Nuance

Endurance coaching has exploded. 

This has led to standardised programs being delivered through Training Peaks and whilst Training Peaks is great for delivery of sessions it doesn’t even go close to delivering coaching. 

I have a coach ? No - you have a bunch of sessions 

So how does the coach, coach then? 
How do they deliver nuance to the athlete ?

And what even is nuance? 

Nuance is described as ….

“subtle differences, distinctions, or variations in meaning, expression or tone.  It involves recognizing or conveying complexity in situations, ideas, or emotions that may not be immediately obvious”

and how does that apply to coaching ?

An example may be the long run. 

In TP it says “90min Endurance T2” 

The nuance of that as it applies to the individual athlete might be ….. 

“do this one in the trails so it develops your lower leg strength and resilience. Nutrition at 60g/hr. Eat prior to the run. Make sure you do this early so we are maximising your recovery time before the next session” 

Or …. 

“Do this one on the road as you have a race coming up. Check in on your race pace and what the heart rate and RPE is. Test the race day fuelling plan and the gels that you will use on race day” 

Why not just write that in TP then ? 

Believe me I have tried and it doesn’t work. 

Session descriptions : They don’t cut it. Most athletes don’t read session descriptions. 

Structured workouts : Great but that just says how fast to go - not how to fuel and where and how to run. 

Notes : Tried that - they also don’t get read after a while 

The only answer is to deliver coaching nuance by other methods available …. and the tricky bit there is we all have individual communication preferences. 

• Some are visual - video’s via instagram or YouTube 

• Some are auditory - podcasts 

• Some are readers - training articles and tips 

• Some are quiet and don’t interact with a coach but they are still listening and reading

So I have to use all methods and I have to use them repeatedly. In a busy world we sometimes just miss things or we have information overload and just don’t read them. 

Conclusion : 

Coaching isn’t just a training program. Coaching is also education (and support)

Successful endurance training isn’t just about “what” to do but also “how” and “why”. 

In this day and age coaches have a number of avenues available to them to communicate the education aspect and should use them all so the athlete can access information suited to their particular learning style. 

So it’s Training Peaks for what to do and newsletters, articles, podcasts and video’s for the how’s and why’s of doing it.