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Guinea Pigs want

  • 13-04-2010 09:44AM
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭


    Hey Guys
    Didnt get much of a response in the Sub 3 thread so i said that i would put it out here and see was there any interest.
    I have been considering this long and hard and decided now that i finishing up in college i gonna have more free time so now would be the best opprtunity to do this.
    Basically i am looking to get into coaching and seeing as there is nearly thirty weeks till Dublin i thought now would be a good time to recruit if people wanted to start a program. I have used myself as a guinea pig since last september with a new training program and have had reasonable success in my goal race.
    I dont have any AAI coaching qualifications (yet starting soon hopefully) so it would be at your own peril but i can guarantee to give full commitment to any athlete. Looking for fairly seasoned athletes (a year or 18 months +) possibly someone who is stuck at 3.05-3.30 and is looking to break that barrier though this is not a neccessity main thing is a good work ethos and would be willing to consider any times really.
    Ideally would be near the Dublin area so i could manage to not just be a virtual coach and get to some training sessions and an athlete would be having to be able to commit to 50+ miles a week.
    Anyone interested in this or wishes to know more or maybe even see possible general training outline or sample weekly schedule PM me


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,598 ✭✭✭shels4ever


    ecoli wrote: »
    Hey Guys
    Didnt get much of a response in the Sub 3 thread so i said that i would put it out here and see was there any interest.
    I have been considering this long and hard and decided now that i finishing up in college i gonna have more free time so now would be the best opprtunity to do this.
    Basically i am looking to get into coaching and seeing as there is nearly thirty weeks till Dublin i thought now would be a good time to recruit if people wanted to start a program. I have used myself as a guinea pig since last september with a new training program and have had reasonable success in my goal race.
    I dont have any AAI coaching qualifications (yet starting soon hopefully) so it would be at your own peril but i can guarantee to give full commitment to any athlete. Looking for fairly seasoned athletes (a year or 18 months +) possibly someone who is stuck at 3.05-3.30 and is looking to break that barrier though this is not a neccessity main thing is a good work ethos and would be willing to consider any times really.
    Ideally would be near the Dublin area so i could manage to not just be a virtual coach and get to some training sessions and an athlete would be having to be able to commit to 50+ miles a week.
    Anyone interested in this or wishes to know more or maybe even see possible general training outline or sample weekly schedule PM me
    Hi there,
    Why just focus on Marathons, a group mixed with middle to long distance would give you a bigger group. Not a massive difference between 10k and Marathon training ,maybe open it up more and give you a bigger group.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    shels4ever wrote: »
    Hi there,
    Why just focus on Marathons, a group mixed with middle to long distance would give you a more diverce group. Not a massive difference between 10k and Marathon training ,maybe open it up more and give you a bigger group.

    Sorry looking back on this it seems that way. I am willing to accept athletes who are aiming from anything from 800m to marathon (have no experience with ultra's so wouldnt attempt to try coach someone there). My reason for mentioning marathon times was just because alot of people seem to focus towards the longer distance on the site here


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,584 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    What qualifies you to be a coach?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 167 ✭✭RICHIE-RICH


    ecoli wrote: »
    Hey Guys
    Looking for fairly seasoned athletes (a year or 18 months +) possibly someone who is stuck at 3.05-3.30 and is looking to break that barrier though this is not a neccessity main thing is a good work ethos and would be willing to consider any times really.

    How about you look to recruit a range of athletes:
    4.30 marathoner looking to break 4 hrs.
    4 hr looking to go 3:30 -3:45
    Etc.

    After the marathon, you would then have a good range of athletic performance, and training schedules to review.

    You would definitely need to post your coaching "CV" before people would hand over their life to you.

    As an idea, i think it is a good one. Fair play.


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,368 Mod ✭✭✭✭RacoonQueen


    He hasn't said anywhere that he is a coach or that he even has any sort of coaching credentials. He's looking for guinea pigs, people who are willing to let him test out his skills on them and help him get a bit of experience while he is going for his coaching qualifications.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    ecoli wrote: »
    I dont have any AAI coaching qualifications (yet starting soon hopefully) so it would be at your own peril but i can guarantee to give full commitment to any athlete. e

    Tunney,
    As i said here i am not a qualified coach and i don't want anyone to be under any pretense that i am. The only thing i can support these with is the fact i self coached myself to a 77 debut half marathon which is not a strong argument to support i admit. It is just an offer to people if they wished to take it up. Have an extensive research in the training philosophies of Lydiard and Daniels and Canova and try to keep up to date with as much training material as i can find but ultimately you are right i dont have any credentials which would support my offer.
    This should be noted when considering this


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    How about you look to recruit a range of athletes:
    4.30 marathoner looking to break 4 hrs.
    4 hr looking to go 3:30 -3:45
    Etc.

    After the marathon, you would then have a good range of athletic performance, and training schedules to review.

    You would definitely need to post your coaching "CV" before people would hand over their life to you.

    As an idea, i think it is a good one. Fair play.

    I would be open to recruit a wide range of levels and i get your point its a good one from here i would be able to see as to whether or not the training principles which i have put myself through were just me being lucky


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,912 ✭✭✭thirtyfoot


    ecoli wrote: »
    a qualified coach
    can sometimes (many times) mean diddly squat. The main benefit I see of it in Ireland is you are insured to coach, other than that, I don't know.

    Which is better?

    Coach A - not the sharpest spike in the shoe, has done the Level I (or even II) coaching course, has never run themselves, has no interpersonal skills, doesn't understand why you train in a certain way or why you do sessions but can stop/start a watch and call out sessions from a program on the net.

    Coach B - no qualifications. Runs, maybe even self coaches. Is self taught, eats up training theory and understands it. Adopts things and chops and changes because they understand things. Is smart, can communicate and relate to people, can motivate people, is enthuasiastic, thinks about running every waking moment and doodles about it or potential sessions when bored in class/work.

    I'd take Coach B.

    Fair play, go for it. How can you become a coach without coaching. If you find the willing athletes, go for it. Coaching is about experience and understanding why you do each session. Making mistakes and learning from them. You won't make mistakes in classroom coaching. You'll learn the theory but you have that already. We need more coaches.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,584 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    ecoli wrote: »
    Tunney,
    As i said here i am not a qualified coach and i don't want anyone to be under any pretense that i am. The only thing i can support these with is the fact i self coached myself to a 77 debut half marathon which is not a strong argument to support i admit. It is just an offer to people if they wished to take it up. Have an extensive research in the training philosophies of Lydiard and Daniels and Canova and try to keep up to date with as much training material as i can find but ultimately you are right i dont have any credentials which would support my offer.
    This should be noted when considering this

    When I said "what qualifies you" I didn't mean what bit of paper does :) I know from triathlon that "qualified" coaches in this sense can be utterly utterly brutal, so many examples to pick from.

    What I meant was what athletic performances do you hold up as "I went from this to this" and whats your training and coaching philosophy :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    tunney wrote: »
    When I said "what qualifies you" I didn't mean what bit of paper does :) I know from triathlon that "qualified" coaches in this sense can be utterly utterly brutal, so many examples to pick from.

    What I meant was what athletic performances do you hold up as "I went from this to this" and whats your training and coaching philosophy :)

    Well since i have started training myself i have only debuted in the half marathon and am only starting track season now so cant compare times just yet between before being self coached and after. I am running Great Ireland run on weekend and that will be a perfect chance to compare before and after as I have done one 10k before. What i can say about my training is before i started training myself i had just had a 4 month injury lay off and since i have started coaching myself despite having a very high workload i have managed to remain free of serious injury. My 3k season opener this year was 5 seconds off my PB with few weeks of speed training as only six weeks since my half marathon so am fully confident of breaking that by a good bit and my times in training would suggest i should be close to or break most if not all of my PBs.

    In terms of philosophies I am a close follower of Lydiard in the sense that most the training is running based and the emphasis on miles is stressed. My general build up is about trying to shorten recoveries more so than increase pace and gain improvement through strength and endurance. While i do try to preach supplimentary work this is with the idea of injury prevention more so than to increase performance.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 336 ✭✭notsofast


    As others have said, fair play to you.

    Another option for you would be to join up with an athletic club. Most clubs will definitely not turn down an offer of an enthuastic person such as yourself. You will then have the opportunity to work with and learn from existing coaches within the club and have access to a supply of willing guinea pigs !!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    notsofast wrote: »
    As others have said, fair play to you.

    Another option for you would be to join up with an athletic club. Most clubs will definitely not turn down an offer of an enthuastic person such as yourself. You will then have the opportunity to work with and learn from existing coaches within the club and have access to a supply of willing guinea pigs !!

    I am currently in a running club and have been for the last 12 years and ideally i would love to begin coaching there unfortunately i cannot commit to being there at every training session time (tuesday and thursday) due to doing shift work and with the addition of a few new level one coaches in the club i feel it would be more beneficial to the athletes to work under them as they are able to commit to physically being there at those times.
    While i cannot make these times i am not saying that i wont be able to make sessions for an athlete i will arrange the training so that we can arrange bfor me to be there at key workouts to monitor progress etc. I do get where you coming from though and in the long term i would like to pursue this avenue


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 472 ✭✭Magnet


    Good idea!
    Im in Galway but wouldn`t mind someone willing to do this for me as Im stuck on 3.2x
    I want to give Dublin Marathon a good shot this yr to go sub3...:cool:
    Let me know if ill do!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,545 ✭✭✭tunguska


    Fair play ecoli, be interested to see how your runners get on. Are you running Dublin this year yourself? I think its about time you threw your hat inot the ring.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    tunguska wrote: »
    Fair play ecoli, be interested to see how your runners get on. Are you running Dublin this year yourself? I think its about time you threw your hat inot the ring.

    No i avoiding the Marathon for a few more years anyway. Only turned 21 will try and avoid it till 24-25. Plenty of time for that bit of track for me over the summer maybe a few RR and then another winter/early spring half


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 606 ✭✭✭aburke


    Magnet wrote: »
    Good idea!
    Im in Galway but wouldn`t mind someone willing to do this for me as Im stuck on 3.2x
    I want to give Dublin Marathon a good shot this yr to go sub3...:cool:
    Let me know if ill do!
    Cough... Track Sessions. cough...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,656 ✭✭✭village runner


    I will give it a go...............
    Want to run 2.45-2.48 in berlin.
    Reckon i would be 2.56 now.
    I dont mind been a pig for 4 months............


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16 silvermints


    Would definitely be interested. I'm in my early 40's and have been running pretty consistently now for 18months. I did the DCM last year in 3:45 and would love to go sub 3;30. Would also like to go sub 40mins for 10k (p.b. this year of 19:20 for 5k). I currently run 30-35 miles per week and did DCM on the back of 6 weeks of 40-45 miles per week. While I now feel ready for an increase in mileage to 50+ I would prefer to have some guidance when doing this in order to get the best out of it and to avoid injury.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,762 ✭✭✭✭ecoli


    Thanks to everyone for the response its been great. I am gonna have to withdraw the offer from here on in as i if i try to take anymore i dont think i would do people justice by giving them the attention needed and stretch myself too far.
    To everyone who has expressed an interest i will PM you over the next day or to to discuss it.
    Thanks again to everyone


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