Trista Francis Triathlete: I love my Coach Hat; at Olympic Training Center

I have friends that tell me I wear many hats. Several of these friends are actually clients I have coached for many years. Often when we speak, I will tell them which hat I am wearing; friend hat, athlete hat, coach hat, mom hat. My coach hat is probably my favorite hat... as I find my athletes successes far more rewarding than my own as an athlete.

I have recently been blessed with the opportunity to work Alex William Willis. He has been recruited by USA Triathlon as an Olympic Hopeful. We had the opportunity to work and train at the USA Olympic Training Center Colorado Springs for 9 days last month. We has access to all of the High Performance Coaches there as well as state of the art Testing. Here is a photo recap of our time there...

Alex giving coach a thumbs up as we are working on the feed back we received from velocity testing and underwater filming.

This was my living quarters for my time at the OTC. I was roommates with the Collegiate Recruitment Coordinator, Barb Lindquist.

Our open water swim session was great. We had coaches in the water, in canoes, and paddle boats as we practiced open water swim skills so we could see the athletes from all different perspectives to help and assist them with skills, tactics, and strategies.

Alex was able to get on a Blue sponsored bike and get fit by the best! Retul came down and gave their "fit love" to the recruits. Todd Carver and Ivan O'Gorman are truly some of the best fitters in the world.

Camp photo of all the recruits and their coaches and USAT Collegiate Recruitment staff.

Alex and I took some extra time to work with the Strength Perfomance Coach Eric Lawson to dial into some of Alex's needs.

One of my favorite places at the OTC; the Performance Lab. Here we did more testing. This is the part of coaching that I just thrive on... the science and physiology!

Alex in the Performance Lab as we continue to work on run form and economy.

This is certainly the future of USA Triathlon right here. The coaches and staff were very impressed with the talent of this group. From swimming, run economy, bike skills and pack riding, and nutrition, these athletes continued to amaze throughout the week.