I hoped my first blog as a coach would be on something more upbeat than a virus, but at this point it’s not possible to avoid the Covid lurking in the corner! It is encroaching on almost every aspect of our lives, limiting our freedoms, and threatening our health. Over the last two weeks of social distancing I have watched with interest the responses from my athletes, and from various triathlon clubs around Brisbane, to the cancellation of races, events and group training. It has presented in many cases like a grieving process;
- Denial; they won’t cancel my event, it’s too big and important.
- Anger; I CAN’T BELIEVE they cancelled my event! I’ve put in so much hard work! I’ve spent money and time, and this has been my purpose for the last ‘X’ months/years.
- Bargaining; ok, let’s just all stay in. Lock us down for two weeks and then we can come out and get on with it, and I can do my event.
- Depression; there is no point training because there are no events. I’m not doing what you put on my plan!
- Acceptance; it’s fair to say that not everyone has, or will reach this stage. Those that have are jumping into new technologies and training modalities and embracing the challenges of finding alternative means of keeping up their tri-fitness.
Whilst triathlon for age-groupers is just one aspect of our lives, and as people keep pointing out there are bigger issues that relate to the virus so we shouldn’t complain, we can’t ignore how integral sports and group activities are to our physical and emotional health and well being. In a relative sense I think a triathlete is justified in feeling disappointed by the cancellation of events and things which impact their training, such as the closure of public pools.
Some of the most fantastic ingenuity is coming from the triathlon community to help it’s members continue to train. Windtrainer, pilates and run sessions coached via zoom are becoming the norm and Zwift meet ups are now the way to do a group ride. I have seen numerous pictures posted of home gym set-ups, and all manner of bungee cords attached to people ‘swimming’ in backyard pools. As part of the coaching team for the UQ Triads we have posted weekly training in Team App to be completed individually and reported back on through the Facebook page. It has been fantastic to see the pictures of everyone individually going about their training.
There has been the inevitable drop off of some athletes from coaching plans where they believe there is no longer a purpose to the training without a race or event in the near future. I actually believe that more than ever this is the time to have a coach giving you a solid programmed routine, accountability and feedback. Without regularly being able to meet your training buddies in person, or feeling that strong sense of motivation of a race around the corner it would be easy to flag the sessions and fall into a hole.
Hopefully you won’t find me too callous if I suggest that there is actually a silver lining for triathletes in all this. This is FINALLY THE OFF-SEASON, a chance to reflect and correct all those niggles, instabilities, technique issues and limiters that no one ever makes the time to do during the full-flight of the season. It can also be seen as a great time to build some solid aerobic base and strength. Let’s face it; there are events at all times of the year on the over-crowded tri-calendar. Unless forced to stop (unfortunately often through injury), we rarely do!
The big issue for athletes that are generally motivated by the buzz and adrenaline of races is to find something that replaces that. That’s where what I call “Training Wins” come into the picture. Setting a goal that is challenging and might, for example, put you up on a Strava leader board, or might just be a personal challenge you’ve had in the back of your mind for awhile (e.g. breaking a 45min 10k run, setting a new 40k bike TT PR around the track etc). Discussing these goals with your coach and planning training to achieve them can be a great way of establishing purpose in your program again. A Training Win goal can also be used to test out a taper strategy or try something new in your ‘pre-event’ routine with very little pressure if it goes awry.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the burgeoning Esports market with Zwift offering a plethora of race options for running and cycling, both as an individual and in teams. For a great example see: https://www.koasportsleague.com/
The take home message is that this is far from a time to sink into despair. It is instead a time to start re-imagining your goals, thinking of the big picture and where you want to be in a couple of years time, then setting your plan up and putting those wheels in motion. If you would like help with re-setting your goals and establishing a plan to get there then drop me a line today on kirsty@multidimensionsportscoaching.com.