Coaching for the last couple of years over at PTS has taught me a lot of things. I’ve learned some stuff about training and a whole lot about myself and all the inherent biases that a coach brings to the athlete/coach relationship. The number one lesson I have learned, the one that has changed my approach as a coach and has significantly contributed to my athletes success, has absolutely nothing to do with triathlon. It has to do with time.
Time is the biggest indicator of performance. And not in the “Hey I was four seconds faster than you” kind of way that you might expect. I am talking about having the actual time to train…to recover…to peak…to have a social life…to be a good colleague, etc. The majority of training approaches out there were apparently created in a vacuum. These approaches assume athletes have multiple hours to train, access to open water, a local mountain and freshly cut trails, a personal masseuse who doubles as an organic sous chef, etc. Very cool to read and day-dream about…but the actual application of this protocol to the average triathlete’s life quickly degenerates into a nightmare.
My biggest contribution as a coach is organizing things in such a way that my athletes are physically and mentally free to do the right training for their event. I love coming up with the little tweaks to someone’s swim stroke or run stride that saves them 5 heart beats. But just as important as these physical tweaks are the metaphysical ones. Regardless of how well you run, it’s won’t matter if you don’t have the time to run. Or the amount of time you THINK you need to run. Figuring out how to manage a daily schedule, how to squeeze in a home-gym session, how to make the most of the local run route, or how to maximize the lunch-hour workout…these are where the real action takes place.
In case you haven’t already guessed, I avoid cookie-cutter training protocols and have really grown to dislike the phrase “Long Slow Distance.” It just makes me twitch.
So, listen: I’m not an exercise physiologist or elite athlete by any stretch—my triathlon skills are average at best. I’m still not quite sure how I managed to earn a slot to Kona. At least I still have the pictures to prove it wasn’t a dream.
What I am is a big fan of tiny improvements. And time savers. And making things work. So, whenever I find a productivity trick or new approach, I’ve tended to barrage my unsuspecting athletes and friends with random emails and super helpful explanations such as, “Man…so cool. Check this out!” Half of which I am sure is banned by spam filters. Really need to stop using that exclamation point one of these days.
10HoursAWeek will be my new defacto parking lot for some of the ideas that get me fired up. Topics will range from nerdy stuff like bike frame composition to mundane insights on setting up transition areas and you-proofing your ride. You’ll have to learn endure frequent references to Apple computers (yes, I am one of “them”), powermeters (I’ll never go back), David Allen’s system for Getting Things Done, and so on.
What you’ll find here is likely to be very Patrick-centric and heavily skewed toward my own obsessions and often sadly-limited perspective. Still, I am hoping there will be the occasional good post that might prove helpful. So, grab the feed, and toss it in your RSS reader. Stop by, and speak your mind in the comments. And if you’ve got your own hack or solution, consider contributing some ideas.
Time to start plotting the next exciting post…or maybe get some training done.
Hi, I'm Patrick McCrann. 
