On February 15, 2012,
in Joining up with a good triathlon club is a great way to facilitate improvement in your training and racing. Another great way to take things up to the next level is to hire a coach. A good coach is someone who can work with you, understands what you are capable of, and can push you to limits that you might not reach on your own. They will also be there to pull you back and keep your workouts in check so that you don’t overtrain or overextend.
As a certified USAT Coach I’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of coaches over the past couple of years and I’ve learned quite a few things that I should absolutely do. I’ve also learned a number of things that should not be done.
So, what, as an athlete, you should expect from a coach?
Training sessions (group or one on one) aren’t the time for the coach to get their own workout in. You’re paying for the coach and they should be there for you, the athlete. In the case of a one on one training session, this mean that your coach will ride or run at your pace. In the case of a group training, it means the coach is going to bounce from the middle of the group to the back of the group and then to the front of the group to check on all athletes. More importantly, if it’s a… Read the rest
On January 25, 2012,
in So as you well may know by now… I am going to become a triathlon coach here soon enough in the months to come! I don’t have any paid clients yet… but I know who my first client will be… and that’s myself!
As I was trying to get in a decent swim workout I decided I needed to start writing myself training plans for the weeks leading up to the Seneca Creek Trail 50k… the Columbia Triathlon… and National Harbor 70.3! Even though I’ve been in the sport for going on 9 years now… and I don’t know how to write plans yet… I’m gonna take a shot at making for myself… since I know myself better than anyone else!
In order to write plans I need to committ to the time to train on both work and non work days! I know my schedule two weeks in advance so I can start there! I don’t have to alot of time to train for the Seneca Creek Trail 50k but will do as many regular and trail long runs as I can and hope that I am ready for 32 miles of beautiful trails on March 3!
As I think about it… I’m excited about becoming a coach but then there’s always that uncertainty of a new thing in life! I know I’ll make a great coach… really motivate myself and others… so maybe I shouldn’t worry too much!
Will keep you updated on how this all goes and… Read the rest
I wrapped up a great weekend of group training yesterday. I spent some time with the B-Athletics triathlon club, helping out my friend and fellow triathlon coach, Jeff B. We both have athletes gearing up for upcoming triathlons, with the majority targeting Olympic distance events. But between the two of us we also have a couple of athletes racing the Toughman Half Ironman triathlon next weekend. Our athletes racing Toughman were in taper mode, and had their own rides and workouts arranged. This let us take the opportunity to get our other athletes together, and focus our time with our novice and beginner athletes.
Saturday was the long-ish ride. Approximately 45 miles. The pace wasn’t too tough, and we had a couple different pace groups going throughout the ride. We did challenge a couple of the athletes with the climbs of Route 22 in Bedford NY. Those of you who might be familiar with that stretch of road know that there are some good climbs on Route 22 between Rte’s 172 and 433 – some sections top out at 10-11% grade (I think!) The climbs aren’t long, but they do test you now and again.
It was a great ride from Purchase NY – through Chappaqua, Mt. Kisco, Bedford, Armonk, Valhalla….basically a nice tour of southern Westchester County.
Sunday was brick day. We met a handful of our athletes who are targeting upcoming Olympic distance races for a loop of a local triathlon bike course – approximately… Read the rest
On June 1, 2011,
in 
“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” – Napoleon
When sitting with a potential triathlon client a discussion will always take place concerning the athlete’s experience and background revolving around the three disciplines of swim, bike and run. When asked about his/her background many times the conversation goes like this: “All seems to be going really well with my run and bike training. It’s the swim that I am having the most difficulty with.” Swimming seems to be the most taxing for most triathletes at all levels and where the desire is to improve overall aquatic abilities.
Swimming, not unlike golf and tennis, is very technique driven. When standing on the fairway with a couple of your buds it seems horribly unfair that you notice someone driving a golf ball right down the middle of the fairway with the utmost of elegance and ease and as often as you play the game you seem to spend so much time amongst the trees. There is little difference when standing on the pool deck. Just as you are ready to get into your lane to start your workout a fellow triathlete swims by in the most efficient, effective and effortless way possible. Critical aspects of the freestyle stroke such as body positioning, balance, timing, recovery and breathing all by design and working together are to create a fluidity of motion and all parts working together. With that being said how does the skilled… Read the rest
So… I have now decided that October 21st to 23rd of 2011… I will be in Philadelphia Pennsylavania… taking the USA Triathlon Coaches Certification Course… YAY! Now that is what I call a Motivated Monday! I’ve talked about this for years and wow it will come true!
Here we go…
Working…I ran for the first time since Pittsburgh 26.2 yesterday! Seriously it felt great! I took it easy of course… Let myself take it easy and just enjoyed it!I applied to be a coach for Girls on the Run in Montgomery County! I really really want it!Not WorkingToday is the first month anniversary of my mom passing away… Still so sad and still so hard! I am only motivated to swim 1000 yards in the pool! I need to get longer workouts in!Here we go…
I was in Baltimore last weekend for my USAT coaching clinic. What an experience. There was just tons of info and it was really inspiring to listen to all the presenters. Most of them are coaching athletes, elite and otherwise, and to hear about their approach to coaching was really educational. This weekend really solidified my desire to coach. I know deep down that I can do something here that benefits athletes of all levels.
The good stuff:
- Anything that was covered by Bob Seebohar and Justin Trolle. I know that sounds hokey, but I’m serious. The day and a half that these two alone spent with the group was simply amazing.
- Building a proper training plan
- Great content from all the Level III coaches, and hearing how they train their athletes and build their workouts.
- Great ideas all around on how to improve transition times and mental prep.
- The discussions on nutrition were amazing. I could have spent hours on this alone.
The “me being critical” stuff:
- The swimming presentation left a little to be desired. Now, most of the other participants thought the lecture was very good, and that there was a lot of good information shared. I’m being overly critical as I have a swimming background, and there was just nothing new that I hadn’t heard before. I thought it was a little light in content.
- Wait, no SWAG?!
The “are you kidding me?” stuff:
- The apparent lack of
I’m heading off to a USAT Coaching Clinic this upcoming weekend. I thought long and hard about signing up – did I really want to start coaching people? Did I think I could really help somebody become faster, more efficient, and improve? I think I can. While I’ve been self-coached (mostly) for most of my triathlon career, I did swim competitively up into the college ranks. I’ve been coached by a number of individuals, and I’d like to think that I know what to do, what not to do, and how to work with people to get the most out of their time. I’ve trained with a lot of top-flight athletes, a number of whom have qualified for Kona, and know what their time, training, and sacrifices have entailed. All of this information hasn’t gone to waste.
I’ve actually built 1/2 Ironman training plans for a number of individuals. I have to say I really had a good time creating them. I found it fascinating to delve into their previous performances so I could better understand their abilities. I enjoyed working with them to get an idea of what their schedules look like, how much time they could devote to training, and how this all impacted their overall goals. It was actually quite a bit of fun working with them to understand their running and swimming pace so I could formulate speedwork on the track, and targeted swimming workouts.
Building… Read the rest
I recently read an article asking the age‐old question that has plagued any and all triathletes: Do you really need a swim coach? And the answer should always come back as a resounding yes. It’s the same reason why we will spend the money to install titanium screws to hold down the water bottle cage, carbon fiber forks for the front wheel and $130 running shoes vs. $49 specials. You get the point.
Many times I witness triathletes with their workout in hand unloading their workout bag in front of their respected lane ready to go. They lay out their written swim plan so carefully prepared for them by their tri coach or their freshly printed off cookie‐cutter workout not really sure if the distance is even right for them.
They are ready, willing and not so always able to accomplish the workout they so want to complete. They laboriously move from one set to the next working much harder than necessary. Just the satisfaction of reporting back to their coach they successfully completed the workout sometimes is more satisfying and more important than the content of their swim. I have witnessed time and time again swimmers who clearly have an understanding of the basics of swimming, the conceptual ideas of drills and why they do them, though when they get into the water and “practice” they have no real idea they may or may not be doing them correctly and think it is all going well!
I continually use… Read the rest
On February 10, 2011,
in A couple of weeks ago, I asked you to take a few moments to complete a survey about coaching. I mentioned that this was all part of the advance research I was doing for a series of posts I planned to write about triathletes and coaching.
Well, it’s time to finally share the results of the survey and to set the stage for the upcoming series. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been interacting with some of the best coaches in the country. Picking their brains. I’ve done tons of reading about the concept of using a coach, including pros & cons. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll begin posting my thoughts and observations.
But first, the survey.
The survey was relatively simple. Eleven simple questions. Less than 90 seconds to complete for most people. I ran the survey off of TriMadness for about a week, and LOTS of you clicked over and took it. So thanks!
Now, the results – but keep in mind that this is not a “scientific” study, and the statistical significance of the data collected here compared to the overall population of triathletes is probably fairly low (I didn’t calculate it).
The first question I asked was how many folks actually use a coach. I was a little surprised to find that roughly half of the survey responders don’t use a coach or consider themselves self-coached.
