Be Your Own Coach

With advice from the country's top coaches, you can train yourself to run your best.

By Kelly James-Enger, Runner's World

Wanted: running coach. Must provide individualized training program and motivation; a PR would be nice; no injuries, please.

What runner hasn't wished for a chance to work with someone who can answer all their questions, tell them what to do, maybe even push them out the door every now and then? Indeed, the expertise and incentive a coach provides can be the difference between just running and running well. But the fact is that most runners train on their own. So we asked some of today's leading recreational running coaches for their insights on how you can do a better job of preparing yourself for your next event.

Choose the Right Plan

Training programs are like cell-phone plans: There are a number of good ones out there; you just have to find one that suits your lifestyle. "I build an athlete's program around what they're doing now," says Toby Tanser, coach of the New York City Flyers. Individualize your training by selecting a program that matches your time constraints and goals. Can you train three days a week or six? Do you run-walk? Are you racing to finish or for time?

"It may seem obvious to choose a plan that suits you," says Tanser, "but many runners use a program because they think they should. In reality, a program you can stick to and will enjoy doing is more likely to bring you to your goal." (You can get a customized training plan at runnersworld.com/smartcoach.) And if you're formulating your own, get it on paper. "One mistake runners make is they don't write out their plan," says Atlanta-based coach Roy Benson. "Over time, that can lead to inconsistent training."

Use Current Paces

Running at the right pace is one key to improving, so don't use your 5-K pace from two (or 10) years ago; base your targets on your current fitness level. If you haven't raced recently, run a time trial (two miles as fast and as evenly paced as you can), and use the average speed for your 400- to 800-meter intervals. Once you've established your paces, stick to them. "Most runners overtrain at some point, trying to keep up with inappropriate training partners," says Benson.

Take Good Notes

"The training log is the single most important tool for the self-coached runner," says Tom Holland, a sports-performance coach in Darien, Connecticut, and author of The Marathon Method. "The more notes you take, the better." Record any variable that influences your running — miles, pace, weather, how much you slept, what you ate, your stress level — and you'll be able to identify patterns and determine cause and effect. Say, for example, that you've been feeling sluggish during tempo runs. Your log shows you've taken two rest days between quality sessions and that you get eight hours of sleep a night, so rest likely isn't the culprit. But you have been doing your tempo runs after work and haven't eaten since lunch. Ah, you may just need a prerun snack. Over the years, your logs could reveal valuable patterns, like that you perform better at the marathon on 35-mile weeks rather than 50.

Be Flexible

Don't let your training program run you. If your kid's soccer game gets rescheduled on your long-run morning, do it the next day or the following week. If your program calls for a rest day, but you need to run hard because work was stressful, do your tempo miles, and rest the next day. Your plan is only that — a plan.

Train Yourself, Not by Yourself

Every athlete learns from others, so read forums and training articles, ask more seasoned runners for advice, or hook up with a club for group long runs. By paying attention to how others train and filtering the information through your own experience, you'll gain insight into what works for you. And add technology to your list of resources. "A heart-rate monitor or a speed-and-distance device can give you valuable, objective information," says Holland. "It helps to be more scientific when you're on your own."

Evaluate Your Progress

One of the hardest parts of being your own coach is determining whether your training is going well. First, look for improvements. "Maybe you're running the same times at a lower heart rate, or you can run more intervals at the same pace," says April Powers, head coach for Team in Training in San Francisco. Other signs of success: Your threshold workouts feel easier; your long runs leave you less fatigued; or you felt strong during a midtraining race.

Second, check for signs of overtraining, which include a constant feeling of exhaustion, nagging injuries, a consistently higher-than-normal resting heart rate, and loss of interest in running. The most common reason for overtraining is insufficient recovery. Recovery — easy and full rest days — allows the body to repair, which is as essential for improvement as hard 800s. Always separate quality workouts with at least one easy day, take one complete rest day a week, reduce your training volume every three to four weeks, and run your workouts at the right pace.

Check Your Pace

Varying the pace of your runs is essential to improving — as long as you're actually running the right paces. "Too many runners try to pass off a moderate effort as an easy recovery day," says Benson. Over time, that can lead to fatigue and overtraining. Use heart rate or pace to ensure you're running your easy days slowly enough, run with a slower friend, or head out for a mellow trail run. And while you want to hit your targets during speedwork, "intervals shouldn't be run to total exhaustion," says Powers. Finish feeling like you could run one more repeat.

From MSN Health