A (Custom) Training Plan
Whilst I can and will write a custom training plan, I tend to only use it as a guide for what an athlete can expect over the duration of the training cycle. Not only that but there are plenty of free off the shelf training plans that will do just as well as a custom training plan; the only challenge (and its not a particularly big challenge) is finding a plan that starts at the correct level for you and has the correct number of weeks.
As an experiment I prompted a well known free to use generic AI tool with the same information I used to generate my most recent training plan – it came out with a plan that was almost identical to what I had just written. However, most AI tools are trained on data scraped from the internet from sources that may have only openly licensed their data to drive traffic to their other content, advertising or services. I am therefore more than a little dubious about the ethics of using such a tool.
Having said that I do think it would make a lot of sense to use an AI Tool that properly compensates the sources of its training data. However, I don’t currently have a specific recommendation.
If you chose to use my, or anyone else’s ‘off the shelf’ plan then I would suggest the following tips:
Use the plan as a guide not a set of rules; if you’re developing niggles that aren’t going away then you need to shorten or skip runs and avoid the fast workouts.
Don’t be afraid to reduce volume in occasional weeks if other life stresses or timetabling make it hard to complete the planned workouts.
If you do have to reduce some weeks for any reason then be very, very cautious about trying to make up the workouts elsewhere – this is the point to get a coach involved!
Keep a training diary, record how you feel in each workout, particularly any niggles.
Female athletes dealing with a menstrual cycle should take advantage of that; if your cycle stops then you are either under-fuelling, over-training or both. The research on when the best and worst times to do hard training is still not very conclusive – and even if it were the research does not tell you how a specific individual will react to training. Use your training diary to see how your body reacts during your cycle and move the recovery weeks to suit.
What to Expect from Regular Remote Coaching
If you chose to use me as your regular coach then I will be doing the following:
- Monitoring your execution of the sessions to ensure that you are not getting ill, injured or over-trained.
- Setting each week’s sessions to fit in with your personal schedule and commitments that week.
- Video form analysis
- Using your feedback as we work together to select sessions that you find motivating.
- Providing a specific strength and conditioning plan that is designed to counter any niggles and incorporate any physio prescribed exercises that you need to do.
- Video ‘form checks’ on any strength exercises – particularly before moving on to weighted variations (unless you have access to your own S&C coach).
- Adjusting the intensity and length of each weeks sessions to ensure ‘progressive overload’, i.e., getting fitter whilst taking in to account your appetite for risk and your goals.
The mechanics of this are that I will connect as your coach on TrainingPeaks (if you already have an account) or create a new TrainingPeaks account for you, each week I will ask you to add a note with your availability / preferences for the week and I will ask you to add any travel or holiday or other commitments you’re aware of in the upcoming weeks using ‘Availability’.
Or availability:
You will connect your training app/device to TrainingPeaks (most devices are compatible or there is a TrainingPeaks App for recording workouts). After each workout I appreciate a brief comment (one or two sentences) on how you felt. Your training calendar will look something like this:
Additionally I will chat to you using WhatsApp or a similar messaging service – these chats will be frequent early in our coaching relationship but later in the training relationship will be once or twice per month. Sometimes we will use text chats and other times we will use voice or video depending on the depth of discussion needed.
It is vitally important to remember that the reason for having a coach and not just using a training plan is to have someone who can adapt the sessions and the schedule to fit your life – and sometimes this can mean last minute changes; so do not hesitate to ask me to juggle a week around if things have changed for you or you forgot about an appointment.
One to One Sessions
Do bear in mind that I’m at Wythenshawe Athletics track most Thursdays at 6pm coaching Manchester Harriers & A. C. and you are welcome to come down for a trial session and a chat with me (there’s no cost for this).
However if you want a 1:1 session then that can consist of any of the following (and can be combined):
- Gait and Form analysis – I’m very much of the school of thought that there are a wide range of gaits and running forms that work and the bio-mechanics of an individual will determine how they ‘need’ to run; that being said there are a handful of common factors that improve performance and reduce injury risk.
- Off road running technique – Fell, Mountain, Trail, Cross Country – we can either work on a specific weakness or we can cover a variety of terrain and I can give you guidance on tackling it and improving your performance.
- Running chat over a coffee or on an easy run; come prepared with a set of specific questions or even one topic you want to explore (ideally let me know in advance) and I’ll spend the session giving you my thoughts on that subject – it can be something technical e.g. merits of a zone based training system or something more abstract e.g. what are some interesting running goals.
- A coached session, i.e., a specific workout of prescribed reps and I will ‘encourage’ you to meet the targets.
Pricing
I do have some pro-bono spots occasionally, preference is given to Manchester Harriers & A. C. and Gatley Runners athletes. And you can find my normal pricing here
Coach Alex Masidlover 