It’s not often that a journalist takes the time to write about his sources. It’s rarer for one to actually thank them. OK, I know it may be a stretch for me to call myself a journalist, but you get the point. Now that the TriMadness Coaching Series has reached its end, I thought it was fitting to tell you about the folks who helped me as I wrote this series.

To give you a little background as to how I came up with the idea to write this series, you should know that over the past six months or so, I’ve been thinking about whether or not I wanted to personally hire a coach. Those thoughts (and the research I did as part of that process) were the genesis for this blog series.

As I noted early on in this series, I did quite a bit of reading on the topic. I found a couple of blog posts (incidentally both by Trakkers teammates) that were very insightful to me. The first post was by Megan Killian; the second post was by Jamie Bull.  Jamie & Megan debated the efficacy of hiring a coach, laid out some keys to success in using a coach, and touched on the benefits of self-coaching.

While not quoted in the series, much of my early research (while I didn’t know it would lead to an article series for my blog) came courtesy of Carole Sharpless. Carole and I had several… Read the rest

Over the past several weeks, we’ve examined the relationship coaching model. On Tuesday, we started to explore if being self-coached or using an off-the-shelf coaching product was right for you.

Today’s post is predicated upon the idea that you have decided to not hire a coach. What are your options and how can you best prepare yourself for your race? As I mentioned previously, when it comes to self-coaching, I think most folks actually purchase an off-the-shelf program (or obtain one somehow) and likely follow it fairly closely. Some folks may make modifications or change workout duration based upon their personal fitness level, mood or dislikes

The way that I’ll approach self-coaching and off-the-shelf coaching today is to spend a little time focusing on each. I’ll also try to give some information regarding source material that you could use to supplement your existing knowledgebase. I’ll reference a few off-the-shelf vendors in particular. Keep in mind that I have never personally used any of the off-the-shelf products that I mention below, therefore please don’t take the fact that I’ve mentioned them herein as a testimony to their effectiveness as plans.

True Self Coaching

I would describe true self coaching as a scenario wherein you personally write your own training program. Additionally, you may decide when to do fitness tests, diagnostic studies, and develop your own nutrition plan. In my mind, for the average athlete, this approach is the riskiest way to think about triathlon training. The likelihood of underperformance at a race… Read the rest

Over the last several weeks, the TriMadness coaching series has focused primarily on rendering advice regarding how to pick a coach, what to expect from a coach, and more. I suspect that many of those articles were targeted for only about half of you.

Why half? My research (including the TriMadness coaching survey – here) indicated that roughly 50% of triathletes use a coach. The remaining 50% don’t.

So why did I write a series about coaching if only 50% of the folks who read it will actually use the information I wrote? Well, partially to give those who change their mind and decide to hire a coach some ammunition to use in their decision making process.

Rewind

Let’s go back to the second post in this series – actually the first post with “real content”. I started off this post by including several potential reasons why one might hire a coach: “Perhaps you’re new to the world of triathlon and you merely want to understand how to train for an event. Perhaps you’re an already accomplished athlete, and you’re looking to qualify for a USAT national championship. Maybe you want to win your age group.”

While these are certainly valid reasons to consider hiring a coach, coaches don’t have a monopoly on personal bests. They don’t dole out Kona spots or entries into national championships. Heck, they don’t even guarantee that you will perform at a certain level (even though if you ask any coach, they will tell… Read the rest

As we’ve outlined previously, relationship coaching is big business.  There’s a high investment of time (your and the coaches’), emotion and capital.  Hiring a coach is a big step for a triathlete.  If you follow some of the tactics I’ve outlined in throughout this series, I’m confident that your coach relationship will be of the utmost quality.

All this said, there are a handful of things that you should avoid doing.  If you are ineffective at any of the items listed below, you could derail your relationship with your coach.

Lack of Communication

As evidenced in my post about how to make the coaching relationship work, proper communication between you and your coach is vital.  Failure to communicate with your coach would potentially cause her to suspect that everything is A-OK, when in reality, your performance could be suffering.  It is vital that you regularly communicate with your coach.  You should make certain that you’re feeding information back to your coach on a regular (and agreed upon) basis.  Don’t just tell your coach that you “did” the workouts on your plan.  Instead, provide your pacing, heart rate information, lap splits, power readings, etc  The more information the better.  By all means, stick to your prescribed feedback schedule if you have one.  As Ben Greenfield said, “Don’t drop off the face of the map.”

Deviating from the Plan

Part of the reason you’ve hired a coach is so that you can have someone write your training plan.  Chances are, the plan that you have… Read the rest

Over the preceding four articles, we have developed an overview of the different coaching models, learned what types of questions to ask of a prospective coach, discussed how to make the coaching relationship work, and detailed out what one could expect from their coach.

In the next two posts, we’ll wrap up our review of the “Relationship Model” of triathlon coaching by investigating what hiring a coach typically costs and then outlining a few actions that one should never take once they have hired a coach.

The TriMadness Coaching series will shift next week from the “Relationship Model” towards the “Self-Coached Model”, which for the sake of ease of both writing and reading, we’ll combine with the “Off-the-Shelf Model”.

Contracts & Minimums

Let’s face it; coaches need to earn a living. Part of earning a living means that they should have some reasonable assurances that they will be able to earn a steady income. While all of the coaches I interviewed have multiple “clients”, the natural ebb and flow of athletes could cause for some financial uncertainties. (Funny aside: As part of my interviews, I was called out by Elizabeth Waterstraat for my use of the word “clients”. She said, “Lawyers and hookers have clients, coaches have athletes.” TOTALLY cracked me up.)

Some coaches, but certainly not all, will try to alleviate any potential uncertainties by asking athletes to commit to a certain number of months of coaching up front. In fact, some coaches will go a step further and ask… Read the rest

Over the last several posts, we’ve explored the concept of coaching, where to find one, what types of questions to ask of a prospective coach, and how to foster a strong relationship with a coach. Today, we’ll explore the actual work that a coach will do. What services will you gain from hiring a coach?

Remember that much of this series is predicated upon the fact that you’ve hired a coach from what I call the “Relationship Model”, where you have a real, live person interacting with you to help you become a better triathlete.

In today’s post, we’ll cover four main topics: How the coach understands what you’re bringing to the table, the “widgets” of a coaching relationship – your training plan, group activities, and nutrition services.

Understanding what you bring to the table

As we mentioned in Tuesday’s article, most coaches will ask you to complete a questionnaire. Elizabeth Waterstraat summed it up best by saying, “I have an extensive background information form that I ask each athlete to complete before we start. Of course, this includes background in the sport, injury history, race results, but also gets at the critical pieces of success including mental strengths and weaknesses, goals, fears, expectation.” Some coaches have more detailed questionnaires than others. Ben Greenfield added, “All athletes fill out a comprehensive questionnaire that answers every possible question on their health, triathlon and exercise history, as well as nutrition, job and lifestyle questions.”

The simple fact is that your coach needs to… Read the rest

Last week, we really got deep into the TriMadness coaching series by learning about how I classify the different fundamental coaching models and started to explore the initial steps that one should follow in their quest for hiring a coach. We then spent some time looking at how one finds a coach, the types of questions one should ask a prospective coach and whether USAT coaching certification is a “must have”.

You can read the prior installments in the series here:

Part One: The TriMadness Coaching Survey – The Results
Part Two: TriMadness Coaching Series – The Prologue
Part Three: Why Should I Use a Coach?
Part Four: How Do I Pick the Right Coach?

Recall that the next several articles in this series are predicated upon the thought that you’ve decided to go down the path of what I call the “Relationship Coaching” model, where you will hire a full-time, dedicated coach. Later on in the series we’ll spend more time focusing on the “Self-Coached” and “Off-the-Shelf” models.

In today’s article, we’ll be reviewing what factors are critical in making for a successful coach-athlete dynamic. Now, I’m going to be up-front and honest. Those of you who know me in person will read the title of this post and think to yourselves that I’m an emotional twit…how the heck would I know anything about how a relationship works. Therein lays the beauty of this series. Even I’m learning new things as we progress…

Your Background Info

By all… Read the rest

In Tuesday’s article, we laid out the different fundamental coaching models and started to explore the initial steps that one should follow in their quest for hiring a coach.

By additional means of level-setting, the next several articles in this series are predicated upon the thought that you’ve decided to go down the path of the “Relationship Coaching” model, and you’re now trying to decide how to hire a coach, what to expect from a coach, and in turn what should be expected from you. Later on in the series we’ll spend more time focusing on the “Self-Coached” and “Off-the-Shelf” models. We’ll be exploring today how you go about finding a coach, what types of questions you should ask a prospective coach as part of your due diligence, how the coach’s background factors into the decision and finally whether USAT coaching certification is a “must have”.

Where to look for a coach

This is perhaps the easiest question out there when it comes to triathlon coaching. How do I find a coach? Honestly, while coaches are not difficult to find per se, finding the right one for you may take some work.

There are a few primary sources for finding a coach:

• Personal recommendations
• Local tri-club, masters groups, workout facilities
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs)
• Online presence (coach website, advertising, etc)
• “name brand” – professional triathletes or coaches

Roughly half of the respondents to the TriMadness coaching survey reported that they found their coach through a personal recommendation. Elizabeth Waterstaat, a coach from Illinois… Read the rest

To use a coach or not to use a coach, that is the question.

Why should you use a coach? Those six easy words above when strung together create such a complicated little question. Perhaps you’re new to the world of triathlon and you merely want to understand how to train for an event. Perhaps you’re an already accomplished athlete, and you’re looking to qualify for a USAT national championship. Maybe you want to win your age-group. Or perhaps, you just want to set a new personal best. The reasons for wanting to use some sort of coaching are too many to fully enumerate here.

It’s a pretty significant question as well. There are myriad factors that one must consider as part of the decision-making process. Over the next several weeks, we’ll do our best to lay some of them out for you so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not you think having a coach in some capacity is beneficial for you.

Before we get too far down this rabbit hole, however, we should probably spend a few moments looking at what I describe as the full suite of coaching opportunities that face us. One could call this a coaching life-cycle, but that might not be truly apropos in that the components of the model do not necessarily build upon each other. Understanding the different offerings within this coaching framework is clearly fundamental to the decision of “Why Should I Use A Coach” because through understanding… Read the rest

There are numerous decisions that we athletes face each year as we chart the course for our triathlon success. Some questions relate to gear – should we buy a new bike, new wheels, upgrade our bike components. Some deal with races – should we leave our comfort zone and move up to race an Ironman, should we pour everything in our existence into qualifying for a national championship. As important as each of these questions are to our yearly planning, the decision to hire a triathlon coach is equally important.

Let’s face it – not all of us use a coach. This was pretty clearly laid out in the results of my recent TriMadness coaching survey. Deciding to use one is a big deal. What should we expect from a coach? How much will we have to pay? How can I be assured that my return on investment will be high? Each of these is a factor that we think about when trying to decide if we want to use a coach.

Over the course of the next six weeks, I’ll be presenting a series focused on coaching. Some of the topics that we’ll explore include how to decide if using a coach is the right thing for you, what to expect from a coach, how to make the coaching dynamic work, and some things not to do or expect from a coach. We’ll talk in general about the types of services you can gain from a coach or program.… Read the rest