the coaching files part II..... goal setting and coaching

Please click here for my Clearwater Race Report!

With races filling up at mach speed these days it has changed the way we go about seasonal goal setting. It's come down to needing to set goals in terms of 2-3 seasons in advance rather than sitting down in the off season and asking yourself "What do I want to accomplish this season?"

Cathy Y. and I talked at length on our Sunday beach walk about our longevity in this sport and how that has changed how we go about setting goals. Through the years we both agreed that our drive to have that knock down head to head competition.... that drive to win win win.... has been replaced by the desire to set "personal challenge goals." .... meaning...... what do I want to accomplish rather than who do I want to beat. Which way is better? The one that motivates you to get out of bed at early o'clock.

So first you need to determine if you are extrinsically motivated (motivated by something outside of you) or intrinsically motivated (motivated by something inside of you).

Goal setting

When I am working with an athlete I ask them a series of questions which help me determine that, and also help me to determine what they want to achieve this year. Typically it comes in the form of a race, most often it's "Finish the Ironman." Excellent, we have that on the table, now let's get to the real stuff.

Where do you see yourself in one year?

What area do you want to make the biggest gains?

What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

Through their answers..... sometimes it feels like a psychological assessment...... is how I go about helping them tighten up their goals.,

So we have the broad goal, finishing the Ironman, that's like the umbrella under which we will work. I caution athletes not to stop there because it is so broad. So we delve a little bit deeper.

We set the smaller goals underneath the umbrella: I want to improve my running, I want to improve my swimming. My job as a coach is to figure out how to do that, but if you are self coached then it is your job to figure that out.

To recap:

Broad goal: I want to finish the Ironman

Micro Goal: I want to improve my running

Now we need a specific goal and a plan of attack. In order to improve my running I need to find a system to do that, either a coach or myself. More on that in a minute. Now it's November, you are just beginning to consider coming out of the off season..... the Ironman is in 10 months.... along the way set markers for tracking improvement.

I like my athletes to use 5K races, mostly because they are fun. Racing is fun. You have to be a very secure person to jump into races in the off season. I know many athletes who will not compete because they are terrified to have a slower race result in print. Get over yourself..... that's a stupid reason to deny yourself some 5K fun.

On our team we have a series of performance indicators that we are working with this season, for swimming, biking and running. Everyone cycles through these tests every 6 weeks or so. This season we have an inter team contest, the person who makes the most improvement percentage wise will carry the yellow jersey for the month. It gives us incentive, something to have fun with in the winter, something to shoot for as we move through a dark winter.

You run your 5K every 6 or so weeks. Why 6 weeks? Generally the body will make physiologic adaptations in 6 weeks. For some it's 4 weeks, for others it's 8. We take the 5K time and we track it through the season while working through the progression of run training.

To again recap:

Broad goal: finish the Ironman

Macro Goal: improve run training

Specific goal: I will follow X running plan or hire a coach, I will track my running improvements by running a 5K every X weeks, I will have my gait analyzed, I will have my body composition assessed.......

In the specific goal section is where we address the nitty gritty as mentioned. Body composition, gait, the things that we can work on daily.

If you step back and you look at the broad goal: it's safe. Finishing the Ironman. Most people who just follow an Iornman training plan will finish the Ironman. By delving into the broad goals and the specific goals we now become accountable, we now get specific and we now have purpose.

This is all a very wide range of the goal setting process. Here is a great article by my coach on how he likes to do it.

Do I need a coach? This is actually tomorrow's topic, but lets take a quick look today.

The hip thing these days is to have a coach, and not only do I have one, I am one. With increasingly busy lives it's more than helpful to have someone to work with to help you achieve the goals you have set out to achieve. I say with..... because I collaborate with my athletes, I don't dictate. Your coach should have the ability to sit back and always take into account the big picture rather. You should have trust in the athlete / coach relationship. You should be able to work together on your season to bring out the best in you.

Here is a great article by Gordo, on getting the most from your coach.

Anyone can attend a USAT Certification and slap the title of coach on themselves. What I have learned through my years of coaching not only triathletes but swimmers..... is that as a coach your eye does need to always be on the big picture.

In the grand scheme of things how will this run impact this athlete's life? In the grand scheme of things how will this injury affect what we have set out to do? That's important because as athletes checking boxes off the list of the wee we don't always step back and see the big picture.

The number one mistake I see athletes make:

They set the goal
They hire the coach

Then they fail to commit to the process. They don't fill out their training logs, they don't become accountable for their nutritional habits on and off the field..... and they wonder why progress has not been made.

A coach helps you to stay accountable but you also have to give that percentage of the relationship. You also need to find a coach that you trust.

My coach is Jesse Korpelnicki from Quantitative Triathlon Systems (QT2). When I went to him I had gone to four of the coaches whom I admired most in this sport (one was actually offended that I did not come to her). Jesse is very direct, straightforward and honest. So was my ob / gyn, so is my Masters swim coach.

I respond best to the hard line, the hard honest truth. "Just make it happen." I have been told several times throughout the season. On the other hand.... when I do not hit the goal that we have set, such as we did on Saturday in Clearwater.... it was my first time not hitting a goal with Jesse and I was a little nervous about how that conversation would go.

I learned that Jesse likes to have answers, likes to find out the reason why.... will look over everything with a fine toothed comb and figure out what went wrong. In the case of Saturday I was content chalking it up to a bad day. Jesse..... pinpointed the reason. I like that in a coach.

We will talk more coaching tomorrow.

Until then..... start dreaming. What do you want to do this season? What are the things you aspire to achieve? And then we will figure out who you need..... and maybe it's yourself..... to get there.