As triathletes, most of us are tempted to adhere to a well known American motto: 'More is better'. For the 6 years that I coached myself, I had great doubt as of what exactly I should be doing. Not when I was healthy, and my A race was still 5 or 6 months away, but in times when I had 2 weeks between 2 equally important races or what to do when I thought I was close to getting injured.

If you are 3 weeks away from your most important race of the season, and after a hilly ride, you feel your left knee bugging you. On your morning run the next day, the pain becomes too much to ignore and you are forced to consider yourself injured. If you are coach-less, you may go into 'Panic mode', do too much with a knee that will not support the volume or intensity you are doing and keep you from your career's PB.

A coach could have looked into the situation and prescribed you to do some strengthening exercises along with daily deep water running. Those are a great way to keep your fitness when injured, and sometimes a great way to improve your running leg when you have reached a plateau, as it works different muscles and it teaches you to perform more fluid movements.

A coach will help you achieve your goals more quickly then you would by yourself, which can help greatly in a time-starved world. He/she will also positively help you make fewer mistakes, eventually leading you to step up to the next level.

Another great way a coach can assist the athlete is by virtually eliminating the guesswork from the training plan, and even if you have a program that you are sure will work for you, that program is likely to need some adjusting and tweaking down the road when things change. For instance, if a sickness interrupts a crucial week, the race is postponed or your swimming doesn't seem to improve as expected.

A coach will give you valuable tips on your nutrition and even lifestyle if you want or need that kind of advice, and with today's rates, it is better to invest $100/month on a coach than on a set of wheels or a new frameset.

One interesting fact to look into is that pro athletes almost always have a coach behind them. In fact, the better the athlete, the better the odds of having a great mind behind their accomplishments. I am sure Lance Armstrong could design his own training, but with Chris Carmichael's help, he has been winning the Tour de France for quite a while. Macca, Waldo, Greg Bennett, Simon Whitfield, Mark Allen, Greg Welch, Laura Reback, Michellie Jones, Barb Lindquist: all of these great athletes have a coach that helps them face the arduous life that is to excel at three different sports combined into one.

One other thing that helped me tremendously when I had a coach guide me, was the fact that if I did not give my very best, if I was not truly committed to the cause, I would be letting someone down other than myself. That to me was too much to bear. So I gave it all I had. It was easier than letting him and myself down.

There are many things to take into consideration after you have made the (wise) decision of hiring a coach:

You need to find out how accessible your coach is, for your middle of the night questions. Some coaches may charge extra for that.

What do other athletes say about the program prescribed by that coach?

How customized your program will be?
· Compare prices
· Check if nutrition plans are included
· Confirm if you will receive your plan through email, phone or fax, and if it will be sent daily, weekly or monthly.

Hiring a coach will not only make you happier, but it will make your happiness last. It will also make your life easier. Just ask Lance Armstrong.