London Triathlon Race Report: Coached Athlete Beth Hodge

Coached triathlete Beth Hodge raced the London Triathlon a few weeks ago, check out what she had to say! 

So I had finally found the nerves and the encouragement from Coach Mark to enter an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run), something that I had keenly avoided ever since taking up the sport.  Aside from the general 'stepping-up' and capability fears (having only done two full sprint distances), I wasn't really looking forward to the London Triathlon as an event. I had heard mixed reviews in the lead up, too many people in waves, a boring run, smelly dock water for the swim, and stairs into T1?! What on earth was I about to do?

Happily, all of my fears about the 'terrible' London Triathlon were quickly dispelled. The atmosphere on entering the Excel hall was electric.  Being in an 8.30am all female wave had allowed enough time to get up, have breakfast, do a final kit faff (following the 10 previous day before kit faffs) and get to the venue without having too much 'worry' time. The wave compere was geeing up the girls, and it just so happened he was from Barry! I felt quite at home and ready to race. Not knowing what to expect being the first Olympic race, I was here to enjoy it, and to see what happened.  

Do you really need a coach for endurance sport?

Do you have a coach? Plenty of people don't (and some of them are performing at pretty elite levels). Let's take a look at the benefits of working with a sports coach so you can decide if it's for you.

Of course, being a triathlon coach, I would argue the case for athletes having coaching support. But I do recognise that coaching isn't for everyone, and that not everybody needs a coach. Let's take a look at reasons why a person might decide to go it alone.

But I truly believe that most athletes would benefit from being coached. Here's why:

• A specialist endurance sport coach will carry out a full assessment, and probably pick up on things that you might not even think about (it's their job!)
• They will take the guesswork and doubt out of your programme, so all you have to do is the training.
• He or she will use a combination of scientific methods, book research, experience and intuition to design and tweak you programme.
• They'll be an excellent source of motivation, feedback, encouragement and information.
• You'll always have an external, objective professional to turn to (far more useful than friends or family members, however well-meaning!)
• They'll be someone to bounce ideas off when you're feeling overwhelmed, emotional or confused.
• You can go to your coach for the very latest ideas, research and opinions in your sport.
• Your coach will know exactly how to take into account your current fitness levels, current training times and lifestyle.
• When you get a training programme from a coach it will give you confidence to crack on, and not over-think things.

Do you use a coach for your endurance sport training? Or have you ever used the services of a Personal Trainer, club coach or any other external coaching support? What are the benefits of this approach for you?

Ocean Lava Triathlon Race Report: Coached Athlete Tom Foster

Coached triathlete Tom Foster raced the Ocean Lava Wales Triathlon last week, here's his race report from the west Wales race, enjoy! 

After a busy couple of weekends it was good to finally settle and focus for the two weeks leading up to the Activity Wales Ocean Lava Triathlon. This half-iron distance event is a tough one, the swim is often very cold (as I can testify to last year!) the bike is undulating (that’s Welsh for hilly) and the run, well on the first running of this event in 2013 there was a feature known as the ‘killer hill’ from the old harbour in Fishguard up to the town, this feature has been removed, to most people’s delight, but to my disappointment. Although, it turns out my dismay was unfounded.

I was staying at my folk’s holiday home in Mathry the night before this race, it’s pretty much ideal being only 15 mins from the transition and race start and also on the bike route making it a good vantage point for my parents to have a cup of tea in hand and cheer the race as it goes past.

Marginal gains.........and massive potential for progress in endurance sport

Do you spend all of your time focusing on the bigger picture, your ultimate goal, the finish line? I encourage you to stop for a moment and think about the little things. Here's how they can make a really big difference to training, performance and sporting achievements.

What do you know about "marginal gains"? It's a concept I encourage my clients and athletes to think about a lot, whether their goals is a marathon or Ironman triathlon, or a much smaller goal.

Whilst many of us think that it's the massive decisions, the major choices and the big pledges which mean the most, it's actually the little things which make the biggest difference. 

What's more significant to your sports performance: the one huge training session you do every four weeks? Or the fact that you go to bed a little earlier than your peers so you can get up in the morning and train?