You are more than a Triathlon Coach

It has been one of the most challenging weeks I have faced as a coach.  As a coach you become attached to athletes.  My belief is: You have to, you become their friend, someone for them to talk to.  An athlete may tell you things they haven't told anyone else... you earn their confidence.

As a consequence, coaches have to deal with a whole range of things.

Sometimes it is hard to stay passionate about what we do when some of life's bigger challenges appear around us.  This week alone I have had the whole range... the ecstasy of success, the joy of a wedding, through to the utter devastation of a family bereavement and a terrible medical diagnosis.  All of this, whilst trying to manage my own challenges (Those that know me, know).  Coaches are not trained in this, all we can do is observe and listen... all we can do is our best, keep going and hope that tomorrow is better day.

"There's a reason that God gave us two ears, two eyes and one mouth. It's so you can listen and watch twice as much as you talk. Best of all, listening costs you nothing.” - Alex Fergusson

So in the interests of more light hearted entertainment, here is a list of some of the things I have done as a coach.  Oh, and most of these will not appear in any coaching manual...

• Bike Mechanic
• Philosopher
• Psychologist
• Marriage / relationship counsellor
• Masseuse
• Chef
• Driving instructor
• Maths teacher
• Financial advisor
• Travel agent
• Pack horse
• Handling parents (not mine)
• Taxi driver
• Wedding planner

Coaching is not just about setting a swim set, working on an athlete's bike handling or watching them run laps of a track.  Coaching is about enabling the athlete to do all of those things to the best of their ability.  If they are stressed about something then they simply won't be able to focus on their training... if as a coach I can enable them to be in the moment... focused on what they came to do, they will get so much more from their training... and as a consequence the other things in life too.

I am not claiming to be an expert on anything in the list above (bloody hell... far from it!).  But I can listen, I can observe, sometimes I can offer advice... but... I can definitely make an objective decision about the athlete, their training and how, what ever is bothering them will affect that.  Every athlete is different and their training programs reflect that.

Every athlete has to have their season balanced to fit their lifestyle.  The sessions have to be customised to fit the athlete's personal level of fitness and their goals.  The athlete's training week is then written to be sustainable over a period of time... and this allows the athlete to train in a consistently.

I am passionate about my coaching.  I have been a professional coach for 20 years now and I have developed my coaching and how I deliver my coaching philosophy, "Balanced, sustainable and consistent training" over those years.

Actually I don't think I have scratched the surface...