I was perusing my site and realized it’s been quite some time since I’ve written a post. I think it’s probably the longest I’ve gone without writing something in this space. While I don’t really think this space of the internet will continue to hold race reports (maybe) or silly life stories (possibly) or even the random ramblings about my dog (oh who am I kidding?), it may become more of a coaching space where I share some stuff I’ve learned along the way as a running and triathlon coach for my five years.
For me personally, 2019 was a mish-mash of racing without any real scary goals. I had a successful marathon in Virginia Beach and finished out a solid year in triathlon with my return to the 70.3 distance.
I used two coaches this past year, Jon, my go-to coach for triathlon, and Maria, for my marathoning. As a coach, I see the importance of having a coach and will probably always use one when I have specific goals or need a good kick in the butt. I remember someone incredulously asking me why people paid for running coaches, but for most of us, the accountability helps more than the actual plan. Not to mention, it’s always great to have a sounding board when things gets tough! I’d say coaching is offering about 50% individual training plans, 30% accountability, and 20% encouragement/mental toughness help.
In my coaching world for 2019, I continued to learn and grow. I began coaching kids, aged 6 to 12 at a local gym. We go over fundamentals and they learn skills in agility, speed, and strength. I also try to teach them their muscles and working hard while building confidence as an athlete. I also added a personal training certification to my resume. I am learning more and more about how much strength helps with endurance. They truly go hand-in-hand. (You hear that runners? You need to strength train!)
I plan to write some posts specifically on what I’ve learned thus far and how you can use these tips to help with your own training and growth. I’m personally working toward a very different goal this year, and I’m not quite ready to put it all out there, yet. I’ll just say it involves a bikini and a hardy spray tan.
For my 2020 coaching goals, I’d like to learn even more about all things endurance sports. I want to read more about mental toughness and overcoming obstacles – both mentally and physically. Hopefully as I learn more, I can share it with you all.
I’m looking forward to a challenging and lovely 2020. I hope you are too. Please check back here and shoot me an email if you have any questions or want to remind me to get my act together and write some posts!
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