Informative and Inspirational

This past weekend was one of the most informative and inspirational weekends that I have had in triathlon and it did not involve any swimming, biking or running by myself. I spent this past weekend at the Provincial Triathlon Centre, located at the University of Guelph. I was there to complete my Intro to Competition Part 2 Coaching Certification and was not anticipating such an amazing weekend.

When I first arrived I was surprised that our group of coaches in training, dropped down to 7 from 13. We were all pretty eager and spent most of the weekend equally participating in discussions and activities put forth from our instructor. We were very fortunate to have the head coach of the Centre, Craig Taylor, fill in at the last minute. He was awesome because he let us talk things out and then added his thoughts when we asked or when it was required. His knowledge, expertise and energy about coaching triathletes is superior to anyone I have ever known in the sport. He lives and breathes triathlon everyday as he works with the elite and developmental junior triathletes of Ontario.

We were fortunate to be on course the same weekend as one of the PTC Training Days, which had approximately 30 young athletes participating. We were able to visit swim and bike workouts and see what some of the athletes and coaches were doing in their various groups. But what was really cool is how we were able to be part of the day as well. We created and delivered a run workout to 11 athletes ranging from 12-15 years of age. It was awesome to see how engaged and motivated the athletes were. We made a few mistakes in our workout but overall it went quite well. The beauty of coaching is reflecting on what just happened and then figuring out what you would change for the next time. Considering there were seven of us and our instructor we had some lively discussions surrounding the workouts that we saw and delivered.

So what did I learn? Many things but also I was reminded of few things I already knew I just had not pull them out for a while. For example kids love games and challenges. Motivated kids are sponges and will soak up everything you throw at them. Also triathlon is a sport where many coaches take a different approach to training and that's acceptable as long as you can support your beliefs and say "in my opinion...". The foundation of any physical activity or outing with children, whether they are athletes or students, is that safety comes first. After that, in athletic endeavors, everything is based around the core of the body and what is does while the actions are taking place. Many times our focus as coaches is to look at the components or appendages (arms and legs) to identify and correct error but most likely the core is the problem and something there has led to the problem. It is these final points about core that I have taken away from the weekend. Now I'll have to apply this new knowledge to my programming and see if my outcomes change.

Next step is to transfer my excitement, from this past weekend, into case study number 2, which I need to start on immediately, to make sure I am ready for part 3 in July. Where I will deliver 3 workouts to the provincial athletes at their summer camp in Collingwood.

The weekend went equally well for my wife, who completed her first 10 Mile running race, the Spring 10 Miler , on a tough course at Angus Glen Golf Club, which saw here place 4th in her age group. Woot Woot!

Happy Training!