Why is a GOOD Coach so important?

                Athletes and coaches come in all shapes and sizes!  Most of us enter triathlon without a coach but with a little trial-and-error and some good friends to guide us, we decide if we like the sport enough to formally pay a coach.  However, when you reach this milestone make sure to do your homework!  Not all coaches are created equal! 

                When I first decided I wanted a coach, my criteria was to find someone who was fast at the specific race distance I wanted to focus on.  However, I learned that this should NOT be the only criteria you consider when looking for a good coach.  You cannot solely rely on certification either.  Alternatively, just because a coach hasn’t raced the specific distance you are interested in doesn’t mean he/she is not a good coach for that distance.  Below are a few of the important criteria I’ve learned make a GOOD coach for me:

-          Train with them.  If they are not available for you to interview and/or observe in a group session when you are considering hiring them, then they may not be available for you after you hire them.

-          How do they interact with their athletes?  Assuming most coaches have multiple options for levels of support; do all athletes of a given level get the promised attention?  As a beginner, it is especially important for coaches to pay attention since the athlete is still learning a lot and may not know what to ask of a coach. 

-          How does the coach track/record your progress throughout the season, or do they?

-          Does your coach help analyze your specific strengths and weaknesses (e.g. I’ve had back issues so my coach gave me specific injury-prevention workouts to do along with my race-specific workouts). 

-          Does successful completion of your coach’s workouts make you feel more confident? 

-          Does your coach listen and modify workouts based on how you feel (e.g. worn down may mean still recovering from a harder effort) as to avoid overtraining and possible injury?

-          Do the athletes of the coach tend to stay injured?  Or healthy?

-          Will your coach tell you the truth even though it may not be what you want to hear?

-          Do the athletes of the coach set personal records (assuming they actually follow the prescribed workouts of the coach) or make little or no progress?

Here’s a specific example:

I trained with a group of friends, one of which is a coach, for a few months – we all started our long runs from the same location, but I was not formally coached.  This coach would share some knowledge with me since I was there, and I’d get to see how her athletes progressed.  I actually wasn’t even considering getting a coach at first, but I started getting injured (hamstring troubles) and wasn’t getting faster at my goal distance.  I knew I needed help and I saw her athletes getting faster without getting injured.  We met over dinner one night to discuss what I’ve been doing to train/race the last few years and what she could do for me as a coach.  I was floored!  I was so impressed!  She shared some examples of the resources she has access to and uses and how she planned to use them for me.  She took the time to learn about me personally to help better prepare me as an athlete (e.g. I get sooooo skeerd before races that I make other people uncomfortable).  She’s already making ground on lessening my pre-race anxiety!  In fact, at Albany Half Marathon, I remember her example of a race picture which showed a bunch of guys with serious faces all starring at their watches and a single guy with a relaxed grin.  This guy was the one who won!   On race day morning, I continually thought of my race plan – just stick to the plan.   I thought of my preparation leading up to the race – I’d run this fast already in training – I can do this!  A few girls ran past me early on, but I stuck to the plan.  I was happy regardless as long as I stuck to the plan.  Unexpectedly, I caught them in the back ½ of the race to earn 3^rd overall female because I stuck to the plan!  My coach’s plan for my success!  She helps me to feel more confident about myself and there is an amazing camaraderie among all of her athletes – I truly feel I am part of a Team! 

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!

Saturday, 0600 my alarm goes off.  I flail around trying to find the snooze button and cuddle up to my nice warm hubby.  My bike ride can wait a little bit…  maybe a couple snoozes…  Next thing I know, I not only heard, but also FELT the “Brrrrrrrrrrraaapppp” (which is my husband Steve’s way of saying “Good Morning”).  I quickly jumped out of bed, but it was too late.  I had been Dutch-ovened!!!  Might as well get ready to go ride now I thought.  I knew it was cold outside, REALLY cold outside so I proceeded to put on 2 pair of wind-proof cycling pants (mine are Castelli  and Steve’s are Pearl Izumi), 2 long-sleeve base layers, 2 wind-proof cycling jerseys (mine and Steve’s), a windproof cap and separate headband/ear warmers, windproof gloves, socks and windproof shoe covers.  On my drive out to the starting point I noticed the temp was 29^oF (F=ff-udge is for what I was saying when I saw just how cold it was!).  I tried to think positive as I embarked on my 70 mile hilly ride that my new coach (Karen Meadows, http://www.coach-karen.com/) prescribed.  The cold air felt like razor blades cutting my face but the rest of me was warm and cozy.  I probably looked like a snowman on a bike and I felt like the Pillsbury Dough Boy – I was so stiff with the multiple layers of clothes it was hard to pedal!  On a positive note, I knew if I crashed for some reason it might not hurt since I was so padded J  I cheered up instantly when Steve came out to ride with me on his KLR650 motorcycle.  I know he must really love me since he had to ride about 12 miles at 65 mph in the same 29 degrees just to get to the starting point!  Then he had to dodge a million snot rockets along the ride ;)  He used the motorcycle to block at least 4 different dogs from charging me.  He rode with me the entire time (100 mile round trip for him)!  Unfortunately, I missed a point where I was supposed to make a u-turn so I added on a few miles.  Nearing the end of the ride, my legs were exhausted.  Karen was right – by the time I was riding through Vernon I was praying I would never see a hill again!  My quads and hip flexors were so tight they ached every time I pulled up on the pedals on a hill.  In turn, my lower back tightened up.  I knew this ride was going to make me stronger (if I could just get through it first :)  I reached back and realized I was out of PowerGel, but luckily I packed a bag of PowerGel chews (thanks Chloe!!!)  The first time I tried the cola flavored chews I wasn’t in love (they’re not the best to eat with coffee), but now I’m hooked!  I felt like I could chew on them forever and nearly cried when I ran out (not a good idea when it’s that cold outside).  I was so happy when I saw the car I swear I heard a choir singing, “Hallelujah”!  When I got home I took a nice warm shower but was dreading the ice bath Steve was preparing for me.  I knew I had to do it, or I would have to explain to Karen why I didn’t so I gritted my teeth and got in.  At first it was okay since my toes were still numb.  The rest of me, not so much!  I could hear Steve laughing in the other room as I screamed and squealed and cursed Karen’s name (sorry Karen).  It’s been at least a year since I’ve had an ice bath.  Well worth it though.  Sunday, no soreness at all!  Thanks Coach for helping me get stronger mentally and physically!  Thank you Steve for being so supportive ;)

Coming out of pseudo-retirement after 1 .5 Years?

It’s been a year and a half since I raced my last tri and I can tell!  My last race was cold – so cold I was shivering uncontrollably on the bike.  So of course, I sign up for my 1^st race back (Rev3 SC) and it’s cold!  Good thing I learned my lesson about layering clothing.  Unfortunately, I was very rusty on my transitions.  I fumbled, seemingly forever, trying to get my wetsuit off and my dry jersey/arm warmers on (yes, it was very cold to me).  I finally made it off to the bike and held a less than desirable pace and managed to lose a water-bottle somewhere along the way with all the rough roads.  I was, however, very grateful for my dry gear keeping me warm.  The cool weather was perfect for running!  I felt pretty good.  My lower back got really tight early on, but no numbness J.  My hubby and sister moved around on the course and screamed at me with each passing!  The best part – my sister and I running through the finish together! 

Rev3 was an AWESOME experience!  This was my 1^st Rev3, but definitely not my last!  I was impressed with the race from the moment I signed up!  I hope they put on some races closer to the Florida panhandle and also in TX – preferably San Antonio!!!  I’ll be more than happy to help!  I’ll also recruit my hubby to help too although you never know what he might wear to encourage the athletes!

A week later, my husband and I were planning to volunteer at White Sands Triathlon.  He told me he had a “surprise” for everyone – I admit, I was skeerd so I decided to sign up to race so I wouldn’t be stuck embarrassed next to him if he did something really crazy.  We showed up to the race and conducted business-as-usual.  I was first out of the water but flailed getting my wetsuit off, again (NOTE: I need to cut the lower legs off my wetsuit).  I was so flustered when I saw the 2^nd place female (Kirsten Sass) I rushed even more and ended up slow speed crashing on my bike just outside of transition as she passed me coming out.  Don’t worry, the Shiv is okay! 

On our 2^nd loop I saw my husband’s surprise – there he was directing traffic at the turn-around (of a 3 loop bike) in nothing but a red, white, and blue speedo!  I would post a picture, but there are apparently a ton going around including the IMFL race video!  I debated stopping because of my road rash, but really, he just looked HOT and I was proud to be his wife and wanted to hang out with him!  I had never seen the speedo before…  Apparently he had it for a while planning the surprise.  Is that TMI?  I could still see Kirsten (below), so I stuck with it and held onto 2^nd place. 

The entire run, my left leg was numb but it was different than the back pain numbness.  Once I finished I started regaining feeling and pain.  I felt like the bottom of my left foot was bruised (from the bike wreck) so I walked on the outside of my left foot to avoid the area.  A few hours later I went to my massage – more like partial massage due to the road rash.  Only after the massage did I notice a spot on my left foot where it was sore.  I could barely bend my leg to see it, so I waited until I got to my car where no one would see me.  As I dissected the spot, I realized that I had a small piece of glass in my foot the entire time!  Once I removed it, I felt better.  All-in-all it was a good race and the prize $ helped pay for the bandages…  Time to practice those transitions!

What a Pain in the...

Lower back!  What did you think I was going to type?  Well, the pain is so low on the back it might as well be the upper arse…  Over 2 months ago I threw out my back picking up a small bag with my swimsuit, goggles, and shampoo.  It happened once before but it lasted a LOT longer this time!  2 weeks in I still hurt and couldn’t walk completely upright.  My lab-mates/co-workers encouraged me to rest, shared their lessons-learned and talked me into getting an MRI.  It took a while – lots and lots of waiting, a few appointments later and voila!  Diagnosis = narrowing spondylosis at L3-L5.  WTH I say?  It’s a fancy term for compressing discs.  See some pretty pictures of my back… 

Initially, I was scared that I would never do triathlon again.  Over a month later and I could barely run L  I went for some very mild hiking in Phoenix while at the National Neurotrauma meeting and didn’t anger my back so I tried getting on an elliptical trainer… maybe too soon.  Later that same day I ceased feeling the back side of my right leg.  Very weird feeling.  I joked about it – at least it didn’t hurt any more… maybe I can go harder because I won’t feel the pain… not so much.  When the numbness finally went away, I started gently swimming and biking, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my plans to ride 6-Gap and Rev3 South Carolina in a few months.  All I’ve read online encourages me that this will not put an end to my running/triathlon.  It’s hard to be patient when I was so excited about training again.  So far, biking and swimming don’t piss it off and running a little here and there feels okay…  We all have our own threshold.  Hopefully we all can recognize the difference between sore muscles and blisters from our training versus irreversible damaging pain.  At what point do you stop from the pain?  I’ll let you know as 6-Gap and Rev3 South Carolina approach.  Until then, here are some GREAT exercises Josh at Therapy 1 showed me – they’ve helped find my weaknesses and fix them so I can ride and run without lower back pain!!!  YOU should start these BEFORE you have a back problem!!!  Plus, I got a cool shirt when I graduated from physical therapy!!!

Don’t forget to warm up!

 Cobra/Up-Dog (For resistance I ask my hubby to hold my hips down) 

Plank with Rear Leg Lift (Not my favorite as I desperately try to keep a straight face… the neck beins give it away… this is a tough one!)

My favorite: Lumbar Quadriped (“Fire Hydrant”) Place something on your lower back.  It should NOT fall off!  You want to keep your hips level which means you may not be able to lift your leg high. 

Knee Step-Ups (20”+)

Kneeling Twist

Push ups (Keep your back straight!  Have someone watch you so you don’t have to twist your head looking in a mirror to check.)

Squat row (For balance, I put a riser under my heels)

Lumbar Stretch

Superman!  (Do NOT bend all the way over!  Only about 20^o up and down.  After the first set try a set staying at the top and rotating your upper body slightly 15x similar to swimming freestyle.  You should feel your obliques SCREAMING!)  If you’re wondering what 20^o looks like, check out the protractor – it’s almost ¼ NOT ½!!!

Superman with a Twist!

Some other good exercises not pictured:

Lumbar Bridge (both legs, then one leg only – keeping hips level)

Quadruped Diagonals or Same side (without then with bands)

Rode Hard and Put Up WET…

Two weekends ago I participated in the Ride for Hope metric century in Tallahassee, FL to benefit the Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center (http://therideforhope.com/).  I decided to sign up a few days beforehand and was impressed with the ride before I even signed up! 

Granted it is only my 2^nd road-ride event EVER, I don’t have much to compare it to…  Anyhow, back to my story – I signed up to get in a good long ride with some extra motivation.  I was apparently VERY hydrated as I awoke about 8 times to go pee throughout the night.  I also realized that I should embrace my odd eating habits as I had a PowerBar, V8, and a Starbucks Frappuccino Vanilla Light for breakfast and felt GREAT!  The morning was overcast – even better!  Nice and cool.  As I head out of the parking area with my bike I am greeted by other Higher Ground-ers prepping for the ride and bravely ask if they have any Chamois Butt’r or the like.  This promptly followed with some jokes about sharing already-applied chamois nastiness (in other words they didn’t have any).  Just when I thought I was out of luck, a fellow rider shared a sample of AsMASTER anti-chafing creme (Soothes Tenderloins)!  Yeah! 

As I walk up to the start I see the century already gathering and I realize how nice it is to only think about one event.  I see a few friends and colleagues and meet a few more athletes before the start and am feeling good about the ride.  The countdown begins and I am immediately in front – not necessarily where I want to be for a draft-legal ride.  As I rotate through, I notice how many folks are on their aero bars in the pace line.  I finally get to the back of the line and it is an accordion = motivation to stay near the front!  As I work my way back up to the front, I keep an eye out for those who aren’t pulling long, or not at all = those I don’t want to get stuck behind when the lead group takes off.  As I work my way up, I discovered that those with very hairy butts should NEVER wear white bike shorts!!!   There should be a law!  Blahhhh!!  I get back in the front = my turn to pull and I look up to see a nice size hill.  As I push it up the hill one of the guys surges by me = no biggie, I catch onto another following.  Another surges = CRAP!  I gave it everything I had to stay with them; I didn’t want to lose the pack this early in the ride.  I was worried that they would try to hold that pace and I wouldn’t hang on, but I tried anyhow and prayed that they’d back off soon…they did!  I looked back and no one was to be seen – and then there were 4.  We rotated quite a bit through most of the ride.  I was so excited to still be with them!  Sweat was flying and I felt like the Geico Pig – Weeeeeeeeee, Wee, Wee, Weeeeeeee! 

I thought sweat was pelting me in the face for a little while before it started raining hard.  I was relieved I wasn’t getting drenched with some guy’s body fluids… yucky!  Unfortunately, I also forgot my clear glasses so I was making some pretty interesting faces as I unsuccessfully tried to avoid getting a ton of water and road wash in my eyes.  This helped pass time until Rob, one of the last 4 of us, surged again.  I went with and … then there were 2…  We passed through the final timing sensor at the same time and chatted around the corner until we rode through the finisher chute (which was inside the fairgrounds to avoid a typically busy road).  We took off again to pass through the finish chute since they were taking pictures there – Say cheese!

At the finish there were a bunch of spectators and supporters cheering us on in the rain!  They had orange juice, real fruit juice, coffee, pizza, soda, bagels, and all sorts of other yummy food and that didn’t include the Gordos and Banditos they had for lunch!  Rob and I were both presented with winner’s jerseys since we crossed at the same time.  First time I’ve won a jersey at an event!  Great end to an awesome, albeit wet, event!  Now off to nap! 

Help Wounded Veterans by Supporting Team Red, White and Blue

Soooo excited about my new fundraising page and plans for helping out Team Red, White and Blue!  Keep posted for some discounts at Larry's Giant Subs and other events as I prep for racing Rev3 South Carolina!

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/helenphipps/rev3andersonsouthcarolina

My New Baby and the Importance of a Good Bike Fit

New bike shoes because your feet are falling asleep while riding ~$200+

New bike shorts because your junk is falling asleep while riding ~$100

New bike because your frame is a little too big to let you tuck into an aero position ~$3000-5000+

Having your bike custom fit by a professional…Priceless

For the past 3+ years I’ve had recurring hamstring pain.  I’ve always had problems with my feet falling asleep especially on hard efforts.  Looking over old photos of my bike position I knew I was really stretched out and sitting too upright.  I figured I could adjust just about any bike to fit my body.  I’ve learned a lot in choosing this new bike and getting professionally fit for the first time.  For example, in response to my claim, “I can get used to just about any bike position” Roger at Higher Ground in Tallahassee kindly taught me I shouldn’t have to “get used to the position, but rather, I should be in a position right for me so that all of my effort is going into powering down the road.”  It’s hard to argue with that but I was doubtful…  (Sorry Roger…  I’m stubborn.  Just ask Steve!)  I couldn’t imagine ever being immediately comfortable enough on a bike to feel strong and steady.  I always thought it was a conditioning process… that I need to “get used to” the bike and the position.  I remembered my lack of comfort and confidence on new bikes in the past and I didn’t expect this to be any different despite being sized-up on a fit-bike prior to choosing my frame.  Wow, was I wrong! 

My baby arrived last week and I after being fit, I already feel stable and strong.  I look forward to riding and actually am disappointed when I have to ride inside.  After the first bike/run workout on the new bike, I felt like something was missing…  Something was weird…  My hamstring… doesn’t hurt…  I kept waiting for the pain to return especially after my long run, but it hasn’t!  Thank you Higher Ground for finding the perfect bike for my body geometry and for positioning me and my hubby for success!