Coach?

1/10/09

Over the past season I have made some huge gains, mainly working off of my own training plan.  I didn’t really have an overall plan, I just went hard pretty much 100% of the time, which taught me how to push the limit, but made for a long season of intense training.  As the season began to wind down, more and more people began asking me if I was going to bring on a coach.  I wasn’t sure.  I knew I needed some sort of guidance, but that meant I was going to have to shell out some major coin.  When I went to Perth for the Long Course Worlds, I spoke with a lot of different athletes to get everyone’s perspective.  I think all of my professional team mates had coaches and most of my amateur friends had coaches.  Overall, I really don’t know what I am doing in this sport, so I came to the conclusion that a coach was necessary, but who?

I heard from a ton of people, and everyone said their coach is “the best.”  How was I supposed to make this decision?  Then, one night over dinner, I was talking to Tim O’Donnell.  He was telling me about his coach, Cliff English.  He had some outstanding things to say, and by the looks of the killer season Tim was having, Cliff really knew his stuff.  What ultimately sold me on Cliff was when Tim told me the personal attention Cliff gives his athletes is unlike any other.  Like I said, I am still new to this sport, so I need someone who is going guide me a little bit and really care about what I am doing.  The first time I talked to Cliff, I could tell I was not just another athlete; he actually cared to see me succeed.  His resume of accomplished triathletes is really impressive as well; Peter Reid, Sam McGlone, TJ Tollaksen, The Lovatos, Rebecca Wassner, among others too numerous to mention.  I got really excited after speaking with Cliff, and I knew this was the right step in order to take my career to new heights.

So, I hired Cliff.  This meant I had to cut back in other areas until I started seeing some race winnings (which will be soon).  I had to stop seeing Gerry Rodrigues as my swim coach.  This really hurt because I know how far Gerry has taken me in the pool and I know he is personally devoted to seeing me and his other athletes succeed.  Since money doesn’t grow on trees (Although I am trying to invent this), I am now swimming on my own.

This brings us to my experience, to date, with Cliff.  It is Awesome!  The fact that I don’t have to think about my workouts and there is a balance between intensity, strength, and endurance is so relieving.  I have to balance my full time job, training, sponsorships, friends, etc.  Having my workout laid out for me in one less worry I have in the world.  I have the ultimate trust in Cliff that he has a plan for me and is guiding me through the steps I need to take to get there.

Let me give you an example of my workouts last week.  I am gearing up for IM New Zealand March 6^th, and if I keep training like this I may set an IM course record and hurt some people along the way.  I swam around 21000 yards, Thursday I did an hour and a half tempo run with 3 X 15 minutes at 5:30 pace, Friday I did a LT set of 5000 yards in the pool, Saturday I Rode 109 miles with a 6:30 paced run off the bike, and Sunday I ran 2 hours (16 miles).  I love the fact that I have to be accountable to someone. 

I hear a lot of debate if a coach is necessary and for what I am trying to achieve, I can tell you 100% that it is.  Just the peace of mind gained from a good coach who has the ability to communicate effectively and get the most out his/her athletes is just cause to spend the extra cash.  I look at my professional career as a business.  In order to get something out, I need to put a lot in.

Quick plug, we have a pro training camp in Tucson in February and Cliff is holding a amateur training camp late Feb. early March, go to www.Cliffenglishcoaching.com for more info. 

The reason I wrote about this is so hopefully I can provide some insight as to why I hired a coach and the thought process I went through.  I know a lot of you out there contemplate this, so I wanted to give my two cents.  The Word of the Lube.  RACE HARD!   

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites