Last year my running training was going really well with the help of one of Vital's coaches Rick Canning.

This was the second time I had hired a run coach - and admittedly the first time was just to do some research for my own understanding on why people hire us endurance coaches.

What I discovered through the process, was that even though I "knew how to write my own program", having a coach helped me with 4 unexpected things:

• Check ins helped me to reflect on how my training was going, and stay up to date with training notes that I would have skipped otherwise. This came in handy later, for the next point.
• HARD training weeks became more individualized to me because my coach was suggesting training paces based on my capabilities, so he could help me set more specific targets for my workouts as we progressed together. "Try X pace in today's intervals" was really motivating for me.
• De-load weeks became more individualized to me because I was tracking and noting how I was feeling before, during, and after each workout. The metrics on the Training Peaks app we use are great, but don't tell us about muscle soreness, aches and pains, details about the perception on how the workout went, or other life stressors that could be piling up.
• I love relaxed, long, slow distance running and hate hard interval or threshold workouts, so having a coach that kept me honest in my speed work helped me break through those mental barriers. I definitely would have come up with excuses not to do those hard workouts if my program wasn't being monitored by a coach! 😅

So this all lead to... getting a BOSTON MARATHON qualifying time at the Calgary Marathon last year!! Hence the title of this email - I'm now 5 days out from the 2024 Boston Marathon, and getting nervous 🫣.

Perhaps coincidence, perhaps not, I told Rick I wanted to train intuitively last summer and fall (after the qualifier) and run with my new dog whenever I wanted. It resulted in me falling back into my old habits of NOT listening to my body - and I landed myself with tendonitis in the hip and hamstring that I've been working HARD to rehab. I should have stuck with Rick!!!

It's not quite there but I'm well enough that I can race in 5 days. Wish me luck.

With TENDON problems on the mind - I wanted to let you know that I just published that Achilles blog I've been alluding to in previous emails. It's called "Why Won't My Achilles Pain Go Away? Ideas For Tackling Chronic Achilles Pain". Let me know what you think! I reply 100% of the time.

Yours in physiology,

Carla