hobby jogger coaching?

I hear you, and if this were a marketing piece, I would approach things more like I do on my website. But in this forum, when someone was asking me an honest question, I felt an honest and more nuanced answer is appropriate.

I figure that my body of work speaks for itself fairly well, and I don't want to be a constant marketing machine. I really have close to as many athletes as I can handle right now while working my main job full time. Maybe if I were using this to keep my lights on and to pay my mortgage, I might take a more aggressive approach to marketing. But right now, I would rather just have very open discussions with people and find athletes for whom I would be the right fit.

I really don't intend to go over 15 athletes while working my full time job or over 30 when I transition to semi-retirement.

King of Kenya highlands wrote:

Smoove wrote:

Karl, shoot me an email. I will give you a free training cycle for you to experience if you want. It will be Daniels based, but customized. A good way for me to prove to those on here who doubt me that I know what I'm doing. Plus, your posts consistently entertain me so I would feel good about repaying you for the entertainment. If you're an anti-Daniels guy, I'm not the right fit for you.

I dont doubt you know what you are doing Smoove. :)

As you said,there is a lot of people out there who can need an experienced

coach , and some of them thinks its great to hire a coach with very good results for just halfprice 50 dollars a month.

I also agree that $50/month is not what you should pay for an experienced coach who gives you a dynamic training schedule. It's instead what you'd expect to pay for static one size fits all group training, and/or a more inexperienced coach.

Both coaches I've had over the past 3 years I've paid $110-130/month and it was worth it. You get what you pay for in this world.

Fed-Up With Coaches wrote:

JPS wrote:

If any coach, at any level, claims they know 100% exactly what their athlete needs, or has the absolute perfect background or training plan, they are lying either to themselves or their athlete.

Yep....sounds like some of the HS coaches I know.

As an athlete who's had coaches, I disagree that a coach who's 100% confident is preferable. To me, a coach who realizes that they have 1 or 2 things to work on is similar to any professional at the top of their game in any industry.

The best approach life with a growth mentality. As soon as you think that you know it all you stop learning and growing. When hiring my coaches I've needed them to possess this personal growth quality.

Smoove wrote:

I hope you do well with your coaching. We aren't competing for the same people, and this is a sideline for me. I don't agree with you on many things, so if there is someone (other than your alternate personalities) who thinks you're the right coach for them, they really should hire you.

Haha! Take your time to check the Facebook :) It`s not a question about competition. Most people are smart and see for themselves if a coach got what it takes.....

I wish you all good smoove! :)

You do realise J.S, that to a beginner (and forum newcomer) like myself you come across as being mentally unstable?

You use a different name every time you post (in an attempt to misguide people perhaps - sad when a coach is someone that an athlete needs to trust). You dismiss anything that is not your own. You charge $50 per month and coach solely over Facebook.

Good luck to all with their businesses.

Live to run wrote:

King of Kenya highlands wrote:

I dont doubt you know what you are doing Smoove. :)

As you said,there is a lot of people out there who can need an experienced

coach , and some of them thinks its great to hire a coach with very good results for just halfprice 50 dollars a month.

I also agree that $50/month is not what you should pay for an experienced coach who gives you a dynamic training schedule. It's instead what you'd expect to pay for static one size fits all group training, and/or a more inexperienced coach.

Both coaches I've had over the past 3 years I've paid $110-130/month and it was worth it. You get what you pay for in this world.

But what happen when you get maybe one of the very best coaches for just 50/ month? A coach that overhaul your 110-130 / month coaches every day in the year? :) :) :)

I think for the beginner to intermediate runner (0-3 years of running experience) it can be extremely beneficial to hire a coach. But like a lot of us around here that have been running for years and take it seriously, no matter how fast you are, you're going to know your body better than any coach that has never worked with you before. I hired a coach to mix things up, he's fantastic, but it was nearly impossible for him to know what was going to prepare my body best for a marathon after meeting for coffee a few times and designing a buildup.

jtface wrote:

You do realise J.S, that to a beginner (and forum newcomer) like myself you come across as being mentally unstable?

You use a different name every time you post (in an attempt to misguide people perhaps - sad when a coach is someone that an athlete needs to trust). You dismiss anything that is not your own. You charge $50 per month and coach solely over Facebook.

Good luck to all with their businesses.

I understand that coach js writes under different names sometimes. Not because he is mentally unstable. More because he is often deleted by the brojos.

I wonder why that might be?

Bedan Candoki wrote:

I understand that coach js writes under different names sometimes. Not because he is mentally unstable. More because he is often deleted by the brojos.

feldman wrote:

I think for the beginner to intermediate runner (0-3 years of running experience) it can be extremely beneficial to hire a coach. But like a lot of us around here that have been running for years and take it seriously, no matter how fast you are, you're going to know your body better than any coach that has never worked with you before. I hired a coach to mix things up, he's fantastic, but it was nearly impossible for him to know what was going to prepare my body best for a marathon after meeting for coffee a few times and designing a buildup.

You have chosen the wrong coach!

Thanks for the honest, thoughtful reply, Smoove!

jtface wrote:

I wonder why that might be?

Bedan Candoki wrote:

I understand that coach js writes under different names sometimes. Not because he is mentally unstable. More because he is often deleted by the brojos.

Coach js have coached his 8th international winner! In a China Marathon

yesterday his runner won in 2:13:19 ! ( former PR 2:16:12) He has been the kenyan runners coach for a very long time ...... 4 months! :)

feldman wrote:

I think for the beginner to intermediate runner (0-3 years of running experience) it can be extremely beneficial to hire a coach. But like a lot of us around here that have been running for years and take it seriously, no matter how fast you are, you're going to know your body better than any coach that has never worked with you before. I hired a coach to mix things up, he's fantastic, but it was nearly impossible for him to know what was going to prepare my body best for a marathon after meeting for coffee a few times and designing a buildup.

I think you guys have been running for years need some new blood. Try something different. I myself came up with something different with success when in my very best coaching years.

Did you see? wrote:

jtface wrote:

I wonder why that might be?

Coach js have coached his 8th international winner! In a China Marathon

yesterday his runner won in 2:13:19 ! ( former PR 2:16:12) He has been the kenyan runners coach for a very long time ...... 4 months! :)

Texas runner wrote:

Did you see? wrote:

Coach js have coached his 8th international winner! In a China Marathon

yesterday his runner won in 2:13:19 ! ( former PR 2:16:12) He has been the kenyan runners coach for a very long time ...... 4 months! :)

That coach seems know what to do. I checked up at fb. He is solid indeed . Worth 200/month I think.

That coach is really hot now! He is ready to coach El Abbasi, Bahrain !

Its a runner with 27.25 at 10 k. He was second in Lissabon marathon last weekend with 2:10:57 in hot conditions.

And the most funny thing about this is that Canova is his former coach!

Now the moment have come to see if DANCAN-system can be at least as good as Canovas phase system.

@Texas runner

Someone by the same name made a post yesterday asking how good a workout was, and it was something like

4 x K @ 3:30 w/ 4 mins rest

from a guy with a supposed 2 mile PB of 10:49. You already have no idea what you're doing as it is, nor does your coach, assuming you're in high school since you're racing the 2 mile. Please learn about the physiology of running first before you jump into a coach that just automatically generates good results. A coach-athlete relationship depends not only on how good a coach might be but how well they tailor their systems to the athlete and how well an athlete responds to it.

This is why most people go with the Daniels system, because Daniels quite comprehensively lays out the why for every workout, instead of telling you to do it and saying "it worked for this other athlete I coached." Which is effectively what Coach JS has done whenever he posts on here.

Take a look at Alan Webb - from high school to college he went from a highly meticulous and disciplined coach to Ron Warhurst. Coach Warhurst is definitely a legend, but he has a more loose approach to coaching, and has an instinctive understanding of what the athlete needs. For Webb however, after 4 years of remarkable success under such disciplined training, he wasn't able to shine as brightly during his time as Michigan in contrast to his Elite career shortly afterward.

And also, I'm quite aware that you're Coach JS this time around, because the poor grammar, occasional misspelling, and odd overuse of exclamation points is only used by a single poster here, JS. And whatever alias he's using at the time being.

@Smoove, what D3 school did you go to? Cortland? I'm currently a D3 collegiate guy myself and I've seen you around on the boards for a long time, you always have quality advice, even for the occasional troller post :) Just curious to know! And how exactly has your post-collegiate career gone, I know you've mentioned it here and there across forums, but any in-depth look at how Daniels helped you to get to where you are now?

I walked on to SUNY Albany in the early 90s having never run before getting to college. We had some quality D3 teams, with two 3rd place finished at cross country nationals and a 3rd or 4th place finish at D3 outdoor nationals. One of our guys finished 3rd at cross nationals, I finished 2nd in 10k at nationals (behind the guy who held every D3 distance record until Lamere came along (I went out in 15:06 and this guy lapped me at the 4 mile mark on his way to a solo 28:4x)) and my teammate won the steeple. They moved up to D2 the year after I graduated.

I had one decent running year in grad school (8:20 3k, 14:50s on the roads), but moved around a lot until I finished law school and never really put any serious training together until I turned 40 and decided to see how good I could be again.

I had to lose a bunch of weight and build my volume up quite a bit, but I've had a good resurgence as a masters runner. 2nd American masters (7th overall masters) at NYC Marathon, men's master champ at Chicago Marathon (Deena Kantor crushed me, so I can't go with "masters champion"), top American 45 and up at Boston Marathon (3rd overall in age group and 13th or 14th overall masters (including Meb and Abdi!)), top Masters finisher at Cherry Blossom 10 miler, 3rd masters finisher at Gate River Run (2nd 45 and up behind Kevin Castille). Some decent shorter road race performances as well, running in the 15:20s a couple of times and going sub 26:00 for 5 miles and sub 50 for 15k.

All of it using a customized Daniels approach.

Specifically, I start all of my 5k training cycles with a block of rep work at mile race pace. The duration of that block depends on how long my training cycle is. I give myself 3-4 weeks for the last phase, 6 weeks for a main phase, and the remaining weeks generally get designated for the first rep phase. I kind of figure that my form is what it is at 45, so if I cut that phase short, I don't lose any sleep over it as long as I get a couple of good weeks of speed work in so that the pace of the vo2max work that follows feels a little more manageable.

The second phase is usually a 6 week block of 5k paced intervals ranging from 1000m to 1600m. Ovassoonally I will throw in 800s, but that's usually just the first workout.

The final phase is usually a combination of reps at mile race pace and race modeling workouts intended to mimic race day scenarios. I like things like sets of 200 at mile pace, 200 jog, 800 at 5k pace, 200 jog, 200 at mile pace to simulate getting out moderately hard, settling into pace and then finishing strong.

One tempo workout most weeks. Often done via cruise intervals although the straight 20 minute tempo run still gives you the most bang for your buck in my opinion. Occasional 30 minute tempo runs at about :10 per mile slower than 20 minute tempo pace (particularly if I'm training for a half). Occasional progression run.

One long run every week.

Nothing at 10k/CV pace, no steady state runs other than during any base or recovery periods for fun, nonexotic mix of paced in workouts (other than race modeling).

All really customary Daniels stuff tailored to meet my race schedule, my preferences and my fitness level.

Where is your base building phase?