Online coach

Everything about the training process, including programs, experiences, etc.

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daddy_runner
Bill Crothers
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Online coach

Postby daddy_runner » Tue Jun 03, 2014 3:11 pm

Anybody have any experiences with using an online running coach?
Pros? Cons? Recommendations?
Plan for 2017:
END-SURE 25k...done! 2:30:23
Spruce Woods Ultra volunteering...done!
Kettle Moraine 100
Western States 100 crewing
Falcon Fatass 50k
Superior 100

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rungeek
Tom Longboat
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Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Online coach

Postby rungeek » Wed Jun 04, 2014 9:58 am

Hi

I used an online coach a number of years ago when I had a chance to run a race that would likely be a "one of" and was outside my normal realm of experience. The tricky part was at the onset of our relationship when we didn't have a good handle on each other and I balked at some of her initial training schedules. The first thing she did was have me reduce my mileage and not run every day. When I fought back a little she just asked "Which one of us has won Race X, Race Y and Race Z and which one is running 100 miles for the first time?" I continued to whine a bit to an online running group (not this one) and was bluntly told "If you aren't going to listen to her, why are you paying her?" So, I started to listen.

Pros:
- She mixed in things like skipping rope that I would never have done on my own.
- She had some great ideas for workouts that I never would have come up with. As an example, one day was a hill workout of 3 hours going hard uphill and easy downhill; then the next day workout was another 3 hours but easy uphill and hard downhill. Another day was mixing stairs in with mile repeats (2 x 1 mile then two sets of stairs then another 2 x 1 mile and another set of stairs then a final 2 x 1 mile).
- She had great race day advice.
- She was flexible when I mixed the schedule up due to travel and would tweak the next week accordingly.
- the training was never boring.
- she worked snowshoeing into my schedule after finding out I liked to do it.

Cons:
- The main con was at the onset when we got to "know" each other a bit better. By getting fairly detailed weekly reports from me she eventually figured out what worked and what didn't and she was again flexible enough to adjust week to week.
- Price
- 0nline so no post race hug for my coach.



If anyone was training for a trail ultra I would highly recommend her if you can spend the $.

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ultraslacker
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Re: Online coach

Postby ultraslacker » Wed Jun 04, 2014 11:02 am

I haven't used one, but doesn't spaff do online coaching?
"You're an ultrarunner, normal rules don't apply to you." (Doonst)


First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~Epictetus

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daddy_runner
Bill Crothers
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Re: Online coach

Postby daddy_runner » Wed Jun 04, 2014 1:42 pm

Thanks rungeek! Now, as for the price... Was it worth it, and would you have been able to do it without the coach?

If I do pursue an online coach, I've narrowed it down to two online coaches, both with extensive (and impressive) resumes. And both pretty pricey.
Plan for 2017:
END-SURE 25k...done! 2:30:23
Spruce Woods Ultra volunteering...done!
Kettle Moraine 100
Western States 100 crewing
Falcon Fatass 50k
Superior 100

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rungeek
Tom Longboat
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Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Online coach

Postby rungeek » Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:57 pm

daddy_runner wrote:Thanks rungeek! Now, as for the price... Was it worth it, and would you have been able to do it without the coach?

If I do pursue an online coach, I've narrowed it down to two online coaches, both with extensive (and impressive) resumes. And both pretty pricey.



At the time it was about $150/month and I signed up for the 7 months leading up to my race. Her rates have almost doubled since then so at her current rates I probably wouldn't have done it. Given that I viewed Western States as once in a lifetime bucket list event for me I wanted to give myself as good a chance to finish as possible which is why I went looking for a coach. I give Coach Lisa a fair bit of credit for getting me to the starting line healthy and as ready as I could be for the race. Having a coach gave me the extra confidence I think I needed to run 100 miles.

Could I have done it without her? I'd love to say unequivocally YES but I have a history of showing up for target races injured or semi-injured. That wasn't the case this time so she gets credit for that. I'd say my chances of finishing WS without her would be 80:20 in my favour but the chances of finishing in the same time and as healthy as I did at less than 50:50.

I hope that helps. :)

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Avis
Jerome Drayton
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Re: Online coach

Postby Avis » Wed Jun 04, 2014 5:15 pm

Just curious--why an online coach instead of an in-person coach?
"We are made of dreams and bones."
--The Garden Song

"By perseverance, the snail reached the ark."
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Spirit Unleashed
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Re: Online coach

Postby Spirit Unleashed » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:19 pm

Lisa Bachen?
She would be fabulous.
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Jwolf
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Re: Online coach

Postby Jwolf » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:29 pm

I have worked with two different online coaches and really enjoyed the experience both times. Both were guys I had met initially online (you may have heard of them ;) ) and they knew my running style well before we started. I did get a chance to run with each in person but only a few times. Both had done other group-coaching but neither had a formal online coaching "business" -- only did it informally with a few people.

I really enjoyed it as it gave me a lot of one-on-one feedback about my running and helped me succeed in ways I don't think I could have on my own. I miss having a coach and would really like to do it again, but at this point I think I need someone to keep me under control more than challenge me-- I keep getting injured from trying to do too much and get faster. That said, I never paid nearly $150/month and I couldn't see myself paying that much (I paid about a third that).
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daddy_runner
Bill Crothers
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Re: Online coach

Postby daddy_runner » Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:49 am

Avis wrote:Just curious--why an online coach instead of an in-person coach?


Good question. Not too many ultra coaches in the area. Dwayne_runs_far is about the only one, and I don't think he does it any more. And I don't think it would be a good idea to have a friend as a coach. I want an ****. :)
Plan for 2017:
END-SURE 25k...done! 2:30:23
Spruce Woods Ultra volunteering...done!
Kettle Moraine 100
Western States 100 crewing
Falcon Fatass 50k
Superior 100

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daddy_runner
Bill Crothers
Posts: 2693
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:22 pm
Location: Winnipeg, MB

Re: Online coach

Postby daddy_runner » Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:52 am

Funny you mention Lisa Smith-Bachen. She's one of the two. The other is Karl Meltzer. I thought Lisa's price was the same as Karl's ($200/month). Maybe she had a price increase since I started looking around?
Plan for 2017:
END-SURE 25k...done! 2:30:23
Spruce Woods Ultra volunteering...done!
Kettle Moraine 100
Western States 100 crewing
Falcon Fatass 50k
Superior 100

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Avis
Jerome Drayton
Posts: 6539
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:32 pm
Location: Sherbrooke, QC

Re: Online coach

Postby Avis » Thu Jun 05, 2014 12:02 pm

daddy_runner wrote:
Avis wrote:Just curious--why an online coach instead of an in-person coach?


Good question. Not too many ultra coaches in the area. Dwayne_runs_far is about the only one, and I don't think he does it any more. And I don't think it would be a good idea to have a friend as a coach. I want an ****. :)

Good reason. You want someone to kick your a**?
"We are made of dreams and bones."
--The Garden Song

"By perseverance, the snail reached the ark."
--Charles H. Spurgeon

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
--Pablo Picasso

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rungeek
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Re: Online coach

Postby rungeek » Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:20 am

daddy_runner wrote:Funny you mention Lisa Smith-Bachen. She's one of the two. The other is Karl Meltzer. I thought Lisa's price was the same as Karl's ($200/month). Maybe she had a price increase since I started looking around?


My experience with Lisa was nothing but positive. We never did meet in person but when I'm less busy with kid stuff I'd love to attend one of her running camps. She never really kicked my a$$ verbally but she did push me awfully hard and I loved it.

As to the pricing, I haven't looked lately but I did check a couple of years after I had used her and noticed a big increase at that time; maybe it's been modified a bit since.

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rungeek
Tom Longboat
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Re: Online coach

Postby rungeek » Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:21 am

Spirit wrote:Lisa Bachen?
She would be fabulous.


She definitely was! :D

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Joe Dwarf
Bill Crothers
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Re: Online coach

Postby Joe Dwarf » Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:39 am

rungeek wrote:
daddy_runner wrote:Funny you mention Lisa Smith-Bachen. She's one of the two. The other is Karl Meltzer. I thought Lisa's price was the same as Karl's ($200/month). Maybe she had a price increase since I started looking around?

As to the pricing, I haven't looked lately but I did check a couple of years after I had used her and noticed a big increase at that time; maybe it's been modified a bit since.

I was curious so I checked. According to her webpage she charges $275/month for running clients and $325 for tri clients. This is for email support only, she charges an additional $30/half-hour for phone consultations.

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rungeek
Tom Longboat
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Re: Online coach

Postby rungeek » Wed Jun 11, 2014 4:39 pm

daddy_runner wrote:Anybody have any experiences with using an online running coach?
Pros? Cons? Recommendations?



Soooooooo.... any decisions? :?:

:D

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daddy_runner
Bill Crothers
Posts: 2693
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:22 pm
Location: Winnipeg, MB

Re: Online coach

Postby daddy_runner » Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:01 pm

rungeek wrote:
daddy_runner wrote:Anybody have any experiences with using an online running coach?
Pros? Cons? Recommendations?



Soooooooo.... any decisions? :?:

:D


I went with Karl Meltzer. Seems down to earth. This Saturday is my first race under his guidance, so we'll see how things go. :)
Plan for 2017:
END-SURE 25k...done! 2:30:23
Spruce Woods Ultra volunteering...done!
Kettle Moraine 100
Western States 100 crewing
Falcon Fatass 50k
Superior 100

User avatar
rungeek
Tom Longboat
Posts: 457
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:40 am
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Online coach

Postby rungeek » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:42 am

daddy_runner wrote:
rungeek wrote:
daddy_runner wrote:Anybody have any experiences with using an online running coach?
Pros? Cons? Recommendations?



Soooooooo.... any decisions? :?:

:D


I went with Karl Meltzer. Seems down to earth. This Saturday is my first race under his guidance, so we'll see how things go. :)



How have you found the training compared to what you ordinarily do on your own? Any big changes/surprises in the program?

Whats your main goal race this year?

Sorry for all the questions..... :lol:

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daddy_runner
Bill Crothers
Posts: 2693
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:22 pm
Location: Winnipeg, MB

Re: Online coach

Postby daddy_runner » Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:39 am

rungeek wrote:
daddy_runner wrote:
rungeek wrote:
daddy_runner wrote:Anybody have any experiences with using an online running coach?
Pros? Cons? Recommendations?



Soooooooo.... any decisions? :?:

:D


I went with Karl Meltzer. Seems down to earth. This Saturday is my first race under his guidance, so we'll see how things go. :)



How have you found the training compared to what you ordinarily do on your own? Any big changes/surprises in the program?

Whats your main goal race this year?

Sorry for all the questions..... :lol:


Mostly accountability. If I'm spending $$ on a coach, I'm damn well going to do his workouts. :lol:

He has me doing more weekly volume than I used to, but with shorter long runs on the weekends. He also has kick-ass race plans.

My main goal race this year is Kettle Moraine 100.
Plan for 2017:
END-SURE 25k...done! 2:30:23
Spruce Woods Ultra volunteering...done!
Kettle Moraine 100
Western States 100 crewing
Falcon Fatass 50k
Superior 100


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