For all the years I've been competing in triathlons and cycling I have never had a coach. At times I've had a running coach purely for running and a swimming coach for squad swimming, otherwise I have simply been my own coach for cycling and triathlons.
There have been numerous reasons for this. Most notably is that I am a science student at university and therefore I enjoy working and exploring data, statistics and data analysis methods. Thus I'm very analytical and enjoy applying the methods I acquire from my university work to my sports training. However, in order to be able to do such things one needs data. This is no problem for me as I have kept a log of everything I have done every day of my life for the past 9 years! From the amount of sleep I get a night, to my body weight every morning and obviously everything associated with the kind of training activities I did each day and race performances. This has provided me with loads of information which I have used to fine tune my training over the years.
Now that I am only concentrating on one discipline (cycling/mountain biking), I have come to realize that it is quite a bit harder to do the fine tuning necessary for my performance to reach the highest possible level, especially in a rather competitive sport where at times only small things can cost you not only a podium position but a top ten position! I have found that there are so many influencing factors and began to doubt myself more often and simply felt the need for some guidance at times.
I always thought that I have become very good at listening to my body and being aware of how I feel, and thus always thought that it would take an outsider a little while to get to know me. However, I am pleased to be completely mistaken as within the very first week I am amazed at how my new coach knows me! I can now definitely see how important it is to have someone telling you what to do and not just deciding for yourself.
I also had quite a few suggestions from some people telling me that I needed a coach to provide me with the extra edge and for one I would like to thank my amazing wife for helping me make up my mind and finally go through with it!
So from now on, I'm under coaches orders!
There have been numerous reasons for this. Most notably is that I am a science student at university and therefore I enjoy working and exploring data, statistics and data analysis methods. Thus I'm very analytical and enjoy applying the methods I acquire from my university work to my sports training. However, in order to be able to do such things one needs data. This is no problem for me as I have kept a log of everything I have done every day of my life for the past 9 years! From the amount of sleep I get a night, to my body weight every morning and obviously everything associated with the kind of training activities I did each day and race performances. This has provided me with loads of information which I have used to fine tune my training over the years.
Now that I am only concentrating on one discipline (cycling/mountain biking), I have come to realize that it is quite a bit harder to do the fine tuning necessary for my performance to reach the highest possible level, especially in a rather competitive sport where at times only small things can cost you not only a podium position but a top ten position! I have found that there are so many influencing factors and began to doubt myself more often and simply felt the need for some guidance at times.
I always thought that I have become very good at listening to my body and being aware of how I feel, and thus always thought that it would take an outsider a little while to get to know me. However, I am pleased to be completely mistaken as within the very first week I am amazed at how my new coach knows me! I can now definitely see how important it is to have someone telling you what to do and not just deciding for yourself.
I also had quite a few suggestions from some people telling me that I needed a coach to provide me with the extra edge and for one I would like to thank my amazing wife for helping me make up my mind and finally go through with it!
So from now on, I'm under coaches orders!
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