Why I Have a Coach

The conversation via e-mail went something like this:

Coach Mike: Let me know what races you plan on running, so they can be fit into your schedule.

Iron Pol: Sure, though I haven't signed up yet, my first triathlon is the High Cliff sprint triathlon. (Where Rural Girl, George Schweitzer, trimom, and gymgator will all be racing)

Coach Mike: You know, if you haven't signed up yet, you really should consider the half.

Iron Pol: Okay, I'll do that.

And here is how the conversation played itself out, in my head:

Coach Mike: Let me know what races you plan on running, so they can be fit into your schedule.

Iron Pol: Sure, though I haven't signed up yet, my first triathlon is the High Cliff sprint triathlon.
Coach Mike: You know, if you haven't signed up yet, you really should consider the half.

Iron Pol: Well, I my thinking was sprint, half IM, full IM, in a nice, controlled build.

Coach Mike: But a sprint distance race? You've had lots of training days longer than that, and we haven't even started IM training. It might be a bit short.

Iron Pol: Sure, but think of the great open water practice.

Coach Mike: If 440 yards is great open water practice, think how much better 2100 yards will be. If this were an Olympic distance, it might make sense. But a sprint? The half will tell us a lot more.

Iron Pol: Okay, I'll do that.

The nice thing is that the "in my head" part never really entered the picture. Mike gave his suggestion and I did what any apt pupil does. I listed to what was said, and barring a reasonable argument, I remained teachable. As I went through the discussion "in my head," I realized that the suggestion to do the half-IM distance just makes sense. That's why I have a coach. To make sense of the training, racing, training, racing mix. Left to my own devices, I've been known to do some fairly goofy things.