We can always improve. There is always something to take away from everything we do.
As a coach I am learning all the time. I have many years of experience, my British Triathlon Level 3 qualification and more recently my IRONMAN Coaching Certification. The training camps I have delivered. The years teaching swimming before Triathlon and of course working in the sport of triathlon for nearly 20 years.
However, coaching cannot be learnt from a book. I am always looking for ways to improve, be better. If I am better, then my athletes will be better. Sometimes it is not even my coaching which needs to improve, but actually how to deal with certain situations. Did I handle that right? Could I do anything better? How can we improve on that?
No one is more critical of me... than me! But... I have to back myself... just as an athlete does.
That is how I want my athletes to race too. What did I learn? Could I do anything better? Triathletes need to be accountable for their performances. Just as coaches are. We are accountable for our performances AND those of the athletes... especially when things do not quite go to plan...
Coaching is about preparing the athlete for their main event. This can take years. An athlete will only reach their true potential after years of training. You won't rock up and be an all star in a month. It takes time, dedication, determination, perseverance and years to achieve.
You cannot win a race in the swim, but you can certainly lose one.
On the bike it is important to think about what is happening in the race or on race day. What is the wind doing? Who else is in your group? Is there a group coming up from behind? Who is doing all the work, and when? This is racing. This is about developing race craft.
We practice mounts and dismounts in training - a lot, but when you are racing, you still need to think clearly. Dismounting after the line is a mistake. We learn and move on. Its not something to dwell on... crikey Jonathon Brownlee mounted before the mount line in the Olympics (2012)... it happens.
This is actually why I encourage all the triathletes I coach to race quite often. So you can go through those things you can screw up and make sure you have a 'race head' on when you race. In the heat of battle it is easy to forget something, or to forget to do something. It can be simple like: forgetting pins for your numbers or... it can be race ending like, forgetting your run shoes.
Often at races people make mistakes.
It might be doing a lap short on the run, or running with your helmet on (yep the whole 10k!), or missing a buoy in the swim. We all do them. Its part of racing. It is so important to practice before your big event... by racing.
Fancy a Triathlon Training Camp... check out our Mallorca Camps in March 2022
