RANT! And I need some opinions

So, I have this brother-in-law who is a XC/track coach. He got me into running over the summer and made me run 3-4 miles 6 days a week with on 4 mile repeat once a week. During my XC season, our coach never made us run more that 5 miles and I pr'd with a 20:39. So, now that it is winter, I am training myself and I go to see a trainer one day a week. My long run consists of 7 miles and I run around 28-31 mpw with Saturday being fast speedwork days. My trainer seems to know what he is doing, but when my brother-in-law found out about me seeing a trainer, he was pissed, saying that he knew nothing about running and runners and blah blah blah.

Then, I was out at lunch with my sister and told her I was really hungry cause I just went on my long run today....And then she went and told my brother-in-law who texted me saying "Cool off on all this long run stuff! You should only run long runs one day a week and they should be between 30-40 min. And you should be doing two days of speed work consisting of 400, 800, and mile repeats. This is not what I have been told to do from many people. Many people have just told me to take it easy and run long and slow(including the Delaware XC state champion who won back in 1982). I'm just mad that he is butting into my training, I know he means well, but it doesnt concern him! And my trainer has no problem to the milage I have been doing.

I am just going to be running long and slow for just one more month and then i planned on adding more speed work come February. This isnt the first time he has tried to butt in. He would come to my races and would try and pull me aside and make me do other warmups than what my coach was telling me to do. Then one time he called my coach and told him that I wasnt eating enough(which I was!) and to make sure he told are team to eat good. I just so mad that he keeps trying to butt into my life(he also calleded my principal once to tell him he didnt like what one of my teachers was teaching). I think I'm going to ask my trainer what he thinks.
I love my brother-in-law, but he is really pissing me off right now! Do you think it would be ok to just ignore him and just keep doing what I've been doing? Or does he know more than me and should I just do what he says(even though he is NOT my trainer). I am so lost and confussed right now...please help me!

Ria, I'm sorry that this all is happening. I agree, it does seem pretty confusing.
I'm no expert, but in my opinion, what you are doing right now sounds good. I think your trainer knows what he's doing. This is your off season right? So you're base training. That's what you should be doing to stay on track for track season. Doing once a week 'fast stuff' is good along with a once a week long run.
I agree, your brother in-law sounds like he is kinda intrusive. I think it might have been a bit going over the line by calling your coach and principal. By saying doing speedwork of 400-800 twice a week, he could be reffering to in-season training. (of course in season, its not like base anymore, there is more speed)
I think:
1. You should stick to what you're doing with your trainer. He seems to know the works.
2. Talk to your trainer about what your brother in-law is telling you and maybe get his/her opinion on why your brother in-law could think this(like is he getting it confused with something or is it right)
3. Maybe talk to your brother in-law and says something like "I really appreciate your input and advice, but I'm kind of already booked up with a training regimen with my person trainer."

I hope this helps. Maybe you could talk to your sister about him being a little too intrusive.

Good luck!

remember that your brother in law is not your coach, or trainer. He is simply an outside opinion. Maybe during the summer when he got you into running he was like a coach to you, but you dont have to go with his opinion....Maybe you should just thank him for his opinion and try to tell him in a nice way how you feel, and to back off.
xc running gal was right, this is confusing, and can be hard to deal with...and Im sure its really annoying. Good luck though!!!

he means the best
and you never know maybe he is right

butt talk to your sister get her to tell him that he isn't helping

Wgrt wrote:he means the best
and you never know maybe he is right

butt talk to your sister get her to tell him that he isn't helping

It's the whole quality vs. quantity thing that confuses me so much! So, I'm trying to do quantity now, then in february do quality. I hate coaching myself....I'm so scared I'm going to screw myself over.

haha i get training once a week but ive never had a proper course so i end up doing whatever my legs feel like ive tried routines from websites but i find i do better just reading up on research and then just running
but from what you said you sound like your doing the same as i am

you should not be doing 2 days of speed/intervals right now. i don't know who told him that, but that will peak you too early. run long, run steady. you can easily handle that amount of running.

AudienceOfOne wrote:you should not be doing 2 days of speed/intervals right now. i don't know who told him that, but that will peak you too early. run long, run steady. you can easily handle that amount of running.

Thanks, this helps a lot.
And yeah Wgrt, I do a lot of, whatever my legs feel like, lol.

tl;dr
i got to the 30-40 minute part.
protip:paragraphs are easier to read then giant walls of text.

not to be rude but does ria coincide with diharrea? sorry its been bugging me lately

runlikethawind wrote:not to be rude but does ria coincide with diharrea? sorry its been bugging me lately

No, my name is Maria and my little nephew and some of my friends call me Ria. But, my older sister does call me diharrea just to make fun of me

^ ur new avatar really reminds me of the lead singer for red jumpsuit apparatus.
they're new album comes out on feb 3, i think.

alex-likes-running wrote:tl;dr
i got to the 30-40 minute part.
protip:paragraphs are easier to read then giant walls of text.

If I didn't know where you live I'd say you were in america because if anything is longer than 4 sentences you always say that, lol.

Oh geeze again with the stereotyping.

alex-likes-running wrote:^ ur new avatar really reminds me of the lead singer for red jumpsuit apparatus.
they're new album comes out on feb 3, i think.

It was just me messing around with my webcam last night.

AudienceOfOne wrote:

alex-likes-running wrote:tl;dr
i got to the 30-40 minute part.
protip:paragraphs are easier to read then giant walls of text.

If I didn't know where you live I'd say you were in america because if anything is longer than 4 sentences you always say that, lol.

yea im a really lazy reader unless im reading something i find interesting lol

Ok, so I was e-mailing my brother-in-law and he says I should do a workout schedule like this:
Monday- Track workout (ex: 4x1000m with 400m recovery after each)w/ 1 mile w/c
Wed- 45 min run
Friday- Track workut (ex: 4x400m with 400m recovery after each than 5x200 with 200m recovery after each)

Uhhh...this does not sound like something I should do during the off season, what do you all think?

^^
no, like Miler said, you shouldn't be doing speedworkouts 2x a week during the off season.

that would be some good workouts for inseason during track and stuff but right now, you should be doing base.

i generally do like one speedworkout or AT run a week.

Yea, what your brother-in-law is sending you sounds like a great in-season workout

Yeah, now he is checking up to see if I am actually doing the workouts he sent me. I told my sister "uhhh NO!" and she was like, "He is going to get upset". And I am just thinking, he is not my coach, and I am just trying to do what I think is good. But, then again, I dont know anything about running.