Do you need a coach or a plan for your next race?
I have had a few coaches over the past few years, a running coach, two cycling coaches, one swim instructor, and one swim coach. Swim coach and instructor, what? I learned to swim at 52 years old and then I got a coach to help me fine-tune.
All of my coaches were fantastic, I learned so much from them and all of them made me a better athlete at their given sport. And soon I will be using a coach once again because even coaches have coaches. That was my headway to my next paragraph.
As some of you know, I have recently completed my USAT Level 1 Coaching Certification. What does this mean? Well for me it confirms to me that the knowledge I have gained through mentoring, experience, coursework, and self-education is coming together.
It also means that I have a foundational knowledge base and that I have sworn to always provide the best information I can to fellow athletes and clients, be honest, and provide well-documented and standardized information that is widely accepted throughout the community. Becoming a coach does not make me an expert nor does it mean I have all the answers. Nor does it make me a better athlete, though it has helped me become a better athlete by applying my knowledge to my training plan.
So do you need a coach, a plan, both or is self-coaching enough?
For some, self-coaching works, is cost-effective and gets good results. For others, you may just grind away doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. There is a word for that, you know what it is.
For others, a training plan that costs $50-$250 works well. This gives you something to stick to, has structure, provides a guide to follow and get results. Plans with no coaching are designed to fit the masses, do not take into account your strengths and weaknesses, training load and response, changes to your schedule, provide no accountability, and do not account for life events, illness, injury, or vacations. So how do you pick the right plan? Of the thousands available on sites like TrainingPeaks, IronMan, USAT, Garmin, FinalSurge the list goes on. Picking the right plan may be as important as having a plan.
Coaching with a training plan may be more expensive but gets better results. There is structure, accountability, flexibility to your changing schedule. Adjustments to your plan can be made based on improvements and the risk of injury may be reduced. Your plan most likely will be structured to improve your strengths while concentrating on improving your weaknesses. You will learn through knowledge transfer as your coaching plan progresses. A strong cyclist that is a weak swimmer may want a plan that will be more swim specific while keeping cycling skills and strength. Your coach will do the work of planning your workouts, all you have to do is follow the plan and go out and do what you love; swim, bike and run.
Check out the OSB Coaching page here. Fill out the contact form, let’s talk and see if we are a good fit to get you to your first or next finish line while having fun, getting more fit, and successfully completing your first triathlon, or get you to your next finish line as fast as possible.
Thanks for reading,
Be fast, Be safe, Stay healthy
Mike