First Week Stats

The first week of training involves tests to set a baseline to gauge performance.

Baseline body stats:
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 147
Blood Pressure (BP): 108/72
Resting Heart Rate (RHR): 68

First a run test. 1.5 miles as fast as possible, after a 10-minute warmup jog.
Result: 10:25, 6:58 pace. I'm impressed! And this is his starting pace. I'm happy to see 10 minute miles. But then, that's why I coach, not do.
Then the bike: Warmup 20 minutes, then 5 miles balls-out on a flat, non-stop course.
Result: 16:21. 18.4 mph. Not horrible, but we really need to get this up into the 20's.
Finally, swim: 20 laps of 50 yards each. (20x50).
Result: 22:08. 2:12/100m. 2:00 is considered 'average', so we need some work there. His form in the swim is pretty bad.

I have his first three weeks of workouts done. There's a lot to this. Duration, intensity, number of minutes per week, and the various workouts and drills to improve performance. Add to that the fact that he doesn't know what any of these terms means. If I write 'tempo run' he goes, 'huh?' Intervals -- "huh?" Warmup first -- "huh?"

So I'm writing short notes under each day's workouts to remind him and explaining in as much depth as he can stand what he needs to do and why.

It'd be best if I could be there for each of his workouts, but I can't. Our work schedules don't always allow that. But in the beginning here, I almost have to or we'll never get anywhere. We're juggling our schedules and doing workouts with me there whenever possible.

His running style has changed nicely. I've been working on the Chi Running style with him for a while now, long prior to this coaching stint, and he's really adapted to it. He plants mid-foot nicely, he picks up his heels with perkiness, he has a short stride, a high cadence, and he keeps his feet directly under his hips. All is well there. When he gets tired he reverts to the heel strike a bit and he sometimes tends to lead with his stomach instead of his pelvis, but overall it's very good.

I can't keep up with him on foot, so I put on rollerblades to teach him intervals the other day. Me with my Forerunner, timing his intervals and his pace. It was fun. He enjoyed it, too. He'd never done intervals before and said he liked how it felt. He actually even asked what this was supposed to be doing for him. He was interested in a sports training theory! I explained all the things that intervals are supposed to do for you: increase lung capacity. Increase overall speed. Give the ability to change speed as needed during the course of a race. Burn fat (though he has no excess fat. I'm the one that needs this).

The next day I walked up and down the pool and coached his swimming style. Lots going on there. He doesn't roll very well and he refuses to try bilateral breathing. A half hour of work with Total Immersion drills, a bit of arguing discussion, and he started to improve. By the end of the session he really looked good. Like a torpedo through the water. He also tried a few laps of bilateral breathing and decided it might have some merit. Hooray for that. He tends to really jerk his head out of the water to breathe, and struggles to do so. Then the next day his neck is killing him. If he can swim more smoothly, create a better pocket to breathe in, and bilateral breathe to share the wear on his neck I think he'll do a lot better.

Then with the bike. Seriously don't know how much I can help him there without getting more help myself. I explained what I know about pedal technique: keep pressure on the pedal through 360⁰. How to do this? Not really sure. Has something to do with angle the foot touches the pedal. My Ride Fast book says to do one-legged drills to feel the flat spots. I did those myself and found loads of flat spots. Didn't make much progress in fixing them, though. And seeing it on someone else? Nope. Can't do it. I can see if he's wobbling his upper body or riding a wavy path, but I can't see his pedal efficiency. Really need to figure this out better, and soon.