Coached

After feeling overwhelmed and floating aimlessly through training that I wasn't sure I was helping or hurting me, I finally determined that I needed a coach. Perhaps if I had two year to train for the Ironman, I'd have tried to figure it out myself – but with only six months to get ready – I couldn't experiment with my training. I needed an expert.

I'm 41 years old and the thought of having a coach seemed somewhat frivolous to me. After all, I'm not going to the Olympics or going for any records. Heck, the goal is to simply finish. But with my lack of time and lack of knowledge of the disciplines of biking and swimming, I couldn't afford to go it alone.

There are many triathlon programs that you can purchase on the web – they all looked very promising. You can get anything from a basic 24 week standard plan to a personalized plan that's updated weekly and email or phone interaction with a triathlon coach. That probably would have worked fine for me, but I felt I needed someone from the Louisville area that could personally see my skills (or more honestly – lack of skills) in swimming and on the bike. I needed advice from how to swim correctly to what type of equipment I needed for my bike. I felt a local and accessible person would be best for this.

I've secured Nancy McElwain of Train Smart (the reader may remember that she has already given me some swim lessons) as my coach. As I've mentioned before, she's an exceptional triathlete. We're still working on my training schedule (she's observed me working out a few times and given me a fitness test to see my fitness and skill level). I'm excited to get a schedule and happy to finally feel some solid direction in my training.