It's that time of the year again. You are an endurance triathlete and you are getting closer to your off-season. That means you are thinking about your short and long term goals and how you can train smarter, fuel better and get closer to your athletic potential in 2026.
With the end of one season comes the beginning of another season. Although we have limited availability, once a year in October we open our coaching roster for a few new one-on-one coaching athletes. If you are considering preparing for an Ironman triathlon or 70.3 triathlon or want to challenge yourself with an XTRI or Xterra event, we would enjoy learning more about you through our coaching application.
APPLY HERE
Application will close on October 31st.
Application will close on October 31st.
Coach - Athlete Relationship
Your coach plays a significant role in your athletic journey. When I was in High School, I had one swim coach for four years. Then in college, I had another swim coach (one for my Freshman year before transferring to another college where I completed the rest of my education/collegiate swimming). Eight years = three swim coaches. While some athletes may have one coach for an entire athletic journey, the majority of athletes will likely have a few different coaching relationships throughout an athletic career. Different coaches means different opinions, attitudes, emotions, styles of training and coaching methodologies. Whereas the high school and collegiate athlete may not have a lot of life responsibilities or stressors, a strong coach - athlete relationship is extremely important for the adult athlete, who is needing to prioritize health while also balancing more in life than just training and racing.
As an athlete, you likely love to train, you have great time-management and you are probably very motivated and driven. For the coachable athlete, it's assumed that your need of a coach is not to tell you to exercise but to help guide you in a way that will allow you to improve fitness and race readiness while reducing risk for injury, sickness and burnout.
Trusting your coach is one of the most important components of having a great coach - athlete relationship. Because it's easy for a coach to market himself/herself on social media and online, you need to do your homework to make sure your coach is the "right" fit. Don't fall victim to fancy websites, expensive fees/prices and trendy services as there are many "experts" that have poor coaching skills. Effective coaching takes time, practice and experience.
I look back at my early years and think "I had no idea what I was doing!" But thanks to mentors, 20 years in the sport, ongoing learning and education and experience and always keeping an open mind (while being an active participant in an evolving sport), I've become better at coaching. Anyone can call themselves a coach but coaching an athlete is a lot of work. Many times, it has less to do about writing workouts (anyone can be a great workout writer) but more to do about getting to know a person as a human being instead of just focusing on a person as an athlete with goals and a race schedule.
Because coaching works both ways, there are many athletes who are not coachable.
As an athlete, you have every right to ask questions to your coach. When you don't understand something or you have a concern, you should feel comfortable communicating with your coach. But going against your coaches guidance means that you are not ready or willing to learn a different or new way of doing things. Coaching is a dialogue - two way communication. If you are skipping workouts, changing your training plan or creating your own sessions, this is not coaching. Being resistant to the methods/workouts that your coach feels is best for you is saying that you the athlete know better than your coach. Typically, this occurs when an athlete feels he/she should be training longer or harder as athletes don't like to be told to do less or to rest.
Athletes who hire coaches do so because they need assistance, guidance or accountability and they recognize their strengths, weaknesses and limiters. A coachable athlete is willing to change and to evolve. A non-coachable athlete is resistant to change. Communicating your concerns with your coach is helpful but a good coach should not have to change his/her coaching methods/philosophy in order to please you. If this is the case, you hired the wrong coach.
Because coaching works both ways, there are many athletes who are not coachable.
As an athlete, you have every right to ask questions to your coach. When you don't understand something or you have a concern, you should feel comfortable communicating with your coach. But going against your coaches guidance means that you are not ready or willing to learn a different or new way of doing things. Coaching is a dialogue - two way communication. If you are skipping workouts, changing your training plan or creating your own sessions, this is not coaching. Being resistant to the methods/workouts that your coach feels is best for you is saying that you the athlete know better than your coach. Typically, this occurs when an athlete feels he/she should be training longer or harder as athletes don't like to be told to do less or to rest.
Athletes who hire coaches do so because they need assistance, guidance or accountability and they recognize their strengths, weaknesses and limiters. A coachable athlete is willing to change and to evolve. A non-coachable athlete is resistant to change. Communicating your concerns with your coach is helpful but a good coach should not have to change his/her coaching methods/philosophy in order to please you. If this is the case, you hired the wrong coach.
Take your time in selecting your coach and then put your trust into your coach so you can put your energy into your training.
