Why a coach is super-useful in marathon preparation

Jenny Zaremba

Even the greats (including World Record Holders!) will say that they have never run a perfect marathon;  I think this is what keeps people coming back to the marathon again and again – the feeling that this time they can fix what was not perfect last time, and cruise to the line at 26.2 miles for the euphoric finish!

There are so many marathon training plans online, that there is often a sense that no-one needs a coach. But the challenge is not in the planning. The challenge is that pretty much no-one’s marathon build-up goes to plan, and the use of experience is to identify what to fix, what to focus on and how to be at the start on race-day ready to go the distance!

How many marathons do you have in you?

We love to think that we will run, and run marathons, forever. But obviously, that cannot be true! Maybe you are in the Eliud Kipchoge camp of running just one or two marathons in a year at your very best pace, or in the 100-marathoners’ club of completing as many 26.2 mile courses within a short period. But whatever your approach, a marathon is a major commitment and each one is worth dedicating focus to, since there will not be an infinite number of them!

Marathon training is mentally intense too!

The part that most first-time marathoners find unexpected is how all-consuming the marathon training becomes. Whilst the absolute number of hours spent running is a high commitment, it does have boundaries – and you can choose a low mileage plan. But the training takes over every part of your life for the training period!

Suddenly bedtimes, meals, tasks that tire you all need to be balanced with what the needs are in the marathon training plan. And for most people, the emotional roller-coaster (especially in the later stages) can make rational and balanced choices very difficult.

This is why I would say only follow a marathon training plan for 12-16 weeks before the event. You can (and should) choose to do other training to build the base ready for a good marathon, but the intensity and focus of the training period is very difficult to sustain for more than 12 to 16 weeks!

When injury and illness strike

If you manage to follow a marathon training plan to the letter for the whole of the time, then you are very, very lucky. For most people something happens somewhere in the training plan that derails it. Most commonly this is injury or illness, which means however much you want to do the plan, you cannot. A week, or even a couple of weeks pass, and of course the progressive plan has got harder and harder during the time that you have been unable to train – such that you cannot simply rejoin. What do you do?

Or sometimes something happens at work or at home, which means there is a period where training is not possible. And once again, whilst your conditioning slips backwards as you deal with the stress and do little or no training, the progressive plan marches on without you.

This is where you need a coach

There are some core principles of what makes a marathon training plan successful – and you can read and study these. But the balance will be different for every single runner. As you will see if you go to any running event – right from your local parkrun up to a massive marathon – for all that running is a universal experience, the things that enable people to go for a long-distance are different for different individuals.

A coach will unpack with you what you have ‘in the bank’ coming to your marathon, and what the biggest areas are that training can progress. Then working through what can be done between now and race-day will enable you to have the best chance of going the distance, and having the experience and memories that you want to have.

A coach will know and be better able to spot, the ‘must-fix’ issues vs the nice-to-improve areas. This enables a new plan to be built that gets you from where you are to the start-line (and the finish line!)

The biggest goal: make the start-line uninjured

Over the years of working with and training with so many runners (none of whom were full-time athletes), I have become convinced that the biggest goal should be to make the start-line uninjured. The second goal is to have managed as much consistency in the training as possible.

This may mean that some kinds of sessions have had to be deprioritised or changed because they consistently cause physical flare-ups, or it may mean that long-runs have been split differently. So when the classic question gets asked: ‘how many 20-milers have you done?’ – the answer for some athletes could be ‘zero’!

The hidden part of the training plan

The other part that a coach should really help with is beyond the running…. Whilst most of us think of a marathon as an extreme physical challenge (and it is), a lot of the success and how we feel about it is a journey of the mind. Indeed for many people, the joy of the marathon is how they get to know themselves on a deeper level.  A coach can really help with the sports psychology aspects to endurance running – which again, are different and personal to each athlete.

I would also expect a coach to support the bodycare and body management of the load of a marathon. Recovery is everything within a marathon training plan – and again, how this works depends on the athlete’s body, the other stresses, and pressures in their life, and some trial and error to understand what works.

Plus managing the fuelling and hydration for your body, your event, and your needs. Even for the same athlete, different courses and different weather conditions all mean different physiological needs.

In summary

So in summary – a coach for the 3-4 months of your marathon plan is a brilliant investment to ensure that all of your effort ends with a marathon experience that you look back on with joy and pride.