COACH’S CORNER By Dale Sanford, Performance Coach
Five Truths From An Endurance Coach I’ve been doing this for a while now, making it lucky 13 in 2022, and I have loved every minute of it. But it is always a challenge to educate people on exactly what we do as endurance (slash fitness, slash sports performance) coaches. If I had a dime for every time I heard, "I didn't know you guys did that," I could stop coaching now and head to the lake tomorrow. But we take full responsibility for this confusion, so we aim to clear it up! There are many misconceptions about what we do, who we work with, and how we can benefit people from all walks of life. So here are the top five things we (and every other coach out there) want you to know:
44
Yes, we can help with that
Yes, you are an athlete
That's not just a textbook sales pitch. If your goals fall in the realm of athletic (see point 2) improvement, a good coach can create a training system for you. We call it a training system because a training program alone does not always do the trick. And your training may or may not be the thing standing in your way. A good coach will look at every angle while formulating the plan that takes you from A to B. And that plan may change along the way. But a coach will be there every step of your journey. We have several athletes who only train to increase their quality of life and "age gracefully." Some train competitively within themselves, and then some are highly competitive individuals. So wherever you fall in, a good coach can help.
Many people think they can't benefit from a coach because they don't consider themselves an athlete. If you do any activity (in our case, swim, bike, run, or multisport) more than occasionally, you are an athlete. You don't have to be competitive to have a coach. You just have to have the desire and commitment to be the best version of yourself you can be.
Yes, you are good enough We often hear, "I didn't think I was [good, fast, strong, etc.] enough to work with a coach." I'm floored every time I hear this! The fact is, the less experience you have, the FASTER you will improve with the help of a coach. You've had less overall training and less time to develop bad habits, and you generally have an open and realistic mindset regarding long-term and shortterm goals. I say bring on the greenhorns!
Dale Sanford is the co-founder of BPC Performance, Inc. and has been coaching endurance athletes all over the world since 2009. From first-timers to world championship competitors and everything in between. Dale is also BPC’s bike fit and movement specialist. He is an avid triathlete himself, earning USA Triathlon All-American honors and qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. You can catch up with Dale @bpcperformance, bpcperformance.com, or listen to the Coaches on Couches Podcast.
