Coach Carter

Firstly, a big thank you to all of the well wishers - moving PBscience out of the University is an exciting, but also a scary step for me.  So, knowing I am supported is incredibly valuable for me.

As you can imagine, once you make a decision like this, life becomes a bit of a whirlwind. Not a day passes without a decision to be made, an order to make, a strategy to be planned, a meeting to discuss ideas....its been all go! This week for example, I took delivery of my cycle ergometer: the first step in making an ordinary leisure motorhome into a state of the are mobile laboratory!

I have selected the Wattbike as the bike on which to conduct my fitness testing. The bike is endorsed by British Cycling, being used in the main for their talent ID programme. I have spent a few mornings getting familiar with it, and its software, and in the main, I like what I see. Most importantly, it rides like a REAL bike - very smooth and 'on the road' like. Cyclists are very sensitive to that road feel - indeed, one of the persistent problems encountered in training is when turbo trainers are used and the rider is exposed to a very big 'dead spot' in the pedalling cycle. You don't get this with the Wattbike.

I also ordered the laboratory equipment this week: the gas analyser to measure oxygen uptake during the tests; the blood sample equipment to monitor chemicals such as lactate, glucose, and haemoglobin; the pulse oximeter to measure oxygen saturation in the blood; and various bits of kit to help me monitor body composition of the athletes. One issue I have had to overcome is the electrical supply - so another visit to specialists was needed to pick our way through this.  I now know a lot about motorhomes, leisure batteries, inverters....

Its very rewarding to get this far: each time I return home from a bike ride, I pass the motorhome, and I smile - a crazy smile at first, as I wonder "what on Earth have I done!" but, it feels very right. I know this is an incredibly unique idea, and can't wait to get the show on the road - literally. My hope is to have the mobile lab fully functional by September. I'm sure I will be keeping you all updated through the blog!

A big announcement to make this week - as from October 1^st, PBscience will be a standalone cycle coaching business!

Last week I wrote about those athletes I coach who have chosen to set themselves stretch goals by ‘going long' with ultra endurance and challenge events. I may well have put my competitive career on hold, but by no means have I stopped looking for challenges - and this is one of the reasons I have decided to take the PBscience service out of the University of Brighton, and set up as an independent cycle coaching business. The decision has not happened over night - indeed, I have been working on this project since Christmas Day - yes, that's right....when I discussed my wishes over a turkey dinner with Mum and Dad! Six months of planning, learning about business principles, speaking to various mentors - its been very busy, and gave me an insight into the world of entrepreneurs.

I have been an academic since finishing my PhD in 1998: people who know me well will say I have ALWAYS been an academic! Ever since my childhood, I have been studious, an "expert" in everything I could be - whether that would be astronomy, geology, meteorology...you name it, a scientist! Once the paths of sport and science aligned, the next step was to combine them, and that became my ‘raison d'etre' at college, University, career. I'm not straying off that path, but the way in which I wish to work in the field has evolved from research through to its application. So this is an exciting step for me. My roots are important though, so I will remain at the University one day a week , ensuring I stay up to date in the area.

The sport science basis of my cycle coaching is terribly important, so I have worked hard on making sure that my athletes will still receive the very best in sport science practises. PBscience athletes will still benefit from laboratory testing to inform their training plans, set their training zones, and monitor their fitness. In order to do this, I will be running a mobile lab - "Mobie" should be up and running by mid September. I will be keeping you updated on the refurbishment over the coming months.

I'd like to thank everyone who has made this move possible. To my athletes - their journey's have inspired me; to my family and 'close people' - their love and support have given me courage. I would also like to thank the University of Brighton for providing the intial opportunity for setting up the PBscience unit in house - I have thoroughly enjoyed working there since 1998, and am grateful for the on-going link.  Finally, I would like to express my sincerest thanks  to my mentor and boss, Professor Jo Doust. Without Jo, I would not be at this point in my life. Since first meeting him as a fresh faced, rather naive undergrad in 1992, he has tutored and counselled me in my career within sport science. He breathed life and passion into my childhood curiosity of science. Since the New Year, he has unselfishly helped me take the step out of the University in what could have been a conflict of his role: at all times, I felt he was looking out for me (as my mentor) rather than putting the University interests (as my boss) first.

Keep visiting this blog to watch the progress towards launch of PBscience in its new guise!

All around me, the PBscience athletes seem to be setting, and accomplishing somewhat extraordinary feats. Sometimes in fact, its easy to get a little blaise about what tests of human endurance we put ourselves through - once, to run a marathon was the 'big thing' now it seems, you have to do an Ironman!

Last weekend, it was the turn of Sara and Nigel to test themselves. Sara completed her first 100 mile time trial (choosing the National Championships  for the distance debut); while Nigel was in France riding like a maniac (!) in the infamous 'Mega Avalanche' event - a mad dash down the side of the odd Alp. Congratulations to them both for getting through these events (relatvely) unscathed. In my own career, I didn't get around to pushing these limits, so look on at these achievements with great pride.

Next week, two of my riders are looking towards more France based challenges: Tony rides the Etape next Monday, and Craig starts a 4 day event taking him from London to Paris. The Etape has become a huge event, attracting some 8000+ riders each year, inviting them to ride one of the most testing stages of that year's Tour de France. When the route for this year's Tour was released, the one to be selected for the Etape was left without question - it had to be the penulitmate day's trip up the Mount Ventoux. So, next Monday, Tony will ride the course with some 7999 others, hoping that the crowds will have thinned out by the time he hits the lower slopes of the Ventoux: the reward being a 21km climb up a slope averaging ~8%. Its an amazing challenge, and I am sure Tony will watch the Tour with great respect for the pro guys who not only ride this day, but within a 3 week route. Repeated efforts of riding, day in day out. Craig's event, the 4 day London to Paris route will give him a little taste of the pro's life. Both athletes have been working incredibly hard to prepare physically and mentally for the challenge. Watch this space as to how they get on.

Why do we do it? Because humans need goals. We all need a purpose in our lives, and for a lot of people, that fulfillment comes from sport. I love goal setting, yet I also know you can take a lot from the process of going for goals, not just attaining the end target. I had an athlete leave a great comment in their training diary this week, let me share it with you....

"Find I'm 'enjoying' not achieving the goals set - I know that I'm working my hardest to hit them and failing, which means I'm training in the right direction"

It might seem odd to hear pleasure at not hitting a target BUT, it does indicate the area for improvement. If we can engage in that process, strive to learn more about ourselves, we can only grow: whether it be physically, or mentally.

Friday was a busy day: a day set aside in my diary for training programme planning and writing; "Planning for Peak Performance". Normally I am able to time stagger my athlete's plans, as their race programmes differ. However, this time around, I had 7 athletes all needing a new training programme for after the weekend, so the heat was on! I love these days though: although busy, these are the days that sum up why I love my job as a cycling coach and sport scientist - armed with a coffee (or two), sitting in front of a computer screen looking over past training sessions, reflecting on rider progress against their goals and deciding on the best way forward. It is a little more challenging at this time of year to write training programme blocks, and not just because I was trying to keep an eye on Andy Murray's semi-final at Wimbledon!

At the beginning of the year, I sit down with all my riders and plan the season ahead - establishing what their goals are, and what events they would like to be in top shape for. With the knowledge gained from the lab testing, we can also map out their strengths / weaknesses against their preferred events. The year then becomes ‘periodised': split into discrete sections with specific aims for each. After this process, with the broad season structure in place, I sit down each 4 weeks and write a more detailed and structured training plan, and all the athlete has to do is go out and follow it!

We are now mid-year: riders have completed half the season, and for most, this part of the season has contained the priority races. A lot of athletes, professional as well as amateur, now work on multiple peaks in a year. For me, this is one aspect that distinguishes between recreational and serious athletes: in the former category, you have people aiming for one event at a time - like running the London Marathon. A serious club, national or international runner might have the same goal, but they also have one eye on what comes next: perhaps a second major peak in the autumn. And, because you have more than one peak, you effectively have to take your body (and mind) through more than one training cycle - and that includes rest and recovery. Indeed, several athletes of mine are now taking a week out of structured training.

What makes now more challenging for me as cycling coach is that I have added components into the equation now: consequences of the early season training and racing. In some cases, the overall year plan is still intact: it just needs tweaking and finalising. More often than not, goal posts have shifted - positively (performance having exceeded expectations) or negatively (personal circumstances have changed, or maybe illness / injury have delayed progress). Also, with some athletes in which this is their first season of working with me, we have learnt a lot together about how they cope and respond to training. I try to gather as much information as I can about how they feel the first part of the season has gone: both in racing and training. This all feeds into the second half of the season. I have to weigh up the balance of ‘if it ain't broke don't fix it' with ‘change as good as a rest' thinking.

I'm not sure every cycling coach would go through this depth of process in mid season. But I know from my own sporting career that breaking down the season cycle into two distinct propositions leads to faster progression of learning. I think it also fosters renewed motivation mid-year (and one major reason I like people to take time off the bike in July if they can). Some of the athletes are competing right through until the end of October - over 12 weeks away. That's a long time to hold mental focus and stick to a structured regimen.

So, some of my athletes may be kicking back, but it is actually one of my busiest times. I'd better get the coffee machine on!

This week, I wanted to share a couple of quotes with you - taken from this month's Cycle Sport magazine.....

"The results that matter to me are not the ones on the classifications sheet, but the ones on my bike's computer"

Carlos Sastre

"You have to be switched on every day, or you dont give yourself a chance. (Performing well) isnt even confidence: its eating well and sleeping well, training well - being really switched on"

Christian Vande Velde

Great words I thought - two of the most professional riders on the cycling scene. Both quotes encapsulate concepts I push hard as a cycling coach: Firstly, that we should only focus our efforts on things within our control i.e. in cycling, the power output we can produce, the fitness we develop in training. Secondly, that there is a lot to gain from seemingly small factors: leaving no stone unturned, or critical non-essentials, or aggregation of marginal gains (depending on who you are taking the same advice from). There is SO much more to performance than just the training: don't neglect nutrition, don't neglect recovery - optimise everything you can to maximise performance.

Speaking of maximising performance, my athletes have been doing just that! Congratulations to Sara, Lesley, Seb, Jez, Danuta and Dani for their PBs this past weekend!

Last week, I was invited by one of my athletes, Juliette, to attend a presentation by Will Carnegie - one of the youngest skippers to circumnavigate the World in the Global Challenge at the age of 27. This event is deemed as one of the hardest, given the sailing is done against the prevailing wind. Indeed, Will nearly lost two of his crew as they approached Australia. I enjoyed the talk: I find it very valuable to hear new people speak, listen to their stories and reflect on my interaction with others in my own work.

Now a motivational speaker working in business, Will used his hour long presentation to detail the experience of leading a crew of 18 ‘paying customers', explaining how it has shaped his approach in helping people in their personal, business and yes why not, sporting lives.

• It's in times of adversity that we learn most about ourselves.
• Always look forward, and don't dwell on what has been. Use that information, but move on.
• Focus on things you CAN control, and let other stuff go
• Goals are great, just make sure you break them into smaller steps - like displaying a chart of the Solent when you have just left Southampton not the world!

His biggest theme was something he referred to as "second effort". How people can affect the outcome by just putting a little more in to everything they do. By itself, that small increment in effort doesn't seem a lot. The example he gave was of one crew member keeping the kettle on, their way of contributing when they didn't feel they could help in any other way. That tea became vital - a warm, comforting drink when the crew were on board fighting high winds, or repairing equipment - that small thing DID make a difference. I speak of something similar for athletes in sports performance: ‘leaving no stone unturned'. Sir Clive Woodward would call it ‘critical non-essentials', whilst British Cycling have their ‘aggregation of marginal gains'. Many ways to say the same thing - don't over look the power of those small things. It is more than attention to detail - its putting in extra effort in areas that can be overlooked. For an athlete, only a fraction of each day is spent training: the time outside of training is just (if not more!) valuable to carry you towards your goals. Think how you can use that time.

The aspect with which I came away from Will Carnegie's talk was his leadership style. He told one story of how the crew were warned of an impending hurricane coming towards them. As he distributed the warning in a briefing, he noticed how quiet everyone was - what they really wanted to know was how did Will feel?  They were looking to their leader. At that time, Will could do one of two things: the traditional approach of spirit building a la Winston Churchill - the "we will not be beaten" message. The other (and his choice) was to share his vulnerability and fear of what was ahead. That must have been so tough - to voice his own concerns, yet to maintain the confidence of the crew and keep spirits high. What a fine balance - tricky at the best of times, perhaps even tougher in a boat surrounded by nothing but water as far as the eye can see!

I might not face these challenges on the open sea, yet I really resonated with what Will was saying here. I don't see vulnerability as a weakness - well, not anymore (that took a lot of work on my part). I've learnt that opening up, sharing myself, has brought a lot to each coach-athlete relationship I have. To let athletes know I truly understand, to show them I have had hard times too often helps unlock doors. I also have to be confident in saying I don't have all the answers either. And I think that is where relationships are made or broken. Some athletes want to be told what is ‘right' and ‘correct' - so if I don't know the answer, I risk losing their trust. In my work, what I am confident in is making it a shared effort moving forward. My skill is to help the athlete see there IS a way forward. It is all too easy to make everything a drama - so as a cycling coach, I know I need to show empathy and understanding, but then to show objectivity to help the athlete move on.

That really is the key - knowing how to help people move from the fear towards the reality, to focus on the things you can influence and leave the uncontrollable factors aside.

While in Seattle, I started reading the autobiography of Lori-Ann Muenzer. "Who?" I hear you say? Well, I hadn't heard of her either when I came across the book cover page on Amazon. Clearly a cyclist, so I ordered it! Reading on, I found out that she was in fact the Athens 2004 Olympic Gold medallist in the Match Sprints...I felt rather dumb for not knowing!

I have to say, this book is one of the best I have read: not one of those sport biographies that leave you wanting, where having read cover to cover you are still no clearer about what makes the athlete tick. No, this one resonated with me - did I see myself in it? Yes, a whole lot - someone who started in sport for a set of reasons, and found out a whole lot more by the end. I really suggest people go out and grab a copy, you won't be disappointed.

Perhaps the headline of the book is how Muenzer admits to her ‘monster': something she aims to conquer by pushing harder, going faster than anyone else. Driven to be the fastest woman on the planet, the roller coaster of events is amazing to read about - from near death in a crash, to the ‘ultimate' success with the Gold in Athens. How did she get there? I won't spoil the detail, but essentially, it came down to the work she did with her coach. Steen Madsen, also a track athlete, was someone Muenzer describes as 'Picasso' - a cycling coach who like the artist, turned things inside out to fully understand them. He could see that the major barrier for athletes is the psyche - the training itself is pretty straight forward: hit the numbers and job done. Hitting these numbers in races is where athletes come up against it.

Back in January 2006, I wrote an article for Cycling Weekly all about the importance of letting go of the race outcome in order to reach new performance levels. Madsen and Muenzer's approach was the same. Steen showed Muenzer that she had to first believe she could do something, attain that Gold, before she had any chance of getting there. Here's a quote I particulary loved:

"Maybe, I think, race simulations and mental rehearsals are more than just learning to believe. Perhaps the process of visualizing something can MAKE it happen....we dream that something could be, and somehow the world is transmuted"

In the early part of 2004, Muenzer was practising that belief, attending events looking and feeling like a champion - becoming a champion was the next inevitable step. Madsen is even quoted as ‘knowing' she would win Gold in Athens once he saw her taking on this persona in the track centre. As a fellow cycling coach, reading Madsen's commentaries alongside the chapters was fascinating.

On Sunday, at the National 25 mile championships, I witnessed seven of my own riders' behaviour pre-race: a multitude of differences, all very interesting. Some with a quiet level of self-assurance, others with an obvious ‘fear' of not getting what they wanted. It is hard as a cycling coach to know what to say at these times - you always wish you could come up with a gem, a pearl of wisdom that flicks a switch and releases THE performance. But, I know from personal experience how long the process of truly letting go and flowing in the performance can take. In fact, it took me my whole cycling career of 6 years to do so.

Another medal for the a3crg ladies, well done team!

My feeling is that you need to BE a champion before you can BECOME a champion. You have to believe, know, trust, that your goals are there to take - it is just a case of when, not if. Trust that, and enjoy the time in between.

For those of you that know me, you will not be surprised to hear that I sit writing this in a cafe: Starbucks. For most towns and cities across the world, this information would be enough to let you know where I am. But, given I am in Seattle (the home of Starbucks) I have to add this is the shop on 6^th Avenue - that's narrowed it down a little, but not much! There are over 11,000 Starbucks in the USA, and I have sampled a few of those this week, the typical venue for my downtime in between conference sessions at the American College of Sports Medicine.

I've needed the caffeine to not only get me through the initial jetlag, but also to stay alert - in a conference of this size, days stretch from 7.30am through to 6pm. The space in between my selected programme has also afforded me with chances to download training files from athletes and communicate with them via email. The e-connected world we live in means there are no barriers to work. A really busy week, but I have loved the rhythm of life out here. Enough of my cafe hotspot life though, and onto what I have learnt this week....

I last came to the ACSM conference in 1998; then the venue was Orlando, Florida. This week, I have seen many of the same faces from 11 years ago, but now many of them are one or two rungs higher on the ladder: once my peers as PhD students, these sport scientists are now leading symposia presenting the cutting edge research from the groups they direct. My career could so easily have gone that way: instead, I chose to opt out of the system in 2006, instead taking a 2 year ‘sabbatical' to focus on my competitive cycling career. It was that experience that brought me here: focusing the application of my sport science knowledge through cycle coaching. My choice of sessions to attend this week has highlighted this shift: looking for content that I can directly apply to the athletes I coach. My conclusion? I have completed my metamorphosis from being a sport scientist who coaches to a coach with a sport science background. That may appear a subtle distinction, but to me, it has been a huge realisation this week.

The quality of the presentations and symposia has been mixed: it is always difficult to gauge the worth of a session until you have attended it! This can lead to some disappointment and frustration of choosing the ‘wrong' parallel session (at ACSM, it is not unusual to have 4 options for a given time!) So, I have made sure I have got added value, seeking out the experts I wanted to engage in one to one discussion: and I have been fortunate on that score, managing to interact with several world class practitioners and applied sport scientists: representatives from sporting bodies such as British Cycling and the Australian Institute of Sport; and Pro Tour cycle teams like Slipstream-Garmin, and Team Columbia.

My major task this week is to make notes from the conference and my discussions with the experts I have discussed training, performance and nutrition with. In order provide the very best service to my PBscience clients, I want to feedback all the useful information I have been devouring! Keeping up to date with current thinking is very important in sports performance and here is where I feel fortunate to come from a sport science background. Being able to communicate with scientists in their language, yet delivering it onward in athlete language is a skill: not all coaches are capable of that. Even though I have become aware of my shifting identity, my ongoing professional development must cover both science and coaching practises. Therefore, I see coming to ACSM or other similar events as an ongoing priority for me. If nothing else, the networking has been worth the 20 hour round trip....I hope I still feel that way in 24 hours time when I touch down back at London Heathrow with anticipated jetlag!

The 2009 national time trial championships started with the ‘10' this weekend. A successful outing for the PBscience athletes - national team award honours going to the a3crg ladies team (Lesley and Danuta being athletes I coach); several power output and season time personal bests; and a few cases of athletes showing a return to form having had slow starts to the season for one reason or another. With each circumstance, I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the athletes' day.

I had the inevitable question directed at me - did I miss being a rider? It was a good opportunity for me to reflect on this, given that it was exactly a year ago that I went through my ‘defining' experience as an athlete on my way to 5^th place. This time around it was a different kind of buzz, but I learn as much in my coaching role as I did during my own sporting journey. Primarily, cycle coaching allows me to apply my sport science knowledge. I spent considerable time before the event looking at the course profile, environmental factors and speed / power relationships in order to give each rider a tailor made pacing strategy. Yes, time trialling is about going as fast as you can over the set distance. BUT, "not every watt is created equal" - two different riders with the same power output for a 10 mile time trial could post different performance times. All the riders I work with set about to adhere to their pacing strategy, and without exception, all came back having followed the plan. One thing that caught us out was the weather - it was a lot warmer than expected, particularly for the men's event in the afternoon. The first warm day of a summer is a hard prospect to deal with, as the athlete's body has not had chance to acclimatise. In the data we collected from the race, it was clear that most, if not all the athletes I work with, were affected by the afternoon heat, and consequent dehydration. We learnt from this, and will have plans in place for the forthcoming events.

With eight riders to look after, I was conscious of being flexible in my coaching style, adapting to each rider's needs and character. You learn a lot about people pre race, both in the week leading up to the event, and in the time immediately before. I imagine they learn a lot about me in those times too! I had to be aware of how to manage expectation, and be ready for the rider's perceptions around ‘failure' and ‘success'. With many of the athletes, we set about defining pre-ride performance criteria: what would be our measure of a ‘good performance'. This is an important aspect of my coaching style. When riders start working with PBscience, we hope to foster an attitude that focuses less on factors you cannot control (i.e. race result, ranking) and more about those things you CAN influence (preparation, following a strategy). In this time post race, we will de-brief on the performance, assessing how they measured up to those criteria. I will do the same with my own performance as a cycle coach: how could I improve my service to each athlete? What would I do differently? What worked well and I will look to repeat?

I'm writing this as I sit on my plane to Seattle. I'm away for a week at the conference of the American College of Sports Medicine: the biggest annual sport science conference. I'm presenting two papers here this week, so despite what some people think, it is NOT me paying homage to the home of Starbucks! I'm hoping it will be a week of updating on the latest in sport science, so I am full of anticipation. However, I cannot help myself in thinking further ahead, and what will unfold for my athletes for the rest of the season - after what I was fortunate to be a part of this weekend, exciting times - watch this space!

I had to blog today - having just returned from one of those ride experiences that puts you back in touch with why you ride your bike - like falling in love again. I had that feeling on my Wednesday ride with my good friend Andy (as we rode to Cafe Nero in Lewes before its evening closing), but this morning it overwhelmed me.

I was up and about early this morning, necessitated by the busy workload today: rider calls to take, athlete training programmes to write, as well as preparation for the conference in Seattle I fly out to on Monday.But, on mornings like this, its no hardship. I was soon rewarded by my early start with the view from Beachy Head at 6.30am this morning, and I just had to share it with you.

Ever the sport scientist, I love numbers, and I truly value data gathered in training. But sometimes, you have to ignore the power data, remove the heart rate strap and just ride. As I rode up Beachy Head, I stripped off the iPod and listened - nothing except the sound of my wheels on the upward reaching tarmac. On a head-wind day, this road is the cruellest I know. This morning, it felt like a no chain day.

As I took this shot from the top, it dawned on me how similar the shapes are to the PBscience logo, with the wnding road coming towards you. Its quite significant and deliberately chosen; as progressing to a sporting goal is like a mountain ascent. I wish all my athletes many 'no chain days' in the coming weeks as the season unfolds.