Lazy coaching

Doug doesn't do lazy coaching.

There are some fantastic triathlon coaches out there but also some whose methods are great for the coach, not so much for the athlete.

So what is lazy coaching?

• • Masses of cookie-cutter training plans are available on Training Peaks. Some coaches simply choose such a plan, apply a small amount of personalization, if any, and leave it at that. This doesn't adapt to the athlete's lifestyle, schedule, weakness or numerous other factors. Doug even adapts plans based upon the weather.

  • Swim workouts: When you swim with a masters program the coach on deck doesn't say "Ok - lane 3, 6x100 with 10s rest." Instead the gives a send-off time appropriate to the goals (eg "6x100 on 1:30") such that every swimmer sets off at a specific time, and when he returns knows exactly what his split was without any calculating or having to remember the exact start time. The swimmer also has the motivation to go faster - he gets more rest. However the coach needs to calculate the workout accurately to ensure optimal intervals for the goals being sought. The lazy method is for a coach to simply give all of his athletes the exact same workout, eg  "4x200 build w/ 20s rest, 10x50 bk/fr w/ 10s recovery...". Doug doesn't do that, all plans are very personalized, and use appropriate send-off times.

• Interactive plans - Some coaches just email plans in Spreadsheets or Word Documents, sometimes documents they've been using for years. This method gives little scope for providing quantifiable accurate preservable feedback. Doug uses the Innovative cloud-based site www.triathlonlog.com, which he created, in order to collaborate and monitor athlete's activities while giving them an ultra-low maintenance method for recording workouts, with numerous innovative features such as trend/improvement analysis and zero-overhead shoe tracking

• Training plans need to be reactive. Next week's plan shouldn't build upon what was planned this week, but rather what was actually achieved this week. As a simple example, if a coach plans a 10% increase in the long-run distance every week, but you missed this week's run because you were sick or busy, next week's plan should quickly reflect that, and not just continue planning based upon intermediate goals that were not achieved.

• I'm gonna extend this list when I get around to it, I'm being lazy....

Image: Wikipedia