Coaching

Run Your Personal Best in Spring 2012 and
Lower Your Risk of Injury Too!

 

Have you ever wondered how good a runner you could be?

Do you have a running goal that eludes you?

Perhaps it’s running your personal best in a half-marathon, completing a marathon or qualifying for Boston? Or perhaps your objective is to reverse the aging process — run faster and maintain your ideal weight — like thumbing your nose at Mother Nature?

Maybe your goal is a real stretch for you, well outside your current fitness level?

What does achieving your dream mean?

• Overcoming challenges and obstacles to accomplish a feat that at one time you did not think was possible?
• Pushing your boundaries to find out how far you can grow?
• Your own pursuit of excellence in an activity you feel passionate about?
• Discovering your reservoir of physical and mental strength and persevering to attain a deeply meaningful goal?
• Deriving a deep sense of satisfaction because you are getting faster and fitter while you peers are slowing down or sedentary

“Running is a chance for you to become the hero in your own life.”

Kathrine Switzer
First woman to enter and run the Boston Marathon

Of course, none of us have the luxury of being able to devote as much time as we’d like to training. Juggling work, family responsibilities and social commitments makes it challenging to find enough time to prepare adequately for your big race. How do you know that you‘re making the most of your precious training time?

Elite athletes know they can’t reach their true potential without coaching. You may not be an elite runner, but why shouldn’t you also benefit from coaching so you can run your best?

I was surprised and impressed with your ability to pinpoint my limits/thresholds in my training plan. The workouts were challenging yet achievable. I felt extremely confident going into the race. After less than 3 months of becoming an IAWR coaching client, I lowered my personal best half-marathon time by over ten minutes to 1:49:18 in Hamilton (November 6th, 2011).

I’ve registered again for a Personalized Coaching Program so that I can train to reach my new goal of finishing in the top 10 for my age group (50-54) in my early 2012 races.

Kim McClure
Toronto, ON
1:49:18, 2011 Hamilton Road2Hope Half Marathon

By incorporating your “Most Convenient Efficient Speed Workout” into my weekly training schedule, I lowered my fastest 5K time by 2 minutes.

Dr. Annette Feder
Syosset, New York

 

Gail and I are pleased to offer The International Association of Women Runners’ Personalized Coaching Programs. I’ve been a runner for thirty-three years and a women’s running coach for the past eleven. I keep well informed on current research related to running and exercise physiology, and know how to easily apply it to enhance training and racing.

As a prolific writer on running, over thirty of my articles are featured on Ezinearticles.com.

Like you, I have a passion for running! Over the years, I have been privileged to help thousands of women runners with a range of ability and experience achieve their racing goals and get more benefit from running.

Are you ready to reach your potential as a runner?

Regardless of your personal goals, I provide coaching, advice and support to help you reach them.

Here’s how the process works

• We start with an in-depth interview to understand your running history, racing experience, strengths, weaknesses and predisposition to injury.
• We assess your current running fitness level.
• We discuss your objectives and why is it important for you to achieve them.

Why all this time and effort to collect these details?

No two runners are the same. Why should their training programs be identical?

Consider these examples:

1. A 45 or 55 year old runner cannot train as frequently as a 25 year old. Most training programs do not take age into account. Everyone adheres to the identical training schedule, regardless of age and need for recovery. Following a training plan not specifically designed for the mature runner is a leading cause of injury among women runners 45 years and older.
2. Two runners have the identical goal of running a 2:00 half-marathon. One runner has a speed bias and must improve her endurance in order to achieve her goal. The second is a marathoner who must improve her speed to run a 2:00 half. Although they have the same goal, their training plans should be markedly different.
3. A runner who has a predisposition to injury requires a longer, more gradual ramp up in training and more scheduled rest time than her less frequently injured counterpart.

Each of these women would be poorly served by following the identical cookie cutter program.

You invest a lot of precious time and energy to train. Why lower your return on investment, compromise your opportunity to live your running dream and increase your risk of injury by following a program that is not created specifically for you and your unique requirements?

We combine your individual running profile with the most current running-related research and training principles and design your personalized training program – the roadmap to your running success.

Marianne Black Testimonial
Click to listen (0:47)

Linda Moore Testimonial
Click to listen (2:04)

 

We take all the guesswork out of training. You receive a daily schedule to follow, with built-in flexibility to accommodate personal, family or work situations that affect your training.

As you follow your individualized program, we communicate regularly by phone and email. My role is to:

• Help you stay focused on your goals
• Monitor your progress
• Provide objective feedback to facilitate your improvement
• Give support and encouragement to help you overcome the inevitable mental hurdles that every runner encounters during training
• Modify your program as required to help you avoid overtraining and injury
• Help you mentally prepare for your race
• Devise a race day strategy to optimize your chances of race day success.

When you’ve previously trained for a race, you may have encountered one or more of these situations:

• I feel a persistent twinge in my IT Band (or hamstring or any other part of my body). Should I take time off from training? Is there some exercise that I can do to make the pain go away? (Yes there is!)
• I’m feeling really “blah” today or I’m experiencing severe PMS symptoms. Should I tough it out and complete my scheduled workout, take it easy or skip it?
• If I take it easy or skip my workout, I’ll fall behind in my schedule. How will I make it up?
• I couldn’t run for a week because my child was sick or I had a work deadline that I had to meet. Do I complete the workouts that I missed, skip that week and jump back into the program or run a transition week?
• As a menopausal (or post-menopausal) woman, how should I alter my training and diet to enhance my running, racing and overall health?

My role is to guide you and give you easy access to expert advice………optimizing your training and chances of race day success.

Our proven system works, regardless of your age, experience or ability!

 

I didn’t think someone my age (turning 65 in Dec 2010) could quickly improve like this. The Customized Training Program that you prepared for me along with your guidance and support helped me knock 33 minutes off my marathon time. I achieved my dream of qualifying for Boston ……….with over 10 minutes to spare! Thanks for your wisdom and BELIEVING in me. Keep up the good work.

In June 2011, I focused on improving my half-marathon times. I signed up again for a Personalized Coaching Program. Once again my faith in your coaching was rewarded. In September, I ran a personal best at the Army Half in Ottawa (2:02:04, 4th in my age group).

Could I run a 2 hour half marathon 6 weeks later? With your further guidance and training, I ran 1:59:48 in Hamilton on Nov 6th (2nd in age group, 7 sec behind 1st), a few weeks shy of my 66th birthday! Bennett, I owe you a big “Thank You”. Your coaching and support helped me prove that it’s never too late to realize a dream or desire.

Daphne Lovegrove
North Bay, Ontario
4:35:39, 2010 Hamilton Road2 Hope Marathon
2:02:04, 2011 Ottawa Army Half Marathon
1:59:48, 2011 Hamilton Road2Hope Half Marathon

 

Thank you for your coaching. I have taken your advice of resting a lot more after my long runs. Your advice has been a contributing factor in my consistent good performances in 2010, including finishing first in my age group and third overall in the More Fitness Half-Marathon in New York.

Victoria Fiddick
Sandys, Bermuda
Age group winner, More Fitness Half-Marathon, New York, 2010
Half-Marathon age group winner, Toronto International Marathon, 2008
5K age group winner, Toronto International Marathon, 2009

Have you ever suffered a running injury that has forced you to miss training? Has an injury ever caused you to miss your race for which you trained so hard?

You’re not alone. Studies show that in any given year, over 63% of runners are forced to take time off from training and racing due to a running injury.

I likely know how you feel or felt. For a period of four years, I could not run more than 16K (10 miles) any one week due to a succession of injuries, the worst being a persistent severe case of IT Band Syndrome. Most of those weeks, I could not run at all. I rested, stretched, tried orthotics, was examined by doctors and saw physiotherapists. Nothing seemed to help. I felt frustrated and angry. I questioned my own sense of identity and self-worth.

In the quest to heal myself, I devoured everything I could get my hands that dealt with research in the fields of running and exercise physiology. Based on research and my experience as a runner and a coach, I concluded that the two major causes of injury among runners age 45 and older are:

• Lack of running-specific strength in the foot and leg muscles
• Following a training program that does not take age in account, thereby not allowing adequate recovery time from training

I applied these principles to my own training. In just 3 weeks time, I was able to resume full training. Fast forward to the present, (except for rolling my left ankle twice, a reminder of a 39 year old non-running physical trauma that never healed properly) I have been running injury free for over 3 years……and it feels great!

I incorporate these same principles into the design of each and every coaching program:

Does it work for our coaching clients?

No runner who has followed our program has
missed her race due to injury!!

For several years, I had been continually plagued by running injuries that severely impeded my training and racing. Thanks to your Personalized Coaching Program, I trained and raced injury-free in 2011 for the first time. Running injury-free was instrumental in my breaking 2:10 for the half-marathon for the first time. I did it twice in six weeks!

Ingrid Wilson
Mississauga, ON
2:08:53, 2011 Scotiabank Waterfront Toronto Half-Marathon
2:09:45, 2011 Hamilton Road2Hope Half-Marathon

I can’t absolutely guarantee that you will train and race without injury. However, I can guarantee that you will:

• Dramatically reduce your risk of injury
• Avoid the frustration, anger and feeling of loss that often accompanies an injury

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Here’s what you get for your investment in your running success:

 

Gold Coaching Program

• Your customized training plan based upon your unique running profile. We interview you, analyze your running history, evaluate your running fitness and understand your motivation to reach your running goals. We then design your own training plan — your roadmap to your running success — building upon your individual strengths and targeting the areas that you need to improve so you can reach your potential as a runner as quickly as possible.
• *New* Running-specific exercises to strengthen the parts of your body that are most injury prone to dramatically reduce your injury risk.
• Twice monthly group Q&A Coaching telephone calls. You receive group support, encouragement, guidance and answers to all your running questions from a veteran women’s running coach so you can maximize the benefit that you derive from training.
• Downloadable MP3 audio recordings of group Q&A calls. Don’t worry if you can’t participate in all the live calls! You’ll be able to listen to the recording of each call at your leisure.
• Hot Weather Adjustment Chart which automatically adjusts your training plan for hot weather! No need to guess by how much to alter your pace to accommodate the heat. You’ll now know your correct pace for any given temperature and humidity.
• Program review and revisions by email, if you provide feedback on your workouts five business days prior to receiving the next phase of your program. Your training plan is not cast in stone! We adjust your training plan to take into account your progress to date and family or work circumstances that impact your running. Our holistic approach makes it easier for you to integrate your training into your busy schedule, stick to your program and attain your goals.

$49* per week (non-Association members); $39* per week (Association members)

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Platinum Coaching Program

Same benefits as in the Gold Coaching Program, with the added benefit of:

• A scheduled one-on-one 20 minute telephone call every two weeks, regardless of your country of residence!

$69* per week (non-Association members); $59* per week (Association members)

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*Pricing in Canadian dollars. U.S. dollar pricing is approximately the same.

How to calculate the number of weeks in your program? Your program will run from the day you register for your Personalized Coaching Program until one week after your target race that you are training for. For example, if you register on January 26th for a May 6th race, your program will be 15 weeks in duration.

Over the course of a training program, this cost savings alone supports joining the Association (just $137).

True…

This coaching program may represent a considerable investment – and requires commitment and work to achieve your goals. The benefits are clear – this investment will help you take a quantum leap forward towards living your running dream – as quickly as possible. It will save you months (or even years) of time, effort, slow improvements, disappointing results and frustrating injuries.

You can follow a general program that you can find on the Internet or in a clinic for less. But you will never come close to reaching your true potential if you follow a generic program designed for mass consumption instead of a personalized program — one that zeroes in and strengthens your own particular areas of weakness so you can achieve your running breakthrough as quickly as possible.

Most personal trainers cost anywhere between $50 and $150 per week. You can derive the same benefit without breaking the bank by following our individualized program backed by continuous research specifically tailored for women runners.

Your investment is spread out over three (or more) installments.

1. Pay for the first six weeks of your program upon signing up;
2. The next six weeks are billed 30 days later;
3. If your program is longer than twelve weeks, the remaining amount will be billed six weeks at a time, every 30 days after.

Thank you for your coaching and support, which were instrumental in me lowering my 10K by nine minutes in less than four months time. You listened to ME and were very aware of my personal goals. When I struggled with the speed training, you explained the reason for my difficulty and suggested some adaptations that I could try. It seems to have worked!

Lastly, it’s great to have someone cheering me on from the electronic sidelines, wishing me well before races, and congratulating me afterwards.

Susan Young
Stratford, ON
57:42. 2011 Pinery Provincial Park 10k

After just two months of following your Customized Training Plan and your regular support, I’ve already improved significantly. I lowered my 10K time from 1:20:22 to 1:11:17. I also received so many compliments on how fit I’m looking over the Holiday! Looking forward to more of your coaching and running my best half-marathon in February.

Linda Moore
Burtonsville, MD

The program that you designed for me contributed to me shaving 22 minutes off my marathon time at the Ottawa Marathon, qualifying me for Boston. I thought I’d be too old to improve that much. All your encouragement has made a difference to me as I am sure for many others.

Marianne Black
Ottawa, Ontario
3:51:31 2010 Ottawa Marathon

Worth it? Imagine yourself in your final sprint towards the finish line, your arms pumping, your strides powerful, the crowd cheering you on, and the announcer calling out your name. You cross the finish line and a volunteer hangs the finishers medal around your neck. Your family and friends rush to congratulate you. Inside, you know what this really means. YOU did it! And every step was worth it.

Yes, I’m ready to invest in realizing my potential as a runner and achieving my running objectives!

(Select one option)

New Association Membership + Coaching (Platinum Level)

 New Association Membership + Coaching (Gold Level)

Current Member Coaching (Platinum Level)

Current Member Coaching (Gold Level)

Non-member Coaching (Platinum Level)

Non-member Coaching (Gold Level)

P.S. Most runners require 15-17 weeks to complete a structured progressive program; one that promotes the necessary physiological improvements to your cardiovascular, muscular and nervous systems so you can run your best on race day.

P.P.S. As Aristotle said, the best kind of friendship is one in which each party reaches his/her potential. We view our clients as our friends and our Personalized Coaching Plans help our friends reach their true potential as runners.

Undecided? Email info@iawr-connect to schedule a call with Bennett to further discuss Personalized Coaching. Please type “Coaching Inquiry” in the Email Subject line. (Serious inquiries only, please).