Coaching - is it worth it?

You can use a coach from anywhere and there are many coaches that are in the $100-150/month category. Most communicate via email and the internet.  My coach works with slow and fast athletes from NE, all over the US and some foreign countries as well. Some folks like coaches they can meet with but often that adds significantly to the cost of coaching. It is really meeting your needs and finding a coach that matches you well. Not all good coaches match well with everyone.

I had a coach and don't think I'd do an IM without one.

Generic plans are great if they fit you. Do you recover well? Do you have a good base? Been an endurance athlete a long time? Do you read your body well and know when you need extra rest? Do you need guidance in nutrition for race day and training?

For me my coach helped my body be ready through the training and he helped me be strong and gain confidence in my abilities so I was mentally strong and tough come race day and didn't doubt and wonder. I think in many ways for me the mental belief he helped me with was more important. As race day it is about execution of race plan and nutrition/hydration and as others have said race day was easier for me than training. I felt better prepared and ready to race than I had for my HIM the year before. Last year with my HIM I had a bike crash and pushed on to do my HIM even though I lost a lot of training time.

I've been with my coach this is my fourth season. He has helped me grow as an athlete, dream big, work towards those big dreams and accomplish them, plus I think how he has helped me extends beyond training to living better.

I'm in a similar situation where I'm training for my first IM and wanted to maximize my training.  I decided early on to go with a coach and haven't regretted it.  I went through a couple of coaches until I found one worth the money, but since then it has definitely been worth it.

With generic training plans I have a tendency to push too hard and deviate thinking that "I know better."  Then I end up injured or overtrained.  Last year I trained for the Longhorn HIM on my own and despite a high volume of training I ended up very flat on race day.  I didn't want that to happen this time.

Am in training for my first IM doing it myself. Would have a coach if I could afford it but I decided that a bike and running shoes were a bit more important  .

If you are self motivated, have an understanding of endurance training and some experience in it, and are a bit tight on money then go for it yourself.  

However I reckon a coach would be great to:

• Have one person I trust to ask questions of (ask a lot of questions here and you get a lot of answers. With a coach you generally get only 1 answer so go with it)
• Know when to push me harder
• Fine tune everything for a better allround performance

DIY and you get DIY results (not necessarily bad). Do it with a coach (DIWAC?) and you will probably get better results.

Don't know if anyone's ever done a cost-benefit on coaches but it would be great to see! 

Gerrard 

A couple people mentioned coaching can help with motivation. I don't see that really as doing an IM you need to be self motivated to do the workouts they outline for you.

Other thing some suggested is that a coach may help you push more.  Actually my coach has me back off and rest more never push more. We gain fitness by stressing out bodies doing our training but our body adapts when we are resting/recovering. I tend to get more fatigued than most. It is balancing the ongoing fatigue you get with IM training with when it is too much and I need extra down time.

I agree with Aaron that the 3rd person objectivity is huge benefit. We as athletes often type A people, are much more emotionally involved and often want to do more. They have been studying and educating themselves and most have years of experience so they have other situations to draw from.

If you can afford it, I think it can enhance your IM experience.

Like Bonnie said being on BT and training for an IM is great as you can follow the training of others building up to the same IM. It made training special for me..making lots of IM buddies. 

These are all really great points of view, thank you for sharing. If I can find the right person, I think I'd really like to have a coach. I am fairly motivated, but I don't always have the structure I should have in my training so a coach would help with that. Plus I'm injured right now and if something like this happened during IM training I feel like a coach could help me get through it and back into training so much better than trying to figure it out myself like I am right now.

The expensive coaches in NYC don't offer any face time at all so the idea of finding someone from another area at a better price is very appealing. I received a PM recommending endurancenation.us - can anyone else share where their coaches are from?

Also, IMWI will either be September 6 or 13 I believe so when do I start with the coach? I was thinking December since I have IMNO 70.3 in April, but it that too early?

As a coached athlete:
I enjoy the fact that I don't have to think about my schedule.  I have someone figure that out for me.  It saves me time (which is prime when training for IM), headache and keeps me emotionally out of it.  A coach always keeps a 50,000 foot view of things and has your big races and how to get your there in mind.  I also find it easier to short change a workout if I created it than if someone is going to ask me, "why did you only do 4 reps vice the 6 you were suppose to?". 

As I type 'A' athlete that is very self motivated and want to go-go-go all the time, I would want to arrive at every race fresh to the detriment of the bigger picture.  Also, recovery is king.  You input your daily stats/comments and he/she is able to see the trends.  It's much harder to do that when you're inside 'the forrest'.

As a coach:
It's about establishing a relationship with your athlete.  You can have all the knowledge in the world and not mesh with a person so no one wins.  Each person is different and the hard part is figuring out how to get the most out of the individual.  Anyone can just slap workouts together, it's about figuring out which workouts and when. 

If something comes up in your life, it's the coach's job to re-arrange your schedule to minimize the effect on your training.  But what many people forget is that it's a give and take.  The coach sets it up and the athlete knocks it down.  As a coach, there is nothing better than getting a phone call/email saying, "I didn't think I could do X but I did!". 

In regards to when to start:
Depending on your base, as soon as you're comfortable with a coach you've interviewed and choosen.  The "off season" is when you set yourself up for the next year.  With a HIM in April, it's easier to ramp someone up to peak fitness level if they have a solid winter base and you know how they respond to certain training stress.  It's much harder to start from scratch and figure that stuff out while trying to build volume and race specificity. 

Advice:
Interview several coaches.  Send them the same set of questions and compare how they answer it.  Take your time and shop around.  Especially with BT, you can get some great reviews on coaches and athletes they have worked with.

For the record:
I am coached by Amiine (Jorge) who coaches for PBMcoaching
I coach for EnduranceConcepts (www.enduranceconcepts.com)

So, who's ready to coach me for next year's IM MOO??

This is really helpful, thanks. This might seem like a stupid question, but given this is my first triathlon season, I have to ask - what types of questions do you recommend I ask the coaches when going through my selection process?

Also, how critical is it that the coach be proficient in all three disciplines? I ask because I got to work with a coach for my A race this year, an oly, but it was shared with a group. It was the only way I could get into the sold-out race. I already have a relationship with him so I considered hiring him, but when looking at his credentials, I realized he's more of a duathlete than a triathlete. Would this make a difference? 

I'll try to dig up the thread I had a few months ago when I was looking for a new coach.  It has a lot of good information on what to ask a coach.  bottom line, ask as much as possible.  I interviewed about 15 coaches and narrowed it down to about 3 over a period of 3-4 weeks.  It was a tough final choice, but I'm very happy with the result.  BTW, like Dan I'm coached by Jorge (amiine) as well.

I also discovered that your coach doesn't need to be an outstanding triathlete to be an outstanding coach.  What matters is the knowledge and ability to coach.  Last I checked, Brett Sutton, one of the top triathlon coaches, isn't proficient in any of the three sports.

I'll find that thread...

Kristin:

I think using a coach is a personal choice (like all choices).  However, it never ceases to amaze me at the number of athletes that do IMs that have $2,000 bikes with $2,000 race wheels but don't spend the money on things that will actually make them faster...a coach and even a powertap.

Using a coach (one that is right for you) does a few things.  It allows you to be more efficient in your workouts.  Some non-coached athletes get on their bikes and ride for 5-6 hours to train up for an IM and think that "saddle time" is really what's needed; when in fact that could actually be doing them a disservice.  Focused workouts with a purpose and proper rest and appropriate and varying intensities over time is what progresses your fitness EFFICIENTLY.  Just because another IM athlete has found success one way doesn't mean you'll be YOUR best on race day by following the plan they used.

Coaches are invaluable resources for time efficiency as well as a good sounding board for training.  Sometimes (esp, during peak weeks) you'll think you're overtrained or just don't "feel" like training, when in many cases that's not right and you need to drive on.  While other times you'll have a perscribed workout that you just can't finish because of this soreness or that soreness.  These are two cases where a coach is invaluable.

BUT BEWARE.  All coaches are not alike!  (surprise, surprise)

Shy away from coaches that have had good athletic success but no fundamental academic knowledge of kinesiology.  These are coaches that tend to rely on their athletic talent/accomplishments to "attract" clients.  Contrary to popular belief, there is no correlation between a successful/talented athlete and a good coach.  Also, think twice about the "en masse" coaches as they too tend to rely on their sheer volume of coached athletes to attract clients with the motto ("i've coached hundreds of athletes so I can coach you too".  If they don't have a physiology or human kinetics background....BEWARE!

Rather, tend to draw yourself towards coaches who are academically educated in human kinetics and also have an athletic background in participating in the sport you want to do (i.e. Ironman).  There are WAY too many triathlon coaches today that don't know much about WHY things work and simply take programs from other places and rig them differently and call them their "own" plans.

I specifically know a coach with an amazing triathlon resume that "coaches" but when I had my running gait analysis done that uncovered 2 things I needed to work on, I asked the coach which of the 7 running drills would address/correct these things...they couldn't answer me.  RED FLAG!  This is the same coach that gives their client workouts that are simply taken from a popular on-line training site and then just changes them a little bit for her athletes.  That's NOT what people pay this coach for....they could do that themselves.

So my point is, when you make the investment to PAY for a professional coach, be sure you're getting a "professional" coach and not some jamoke that is posing as a coach and justifying their ability to coach based on their genetic talent.

While these "poser" coaches work for many IM athletes, it's my opinion that that is NOT what you're paying big bucks for.

Here you go:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=117531&start=1

Other than Jorge, I talked with Dan (Marvanett) who was one of those final three.  I also talked with KathyG's coach who was very impressive.

I generally refrain from commenting on threads like this as I feel that it is somewhat of a conflict of interest to do so. However I would like to echo what Steve has said, he really hit the nail on the head with the fact that folks will drop big $ on bikes and gear but not on a coach. I also have to agree with him on the academic background, there are way to many coaches out there who are fantastic athletes but don't know the first thing about actually "coaching" an individual. Coaching is more than giving someone a training plan and sending them on their way, you have to identify what the athletes goals are, what their strengths and weakness are, and how to use that knowledge to acheive the desired end result. I tell all of my IM'ers that my two biggest goals as a coach are to 1) train them to the best of their ability and 2) get them to the start line uninjured and ready to race.

Good luck on your search.

There's been some great advice so far in the thread about using (and finding) a coach to help guide you through your season.

The only thing that I would add is that it is entirely possible to find quality coaches that charge less than $200+/month and will provide a fully customized training program.

Good luck in your search and journey,

Shane

I can't thank everyone enough for all the good advice and links to other threads about coaching. I didn't realize how much goes into making a selection so I'm going to get started with my search soon. I'm thinking December is a good month to start since I'll be done with the marathon and the short rest I'll take after, and 9 months from IM/4 months from my first HIM.

I've gotten a lot of PMs with specific coach recommendations. If anyone else has someone they really like and want to recommend, please PM me the details! 

YES.......I think a lot of people think they have to have a coach who is local..NOT TRUE....I've had 2 coaches...onein CO...that kind of didn't work out. We didn't mesh I fired him.  My current coach I have been with for over 2 years and he got me thru my first IM and (knock on wood) will get me thru my second.  You can get a great online coach that doesnt cost a lot of money.

 Main benefits for me 1-I don't have to think about my training....how far how fast or how much.  He does all that for me no planning on my part takes the stress off. 

2-accountability.....less likely to blow off a workout with someone looking over your shoulder

3-I won't over train.

4- feed back, help with nutrition and race strategies, help changing and scheduling my training around my goofy work schedule

The biggest benefit for me is that it takes the stress of planning a training schedule off my plate.  I trust my coach and I do what he says.  I didn't have that with my first coach.  I use Will at http://www.tri-hard.com  if you are interested.