coach vs. self trained

[bubba 02]

Well another base season starting soon. The neverending question arises again, (should I go with a coach this year?). In the years past I've found that being coached has been very benefical through the building and peaking period, although sometimes it can be very frustrating through the coarse of the year(cookie cutter tactics,same boring w/os, prolonged training plans ect.). I'm a pretty dedicated athlete and I do pretty decent being self trained, but I'm sure like other althletes my biggest problem is overtraining.. Its nice having a coach watching over you during race season, but how many of you feel it helps all season long?. Also aside from the standard "cookie cutter training plans" how many you devise your own week or monthly training plans and what formats do you use??

 

[Sikhandar]

it depends on what races you do... if you're a pro (1.1, 1.2 races...) well, to regularly see an athletic preparator + massagers is mandatory, if you're an amateur it's not so necessary (but will help). It also depends on you, can you "do the job"? Can you wake up at 7:00 and do 6 hours respecting your training plan? if you can, a coach could be a waste of money / time.

It also depends on your ability to listen and to learn from a competent coach...

 

[Steve_B]

I had a coach for a few years (and sometimes he checks these forums) and it was a positive experience. I got a lot of good out of the relationship. However, I got to a point where I was not so much limited by fitness as by other things and those other things were not addressed very well in a relationship over a long distance.

There are indeed times of the year (e.g., base) when the relationship with the coach may not be all that necessary for somebody like you who has been down the seasonal preparation road many times before. Many coaches offer the possibility of a lower-cost/low-interaction plan for certain months of the year and then high-interaction/higher-cost plan for other times. You may find that beneficial as you are probably more likely to overtrain during an intensity period.

I would suggest that if you decide to go with a coach that you plan on sticking with that individual for a year or two so that he/she can learn about you: how you respond, your quirks, your hang-ups. It will make it easier to tailor the program to fit your needs better, IMO. If you are disciplined, then that's good because that's an important part of the relationship. That will make you the coach's favorite.

I do indeed do my own plans now. I don't go to the trouble to write out what I'm going to do on a daily basis 6-9 months ahead of time. I tend to think in generalized "blocks" (4-8 weeks) that will have a general theme to it (threshold development, anaerobic capacity, etc.) and then the weekly implementation will fit the overall goal for that 4-8 week block based upon the reality at the time (revised race schedule, work schedule, injury, motivation, etc.). I'm a power meter user and I will use WKO+, PMC and other tools to manage my weekly fatigue and training load in view of the short and long term goals. I will throw in some experiments occasionally for fun too.

I have been tweaking and tweaking how I do this stuff over the years and finally this year I have seen some major improvements in terms of my short-term power and the normalized power I can put out in mass-start races, both of which have been a bit of a hindrance for me.

 

[bigwillie013]

I have been tweaking and tweaking how I do this stuff over the years and finally this year I have seen some major improvements in terms of my short-term power and the normalized power I can put out in mass-start races, both of which have been a bit of a hindrance for me.

Steve,
do you want to elaborate a bit about this tweaking? I feel I'm limited in producing NP as well in the Crits that are very apparent in the German amateur racing. AP I'm good at but NP it s...

Chjeers,
bigwillie013

 

[Steve_B]

Steve,

do you want to elaborate a bit about this tweaking? I feel I'm limited in producing NP as well in the Crits that are very apparent in the German amateur racing. AP I'm good at but NP it s...
Chjeers,

bigwillie013

Tag Willie,

On a basic level, I have not done anything very special or unique. It is simply a good aerobic base (Coggan's L3 and L4) followed by a period of lower training volume where I did about 5-6 weeks of L5 (3-4 weeks) then L6 (~2 weeks). During that period, I was either doing L5/L6 intervals or riding easy (L1 and L2) exclusively and there was no formal L3 and L4 done. I would alternate an interval day with an easy day. Then 2 weeks called a "taper" where I reduced to one combined L4/L5/L6 workout at the middle of the week and one at the weekend, if I wasn't racing. The overall reduced training volume also helps me be fresher and allows me to put out better power at short durations.


It seems that I don't see much improvement training L5/L6 only one time per week. OTOH, it seems that more than 3 weeks of 2-3 interval days in a week is risking mental burnout. (I can bring myself to a very high state of fitness but the cost seems to be reduced enthusiasm for riding as a result of much high intensity.) So what I have done is save the L5/L6 for periods where I wanted to be "good" and wanted a planned peak in fitness. The tweaking is learning how much L5 and L6 I need to show increases in that area and not driving myself into burnout. So far, I have not succeeded in being fully burnout-free but I am showing good gains regardless. More tweaking to come.


Allen ist klar?

 

[swampy1970]

Well another base season starting soon. The neverending question arises again, (should I go with a coach this year?). In the years past I've found that being coached has been very benefical through the building and peaking period, although sometimes it can be very frustrating through the coarse of the year(cookie cutter tactics,same boring w/os, prolonged training plans ect.). I'm a pretty dedicated athlete and I do pretty decent being self trained, but I'm sure like other althletes my biggest problem is overtraining.. Its nice having a coach watching over you during race season, but how many of you feel it helps all season long?. Also aside from the standard "cookie cutter training plans" how many you devise your own week or monthly training plans and what formats do you use??

It depends on you and also on the coach that you get.

I was really fortunate to live in the same area as one of the better coaches Britain has ever had and more fortunate that he really didn't ask for much in the way of payment. He even took us all to races and invited the riders down to his house for training sessions twice a week AND secured the services of a very knowledgable physiotherapist.... and lab tests in the early/mid 1990s.

I might have reached the level of fitness that I did but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have been as good a rider as I was. An invaluable experience.

Unfortunately, I moved 6,500 miles... LOL Most of the coaches I've talked too around these parts seem to waffle on "cookie cutter" style about stuff they seemingly don't really understand.

 

[Kestrel12]

One of the keys is to being effective coaching yourself is having good discipline.

I have been riding for 12 years and I became a qualified coach a little over a year ago. While I coach others I still race so I am essentially self coached. I always used to have problems with overtraining but one of the things I have learnt is to look for the signs and back off. Considering your experience and history of being coached I would think that its likely you have a reasonable awareness of what your own indicators are for overtraining. If you can pick these out (and keeping a training diary will help) you should do fine by yourself.

Based on what you have mentioned I dont think you will have any problems going back to some of the plans your previous coach has given you and tweak them as required. However the one bit of advice I will give is to really look at the requirements of your target event/s and make sure you focus some training time on these areas.

Good luck

 

[Alex Simmons]

I have mentioned this before.

Even though I coach professionally, I still much prefer to be coached rather than self coach (and I have self coached and of course I am sufficiently qualified, knowledgeable and experienced to do so). So our good Mr Ric Stern looks after my training. It just works better for me, for a number of reasons.

And of my current clients, three of them are professional coaches themselves (one of them at the most elite level). And another is seeking their qualifications in this next year.

So knowing what to do isn't always the issue. There are many factors to consider.

 

[bigwillie013]

Tag Willie,

On a basic level, I have not done anything very special or unique. It is simply a good aerobic base (Coggan's L3 and L4) followed by a period of lower training volume where I did about 5-6 weeks of L5 (3-4 weeks) then L6 (~2 weeks). During that period, I was either doing L5/L6 intervals or riding easy (L1 and L2) exclusively and there was no formal L3 and L4 done. I would alternate an interval day with an easy day. Then 2 weeks called a "taper" where I reduced to one combined L4/L5/L6 workout at the middle of the week and one at the weekend, if I wasn't racing. The overall reduced training volume also helps me be fresher and allows me to put out better power at short durations.


It seems that I don't see much improvement training L5/L6 only one time per week. OTOH, it seems that more than 3 weeks of 2-3 interval days in a week is risking mental burnout. (I can bring myself to a very high state of fitness but the cost seems to be reduced enthusiasm for riding as a result of much high intensity.) So what I have done is save the L5/L6 for periods where I wanted to be "good" and wanted a planned peak in fitness. The tweaking is learning how much L5 and L6 I need to show increases in that area and not driving myself into burnout. So far, I have not succeeded in being fully burnout-free but I am showing good gains regardless. More tweaking to come.


Allen ist klar?

Thanks Steve,

I know it's a bit OT but liked to take the chance to lurk a bit from your experinece. Your description mirrors my feelings. If I'm taking L5/L6's too hard, too often, too long I'm loosing my "wish" to ride. I'd rather stay at home. As I'm highly motivated and disciplined I still go and do the exercises but maybe not as it should be. Looks like I'm not a machine yet, hmm.
Thanks again and "Alles klar"
Take care
bigwillie013