Author:  Matt Dixon

Over the last several months, we have gone through a pretty extensive redesign in our programming and systems at Purple Patch.  All of this is to enable an evolution in programming and support for you, the athletes, but also to equip our coaches and global team with better tools, as well as set ourselves up for the future.  Yes, the center is coming and it is going to have a positive impact on every Purple Patch athlete. An interesting part of taking on such ambitious changes, both in how we educate and train athletes and technology solutions, is that it absolutely forces me, Kelli, and the rest of the team to come up a level for perspective.  We are human, and it is easy to just keep being busy doing the doing, but this process presented an opportunity for reflection and vision. Through change arrived an opportunity, and we decided that we must grasp this chance, it doesn’t happen often. A piece of this I would like to offer you today, as I feel it provides important insight into your training.  It begins with a simple question:

Just how refined does an athlete’s training need to be to deliver the results they need?

By asking this question, there is an important caveat to point out.  Random doesn’t do it, and nor does poor quality coaching or approach.  So let us agree that we all believe in the driving Purple Patch methodology and approach to help athletes evolve.  Just how individual does training need to be under this banner?

The honest answer is that it depends, but you will be surprised at the nuance I point out below.  Before we dig deeper into my full answer, I feel some context is warranted.

Context

These type of questions bubbled out of decisions and design for our new squad product.  What do athletes need?  What do athletes want?  Both have a strong influence on designing and delivery of the products.  How can we cater to different athlete needs, the wide range of tech-ability in athletes, as well as the different desire for self-empowerment and management?  We wanted simple, yet we chased the chance to go deep if desired. Not an easy solution. I began to think of different profiles of triathletes we serve (I am leaving the more lifestyle focused aside for this discussion).  Some profiles:

• The Elite:  Either pro or podium/qualification chasing, serious age grouper - often with complex needs and variable race schedules.
• The Busy Executive:  An athlete with a highly variable schedule and life, who is juggling fire trying to fit all the pieces and demands of life together.
• The Time-Starved Triathlete Who Loves the Details:  The athlete who might not be obsessed with winning or chasing podiums, but does want to improve.  As a part of the journey, they love the tech, metrics, toys, and analysis that come with the sport.  A part of the passion is digging deep and playing in the software and toys.
• The Time-Starved Triathlete Who Just Wants to Execute:  A big difference.  Results driven and wanting to improve while thriving in life but has little time, energy, or desire to over-read, play with software or dig into metrics.

While there are other categories, these fit the central four types of triathlete we serve. Don’t feel left out if you feel like you don’t fit! You still do.

The San Francisco Tri Squad

While considering these groups, I thought about these types of athlete categories we serve living in San Francisco (the heartbeat of the program globally) with more than enough success to go around and map a website full of personal achievement and accolades in itself.  An interesting trend bubbled up. Of the four categories mentioned above, what percentage of the athlete's weekly program simply followed the main building blocks of the normal squad sessions?  In other words, if the Purple Patch coaches and I are leading three swims, two runs, two bike sessions weekly with a few general sessions wrapped around (weekend ride, weekend run, strength, etc.), what percentage of the programming just follows along with the squad rhythm?  The rough numbers I came up with:

• The Elite:  50 to 60%
• The Busy Executive:  When in SF:  85%, Traveling:  40 to 50%
• The Time-Starved Triathlete Who Loves the Details:  70 to 85%
• The Time-Starved Triathlete Who Just Wants to Execute:  95% (only race weeks off the Tri Squad)

Wow!

The majority of SF athletes follow along with the Tri Squad for the vast majority of their workouts for the vast majority of the season!

The executives often require lots of love, and therefore we tend to direct toward 1:1 coaching support.  The detail-driven athletes are more prone to guide toward specific race builds or embrace 1:1 coaching to dig deeper on the journey, but the majority of athletes in the program show up, execute and remain consistent.  They work incredibly hard and follow the Purple Patch methodology, including the positive habits to support performance. And they do great. Really well.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, or you are pulled to think that every single session must be oh so special and refined for you to succeed - think again.  Success is under a wide net. The pathway is on your shoulders and built on consistency, specific methodology, great habits, and a whole bunch of grit and determination.  I believe in our programming deeply, in fact, I believe it is the best there is, but that doesn’t mean the solution for all needs to be a solution of one.

More coming on this, particularly for you Squaddies, to help you drive to simplicity in your programming.

Cheers,

Matt