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A Different Kind of Running Coach

Introduction

When one thinks of a coach for an athlete, the first thing that comes to mind is the coach out on

the field, in the gym, trackside or poolside, yelling commands, blowing a whistle, and monitoring with

a stopwatch. More and more, athletes are looking to another kind of coach to support and

motivate them to achieve greater goals. This is the personal development coach, or more

specifically, a performance fitness coach.

This paper will describe the benefits of working with a performance fitness coach, using competitive

running racing as an example, to see how coaching off the field can also take an athlete to the

next level. For clarity sake, from here on out, the differentiation will be identified as the athletic

coach (on the field) and the performance fitness coach (off the field).

Who can benefit from this type of coaching?

Really anyone! But more specifically, a runner who is finding themselves in need of deeper

motivation, rejuvenation, accountability and a support system. The following profiles are some that

may greatly benefit from this type of coaching relationship.

The Novice Racer: The number of racers showing up as first-time half or full marathoners each

year is astonishing as well as inspiring. Being new to such a challenging event can often raise

doubts, frustrations and questions as to why they decided to take up this crazy, lofty new goal. The

notion of quitting may come up on multiple occasions as they put their body through new rigorous

routines and feel pains and struggles never experienced before; both physical and mental. New

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“Gremlins” (those doubting voices in your head) may rear their heads and speak loudly as one tries

to tackle this challenging goal for the first time.

The Recovering Injured: With more and more people putting their bodies through such strenuous

efforts, and often those new to heavy training intensity, greater numbers of runners are ending up in

physical therapy due to injuries. During the process of healing, as well as once overcoming the

injury, dealing with the emotional frustration of getting back out there can be a severe drain on

motivation, sometimes to the extent of causing depression, and engaging in self-sabotaging habits.

For the avid or lifetime competitive runner, taking a break or compromising goal times and training

intensity can create a sense of lost self worth, as this is how many runners define themselves. It can

be a deep emotional struggle in addition to the physical recovery

The Plateaued Runner: Often times, a competitive racer may see drastic improvements in their

times from race to race. This is a great source of pleasure, accomplishment and pride. Just like

any endeavor in life, a plateau is often hit somewhere along the way. While the athletic coach may

seek to help the runner vary up their routine, modify eating habits, or push them with the aggression

needed to achieve desired results, there are deep internal struggles and frustrations that go along

with this plateau that the performance fitness coach can help empower the athlete through with the

proper inner work.

The Burned-Out Runner: Many competitive runners do frequent races consistently throughout the

year, and do so over the course of their lives. While they have a deep, sometimes incomprehensible

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love for the sport, they can encounter burnout. Somewhat unlike the career professional hitting

burnout, runners hitting burnout often do not actually want to take a break. Something in the

makeup of this type of runner simply won’t allow it. They want to find a way to bring the spark

back, rekindle the love if you will, and continue on with the sport feeling the exhilaration and inner

peace it has always brought them. They need to be re-energized and inspired again. Perhaps come

back with a new perspective, a different passion driven purpose, or exciting action plan.

Getting to the bottom of it all

For the athletic coach, “getting to the bottom of it” may mean making sure the appropriate shoe for

the runner’s pronation habits or stride is being worn. Or it may mean ensuring the runner’s gluteal

muscles are strong enough to facilitate power and balanced alignment in order to prevent knee, hip,

or other possible injuries related to these physical running mechanics.

For this aspect of performance fitness coaching, “getting to the bottom of it” means getting to the

inner motivation. What is the mindset, or inner passion driving the runner to create such a goal for

themselves? What values do they hold strongly that align with these goals?

Sports psychologist Neal Bowes published a recommendation that resonates with IPEC (The Institute

for Professional Excellence in Coaching) coaching concepts and the Foundation Principle that states,

“Each moment describes who you are, and gives you the opportunity to decide if that’s who you

want to be”. The definition of this principle closes with the statement, “In fact, one might say that

the most enlightened goal could be to enjoy the process.” Rather than tying an end goal to self-

worth, all of the ups and downs experienced during training and at individual races can be seen as

steps to building a stronger athlete.

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Bowes’ recommendation for truly enjoying racing is to make sure the runner is process-focused and

not outcome-focused. When one is so emotionally attached to the outcome, stress increases and

enjoyment decreases. Again associating this with one’s values, we can see from the below grid that

outcome-focused goals are driven by fear based values, while process-focused are driven by

consciousness based values. The following are mindsets the performance fitness coach can look out

for and reframe for the client who may be driven by (and likely stressed out by) outcome-focused

goals:

Outcome-Focused Process-Focused

The runner’s focus is on highly ambitious,

perhaps unrealistic, time goals.

The runner’s time goal is based on training runs

and recent races. Focus is on mind-set, pace,

fueling and nutrition.

The runner’s confidence is based on race

times, and driven by how others view their

accomplishments.

The runner’s confidence is based on the ability

to execute a race plan, individual development,

and the role running has in their life.

The runner’s routine is strict, causing one

to train through pain and risk injury, and

creating feelings of guilt if they rest.

The runner listens to their body and notes signs

of trouble, backing off to give the body the rest

it needs to continue safe and strong later on.

Race day success is based on time and

placing amongst competitors. If a goal time

is missed, it is seen as failure.

Race day success is based partly on times and

placing, but heavily on the experience itself,

what is learned from the experience, and how

to apply that to future races.

Excerpt from Runner’s World, December 2009 issue

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This is a successful method from novice to advanced athletes. Much too often they are tied to an

external goal, and then create fear of judgment, hold higher value to where they compare to others

instead of how they feel about themselves and how far they’ve come individually. This takes the

enjoyment out of the sport, and without doing the inner work, one may just take themselves out of

the competition rather than giving themselves a break and allowing themselves to enjoy the training

by continuing at an aggressive, but achievable level. Or, if they choose to stay in the race, they

risk injury because of the stress their body is holding while they train, and the fact that they are

forcing themselves to levels they may not truly be ready for or comfortable with.

The realization that they can still be proud of themselves, are still growing in the process,

accomplishing great things, and will be supported by friends and peers, reduces the emotional stress,

renews the idea of enjoyment of the process, and restores the energy and motivation to keep going.

Often, once they have removed this stress, they find themselves achieving the aggressive goals and

external accolades anyway, because they’ve replaced the catabolic energy with anabolic energy, and

naturally, the process becomes easier with this reallocation of energy source.

Which coach is best?

The answer to this lies with each individual. A runner may desire only an athletic coach, or only a

performance fitness coach. Perhaps they want both, or choose to go it completely alone. If there

are inner boundaries and mental blocks creating lost momentum, it may be time for a performance

fitness coach.

Athletes are becoming more aware of this type of coaching, and leveraging it to their benefit. Any

kind of athletic endeavor at this level can come with different inner energy blocks and nay saying

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Gremlins. Getting to the root of why the client has assigned themselves certain goals and

associating their consciousness-based values to the process as well as the outcome can provide

enormous benefit.

Adding this kind of coaching partnership into the mix with a solid training program and a nutritious

lifestyle can only do great things in the way of renewed passion and enjoyment of the sport as well

as physical improvement and athletic accomplishment.