Why DONT you have a coach? (please vote)

This is what I was thinking. Swim, bike, run is an emotional outlet as much as physical for me. I don't always like to be distracted with all the gadgets "I think" a coach would need me to wear to assess my training (HR monitors, Garmins, cadence monitors). I have it all but half the time I don't turn it on or the battery is dead or I really don't care what it says!  Most of the time I just want to swim or bike or run because it makes me happy. There is a small window of one part of year (summer) that I actually want to race. Not worth the effort to try to hire someone I trust, find times to communicate, download data etc. Basically I guess it just seems to fussy *for me*.  I bought 4 sessions with a personal trainer back in December and have only used 2 of them because it's too complicated for me to work around her schedule.

Also, I know this does not reflect on all coaches and if I were going to hire anyone it would hands down be one of the wonderful coaches I see posting on BT BUT, a friend of mine hired an online coach last summer to prepare her for her first tri. Two nights before the race she was texting me with all the questions about what to wear, how does transition work, can I change my shorts after the bike etc etc. Why was her coach not talking to her about all of this? She went to cycling class all summer and only had her bike outside on the road a few times before the race (and I sold her my road bike in April so there was no reason to be in cycling class). No offense to anyone and I'm not picking on her but that just left me scratching my head wondering what she was paying for all this time.

If I were to get a coach, and I have thought about it, it would be for the purpose of helping me train without injury. That is what I have the most trouble with.

This post may ultimately be more suitable for your thread about why people DO have a coach, Suzanne, but I'm sharing it here, because this thread has more discussion so far.  If no one objects, I may cross post it to that thread too.

I find the replies very interesting.  Personally, they reinforce my philosophy as a coach and provide confidence that I'm in the right niche to help the most people.

I don't coach a single elite.  All of my clients are BOP to FOMOP (or is that BOFOP?).  I work with athletes who have busy family and work schedules, and don't have the time to educate themselves nor plan all of their own training.  They want to enjoy the sport and not worry about what to do when life derails the plan (they text me, and I make changes to their schedule on the fly).  They want to go out and have fun with whatever training sessions are in their daily email.  They want to avoid injuries by having an objective observer rein them in when then need it.  They want the comfort of knowing I'm always there looking over their shoulder, offering words of encouragement, education, and guidance.  They benefit by not worrying about anything at all about the sport, and focusing exclusively on the enjoyment they get from it.  Yes, along the way, they're getting faster, but that's not their only goal.

In the end, I view my primary mission as a coach is to help my clients enjoy the sport more.  For some this only means getting faster, but for many this means taking away the concerns and worries while doing the things they may find boring, such as reading books, articles on studies, attending conferences, planning all their training, and designing training sessions that are both fun and effective.

My reasoning for not having a coach is very similar.  I spent a year not running due to an injury, so this year is all about rebuilding.  If I had a coach, it would be to figure out how to balance everything to peak at the right time and reach my potential.  That is currently not possible as my running is not in a place to be doing anything other than purely base training, and I want control over that.  I may try coaching at some point in the future, but with my current abilities / limitations right now, it's not worth the money I'd be spending. 

The engineer in me enjoys learning the technical components to developing a training plan.  Figuring out what makes me faster and more effective in training is part of the fun.

I tried to add the option "Bad experience with previous coach".

I tried working with a local coach my second year doing triathlons.  He was a moderately successful and popular local athlete who had recently obtained his USAT level one certification and was trying to build a coaching practice. I had previously attended some seminars he conducted on HR training and pace line riding and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

Our deal was for an initial consultation, a plan targeted to my planned races, and a weekly email with workouts for the coming week along with feedback on my workouts from the previous week.  Trying to be helpful to a guy starting out (but showing bad judgement on my part) I pre-paid him for the year. 

Started out OK, but after the first month the emails stopped coming on a timely basis.  If I sent him a friendly reminder, then the common excuse was "computer problems" and he would send me something that he pulled from a training DB that didn't make any sense for me at all.  I finally got tired of chasing him down and after I stopped sending him reminders, the workout emails stopped coming altogether. 

In the meantime I had been educating myself on training methods, primarily using Joe Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible.  I even attended one of Friel's weekend workshops.

I'm a very analytical/planning type and decided just to go ahead on my own.  

I've looked at some online coaching options from time to time, but the prices seem to be a bit exorbitant, particularly for plans associated with "name" coaches.  At times I think some objective feedback might be helpful, but am reluctant to throw good money after bad at this point. 

It also becomes a bit of a value judgement as my primary objectives for participating in triathlon are for health, enjoyment & recreation.  My relatively modest performance goals have been to advance from the BOP to be a consistent MOPer in my AG.  Most of my improvement I attribute simply to consistency in my training and the resulting increase in my overall level of fitness, not sophisticated training methods.

Mark

USAT level 1 certification is a clinic, a background check, and an online exam.  "The clinic is a two day lecture based clinic with opportunities to learn and network. Participants must attend the entire clinic in order to be eligible for certification. The minimum age for participation is 18. The fee is $555 which includes lunch for the two full days of the clinic and the registration fees"

That's pretty min-bar IMHO, but people have to start somewhere after all.

This resonates with me, especially the "report" to someone.  I hadn't thought of that before, but I recall when I did have a coach that is what sort of bugged me. Thanks for posting.

Also, one other thing, at least in my experience and stories from friends: coaches bring DRAMA I don't need. 

Drama like personal issues causing scheduling issues (have to move the meeting because little Billy had a bad day at school so Mom has to visit the school). 

Drama like recommending fitters, chiropractors, etc and getting upset if you went somewhere else (I suspect a kickback aka referral arrangement). 

Drama like clearly being second fiddle to the more hard-core athletes. Some coaches clearly focus on their Kona-bound athletes, but need a bunch of BOP and MOP as well as IM bucket-listers on their roster to pay the bills. So as a coach, they build their reputation on the Kona-bound folks, use that to sell themselves to regular Joe Ironman, but Joe doesn't actually get the level of attention & focus he thought he'd get.

Or big drama. Locally there was a married couple that both coached. The husband had an affair with one of his coached athletes, the wife found out, they got divorced, both continued coaching, you had to pick which way you were going to go.  Who needs that?

I mostly do sprints and oly's so I like putting together my own plan and feel pretty comfortable doing it.  Could I do a little better with a coach, probably but not enough to justify the cost.

For me, the cost vs no time working together in person is a problem.  If I am hiring a coach and my weakness is running I want someone who is going to meet me at the track and work on  mechanics and such.  Emails would only get me so far.  I"ve checked out running coaches to see what it would cost for a single sport thinking that would get me some face time.  As soon as that comes up the price skyrockets.  It's cheaper to join a runnng club and pick their brains.