Coaching can benefit runners of all abilities. Although many runners have never had direction or guidance in their running they are setting goals and interested in improving. If you are considering working with a coach to improve your running read the Road Runners Club of America’s ‘How to Find a Coach’.

Hal Higdon illustrates some reasons why runners will employ a coach in his article on the RRCA website

"Coaches can provide inspiration and information, analysis and applause, support and sympathy. They can design daily workouts and stand beside the track holding a stopwatch. While the availability of coaches for out-of-school athletes is, at best, spotty, more and more running clubs–including many member clubs of the Road Runners Club of America–have begun to provide coaching as one of the perks of membership, and the RRCA has established a program of Coaching Certification for Adult Distance Runners."

Certified coaches can be challenging to find but the RRCA and USATF provide coaching certification programs that can lead to you to qualified coaches.

Checking out your coach

If you decide your training would benefit from having a coach and you have found some prospective coaches, the RRCA provides some details on what to consider when ‘checking out your coach’: Runners seeking to identify whether or not a coach is qualified to help them might consider the following check list, developed by Benson, who coaches adult runners both in person and from a distance. Coach Benson suggests asking questions in ten basic areas:

1. Credentials: Ask your potential coach about his or her coaching credentials. In addition to the RRCA’s and USATF, several other organizations offer seminars and programs designed to advance a coach’s ability to train individuals in the areas of health and fitness. The American College of Sports Medicine certifies trained people as exercise scientists. The Cooper Clinic in Dallas certifies individuals as fitness instructors. The International Dance Exercise Association (IDEA) certifies aerobics instructors. That doesn’t mean an individual knows how to coach, but such programs provide varied knowledge that may be helpful in coaching.

2. Education: A coach’s educational background is one indication of his or her knowledge. If you plan to work under a coach, you have a right to ask whether or not that coach has earned any degrees. The original degree of choice for coaches was a bachelor’s or master’s degree in physical education. Those graduating from college since the onset of the fitness boom are more likely to have a degree in exercise science, sometimes a Ph.D. If someone has an exercise science degree, they probably at least know how to design a training program.

3. Experience: Making such a program work then becomes a matter of experience. Ask how long the coach has been coaching. Equally important, what kind of runners has he or she coached? Coaching an adult to run 10-K races is significantly different from coaching high school cross-country runners. Coaching marathoners requires a still different approach. Just because someone was an elite runner capable of winning races does not qualify that person to instruct others. In fact, that person’s experience may interfere with his or her ability to relate to the problems of less-gifted, or less-dedicated, athletes.

4. Success: Coupled with experience, what success has your new coach achieved working with runners similar to you? If you were about to have arthroscopic surgery on your knee, you would legitimately want to know whether your doctor had performed previous operations on runners. Be similarly fussy about picking a running coach. Ask for references of runners he or she has coached–and how well they have run. Warning: Success is not measured only by titles won or records set. Someone finishing their first marathon in five hours may be as great a success story as another runner who qualifies for the Olympic team.

5. System: What kind of system does the coach use? Is it a highly structured program that involves a specific time commitment on the part of those being coached? Will you meet regularly, or not at all? If the coach requires your attendance at practice three times a week (a not unreasonable request), you have to decide whether or not you can make that commitment. Most coaches develop ways in which they interact with (i.e., coach) their athletes. How will that coach/athlete interaction be structured? This is particularly important if you are working with a coach in which the only contact is going to be by mail, by phone, or by fax.

6. Consultation: How much of the coach’s time do you get for your money? Will you see your coach only as part of a group, or will you have the opportunity for one-on-one consultation and help in planning your training schedule and addressing your specific needs? There’s nothing wrong with getting your coaching help as part of a group, catching pieces of advice here and there on the run. But if your only personal contact with the coach is going to be talking to him through the window of a car before he drives off to his regular job at a hospital, you should know that fact in advance. If scheduled appointments are part of the agreement, where will they take place, and for what length of time?

7. Clientele: What kind of runner does your prospective coach train? Elite athletes absorb a lot of coaching time and energy. A coach trying to train someone to win the gold medal may find it difficult to accommodate the needs of someone whose goals are not Olympian. (High-performance athletes need to carefully choose their coaches for a similar, but opposite, reason: they probably do need more attention.) A few coaches successfully balance fast and slow clients, males and females, youths and masters. Others state specifically what runners they prefer to coach. John Babington, who coaches Lynn Jennings, works only with female distance runners at the elite level. He states that up front. Trying to fit yourself into a program designed for others with dissimilar goals does neither you nor the coach any good.

8. Philosophy: What approach does the coach bring to the sport? Whether the coach stresses high or low mileage, whether the focus of training is going to be on paced repeats or fast sprints, will determine whether or not you’ll be comfortable in his or her training program. One coach may offer a highly structured program, and expect everybody to follow it, while another coach might look at you and say, "Let’s try this." Either approach can be wrong or right. However, don’t walk away from a coach, because his methods are radically different. Sometimes runners need to change, which is one reason why they seek a coach. Most important, know in advance what to expect.

9. Cost: How much does the coach charge? In the past, most runners received their coaching "free" as members of high school or college teams. (Even then, they were paying indirectly in the form of taxes and/or tuition.) With the increase in demand by adults for coaching help, paid relationships have more recently begun to develop. There is no set fee, although monthly charges of $50 to $100 are common. Price depends largely on the amount of services rendered–or demanded–and the time spent by the coach. Some coaches charge by the month; some by the year. Others are involved in programs or classes for which there is a set fee. Coaches working with elite athletes sometimes earn a percentage of prize money won. And many coaches don’t expect to be paid, and may prefer no payment, feeling it dilutes the reason for their commitment. One coach working with a young athlete rejected repeated offers by a parent for payment. Give me something for Christmas, said the coach finally. (The thankful parent spent $500 on the present!) You wouldn’t walk into a running store and buy a pair of shoes without first asking the price. In choosing a coach, ask for a complete breakdown of services and charges. Whether the coach accepts cash, checks or payment by Visa also tells you something about the operation. So does how the coach advertises his or her services.

10. Termination: Sometimes, no matter how carefully you pick and choose your coach, you may not be happy. Or, you may become injured, thus unable to participate. Anticipating a divorce is not a comfortable way to begin any relationship, but you have the right to know whether you can terminate your agreement and recoup your money, or stop payments. This may be particularly important if you have agreed to work with a coach, or join a program, for a period of time. Remember, however, that much of a coach’s time and psychic commitment may come in designing your initial program. Knowing the rules in advance will lessen problems if you need to ask for a refund.

Inevitably, there is no set way by which a runner can determine whether or not a chosen coach is competent, or will be able to provide the necessary help that runner desires and deserves. In the end, it often comes down to a matter of chemistry as to whether or not coach and athlete can and will work successfully together. Using the above checklist before entering into a coach/athlete relationship will increase your chances of achieving success.

To enjoy the complete article by Hal Higdon visit the RRCA website here