The Coaching Files

This picture has zero to do with the topic. It is just a funny picture of Luc!

And..... Phelps does it again. Another great race here!

These days triathlon coaches are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere. Many have a boatload of credentials and many have a boatload of athletic accomplishments. Many have a really good time trashing the philosophy of others and many.... believe it or not.... have not a clue.

In some fashion I have always been a coach. Through college I was a swim coach for an age group swim team and I have to say that through my athletic endeavors I have learned from the best.

Am I the best coach? Certainly not. I am a work in progress and I really love what I do.

What makes someone a good coach? One of the things I have learned along the way is that the top athletes in the world can make great coaches, and they can make really crappy ones. In my opinion the best coach I have ever had in my life was my father. And I don't think he knows how to swim. At least I have never seen him.

What he taught me was how to understand an athlete, because he understands me, even to this day.

At swim meets in high school he'd entertain himself by recording my splits through the 500 freestyle. He's time every single 100, break it into a 50, and then into a 25. He'd even time the flip turns. When I was done he'd show me where I was inconsistent. And he'd do it in a matter of fact way.

Not the do or die way you see most parents do it. It was obvious he did it because he was bored. Swim meets can be boring!

But I started to see the trends. Taking out the first 50 too fast and paying for it on the last 100. With his help I was able to translate that into my college years where I swam the 1,000 and the mile.

And then it began to pour over into triathlon.

I am not sure my father knows how to ride a bike.

But he's taught me to read an athlete, to read myself. To break things down.

I have learned so much form other coaches just like I have learned from my Dad. I think we all have our stable of people who we draw from, people whose philosophies ring close to what we believe in. People we admire, look up to. Who make things simple and who help us learn.

I feel like I have gotten to learn from the best. The people I look to and who I try to learn from are:

Gordo, Kevin Purcell, Paulo (and you need to read his latest blog because it's so damn true it's funny), Trevor Syversen (Coach T), and my all time favorite Chuckie V. These guys are all terrific athletes but it's their philosophies and their teaching style that I am drawn to. It makes me a better coach and also a better athlete. I spend a lot of time learning what I can from this group because I think they have a keen eye into what makes athletes tick.

I once had a coach who told me that it took him 30 minutes to plan a week for 30 athletes. He used Training Peaks as many of us do.... and simply copied plans from athlete A to B to C. After all, Training Peaks has "all the workouts you will ever need." Until then I used a lot of the workouts that Training Peaks had to offer. Until that moment.

If you want a "Zone 2 run, embarrassingly slow.... best alone." workout, then that's your coach. It's true that there's no new workout, but if you are paying a coach good money then they should have their own terms, and their own workouts.

I am a coach who is a work in progress, aren't we all? But I relish in the ability to be able to study my athletes, to see improvements, to watch them grow. I love when we collaborate, share ideas. I love the feeling that we have around here of team.

We have a Google group where we throw around workouts, ideas, funny stuff. Many from this team travel together, we have group workouts, we go to training camp together.

Some coaches warn against becoming friends with your athletes. I thrive on the personal relationship that we all have together. Sure there are times when an athlete moves on or for whatever reason has to end the coach/athlete relationship. I created an Alumni group, so once you are part of this team, you are always part of this team. Take the awkwardness out of it and just get down to the real deal. We all love what we do and I love working with athletes.

So when you are looking for a coach, look at their philosophy. Look at how they interact with their athletes. Look at their credentials but if you can talk to an athlete they coach that's much better than a "level 9 coaching certification.". Interview them, ask them a lot of questions. Sure look at their race resume but just because they are the Ironman World Champion doesn't mean they are a great coach.

Look at my father. He wears the same New Balance sneakers he bought 20 years ago and he's never run a step in them. But he's one of the greatest coaches I have ever had, if not the best.