Coaching – To use or not to use? That is the question.

Why do I use coaching?

1.      Time management

2.      Knowledge & Accountability

3.      Who do I use?

Time Management

I did not use coaching until 7 weeks before the 2023 Ironman Florida.  I bought “canned” plans from Training Peaks or other places online.  In 2012 I actually was provided a well known coach to prepare me for Kona.  This was part of my Ironman Executive Challenge package.  In all honesty, that coach gave me a calendar in Microsoft word with preplanned workouts 26 weeks from the race and I never spoke or interacted with them.

I don’t have the time to plan my training, nor do I have enough knowledge about training to actually trust the plan I would come up with.  The fact that I have a coach saves me hours and hours of thinking about my training plan and I actually trust the plan.

 Knowledge & Accountability

I know how to swim, bike and run.  I’m an above average swimmer, ok at riding and horrible at running.  So I did what I was good at during the week and would do a long ride on Saturday and long run on Sunday.  Long being relative.  My training goals were always, get done with the bike early enough to be able to walk 26.2 miles and finish before the cutoff. 

What did my training result in?   

·         Good swim times

·         Ok bike times where I was always uncomfortable on my saddle

·         Long painful walks deep into the night on race day

Did I follow heart rate or power training much?  Not too much because honestly there are like 80 different methods to calculate your heart rate zones and 80 different sets of heart rate zones.  Heck I didn’t even know I had a different set of zones for the bike and the run. 

All my rides were out of the zone I was supposed to be in (I now know) and all my runs were WAY out of the zone I was supposed to be in.  I would I skip planned workouts – of course.  Did I beat myself up, not too much.  I would get to race day and have no idea what to eat (particularly race morning), I’d be carrying 15 baggies of nutrition powder onto the bike with another 15 in my special needs bag.  I’d absolutely know that at about mile 70 my butt would hurt so much I’d be standing up as often as possible (I even got one of those gel seat pads for one race.  Bad idea, I’ve never had so much chaffing!).

My coach provides a proven plan that if I follow I know I will get better every race.  Every Monday before I wake up I get a plan for the week in Training Peaks (See picture).   I have at least 3 rides and 3 runs a week, some weights, usually 2 or 3 days swimming because it is my strength so we do less. 

When my schedule changes I text or call him and he adjusts my workout timing. 

When I get tired, I tell him and he backs off or he tells me, “Yup you’re supposed to be in this phase.” 

If I’m sore or have an injury we work around it. 

If I skip a couple of workouts he gets on me about it.  Moreso as we get closer to the race but he’ll always ask, “What’s up?  You’ve missed too many workouts.”

I get to race day and I know I’m as ready as I can be and with the taper I’m chomping at the bit to race.  I’ve learned that because I now ride more times every week (often only an hour by the way) my butt is more used to the saddle and I don’t have saddle pain in the race. 

Who Do I Use?

Here it comes…a lot of people have strong feelings about my coach.  I chalk it up to he’s a Yankee (said by a guy who grew up in the Garden State by the way).  He’s blunt, opinionated, and can seem like a prick at times.  I think he’s probably been banned from more Facebook triathlon pages than anyone else on earth. 

BUT, and I say this with 100% honesty, he cares about the people he trains. 

·         He’ll be texting me right up to race morning. 

·         He always reminds me of:

o   the zones I’m supposed to be in

o   the food I eat before race start

§  His pre-race food plan is genius! Never had a GI issue, perfectly timed for one sit down port-a-can visit before the swim😉, always get out of the swim with energy

o   to stay on plan

o   to get in the swim start group one corral faster than I’m planning

§  Much easier said than done.  Never made that happen yet

o   and more

·         If I do poor in a race I think he feels worse than I do.  He takes it personal.

I use Raymond Botelho (https://www.raybotelhofitness.com/). Former pro triathlete, racing in Triathlons and other endurance races internationally since 1993. 

This is copied from his webpage and I can attest that it is true,

“Your result is all that matters to me. Make mistakes and fail along the way but be accountable. It doesn’t have to be an obsession. Compulsion or paranoia are weaknesses.

The truth is, it is that simple.

Be honest and leave out all of the excuses.

I live and die with your results."