Well done you are the proud owner of a coach……..

Great, you googled/got a recommendation/went through your triathlon club/went on a triathlon training camp, or whatever and you are now the proud owner of a triathlon coach!  So erm what do you do with them!?

As a coach, we know our role – we provide a training plan based on your initial questionnaire/consultation that has sessions including details of pace/heart rate/power output/distance/time/splits/recovery. We also offer advice on races/realistic goals /race strategy/fueling/equipment/technique and how to have a positive mindset.

Your part in this wonderful relationship is to follow the plan – then a good coach will provide constructive feedback based on the sessions/races you’ve done and change the plan to suit. How do we do that though? How do we the coach fulfill this part of the deal?….   Here’s where you come into it again– yes you Mr Athlete have more to do than just train!!  As well as following the plan, you need to give us feedback, it’s our fuel, our nutrition , our life blood – without it we are NOTHING!

You need to feed us – to tell us about the sessions, and I mean talk to us – not just what the gadgets say.  Yes knowing you’re heart rate (if you use one) is important and the power and speed and so on – but what really matters is how you FELT during and after each session, we are the kind of coach that cares about your feelings!

Seriously though, we do care and we do need to know, it is a huge part of what we do to help you achieve what you want.  It is so important to your coach (hopefully) how your session FELT – was it hard/easy/did you feel tired/energised/sluggish/any body niggles/did it build your confidence/were you bored/did you enjoy it whether it was hard or easy?  All of these things make it easier for us to plan for you – after all it is all about you!

To be a successful athlete and success here is your own definition; it can be simply competing in and completing a race, aiming for a time, or going for the podium – you have to really want to train and enjoy your training. 

Remember as a kid being told to eat your greens because they were good for you even though you really didn’t like them? As an adult you get to chose the greens you eat and generally we will chose the ones we like, maybe with a couple of things we aren’t so keen on but we know they are really good for us so we eat them anyway.  But would you really eat something you intensely disliked simply because it was good for you?  Well consider training in the same way – you want to enjoy the sessions you do, have some fun with them and there are going to be some that maybe aren’t as easy or as much fun but you know and understand why you do them – the love to hate sessions or the veggies you chose to eat for their amazing benefits.

As a coach we need to know the greens you like to eat, the ones you hate and then the ones that are okay on the plate every now and then!  Those every now and then ones are typically going to be your weaknesses, and the only way to get over that weakness or eat the greens you don’t like, is by spicing them up and disguising them with other flavours- not only are we coaches but also chefs! Within time and with the right recipe, you’ll grow to like them – you’ll get stronger (and I’m not implying spinach here although it is an exceptionally good green to eat) and you’ll need less spice!

Tell your coach your preferences, from what experience has taught you so far and then from each session you do and after a while, your plan will be one you WANT to do, you enjoy doing and look forward to doing – how great does that sound!

Honest and open communication – talk to us, we promise not to make you eat your broad beans (my pet hate as a kid!!)