Who needs a coach?

Fazz

zico10 wrote: »

So, who out there has/had a personal coach? And why did you feel the need to hire one?

I've had the following:

Year 1 (2011) - Just Tri Club and Google/Friends advise
- toward end of year joined an online coaching outfit and didn't work after a month or two so left.

Year 2 & 3 (2012-2013) - Joined Group Coaching all inclusive group training 5-6 times per week seeing coach.

Year 4 - (2014) - Tried own thing and work priorities took over so less time to make group sessions. Self coached for most of year with dabbles here and there for advice. Did 1st Ironman at end of year and it was my most enjoyable race to that date. Primarily probably as I experienced an Ironman when I was fit enough to do one, and didn't have any real expectations.

Year 5 - (2015) - Still self coached as work/life priorities took more time and reduced training accordingly. Dabbled here and there with swim/run coaching/advice.

Year 6 - (2016) - Hired a Domestic coach a few months in and despite work priorities managed more consistency and nabbed a decent race off less than peak fitness.

Year 7 - (2017) - Back to self coaching and a few less work pressures so lofty goals set again and overall training back to previous levels of consistency.


So very much a mixed bag.
There's too many variables in each year to constructively say one is better than the other etc etc.

Coaching and the need/want for it is very much an individual thing.

The best answer in my experience is if you think it will increase your consistency then go for it. And that can be in training quality, volume, injury prevention, enjoyment etc.

I've learnt a huge amount from all of the coaches bar the initial failed online crowd. Fortunately enough that I now feel I'm able to plan my own schedule and know what works best for me most of the time.

To answer Zico's question - I felt the need to hire a coach to drive maximum performance improvements for given time periods.
I also at other times felt the need to be accountable to someone overseeing/managing my plan.
Other times I felt I could learn from their training methods as I had stagnated etc.

And I felt the need to go self coached as I had strong views/opinions on what would drive more improvements, wanted to try my own things etc.

There is no doubting that group training is a better dynamic overall though. It enables better enjoyment, tips, improvement and overall returns for time invested.
That training can be through your local club sessions, dedicated local groups or dedicated coached groups.
Or to a lesser extent sessions with mates/peers at local sessions.
We all have different life priorities at different times so it's not a one size fits all.