you control your own cycle? Or would you rather smash the mirror?

'Beer commercials usually show big men, manly men, doing manly things: "You've just killed a small animal. It's time for a light beer." Why not have a realistic beer commercial, with a realistic thing about beer, where someone goes, "It's five o'clock in the morning. You've just @*#d on a dumpster. It's Miller time."' - Robin Williams (1986)

Get Some Changing Done

"You've been saying for the longest time that the time has come; you've been talking like you're of a mind to get some changing done..." - Mary-Chapin Carpenter (2001)

The hardest decision to make comes when there's a big change involved; new job, new relationship, new commitment, new routine...I think you get the picture. Most times, these decisions aren't made capriciously, but after soul-searching, counsel & balance of the possible positive & negative outcomes. It's hard to continue to stay the course for sake of staying the course, especially when you know something different can be done. However, it means being honest enough with yourself to say: 'what I've done up to this point in time has not been successful. It's time to take a different approach.'

"...No one knows where they belong; the search just goes on and on and on, for every choice that ends up wrong another one's right..."

So, you have to be pragmatic when the potential remedies cross your desk, so to speak. I had a friend ask me 'so, what do you want to do?' when I first began looking at the options. Once I developed enough clear thought about what was really happening, it was simple to know the what.

I enjoy coaching & providing sensible guidance to runners & triathletes. Some even appreciate the advice & counsel - imagine that. And that's the fun part of coaching; collaborating with an athlete to see how they can prepare for best performances. But to get that level of interaction, there needs to be a certain degree of trust and confidence - both on the part of the athlete and of the coach.

Sometimes the relationship comes naturally over the course of time. Sometimes the relationship is built by money changing hands.

Once the relationship is developed, expectations on the part of both parties follow, especially in the areas of communication & discipline. I've wondered what people would think if I did not show up for a track workout (even after the car accident in January of this year, my wife & I called the cell phones of at least three training group members to let them know what happened). 'Ah, but you're the coach,' you say. 'You're supposed to be there. That's why you were chosen.'

So, why do I coach? Ah, it must be for something. My coach & his coach say it's for love of the sport. And I love the sport, too. But shouldn't the people I coach have that same love? If they don't have it, is it because I haven't instilled it in them? Does love of sport come intrinsically, or as the result of some pot metal/nylon medallion or glass/ceramic beer mug?

"Call it chance or call it fate, Either one is cause to celebrate; Still the question begs why would you wait and be late for your life..."

I guess I coach for the same challenge the athlete has: To make them better on the day. The athlete is the weapon & the battleground. And I am just another guy with a map.

Swiss Army Coach

“The truth is that running hurts. No one gets faster without meeting their personal pain barrier straight on. No amount of junk miles, fun runs or affirmations are going to get you over the hill at the five-mile mark in a 10k. However, what will pull you through is solid prep...”- ManciataNot everyone who calls me Coach sees me at the track two-to-three times a week. There are some runners who believe enough in my approach to training, my research and my work ethic to consult with me on a near-daily, weekly or monthly basis. It is in those relationships I probably receive the greatest level of reward; they are the ones who most consistently laud my role to friends, fellow competitors and colleagues. They are the ones who make me a more cautious training planner.
What makes the distance coaching relationship such a challenge? Communication. While I can scribble up a six-month half-marathon training plan for a friend in Canada I also have to take into account their life barriers; the obvious limitation of family, sleep, work, & realistic (performance, training) expectations. Not everyone is going to rearrange their life schedule to meet a training plan. Then, I have to teach them the language of my training, which my local 2-3x/week athletes learn in the first months.

Others don't necessarily need or want a plan drafted out for them, but desire a sounding board, a sniff test, if you like, of what they're going to do or how they're going to do it. Once again, we're talking about busy persons who have little time to spend dealing with the trial and error side of training. Since I have more time than most to surf the internet, read articles, research & occasionally try out stuff...yep, sometimes I'm little more than an athletic crash test dummy...my opinions occasionally count for a little more than the average bear.

The other sounding board aspect is the facet I most enjoy; working with the mental state of otherwise gifted, decent, humble athletes. I love nothing more than to be the guy out on the Sunday morning long run, dissecting, re-wiring & re-attaching the mind of people who need no major training revelations...but just a little bit of 'hey, remember you've done this, this & this...' perspective. I think my wife would call me the memory tank...because I can refer back to some race performance or some past conversation or injury episode & explain the possible outcomes or the root causes.

So, not every athlete needs the same thing from their coach...much like not every coach will have the same kind of athlete.

It's The Journey, Not The Destination

Every once in a while I get e-mails from running friends with questions about training. Most of my closest friends are either runners, swimmers, cyclists or triathletes. If they aren't they have some sort of connection to the sport or they've known me from my former life as a musician or a preacher wanna-be. Yes, I know it seems pretty strange to hear that last one, but I did aspire, once upon a time.

Mike, I am a runner again and feel a need to improve. I think back to before my body rebelled and I get a little anxious to return to those days. I know impatience can lead to injury if I'm not careful. I am really asking an opinion on when to start pushing the envelope. I think I have made a breakthrough in the pace department without really trying. Since I have started back again my pace has been VERY slow in the beginning and I worked it down. Now suddenly in the last couple of runs I have made a colossal jump in performance. I am not sure how this happened because I do my best to just run efficiently and not wear myself out. So I am making improvements without consciously trying to. Recent runs blew me away, because the splits dropped from what I have been doing for that distance and my recovery was much the same as any other run. When do you think I should start doing some sort of speed work? I'm doing good and making my mileage goals but am still apprehensive - I don't want to break myself again. In any case I am ecstatic to be able to call myself a runner again even if I never get back to where I was before it all went south. Any suggestions?

First let me give you the good news. Consistent, steady-state running works as well as speed work to improve your speed, at least at the start, and for runners at our age. Now, I'll ask a rhetorical question: Why do you think you need speed work? If you are looking for a change in your training, you probably don't need as much speed work as you suspect. However, it's a nice change of pace (no pun intended) from doing the same route at the same pace day after day.

If you're looking for a change of training focus, then you can do a number of good speed workouts without depending on a track. All these assume an out/back route, but you can adapt for a loop course:
Progressive Tempo Run - run at an easy pace for the first half (time), then slowly increase the pace for the same period of time for the second half.
Intervals - run easy for the first half, then pick up the pace for 30sec to 1min, with equal-to-twice the time back at the easy pace for recovery; if you pick up for 30 seconds, then run easy for a minute, pick up for a minute, run easy for two... This is kind of like fartlek (speed play) workouts, but a little more structured.

Your jumps in performance are probably due to the patient manner by which you have progressed so far. You won’t be hurt by continuing what you're doing for two to three more weeks before trying a 5K. Once you've done that you might think about either another three-to-four weeks of steady runs, or adding in one speed workout a week; do the progressive tempo one week, do the fartlek-type the next. If you plan to focus on speed for a specific distance, I would use both of those workouts two times a week, or split it up with a weekly tempo run (75% effort for 20-30 minutes). Add one long day (no more than 1/5th of your total mileage for the week) and easy runs during the other two or three days during the week. Oh, and one rest day a week is a must!

Make certain your form is good throughout your workouts; erect posture, “plumb line” from the top of head to the shoulders, spine, and hips; relaxed shoulders and hands, with your elbows bent at no less than a 90-degree angle. You should propel yourself across the running surface as smoothly as possible, with no “bounce” of the horizon, and as quiet a foot strike as possible. If you place an earplug in one ear you can listen to how hard you are pounding on the running surface. When talking about distance running, quieter is always better and more efficient.

After three-or-four weeks of that, then consider another 5K as a test to see how you're doing. After a second 5K test you might want to add an additional speed workout during the week. Let your conscience be your guide. As my coach has told me in the past, running is a sport of PACE and PAtienCE.

I haven't felt much of a need to blather on about my masters' swim meet experience at Auburn this past weekend. Probably the best thing I can say is that I did some things I never had tried before and made it through without injury, or worse, death.

I had, however, an unusual phone conversation the afternoon after I got home. My ex-wife decided to call me after a 14-year hiatus; nothing better to do than to say hello and find out how my life was progressing. Before you think this was a less-than-civil conversation, let me stress that the last phone call we had, around Christmas of 1995, was, er, interesting. Interesting, in this case meant: 'boy was I a fool to run off rather than work out the marriage.' Sometimes the old phrase time heals all wounds is absolutely true. I was glad to hear her life had taken a turn for the positive; she had married a good man in her home town, earned her GED & was working for a major banking firm in the southeast US.

While I told her a lot about what I was doing here, I don't think she understood much of it. I definitely developed a different life in the 17 years since we divorced, one even more foreign to her than the one I had when we were married. As I hung up the phone, I realized something: Our intersection, while brief, was an important one in my education about life, women, leadership, and more. She's on her path, I'm on mine, and I hope she finds her happiness during the journey.

May the trail rise up to meet you

May your heart rejoice in song

May the skies be fair above you

As you journey ever on

Ever on, ever on

Ever on, ever on

In this planetary circle

We are but a single stone

Spinning on our fragile axis

Through the endless night alone

Ever on, ever on

Ever on, ever on

May your love be there to guide us

May it always keep us strong

May we walk within your footsteps

As you lead us ever on

Ever on, ever on

Ever on, ever on

Ever on, ever on

Ever on, ever on

Dan Fogelberg (1951-2008)

Getting To Know Me

I've been fortunate to learn a lot about the athletes I coach from the period of time when I was in an apprenticeship of sorts; my coach was still here and running the majority of the workouts. I had the time and opportunity to ask many questions of my coach about coaching and training, and I had many opportunities to learn what made many of my fellow athletes tick during the trial of miles...Sunday morning runs of 8-13 miles, followed by hanging out in the parking lot trying to cool off and rehydrate.

There are times a simple questionnaire would do just the same. It's not as fun as learning over the course of miles, but... So for the benefit of the less-experienced athletes I encounter, here are a few slivers of information about me. (You can sing the song from The King & I, if you see fit!) Enjoy!

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not at all. Suzanne asks me to write in a book she's compiling for our grandchildren; block letters look so un-cultured.
FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Anything close to real meat, e.g., corned beef, pastrami, etc.
DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No kids.
DO YOU USE SARCASM? When good advice and counsel fails.
WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? At least once.
FAVORITE CEREAL? Raisin Bran.
DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No, They're not tied in the first place.

FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Free! Cold!

FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I am one of the first people to compliment or comment on a friend's hairdo/haircut. Women love it.

LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Unable to prove I'm serious; I used to be a class clown.
WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? A couple of friends from my past, between 1992 and 2002. Christian & Petra in Germany, Laura & Jason in TN. Coach & Pat in OH.
FAVORITE COLOR? Black.
FAVORITE SMELL? Hair that has been recently shampooed. Honorable mention: Swimming pool.
FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Hockey, Triathlon, Cycling, Swimming, Track & Field.
FAVORITE FOOD? Chinese. But most anything is good.
SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings. I hate horror flicks.

SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer during the evening, winter during the daytime.

FAVORITE DESSERT? Any, as long as I've had my workout.

WHAT ARE YOU READING NOW? Will/Ariel Durant's History of the World, Volume 10(?): Rousseau and Revolution. Also reading David Maraniss' Rome 1960: The Olympics Which Changed Everything.
FAVORITE SOUND(S)? Opening of a beer bottle. Joyous whining of Rubin, my greyhound, when I come home. Ring tone of my cell phone when Suzanne calls.
ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? The Beatles. That's like asking "Bach or Vanilla Ice."
FARTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Dubai, UAE (7865mi); Busan, S. Korea (7330mi).
SPECIAL TALENT? Ask my many admirers. Some would say near-photographic memory.
HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE? We met through Yahoo! First date at Hub Stacy's.
CUP HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? In need of a refill!

CHOOSE FIVE DINNER GUESTS: Paulo Freire (Brazilian educator/social activist), Thomas Jefferson, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Siddartha Gautama (Buddha), Saul (Paul) of Tarsus. Honorable mentions: Bill Bowerman, Percy Cerruty, Henri Desgranges, Steve Prefontaine, Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi.

Any questions you would ask of an athlete which would help you get into their head? Any facts or information you would want your coach to know before they started messing with yours? Let me know.

Set The Bar Too High?

Okay, so it's not strictly a coaching thing. But sometimes the role of a coach isn't necessarily limited to kicking the athlete's @$$ around the track or the road, trying to get them to work out, or ease up. Sometimes you have to get into their mind...which is almost as strenuous as the workout the athlete endures.

One word for all of you frustrated athletes out there: Communicate.

Clairvoyance is not a gift provided to the men and women who decide to coach. What we as athletes thought was omniscience or clairvoyance on the part of our own coaches (after we farted them off and did our own thing, then came limping back...) was actually prior experience, bumps and bruises. To qualify as a coach doesn't require (well, some coaching qualifications are based on...) a bachelors' or masters' degree in psychology, physiology, exercise science, and so on. The school of hard knocks often is tuition enough. I've limped along on the sidelines enough over the past decade to have a good idea whether a particular training modality is going to injure. I might not be perfect, but I feel I'm able to perhaps keep you from falling down a storm drain.

Roch Frey, Paul Huddle, and Jimmy Riccitello were discussing the role of a coach during a multisports.com podcast two months ago. The relationship between coach and athlete is dynamic, based on the need of the athlete. Ideally, the coach will impart enough sense to the athlete that their role will be less at the forefront...there'll be less of that '...hey, coach, you think it's a good idea if I...' discussion and more '...coach, I think I need to do (blank) in order to work on (blank).' Sometimes, even letting the coach know what the individual goal is would be a step in the right direction.

Case in point: I fervently disagreed with one of my team members running 12-15mi runs in the middle of August, in triple-digit heat indices. She mentioned that my old coach told her it was all right. I basically gave her the 'love you anyway, but I strongly disagree with your plan' comment. Finally, I found out that her goal race was the half-marathon in the middle of October and not the full marathon in December. 'Gee, if you had told me this a couple of weeks ago I would have understood. Duh...' Of course, when she told me her rationale for not doing a marathon I was a little incredulous...but that's all right. Funniest thing is that she's also a member of an international organization that focuses on education and communication skills. Uh, hello, McFly?

If you don't tell your coach what you're planning, he's going to plan for something that might not be good for you.