Last August I began coaching a runner by the name of Ayoub Touil, who is a Morrocan that resides in Belgium.  I thought that this would be a rather difficult task, as I have never met Ayoub or even seen him run before.  Also, given his credentials of a 1:04:37 Half Marathon and 29:19 10k, it's not like I'm just writing a Runner's World Training plan that any fatty off the streets can try.  But amazingly, it has been one of the best experiences in coaching thus far for me and coaching online seems to work.  I would have to add, that I don't think it is something that would work for everyone, but when athlete and coach are like minded it seems to be an easy and effective way to communicate. 

Maybe I can elaborate more on the actual training and communication later, but what I really wanted to share was one thing that Ayoub and I spoke about recently which really struck home with me and probably will with every one of my runner friends as well.  It's the problem every runner faces when out of college and trying to make money while also fulfilling an internal obligation to run to their full potential...."No one understands".  It is likely that nearly every runner that has been good enough to be noticed yet not quite good enough to make much money out of their running has faced questions like: Is it worth it?  Should I quit?  Am I wasting my life?  The reason these questions exist is that the vast majority of the population are not runners.  If they were, they would be supportive.  Parents and friends would say, "wow, you ran a sub 1:05 half marathon, you've got talent and should stick with your goals".  But the fact of the matter is, most parents and/or friends will look at you and say, "What do you get out of running?" or "You can't make much money running, so why do it?"

 It is true, that every runner will come to a point in his or her life where running is perhaps less important than many other things, but in my opinion, that happens naturally and shouldn't be rushed.  Not only in the United States do runners feel the stress of a culture that doesn't understand, on the other side of the world there are runners that deal with the same problems.  To Ayoub, I can only say, "I know what you're going through, but keep true to what you believe in and don't let people that have only dreams of dollar bills and possessions tell you what is and isn't within your ability to do".