What You’ll Receive
Being a DWRunner means more than just having a personal coach and a customized training plan. In addition to our coaches’ knowledge, support, and enthusiasm, all of our athletes are part of the DWRunning team and benefit from the support of our partners and other athletes. We want each DWRunner to be treated like an elite! As a DWRunner, you will receive the following:
+ KICKOFF MEETING
After completing a questionnaire, you and your coach will have a kickoff phone call to discuss your running & athletic history, current state of fitness, running goals, and more. This call will give you an opportunity to learn more about your coach’s philosophies, how they write and assign training, and more.
+ CUSTOMIZED TRAINING PLAN
Your training plan will be customized to your exact needs based on your schedule, fitness level, background, and goals, including all running workouts, functional strength workouts, drills & strides, and any cross-training that your coach deems appropriate. Your coach will build out a road map to make sure you’re hitting major milestones and training stimuli leading up to peak races, but will use your feedback to write each week’s training as it comes.
+ UNLIMITED COMMUNICATION
You can contact your coach at any time for any reason via phone, email or text. Open communication is critical to your success and allows your coach to revise training when things don't go as planned (due to work, health, family, weather, etc.) and to make sure that your next workout is the perfect workout for you. At the very least, you and your coach will have one call per week to go over the previous week, lay out the week to come, and clear up any unresolved questions.
+ RECOVERY ADVICE
Recovery is the most under-appreciated tool that you have for improvement and you are only able to improve as much as you allow your body to recover. Your coach will help you hone your recovery efforts and fine-tune your habits to make sure you are maximizing your results.
+ GROUP RUNS & EVENTS
We host team Saturday long runs, summer workout Wednesdays, and monthly Goose Island pint nights, and more! Long runs are hosted at various locations throughout the Chicagoland area, with Waterfall Glen, Swallow Cliff, Algonquin, Busse Woods, the Prairie Path, and Barrington Hills being some our most common locations.
+ PRE- AND POST-RACE DISCUSSIONS
Before each major race, you and your coach will have a detailed conversation to discuss specifics on strategy and logistics to make sure that you are completely prepared. You will also have a post-race discussion to review the race and to discuss what was learned and how to make adjustments for future training and races.
+ TEAM PARTNER SUPPORT
You’ll benefit from support and discounts from all of DWRunning’s amazing partners, including a DWRunning racing kit from Tracksmith.
Team Philosophies
As one of our athletes, your goals are our goals and your success is our success! We are on your journey with you and will do everything we can to help you succeed. For those looking to delve deeper into what being a DWRunner looks like, some of our coaching philosophies are as follows:
+ Training smart is just as important as training hard.
By adding the right elements to your training, at the right time, in an intelligent way, we will be able to help you stay healthy and consistently improve. By stringing weeks, months and years of intelligent training together, you'll be unstoppable!
+ In order to get faster, it's imperative to focus on holistic athleticism.
We're big believers that all runners need to perform specific strength exercises that are functional to the running motion. This strength work will increase your athleticism and allow you to absorb more training, maintain composure during races, and most importantly, keep you healthy!
+ Having a base of well-rounded fitness allows for successful, specific training.
Having a well-rounded fitness base is another staple in DWRunning training plans. This means that several months out from a goal race, it is vital to work on ALL elements of your running fitness. We work to improve your speed and muscular endurance, while working in many traditional running elements, in a plan customized to your exact strengths, weaknesses and abilities. This early work not only builds running fitness, but, more importantly, SUPPORTS the training in the months directly preceding your goal race. As your goal race approaches, your training will become increasingly focused on the specific rigors of your goal race!
+ Recovery is critical to success.
We believe in focusing fueling with lots of healthy food, constant hydration throughout the day, and consistent sleep. You are only able to improve as much as you allow your body to recover after major training sessions - we’ll help you hone your recovery efforts!
+ A long-term, patient outlook produces the best results.
Results don’t come overnight, and trusting in a coach and training philosophy long-term is what enables athletes to make the biggest improvement gains. We work hard to help our athletes improve their running abilities by putting an emphasis on long-term aerobic/muscular development and by always keeping an eye on their speed and full-body strength. We do this through steady, manageable workloads that build upon previous training sessions/cycles and make sense in regards to each athlete’s background and future goals.
+ Training plans aren’t one size fits all.
There are no 'cookie cutters' here! Each athlete’s individual situation is incredibly unique, and while two athletes might be training for the same race with the same goal, there are different routes that will best get each of them there. Similarly, training for the same race two years in a row will require different stimuli to ensure that you are as fit as possible given your current fitness level and situation. Being in constant communication with our athletes and writing them workouts which challenge them but fit within their real world schedules enables them to perform to the best of their abilities.
+ “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
DWRunning operates as a TEAM. Regardless of whether our athletes are new to running or dreaming big goals, DWRunners support and encourage each other every step of the way. While each athlete has an individual training plan and goals, we all share the same vision and work hard together. The energy and passion that we have is infectious and the teamwork is felt on long runs and is seen in friendships that are formed and training partners that are gained.
Reach out with any questions, to hear more about each of our coach’s coaching style, to generally talk fitness or to discuss next steps.