Are you ready for coaching?
Starting coaching can be a big learning curve. If you have been a recreational cyclist looking to step up to the next level, or an experienced athlete who has been coached before, there will be vary levels of ‘new’ and ‘different’ when coming across to Grit coaching.
A few questions before we get started for you to have a think about…
1. Why do you want to undertake coaching, and what are your expectations within the first 3 months/ year/ long term?
Many people undertake coaching because it’s the thing to do as a bike rider, but without some thought into where you’re going with your coaching it can make assessing progress really difficult. Sitting down and setting goals and realistic expectations is a great way to figure out if this is the right path for you.
2. How likely are you to be compliant and follow the program?
The program is built around you as an athlete, and can work around other life commitments. We try our utmost to make this the best possible use of your time and resources to get you where you want to go, but we are aware that there are times when you just can't get that session in. That’s fine, we all have responsibilities! The main thought behind this is how committed you are to your training and race goals, and how well can you follow instructions; even crunchy boring ones (like recovery weeks!).
3. What sort of input and guidance do you need?
Working with a range of athletes, there are so many different preferred type of communications involved. Some athletes love the extended phone catch up, others prefer zoom. Some chat through the training software but aren’t too fussed on catch-ups, others save up a bunch of questions and send long emails. I don’t really mind which one you use, as long as we are getting some regular feedback and I know not just what happened in the session on heart rate, power and cadence data but subjectively: how you felt, what are the roadblocks, any cool new ideas pop up, how you’re coping with training load.
4. Commitment to discomfort and growth
Anything worth doing isn’t going to be easy, and I can sit here and say you’ll sail through coaching life with no dramas or discomfort, or come up against some limits. Training should be fun, though there will be moments of fatigue, difficult sessions and unhelpful thoughts. Bike racing has the best of times and alternatively, we can learn from when it throws us the worst of times. Both brain and body have to be trained this can be incredibly uncomfortable or challenging. If you’re struggling with either check out number three and communicate. Don’t suffer alone, I am in your corner.
5. Ask questions
Just because i’m the coach doesn’t mean I know everything, but part of being the coach is commitment to learning. I you have a question about your plan or training let me know. I would rather be posed with a difficult question and say “I don’t know, i’ll get back to you” and we can both learn than never have it asked and we will both never know. Same with training, I am happy to answer your training questions and concerns behind the coaching, from the big picture to the minutiae of efforts. If you’re not sure how you should be fuelling something, ask. If you’re not sure your recovery protocol is working, ask. And if you think maybe I put a typo in the program, definitely ask! Our motto Be better, everyday, applies to al of us.