zxcvzcxv wrote:
Good for them. As for the idea that a coach is unnecessary, I'd say that the pros know what they are doing, as do the collegians and hs'ers with good programs. Good coaches (and teammates) make runners better than they can do on their own, even though it is the case that all the information is out there about training programs, etc.
That's a common belief yet impossible to prove. Maybe you're right and maybe you're not. Despite the purported disadvantage, someone like Phil Coppess has run faster training solo and self-coached at sea level in Iowa than all but a handful to come through Boulder coached groups ever have. Even in Boulder, you don't see many at the level of a solo-training, self-coached Alan Culpepper. Were those two really that much smarter in their respective primes than the much maligned "today's generation"? Or maybe they just wanted it more?