As a triathlon/strength coach, I have worked with numerous athletes throughout the years: From sprint distance triathletes, to 7x Ironman Triathlon triathletes. I have AMAZING relationships with some of the athletes that I have coached, and not so great relationships with others. I have had some athletes who have gone to other coaches (totally fine; it’s a growing process!). I have had some athletes quit the sport completely. I have also had to fire some of my athletes. Why? I was putting more work into coaching them than they were putting in for themselves. I don’t work that way.
The other day, I received a question from a potential athlete, and I LOVE what they asked me: “What are my expectations as a coach?” As I started thinking about her question, I realized that I need to tell my potential athletes my expectations from the start. Maybe the athletes that I fired were never “aligned” with my expectations? Maybe the athletes that went to another coach wanted a different approach to coaching. Another thought that I had was that the athletes that I am coaching now and the athletes I have coached in the past Exceed my Expectations. Why? These athletes, aka friends, know that I expect GREAT things from myself as an athlete. Why would I think any differently with the athletes that I coach? To make it clear cut, I came up with:
Race day is around the corner. It may be your first Ironman Triathlon or your 6th Ironman 70.3 Triathlon. You are STOKED. You have done the training. You have put the time and effort in the pool, on the road and in the running shoes. #BAM, you got this!
It’s RACE DAY!
Gun goes off.
You ROCK the swim.
You get on the bike. Your nutrition is like a the “buffet” line and you grab what is on the course. Bike is finished.
The run is your thang or so you thought. Body isn’t feeling good. You want to throw up but you opt to walk instead.
You crossed that finish line but super disappointed.
What happened? Where did things go wrong?
I have one word for you and maybe you have already figured it out:
NUTRITION
Race Day nutrition is a VERY challenging concept for an Ironman Triathlon and an Ironman 70.3 Triathlon but with some trial and error, planning, along with getting information from the right people, I can guarantee that you will NOT have an issue on the race course.
Let’s talk a little bit of science and then let me give you a real life example.
As a triathlete or an athlete, have you ever wonder if you got your full amount of sleep?
For example, you head to bed at 10:30. Light out at 11 and up at 6:00 am. Sweet, 7 hours of sleep! Think again.
It has been over 1.5 months since I started using the Whoop and I can’t believe how much I am really loving this thing.
Click HERE to see my Rulon Rules: Rest & Recovery, when I talked about my workouts and my recovery when I was sick back at the end of January, beginning of February.
I also gave you five “Rulon Rules: Rest & Recovery” as recovery is SO CRUCIAL for all athletes.
So, let’s chat about my recovery from the last three weeks with some heavy training days, as I am preparing for 70.3 IM Galveston on April 2nd AND I am dealing with allergies and Upper Respitory Infection…again.
Let’s get into the nitty gritty about The Whoop. There is a Strain Score and a Recovery Score. Let’s explain this set up.
