Dear Coach: I have been reading your column in the past few issues of Washington Running Report. I am preparing to run the Colt-USO Defenders 10 Mile Run on May 31 and would like to run a fast time. Do you think I need a coach to help? Barbara.

Dear Barbara: Yes, a coach could help many runners meet their running goals. This is true whether a runner is twenty- five years old or sixty-five years young. I am coaching one runner in his early 60s who is now running PRs from 5K to the marathon. Another fellow in his late 50s is running his fastest times in the last fifteen years. One woman has knocked more than a minute and a half off her 5K time and at age forty-four has recently run a 19:29. Others are running their best times in years. In 1995, 13 of 15 marathoners with an outside shot at qualifying for Boston did qualify.

A good coach will sit with a runner and develop an individual training program, factoring in running background, work and family responsibilities, injury histories, and personal goals. This is quite different from the running magazines. Their training programs obviously cannot take into account all the factors in an individual runner's life. For instance, one runner may want to break forty minutes in the 10K, while another wants to run a 4:30 marathon. Obviously, each needs different programs and workouts to meet their goals.

By setting up a training program, a coach can help shape goals and keep the athlete from setting unrealistic goals. If a runner has never broken eighty minutes for ten miles, setting a goal of running seventy-five minutes at the Colt-USO Defenders race would be too optimistic. However, that might be a good goal for 1999. Once a training plan has been made, a coach will keep in regular contact through E-mail and telephone, or at scheduled meetings. As a coach, I find this very necessary because following runners' progress is essential. This way their programs can be fine tuned and adjusted as necessary.

A coach can be objective about training. My experience is that many self-coached runners overtrain. They are afraid to rest or take time off. A good coach can spot when an athlete is overtraining or has become stale and make adjustments in training to revitalize the runner. A coach will remind the trainee to go very easy on the easy days so that they can get in the necessary quality work on the hard days. This is the way to get faster and stronger so that one can run a PR at the Colt-USO Defenders 10 Mile Run.

A coach will prescribe workouts designed to help each individual runner race at a goal pace and to teach them how to run races effectively. A coach provides motivation and emotional support to get runners over any rough patches. Once the coach gets to know the athlete, he will develop a sense when to push and when to pull in the reins. Last and perhaps most important, chances of running injury free are greatly enhanced when training with a coach. He can spot training mistakes to which most runners are blind.

Having said all this, I understand that not every runner wants or can afford a private coach. An athlete really has to be motivated to hire a private coach. A runner can spend a lot of money, depending upon the coach, paying anything from very modest sums to more than $100 per month. Many athletes spend even more on personal trainers. For some runners, however, hiring a coach represents a commitment to a goal and gives them motivation to follow through with their training program.

If an aspiring athlete cannot afford a private coach, there are other resources available provided by local running clubs. For instance, the Montgomery County Road Runners Club has a first time marathoners program that has had a 100% completion rate for its participants. MCRRC also offers organized track workouts during the week and organized long runs on the weekend. Many other clubs in the area offer similar programs. While these club programs are different from having a private coach, there are many knowledgeable runners in these clubs and their advice and insights can often be invaluable.

Good luck on May 31 when running the Colt-USO Defenders 10 Mile Run! Questions for Coach West can be sent to him at Kirt West or (703) 533-0021. Coach West offers private coaching for motivated individuals.