Glen, 43
Coached by Kym since 2015
ZED Athletic Life Coaching: Apprentice Level since 2017
Athletic Goals: Triathlon, building from Sprint distance toward ½ Ironman distance over three years.
When I started working with Kym, a couple of important things were true for me:
- I didn’t like running and assumed I never would
- I thought I swam pretty well
- I had never been really coached before.
The third of those things turned out to be the most important because it helped me reconsider and change the other two. My perception of coaching at the beginning was definitely that the coach was in control of workouts and planning, and the athlete was there to put in the physical effort. That approach can work, but it works to achieve the coach’s goals, not the athlete’s. Under that system the athlete usually ends up not understanding very much of the how—and even less of the why—of their training.
Kym’s approach is different. She wants me to grow toward understanding the how and the why. When I talked about not liking running, she started by asking questions around why I didn’t like it (boring, hard to plan for weather conditions, didn’t feel improvement). While she knew that I needed help with my running form to get better, she didn’t start there. She got me doing short runs that focused on the sensory enjoyment of being outside, noticing things that made me happy, which completely changed why I run, and made me more willing to work on the form changes that have helped me get faster.
When we started working on my swimming, one of the first things she did was to gently show me that my version of “swimming pretty well” was actually pretty inefficient. Memorably during one lesson I was kicking as hard as I could but going backward. No joke—backward. She could have started there but instead she made a great analogy and offered me a choice. She told me that good swim technique is like building a castle—the foundation is very solid and it’s hard to knock it down, but it takes a long time to build. In a nice way, she made it clear that what I thought was my castle of swim technique was more of a rickety shack, and her question to me was, “Do we fix up the shack or build a new castle?” Together we considered the choice and decided to temporarily fix the shack. The next year we started castle construction, but understanding how she was thinking about it and being involved in the decision making has made me a lot more invested in my swim development.
Another reason why Kym’s coaching style works for me is that she’s willing to bring her own athletic process and struggles into the light. When she has trouble sticking to her training plan, we talk about it. When she really likes a workout and is motivated, her enthusiasm helps motivate me.
Fun Trivia About Me:
Favorite sedentary activities: Trying new beer, sleep (usually in that order)
Active hobbies that you don’t train for: Bike-based camping, dinosaur impersonation
Top three pieces of gear or clothing: Bike multitool (hex wrenches,) Headsweats hat, Body Glide
Least favorite fuel during activity: Anything sticky or chocolatey.
Your pet’s names: Jester (feline,) Blue (canine)
