Facebook or Face Time? Why Social Media Can't Replace a Trusted Coach

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Tim O'Donnell gets some last minute encouragement from coach Mark Allen.
Tim O'Donnell gets some last minute encouragement from coach Mark Allen.

When it comes to training advice, don't let the noise drown out experience.

by Mark Turner

Social media and triathlon go together like long rides and carbs. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer great resources for triathletes, and provide places to share encouragement and information. But listening to training advice from any old social media source can yield mixed results at best. At worst, such sources can wield counter productive or even outright dangerous advice.

Training advice found on social media should be, like most quick and easy sources, consumed sparingly. This is especially true for beginners. It's normal for people new to any hobby to solicit advice from social media. Unfortunately, the floods of replies are often tinged with well-intentioned but bad advice.

As a coach, it frustrates me to read most of the advice targeted towards beginners. Some of it causes me to scratch my head, some makes me angry, and some makes me worried for the inquiring athlete. If you are a beginner and you are going to social media to get training advice, be careful. As a newbie, you are susceptible to accepting incorrect direction at face value, because you simply don't have the necessary experience to filter the good from the bad.

Related Article: 11 Traits of Top-Notch Triathletes

Last season an athlete privately messaged me, concerned over training advice she had received through social media regarding IRONMAN 70.3 Austin. The adviser was adamant in his opinion that training for hills was a waste of time in preparing for Austin. There are at least a couple of problems with this advice. First, all bike training, regardless of race site, should include some hill training, period. Second, there are hills on the Austin bike course. Taking this advice, while not especially dangerous, would have definitely resulted in a disappointing race day.

The problem with advice from a fellow athlete is that, if that athlete is self-coached, they typically only have one athlete's experiences to base their so-called advice on: their own. As a result their counsel tends to be in reaction to their own particular experiences. Beginners should beware of advice that's not individualized. It's important to understand that any degree of specificity only comes through asking you more questions—not by giving quick answers. And that is the heart of what good coaches do.

Some readers might think I'm promoting the idea that only coaches know anything about triathlon. That is not the case. Many athletes have great advice to give. The problem isn't all advice passed out on social media, it's the proliferation of bad advice, especially aimed at beginners. (Even experienced triathletes who are moving to new, longer distances such as IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 probably lack the right information and experience to filter advice.)

Below are two things to consider before you tweet that question about how many calories you should consume in an IRONMAN 70.3 race:

→ Certification: If you're new to anything in our sport, seek out a coach with the appropriate credentials (for example, an IRONMAN Certified Coach) and a good reputation. Certification and credentials, at the very least, indicate the coach's desire to expand on their own knowledge. It serves as a vetting process before they hang out their shingle.

→ Generosity: There is often a misconception among triathletes that coaches only "work" for pay. Nothing could be further from the truth. Coaches coach because they have to. We coach because we love it. Most coaches are happy to point beginners in the right direction. (Of course we also know that some of those athletes might eventually hire us to help them achieve their goals!).

So go ahead and interact on social media for encouragement and information, but when it comes to coaching advice, make sure to vet the source. Your race-day experience counts on it.

Mark Turner is a team member and coach with Multisport Performance Institute. He is an IRONMAN Certified Coach, a Level I USAT Coach, and a Level II USMS Coach.


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