Triathlon Coaching: We Are Who We Surround Ourselves With!

Triathlon Coaching: We Are Who We Surround Ourselves With!

“The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us to become the best version of ourselves or encourage us to become lesser versions of ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman becomes great on her own. The people around them help to make them great. We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose, and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.”

I’ve had an unusually busy couple of weeks with athlete coaching enquiries and this quote resonated with me.

Whether these athletes have been inspired by Ironman UK, by their team-mates doing extraordinary things or whether it’s the time of year where we start to plan for next year, I’m not sure. What I do know is that these athletes want to be the best version of themselves.

Whatever the reason for the enquiries, I love having a variety of athletes to coach – all focusing on different events and challenges. It keeps me on my toes!

Athlete Enquiries This Week

I thought it might be interesting to summarise some of the enquiries I’ve had in the past week or so. So, what type of athlete comes knocking?

As you’ll see, quite a variety!

Of course, not all of these athletes will decide to become coached athletes (might not be a good fit, might prefer other coaches, might decide to go it alone, might be too expensive) but it gives you an idea of the type of athlete who enquires about coaching.

Ironman Athletes

👉 An athlete who has been self-coached since he started his triathlon adventures, including his four Ironman finishes, would like some more structure, accountability and to get a better return on his training time to help him reach his potential.

👉 An athlete who I previously coached for his one and only Ironman, has been inspired to go long again and has been back in contact to ask about some coaching to help him prepare for his next Ironman.

👉 An athlete who was previously coached by me, achieving great success with pretty limited training time, wants to resume training again later in the year for a 2024 Ironman.

👉 An athlete who has already completed two Ironman races and two marathons with me before taking a break to rejuvenate, now wants to prepare for a 2024 Ironman.

Middle Distance / 70.3

👉 An athlete who wants to do her first middle distance / 70.3 next year, combining it with an ultramarathon early in the season. The reason for coaching? As a self-coached athlete, she feels she leans towards the sessions she enjoys, rather than the ones she needs, so doesn’t feel like she is getting any better.

👉 A Swim Squad athlete who has been inspired by his lane mates and wants to dip his toe into middle distance / 70.3 triathlon. With a young family and a busy job, he is keen for some guidance and structure to get the best out of his training time.

👉 An athlete who wants to progress to middle distance triathlon next year, with a view to an Ironman in 2025. A history of doing too much, too soon – resulting in injuries, setbacks and frustration. He’s looking for some methodical, progressive training that will help him achieve some consistency and enable him to achieve his goals.

GB Age Group Athletes

👉 An athlete who needs some support to help her regain some of the fire she once had for the sport through a structured, progressive and challenging training programme. Goal setting and race planning for 2024 is still a work in progress.

👉 An athlete who is wondering if it is possible to combine an early season marathon with a Team GB race at the World Championships.

👉 An athlete who regularly races for Team GB in the sprint distance events wants to work with me to maximise her potential and achieve some higher rankings.

Marathons

👉 I’ve also had three marathon-focused athletes enquire and start their training with me recently. Two athletes are focusing on Chester Marathon and the other on Dublin.

Swimming

👉 An athlete is looking for a swim training plan to help her with her long distance swim events next year, with a 10k open water championship swim the main goal.

Training Plans

👉 I’ve also taken three enquiries from athletes who want a training plan to follow. They want the structure and guidance of a training plan, but don’t feel they need the ongoing communication and support that coaching provides. These athletes are all doing late season events (September) and are looking for some short term plans to help maximise their training time.

Quite a mix!

Exciting isn’t it? All of these goals and aspirations.

---

Coaching Support

If you are thinking you might like some coaching, someone in your corner to give you guidance, support and encouragement, someone to keep you on track and make sure you’re doing the right sort of things, then I’m always happy to have a chat.

https://triathlonswimsquad.com/coaching-packages