And another thing....

Related to what Alison said in her comment. Communication is hard. Esspecially when one or both of the parties are stressed or tired or frustrated. And as a coach trying to work with several people at once it is hard to keep everything straight. Some days we get into a rhythm and everything just works. Other days it's like feeding time at the zoo - everyone wants their meal NOW.

And please don't forget an athlete as a voice too. Feedback from an athlete is important. I would rather you speak up and let me try to help you work out the issue. And if you need to be left alone because you are saturated or overwelmed or something then let us know too. Communication is a two way street. Sometimes we don't know how to help. Sometimes we don't say the right thing. But 99% of the time it is coming from a place of good intentions.

I have learned that when my head is busy from work related stresses or a day where I have been exposed to some emotionally draining stuff I can't do a track workout. I just need to run in my own head. Or with music. Or with a friend. Or with Duke.

Another pointer I'd like to offer is that when you ask for feedback, pick something relatively specific that you want to work on or want feed back on. It is really hard to answer the questions "what do I need to work on".

Oh and sometimes hearing the same thing from someone else in a different way is exactly what you need. It took 4 or more people working on it before Brian got his head around not swimming like a polo player. It's taken 3 people working on me to get my head around climbing hills.