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November 12, 2005
It's Time for a Coach
I grew up with a coach. My father has been a university basketball coach for over 30 years; while he does not smack or head-butt his players, he does prefer a more old-school approach to coaching. He does not care if a player can slam dunk like Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins; he cares about fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. Can they dribble, pass, shoot? Are they STUDENTS of the game? He writes out 25 page scouting reports for his players and he expects them to anticipate and know every play that the opposing team calls. He expects his players to be in the gym, stretched out and ready to roll at 6AM. He expects them to do well in the classroom and if they fail to make the grade, the only game action they will see is from the bench.
So why in the world am I sooooo afraid of a coach? After speaking with my best friend, Carrie, we decided that it was time to relinquish control of my running (not all control, but a lot) - and inquire about a coach. I prefer not to name my new coach, but I hope I can learn something from his training philosophy. Maybe I am afraid to fail and that is why I am so scared to hand over my training logs and even verbally express my lofty running goals to someone who lives outside of the walls of my head. Maybe I am afraid of hard work and pain because deep down inside I do not believe that I can be the runner that I desperately want to be. It's too late to psychoanalyze the situation, but I feel an odd mixture of ambivalence, fear and pure excitement about this decision.
In other running news, I have been focusing on the big "C" - consistency. I am trying to run everyday ("everyday" translates into 6 days/week in my running world), and run moderately. I am hovering around 40 miles - and should add another 10 or so after tomorrow's run.
Blogging should become obsessive and much more interesting for me going forward. Instead of reporting that I ran another run of 8 miles at 7:30 pace, I might actually say things like "speed," "marathon pace" and "hill repeats." The future looks bright and exciting.
I am committed to three months . . . yikes!
Posted by bridget at November 12, 2005 09:43 PM
Comments
I will be interested in seeing how things go with your new coach. I have occasionally considered the possibility that a coach would be good for me, but I have always felt that I could do just as good myself. I'm probably wrong, but I lack the nerve to find out. Good luck.
Posted by: Dallen at November 13, 2005 01:13 PM
hooray! this is going to be an exciting time. and remember, you don't have to give up ALL control, just a little bit. i think you're going to amaze yourself.
Posted by: carrie at November 13, 2005 04:29 PM
I have a swim coach and i know that a coach can inspire you to go beyond yourself and achieve more... the most important thing is to have your coach take you seriously... this also includes you not letting them down....
Kranky (http://runkrankyrun.blogspot.com/)
Posted by: Kranky at November 14, 2005 08:09 AM