Thoughts on the term "self-coached"

I have always considered myself self-coached.  Indeed, I used this very term in my post from last week explaining my approach to this fall's marathon training regimen.  I've even taken pride in the term given that I have achieved some lofty running goals (namely qualifying twice for the Boston Marathon) while relying on nothing more than my own will power and experience.

But last month I saw this tweet from Scott Fishman:

Scott Fishman has been a coach since 2000 and just celebrated his 9th anniversary as founder and leader of Team All-American, an online coaching service for athletes worldwide. When someone with a B.S. in Exercise Sports Science and certifications in running coaching and personal training says something like this, it genuinely makes me think.

Because he's right.  I don't have any sort of certification in training or coaching.  I have no professional or academic credits to my name in the athletic world, yet I insist over and over on this blog that I am self-coached.  It causes the self-doubt to rear its ugly head, making me second guess my decision to constantly train alone rather than putting my training and consequent race results in the hands of professionals.

But does it really matter what I call myself?  You can't argue with the results, can you?

Scott expounds on his views in his blog post from last month in which he calls out people like me:

And tonight's tweet:

I get it.  He's running a business and must relentlessly promote his expertise to sign up new customers.  But in doing so I think he's forgetting - or ignoring - the element of experience. Do I need to sit in a classroom to learn about how to train properly, or listen to a coach who has sat in a classroom to learn how to train properly, or can I simply learn by doing?  The learning curve is steep, but I've come away with a training plan tailored to me and only me.

In the end it probably comes down to semantics.  By Scott's logic, I should call people out who refer to themselves as self-taught in a given skill or subject because they don't have the proper teacher certifications like I do.  But I don't because that's ridiculous.  If someone wants to teach himself German by watching YouTube videos and studying grammar charts and call himself self-taught, go for it.  Will he learn more or better by studying with me?  Who's to say? Everyone learns differently.

Once again, like in this post, I'm not trying to knock coaches trying to make a living or those who hire them.  If you have the means and a coach will help you achieve your goals, then go for it.  But I strenuously deny that working with a coach is the only way to train smart and avoid injury.

Now here's hoping I'm not strenuously humbled come November when I put this all to the test. Until then, keep training smart folks, however you interpret that.

The coldest day of winter

About a year ago I posted about the worst run of my life; 16 miles in a steady rain and wind with the temperature in the upper 30's.  I ran alone and was cold, wet and miserable the entire time.

Today I almost topped it.

I ran my first 20 miler of the season last Sunday, and wanted to drop back down again this Sunday before jumping up again in March, so I planned 16 today.  Unfortunately, temperatures plummeted last night and I woke up this morning to a rather frosty 9 degrees.

I had a gigantic breakfast (3 scrambled eggs with cheese, potatoes, broccoli, diced tomatoes and spinach mixed in, two pieces of toast and OJ), and waited for the temperature to rise a little.  By 2pm it had only risen a few degrees.  When I finished around 4, it still looked like this:

The 31 mph wind gusts coming off of the Cooper River and Newton Lake were torturous.  The thin layers of ice and snow on parts of the roads were treacherous.  The brilliant winter sun coming off of said snow and ice was blinding.

The long run today was challenging, to say the least.

I am not normally one for mantras, but I found myself repeating several times throughout the run, "I am stronger than winter."  This eventually devolved into a lot of yelling and cursing in the latter miles.  The streets of South Jersey have never known such profanity.

When I finished, I took a picture in the backyard:

Train for a spring marathon, they said.  It'll be fun, they said.

As tough as today's run was, and as much as I lament the fact that the Boston Marathon is in April, necessitating so much mileage in the winter months, I don't think I would have it any other way.  The sense of accomplishment I have after a run like this is incomparable.  And nothing tastes as good as a dark porter after a long, hard winter run.

And tomorrow the relentless forward march of marathon training goes on...

Last double digit run

Last double digit run of this training cycle today:

The miles are winding down, and I have to be conscious of winding down on my food consumption as well.

As I've mentioned, I haven't had any alcohol in almost two months.  Stevie also decided to join me in cutting out alcohol out of solidarity.  Even our friends have joined in now.  They came over tonight and we had some good old fashioned sober fun: playing games in the living room while eating chocolate fondue with strawberries and bananas.

At some point we talked about camp, and I mentioned the "Indian" names we all adopted for ceremonies.

Me: I was Chief Runs With Deer.
Alicia: Why was that your name?
Me: Because I spent a lot of time running in the woods where there were a lot of deer.
Brian: I would have been Chief Naps With Cat.

The marathon that wasn't

Was supposed to run the Baltimore Marathon this morning.  First time earning a DNS.

The good news is that I ran for 20 minutes this morning and didn't experience any pain at all.  Perhaps I'm finally on the mend.

It would be easy to overanalyze things - how could I have trained differently to avoid injury in the first place? Could I have run the marathon today after all?  But I just want to concentrate on getting back to where I need to be for Philly.  The race is five weeks away from tomorrow.  Like I said, Boston may no longer be in the cards, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to try.

Everyone loves an underdog story, right?  Especially in Philly.

The journey

The thing about such a drastic increase in physical effort is that it not only strains the body, but the mind. I'm less than a month into school, less than two weeks into phase two of training, and generally I'm keeping it together.  But there are moments.  Cracks in the armor.  Weakness.  Mind games brought about by so much time spent alone running.

Wednesday was rough.  Yesterday I was tired during my track speed workout, but I made it to the end. Made a gorgeous homemade pizza for dinner.  Then, just as I was finishing up grading some quizzes and getting ready to go to bed, I randomly decided to watch this video for the thousandth time:

And I nearly lost it.  Tears down my face and a stuffed up nose.  And I know that, as a guy, my culture doesn't encourage crying, much less admitting to it so publicly, but there you have it.  The video resonates with me so deeply, and the reaction is just a small part of the process I'm going through, and I feel compelled to share the highs and lows of this process for those who may be interested.  The pressure I've put on myself is palpable and sometimes it isn't pretty.

Tonight at a coffeeshop I heard a cover of "A Better Son/Daughter" by Rilo Kiley.  Loved the following lyrics, not so much sung as yelled in defiance of the hurdles we face in life:

"And sometimes when you're on,
You're really fucking ON.
And your friends they sing along and they love you.
But the lows are so extreme
That the good seems fucking cheap
And it teases you for weeks in its absence.
But you'll fight and you'll make it through,
You'll fake it if you have to,
And you'll show up for work with a smile.
And you'll be better and you'll be smarter
And more grown up
And a better daughter, or son and a real good friend.
And you'll be awake, you'll be alert,
You'll be positive though it hurts,
And laugh and embrace all your friends.
You'll be a real good listener,
You'll be honest, you'll be brave
You'll be handsome, and you'll be beautiful.
And you'll be happy."

Here's a link to the song on YouTube.

I'm going to embrace the melodrama and embrace the experience last night and the song tonight as reminders that I'm on a journey.  It's a journey of faith and transformation, as much a product of my own hard work as it is of those closest who support me.

I'm still tired, emotionally and physically, but the journey marches on...

Long Wednesday

Let me take you through today:

5am: wake up.

5:15: out the door for a five miler.

6:00: shower, get dressed, cook breakfast.

6:50: ride bike to school.

7:45 - 10:58: first four classes.

10:58: prep period and lunch.

12:15 - 1:44: last two classes.

1:44 - 3:00: prep period and end-of-day work.

3:00: get changed, realize I forgot my Garmin.  Bike home.

3:30: leave for 12 mile run.

5:30: home and shower.

6:00: dinner (black bean soup that Stevie made).

Post 12 miler, waiting for soup to finish as my stomach eats itself.

6:30: bike back to school and change back into work clothes.

7:00: back to school night begins.

9:15: back to school night ends.  Bike home.

9:30: brush teeth, load dishwasher, fold laundry and set out clothes for next day.

10:00: bedtime.

Phase 2

Phase 2 is about to begin...

The Philadelphia Marathon is exactly two months away from tomorrow, and I am now into the portion of training I like to call phase 2.

Phase 1 concentrated on preparation for the half marathon yesterday and consisted of a gradual reintroduction to a training lifestyle: early morning runs, increased mileage, and a better diet.  It also included a lot of very sweaty runs due to the summer heat and humidity (and an awful lot of complaining about said heat and humidity).  Runs topped out at 15 miles.  There were a lot of speed sessions on my school's track.

Phase 2 will consist of runs in cooler temps now that fall is here.  The mileage will increase dramatically (including the Baltimore Marathon as a training run next month), and while I will maintain the track sessions, I also want to add more distance runs at race pace.  I will also completely overhaul my diet in an attempt to make myself leaner and lighter.  Not that my diet is that terrible to begin with, especially compared to the average American's, but I still eat my share of junk, and am certainly no stranger to a cold draft beer.  For the next two months I won't drink any soda or alcohol, and will attempt to cook at home as often as possible.

Get excited people.  I'm on my way to Boston with a brief layover in Philly...