New Coaching Site with Alan Webb & Other Pros...Your Questions Answered Here (Sponsored)

Thanks for your comments, Jordan. I respect what your company is doing and admire your calm responses to a mix of troll comments and anger-fueled negativity. I can’t afford it myself right now, but would absolutely love to try a session eventually. Good luck!

If I were to pay for a monthly training plan with Alan or the other coaches, what does that specifically get me? Something like weekly training plans and XX minutes per week of video chatting? Thanks for starting this thread! I hope this works out for you guys.

Maybe you will get 55% - discount?

d2xc22 wrote:

If I were to pay for a monthly training plan with Alan or the other coaches, what does that specifically get me? Something like weekly training plans and XX minutes per week of video chatting? Thanks for starting this thread! I hope this works out for you guys.

Great Question. There is a 2 min demo on our FAQ page, but I will also gladly explain in more detail here.

Here's how it works if you want to purchase a training plan with Alan or one of the other Coaches (aka "Doyens"). If you were to go through the checkout process, you would be provided all this information along the way, but your question brings to light how we can certainly be more clear about this on our site.

1) Select either 1 month, 3 month or 6 month plan within their individual profile page.

2) Checkout and pay for the full plan directly on that page.

3) During the checkout process, you have the opportunity to leave a message to your "Doyen". It is encouraged that you introduce yourself and highlight your background, PRs, goals, etc.

4) Once you complete the purchase, both you and the Doyen you booked with will get an automated confirmation email. Your email will include a unique voucher code that will be good for scheduling video chat sessions throughout the duration of your plan.

5) Your next step is to use that voucher code schedule your first 30-minute session with your Doyen. The "Doyens" are already blocking off times on their calendar when they are unavailable, so when you put time on their calendar you are automatically confirmed for that time. This first session will primarily serve as an opportunity for them to get to know you.

6) After that first 30-minute consultation, the Doyen will then start building your first week or two of training. They will send you an invitation to join them in our RunDoyen Training Log Portal (powered by Final Surge).

7) Once you're in the training log system, you are automatically joined as an athlete/coach relationship. You'll have unlimited messaging communication and your Coach (aka Doyen) will continue to write your workouts and daily training in here. This is NOT a static plan. They will update/adjust as you go. Many of our customers work full-time jobs or have other family priorities that come up, so this is obviously important to be able to adapt/adjust each week. Within your training log, you can upload your workout details and GPS data if you'd like. This will help to inform your Doyen/Coach as they continue to build your training.

8) The voucher code you received in your initial confirmation email will continue to serve as your way to schedule regular video chat sessions directly on their calendar. While you will already have unlimited messaging communication within the training portal, these sessions provide as a way to connect face-to-face on a regular basis to both review the past week's training and discuss the upcoming week. Here is a full 30-minute session we recorded with Ryan and one of his athletes:

Not only have we tried to make this coaching process easy for you, but also for the the "Doyens" since many are still training as pro athletes. Everything has been set up on their end to make it easy and organized for them to coach their athletes in a personal way.

Honestly, if anyone is aware of an online coaching experience (running or otherwise) that is more seamless, customized and personal please do let us know. We'd love to learn from them.

Best,

Jordan

55% wrote:

Maybe you will get 55% - discount?

50% off for your first video chat session is already a pretty good deal I'd say. :)

But how about this? For the month of February, all training plans are 15% for LetsRunners. Just use code: LETSRUN

Code expires: February 28

would be interesting what workouts he would provide for the novice runner, would he train you like he was trained or more like a running is fun approach - mile4ever

This is a great question! Alan, as well as any of the other Pros, will coach you based on their individual training principles. If you hire Alan, you will likely get many of his exact workouts but in a way that is tailored for your ability, mileage, event and goals...whether that is to break 4:00 in the mile or simply complete your first 5k. It's truly a customized approach for you.

It's a safe bet to say that any training plan prescribed by Alan will be heavily influenced by the workouts and training he did when he was at his best. Throughout the coaching plans, Alan can even share details about a workout, why it is in your training plan and even details/splits about when he ran that workout. Alan does have written copies of pretty much all his training and workouts so I'm I'm sure you can get some sneak peeks or insights into that. :)

Essentially, RunDoyen is offering the opportunity to receive coaching and training advice that has been tried and tested at the top levels of competition, but through a personalized experience that is tailored to you.

Since I know JW tangentially (he actually provided one of the top ten laughs of my life, many years back), and have always heard good things from others about him, I'll bump this thread. Same for AW, he was a good kid when he was racing and has grown up into an even better man, proud to see him succeed in life both on and off the track, good to see you guys (and gals) step out into a new venture. All the best, wish I ran enough to use your services, haha!

signed, a washed up, has been. :)

Heck, I’d sign up just to see Webb’s exact mileage and workout schedule in the summer of 2007. That alone is worth whatever cost

Just curious as to whether you considered involving any individuals currently involved in coaching as part of your service?

Without judging the value of athletes’ and retired athletes’ insight, it seems like there is a missing component. As it stands, it is truly a ‘new coaching’ site rather than a new site for coaching.

I like what you guys are doing and the idea. I am currently not at the point in my life where I can spend all that money for a training plan (paying back school loans), but I do love the idea and will hopefully be using the video chat service in the future, especially when I start to build back up for my base. Keep reaching out and making yourselves known. It can take time but you guys are on to a good idea.

Will you guys provide us poor people with deeply discounted rates?

Weeble wrote:

Just curious as to whether you considered involving any individuals currently involved in coaching as part of your service?

Without judging the value of athletes’ and retired athletes’ insight, it seems like there is a missing component. As it stands, it is truly a ‘new coaching’ site rather than a new site for coaching.

Thanks for the question...and the answer is "yes". As we grow and expand, we may look to add other types of running professionals, including those who have an established profession in coaching. It's also possible we may bring on more affordable plans/options. Essentially, we're interested in building a platform that enables personal connections within the running community in a way that makes everyone better. Whether that means scheduling a one-time video chat to have a conversation, or getting personal coaching.

We chose to start with who we currently have because we feel it is what truly makes us different and unique. We're offering direct and personal access to some of the top professionals, which is unlike any other coaching or training site within the running community (or any sport that I'm aware of for that matter).

Each of these athletes (aka Doyens) were also recruited for a reason (beyond just their accomplishments). They all have an interest in helping other runners, and some of them have already been doing some sort of coaching on the side.

Of course, none of them have established careers as professional coaches (yet), but there's also a reason they've been able to accomplish what they have. They've had great influence from their own coaches and have discovered what it takes to accomplish what they have. They now want to apply what they've learned in a personal way that can help other runners.

Corasocana cal wrote:

Will you guys provide us poor people with deeply discounted rates?

Understand the concern on the pricing, and it's been a consistent comment.

I touched on this above, but we've obviously invested a lot of time and money to create something that we believe is a more premium and personal experience than any other options that exist. We are also offering direct access to some of the top professionals in our sport...which to my research is really the only one of it's kind across any sport.

So, how did we arrive at the prices that we have?

1) Every dollar paid does need to be split between the individual doyen and the company itself in order to cover costs. With that said, the vast majority of every dollar does go directly to the individual Doyen you are working with which also helps create an income opportunity for them as a professional within the sport.

2) We also looked at pricing in terms of what other professionals cost. For example, if you want to get a quality 60 minute sports massage, you're usually looking at about $75 for 60 min. We are priced right in line with this. For 60 min. you can get the full personal attention of a professional that is focused on helping you.

Also, if you haven't noticed, all video chat sessions are 50% off for you first try, so right now that is only $22 for most of the Doyens for a 30 min session. That's about the price of a pair of nice running socks these days.

Are all of the ‘Doyens’ the same price?

It seems like someone like Webb could attract some wealthy professional types that just like the status symbol of having someone like him be their coach...Other ‘celebrity’ runners like Meb or Goucher could be a draw for this crowd.

I’d think much of the frugal, ‘blue collar’ LRC crowd would go for a cheaper Doyen that is of the moderately-talented-but-still-had-success type of runner like Brian Sell.

YOur platform has a lot of interesting possibilities. I think a ‘MOOC’ style format could be interesting way to get an affordable option out there... e.g. get a semi famous coach to run an online course style build up to a race . It could be a 3-4 month signup the leads to Chicago/nyc, or Boston. Split the course into roughly similar cohorts based on their goal time, runners can schedule one-on-ones to make adjustments and individualize training, and give people a chance for more more personal interaction . A regular ‘class’ each would allow the coach to describe the principles of their training philosophy and the purpose of the weeks workouts.

Thanks, these are some really good thoughts. To answer your question, not all the Doyens are the same price. Alan's price is currently 2x the others for supply/demand reasons.

You bring up some great ideas that we'll certainly look into. Right now, there are a lot of ideas written down on how we can expand and evolve this, but we just need to decide how to prioritize and implement in the proper way. My biggest concern is that we try to do "everything" related to training/coaching and then it's not clear on what we really do best and are focused on. This is why we are starting with the features/plans we currently have because we believe it is what makes us new, different and better than any other existing coaching platform.

Bubbadeeboos wrote:

YOur platform has a lot of interesting possibilities. I think a ‘MOOC’ style format could be interesting way to get an affordable option out there... e.g. get a semi famous coach to run an online course style build up to a race . It could be a 3-4 month signup the leads to Chicago/nyc, or Boston. Split the course into roughly similar cohorts based on their goal time, runners can schedule one-on-ones to make adjustments and individualize training, and give people a chance for more more personal interaction . A regular ‘class’ each would allow the coach to describe the principles of their training philosophy and the purpose of the weeks workouts.

+1 on this, seems like an interesting idea. Overall i like the idea of this, but watching the demo 30 minute video seemed a bit painful, I don't think I could handle a 30 minute 1 on 1 video session. I was thinking about posting to ask if you considered a shorter 15 minute option - just long enough to go over the previous and upcoming days, without dragging things out. I'd rather have a few quick updates than a single longer one. But the group thing seems even better.

But I really like the idea of a group session, especially focused on an upcoming big marathon. So while I still get my personal updates, being part of a group and hearing the interactions with other runners focusing on the same goal (although going about it slightly differently) would definitely be a benefit.

Also - knowing some more details about the individual coaches philosophies and plans in general would be helpful. No one outside of LR probably thinks about Lydiard vs Daniels vs Pfitz vs Canova... It would be nice to see either a couple sample weeks from what a coach would recommend or at least a few paragraphs about how they handle a base week, build week.. more miles vs speed vs tempo... not enough to give away the secrets but enough to know if it sounds like a system that would work for me.

BTW-what's Doyen mean?

Good luck

username goes here wrote:

BTW-what's Doyen mean?

Is google really that hard?

Doyen: (Noun) the most respected or prominent person in a particular field.

PROHIBITED USES

You agree NOT to:

initiate discussion of any topics with your Doyen that relate to politics, sex, or religion.

use vulgar or offensive language when communicating with your Doyen or posting in forums;

ask personal questions of your Doyen that are not already generally known in the public.

butwhy wrote:

PROHIBITED USES

You agree NOT to:

initiate discussion of any topics with your Doyen that relate to politics, sex, or religion.

use vulgar or offensive language when communicating with your Doyen or posting in forums;

ask personal questions of your Doyen that are not already generally known in the public.

In line with one of my prior comments, you can talk to the Doyens about anything as long as you use a filter of common sense. In the lack of common sense, we have those details outlined in the terms and conditions for their protection.