coaching

Since about 5am I have been in my office, coffee at side, planning. Planning weeks, seasons. Looking at goals, configuring workouts, and smiling the entire time. I love coaching. I love what I do. I am so excited about a team meeting that's we are having this morning. I am currently working with an absolutely amazing group of people.

While the hardest thing about this time of year is taming the mojo..... I happen to be working with possibly the hardest working team I have ever worked with. I am used to people being jacked up in October. I worked with most of these folks last season and the season before and the problem is that they maintain their mojo the entire season. In order to protect them from themselves I have to work extra hard at simmering them down.

It's pretty fun.

What I love about coaching is that this is not just science. Many, including my coach might argue that it is. It's an art and a science. When you coach you are dealing with someones life. They are a parent, a spouse, a sister, a friend. Not just an athlete. As a coach you embrace all of that.

I am disappointed in an athlete when they start out an email with an apology for missing a workout...... I think people feel they fail a coach when that happens. But when you are sick, when your kid needs homework help..... truthfully that trumps triathlon. You can't train with a fever. You can not neglect your child.

Now if you are skipping for the sake of skipping..... then look in the mirror and apologize to that person, not to me.

The art of coaching comes in the form of creating a training program that fits into an athlete's life...... and doesn't overtake it. We deal with school, work, family..... we work it into that lifestyle rather than on top of it.

We make small progressive steps towards the goals that we set. We set nothing in stone. If we have to change something, we change it. I look at the big picture and figure it out. The art of that is what I love so much.

As a yoga teacher I always say that I can make any pose fit any one's body. As a triathlon coach I can fit any program into your life for any goal that you set. While some preach that to attain XX time you have to train XX hours.... I think it's highly more individualized than that.

It takes experience to become an effective coach. In all honesty I have learned more from the people and the coaches that I have personally worked with, than any coaching certification I have ever been to. I think it's real world real life experience that teaches us the most. Anyone can sit in a class and take an exam and generate a training program. Personally I love what I do and realize that I am still learning. I will always be learning. I know enough to stay away from know it all coaches, those who attack one another, those who think their way is right. I know to align with coaches who are interested in growth, sharing, and having fun.

There are a few of us coaches who bounce ideas back and forth. Who email each other for some insight, who refer athletes to one another or to a specialist. I love the networking. I love the discussions. I am lucky to be in a good peer group.

My father...... he's the one who has always been my greatest teacher and most effective coach. I am not sure if my father even knows how to swim but he was my best swim coach. He had an eye for observing. And eye for watching, comparing, analyzing. He taught me how to sit back and see the full picture. To realize that bodies are individual, that individuals are individual, that no one fits the same mold.

When I first became a swim coach it was my father who taught me to look at the bigger picture as well as the fine pieces and he taught me how the small pieces add up to the big painting at the end. In other words start with the big picture, narrow in and then pan out again.

Through the years I have learned to work with all kinds of individuals. I can sense who is going to be able to reach their goals and who is not. While it has a lot to do with me, I am a small piece of the equation. So much of it comes from within them.

2010 will be a big year for our team. We will be meeting in a half hour to discuss the upcoming season, take a team picture, talk about the uniforms, the training, camp, testing.

This season I am working with 28 individuals who are absolutely fantastic. Big goals and big achievements lie ahead of us. I am so very excited to soon make this my full time gig. I have stated that our team is currently full, if you are interested in beginning with us In December / January, shoot me an email or fill out the info on the info page. We'd be so lucky to have you!