Pausing to Process Adaptation

This month I’ve had quite a focus on adapting to change. I’ve introduced my ADAPT model, looked into why we as humans are resistant to change and how change helps athletes to improve their performance. Now I’m taking my own advice and pausing to see how I’m making changes to continue growing as a coach and athlete.

In the past, I’ve worked with a triathlon coach who got me over that initial hurdle of juggling three sports in one event, and we worked well together over this year. However, life changes and my little boy coming along meant I couldn’t commit fully to training, and the cost just ended up becoming unjustifiable. Despite being a qualified coach myself, I haven’t properly sat down and developed my own training plan until this month. I’ve taken some time to try something new by looking deeply into the numbers from my training and performance over the past year and started to forecast a (hopefully) sustainable plan to initially take me through to the Lisbon half marathon in March, then the Manchester marathon in April.

I’ve started periodising my plan, using TrainingPeaks’ Annual Training Plan feature. I can plan my ideal levels of fitness at each of the events, scaling in a sustainable way, looking at how much I’ve been able to train the past few months. I’ve planned the first month, looking to use progressive overload to give my body an opportunity to build, with the fourth week for a bit of recovery.

This may be a bit of a cheat to say this was part of my month of change and adaptation, but I’ve began expanding my skillset into coaching triathlon. Earlier this month I completed British Triathlon’s foundation coach course, which means I can start helping out coaching at my local club. It’s the first step on the ladder of me being able to coach 1:1 triathlon, like I do with running, but it’s a starting point.

It's been a different mental challenge this course. While there is a lot of crossover with coaching running, there is a lot more focus on the techniques required of each individual sport, as well as coaching young people, which I don’t do in 1:1 coaching. This additional aspect of safeguarding, making training fun with games and letting the young people lead their learning is something I’m not used to. However, on reflection, some of these techniques I think could be utilised in coaching adults and could really help develop me as a coach.

Also, part of the course qualification needs me to deliver 3 sessions in a club environment. Due to being away with work throughout November, I've thought about how I can still deliver the sessions and change my initial plan of running them at the club in Lincoln. I've reached out to the head coach of a club in Brighton, and it looks like he'll be able to support me getting these done while I'm down there. Adaptation in action!

I’ve also reviewed how I stretch myself outside of my comfort zone professionally. It can be quite easy to just turn up to work every day, competently operate, and feel ‘comfortable’. While I’ve proven I know my work, it’s also good to stop and think about where my weaknesses are and how I can stretch myself to improve my performance even further.

The benefits of implementing change work cross-domain; professionally, socially and physically. Using my ADAPT model, I’ve made myself aware of where I’ve started to get too comfortable and what my barriers to change are. I’ve defined my objectives, in my work, as well as through sport. Now I’m acting, taking small steps regularly, to build consistency and ‘trick’ my mind into thinking this change is easy. I’ve paused. Not just now writing this, but I’m trying to generate time daily for reflection. And these reflection periods I’m tethering to existing habits, such as with my morning coffee spending some time to think and journal. I’m continually looking for ways to grow, and embracing change is a key step on that path.