Yes, but my situation may not be similar enough to yours to be useful.
Basically, training and racing is a problem with only a few variables. We make it more complicated than it is and we look for training secrets. But there are no real secrets at this point.
Your coaches job is to fit the best program for you into the time you have available. The best coaches recognize that training is in service of performance and also help you execute not only the training, but also the racing. The goal is to help you reach your potential as an athlete.
There is little in this journey that you cannot do for yourself. If you take time to become knowledgable and have the motivation.
However, self coaching does have a downside. Humans often have blindspots and we only have the experience that we have gathered. A major benefit to a good coach, or access to multiple good coaches, is she/he/they have likely seen a similar case before. That experience is helpful in obvious ways. Having a second set of eyes to check in with can be very helpful in keeping oneself honest and on track. Having a second set of eyes to help you persevere through difficult spots is helpful. Having a solid person to confer with helps with confidence.
I found myself in a situation where I’d become informed enough to plot out my training. I’d had full time coaching for 5+ years, knew what I responded well to as stimulus, and had become friends with a great guy who I consider a top-tier coach.
When I was looking to see if I could achieve a higher level of performance, I considered hiring the top-tier guy. We sat down for a long chat and he basically said: “You know enough to do all this yourself. I’ll check your planning and we can review progress and problems a few times a year. If you run into problems or have doubts or questions just call me”.
We did that for a couple years and it worked out great for me. I got a little faster and improved my race day routine and execution with his input. Then covid happened and that pretty much ended the experiment as there was no racing.
Summary is that having an expert consultant, as opposed to a full time coach, was effective for me. All of that is very specific to my situation and where I was in my bike racing journey, and the time I could commit to the hobby.
What I can add, trying to be helpful, is that many athletes wonder if there isn’t some untapped potential that they haven’t accessed. It’s very natural to wonder if perhaps working with a top coach might yield another 3, 5, 10 percent of performance. Unfortunately, the answer is unknown without doing the experiment… Maybe? It depends? All very unsatisfying to the individual.
So, if you have the dedication, the time and the money, the best thing to do is not wonder. Just do the experiment. Find a top guy who you like at a personal level, or whom you think will push you as an athlete. Work with your new coach to define specific objectives. Demand that she/he be honest with you and help determine when to stop the experiment. Once the pieces are in place, then fully commit to a good experiment. You’ll know in 2-3 months if you picked the right coach. But you won’t know for a while if the performance gain will come and be durable. I usually say three years. But you’ll know if it’s less or more.
Perhaps worth adding is that the athlete needs to do their part. The coach needs feedback. It is critical to always upload your power file. To always wear your heart rate strap. To always take and enter good notes to the power files. Most plans have weekly or monthly in person check ins (zoom). Take notes, write down questions, provide all relevant info to your coach ahead of time. Most of us reading this are probably on the more info is better spectrum so that might sound funny. But working with athletes and talking to coaches, the number one complaint from coaches is athletes not giving them the data they need to do their jobs.
Hope that helps. Very best luck!
