My week in coaching – 270317

Hi everyone,

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how my coaching is going so thought I would start a regular update to let you know what I, and my athletes have been up to and what people can expect if they come to the run sessions or become a coached athlete. I’ll also offer some of my own training experiences and hopefully people can relate to some of this as well!

It was a busy week for me.

I am now running 4 coached run sessions a week. I am running two standard sessions, a beginners sessions and a mums and Bubs group so something for everyone and I run the inclusive sessions appropriate to each athletes fitness/ability level (you won’t be over or under trained – I promise). The numbers are still really small and I need to be patient as word gets out, that the sessions are operating in the area. It is going to take time but it will grow & the good thing is, that the people that do come are getting plenty of personal attention. 🙂  I plan to encourage those that are gearing up for run season and races like city to surf to come along as I will be able to integrate their race goals into our training. As for the beginners and Mums and bubs, the emphasis will be on fun and developing fitness gradually.

We found a local coffee shop that serves amazing food for post training recovery and I had the yummiest gluten free chocolate brownie this morning after the Mums & Bubs session and got lots of cuddles with my favourite 5 month year old!

Last weekend I flew to Adelaide for a Women’s leader in sport seminar, which I got to attend as part of winning a Australian Sports Commission grant. I was one of 70 grant recipients out of 5000 applicants and I met some of these amazing and inspiring women at the seminar. I learnt a lot about what makes myself tick as a leader and how I can empower those around me and also some great skills and tools about communication and networking which I am already applying in all aspects of my life.

One of the lovely ladies who flew over from me from WA, Natasha, was representing Pony Club of WA and at the airport on the way home she asked me if I would be keen to coach the kids in running at Riverside Park pony club as they are training for tetrathlon. I had my first session with them last week. They are all fab kids and have so much energy and enthusiasm and I am looking forward to my second session with them this afternoon!

My fiance flew off to China so I had to take care of most of the sessions at Perth Hills tri club, where I volunteer. We are mentoring some new coaches and also learning from these coaches at the same time so this is a win for the club. We have a good core of quality coaches and coaches to be, coming through the system.

Through the club, we are running a Busso 70.3 program and we have 5 triathletes who are competing at their first 70.3 on the program. Each athlete presents their own challenge and this week presented a positive learning curve for the athletes that are under my care. They learned that nutrition is just as important as the training itself. Inadequate nutrition equals inadequate performance. They also learned that each session has it’s place in the program and there is a reason why it is there.. We need to continue to keep the lines of communication open so adjustments take the training goals for the week into consideration..  The athletes also had some great wins in terms of improvements, some consistent results which in terms of the level of training and fatigue were also wins…. Lastly, triathletes rarely pat themselves on their backs.. They are always looking at ways that could have done it better..  I try and get my athletes to accept the wins, no matter how small they are.. An improvement or consistent performance is worthy of celebration… We will always find a way we can do something better so if we don’t take the small gains we will never be happy……

As for my own training, I went on my first hills ride since the beginning of December with my club, PHTC. I suffer from descent anxiety on the bike.. I can deal with traffic, I can deal with descents but I can’t deal with them both together. Before my MVA in August, I had built up a ton of confidence on the bike (I had no issues with the rolling course in Cairns 70.3 on my TT) and I was dealing with my descent anxiety like a champ but a long lay off has caused the confidence to take a dive. The MVA, although not affecting my driving to a huge extent, has increased my anxiety on the bike… Probably pushed it a little too far on my first ride back and it affected me negatively rather than positively – it can’t always go our way… Funnily enough, I got run off the road by a truck on the ride back to the car and that has had less of an impact on me that riding down Canning Road at speed… I nearly didn’t go on the ride. I was terrified and didn’t sleep much the night before but I did go… I know it is going to take some time to build up the confidence to ride like I was before the accident and the only way I can do that is to actually ride…. If you struggle on the group rides, find a supportive bunch of people and friends, be clear about what the issue is, if you don’t tell people they won’t know and can’t help…. That help, often just means keeping you company and letting you do things in your own time. There was no judgement from my PHTC crew on the weekend and when I had enough, I just went home….

Sometimes in training, fitness, exercise & racing –  it isn’t about getting the best time – it is about meeting other challenges head on…. Satisfaction comes from doing the things that your head says you can’t do!

There is nearly always a way to overcome the challenges, sometimes you just have to find a way to start!

Have a great week everyone!

Peta

Peta from Energise Coaching is a Triathlon Australia Development Coach and an Athletics Australia Intermediate Recreational Running Coach. She offers personalised training programs for triathlon/swimming/running, generic training plans and structured run sessions for all levels and abilities. Contact Peta and ask what she can do for you!

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