The TEAM CORE | Athlete Questionnaire for Online Triathlon Coaching

How many times do you swim with a swim squad?

# Swims per Week

Join The TEAM CORE today and put your training & racing on the right track!

The first stage in the process of having a unique training program created just for you is to tell the coach a little bit about yourself. Accurate and detailed information is key to the efficiency of this process. Please complete the questionnaire below which should take between 30 and 40 mins to fill in. You may at first 'balk' at the amount of information we require, but when forming a new coach-athlete relationship, this is entirely necessary.

We strongly recommend avoiding navigating away from this page during this process by visiting other pages etc, due to the risk of losing important information you have already detailed. The hyperlinks that we provide to important areas for you to read should be 'safe' however. If possible for your longer answers, cut and paste your responses from a word document to prevent losing any data.

All athlete information is considered private and personal and will not be used for any other purpose or given to any other party.

Please, when completing the online questionnaire, DO NOT USE your "ENTER" or "RETURN" keys to navigate down the form; instead use either your mouse cursor or the "TAB" key to move to each new field. Segments of the questionnaire will not be recorded if the ENTER key is hit within the form, so to avoid losing 'work', DON'T HIT ENTER. Thankyou!

The following section collects information related to your various contact details and provides us with a brief 'introduction' to you as an athlete. Please be as accurate with your answers as you can be as these contact details will be used on a daily / weekly basis to communicate with you about your program.

1. First Name:
2. Last Name:
3. Email:
4. Best Phone Number:
5. Address:
6. City:
7. State / County:
8. Postal Code:
9. Country:
10. Date of Birth:
11. Age as of 31/12/2008:	yrs
12. Occupation:
13. Athlete Type:
14. Race Category:
15. Height:	cm
16. Weight:	kg
17. Who put you onto us?
18. Required Program duration:	weeks
19. When would you like to commence your program:	Programs run Monday to Sunday. *Please note that it typically takes 2 weeks from receipt of this questionnaire to set up a TEAM CORE Online Training Log account for you, review your questionnaire comments, speak with you about your aspirations and goals on the telephone, prepare your Annual Training Planner and then write the first 4 weeks of your program. Forward planning and enquiry on your behalf is of paramount importance, especially when preparing for a major event such as an Ironman. Our next enrolments will commence from Monday 5th May 2008.
20. Do you have a preferred coach from our team? (See here for details)
In this next section we aim to collect as much accurate information about your various training parameters as possible. You may not be able to answer all the questions, but please try to be as thorough as possible.

Training Age:	mths yrs (i.e. number of years of continuous training / involvement in this sport)
Max Heart Rate:	bpm (i.e. this can be the highest figure you have seen your HR in any discipline or simply 220 minus age as a very rough "guestimate")
Resting Heart Rate:	bpm (i.e. taken first thing in the morning, lying down, after a rest day)
Lactate Threshold HR:	SWIM bpm BIKE bpm RUN bpm
Lactate Threshold HR:	We define your lactate threshold heart rate simply as the average HR that you are able to sustain for a flat-out 1500m swim time trial, a 60 minute bike time trial or a 10km run time trial. If you have had your Lactate Thresholds assessed within the last 4 months using a more sophisticated lab-based method, simply input these figures.
PB 400m swim time:	(Please complete one of these in your next swim session if you don't know!)
PB 50m swim time:	(Please complete one of these in your next swim session if you don't know!)
Functional Theshold Power:	watts (i.e. the average power you are able to hold on the bike for a 20 minute TT x 0.95). If unsure, please leave blank.
PB 5km run time:	(Please complete one of these in the next fortnight where practical if you don't know!)

Check one statement below for each relevant sport that best describes what is standing between you and success in achieving your goals?

Swim:
I find it difficult to finish the swim portion of a race.
In choppy open water swims I lose more time than others in my race category.
My swim technique is poor.
My swimming gets slower as the race progresses.
If I start the swim fast I start gasping for air and must slow down more than others in the race.
At the end of the swim portion I'm unable to speed up to catch those slightly ahead of me.

NOT APPLICABLE.

Bike:
Just finishing the bike leg of a race is difficult for me.
I am passed by lots of other triathletes on hills.
I'm a "masher"--I push big gears slowly.
Even on flat courses my bike speed decreases near the end.
As the bike portion of a race gets shorter I do worse relative to those in my category.
In short races, I struggle to get over short "power" hills.

NOT APPLICABLE.

Run:
I usually find it difficult to finish long runs.
I run up hills slower than most in my race category.
I bounce up and down more than others when I run.
My running gets slower as the race progresses.
In shorter races, if I go anaerobic I'm forced to slow down.
I almost never win a sprint to the finish line.

NOT APPLICABLE.

Now let us know a little bit about how often you train on an ideal week.

Swim:

Bike:

2 rides/week (races of less than 4 hours only)
3 rides/week
4 rides/week
4-5 rides/week
5-6 rides/week

Run:

2 runs/week (races of less than 4 hours only)
3 runs/week
4 runs/week
4-5 runs/week
5-6 runs/week

Annual Training Plan (ATP):

Typical Annual Training Total: hrs (i.e the total number of hours you typically spend training per year. If you need to estimate this based upon your average weekly training volume x 48 to 52 (weeks in a year + rest period where applicable) that is fine.

Weekly Timetable:

We are very keen on establishing a program for you which works around your current daily schedule (i.e. work, family, social and established training sessions with a group etc). Please detail below a typical week's training for you at this moment in time and highlight in the designated area how many hours can you realistically devote to training on that day. You should include details of any club or group training sessions you are currently doing and why (if you plan to keep doing them) you believe them to be a beneficial part of your training program - even if for no other reason than for the social camaraderie that you feel they offer you. Details of days when it is possible to swim at your local pool or with a master's group would also be most beneficial, as would nominating a preferred rest day. We'll do the rest!

Monday (__hrs) = Tuesday (__hrs) = Wednesday (__hrs) = Thursday (__hrs) = Friday (__hrs) = Saturday (__hrs) = Sunday (__hrs) =

Please list the race (or races) you want to train for, listing the dates and the aspirations you have for this race (or races). List them in the order of priority, i.e. rank them A, B, or C, where A = your highest priority (you may only have 1 to 3 of these per year) and C are casual "training races", e.g. a club x-country event.

In order to help the program planning process, please detail us with website links (where possible) to race calendars (for swim, cycle, run and triathlon events) in your local area (try using www.google.com if you are unsure). This will allow us to build up some “intermediate” races for you which will build you up towards the BIG event. It is imperative that you have a good think about these events prior to submission of this form so as to speed your program set-up. Thankyou!

A races = B races = C races =

Now, please let us know some of the previous events that you have competed in and any relevant times and finishing positions. These can date back to when you first started racing, but please only list your top-5 performances in each category - thankyou! If you have no previous experience or the category is not applicable to you, simply enter "NONE" .

Sprint Triathlons:
Olympic Distance Triathlons:
Half Ironman/Ironman:
Other Sports, e.g Swimming, Cycling and Running as Individual Disciplines:

Swim:

Details of any swimming / upper body injuries:
Have you ever had any technical feedback on your stroke, if so, from whom and what advice did they give?
Do you have access to swim swimming footage of yourself which we can use to provide you with an analysis of your swim stroke?	Yes No
Do you require any assistance with regards anxiety in open water swims?	Yes No

Cycling:

Do you have access to indoor bike training equipment, e.g. a wind / turbo trainer? Do you own a power meter etc? If so, what type?
Please detail your last 4 weeks of Cycle training:
Injuries from cycling? If so please describe:
How recent was the injury?
What is the current status of the injury?
Do you require any physiotherapy assistance or advice currently?	Yes No
Have you had your bike setup looked at recently and do you have any issues with sore back, saddle sores etc on longer rides?

Running:

Please detail your last 4 weeks of Run training:
Injuries from running? If so please describe:
How recent was the injury?
What is the current status of the injury?
Do you require any physiotherapy assistance or advice currently?	Yes No

Weight Training / Core Stability:

Years Strength training:	yrs
Are you currently lifting?	Y N
Number of sessions per week:
Please detail us with a sample of your typical session, including any detail of the amount of weight you lift for each exercise and number of reps / sets:
At The TEAM CORE we are very keen on also adopting Core Stability Training as part of your overall program. Do you require information on how best to go about doing this?	Y N

Diet and Nutrition:

For most endurance events lasting over 2 hrs, having a good race nutrition strategy and indeed a good general diet, can make the difference between a “finish” and a great result. Please detail here what you know by the term “race nutrition strategy” and provide a brief description of the fluid and carbohydrate consumption you would be looking to ingest per hour in your chosen event.

We cannot stress how important it is to be on top of this aspect of your preparation and if you are unsure about anything with regards diet and nutrition, we suggest that we begin “putting the wheels in motion” to help you. Please visit the Nutrition Section of The TEAM CORE's "BRAIN" for more advice on this critical aspect of your training and preparation.

Coaching Input:

As this is a remote, online coaching service with minimal face-2-face contact, how do you envisage the coach helping you to best achieve your results?

"Coaching" in every form of the word requires an open two-way communication pathway to exist for optimal results. We will do our very best to help you with this and as the athlete, you should also be prepared to keep us fully updated with your progress when requested.

Are you interested in participating in or receiving information about our TEAM CORE training camps and Swim Smooth Clinics?

Yes No

Finally, thanks for your input and detail provided, can we just ask:

How long did it take you to complete this form? mins