This is one of the most frequently asked questions this year by my family, friends, and social media followers. Since I began training hard to break personal records back in 2016, I have made amazing progress along the way, even up until this year when I decided to hire a coach. It was not that my approach was not working, but I felt it needed more. While training for the 2018 Miami Marathon, I used the same sessions week after week—a tempo run, long run workout (that rarely was a success), and a speed session that alternated each week between three different workouts. I kept this up after the race to train for the Boston Marathon a few months later as well. I was one of the frozen few that day who ended up with hypothermia and a DNF, but that had nothing to do with improper training, of course.
I took a few weeks off after that race and once I got back into running, I felt extremely out of shape—more than usual. It was like the brutal Boston temperature took a major toll on my body for 30 kilometers as if I got hit by a train and was still in recovery. It took me a short time to realize that hiring a coach would be the best thing at the time to get expert advice and guarantee to be ready for my Fall race in Australia. This was the first time I ever trained hard for a marathon during the Summer, with Miami temperatures in the high 90s and humidity close to 100% almost every day. Just a few weeks into working with my coach, I knew I made the right decision for my running future.
Structured Training
From ongoing research while coaching myself, I learned the importance of including different training runs in order to get fast. The problem I had was that I did not have much variety with these sessions. I would alternate between mile repeats, 800m repeats, and lots of repetitions of continuous 200m repeats. Not that these workouts didn't benefit, but it was the same thing over and over every three weeks. This would soon cause my progress to plateau. I am still prescribed these workouts by my coach now, but I focus more on longer distance speed sessions, since my goal race is always the full marathon. Including challenging sessions of 5k and 10k repeats is not my strong suit but it has been a huge factor in my improved fitness and most importantly, my confidence.
Experience = The Best Advice
What better way to be coached than by someone who has experience doing a similar training program and has the same ultimate goals for themselves? My coach, Luis Orta, is an Olympian and currently still chasing after his dreams of being a faster marathoner and going back to the Olympics in 2020. He may run a marathon almost an hour faster than I do but we both experience the same training pain, fatigue, and satisfaction. The advice about training, racing, nutrition, and rest is much more useful when it comes from someone who has 'been there, done that'.
More Than Just Running
My Olympic Coach includes a team of professionals who work with every training component. Not only am I able to get a better, more structured, customized running program from my coach, but I also have a dietician who specializes in sports nutrition. I have learned so much within a few months about my fueling strategy for training and racing, as well as incorporating the best supplements for recovery. I thought I was doing a good job with my diet, but there was so much I was not paying attention to that has positively impacted my performance. Since a major component to marathon training involves mental health, having access to a psychologist through My Olympic Coach is a game changer. Many athletes struggle to improve their performance because of lack of confidence, so getting the mind stronger for racing is key.
Most runners will either hire a coach when just starting out or wait until their performance is suffering. I did not want to wait until having several bad races to realize I needed more help, since marathons take several months to train for and you can really only run two or three per year at the most. If you are looking for an experienced coach and a program that includes nutrition and psychological support, I highly recommend My Olympic Coach.