I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I’m looking for a local coach. I setup an appointment with one already but the appointment date is late in the season. I’m concerned with the appointment being so late because I feel like I’ll be committed to stay through my first A race next year. Ideally, I’d like to determine whether or not I think the coach is helping me improve and have the time to bailout and regroup if necessary. Starting late doesn’t seem like I’ll get that.
Is it normal for a coach to want to start planning at the end of the season? I’ve never had a coach before so I don’t know if this is normal. Advice will be greatly appreciated.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Most good coaches have full plates of athletes right now as it’s prime season for racing here in the Bay Area and across the nation. Taking on another athlete right now may be an issue for a really busy coach.
I suggest you ask the coach for a few athlete references in the meantime so you can talk with them and get a picture of how well they have enjoyed working with the coach and ask hard questions of them to crack the seal on how they are truely feeling about the relationship they have with the coach. Ask stuff like, how often do you guys talk, are the workouts explained well, how is the feedback loop, would the athlete work with them again right away or shop other coaches first, does the coach have a certain personality type, do they race all the time as well as coach, do they come to your races as support or as competitor, are there any hidden costs, do they use an on-line system like Workoutlog.com or TrainingPeaks.com or will you get an email only.