Coach Carter

A quick post for this morning - don't worry, my 'real' blog post IS on its way, in fact I have already written it but I wanted to share an experience of yesterday before talking about the rest of my week...

For the past 5 years, my student Kerry has been working on her PhD (looking at the power-time relationship, or Critical Power to give it the more popular label). Yesterday, she had her viva (the oral examination that accompanies the telephone directory size thesis). I was with her during the 2.5h examination, and whilst I wasn't as nervous as she was (!) there was still an element of wanting to get through this experience. For the student, there is a desire to pass and get through unscathed; and for the supervisor there is the wish that the student performs to their potential; and that they control all they can control and get to enjoy the moment.  I didn't want any 'curveballs' coming from the examination team; but I also wanted her to be relaxed enough to enjoy the culmination of her hard work. It is very similar for the athlete and coach come big race day. Quite appropriately, I read a nice interview with Nicole Cooke this morning "It’s very much about working towards the races myself and being able to stand on the start-line and say: “I’ve done my best in the build-up to this. Now, let’s race and see what happens!” It’s about getting to the race in the best possible shape". All I could do as supervisor (alongside my colleague Jeanne) was get Kerry in to the best shape...the rest was out of my control! She did a great job, I'm very proud of her.

As well as having chance to reflect on the similarity of being a coach and a supervisor, bringing on athlete and student, I also had a 'deja vu' experience as Kerry and I waited to go in to the PhD viva. The room to be used was the very same one I was examined in some 12 years ago! What a journey in that time - a lot of water has flowed under the bridge; people have come and gone from my life; and I have certainly clocked up a few life experiences I could never have dreamed of. When I stood outside that room 12 years ago, I still hadn't picked up a bike; I was still researching in running physiology; and my dream was to be a full time University researcher. I was on a very different path, and had no idea I would end up in this very different place. It was quite strange to enter the room alongside Kerry, now as supervisor. One of the examiners was MY PhD supervisor, Prof Jo Doust: so that really capped off the strange sensation!

I enjoyed the 2.5 hour debate around the physiology; my 'professional development' for the week ticked off! But most of all, I enjoyed listening to Kerry - she is now an expert in her field. The other examiner, Dr Harry Rossiter, asked Kerry to kick off the viva exam with her thoughts on what a PhD is. I was really impressed with her reflections on the 5 years; how she had become to realise that 'getting' the PhD had become the side effect; that the process had become THE goal. I smiled, how often I speak with athletes about the process orientation rather than the priority being the goal! Harry loved the response too, and I liked the way HE summed up the PhD - Kerry was about to receive a "licence to practice science": the PhD is really the beginning of it all, not the end. Having thought about the last 12 years, I could not agree more