A coachable athlete.

That is what I strive to be personally. I do have athletic ambitions. They are not lofty, but I would like to race well and I would like to have fun doing it. I learned years ago that I , like the vast majority of the population, do a poor job of coaching myself. I over analyze, I create excuses of reasons to go hard or easy and I get caught up in my perception, not reality. So I have a coach and a good one.

Neal Henderson at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine is my coach. Its funny because Neal and I go back a long way. We raced Xterra together 8-10 years ago and even have a couple epic battles (which Neal won). We both went into coaching and didn't really hook up again until last year when he started coaching the Without Limits team.

I feel like I am fairly knowledgable when it comes to sports science. I have a Biology degree, i taught it for 4 years and I enjoy reading and studying it. However, Neal humbles me with his knowledge and passion. What better person to turn to and try and learn from.

A week back, I did my LT testing with Neal. i was actually a pretty frstrating experience. My LT watts were lower than last year at this time and I felt much fitter. I had just come off a a pretty successful cross season and I was riding a good bit. Neal sat me down and talked me through why he wanted me to start training easier. It makes complete sense but I gotta tell you my mind was screaming no. I try to be a coachable athlete though and I have been buying in and it has been paying off in a huge way.

It is hard to slow down to go fast and it is so hard to look at the big picture. Do I want to be fast now or July and September. Pretty easy answer for me, so I listened to the person with the most perspective. The one who could see the forest for the trees and that is no me. It was my coach. I have a sense there is a good season ahead of me.

Get a coach people. Find someone in your life that will criticize and will give good sound OBJECTIVE advice. Whether it is in sport, your relationship or your job, we all need help.