athlete PROFILE
There’s No “I” in Athlete
From Coach to Couch, Get Support in Your Training by Kim Fuller
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here are a few short word bursts that I practice as motivating thoughts adjacent to Tuesday morning intervals training.
“SUIT UP.” Set your alarm and get dressed according to the weather. Hydrate. Pay attention to temperature, gear details (is it a waterproof shoe day?). Fuel up with some sips of coffee, maybe a light bite. Don’t overthink it, just suit up and get out the door.
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“SHOW UP.” Set a time to hold yourself accountable. Meet your people. It could be one buddy or alongside a whole tribe — the support given is mutual. If you’re solo this time, don’t give yourself an excuse to bail. Notice your resistance to commit, to follow through, and show up anyway. “TRAIN UP.” Do the work. Maybe it’s up a mountain or on a track, holding plank, stacking weights or pushing sleds. You can do
hard things. You made it this far, so lean into the efforts and train with focus to up-level your results. I’m an athlete. My whole life has included sports and fitness in some way or another; from a childhood of organized and recreational sports to an adulthood filled with outdoor adventures, my body, mind and spirit are happiest when in motion. Success in these endeavors is relative, and while I do want to feel strong at my efforts and achieve personal bests, the biggest wins I’ve had are the communities I’ve found. Being a part of a team, with a coach, was always a positive environment for my improvement as a young athlete, so it’s no surprise that the same sort of systems would work well for me as an adult. I’ve always maintained a lot of group fitness habits, from class-style consistency to reliable running and biking buddies to meet at the trail, but until this year I hadn’t had a coach in going on two decades. Brett and Tamara Donelson have over 30 years of combined experience in coaching athletes through endurance and strength training programs. The Edwards-based couple are also founders of The Cycle Effect, a local nonprofit that empowers young women through mountain biking. I started working with Donelson Training this past year to get stronger, fitter, faster; I had a mentally of “why not?” more than an ultra-specific “why?” Why not try to dig into the depths of my physical fortitude, mental resilience, spiritual potential? “Coaches can offer a wide variety of purposes,” Brett Donelson shares. “Some athletes need very specific things and some have a broad range of needs. Some of the needs we have been able to help our clients with are skill development, accountability, injury prevention and rehab, race strategies, goal setting, and mental and emotional support.”
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