Swim Bike Run Live

I Need Professional Help

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

I have ranted about triathlon coaches before and have some pretty strong feelings about the whole industry, but lately I’ve been thinking that I need to take the plunge and get some professional help with my training and racing.

I’ve accomplished my “A” goal of qualifying for USAT Age Group Nationals in Vermont, but now need to make sure that I’m prepared to have a strong performance once I get there. I keep getting the feeling that I’ve plateaued (or come close to it) with self-coaching.

Coaching can mean completely different things to different people, so here is a breakdown of what I’m looking at:

What exactly am I looking for in a coach?

Someone with experience making people fast, without taking all the fun out of training and racing. (Fun is MAJORLY important to me.)

Someone that can do more than just help me build a training plan and customize it to what I need, but can help me adjust as necessary when life gets in the way.

Someone that understands that while Nationals is my “A” triathlon goal of the year, my “A” life goal is the year is to get married and enjoy the whole planning process as much as I can up until November 19. That is obviously a priority over triathlon. Always.

Also, this may be a little strange, but I want someone that “gets” social media. Because I spend so much time blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting, I want someone that is close to as active online as I am. I feel that if they don’t follow my updates and progress through any one (or all) of those online profiles, they’ll only be able to judge my progress by my training log, which is just one piece of the puzzle.

What are my goals at Nationals?

I know that I’m not at the point where I can be competing for a top spot at Nationals, but I still want to be competitive. I’ve got time goals in mind (which I may share eventually), but I mainly want to be a more well rounded athlete and be able to hold onto, or chase down, some athletes on the run and make ‘em hurt trying to cross the line in front of me.

What are your strengths and weaknesses at this point in the season?

I feel like my bike strength is pretty solid, but I’m on my way (slowly) to becoming a much better runner. That is where I think I have some of the biggest room for improvement. I want to be able to run fast off of a hard bike, and hold that pace for 6.2.

My swimming definitely needs some work as well, but I think there are much better opportunities for time gains on the run.

What Now?

I know starting with a new coach just barely over two months out from an A race is FAR from ideal, but I’m just starting to evaluate some options out there, reach out to some of the usual suspects and see what is available.

If you know of anyone that might be a good fit (or if that someone is you and you are interested in taking me on) hit me up!

Category : Triathlon

Tags: triathlon coaching

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