OLYMPIC-DISTANCE SUCCESS IN 90 DAYS


By Kim Dunker Reistad, USA Triathlon Level I Certified Coach


faced with a huge obstacle: our athletes’ busy schedules. With their limited time to train, we must focus on the essential components that lead up to your athlete’s best olympic-distance race. It is important to understand their goals, race schedule and available training time, as well as what they do for mental preparation, nutrition and key workouts. remember that each athlete comes


A


from a unique background, and the training that works for one athlete may not work for another. By understanding their goals, time constraints and athletic history, you can maximize your athlete’s potential and create an appropriately tai- lored olympic-distance training plan that will lead them to achieving their goals.


s coaches we always want to prepare the best training plan for our athletes. however, we’re often


UNDERSTANDING YOUR ATHLETE’S GOALS In preparation of the athlete’s training


plan, it is critical to know their goals. Cre- ating an athlete history form allows the athlete to write down his or her goals and allows you to have a record to refer back to. As a coach, there will be no misun- derstanding their goals, and as an athlete this allows them to understand and really commit to what they want. The goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant/rewarding and time bound.


SETTING A RACE SCHEDULE once goals have been set, discussing a


potential race schedule is important. The idea is that you work with your athlete to pick appropriate races and prioritize them in importance. In this instance, their A race, the most important race of the sea-


son, would be the olympic-distance race 90 days out. In 90 days it is possible to do 2-3 races, including the goal race. Desig- nate the one or two races as B or C races; B-races are not as critical, so your athletes will only need rest a few days prior to the race, and C races are typically thought of as the hard workout for the week, where the athlete will train through the race. The idea behind having one or two B and C races prior to an A race is to practice the pre-race taper, mental plan, equipment and nutrition.


TRAINING TIME AVAILABLE After gathering the athlete’s goals and


tentative race schedule, talk with your athlete and get a good idea of how many hours they can truly designate to training. for the purpose of breaking down a spe- cific training plan, let’s assume the athlete


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