-
coach searching. help
BY: newbz on 2009-11-12 1:01 PM
so i have not been on the lookout for a coach in a while, but am thinking of working with one again.
partly to take some of the guess work out, party because i at the moment feel i need someone else to answer to.
i'm looking around on my own but any help, thoughts, ideas you guys can throw out will help.
cost is going to be an issue, so keep that in mind.
looking for someone that can help get me in the sub 2hr olympic/sub 4:20 half range. not sure if this is doable right now, but those are some goals.
phone contact all the time is not a must, email is. undertanding of power training is good, but i am no longer training with power (or at least for now) so not needed.
what else should i be considering?
-----
=================================================
DCS Photography & Imaging
http://dcsimages.com/ -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: bryancd on 2009-11-12 1:09 PM
Since you have such specific goals, I would say canvas people you know who are coached and have been coached to achieve similar goals. People who are fast are fast regardless, but a coach who is knowledgeable and often works with competetive athletes can bring that extra 10% to the table. I thin referrals are the best kind of advice you can get.
Personally, it's important to me that my coach had not only done multiple Ironman races but was also very competetive and a Kona qualifier. I felt that he would better be able to inderstand me as an athlete and what i would need to achieve similar goals, but htat was just a personal preference.
-----
-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!!
ZOOT ULTRA Triathlon Team
Sponsors: ZOOT, GARMIN, GU, FuelBelt, SPY Optics, PR Bar -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: newbz on 2009-11-12 1:36 PM
thanks bryan.
-----
=================================================
DCS Photography & Imaging
http://dcsimages.com/ -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: newbz on 2009-11-12 4:19 PM
.anyone else have any ideas?
-----
=================================================
DCS Photography & Imaging
http://dcsimages.com/ -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: spbdds on 2009-11-12 4:25 PM
After getting overwhelmed with all the programs and stuff out there for I just signed with a coach for IMSG.
He works with my local triathlon club and only costs about the same as my IM race fee for 24 weeks of work. He incorporates club workouts and has a coached workout every weekend. On group rides he follows in car (a huge bonus for a cycling noob like me).
Check with your local club they may have similiar programs. -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: KathyG on 2009-11-12 5:25 PM
Make a list of what is important to you and with some references contact them and see how well you click. Personality can be a big part of a coach athlete relationship. Another consideration is how they coach and where their passion lies.
My guess more folks aren't speaking up is because you are much faster than most of us here and your goals are beyond what many of us are doing or can ever hope to.
If you don't get a few PMs from folks, PM those you know who you like their training and see how their coach is...asking questions of those they already coach is highly informative.
I like having a coach and have had one last 5 years...probably making a change for next year.
-----
Dream Big, Train Consistently, Find joy in the journey -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: gsmacleod on 2009-11-12 5:37 PM
Here are some things that I would consider:
* coached at that level before
* willing to make plan adjustments as required
* works based on your goals and schedule rather than from a template
* writes program weekly
* provides program based on RPE/HR/pace/power - whatever you want to use
* has worked with athletes with similar schedule constraints
* has strength coaching based on your limiters
* is willing to work with workouts that you enjoy (i.e. masters swim, weekly group ride, etc)
* enjoys coaching athletes who focus on short course and 70.3 distance
* has coached someone with elite aspirations in the past
* has test workouts that will be used periodically and can explain how training will be adjusted based on results
Shane
-----
ScotiaMultisport Coaching -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: bryancd on 2009-11-12 6:16 PM
gsmacleod - 2009-11-12 5:37 PM
is willing to work with workouts that you enjoy
Awesome points, Shane, except this one. For me the most productive workouts my coach gives me are the one's I try and avoid when left to my own devices because they are hard for me.
You actually do address that in working on your limiters.
-----
-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!!
ZOOT ULTRA Triathlon Team
Sponsors: ZOOT, GARMIN, GU, FuelBelt, SPY Optics, PR Bar -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: gsmacleod on 2009-11-12 6:20 PM
bryancd - 2009-11-12 8:16 PM
Awesome points, Shane, except this one. For me the most productive workouts my coach gives me are the one's I try and avoid when left to my own devices because they are hard for me. You actually do address that in working on your limiters.
My point wasn't that your coach shouldn't make you do workouts you don't want to do but that if there are workouts that an athlete really enjoys (like a masters swim workout, a weekly group ride, crit or TT or a running club track workout) that it can often be incorporated into the plan.
Shane
-----
ScotiaMultisport Coaching -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: agarose2000 on 2009-11-12 7:06 PM
Bryancd - How much faster do you think your coach made you? I'm assuming you were already FFFOP even before the coach. -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: bryancd on 2009-11-12 7:08 PM
gsmacleod - 2009-11-12 6:20 PM
bryancd - 2009-11-12 8:16 PM
Awesome points, Shane, except this one. For me the most productive workouts my coach gives me are the one's I try and avoid when left to my own devices because they are hard for me. You actually do address that in working on your limiters.
My point wasn't that your coach shouldn't make you do workouts you don't want to do but that if there are workouts that an athlete really enjoys (like a masters swim workout, a weekly group ride, crit or TT or a running club track workout) that it can often be incorporated into the plan.
Shane
I was totally teasing in my post. Your comments are dead on.
-----
-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!!
ZOOT ULTRA Triathlon Team
Sponsors: ZOOT, GARMIN, GU, FuelBelt, SPY Optics, PR Bar -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: gsmacleod on 2009-11-12 7:13 PM
bryancd - 2009-11-12 9:08 PM
I was totally teasing in my post. Your comments are dead on.
I assumed so but wanted to be clear - you'll notice, no metric system either
Shane
-----
ScotiaMultisport Coaching -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: bryancd on 2009-11-12 7:16 PM
agarose2000 - 2009-11-12 7:06 PM
Bryancd - How much faster do you think your coach made you? I'm assuming you were already FFFOP even before the coach.
At my very first, self trained triathlon I finished 3rd in my AG at an Olympic distance race, and thought I might be good enough to do an IM, so I hored my coach. After working with him all through 2006, 2007, and now half of 2009, for someone like me, I would say he brings out that extra 10%-15%. For someone like me or Newbz, that extra 10% is crucial. For a beginner, I think a coach can bring out an extra 30-40%. The less experienced, less genetically gifted, or whatever makes some people innately fast at triathlon, can benefit even more from coaching. It's all so complicated....but also very simple. Beginners can over think or under think too much. A coach can remove that variable. I am a huge advocate of coaching for athletes of all abilities who are interested in participating in this sport over the long term.
-----
-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!!
ZOOT ULTRA Triathlon Team
Sponsors: ZOOT, GARMIN, GU, FuelBelt, SPY Optics, PR Bar -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: agarose2000 on 2009-11-12 7:19 PM
Good points, thanks, bryan.
Interestingly, I notice that very few runners (save the most elite) use coaches. Any reason for this? (In contrast, I've met many triathletes of all levels who use coaches.) Is it because of the intimidating logistics of S/B/R? -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: Socks on 2009-11-12 8:12 PM
Finding someone who you think will work with you to make your goals possible and make attaining those goals fit into your life. When you are talking/emailing people in addition to your time/triathlon goals also let that person know your work hours and how much time you have to devote to this. I, personally, do not think speed equates knowledge. Bela Karolyi is the best gymnastics coach on the planet yet he has never done gymanstics. Experience and knowledge of the sport do count............good luck
-----
"I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight" Emily in The Devil Wears Pra -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: TriToy on 2009-11-12 8:14 PM
Socks - 2009-11-12 9:12 PMFinding someone who you think will work with you to make your goals possible and make attaining those goals fit into your life. When you are talking/emailing people in addition to your time/triathlon goals also let that person know your work hours and how much time you have to devote to this. I, personally, do not think speed equates knowledge. Bela Karolyi is the best gymnastics coach on the planet yet he has never done gymanstics. Experience and knowledge of the sport do count............good luck
agreed.
and look at Brett Sutton he can coach but has not raced Kona....
-----
--cat
Pactimo Brand Ambassador 2014
BA14LON for 30% discount at pactimo.com
Well-behaved women seldom make history--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Team Red White & Blue -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: AdventureBear on 2009-11-12 11:05 PM
It's also not so much how much faster your coach can make you (most athletes are fast in spite of their coach), but how much faster a coach get help you reach your goals...how much time a coach can save you by eliminating a lot of guesswork in setting up your plan and approach.
You'll hear of people struggling for a few years on their own, and not reaching their goals or feeling frustrated or stagnant and finally hiring a coach. Had those same peple hired a coach 1-2 years earlier, they would have done better self coaching in the 2 years after the coaching assuming the coach provides education and interaction.
The difference of 3 years could mean a lot depending on where you are in your career, family planning, age group bracket, etc.
-----
Suzanne Atkinson, MD USAT, USAC, Total Immersion
Coach of World and National Champion Triathlete, Kirsten Sass
Fresh Freestyle: 99 Practices for Triathletes & Swimmers
http://wp.me/P2tUAV-xc -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: Rocket Man on 2009-11-13 7:25 AM
Shane and Suzanne both make great points. As an elite athlete it is very important to choose the right coach. For beginners or even intermediate type athletes any type of training stimulus is going to produce and adaptation. As a rule the more "out of shape" an athlete is (in a manner of speaking) the easier it will be to produce a result. For an elite athlete a high level of fitness is generally a given an the improvements are not as drastic (as a percentage of overall fitness). What has to happen with elites is a continuous variation of training stimulus to keep the body off balance and continually produce physiological adaptations. By keeping a training program the same the body will eventually adapt and stagnate which leads to very small (if any adaptations) and in some cases regression.
IMO experience with elite and/or professional level athletes should be high on your list of requirements for choosing a coach.
I also agree with the statement that whether your coach is "fast" or not has absolutely no bearing on what type of coach he/she is or their level of experience.
-----
USAT & USAC Level II Coach
-------------------------------------------------
Head Coach, PTS Sports
www.ptssports.com
2012 Lululemon Run Ambassador -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: bryancd on 2009-11-13 7:42 AM
Rocket Man - 2009-11-13 7:25 AM
I also agree with the statement that whether your coach is "fast" or not has absolutely no bearing on what type of coach he/she is or their level of experience.
For sure, but as I said, for me that was a personal criteria I wanted satisfied in the relationship.
-----
-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!!
ZOOT ULTRA Triathlon Team
Sponsors: ZOOT, GARMIN, GU, FuelBelt, SPY Optics, PR Bar -
RE: coach searching. help
BY: cusetri on 2009-11-13 7:59 AM
for me, the main thing I looked for was:
-someone who has done what I wanted to do.
as stated, this is not required, but it was something on my short list.
also, I was so new when I looked for my coach (still am new), I had only been in the game for about 6 months, and really wasnt sure what to look for, so seeking someone out that had accomplished what I wanted made my search a little easier.
I think what you are doing before you go on your search is very smart.
I'm please with who I have, but if I had to do it over again, some other things I would look for:
-willingness to work with me one-one on my limiters (ie, swim with me, bike with me, run with me....)
-intimate knowledge of nutrition, and can tell me in detail the pluses and minues of what I eat. Willing to review my food log, and tell me how what I ate plays a role and how it effects my performance.
-takes on "outside the box" approach every once and a while, hitting me with something I don't expect
-has a set benchmark for performance improvement, explains what that process is
-provides testimonials of atheltes
-somone who always follows up on what they say (this is hard to qualify before working with someone, though testimonials could help with this)
this is what I can think of quickly.....It sounds like you ahve started the process the right way....
good luck
Edited by cusetri 2009-11-13 7:59 AM
-----
"When you find something where you can work your off with a smile, then jump on it and roll with it. Simply persist with a smile. Give yourself about five years to see results..." -Gordo