A
High Quality Coach
Listens
Sure, a coach
gives you direction and gives you workouts to follow, but
just as importantly, a coach listens to you. Your coach
is your sounding board. A coach is part physiologist and
psychologist.
Encourages
Talent is not
just physical, but mental as well. A coach needs to prepare
an athlete mentally just as much as physically for a race.
Athletes at all levels of triathlon, and sport in general,
have self-doubt about their abilities to perform at a peak
level of performance. For some of my athletes, they still
don’t think they deserve to be racing against the best
in the pro or age group ranks, yet they are already winning
or top three at these races. A coach reinforces the positives
an athlete has done and lets the athlete know they are achieving
success and to enjoy the success. Athletic people are driven
and sometimes don’t take a moment to enjoy the fruits
of their labor.
It is also important
to be surrounded with positive reinforcement. Sometimes
family, co-workers and friends create a pessimistic attitude
with all of the time you are dedicating to triathlons. A
coach will encourage you through these ebbs and flows.
Strategize
A coach, with
the athletes input, creates a plan for the athlete to successfully
achieve the athlete’s goals. A high-quality coach will
plan your training year all the way down to each day’s
specific workout. This organization of training and time
is essential for a successful program. You don’t have
to wake up in the morning and say what do I do today? If
that is your training program, then you will less likely
do a day’s workout and of much greater concern, you
are less likely to achieve your goals, if you have any.
One of my clients’s said, “Receiving workouts
is like getting a present every week. I don’t have
to think, I just have to do.” I remember always getting
excited when Joe would send me my two weeks worth of workouts
to see what I will be doing.
Provokes
Although a coach
takes the guesswork out of your training, the coach will
make you think from time to time. Have you ever taken the
time to write out three goals? Have you ever taken the time
to paste these goals on your mirror, bedposts, computer,
and refrigerator? A coach makes you think about why and
what you want to accomplish. The coach will aide in how
you accomplish them.
Gives Direction
Preparation phase,
base phase, build phase, peak phase, race phase, recovery
phase. Wow! and all you want to do is swim, bike and run
every day. Training is to be enjoyed, but structure is also
needed to achieve the lofty goals you have set. A coach
gives you a good idea of how to plan your race season. Even
what has worked in the past for an athlete is not guaranteed
to be successful in the future. Thus, athletes and coaches
must constantly refine their training regimen. An athlete
training on his own is likely to lose focus from time to
time. A coach keeps the athlete aware of the carrots dangling
in front of him.
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