Gaz has been with TeamBR since the start and has been making steady progress since. He took his first steps (maybe his last!) into fell running with us when we took him to the away day in Meerbrook which took us over the roaches. Although, in hindsight, it was maybe a bit of a tough course for the first venture! 😂
In TeamBR we generally have a coaching mentality and try to encourage safe, long term development with a rule of thumb approach. However, everyone is different and sometimes they require something a bit more specific to them. This is the point Gaz had come to when he asked me to do him a 12 week plan. Even though he had been making good general progress throughout his time with the club and had achieved a few PB’s already, he wanted to get his 10 mile PB at the York 10 miler.
As always with a new coached athlete, I like to do an assessment, with TeamBR members it’s usually a bit easier because I have generally go to know them of the course of the time they have run with the club. Nevertheless, it’s always good to do the assessments as they can highlight issues that might not be as easily noticable during the normal club runs. The outcome of the assessment and the answers to some prudent questions, gives me enough information to begin drawing up a plan.
Plans very rarely go to plan!
Gaz kicked off with the plan really well, getting off to a great start, but we hit issues when he changed jobs. The new job role played havoc with his work/life schedule which subsequently affected the coaching plan. We worked through it day by day, sometimes he would message me after a long day at work and not being able to get the day’s run in so we would have to work out how to fit in his required training round the blockers. I always find this a good test of my coaching abilities, trying to balance life and training so that the athlete doesnt suffer from burnout or a lack of family life whilst still meeting the training requirements. But we worked it out together and managed to get through with a plan that looked nothing like the original.
A happy ending
Gaz did fantastic fitting in the sessions we needed to do whilst still managing his work/life balance, we had to reschedule and move things around, sometimes even miss sessions. But the day finally came and Gaz headed out to do the 10 miler. At 9am, I had just finished my long run so I sent him a quick message to wish him luck and possibly alleviate some nerves. Then I sat waiting for the results to come in, I was more nervous for him then I am on my own race day!
But then he, finally, messaged me – 4 minute PB!! I was absolutely made up for him. I think he was a bit happy too!
