Thursday, October 13, 2011

Nancy, fancy pants….

I have mentioned my coach often in my blog and if you haven't gotten it by now, she is frigging amazing! I have also said many times about how everyone related to the sport of triathlon are amazingly helpful and motivating.

There are two types of 'athletes' in my view. You guys and the rest of us. "You guys" are the unbelieveably dedicated, hard core, never let a little rain or I don't know, tornado, get in the way of your training for the day. You train HARD, race HARD, live your life in the best way possible. You eat healthy 99% of the time and you are always positive. You always have a moment to hang out with the rest of us and offer up some great advice, support, show us some tricks.. You guys are awesome!

The rest of us don't want to stand on the podium, we want to finish and have a great time doing it. We are looking to balance our lives, eat better, train hard more often but it's not really our passion. Running, not my passion, cycling, not my passion, swimming, not my passion BUT I love the variety of training that triathlon gives me, the people I get to interact with and how I feel whenever I finish whatever workout I am doing.

never without a smile
Lots of people have coaches. My coach works with many elite athletes but she also works with the rest of us. I think "we" are her passion. She GETS us. She motivates us to keep going, push harder, get the best out of our workouts and ourselves yet when life deals you a blow that sends you running from the world she's there with a hand, quietly waiting for you to come back. ALWAYS encouraging, never condescending. Hardly a week has gone by where she doesn't send me a text or email checking in on me. Every month she provides me with a program and checks in to see how things are going. If she gets frustrated with a lack of progress due to 'insert any old excuse here' she NEVER shows it. She is always looking for where are you now, how are you feeling, what do we want to work on next. I love every person that I have met in the sport of triathlon but Nancy… SHE is truly the best. The best competitor, motivator, supporter.. EVER hands down.


Always making everyone smile!

I pay a monthly fee for my personalized program and it also gets me into most of her running, cycling, swimming, yoga and party (haha) clinics. Occasionally there may be additional fees but not often. I also get to be a part of the Mommy's in Motion team and Iron Canucks (additional fees there), we spend an hour every month one on one working on a discipline, whatever it is I want to do. With the running/cycling/tri clinics we have guest speakers that come in to talk to us about things like injury prevention, nutrition (loved that girl), heart rate training etc.  Hell she even had Brian come in and talk to the team one time.

I'll never get to the podium, I only want to get to the finish line and have her run me in like she does for every single member of her team.

Who is Nancy Hastings? She is an athlete, an amazing coach whether you are elite or one of us AND she is a great friend. I can tell you without her especially these last 6 months I wouldn't be here and I definitely wouldn't be back training.

with her trusty bullhorn at a race simulation

that's all I got...

8 comments:

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I am in the "rest of us" group, someday, I hope to be in the "You guys" bunch

adena said...

BDD YOU are most definitely one of the 'them'. :-)

misszippy said...

So great that you found someone like Nancy. Coming from a coaching perspective, motivating clients who maybe aren't totally passionate about their sports is one of the toughest challenges. So she's figured some good stuff out!

RockStarTri said...

There very few "you guys." As a proud member of the "ROU" crew" it is great you connected with your coach so well.

adena said...

MissZippy, I am so grateful for her patience. I can only imagine what a pain in the ass I am. :-) Whether you are elite or the rest of us participating in anything at any level really is life changing.

RockStarTri, thanks for the comment. I think 99% of bloggers and tweeters I have connected with qualify as 'you guys' in my eyes. That means YOU.

Julie said...

Most certianly in the " ROU crew" as RST called us. You have found an amazing woman there!

I love all the benefits of triathlon/running and the people yes the people are one of the biggest draws!

Anonymous said...

Every time I see you, I see the impact Nancy's had on your life. Glad you have her in your corner.

...D

Jason said...

That is what a coach is all about. Having that person to understand you is key. I just got off the phone with Coach C for over an hour. Once off the phone I got a text from her. It is amazing the effort they put into US isn't it?

Just like you love Coach Nancy I lvoe Coach C and it's for the exact same reasons you listed.