Diversity

A solid day of program writing today. Not completely chock a block full thankfully, but certainly a good few hours spent this morning.

It was an interesting collection of programs to write today.

As I mentioned yesterday there was one program which I am starting for Kona. My first time training an athlete for Hawaii, very exciting. That program was actually fairly straight forward this time, just easing back into Ironman training, nothing too crazy. Besides I know the athlete fairly well by now and so the program almost wrote itself. Going to become a lot more fun in the coming months that is for sure though.

The next program  I worked on today was similar to the one above in that it was for an Ironman. The similarities more or less stopped there though. This program was for a woman who has done numerous Ironman, but has been on a break for 18 months. This program is for her return to Ironman racing. Once again no pressure. Actually coaching her is great because she knows exactly what an Ironman takes and what the preparation is like so she is isn't in for any big surprises. She should be one where the coaching is less about providing motivation and more just giving her some structure to get to the start and finish lines. When they come along these athletes can be great fun to coach. Still pretty early days in this particularly relationship, but the signs are good.

The final program I wrote today was a different one again. This time the program was for an athlete preparing for his first 70.3 in December.  He is keen to give this 70.3 thing a go (and beat his mate) and decided that if he was going to train he might as well do it properly. Once again his main reason for seeking coaching is guidance on structure, what sessions to do and when to do them. His goal time is 5 hours 30 (what his mate did) and while I would never make any performance promises to an athlete I personally would be a bit disappointed if this guy wasn't well quicker than 5 hours 30. His basics are all quite good, he swims quick, he rides hard and it seems like he runs alright, so has made a good start. He has a few challenges with respect to working hours etc, but nothing that I don't think we will be able to work around. Once again, exciting to get working with a new athlete.

This sort of a day is both a frustration and a delight when it comes to coaching. It would be great if all athletes were exactly the same and they were all doing the same races etc. It would make writing programs so much easier, one program to fit all. However, the reality is that sport doesn't work like that. People all have different needs, different expectations and different plans. Making programs that fit all of them individually can be quite time consuming and sometimes a little annoying when it costs you a weekend. However, when you get it right and you fill the needs of each of those individuals and help them prepare for their race in a way that suits them. Well that is a pretty special feeling.