The answer: Well, it depends.
It depends on many variables.
It depends on whether or not you:
- like your coach,
- are making the progress you want,
- are feeling full of energy or chronically fatigued,
- are frustrated with your programming,
- know that you are program is headed in the right direction, or
- believe you are paying too much for coaching services.
For BehaviorFit’s money, because firing your coach is an important decision, it should be based on the best data available. Data that is graphed, and makes sense to you and your goals.
Today, I review the progress and success of another BeFit client. Runner or not, evaluating your coach and their coaching ability is key to any performance gain.
Meet The Athlete
I met Emma at a conference. She is a hard-working, late 30’s, mother-to-a-teenage daughter, and loves running. Emma started running 3 years ago, lost significant weight, and hasn’t stopped running since. She told me about her race medals, best times, worst times, but most importantly, that she worked with an online running coach.
See, Emma came to an interesting point in her running career. Although an amateur, she hired a coach for custom programming to help her achieve faster running times. There is nothing wrong with buying online programs. They are a great start and provide meaningful guidance. Online programs (or in-person programs) become a problem when individual results wane or cannot follow the rationale of program changes.
Emma wanted to run faster 5Ks, half-marathons, and marathons. And she wasn’t.
Her legs were beat up (maybe from overtraining) and the program/race schedule crushed her motivation. Her race times were not getting any faster even though she followed her program to a T. Emma is very coachable, compliant, and completes all of her prescribed workouts – both running and cross-training – her coach assigned her. Her work ethic is second-to-none.
After many conversations, Emma told me that she was frustrated and needed an outside opinion.
What We Did
The great thing about runners? Most wear fancy Garmin watches.
The great thing about Garmin watches? They take incredible data.
From heart rate to elevation change. From pace to cadence, to best mile split and elevation change.
If you are a runner, then you know why these metrics are important. If you are not a runner, well, trust me, these metrics are important.
[Of course, data do not tell the story. Graphing data in a meaningful way tells the story.]
Zooming out holds the secret to progress (or none). I knew that Emma was too close to her running stats and needed to back up the microscope.
Over a series of coaching sessions, I learned the mechanics of the Garmin watch, understood which data were collected and how (e.g., heart rate, cadence), tinkered around and pulled those meaningful data for Emma.
The real challenge was deciding which bit of data to focus on. Just looking at the screenshot is overwhelming. You don’t know where to even look, let alone know what to pay attention to.
Not knowing what we could find, I recommended that we start very broad. We tallied running distance by month but looked at other metrics like pace and race times.
Emma wore some version of a Garmin watch for 3 years, so we had more than enough data to sift through. On top of that, Emma did not hire her online running coach until about halfway through her running career.
This would really let us evaluate her coach’s effectiveness. We could evaluate how running distance changed, if at all after she paid her new coach. Once we plugged everything in, the data were pretty revealing.
In this process, my job is to let Emma’s running data tell the story, not throw anyone under the bus. I am merely the messenger. As Stephen King calls it in On Writing, my job is to uncover the fossil. In my case, my job is to uncover graph.
The Analysis
We learned that her data were clear. Emma’s running program had two problems: (1) it was unsystematic – meaning that you could not see any clear training pattern, and (2) it trended in the wrong direction – her running volume decreased leading up to her next marathon.
See Emma’s running chart here:
Emma and I met around September 2017. This is marked on the graph. While we worked on her data, she kept with her current coach and programming.
Before Emma hired a running her coach (from July 2014 to January 2016), she programmed runs on her own, and her mileage increased over time and maintained at about 100 miles per month (see the black line under ‘No Coach’).
Emma’s coach (marked in the middle section ‘With Old Coach’) kept her at the same volume at first, but the running volume dropped off right around the time I met Emma. She averaged around 125 miles per month, but then plummeted to around 50 without any explanation.
Her program was not consistent and you can see that by looking how wavy the mileage data path is. Some months high, some months low. No obvious training pattern.
The Decision
When did she decide to fire her running coaching? When we had enough data, put them on a graph, and read the story. During the last 6-8 months, Emma’s coach received monthly payments while Emma received inconsistent programming with little-to-no improvement in race times.
I gave it away in the graph above. Emma fired her old coach in April 2018 and hired me as the new coach. Humbled and honored, I knew we had a great deal of work ahead of us. We made decisions and altered the running strategy. It’s worth mentioning that we did not make a hard and fast change. We worked together for 8 months and followed the data and once we understood what her current program looked like, then and only then, did we make a formal change to her program.
Following the Boston Marathon in April 2018, we pulled the official coaching switcharoo!
What We Target Now
To solve Emma’s two running issues (no training pattern and low running volume), we both needed to do homework. The graph alludes to this, but we reviewed various running books and programs and decided on a multiple-phase training approach. The third part of the graph (marked on the right by ‘With BehaviorFit’) shows mileage-to-date under Emma’s current program (black line) and what her projected mileage is through next January (green line).
This new program reestablishes consistent weekly mileage, trends total running volume in the right direction, and allows us to make bi-monthly decisions on Emma’s progress. Emma will be better prepared for the upcoming Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 race seasons because we are systematically increasing her training volume.
Beyond all the (what I think are cool) data, Emma is motivated and her confidence in the plan is growing. Her legs feel great, and she got her running mojo back. Returning to a solid foundation, although a mental roadblock, excites us for the upcoming year.
Closing Thoughts
My hunch is this: most programs (running or otherwise) are not individualized. They are cookie-cutter programs that are good for most people, most of the time. Again, that’s ok! But sometimes, just sometimes, these plans are not thought out, confusing to the athlete, and do not align with an individual’s goals.
I mean, you pay good money. Shouldn’t you get your money’s worth? Not just an average Joe’s money’s worth?!?!
Sorry Joes.
That’s what sets BehaviorFit apart – online coaching based on strategy and making decisions on individual performance (and data!)
The real test of my effectiveness, as a coach, will be to evaluate Emma’s progress as she completes future 5K’s, half-marathons, and marathons over the coming year. We revamped her running program and its success or failure will take 9-12 months to detect. Her data down the road will tell us if the decisions we make today are effective or not. The waiting game begins.
Because Emma is super-compliant with training protocols, I am confident in her impending success.
I mean just look at her work in Phase I:
She hit her weekly mileage goal every week (just a little above – this is just fine!) for the past 9 weeks. Let me say it another way – She completes every single run and every mile that is on the schedule!!!
Go Emma! Go Emma!
That’s why tracking your progress (or a client’s) is both fun and scary. You get to see what works, letting you in on how effective your coaching is. But, you get to see what doesn’t work, letting you in how ineffective your coaching is.
Either way, the numbers don’t lie. Every coach needs to a metric in their toolbox, if not, they may be doing their athletes a disservice. What I do is nothing magical, but consistent and honest. Behavior analysis prepared me for these opportunities.
Should you fire your running coach? It depends. Should you hire me? It depends.
It depends if you are meeting your goals, and what your data (if you have them) are telling you. If the story is bad, then yes, fire your coach…
Keep moving,
Nick
This is the 4tharticle in BehaviorFit’s Case Study Series.
In case study 1, you met Ashley. She drank 2-3 sugary sodas every day and then NONE in 30 days. Check out her story from three months ago: Case Study 1: Putting Soft Drinks Down and Drinking Less Sugar
In case study 2, you met Oscar. He went from couch potato to avid runner. Check out Oscar’s progress here: Case Study 2: From Couch Potato to Running 30+ days Straight!
In case study 3, last month, you met Bella. She went from office jockey to doubling her physical activity over 6 months. See Bella’s update here: Case Study #3: How A Self-Employed Business Woman Worked From Home & Doubled Her Exercise.
