By Jim Hage 
Special to The Washington Post 
Friday, September 15, 2000; Page D03 

After training alone for 18 months, Hope Machedon ran the Richmond Marathon last fall in 3 hours 49 seconds--a spectacular time for a novice marathoner. Encouraged by her performance, the Bethesda actuary, then 39, entered the Vermont Marathon with the goal of breaking three hours. But she had no idea how to get faster. 

Rather than seeking training advice from running friends, at the track or from a local running club, Machedon went online and perused various Internet forums, posted questions and submitted her training schedules in search of feedback. 

"I needed both a sounding board and some technical advice on how to maximize my shot at sub-three hours," she said. 

A link on one forum put her in touch with Bill Corcoran, an online coach 
who lives in Grande Prairie, Alberta. 

"I signed up for a four-week block of workouts in January, and I've been 
working with Bill nonstop since then," Machedon said. 

The ultimate in long-distance relationships was forged, this one perhaps more successful than most: Machedon ran 2:55:07 in Vermont. Her goal now is 2:50, the qualifying standard for the U.S. women's Olympic trials marathon. 

You've Got Mail 

Coaching in absentia is not new. American marathoner Buddy Edelen trained in England while corresponding via letters with his coach stateside prior to setting the world record of 2:14:28 in 1963. And 1992 Olympic medalist and nine-time U.S. cross-country champion Lynn Jennings used the telephone to get workouts in New Hampshire from her coach in Massachusetts. 

Because of the time and expense involved, only elite runners typically took the trouble to hire a long-distance coach; likewise, coaches wanted to invest extra effort only in top athletes. Everyday runners were at the mercy of whoever ran workouts at the high school track or running club, if they could find a coach at all. 

But with the ease and immediacy of e-mail and the Internet, runners of all abilities now have access to world-class advice. Those whose previous options included being berated on the track by a clipboard-toting coach can appreciate downloading a workout, executing it, and then sending the results to the coach via e-mail. And there is the psychological boost of getting advice from the best: Who wouldn't enjoy getting batting tips from Cal Ripken? 

Many current and former athletes and coaches recognize the potential and 
are cashing in, offering personalized training programs for between $30 
and $150 per month. 

One of the biggest names to enter the online arena is Arturo Barrios, five-time world record holder in the 10,000 meters and two-time Olympian. Barrios lives in Boulder, Colo., where he coaches national champions and potential Olympians in person through the Army's World Class Athlete Program. He has also begun to coach, via e-mail, several average runners in Chicago, New York and elsewhere around the country. 

"When I was racing, it was all about winning," Barrios said. "With coaching, it still is. It doesn't matter if you're a 28-minute or 48-minute 10K guy, all runners want to do well and beat the other guy. The training principles are the same. Ninety percent of our runners are showing improvement." 

Barrios offers a detailed structure of various plans and prices in his online venture, teambarrios.com. His $150-per-month Gold Plan, the most comprehensive of four tiers, promises an initial evaluation, personalized weekly training schedules, telephone conversations, unlimited e-mails, guidance with weight lifting, a team singlet and an autographed action photo of the coach. 

Similarly, trackcoach.com, headed by 1999 Army Ten-Miler winner Chris Graff, offers several levels of coaching assistance; a bare-bones Bronze Medal Program of customized monthly schedules, one phone consultation and two e-mail communications costs $35. 

'Dazed and Confused' 

Most cyber coaches work with 10 to 20 runners, but the number of clients varies widely. "Some coaches have more than 100 clients," said Jon Sinclair, a former world-class road racer who lives in Fort Collins, Colo., who coaches through the Internet. "But those guys are really just providing work sheets, not individualized coaching. Once you get beyond 20 runners, I become dazed and confused." 

Kurt Kroemer, a 2:28 marathoner from Bowie, tried getting coaching online but grew dissatisfied and returned to training on his own. 

"My coach was completely unresponsive," Kroemer said. "It seemed to me he had a pat set of workouts that were e-mailed to everyone. They weren't personalized at all. I think if you really want to be coached, you need a lot of personal contact." 

While cyber coaches all promise various degrees of individual supervision, they agree that the obvious shortcoming of long-distance coaching is the inability to see their charges. 

"I would recommend that all runners try to find someone locally first," Sinclair said. "I certainly can't see any mechanical problems or stride deficiencies via e-mail. But communication is the key to good coaching, in person or electronically." 

Another weakness could be the "kid-gloves" approach coaches tend to apply to their paying customers. Practically all cyber coaches advocate a less-is-more training philosophy, not coincidentally an effective marketing ploy for time-pressed or insufficiently motivated clients. 

"I don't believe in high mileage," said Barrios, who logged up to 125 miles per week while training for his own marathons, but indicated he wouldn't dream of asking his online clients for that kind of commitment. "I have asked some runners to run fewer miles and concentrate on more quality." 

Mark Conover, 1988 Olympic marathoner and current cyber coach based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., likewise recommends relatively low mileage for his athletes. "Most of my clients are beginning to intermediate runners," he said. "When a sound program is applied to their running, they almost invariably improve. Once they grasp the training concept, they don't need me anymore." 

Get It in Writing 

The best cyber runners, according to Corcoran, have had some prior training experience and only need a little fine tuning. Oddly enough, it's the personal touch--through a computer modem--that seems to be most important. 

Machedon "is very much a loner when it comes to training," Corcoran said. "She doesn't need the support of a group to do her hard workouts, and she's very good about keeping in touch via e-mail. Of course, it helps, too, that she's articulate. Our runners need to be able to express themselves in writing." 

"I tend to get tongue-tied around big shots," Machedon said. "But Bill is incredibly generous about responding to additional midweek e-mails, be they niggling queries or sheer bragging about a great workout." 

Machedon has never actually spoken with her coach. "I called him once after my marathon, but got his wife instead," she said. "I didn't know what to say to her. I left a message, but then never called back." 

Anyway, Machedon figured, why jeopardize a beautiful relationship with talk? 

Online Coaching Works Best If ... 

* The runner is highly self-motivated. Unlike a group workout, there is no supervisor and no one to commiserate with. 

* The runner already knows something about training. Ideally, he or she should know enough to ask the right questions, but not so much that he or she is one lap ahead of the coach. 

* The coach devotes personal attention. If the online coach understands an individual's goals, fitness level and potential, he can customize a workout to accomplish those objectives. If an initial training program seems rote or impersonal, log off. 

© 2000 The Washington Post Company