This week I've decided to cover a topic I don't think I've ever discussed in any depth here before: coaching. *Note that the following contains my perspective on the role with a little help from the recent research on the subject.

The importance of a good coach and their respective attributes is a frequent topic in my professional, athletic, and personal life (which is perhaps most important). I have been very fortunate to have run with Bill Dwyer since late 2008 and recently gaining some advice from Tim Floyd for swimming. Both awesome guys; very knowledgeable and have somewhat different styles (as different sports obviously call for difference in approaches). And it is working for me so far. I think I'll continue to become a more physically and mentally tough athlete by experiencing multiple perspectives.

On the running side, I now have a few years experience and now know what kind of coach I work best with-open, innovative, and somebody I can collaborate with. In the water, however, I need that guidance, direction and being told "no" from time to time when I ask for more rest in between intervals. No pun intended, but I'm trying to be a "sponge" with what limited time I have in the water and learn as much as I can. I was once that 'sponge' when I received my first running schedule leading up to the 2009 Houston Marahon....

Last week I wrote out my first official running schedule for somebody else. I've given out lots of advice on training, recovery, and even provided some thumbnails to get them going, but nothing more formal than a google spreadsheet. As busy as I am with my own training, planning the next step in my practice, and everything else in between; a new role arose as a coach. I have decided to start coaching a handful of individuals-nothing big, but the opportunity presented itself and I agreed.  In a way it is flattering to be seen in that light. Oddly enough, I feel relatively confident likely resulting from my experience competing and working with others one to one on a daily basis.

So back to the notion of what makes a good coach: besides the obvious training and education-I will reference an article in the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action-  in addition to my experience consulting with coaches and my own (biased) opinion- here is a sample of some positive attributes of good coaches:

• Possesses leadership qualities. Perhaps the most obvious trait-a good coach can utilize both transformational (i.e. ability to motivate and inspire) and task/skill-focused leadership. Even better ones know when and where to use exercise these facets.
• Fosters autonomy. Guides the athlete, but empowers them to think for themselves.
• Knows his or her athletes. As a sport psychology consultant, I am always advocating for coaches to be as athlete-centered as possible. Depending on the size of the team or group, this aspect varies, but coaches who are most in tuned with who their working with and know their tendencies elicit the most consistent success.
• Communicates clearly. Progress comes faster from those who best explain clearly the objectives at hand. 
• Educates the athlete. I find it highly valuable when I know the purpose of the workout I'm doing. For head cases like me, knowing the purpose of why I'm running x:xx pace helps me keep things in perspective.
• Knows when to push and when to dial an athlete back-and sticks to it (see communication). 
• Brings out the best in their athletes. This is one of the biggest intangibles, but I can think of a handful I have worked with who fit that mold.

Source: Watson, J., Cannole, I., & Kadushin, P. (2011). Developing young athletes: A sport psychology based approach to coaching youth sports. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 2, 113-122.

Is it time to race yet??!

For those interested, the docs and staff at.healingfeet.com HealingFeet.com has graciously profiled me on their site. I still think it's hilarious that others find me interesting!! 

Let's start with a few stats, I'm trying not to obsess over arbitrary numbers, but I feel strong and am happy with how things are shaping after my first "Training Peaks" month. As busy as my weeks are, I am learning to bend with my schedule and move things around if I need to and at least this week I actually came out a little ahead.

What caused me to be a bit creative with the schedule was a trip to Austin to visit a swim team I do some work with. Each time I set foot on deck I find myself enjoying the information exchange between myself and the coaches; I learn from them and hopefully vice versa. Definitely a top-notch facility!  I even got a fun run in afterward, but more on that later....Definitely one of my favorite cities and I can't wait to go back.

For those interested, the rundown for the week:


Swim: 5750 yards (a drop in the bucket for many, but a personal best for me)
   I begin some more formal training this week, starting with a stroke analysis video being made. At least before seeing the good, bad, and ugly of my freestyle, I believe I'm developing that "feel for the water" and being in the pool feels comfortable vs. foreign. Open water is going to be a different animal, but at least I'll feel like a swimmer when the gun goes off this time. I'm working on being more efficient and not trying to force myself from one end to the other.

Bike: 52 miles
   Cycling was a bit fragmented-the schedule said rides of 20 miles with a run after and 30 miles. The 20 miler didn't really happen, but I split it up between a trainer session and a recovery ride this morning. My Friday 30 miler brought a knock-down, drag out between me and my bike chain, but I won the fight and averaged a nice lil clip while I was at it! Take that, machinery! The sprocket indentation in my quad will go away eventually...

Run: 37 miles (including a touch of speed)
   Coming off my fun 5k pacing gig, I spun around on the track with a friend for some 1000's in addition to doing some 150s to get the turnover going. What constantly fascinates me about triathlon training and running is that I feel slower, yet it is not the case. I apparently am conditioned to make the track hurt and I automatically overstep, however, I am finding that I tend to strain when not necessary to do so. That is one of my "mental projects" for the season; or as Jerry Lynch calls it "gaining without straining".*

My long run was totally random and spontaneous. Being that Austin may actually have the advantage over The Woodlands in it's sheer numbers of endurance athletes, I had to get a run in while in town,even after  observing swim practice until almost 10 AM (when in Rome, right?). I was going to put my long run off to today and just get in a quick 4 or 5 along Town Lake. It was hot, I didn't bring water or my usual stuff, I didn't really know my way around, yet I hit mile 5 and the thought kept coming up: "I want to keep going", after trying to talk myself out of it, I notched a snappy 11. Working to dial back in the heat, I managed  comfortably at a 7:46 pace.

 Afterward I hit up Lance Armstrong's shop, Mellow Johnny's for a shower and some rather awesome coffee.   I went back and forth with how to shift my schedule for the weekend to accommodate travel and such, but ended up running long yesterday and doing a "mini tri" of sorts today with a recovery bike, run, and swim.

Indulging my budding "tri geek" a bit at an awesome shop!

I learned this week that I don't have to micromanage my training schedule to the every detail for it to work. It's actually more fun to play around and be a little flexible.

Unrelated: Good luck and positive thoughts to all my friends and teammates running Boston tomorrow! 

Stay the course.
*Lynch, J., & Scott, W. (1999). Running Within. Human Kinetics.

Now for the moment we've been waiting for...or have forgotten about...either way, I have chosen by my slightly arbitrary selection process the PowerBar giveaway winners! You guys had some entertaining responses and I enjoyed reading them all.

Here's the deal: winners send an email with their address to [email protected] and I'll send a 24 oz. bottle filled with PowerBar Product to fuel your training (either on land or indoors;))!

And the awards go to:

Most Challenging Treadmill Workout: Wow, this one was a tough one! I had to go with Erin H . on this one, running the majority of her marathon training week indoors (think in excess of 75 miles/wk!) at some rather impressive paces; she's also kind of famous and running Boston on Monday!

Most Motivating Playlist: MR, your impromptu karaoke while listening to Guns 'N Roses and Slash takes it! "You know where you are.... you're on the treadmill, Baby!..." Oh, and he's running Boston as well!


Craziest Stream of Consciousness Award: Oh, Amanda at Runninghood! I had to read about three times and each pass made me laugh! Regardless of what passes through the 5 in space between your ears, your blog posts are inspirational and your running is stellar! And guess what-another Boston-bound runner!

Hmmm... non-scientific observation: want to qualify for Boston? Then try some long runs on the treadmill...

Who else is running on Patriot's Day? Did you do some of your training indoors?

Enjoy every step of the historic journey from Hopkinton to Copley Square!

Stay the course.

Yup that was me yesterday and I was proud to do it!

I love running fast and setting PR's....but I also love it when I can help others run fast and set PR's. This was what I did at yesterday's fun Run For Hope held on Market Street just a couple miles away from my place. Here is my "pace report" from a well-organized event benefiting Camp Hope and related charities directed towards youth in foster homes. They do all kinds of neat stuff with these kids, including holding a prom (with dresses provided) for the HS girls! Race Director Cindy Mericle once again did a nice job with the event, as I raced and enjoyed the relatively fast out and back course last year.

So here's the back story: my friend and training group member, Juliee, has been gunning to break 22:00 in the 5k for a while now. She's scared it oh-so-many times, however, had not yet buzzed the clock under the double-deuces. I wanted to run the race this year (as I had to pull out of Charlottesville this year), but wanted to tread lighter than last year and perhaps help pull someone along the way. After a brief planning of how we'd execute the run at Wednesday night's track session, I woke up Saturday morning pretty excited to sport racing flats once again (my go-to Brooks Racer ST-5's). The only pressure I felt was making sure Mrs. J got to the finish line on time and getting her into the groove early.

After meeting our training group we began a slow warm up-not wanting to throw off my pace-ee's race prep but wanting to burn off some nervous energy, we circled Market Street's loop 'o consumption (notice the Anne Taylor boutique in the background of the pic below;)) striding periodically (ahhh...turnover!!). Once on the start line I simply told Juliee to stay on my shoulder and I'll take care of the rest. 6:50-7:05 miles all the way. What I like to do when rabbiting a race is to talk the runner through the effort the whole time-basically they get what goes through my head when I'm on my 'A' mental game in races. Lots of "focus on that marker/tangent, relax on the incline, use the decline, you got this, this is all we gotta do, etc., etc....."

When the gun went off I sprung into action like a goon-making sure we got into a good spot. After the second sharp turn, I looked down at the garmin and we were at 5:05 pace. Oops, gotta slow down!! In the pic below it's obvious I'm trying to dial back ASAP:

Leveling us out-stat!

I write this on the eve of a 6 mile recovery run on the treadmill scheduled for tomorrow; capping off one of the biggest training weekends for me in a long time. I put in about 53 miles/4 hours on the Ravenna 3's and Specialized road cycling shoes together (of course they were attached to a bike as well;)). Still not too much to brag about in the triathlon world, but a nice step.

On to this treadmill thing-Amanda over at Runninghood and I went back and forth last week about having a contest centered around treadmill running (check out her blog if you haven't yet-she's quite the runner and an engaging writer). What started as a joke is now for real and three 24 oz. PowerBar bottles full of nutritional awesomeness are up for grabs for those who have the most epic/creative, etc., etc. treadmill workouts. Here's the scoop:

From today through next Sunday, post your best 'mill-dwelling stuff via comment or message via Facebook:

1. Most challenging workout-overall difficulty, not just distance. Be creative, but remember to keep it safe and sane!

2.  Most motivating playlist-you'll definitely be asked to post and share!

3. ...and for the most coveted prize"Craziest stream of consciousness while running on a belt award" -what do you think about or not think about while belt surfing.

From a psychological perspective, I believe the treadmill not only helps with running cadence and consistency of leg turnover, but it helps build mental toughness especially for long races, where being in "no man's land" is a possibility. If nothing else, you get a good, safe workout in. I'm not sure about what research backs these ideas up, but it may be worth checking out.

Winners announced two weeks from today. Let's have some fun with this!

Stay the course. Even if it doesn't actually go anywhere!