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- Welcome back to the Triathlon Training Explain Show
powered by TraningPeaks.
It is the new year and hopefully you've already
got your goals locked in for 2019.
So now it's time to start working at how
you're gonna reach those and having a coach
can certainly help.
- Employing a coach to give you
your personalised training plan and individual sessions
doesn't come cheap so you want to get
the most out of that investment.
So today we're going to talk to you about getting the most
out of your coach.
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- I'm presuming that you've already committed and chosen
a coach to work with,
whether on a one-to-one basis or as part of a club.
Now whether this is a new relationship
or one that's already been going for several seasons,
there are still numerous ways in which you can increase
the benefit of this investment,
making both yours and your coach's season more rewarding.
- So before we get to the planning stage,
it's vital that we work out the style
and type of communication that our coach is gonna use.
Are they for example somebody
who readily gives out compliments
or is something like 'Well done' a really big thing?
I had a coach who was like that.
So understanding that style of communication of the coaches
is really useful.
But the same goes in reverse.
They need to understand what you or we are feeling
so if you're tired or if you're feeling really good,
it needs to be something that they understand.
- Yeah and staying on that track you need
to express to your coach what sort of athlete you are
and whether you're someone who needs a lot of reassurance
and encouragement or if say just a thumbs up
on a WhatsApp? Message is enough
when you've done a strong session.
And then also how do you want to communicate?
Does your coach want to spend quite a long time speaking
on the phone so every couple of days
to have really detailed feedback
or are just a few comments on your online platform
gonna be enough for them?
It is very much a two-way thing to need to work out
what works for both of you.
Make a plan and then stick to that.
- Do make sure that you upload your training regularly
so your coach is able to spot trends,
see if things aren't going so well,
and then make adjustments accordingly.
A lot of online platforms now have a scale
that allows you to just put down how you're feeling.
Which is really useful if you don't have a lot of time
or especially if your coach can't actually read
the essays you write.
- And remember if things don't make sense
or you want to know why you've been sent something,
then it is okay to ask and your coach should actually
welcome you wanting to know the why
and the how for your sessions.
And coaching language isn't uniform,
so there might be a few things that maybe don't make sense.
If you swap coaches it might be worded differently.
Just always make sure that you get clarification
early on.
- This is a vital part in the process
and making sure that you and your coach are on
the same page with your goals is a lot more
than just sticking a race in the diary and then off you go.
You need to have a really serious discussion about
how much time you're willing to commit,
the hours you're able to put in,
and just generally how seriously you are
with the whole project.
And that really has to be a thorough,
one-to-one conversation between you and your coach.
- Yeah you probably are gonna have that one big goal
for the year but also think about and discuss those
smaller competitions,
maybe times that you want to hit,
power numbers that you want to get along the way.
But then also find out what your coach has
and what expectations and mark as he thinks
you should be hitting as the year goes on.
- Both you and your coach need to be prepared
to be flexible with your goals.
Things change, life can get in the way,
you might just not be able to cope with
the training as well as you'd hoped.
So it's really key that you have good,
honest communication with your coach,
so that you can really assess those goals
and it just avoids any sort of burying your head
in the sand and getting disappointed on race day.
- Yeah and once you've chosen your coach
you have to have 100% buy-in for it work for both sides.
And trust is the biggest part of any relationship.
So you've got to be open and honest like Frazier mentioned
and say you do have to miss a session for whatever reason
it might be then just put your hand up
and say 'Yes that's okay' because otherwise
how are you going to progress?
- So you need to have an open conversation with
your coach about lifestyle and the training
that you can fit in.
If you've got a busy family environment
or perhaps you work and travel a lot,
then just let them know because if they're forewarned
then it's gonna be a lot easier for them to negotiate
and work in those realities.
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- Coaching goes far beyond just setting a training programme.
When it comes to competition,
it can be a stressful time.
So you want to sit down long before your event
with your coach and look at your race strategies.
So discuss things such as nutrition,
what equipment you might want to use,
and also any variables that could happen on the day
- And as it gets closer to your race day,
try and sit down and hone in the different targets
with your coach.
You'll have a good idea of what your form is,
and how you think you're going to be able to go in the race.
And if you are lucky enough to have the coach with
you on race day try and make sure you have a discussion
to work out how best to make the most of that opportunity.
- No coach or athlete wants to have to deal with injury
of course but when it does happen,
communication really becomes key.
Now as an athlete you might have nickels and
you might think
'Oh I want to ignore them and don't want
to admit to my coach' but being honest
and admitting this early on means your coach
can then adapt your training and hopefully prevent anything
becoming more serious further down the line.
- And illness is similar.
If you're feeling a little under the weather,
you're probably going to complete a session
but it might be best that you don't.
So if you're able to take a day or maybe even
two days off training it's likely to save
a week or more in the long run.
So you have to chat about that with your coach,
because if you don't tell them,
how are they to know?
- You might have your coach start a triathlon group
as opposed to a one-on-one,
and therefore your main contact time with them
is gonna be in your group sessions.
And trust me,
it's not just gonna be you wanting their attention
and wanting to have your questions answered.
So just make sure that you're patient
and you listen to the answers that they're actually
giving to the other athletes,
'cause you might well find that they're actually answering
your questions for you.
- And if you're training in a squad or a group environment
that's got quite a mixed ability,
don't worry if you're not able to perhaps keep up.
Speak to the coach and let them know
and they certainly should be able to adapt
and amend that training to suit you.
And it's only really you that you should be worrying about.
Don't think about what the others are doing,
just concentrate on yourself.
- You spent your money so make sure you get the most
out of that investment.
And I cannot reiterate enough that communication
really is the key.
So make sure you speak with your coach,
they speak with you,
and you share and enjoy that journey together.
- Hopefully you've enjoyed this video that we've made today,
so please give us the thumbs up
and do leave some comments below,
remembering to click on the glove to subscribe
and see all the other videos that we've done.
And talking of that,
there's another triathlon training explained
about how to structure your training,
and that's here.
- And just recently I went to Bahrain and caught up with
the Norwegian trio and asked the question
of whether triathlon is a team or an individual sport.
You can find that video just down here.