I’m Checking In

Take the title quite literally, this is just a check in as it has been a while between posts. Life has been hectic as ‘normality’ has returned to Sydney as far as COVID goes. The last time I posted was 3-4 months ago as Term 3 of school came to a conclusion. Back then, I had 3 classes online and even if there was a frustrating administrative element to online teaching, I was enjoying getting to know my students well while online and good learning was happening. As I highlighted in my most recent post, I’m blessed to have very bright and challenging students in my class. Now, as of 5-6 weeks ago, school has returned to face to face and I’ve picked up an extra 2 English classes and a tutor group (which is kind of like a pastoral care group). Essentially, my social interactions doubled and became face to face at work and with a return to face to face coaching, I went from seeing one face quite consistently (being my partner’s, who has a pretty great face) to 130-150 faces 3-5 times a week. Truthfully, it was overwhelming and I have been stretched professionally, socially and emotionally. Bears coming out of hibernation undergo a ‘walking hibernation’; a process which allows them to slowly increase activity levels over the course of weeks post hibernation. Myself and pretty much everyone around me were not afforded this. It was 0-100 and I didn’t handle it well. Finally, this reality has been acclimated, but it has taken a while. The opportunity to write, to reflect, to upskill or to even really indulge and enjoy social interactions hasn’t been possible. It took a little bit of a check in with myself a couple of weeks ago to reassess the trajectory of the rest of my year; to take a breath and to chill out. Anyways, we’re here finally and I’m keen to write. Holidays are around the corner and the future of teaching and coaching is shining the brightest it ever has.

Lagom

To get good at something, you need to do it. Sounds pretty simple, but simplicity was something forced upon teachers (and coaches, too) as teaching was remote. Sometimes adverse conditions lead to the elimination of choice; and when there are fewer choices to make, there is a higher chance of making a good choice. As teaching was online, the possibilities weren’t as endless and as such, I had my students practice skills which were relevant to the success of an assessment task. Sure, there were still ‘engaging’ activities involved and I tried to make things fun, but we did what needed to be done. Likewise, as training sessions right now are being hammered by horrible rain and wind, sessions are simplified and you end up just doing what is needed. Doing what is needed is what I consider good training to be. Any more has consequence, any less also has consequence. Lagom är bäst is a Swedish proverb which essentially means the right amount is best. In English, it can also be translated to enough is as good as a feast. When you don’t beat around the bush, you end up doing what is needed; you don’t end up going either over or under in training. You find Lagom. Bells and whistles can lead you down a path of doing too much or too little. When it comes to training, do what is needed at that given point in time (no more, no less). This is the only way to build week on week, month on month, year on year; and this is the only way to reach your potential. Do the sprints, do the strength, do the power; all at the right dose and intensity. Lagom, go home, eat, sleep and come back and Lagom again and again and again.

The reality of the last 18 months

This could be a post in itself, and I guess it ties into my previous point about Lagom. Entering the coaching world at the beginning of 2020 has been one of the worst times in modern history to try to find success in coaching and athletics. Even if I am lucky to have an incredible team around myself and the opportunity to work with great athletes, if the goal is Lagom (consistency and enough-ness); the circumstances of the last 18 months have made that reality nearly impossible. If my values lie in the consistency of performance, doing what is needed and to try and build that capacity for a REALLY long period of time, the environment which we’ve been in has put dents in this reality at multiple levels. What even is our homeostasis? Emotionally, logistically, physically, socially, spiritually. The consistency of these elements has been decimated; and I can imagine that the last 18 months have led to many forgetting who they are and why they do what they do. Even the consistency of how many steps per day we take month on month; the amount of sleep we get; the social interactions we’d have from family members to random people in bathrooms; good conversations with mates; dancing in a public venue has been all over the place and these things are important. Yes, life has perturbations whether there is a pandemic or not, and although humans are not robots, I’d encourage that over the coming months, that for performance, one should try to find consistency. If you are coming out of lockdown, assess the consistency that you’ve had in your life over the past 6 months and adjust your expectations for performance accordingly. Not all has been ruined over the last 18 months, but be glad that seemingly the worst is behind us and we’ll be coming away from the experience with lessons and experiences that are valuable for the rest of our lives.

Competition

Over the coming weeks, some of the athletes I work with will compete for the first time this year. Only those who are ready for the demands of the event will be competing. What does that even mean? It means that in their training, they’ve had repeated exposures to both intensity and capacity components of their event over the course of months. High velocities, reactive accelerations, repeat efforts in training and then, just as importantly, being able to recover from these exposures and train again within 48-72 hours. They should feel confident going into the competition that all bases have been covered and that, especially as we’re ‘early’ in the season, that training can continue the following week. As a coach, I’m just excited to see whether the technical developments made in training are able to be upheld in a stressful environment. The time is what the time is - as there are too many factors (pretty much just good/bad weather) for the athlete to control that all that should be concerned about is elite technical and strategic execution; and to have a tonne of fun competing. For the first race, leave the event with a smile; reflect on the experience; let the coach analyse the footage and come back pumped to improve with greater insight (from competition) into what is needed to become a better athlete.