AI Coaching & Training Plans: Are They Right for You?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is popping up everywhere from in-home gadgets, business applications, information sourcing, healthcare, and social media/entertainment industries. Athletes, including the everyday runner, are not immune. Runners use smart watches to log miles, check pace, map courses, and analyze data. Many smart watches and training platforms, like Garmin, are starting to offer AI based training and coaching derived from the analysis of a runner’s individual data. How reliable are the training suggestions that AI suggest? Why should a runner pay a coach to provide a service that AI can perform for free while wearing a smartwatch? Are AI coaches and training plans the wave of the future using a runner’s personal real-time data such as sleep, heart rate, pace, and distance without the financial and time commitment of hiring and working with a traditional coach?

Given many of the benefits of AI coaching and training, is the effort and financial outlay to hire a coach worthwhile? What can a traditional coach provide that a plan built around real-time personal biometrics and data miss? AI coaching, training plans, and even static plans treat the runner as a machine. In Jack Daniels’, Daniels’ Running Formula 4^th ed, Daniels emphasizes that coaches “care for their athlete’s as people first and then as runners.” Like it or not, running is emotional and human at its core. There are reasons why it’s common to hear the advice of “remember your why”, “choose a mantra”, or “run this mile for someone you love.”

Biomechanics are invaluable clues into the inner workings of the body and the impact training has on the body. Biomechanics can show changes to fitness and can even indicate illness and/or overtraining before it occurs. Coaches who embrace the philosophy of treating the athlete as a whole person take the time to listen to the small clues their athletes give in feedback and conversations in addition to what the biomechanics and pace results show. They get to know what an athlete’s life looks like outside of running as well as some of the mental or emotional barriers that can come up during a run that are completely unrelated to the physical capabilities of an athlete. Maybe an increased heart rate during a training run or race is due to a lack of belief in one’s capabilities, anxiety, excitement for the training or event, or even fueling and hydration strategies. AI may suggest a slower pace or easy day based on the higher heart rate. In contrast, a running coach may break a workout down into smaller segments to increase confidence, work with an athlete to prepare a mental race day strategy, or provide fueling and hydration suggestions. They may even set up time to discuss what went well or how to change training or the environment surrounding the run.

Many traditional running coaches also work with an athlete to create an environment of trust and unconditional support that is not tied to achieving or exceeding training plans or race goals. In contrast, AI may analyze a workout and place it into categories such as productive or unproductive. This may cause athletes to start to doubt the progress they are making. It can be hard to separate non-emotional descriptions from an emotional response. A traditional running coach will work with an athlete to ensure that the athlete is supported during all phases of running including the plateaus or times when it feels that things are not heading in the right direction.

Traditional coaches also have the unique ability to allow running to compliment an athlete’s life outside of running. Coaches work with an athlete to take into consideration career and family obligations in order to fit running into a schedule that accommodates all aspects of an athlete’s life. Inflexibility in training from a traditional coach, AI, or a static plan can lead an athlete to resent running, increase stress, or even result in injury. An athlete’s attempt to follow a plan by over or underloading training days to fit everything in can also lead to diminished performance and increased frustration.

Finally, a traditional coach can help an athlete navigate the personal responses and running’s role when it comes to life events, illness/injury, and the human experience. For example, someone going through grief may be experiencing a higher heart rate which may cause an AI coach to recommend a reduction in running or to label runs as de-training or unproductive. Running may be that person’s way of processing the grief. A traditional coach will work closely with the athlete to ensure that the right balance of self-care and running is maximized for that individual. In contrast, a new parent may show excellent biometrics. An AI coach may push training to a level that is stressful for the new responsibilities of a growing family and may result in burn-out or eventually a decrease in performance. A traditional coach would consider the current situation, short- and long-term goals of the individual and talk through a plan that maintains fitness while working towards goals in an approach that best suits the individual.

It is worth noting that AI can also “misinterpret” data. Heart rate monitors can be inaccurate. Trail running can be especially complicated to interpret due to terrain and elevation challenges that vary greatly from trail to trail and person to person. For example, an easy paced 50K trail race could be interpreted as needing minimal recovery. Traditional coaches have better insight into the challenges placed upon the athlete and the athlete’s body that extend far beyond heartrate. Coaches also consider the harder to measure impacts to the muscular, skeletal, and endocrine systems after such extended efforts.

Every runner has a different reason to run, a different level of commitment, and effort that they desire or can devote to running. For runners who are self-managed, independent, and are in-tune with their bodies, biomechanics and AI coaching or training plans may be enough to achieve their personal running goals. Runners looking to break through a plateau, chase big goals, &/or troubleshoot problem areas such as fueling strategies or injury prevention may benefit more from interactive human coaching relationships. Newer runners or runners wishing to learn about why certain runs are prescribed may also benefit from the more traditional coaching relationship.

Regardless of the coaching approach that a runner prefers, it is important that it is the right fit for a runner’s personality, time availability, and finances. Be prepared to search, ask questions, and make changes if something isn’t working. There are several AI and more traditional coaching options to choose from. If finances are limiting, reaching out to the AI platform or coach may prove to provide a runner with negotiated or discounted pricing. There is more than one way to achieve a satisfying and rewarding relationship with running. Seeking out options that may evolve over time can be part of an exciting process on the way to a runner’s vision of success and fulfillment.