Coaching

As you might have seen from a few blog posts ago I have recently received my USA Triathlon Coach I certification and while I don't claim to be an expert in the subject and I don't plan to get rich or retire from my real job, I want to be able to help others achieve their goals in the sport.

Note that we were once in your shoes if you are trying to figure out things. We were lucky that we found our Coach and Team but this is a way to give back as well. I want to be able to help you or others figure out things and see where your triathlon (and everything in between) takes you. I am open to answering questions you might have.

I'm a firm believer that coaching is the ultimate way to understand, develop and improve your skills. No matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned athlete, looking to do your first sprint tri or a full distance tri, or anything in between, coaching can benefit you greatly. If you are in the Mid Hudson Valley area, you will benefit by training in person with me and joining me and my wife on our workouts and getting 1-on-1 coaching feedback. If you are interested in virtual coaching we can work out a plan and figure out things. I have been on that end of the spectrum as well as an athlete and I believe my experience as a virtually coached athlete can help build on to not just a training plan but more of a coaching experience where communication and constant feedback is the key to your success and ability to reach your goals.

Why coaching? is the question that a lot of times we ask ourselves particularly at the beginning of this whole crazy thing we call triathlon. For the last 5 seasons, where I've been using our coach, I've been able to draw my own conclusions on why a coach is a good idea:

1. Triathlon is an extremely overwhelming sport, trying to figure out where to begin training for that whole swim, bike, run thing is not as easy as just trying to google for plans. 
2. Building from No. 1 above, you go on google and you have about a million options to choose from all with different approaches and prices. 
3. A coach will relieve that pressure of trying to figure it out on your own. A coach has most likely done some academic training, reads a whole bunch, studies the sport, and also most likely has done more than just 1 race so has some experience to guide you. 
4. A coach will work with you and will try to help you figure things out. At first you won't even know where to begin. You might have an idea if you are a runner, swimmer or a cyclist, but putting it all together might be a different story. Not saying you will fail or not be able to do it, but someone can help you figure things out.
5. A coach will also mentor you and be there for when you need it. Nothing worse than training for your first triathlon (whatever distance it is) and be lost, and not really have anyone to bounce any ideas or simply to vent. 
6. While the triathlon community is extremely open to helping each other out, it is hard to find groups and also sometimes you don't want to simply meet new people and start asking a bunch of questions to those newly met friends. A coach is there for you to answer all your tri related questions, even sometimes those life/tri/balance questions that you might have.