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Training Tips are designed to shed light on different aspects of training that may seem basic, but are often overlooked. 
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Coaching a National Champion From 1000 Miles Away: Part Two- Technology

10/31/2017

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The Technology
   As we began on our journey in Winter of 2016-2017, Reese’s parents made it clear that he was lacking interaction. From a coaching perspective I knew that there were options for us to use that would help alleviate the problem of being 1000 miles way. While local coaches are fantastic and I would strongly urge everyone to seek one out, sometimes they get wrapped up in just a traditional sense of coaching which includes a stop watch and vocalization at practice.  While this is needed, I wanted to provide Reese with another perspective which included interactive technology and advanced performance tracking.  Below is how we achieved this. 

Skype
   Quite possibly the easiest solution to not being in person was utilizing the software Skype. Since early 2017, we have set up weekly calls on Skype so we can not only talk, but be held accountable, presentable,  and respectful to each other. We put a premium on listening to each other which can be visualized over the video feed. Every Monday at 4:00 PM we have spent 30-60 minutes going over Reese’s training, his plan of attack for the next week, his weaknesses, his areas of strength, and then possibly most important, just getting to know each other outside of sport. To form a strong relationship with a coach/athlete, you need to be more than just sport. This is something that I am passionate about so I always ensure that we discuss fun activities outside of training that either himself or I are going through at the time. Training simply off data can de-humanize a person, so by keeping that human element in there is critical for the connection and trust on both sides of the relationship in my opinion. 

STRYD Power Meter
   The best advancement in the sport of running has been the power meter. Reese’s father Rodney was supportive of the idea and what it could mean for his son, so he was able to purchase one of them through our business and we haven’t looked back since.  While Reese is out training with his friends at track practice, he is going through group activities or running intervals. While he has a sense of how it feels, the only data that he can go off of is his pace and times. At the end of the day, a fast pace is whats needed to win national championships, but there is a lot more that goes into pace other than just tracking seconds and speed. By looking at Reese’s power numbers and intervals, we were able to identify a threshold value and anaerobic value. Trying to describe these ideas to a 12 year old has been challenging, so instead we focus on feelings in the body.  Do you feel like your legs are on fire?   Do you feel like you’re gasping for air?  Okay good, thats exactly what the numbers indicate… what if we pace it like this,  how does that feel?  These conversations went on for 4-6 months. Reese had to take a step back in his mentality to take 3 large steps forward. Luckily for me, he was willing to try.. and together we worked through the difficult times of slower results or not winning events. Over the past 8 months, the stryd power meter has been one of the best tools we have used as it gives me exact data on what he is doing and how to best inform his decisions going forward.  I will discuss more on how it won him National Championships in Part 3

ZWIFT
   This may be the key that unlocked Reese’s 2017 potential.  We have recently started using ZWIFT which is an interactive cycling software. Reese pairs up his power meter to his computer, I do the same thing, and we both have avatars on a screen riding together. While this is great for anyone of any age (I personally use it for all of my indoor cycling training), it was especially effective for a 12 year old that enjoys video games. Again, his father approved of the software and helped set it up, and we have been using this over the past several months to teach Reese specific pacing strategies and execution. While on ZWIFT we will get on a call and set up speaker phone so we can ride, see each others avatar next to each other.. and talk over the phone. It has been our “ah-ha” moment in terms of getting that hands on feel while being 1000 miles away. We are literally training together in unison regardless that we are in separate garages in Texas and North Carolina.  In Part 3 I will discuss our training protocol for teaching Reese pacing tactics in his races. 

TrainingPeaks
   As I alluded to in Part 1, we utilize the training software TrainignPeaks and WKO4+ (behind the scenes). It allows all of Reese’s workouts to be uploaded so I can view them, ensure he is getting in the training required (but not too much, he is only 12 years old) and give feedback on what I’m seeing. This mixed with all of our other technology has allowed for a customized approach to every workout he does. 

In Part 3 of this series I will discuss specifics into Reese’s training approach and how we have worked to improve his performance.
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Coaching a National Champion from 1000 Miles Away: A Three Part Series

10/30/2017

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Part 1: Introduction:
   Reese Vannerson is the 2017 12 year old AAU national champion in the 800 meter, 1500 meter, and 3000 meter events. Over the past year, I have been lucky to work with such a talent, but its had its fair share of ups and downs in terms of efficiency. Throughout this 3 part series, I will take you through our introduction, tactics, tools we use, and methods for improving. The goal of this series will be to inform the reader on how to maximize their racing and correctly select guidance, even if they aren’t located within your town. 

Local Coaches: 
  It would be ignorant of me not to mention the help Reese gets on a local level. Reese is part of a track team in Sugar land Texas, goes to swim practice with a local youth group, has access to a local cycling network for indoor training, and has a great support crew in place. While I feel what we have done has positively impacted Reese in his endeavors, it takes a village to create a champion. Reese’s parents have gone above and beyond in providing him with training groups in order to constantly push him and strive for the goals he has set. 

First Introduction:
    I met Reese at a Mind Right Endurance camp in June of 2016. He was a young 11 year old and my colleague Jeremy Brown had been advising him in a couple of his endurance disciplines. Over the course of camp we were able to ride together for many miles, get to know each other, and start to form a bond that would be re-examined in Winter of 2016-2017. 

  When Winter rolled around in 2017, Reese’s dad Rodney Vannerson, Jeremy Brown, and myself got together to identify that Reese and I would be a good fit given we both had goals of excellence in endurance athletics. At that moment, we decided that I would oversee Reese’s development in terms of overall management of performance. Reese would still have his track coach, still have his swim coach, but I would oversee cycling and eventually look over all of his data from a performance aspect. 

Getting Started:
    To initially get started, we set up his TrainingPeaks account which allows any endurance coach to program in workouts and have his/her athlete upload their training files. Essentially, a coach will go in and write a workout (run 4 miles for example) and if the athlete does the workout and records it on a device (a watch), it can be uploaded to show the coach GPS files, heart rate, speed, elevation, etc.  Depending on what the watch does will depend on how much data you can receive.  For reese, this meant that I would see his pace, power (Stryd running power meter), heart rate, elevation, and cadence. On the bike I would see his heart rate and power meter as well. Having these tools available, we focused in on a plan that would help Reese maximize his racing and aim to set personal records and hopefully achieve his goal of national championships. 

Initial Discussions:
    Talking with a 12 year old will make you re-think how you coach an athlete. Having worked with more experienced athletes (ages 22-60), I had developed a certain type of dialogue that I was comfortable with. Within the first 5 minutes of talking with Reese, I knew that I was going to have to change the way I coached. While challenging, I was excited for this change of pace as I felt it would bring me back to the roots of coaching and also allow myself to learn throughout the journey as well. If you think you understand something in depth, try discussing that topic with a young adult, I bet you will have a new outlook on the material and it will give you a new perspective as well!

So, Reese was on board, I was learning on the fly, his parents trusted in me as a coach, and I knew I had a job to do.  In part 2 of this series I will touch on the technology we have used to help Reese (while being 1000 miles away) work with me 1-on-1 and see actual improvements that have led to his development as an athlete. 

Part 2:  Technology of Coaching an Athlete 1000 miles away. 

​
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    Author

    Derek is a Level III USAC coach with his masters degree in Coaching Sports Performance, his passion is to help others in the sports of cycling and triathlon.

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