Looking For A Coach? Try RYR Coaching!

2017 was an incredibly difficult year for me and my running. I suffered an almost paralyzing depression and while running was something that helped me out of difficult times in the past, this time it only made it worse. By June I had put on about 15 pounds and was really struggling with my running. The year before I was running fast (for me), qualifying for the Boston Marathon for 2016 and 2017, but now I was struggling to run a 5:00 marathon. I had had enough. 

Thanks to great friends, I started working little by little to drop the weight, and get my love of running back. By December, I qualified for Boston at the Tucson Marathon, but only with a 13 second cushion which was surely not enough to actually get into the race, but it felt like a huge victory.

After I posted about my victory, I got a lovely message from Holly Garcia congratulating me and offering the services of RYR Coaching, the coaching business she runs with Stephanie-Jake Anderson. I know these great ladies as I often pace on the pace team they run as well. She said that a coach would help me keep motivated to get to where I wanted to be, and that was a BQ with at least a 5 minute cushion at the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon at the end of April.

I had not had a coach since high school. Any training I did I did on my own or with Jeff Galloway Training when I first started my marathon training, but I never had a real personal coach. I thought this would be a great opportunity to get some structure in my training and I signed on as a client!

Holly and Stephanie! RYR Coaches!

I did a short interview with Stephanie to answer some basic questions I had about their coaching program:

1.  What made you decide to start coaching?

Stephanie:  I have been a personal trainer to 10+ years and absolutely love helping people achieve their goals. I decided to take my love of helping others and my love of running and combine them. Holly and I talked about getting certified for quite sometime and finally did it last February. We’d seen the difference that following a good plan could make and wanted to share that knowledge with others.     

AWP:  That's great! To be a good runner, you must do more than just running. Your personal training background would invaluable when it comes to teaching other parts of training like strength and cross training.

2.  How do you decide what training plan is compatible for runners you coach?

Stephanie:  Each plan is completely individualized. We look at each clients current mileage, speed, PR etc. and go from there. We have our clients check in each week and depending on how the previous week went we adjust their plan as needed. 

AWP:  I love it! Every plan does not work for every person. I love that you customize it for each client.

3.  How do you deliver your training plans? 

Stephanie:  We do all of our communication online. We give our plans on a weekly basis. That way we can make changes as needed.   

4.  Do you provide a cross training plan as well? Can you help a client with a nutrition plan?

Stephanie:  We write cross training and rest days into each plan. We aren’t currently certified as nutritionists but offer what advice and help we can. 

5.  Life is crazy! How do you handle unexpected issues in your client's training?

Stephanie:  We are always adjusting our clients schedule as needed. We provide encouragement and support to help them get the workouts done and suggest solutions to issues that may arise.

AWP:  Oh! I appreciated this! I didn't really foresee throwing a 100K and a 50 mile  ultra marathon into my schedule before my "A" race, but when it happened I was a little nervous, but you adjusted my plan to ensure I had the recovery I needed to continue to reach my goal.

6. Tell me about a client that made the most improvement after coaching.

Stephanie:  We just finished training someone for Boston. He is an amazing athlete and was always fast but would die the last few miles of his races. He came to us to help him have a positive experience at his first Boston marathon. He had an amazing training cycle and improved his 5K time by a lot. We write 5K threshold runs into each plan and his time improved each and every time. Although the racing conditions weren’t ideal at Boston this year, he went and got a very respectable time. The best part was that he finished strong and still had something left in the tank...something he had never had before. He greatly improved his speed and endurance.

AWP:  That's awesome!

7.  People sometimes think they can't get a coach because of the cost. Some coaches charge a lot of money. What are your fees?

Stephanie:  We charge $60 per month!

AWP:  I thought coaching was a lot more. That is reasonable. $60 per month is worth every penny when it comes to getting that PR or BQ!

  

So I went through Stephanie and Holly's program and how did things go? Things went great! The training plan was awesome and not only did a reach my goal of qualifying for Boston again, I qualified with close to 10 minutes under! THANK YOU Holly and Stephanie! I am so grateful for your guidance.

Boston Bound!

Holly and Stephanie were a huge reason I reached my goal and know they could help you too! If you would like more info on RYR Pacing contact them through their Facebook Page or their website.