Coach’s Corner – Driven to Win

Coach’s Corner – Driven to Win

With the Elite World Championships starting tomorrow, and the Rio Olympics only a few months away, it’s easy to get consumed with dreams and fantasies of winning each of our own “BIG” races. Picturing ourselves crossing the line a mere few millimeters in front of our rivals and claiming our medal/jersey/flowers in front of our families and friends. It’s these hopes and dreams that fuel our day to day grind of training, work, school and life in general to keep working towards our goals.

But it can sometimes be that same drive and motivation that can cause us to go a little insane sometimes bordering on OCD when it comes to training, nutrition, recovery, equipment, race prep, travel, etc etc. I have found that because we are so driven as athletes and coaches it can start to feel like we are always chasing to keep improving and correcting mistakes. This is just the nature of competition and it is part of what makes BPC and our athletes great.

But I don’t want to feel like every week in the coach’s corner that we are “yelling” or “scolding” our athletes for our missteps. We at BPC have always understood the stresses of “real life” and strive to continually work with our athletes to keep them on track to their goals no matter what life might throw at them. Because we need to all have a healthy balance between sport and life and at the end of the day we should all already know the things we could have done to make yesterday, or last week, or last month better. And ultimately it falls on us to hold ourselves accountable for staying consistent but keeping balance and understanding and accepting the trade offs we each make.

So I want to take this CC to express how wildly pleased I am with each and every one of our athletes. We understand how crazy life can get sometimes and I admire you all for your dedication and determination to the training and your goals. We are just barely into the month of March and I am already so proud of what we have accomplished. Some might say that it’s our unique approach to coaching and working towards goals that sets BPC apart, but I truly believe it is our athletes that make BPC what it is.

And while at the next track session or feedback reply in your training logs, we will be right back to the “grind stone”, it is important to enjoy and take pride in what you each accomplish every single day on, off and around the bike. 2016 truly is off to an amazing start and I can’t wait to watch the momentum build from here!

So before you let a bad day on the bike send your whole week or month into a tailspin, remember that even the greatest cyclists in the world have the same struggles sometimes when it comes to staying motivated and religious on their training plans as they make the necessary sacrifices towards their goals. The button below has a link to a recent interview with Jason Kenny and Laura Trott of the GB track cycling team. And while I, as most other cyclists, will look at these two and think of them as cry babies for saying how “tough” they have it in the most successful and well supported cycling program in the world, I see this interview as a reminder that even the best in the world are only human. And no matter how well supported you are or how much funding you have, everyone still struggles from day to day. Proving that at the end we are all only human and if they can do it, so can you.

-Coach Andy