People who have been coached before. Am I expecting too much?

[gurk700]

I love being coached. Accountability worked wonders for me.
So my question is not a coach vs no coach thing at all.

I'm just wondering how much contact and personal attention do you get on average.
I started with this coach about 8 months ago. We had one initial video chat. Everything else after that has been through Trainingpeaks notes on my workouts.
I used to ask a question here and there but comment on most my workouts. He'd respond to couple of them ~2 times a week.

Now he comments on one of my workouts once a week at most. Mostly 9-10 days apart. Nothing mind blowing. Just a "good job" or "hey you did a little better last week. your HR looks normal. Why?"
Today I did a 20 min test which is pretty big deal no? We do them like once in every ~2 months. He commented on some other small question I asked 7-8 days ago. Didn't review the 20 min test at all.

Am I crazy? I'm making decent fitness gains which I'm very thankful for. I'm almost equaling my best FTP from 5 years ago. I know 100% he knows what he's doing. But I guess I got into coaching for accountability towards someone who cares, does that make sense?

Maybe I'm expecting too much. At 41, most people I meet through cycling either quit after a month or don't have nearly the same commitment as I do. I was actually very excited that there's someone who's there to talk cycling fitness with at a more personal level than and who can be excited about my W's and work through my L's when I fail workouts etc.

This seems more like Trainerroad for 10x the price as of late. To give him credit, he does step in when there's a problem. But I have something like 99% completion rate (failed maybe 4 workouts out of something like 220+) so I guess there's not much to do for him?

Anyway... What are your experiences? It might be just a case of "dude you're improving. STFU and keep going"
Also I don't wanna assume anything. Life can get hectic and pretty sure he has A LOT of clients. So maybe it's just me being dumb. Posting for sanity check.

[wheelbuilder]

Your position sounds reasonable to me.

[eucalyptus]

I guess it all comes down to what you pay and if you are happy with what you have received over what you paid.

I have seen coaches do a lot 1 on 1 communication but then you also pay big bucks every month. Best is of course if you belong to a team and they can assign or arrange a coach.

Also seen coaches do little to nothing but also receive a very tiny paycheck.

[DanW]

Depends on what the agreement you both signed up to was, as previous posters point out.

If you paid for a workout structure and are doing everything asked of you and making improvements then it sounds pretty fair.

Usually the contact time and type of contact will be laid out in writing beforehand. Review that and then decide if the coach is meeting expectations and if not politely take it up with them IMO

[Tifosiphil]

I would just talk to your coach, personally if I had employed a coach I would want a bit of the mental strength and support alongside a training plan.

The best approach if you are seeing gains in your fitness (their main job) would be to ask if you can have a quick one to one session once a month or similar, just an hour where you can talk concerns/challenges/thoughts. I am sure they would be open to that if they feel like it can give you more value

[Tpduke112]

How much are you paying?

[joesch]

I suspect your top priority was fitness gains - since you seem to have achieved that goal, I would not doubt the value of the coach.
Personally, I had a coach for a couple of years and we had 2-3 longer (60-90min) phone calls per season to go over the results from my lab tests and get set up for the next few months. I could send him Whatapp messages for questions in between (which I rarely used, only in case of illness or some unforeseen changes) and the rest was TrainingPeaks comments.

It worked well for me and I also improved my fitness quite a bit. It would have been nice to "chat" with him more often as I liked the additional insights and hints. However, at the end of the day I paid him for the workout structure and to improve my fitness and he did his job. Very rational / dry way to look at it but it is a business after all.

[maxim809]

Normally, how much personal attention and contact you get is one of the agreements set between you and the coach at the very beginning. If this is your first coach, it's entirely reasonable to have overlooked this during the initial screening. Secondly, relationships with your coach take time to develop and can also change over time. If the coach promised monthly 1:1 time and you are not getting that, then that's one thing.

It's also entirely possible that you may have outgrown your coach.

I'm not sure what you're paying, but at 10x TR, my guess is around $200. Coaching rates are not standardized, so it's hard to evaluate if you're getting your value's worth or not. As a generality, with lower coaching fees you can expect lower personal attention. An exception is if the coach is just starting out, and interested in building out their client-base as well as gaining coaching experience for themselves.

I have friends who pay for coaching ranging from Free to $900/mo. Each are getting very different things, and they all have completely different goals. There does seem to be a sweet-spot within that range if personal attention is the main goal. But I think even before talking about rates, it comes back to the initial agreement and expectations you made with your coach when you first started off. Coaches can serve many roles, including but not limited to someone who:

1. Holds you accountable
2. Provides training instructions
3. Helps you organize your life
4. Serves as a Teacher/Mentor/Advisor
5. A friend

And you can definitely pay a specific rate to get one, some, or even none of these. Or maybe you are getting all of these but not at the frequency or flexibility you prefer. If so, it may be good to reflect exactly what you want out of your coach then have a chat with your current coach. If there's a mismatch in expectations then I think it's perfectly reasonable to take your list of wants and screen for your next coach.

Remember that you are hiring the coach to work for you, and it is not the other way around. Don't be afraid to ask questions and set expectations.

[wheelbuilder]

Normally, how much personal attention and contact you get is one of the agreements set between you and the coach at the very beginning. If this is your first coach, it's entirely reasonable to have overlooked this during the initial screening. Secondly, relationships with your coach take time to develop and can also change over time. If the coach promised monthly 1:1 time and you are not getting that, then that's one thing.

It's also entirely possible that you may have outgrown your coach.

I'm not sure what you're paying, but at 10x TR, my guess is around $200. Coaching rates are not standardized, so it's hard to evaluate if you're getting your value's worth or not. As a generality, with lower coaching fees you can expect lower personal attention. An exception is if the coach is just starting out, and interested in building out their client-base as well as gaining coaching experience for themselves.

I have friends who pay for coaching ranging from Free to $900/mo. Each are getting very different things, and they all have completely different goals. There does seem to be a sweet-spot within that range if personal attention is the main goal. But I think even before talking about rates, it comes back to the initial agreement and expectations you made with your coach when you first started off. Coaches can serve many roles, including but not limited to someone who:

1. Holds you accountable
2. Provides training instructions
3. Helps you organize your life
4. Serves as a Teacher/Mentor/Advisor
5. A friend

And you can definitely pay a specific rate to get one, some, or even none of these. Or maybe you are getting all of these but not at the frequency or flexibility you prefer. If so, it may be good to reflect exactly what you want out of your coach then have a chat with your current coach. If there's a mismatch in expectations then I think it's perfectly reasonable to take your list of wants and screen for your next coach.

Remember that you are hiring the coach to work for you, and it is not the other way around. Don't be afraid to ask questions and set expectations.

Absolutely outstanding. Chapeau

[barbaar]

Obviously, there is a mismatch in expectations. Discuss them with your coach. If you cannot clear them out, then walk away and find somebody else. Do you have regular coaching calls?

But be aware of your needs and where they come from. If you expect/need feedback on every training, even the ones that went flawlessly, then ask yourself the question why you still want your coach to comment on that. What is it that you are seeking?

As a coach myself, I will make sure I feedback on key sessions (such as the FTP test like you said). But not every recovery ride, long endurance ride, or sessions that are just OK. Unless there is a specific question or situation the athlete needs support on. If that's the case, then make sure you, as the athlete, make sure it is very clear you need support (it may be as simple as making sure there is a question mark (?) in your post-ride comments).

Please remember there is no such thing as 'failing a workout'. It is what it is, some are hard, and some are easy. Some workouts may even be impossible to complete.

Communication is key for any Athlete-coach relationship. But it comes from both sides!