Hire the Damn Coach

While I was working for my job as a software engineer the CEO would have a monthly visit with a "CEO Coach." Naturally, my coworkers and I, would make fun of him for having a coach for the role he was in. He had been in the position for over 10 years. I was firmly of the belief that post high school (or college if you were lucky) coaches were more of an organizing force for profession athletes and nothing more than that.

The Triathlon Train

Last year I joined my cousin's wife in signing up for a sprint triathlon, which is the shortest version of all triathlons. I had never swum before, had decent experience on a bike and who has not run before? So I just went to the local pool, got in the water and gave it a shot. Obviously I struggled immensely and was ready to back out. I went home and watched a couple videos on how to swim and decided to give it a week before I backed out. The next couple times I saw enough improvement that I stuck with it and eventually completed the first sprint triathlon. Since that time last year I have completed another two triathlons and decided I want to try my hand at a longer one.

Training On My Own

I started to train for a longer triathlon and my entire thought process was that I just needed to keep increasing my distance every week in all three categories. This is fine in theory but it quickly surfaced a couple of issues: 1. Going longer distances with bad form is just more tiring than beneficial. To truly be able to complete longer triathlons I need to improve my form. 2. If I don't do this in a logical, well-rounded process I can easily exacerbate prior injuries and cause new ones.

One of my character traits that is a blessing and a curse is that I'm very aware of my shortcomings. I don't know how to always fix them or prevent them in the moment, but I can definitely point them out. Another shortcoming is that I'm really good at the ideating and planning stages of big ideas, but I'm utter crap with accountability to myself. I have always been a dreamer and I've "launched" numerous businesses that have never seen a cent of revenue. Showing up week after week for my own good has never been a strong suit. I need accountability.

The Dreaded Coach

One day I was feeling a bit sore on the couch and decided to see if there were any triathlon groups near me that I could train with and learn the ropes. I found one that seemed to be a bit stale so I wasn't sure it would be the best place. I then switched to social media and looked for influencers there that might share their plans. Also a bust. Everyone was just posting their workout for the day rather than how they built their plan.

So, on a whim, I searched for Triathlon Coach on the big bad internet. A link to Training Peaks came up with a coach match quiz and I said "what the hell" and filled out the form. Within a couple hours I got an email saying they didn't have anybody in my area, but they did have someone in mind if I was open to remote coaching. At first, I was a bit hesitant. Most of my concerns were about swimming form and running form. How could a remote coach help me with those things? However, I have been trying to lean into God a bit more recently and decided this situation was happening for a reason.

I agreed to have an exploratory phone call.

In my original form submission I had mentioned the previous races I have done as well as previous injuries I had incurred. As part of my "what are you looking for in a coach" response I had requested someone that would help overall fitness to help prevent future injuries. When I got on the phone with this recommended coach I found out why they felt she would be a good fit. Not only had she done multiple Ironmans before, she was a physical therapist by trade. She had done the events I was interested in multiple times and knew the type of effort they take. She also understood human physiology and how to build a strong, resilient foundation to create a body that could handle the load.

I signed up right after the call.

The First Week of Training

This past week was my first week of training and it was such a vastly different experience from what I was expecting. The race I'm aiming for requires a multiple mile swim, a 100-mile plus bike ride and a marathon. This first week, she had me run a slow 3 miles, a fast 2 miles, swim 1200 yards, bike an hour and do multiple days of weight lifting. Safe to say, this is not how I structured the workouts when I was in charge.

As the week started I was a bit let down by how "easy" the workouts appeared. That opinion didn't survive the first strength day. It was a circuit built heavily around shoulders, and I was sore all over by that night. Then the next day made it worse: a pyramid swim, something I'd never even heard of before, that absolutely murdered my shoulders on top of what they'd already been through. I told the coach as much in my comment for that workout.

And yet I was never so sore that I couldn't complete the next day's workout. That's when I started to trust that there was a reason behind the plan, and just gave in to the program. It was at that point that I understood the usefulness of coaches.

Hire the Damn Coach

As I just said, I'm only a week in, so take this with a grain of salt. This past week has shown me the value in coaches is two-fold. The first thing they bring is expertise and experience. They understand where you are at, where you are going and all of the many hundreds of steps you must take in between. They know that Rome wasn't built in a day and that a proper foundation is the launching platform for every rocket.

The more surprising thing a coach gives you is mental freedom. I no longer have to think about what I should be doing every day to prepare for my triathlons. I wake up, get any email from Training Peaks with my workout (or lack thereof) for the day, go to work, go to the gym/park and do the workout, complete the workout and leave comments on how I felt and go to bed. I can take the time that I originally would have spent thinking about what exercise I had done the day before, what I still needed to do, what distances were appropriate, etc. and instead focus on my job, side hustles, dogs, dating or whatever else I had going on that day.

And that is when I realized that a coach is more than just someone to help little children learn how to play sports. A coach is a tool that can help anybody achieve any goal they may have. I have fully bought into the value of a good coach.

My parting advice: Hire the Damn Coach.