Before you sign up.
The things runners ask most often, answered plainly. If yours is not here, just send it over.
Getting started
Am I fast enough to be coached?
Almost certainly yes. The roster runs from first time marathoners finishing in five hours to runners chasing a Boston qualifier. Coaching is not a reward for being fast, it is a way to stop guessing.
The one thing that matters is that you can currently run a few days a week without pain. If you are starting from zero, build a base first and come back in a couple of months.
How much am I expected to run?
That depends entirely on where you are now. A first block might sit at twenty five miles a week. Someone training for a sub three marathon might be at fifty five to seventy.
Ryan never drops a runner into a volume they have not earned. Mileage rises in small increments, and the first few weeks are usually easier than people expect.
Do I need to live in the Hudson Valley?
No. Coaching is delivered remotely and athletes are spread across the country. Everything happens through VDOT, text, email, and a monthly call.
If you are local, you are welcome to run with Hudson Valley Track Club on the rail trail, though that is free and separate from coaching.
What happens in the first two weeks?
A conversation first, covering your goal race, your history, your injuries, and what your actual week looks like. Then Ryan writes the first block.
The opening weeks are deliberately conservative. He is learning how you respond before he asks anything hard of you.
How coaching works
How is the plan delivered?
Through VDOT, which syncs to your watch, so the workout is on your wrist when you step out the door. No screenshots and no retyping paces into a spreadsheet.
Each session comes with a note explaining what it is for, because a runner who understands the purpose of a workout executes it better. Your paces come from your current fitness rather than a generic chart, and they move as your fitness does.
How often does the plan change?
Every week. Ryan looks at what you actually ran, not what was written, and adjusts from there. That is the entire difference between coaching and buying a plan.
If you miss three days for work travel, the following week is rewritten rather than pretending the missed days happened.
How much contact do I get with Ryan?
Direct access by text and email, with a call each month and more around a goal race. You are not routed through an assistant coach.
The roster is kept small specifically so that this stays true.
What if I get injured?
Tell him immediately. The plan shifts to cross training and a graded return, and he will tell you honestly when something is outside his lane and needs a physical therapist or a doctor.
Coaches who push athletes through injuries lose them for entire seasons. That is not how this works.
Will you write me a plan for an ultra or a track season?
Marathon and half marathon are the core of the practice, and 5K through 50K is comfortable territory. Track specific work and anything beyond 50K is worth a conversation first, and he will refer you elsewhere if someone else is a better fit.
Money and logistics
What does it cost?
One to one coaching is $175 per month, billed monthly with no contract and no onboarding fee.
Prewritten training plans are $150 as a one time purchase if you want the structure without the weekly relationship.
Can I cancel?
Any time, and without a conversation about it. Most athletes stay through a race build and then decide whether to keep going into the next one.
Is there a minimum commitment?
No, though it is worth being realistic. Meaningful change in distance running takes months rather than weeks, and a single month will not tell you much.
What is the difference between coaching and the track club?
Hudson Valley Track Club is a free community run group that meets weekly and welcomes everyone. Carney Running is a paid one to one service with a plan written for you.
Plenty of people do both, and plenty do just one.
Still have a question? Send it over and Ryan will answer it directly.
Ready when you are.
No sales call, no pressure. Just a note about what you are training for and an honest answer about whether this is a fit.