Working With New Triathletes: Communication, 1. Consistency and Contraptions


One of the most satisfying aspects of coaching is seeing the joy and excitement when one of your athletes reaches a goal that the two of you have set out to achieve together. For many triathletes their first triathlon is among their fondest memories of their career. I can still recall in vivid detail the weather, the sunshine, the smell of the water and the sounds of transition for my very first triathlon nearly 10 years ago.


New triathletes come in as many shapes, sizes and fitness levels as you can imagine. Working with an overweight, out-of-shape couch potato who’s never put on running shoes is totally different than working with a former NCAA athlete who put on a few pounds after college and is ready to get back into training.


As a general rule of thumb, the less athletic experience a future first-time-finisher triathlete has when approaching you for coaching, the more guidance they are going to need. Things that may be obvious for even moderately active people, like weekend cyclists or casual runners, may require step by step instruction for the novice-but-eager triathlete in training.


Communication: Motivation, Goals & Feedback


What is your athlete’s motivating reason to train for their first triathlon? Learning as much as you can about your new athlete’s motivation to train for and complete a triathlon will help you set the stage for a positive experience for your athlete. When possible, arrange face-to-face meetings in a relaxed setting so you can really get to know each other. This meeting is as much an interview for you as it is for them. Your future triathlete will learn more about you and the ways that you interact. If there is any tension or personality conflict, its far better to find out at the beginning before either of you invest time and money in the process.


Examples of what motivates people to train for their first triathlon are varied and can include weight loss, looking for a new challenge, a ‘one and done’ goal in life, an attempt to initiate a healthier lifestyle, etc. Find out more regardless of what motivators you discover. Why now, why this triathlon, why this group of training partners, etc. As a coach, part of your toolset is to help clarify the athlete’s desires and create a structured training plan with clear goals.


What goals, stated or unstated, does your athlete currently have? the obvious questions are to find out what your athlete’s goals are. is it just to finish, finishing in a certain time, to not come in last,


to beat their girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other? ask follow-up questions about their goals. Find out what their basis is for their stated goals and whether or not their stated goal is a challenge for them.


Scenario 1: If a couch potato/armchair athlete says they want to compete in Sprint Nationals by the end of the summer, that’s likely an unrealistic goal. But perhaps this person was a former state cross country champion in high school, who has a brother that’s an NCAA swimming champion. That person likely has some training background and potential genetic makeup that they COULD reach that goal … but maybe not in a single summer.


Scenario 2: On the other end of the spectrum, maybe you have a stay-at-home mom who is looking to lose some baby weight and find some things outside the home to keep her active and engaged with her friends. You learn she’s started jogging with a neighborhood group of moms that trade childcare for an hour a few times a week and that she’s now routinely faster than all of her friends on their training runs. she says her goal for her first triathlon is “just to finish.” she’s got some experience with competitive swimming in high school, but hasn’t been in the pool since.


This is a great situation in which you have a motivated, active athlete whose goal setting may not


present much of a challenge, especially if the time to her goal race is 12-16 weeks away. With this athlete you may explore some ideas of setting some potential time goals based on her recent running success. Find a local 5k that she can enter with her friends, get a base time and structure some training around that. Maybe her only time-based goal will be the run portion, and she can “just finish” the swim and bike portions.


Each of the above scenarios shows ways in which as a coach you can help a new athlete arrive at appropriate goals for their first triathlon.


What kind of feedback does your athlete respond to?


Along the same lines as learning your athlete’s motivation and goals, finding out what kind of feedback and/or motivation your athlete responds to will go a long way in helping him or her make forward progress in their training.


Every athlete is going to respond to a


different type of feedback and motivation from their coach. It’s likely that your athlete already knows what type of feedback this is. For me personally, sarcastic feedback shuts


By Suzanne Atkinson USAT Level II, USA Cycling Level II


me down while positive energy motivates me further … but not everyone is the same, and it’s important to find out. With these fundamental points of communication discussed, you and your athlete will have a solid foundation on which to build a plan for success.


Keeping it simple – Training, Equipment and Nutrition


One of the single most important components of successful training is consistency. as aristotle once said, “we are what we most frequently do. Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit.”


As coaches, we must help our new athletes set up a training and nutrition plan that fits into their current lifestyle, time and other demands such as work and family time. In the beginning, less is more. The new athlete will likely be overwhelmed with things we take for


granted, such as getting ready


for a bike ride, or choosing a lane in the swimming pool, learning pool etiquette or getting confident riding a road bike outside. While these may seem like simple things, it’s important to take them all into consideration when planning training. These can even be small goals for the first two weeks.


How often should the first time triathlete train? Remember that any physical stress that is greater than what the athlete is accustomed to is going to lead to a positive physical adaptation. There is no advantage in scheduling three workouts in each discipline if your athlete is coming “off the couch” to train or hasn’t had running shoes on since junior high school.


A 2x workout frequency (two workouts per discipline per week), or six workouts per week is about the minimum that most coaches and triathletes would consider to be effective. However for the novice triathlete, even this much activity can be overwhelming if they are not used to the physical activity or used to dealing with the gear and clothing preparations required.


Let’s go back to the scenarios from above:


Scenario 1: Former high school state champion cross country runner who wants to reach USAT Sprint Nationals.


This athlete likely has plenty of motivation and is willing to carve out as much time as needed to reach his goals. As a coach, you’ll need to reign in enthusiasm for the first few weeks of training to prevent injury and/or overtraining. You’ll need to get creative to help the athlete realize that the time spent


PERFORMANCECOACHING | page 2 (continued on next page)


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