Coach Tip Tuesday: Surround Yourself with the Right People

I’m back again for another round of Coach Tip Tuesday!!

This week, we’re talking about something that is deeply rooted in our philosophy at Team MPI: surround yourself with the right people.  At Team MPI, we truly believe that we, as coaches, are a part of an athlete’s team.  Yes, that’s right, a *part* of it.  We say a *part* of it because we really believe that we are just that - a part.  The team that makes an athlete who they are is *much* more than just the coach.  And as such, it’s incredibly important that you surround yourself with the *right* people.

Part of surrounding yourself with the right people is picking people who build you up.  They are the people who help you en route to your goals and help you strengthen into your very best self.  They should be people who inject positivity into your life, but who can also provide constructive feedback when you need it.

A few suggestions: 

Don’t go on rides with people who treat every ride like it’s a race.  (And this can be translated to any other sport/discipline, too.)  There is a time and a place for hard efforts, with the most important of those actually being on your race day.  You don’t want to peak too early and miss your goal!!  How you perform against others on a training ride likely isn’t your goal.  If your goal is to perform well at a race, be sure to push in training when it’s time to push, but also remember to ease up when it’s appropriate, too.  Those easy efforts allow you to maximize your hard ones and make training gains over time. :)

Don’t run with people who mock your pacing strategies.  Everyone needs to find what works for them.  Are you a run/walker??  Fabulous.  Do not let others talk you into thinking that you must run for every second of your runs in order to be considered a runner.  The strategy that keeps you consistently moving forward is the one that you should stick to.

Most importantly: do not let anyone who deals in absolutes into your inner circle.  The only absolute is that there are no absolutes. :)  The longer I stay in the endurance sports world and the more I learn, the more I realize that I actually still have way more to learn.  I do not know everything, and neither does anyone else.  Each athlete is a unique individual, and as such, there will be variations in what works for everyone based on that individuality.

My friends, I implore you to surround yourselves with the right people.  With the right team, you truly can accomplish anything. :)