Triathlon Coaching - Choosing the right coach
Here at Inspire, our aim is not only to provide you with a great selection of apparel and accessories to make you look really cool whilst doing what you love but also to provide some really interesting information, tips and tricks, interviews and other awesome stuff.
Triathlon Coaching - Choosing the right coach
As triathletes residing on the beautiful Bayside in Brisbane we have some of the best services and facilities available in our local area which we will look forward to sharing with you. It really does make the 5am starts a lot easier to handle when you see such beautiful sun rises.
With triathlon getting more and more popular as the years go on, we find ourselves with multiple event and coaches to choose from. How do we really know if we should employ a coach in the first place and secondly which one to choose?
From my experience, weather you are entering a half marathon or a full Ironman triathlon, a coach is another tool that you can use to help you achieve your goals. Before I started triathlon I entered my first marathon, but decided not to use a coach and simply download a free generic plan from the net. From that point forward I was never going to fully reach my potential going into the race. The plan was OK in the early stages, where it is relatively low km's but as the plan volume increased I found I came across the following issues:
- The generic plan didn't fit into my day to day activities all the time to some days I would miss sets or have back to back hard sessions.
- Nutrition was never mentioned and what information I had downloaded stated I should have one gel every 20 mins. With never knowing how much of a mine field nutrition is, I ran into problems (pardon the pun!).
- I ended up pulling a muscle in my calf eight weeks out from the race. Rest and regular dry needling got me through the race.
Needless to say the race day experience wasn't the happiest race I've ever completed. Hindsight is a wonderful thing if I'd have selected a coach at the start I fully believe that they would have steered me through a lot of the pit falls.
OK, I want a coach - which one ???
Coaches can use useful for all levels, but particular if you're aiming for a personal best or just starting out and need steering through the pit falls.
- When choosing a coach, word of mouth is by far the best. Pop down to the local pool and keep an eye out for people swimming wearing old triathlon race caps. Most people will be more than willing to share their experience of coaches - both good & bad.
- Jump on the net and search local coaches, pop down to where they coach and see if you can get a couple of free intro sessions.
- When you find a coach look at their web site/blogs and read what they post. You will get a good idea what type of person they are and if they might suit you.
- Sit down with the coach for a one on one chat, talk about your goals and their schedule and how you will fit into it.
- Once selected, make sure they respond to emails/phone calls in a timely manner. There is no point having a coach if it takes them 2/3 days to get an answer.
- Having a former pro athlete doesn't mean they are a good coach. Many top soccer players really suck at coaching!
Good luck with finding a coach, it will really help you hit your goals/targets. This might be just finishing a race or it could be qualifying for a KONA spot at an Ironman event. We find our coach helps us be more consistent with training because if we're paying someone we have a better chance of getting out of bed at 5am for that winter swim set !!!
Our Coach
We have been through this process and found a coach that we are really happy with and is helping us both kick goals every season.
Our coach: Toby Somerville
Next Level Tri Coaching
http://nextleveltricoaching.com.au/
Toby lives in Manly, Queensland with his wife Nicola, also a Kona Ironman athlete. He loves to compete against athletes 20 years younger, hates wind trainer sessions and would rather ride in the rain.
- Toby is a Triathlon Australia accredited Performance Level Coach and holds the Australian Swim Coaches Association Bronze accreditation.
- Proudly awarded the Triathlon Queensland South East Queensland Club Coach of the Year in 2016.
- Toby is Head Coach at Bayside Multisport Triathlon Club.
- Head Swim Coach at Manly Swimming Pool in Brisbane (http://manlypool.com.au/).
Toby’s performance experience includes:
- 21 Ironman races with 17 races under 10 hours
- Qualified 17 times for Kona & has raced Kona 4 times - 1990, 2010, 2013, 2015
- Podium 5th place Kona 2010
- Multiple Ironman podium finishes including 3 times Australian age group champion
- Twice age group winner Noosa Triathlon
- 3rd World duathlon championships 45-49 age group
- Multiple 70.3 age group wins including Sunshine Coast 2013 (4.17)
- Holds a marathon PB of 2.30.47
- Recently won his age category at the Springfield Duathlon
In addition to his own experience, Toby works with a handpicked group of nutritionists, bike fit specialists (as well as being Trek Precision Fit bike qualified himself), physiotherapists and specialised technique trainers to help you get to the Next Level.
For more information check out the Next Level website http://nextleveltricoaching.com.au/