Thoughts on Being Coached

 The act of being coached is so much more than just paying the bill and following the plan.

One has to really trust and communicate in ways that can be pretty uncomfortable to a Type A personality.  I was a single mom, the only woman on most conference calls, the only woman taking my APICs exams.... I have done a lot of things On.  My.  Own.  I am a textbook DIY kinda gal.

Enter Triathlon Goals...

I started in September and found myself some do it yourself training plans and was chugging along.  Chugging... Doing all kinds of time and miles but not getting any faster.  I decided I needed someone to tell me *what* to do in all these sessions I am logging.  So.... I hired a coach.

She loads my first week and I am off and super excited.  A couple weeks go by and I am getting faster, the regular time trials make this indisputable, and great.  But, as I am watching my weekly duration/distance totals I see I am not adding any mileage and the duration is getting less.  As much as an hour one week... In large part, because I am faster now than I was 5 weeks ago.  Still, I want more! I want to be gaining in endurance AND speed.  I have learned other things - I am slowly getting the nutrition figured out.  And that is in HUGE part thanks to her.

I have more goals than one sprint tri in April.  I want to finish a century, swim 2.5k, run 8k, complete n Oly distance Tri.... I am going to have to pick up the pace... er - you know what I mean.

Hiring a coach is lot more than paying the bill and following the plan.  You have to trust... I have put my goals and my dreams in someone else's hands.  Not completely, I own putting in the effort. It is kind of like she is the navigator.  I am driving the car, but I have to trust her when she says turn here... That is difficult for me.

I have communicated that I need the endurance to pick up - and my new plan reflects that a little.  I am going to have to be clear and somehow still trust.  After all, she has done this before - coached many athletes who have achieved their goals.  I haven't!  She knows more than me... Period.  Trust the process - le sigh, who knew swim/bike/run was so darn mental!!!

Are you a coached triathlete?

How do you handle the - I want more conversations?