Why Should You Have a Coach

You don't have to be new to running to benefit from having a coach.

No matter how experienced you are, it's difficult to view your own training objectively. Even the world's best runners have coaches because an outside perspective can identify things you might miss, whether that's accumulating too much fatigue, overtraining, or timing your training wrong. 

A coach also takes the stress out of the day-to-day decisions and the structuring of training. Instead of constantly thinking about what session you should do, how intensely you should train, or when and how to taper off, you can focus on executing the training and getting on with the rest of your life.

A good coach uses real-time feedback to adjust training based on how you're responding, day to day, while maintaining a long-term plan towards a target race, and also accounting for work, sleep, stress, motivation, and everything else happening outside of running. The less variables a coach leaves an athlete to worry about, the higher chance they have at succeeding. 

Running is both physical and psychological.

Having someone who understands both sides of the game, and can provide an objective perspective when you need it, can make a huge difference.

Sometimes a runner needs a coach because they are new to the sport and lack the knowledge to be successful. Other times, coaching isn't about knowing more than the athlete, but seeing what the athlete can't, reducing the mental load, and creating training that is specific to the individual. In either case, it can't hurt to have a coach.