I’ve Been a Runner for 10 Years. I Wish I’d Learned These 3 Lessons Sooner After Finally Working With a Coach.

After I ran a marathon last fall, my symptoms of burnout spiraled and nothing about running felt appealing to me. Frustrated, I turned to a run coach for guidance and in an attempt to reignite my running spark.I worked with Holly Dickinson, UESCA-certified run coach, NSCA-certified strength and conditioning coach, and owner of StrideHer, after previously interviewing her for stories on functional core swaps for runners and how power cleans lead to better run performance. I’ve always loved strength training and running together, so it felt like a natural fit.Normally, when I train on my own, my brain tends to go all-in, never skipping a day, and I aim to check off every workout on the plan. Teaming up with a run coach for the first time challenged this thinking pattern, though, and helped me sharpen my running skills and make smarter training choices.Here are three things that stuck with me the most so you can take them into your next training cycle, too.Give Yourself Permission to Take a Break and Manage StressDuring the first week or two of training, I dealt with a lot of stress from work and personal life, so I didn’t get any of the strength or mobility workouts done and only completed two runs. I sat down with Dickinson for a one-on-one call while this happened.I expected her to help me find ways to make up for the workouts or carry something over into the week, but instead, I was surprised when she told me to relax, take the rest of the week off, and only focus on mobility exercises. She said it was important to take days off because if my mental stress levels were already high, my body wouldn’t have a chance to recuperate from the physical stress caused by more intense exercise and therefore, I would struggle to adapt to the training.Our schedule through Final Surge also allowed me to add in personal notes and events, so when I took up pottery classes to help deal with stress, Dickinson told me I could add those to the schedule for a full picture of how my life was working with my training.Chatting with Dickinson about my stress was a huge weight off my shoulders, validated my struggles, and gave me the push I needed to actually put training on hold.This helped me realize that running should fit into my life, not the other way around.Learn About Muscle Imbalances to Strengthen FormBefore I started training, Dickinson conducted a digital movement assessment to examine my muscular imbalances. We found I had strength limitations on my left side when I couldn’t balance on my left foot for as long as my right, as well as some limited mobility in my thoracic (upper) spine.Because of this, Dickinson had me start with my left leg during any single-leg exercises to address that imbalance; I’d use more mental and physical energy on that side before fatigue set in, she explained.Two moves in particular, lateral lunges with a single-arm row and a single-leg Romanian deadlift with single-arm row, helped challenge my balance and strength. I found the exercises awkward and pretty challenging at first, because I had never done them and also struggled historically with Romanian deadlifts. But after the first two sessions, I felt like I was homing in on my form, engaging the right muscles, and could balance better. I also felt sore in muscles that I know I didn’t work enough before, like my gluteus medius, which is crucial for hip stability on the run, as well as the single-leg landing.Dickinson also prescribed me about three to four mobility sessions a week, something I hadn’t included in my schedule before. I figured my strength workouts were enough, but Dickinson noted that practicing solid form through different movement patterns would help make sure that I could handle more load down the line and adapt more smoothly to training.I was already familiar with some of the mobility moves Dickinson prescribed for me, like hip CARs, thread the needle, and active pigeon (where you’re in a traditional pigeon pose but gently lift your front leg slightly off the ground, then slowly lower it back down for reps). But a couple moves challenged me: hip extension and airplane rotations and banded abductor hydrants with a reverse fly.Lean Into Effort-Based Training to Reconnect With IntensityBecause I hadn’t raced in a while and wasn’t sure of my current fitness, and because I wanted to reignite my love of running without being so rigid in my training, the workouts Dickinson prescribed early on focused on rate of perceived exertion (RPE) rather than trying to reach a certain pace. This means I rated the effort level on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being easy and 10 being an all-out, challenging effort.For example, we did a track pyramid workout where each interval was about sustaining a certain effort. This helped me get back in touch with an intuitive sense of pacing and the assigned RPEs offered a sort of guideline when I wasn’t sure what paces I could currently maintain. It allowed me to let go of an external metric and focus on how the run felt internally.This workout contained subtle pace differences, so in order to distinguish the rates of perceived exertion, I focused on my breathing and my cadence. For me, a 6 out of 10 pace felt like marathon pace, while a 7 felt like I was going for a more upbeat tempo workout. An 8 out of 10 felt a bit more challenging, where my leg muscles worked harder and my breathing picked up, allowing me to only say a few words.Overall, focusing on effort helped me reconnect with my body as an athlete and know what it’s like to purposefully turn the intensity up or down. I didn’t constantly worry about my times; instead, I could just cruise and notice changes in my form as my effort increased, like standing a little taller, or driving my knees just a touch harder. I’ll carry that with me in every training cycle to come as I tap into effort to guide my workouts.Kristine Kearns, a writer and avid runner, joined Runner’s World and Bicycling in July 2024. She previously coached high school girls cross country and currently competes in seasonal races, with more than six years of distance training and an affinity for weightlifting. You can find her wearing purple, baking cupcakes, and visiting her local farmers market.