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The holidays are long gone and with races happening in March/April/May, the race season will quickly be upon us. Many athletes had success in 2021 and want to take their training to the next level, others feel they could have gotten more out of their training and race preparations with the help of a coach. Below we'll give you our checklist on how to find an OCR coach in 2022:
Why should you hire a coach?
There are many reasons athletes should hire a coach. One of the biggest benefits of having a coach is the structure and neutrality they provide when it comes to training. When self training it is very easy to cross the line of doing just enough and doing too much. Often self coached athletes find they will question whether they have done enough work, or will wonder if they need "just one more session," and will add extra training sessions or more intensity in pursuit of their goals. While increased volume and intensity may be necessary in a given training block, constantly overloading the body with volume and intensity without structure or planning for the long term can eventually lead to overtraining, under-recovery and ruin your season before it has started.
Having a coach gives structure to your training and makes life much simpler. Instead of having to worry about whether or not you're doing enough in training, or giving yourself a headache while trying to navigate the ins and outs of periodization/peaking/tapering, you can take out all the guesswork (and second guessing) by putting your training in the hands of a neutral second party so you don't have to think about it. Simply wake up, look at the plan, start training.
Having a coach also gives many athletes accountability they might not otherwise have while training alone. Often athletes will tell us that when training on their own they are much more likely to skip a session if they don't feel like training. After several weeks of working with a coach they will tell us that having something on the calendar makes them less likely to skip training as opposed to when they have nothing on paper. These athletes also say they feel that they are more likely to get sessions done when they have someone else checking in on their progress as they don't want to feel that they let their coach down.
Checklist for finding a coach
Knowledge and background
The first step to finding a coach is researching their knowledge and background: are they formally trained, certified, having continuing education credits, or perhaps they are not certified but are a professional/ex pro athlete? How important are all of these to you?
Many coaches do have formal training and/or certifications. Some have personal training certifications, are strength and conditioning coaches, are certified running coaches, or have SGX/Crossfit coaching certifications, etc. When interviewing coaches, determine what your personal goals are and see how this coach aligns with these goals. If your goal is to become a better runner, look for a coach who has a background in running, is a certified running coach, or has experience successfully coaching others to become better runners.
All that being said, some coaches are pro/ex pro athletes with no certifications, however their experience/knowledge and track record make them extremely valuable. Although they may not have certifications, their athletic background and professional experience working with other athletes is worth considering (it will be your decision if formal education/certification is a requirement for you).
*Our head coach is an SGX coach, Vdot02 distance running coach, NAASFP Marathon Coach certified, and is a licensed Primary Care Paramedic.
Experience
What is the coach's personal experience in running or OCR? Have they ever competed themselves? If not, have they worked with other athletes to help them achieve similar goals to those you have in mind?
With a bit of hard work anyone can become certified, so it is important to look at their personal experience in the sport, or if they haven't competed, what is their experience working with other athletes in the sport? We think having a coach that has participated in running/OCR is an asset because although someone may have theoretical knowledge on the mental & physical side of training/racing, by having participated themselves they have insight into situations the non participant may have never experienced. Having raced, they know what it's like to run "fearfully" when in contention for a podium spot, they may know what it mentally/physically feels like to lead a race and have to remain calm while a group of athletes chase them down, they know how to make tactical decisions mid-race based on experience (should you stop at this aid station or skip it? Should you surge and attack now or be patient and wait?), they know how to mentally and physically deal with mid-race mishaps and know positive mental reframing techniques that can be used to stay engaged until the end of the race. These are all things that come with experience in the sport and this is why we think it is important to find a coach who has experience participating in running/OCR themselves, or has at least coached others successfully. As recommended above, we recommend looking for a coach who has experience accomplishing similar goals to yours, or who has helped others accomplish similar goals. If a standing on a podium is a goal for you, consider looking for a coach who has stood on a podium or who has helped others achieve this goal (this lends credibility to their methods). If you goal is to keep your band at OCRWC, consider looking for a coach who has kept their band or who has helped others keep their band.
Coaching style: personalized vs non-personalized
Finally, consider what kind of coaching experience you are looking for. Are you looking for personalized coaching or are you looking for non personalized coaching? Here are some differences between the two in order to help you decide which type of service you are looking for:
Non-personalized coaching is often a less expensive service. Generally template training plans fall into this category (see our store for examples of template plans). This also may include services where you follow a generalized training plan but have to make your own modifications based on paces and heart rate zones. This type of training may or may not be tailored to prepare you for a specific goal event. You may or may not have coaching feedback. With non personalized coaching athletes can certainly make fitness gains and improve race results, but it will require athletes to have a proper understanding of their fitness and abilities (accurate paces/heart rate zones, when to peak, when to taper) in order to make the best of their experience.
Personalized coaching is generally a bit more expensive than non-personalized coaching simply because athletes will have a training plan tailored to their fitness, schedule, and races. Athletes will likely complete certain physical assessments prior to working together in order for their coach to gauge current fitness and build a plan with personalized paces, heart rate zones, and a strength training plan designed to target an athlete's weaknesses and turn them into strengths.
Their training will change depending on where they are in the year (the focus of training in December, for example, will be vastly different than the focus of training in August ahead of a major goal event in September-October) and will reflect their goals. Two athletes may at times have a similar strength training cycles (example: compound strength phase or explosive/Olympic lifting phase), but the progressions and accessory work will vary depending on their goals. An athlete specializing in short course OCR will have a much different and strength/conditioning focus than and athlete with an Ultra OCR focus.
Finally, athletes will also have more frequent contact with their coaches and plans may change daily or weekly depending on what is happening in the athletes lives (sickness, injury, schedule changes).
The type of coaching experience needed is up to you. Simply ask yourself if you have the experience and knowledge needed to fill in the gaps with non-personalized training, or if you would benefit in handing over all of your training to someone else. For reasons mentioned above, even if someone has knowledge and experience they still might benefit from handing over their training to a neutral party.
We are proud to be able to say that since 2018 we have been able to help numerous athletes reach Elite and Age Group podiums with our 1 on 1 training plans. Most recently we have helped 3 athletes win their Age Group in the Spartan Race Canadian National Series (2021) and have even helped one athlete become Spartan Race Age Group World Champion (2019)! Click the link below to check our our 1 on 1 training plans used by all of these athletes to help them achieve their goals:
Want more information? Contact us in order to book your free 1 hour consultation: outlawocr@gmail.com
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