Excellence in Triathlon

By Coach Paulgeneral
Knock time of your Triathlon

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” Pat Riley

Throughout every training session there are things you can do to improve, be better… working on your weaknesses is often where you can achieve the biggest gains in performance.

How often do you get prescribed a session and think, why am I doing this? Perhaps:

  • A swim session as a Triathlete from a run background
  • A drill that you don’t enjoy doing
  • A breathing pattern in the water that you struggle with
  • Doing an interval set, its an endurance sport
  • Practicing skills rather than ‘training’

The way you do these things… they do matter… these things help you achieve excellence.

They ALL matter.

Excellence in everything, maximise everything you do.

  • Warming up? Warm up with excellence.
  • Doing a drill set? Drill with excellence.
  • Recovery? Recover with excellence.
  • Nutrition? Aim for excellence
  • Clean bike?

“Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude." Ralph Marston

Its about doing everything to the best of your ability. Even on those days when you really don’t feel it.

This applies to me as a coach as well!

It is easy to forget that my coaching philosophy applies to the coach as well as his athletes. Consistant, Sustainable and Balanced Training... also means Consistant, Sustainable and Balanced Coaching.

 

I understand that perfection is unobtainable. Its hard for a muppet like me to appreciate that nothing is perfect, but like all addicts, I took my first step. I realised what I was doing... with some help... understood that I should aspire to achieve excellence.

Then immediately got told, that is actually what I do... I just think about it the wrong way.

Excellence will give you a sense of achievement... where as perfection has the inevitability of failure. Excellence is achieved by being process focused, perfection is all about results.

However, an excellent coach will continue to open their mind to new ideas, new approaches, new technology and ways to become a better coach... and then question them!

As a coach I do not have to use all those ideas and technology. I certainly do not have to use them all of the time. Some athletes don't have access to power. Some use a Heart Rate monitor indoors but then you have to worry about heart rate drift. Which Heart Rate zones should I use? Just because an individual says 7 zones is better for their athletes... is this right for me and the athletes I coach? Should you use a windmill stroke or a front quadrant? Sometimes drills are the wrong ones for an athlete. Should you run on your toes or land on your heal? It is horses for courses.

As I continually grow as a coach... here is the important bit, this enables the athlete to grow and develop.

“The path to excellence could not be more difficult. It is steep, gruelling, and arduous. It is inordinately lengthy. And, most importantly of all, it forces voyagers to stumble and fall on every single stretch of the journey.” - Matthew Syed

Paul is a Professional Triathlon Coach. Passionate about the sport of Triathlon. Paul empowers athletic achievements with quality individualised bespoke triathlon coaching.

Coach Paul is a British Triathlon Federation Level 3 Coach and a Triathlon Australia Performance Coach.

He is also an IRONMAN Certified Coach and a Level 2 Training Peaks Coach. F4L Triathlon Coaching offers triathletes and other endurance athletes a full coaching and training service that caters to all levels of triathletes. F4L offers professional triathlon and endurance coaching and the reliability triathletes and endurance athletes require. Each athlete is an individual, every athlete has different needs.