Writing training plans and coaching are 2 separate things. Writing a plan is putting together a series of workouts, to best achieve a goal and coaching is working with people to enable them to do the plan, to the best of their abilities. In simple terms, you write plans and you coach people.

The training plan can in many cases become an art form. The coach can spend many hours working on a masterpiece and add detail in intricate levels, to produce a fine piece of work. No stone is left unturned, intensity is measured using power and heart rate, the workload and interval times are calculated perfectly and the nutritional requirements and specific biomechanical factors are all accounted for. In terms of scientific approach, physiological stress and sports specificity, the sessions are finely tuned, some would say perfect. Behold… the masterpiece is born.

The issue is, whilst the session may be perfect, it’s important to remember that there’s a person who actually has to do it. Training plans focus heavily on physiology and biomechanics, but rarely take psychosocial factors into account. Here’s the key point to understand… writing the plan is never the problem.

So what is the problem?

The problem is that the ‘athlete’ doesn’t do the workouts. Now there could be a variety of reasons for the athlete not doing the workouts… they may be injured, they may have a busy work schedule or family life, or they simply can’t be bothered and have no motivation.

We live in a world full of people who are determined to stick to an exercise routine or healthy eating plan, but repeatedly fail to do so. Writing the exercise routine or the eating plan is not the barrier… there’s thousands of them available on the internet. The issue is, we simply can’t get into the routine or the habit and we fail at the first hurdle.

“I need someone to write me a diet plan!!” No… you really don’t, 99% of people know what healthy eating looks like, they just can’t manage to make it a regular habit. And me writing you a diet plan won’t make it any easier for you to get into that habit.

Be realistic…

Improving your performance starts with consistent training, so let’s stop looking at ‘what’s in the plan’ and let’s start thinking about ‘what would make the person go out of the door and exercise on a regular basis’. If we are asking ourselves that question, it doesn’t start with the goal or the plan, it starts with the person. What would make or allow you to train on a regular basis… build your plan around that.

There’s no point pencilling in 14 sessions per week, if your time only allows 5. You can’t force someone to ‘magic up’ additional time.

Do stuff you enjoy. You can’t force someone to do something they hate (maybe you can for a few weeks, but not for a sustained amount of time). Eventually they’ll stop doing it.

Create an environment you will enjoy, this might be something as simple as meeting up with friends for your exercise routine.

A training plan can help, but it can also become your enemy. Your diary is a reminder of the number of sessions you’ve missed due to family or work problems and each one adds a little more anxiety. Training Peaks software turns the missed sessions to a bright RED colour, just in case you hadn’t noticed that you skipped the workout and to ensure your anxiety and feelings of failure are reinforced.

The all or nothing approach is far too common. We’d all love to be doing 12 workouts a week whilst eating healthy at every meal, but it’s fantasy. Small steps such as a better breakfast or better snacks are progress. Getting out exercising for 20 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week always beats not getting out at all, even though it may feel like failure when compared to your fantasy training schedule.

There is no set number of workouts that should be applied to the plan to complete a marathon, Ironman or ultra race, it must always start with the athlete. If they only have the time to train for 5 hours a week, then that’s set. Planning any more than 5 hours will always end in failure and stress. It doesn’t start with the plan, it starts with the athlete, so stop setting yourself up for failure.

Now is the perfect time of year to set the routine

If you’re planning a winter of training ahead, now is the time to set your routine. What times in the week can you realistically set aside time and how much? Always aim for less rather than more, that way you won’t feel like you’re constantly failing. Get into the regular routine of going out of the door at those key times in the week.

At this stage ‘content’ means nothing. Don’t worry about ‘how long’ or your ‘power output / heart rate’ (or any other metric. Keep it simple, ‘on Tuesday evening, I will run 30 minutes’. That’s about as detailed as it needs to be, there’s no need for additional structure or complication. You just need to establish the regular routine and doing so is enough. The structure (if you so wish) can come later in the plan, but debating your target heart rate is of little use, if you’re struggling to get your arse off the sofa and out of the door. Many of you will struggle with such simplicity as we have come to believe in recent years that data and metrics are critical. Honestly, don’t worry, it’s fine to keep things this simple.

Phase 1 of the plan is that simple… establish the routine. Don’t underestimate the importance of phase 1 as without a solid routine that becomes a life habit, everything else will fail.

Good luck, and if you have any questions, please comment below on the Facebook page.

We offer coaching from £40 per month for Lakeland 50 & 100 runners, triathletes, marathon and ultra runners. We also offer lactate threshold and VO2 Max testing with consultation for £60, to help you better structure your training. Find details on the menus above.

Regards
The Endurance Coach