What is the coach's contact policy? A certain # of emails/phone calls/texts per week/month. I ponied up this year for the first time to be coached to Ironman greatness (in my own mind, at least) and I get an email with the week's workout to which I reply with any questions I have. The only thing I've had to 'figure out' so far is how much of a cool down I want at the end of a swim.

The plan called for unlimited email and approximately 2 calls per month. I'm not worried so much about the communication, but I'm feeling a bit like the plan isn't exactly tailored to me and my abilities.

As both a coach and someone with a coach it seems to me like there's a definite disconnect here. The fact that you've had a conversation about the issue and it still continues to happen is troubling. The fact that it's happening multiple times weekly is even worse. Coaches, myself included, occasionally make mistakes on a workout but it certainly shouldn't be happening nearly as often as what you've described.

I think you have two concerns which you need to consider. First, what impact will these errors/lack of customization have on your ability to train and race at an optimum level. It's more that the coach doesn't seem to be giving you his full attention than the fact that you having to decode workouts (though that's annoying and uncalled for). If he's just plugging things in then you need to ask yourself how much time and consideration he is giving you. If your plan isn't being fully thought through then what are you really going to get out of it at the end of the day?

Second, and even more importantly, is the "eroding confidence" you described. The most successful coach-athlete relationships are built on trust, respect, and confidence. The instability caused by a lack of confidence can really damage the relationship. When the athlete starts to question everything the coach is doing - for whatever reason - the relationship begins to break down pretty quickly. Add to all of this that the coach not acting on your requests indicates that he's not necessarily showing much respect toward you. It doesn't sound like he's taking you all that seriously. Honestly, if I were in that situation I would be looking elsewhere.

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Personal Best Multisport Coaching
http://www.pbmcoaching.com

first off I have no freaking idea what 1+15 means unless it's 16?

Look, you're paying your coach. You need to talk with him and say hey this isn't working we need to find a solution that will. And/or you need to look a day or two in advance, remind him via email of your schedule and that he needs to modify it.

It should take him 2-3 emails max for him to realize he's wasting his time as well as yours by having to write everything 2x.

Every coach has their own nomenclature, I'm pretty sure every single athlete has gotten their first schedule, looked at the swims and thought WTF does it mean.

Your coach should be making it simple, spell out what to and when. Ie 90L2 + 10x(2L5 + 2ez) + 90L2. if you need a code book and/or it's so difficult you've got to continuously write down and refer to that to figure out what to do, my guess is your coach is trying to make up for his lack of something by blinding you with fancy language/terms/hard to read workouts.

EDIT: only you can determine if you're getting your money's worth.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I guess my thought was left unfinished. You should be emailing asking for clarification on what you should do to fill the time unaccounted for.

DD: My dad was an air traffic controller as was a training partner of mine. I found quickly that most transportation time are represented as such in that world. It was odd for me at first also, but now I find myself listing my workouts that way!

Up front, I'm coming at this from the coaching perspective- I'm also run specific, and haven't raced/coached tri's for a couple years.

If your coach is using TP and can't get a workout to mesh with your understanding and get the correction back to you, find a new coach. TP is not rocket surgery for a coach to use- and for many coaches, it's a crutch for "custom" programming.

Personally, I custom design a .pdf, and then either log into the athletes download software (i.e.- Connect), or have them send me the file I need to analyze on my system software (Race Day). The athlete knows it's custom, and the language fits them. I also make sure to cap my athletes in order to deliver the product. In this day and age, if a coach doesn't fix a problem in less than 24 hrs, and they are "in the office"- that coach either has too many athletes or they just don't care. Takes a second to text an athlete or respond to an email via smartphone...and like many coaches, I've gladly made the quick response as I'm heading to bed or getting up the next morning for my workout.

I'm assuming that 1+15 is a 75 minute run? So let's assume that you were scheduled to do 6x1mi repeats (just throwing this out there)- maybe with a .5mi recovery? If your regular training pace is @ 8:30, your mile repeats are probably @ 6:45, and the .5mile active recovery is @ 4:00...so we'll say 11min/interval+recovery. That puts you at 66min for those repeats, and a total mileage of 9 miles. A 1mile warm up and 1mile cooldown would be @ 17:00, so your looking at a run that's closer to 1:23-25 minutes for 11miles. Solid workout, but not in your time if you have a limited window to train. Plus, that's a pretty serious workout for this time of year unless you have something on the horizon in the next 6-8 weeks. Total speculation on my part for the workout, but you get the point.

My debrief of a workout is typically radio-silent unless they rock a solid session/hit a benchmark, or it's out of the norm and I give them a quick "everything ok" text. I go over a good amount of details in a VTC, but I keep that to an agenda they get beforehand.

Bottom line, give your coach a chance to remedy the situation- talk to them on the phone if need be- outline what it is that's troubling you. If they don't fix it, remember you are the consumer, it is your right to give your money elsewhere.

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http://www.reathcon.com

Thanks all for the thoughts and advice. I appreciate the perspectives.

In my opinion, if you don't feel like you're getting your money worth, you're not. That's what it comes down to.


It sounds like you don't feel you're getting your value worth.

With my athletes (primarily runners) I try to break down the workouts as much as possible, I see every workout they do and if something does not go well I always inquire. They have access to my mobile, I try to get back to emails within 12 hours if it's not something that needs an immediate response, etc.

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KyleKranz.com
Win a pair of SKORA Running Shoes!

Thanks. This being my first experience with a coach, it's hard to know what I should expect.

Talk to the coach, tell him your concerns. If you're not increasing your own confidence, training effectiveness, and thus results with what's going on, it may not be an ideal relationship. Coaching is just that, a relationship. For it to work, both need to be putting forth effort and communicating effectively. And, like some relationships, it may not be right.
Talk to your coach. Tell him your thoughts.

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Brian Grasky
Grasky Endurance: World Championship Triathlon Coaching; Professional Training Camps
RETUL fitter, Biomechanist, USAT Level 3 Coach, USAC Level 2 Coach

2 calls per month?

A very big part of coaching is gleaning from the arhlete the truth, and you learn far more from doing this face to face, or at very least on the phone because the voice tells you a lot; email is limited.

Another part of coaching is motivating the athlete, and again email can only go part of the way, phone is better and best is face to face.

Then much of what a coach learns is seeing the athlete when they train, seeing how they look in the warm up, seeing how they look during and at the end of a session etc etc.

Online coaching will always be a severe compromise no matter how much data, how good the software and how good the coach is at interpreting the data.

Not very useful feedback. Online coaching can be effective and affordable. In person coaching just isn't a reality for most people. Can most afford $100/hr to meet with a coach for a one on one session? What if your schedule is so busy that you train early morning or during lunches. How would a coach see you in that setting?

Obviously this case needs more communication from both sides. If the OP doesn't understand the workouts, ask. If they don't know what to expect for the level of attention, ask. At under 200/month, you aren't likely getting individual workout analysis and hours a week of personal attention.