Each week, one of our our coaches jots down a short thought piece giving insight into elements of coaching, training, racing or mindset. This week Coach Chris talks about how coaches not only need the data that comes from your watch, but also your insights into your training session and your body.
Remember the panic when the Garmin website and servers all went offline? Added into an already stressful situation of lockdowns, constant negative press and more, runners and triathletes were in for another challenge to their training routines and type A personalities…
With every curveball there is a silver lining and my silver lining to this little blip was how the runners I coach reacted. Nobody complained, everyone just sent me pictures of their watches or told me how they were doing, using their own words. They didn’t *need* the stats and didn’t *need* the kudos from Strava. As someone who rarely looks at my running data, this doesn’t bother me personally, but as a coach, I do rely on a combination of the data that comes from people’s training session and (the information I often find more valuable) each athletes verbal feedback and how they coped with the demands of each session.
So… Next time you are looking to provide feedback to your coach in words rather than data, what might your coach be looking for answers to?
Did you do the full session and did you do it correctly?
How did you feel physically and mentally and why might this be the case?
What went right / wrong?
Did you notice any niggles, tightnesses or injuries?
Coaches are often at their best and most useful when they are reading between the lines and get to look you in the eye, and adapt your training based off your body language or the your verbal feedback. Your data is one part of the equation and your feedback is the other. Don’t forget to give them both!