AR/tist in the spotlight, This week: Timmaay

Timmaay

wrstan wrote: »

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You have said that you don't coach in any formal capacity, but you do seem to spend a good bit of your time mentoring and encouraging younger athletes, so:

- How did you first get involved in helping out with juvenile/junior athletes?


I think I can put it down to one random day ha, when I was doing the Wicklow championships, I was down for the senior 1500m and there was a fairly tidy 16/17yr old kid doing the junior 1500, we both knew we'd be around the same pace but neither would have a race in our separate age groups, so we got both races lumped in together. I was starting to writeup my masters from home then so training in UCD didn't suit as much, the kid was well ahead of any of his other clubmates at the time so it made sense to slot in with him. The group just grew from that.

I get a decent kick out of it all now, seeing the kids hugely improve, plenty rivalry also, loads of smackdown talk before big races at training, and more than once I've been written of and am the one who is getting my ass handed to me in training by up and coming hotshots, only for me to have the edge in terms of experience/utter doggedness etc when it comes to the race, and I keep them at bay for another day ha!

- Do you have any aspirations to get into coaching in a more formal sense in the future, senior athletes as well as juveniles?

At some stage yep, but I guess the current arrangement that I have with myown coach (who is over the whole group), and me helping the kids along works perfect for me now. If I was to coach formally, simple as is I wouldn't have the time to commit to it at the level that I'd be happy with, the farm is totally unpredictable, and I end up having to bail from the odd training session last minute, which you just cannot do if you are a proper coach.


- If so how far would you like to go?


In terms of what level with an individual athlete, as far as whoever I am coaching wants me or needs me to take them, well to within reason. In terms of time ha, which is the main measure of how deeply involved coaches are, time and time again I see coaches getting it horribly wrong 2bh, they get sucked in way too deep, end up getting lumped like 3 kids groups and an adult group, their lives get swallowed up by it all and they end up pulling the plug and totally resenting it. That's not good at all for anybody in the club, it has to be all about sustainability. So answering your question, definitely not that far ha!


- Any thoughts on how do juvenile clubs get over the hump of 14 - 16 year old athletes leaving the sport?

Going back to my last question with Ecoli, its all about making sure they enjoy it. That enjoyment comes in two forms. The 1st thing is the social side of it, at that age training should be as much about heading out for a chat with friends as it is about the training, for this to succeed you really really need a decent enough group, if your down to a bare handful then you are fighting a losing battle often. The likes of team building trips etc are also fantastic tools to help the social side also .

The 2nd thing is keeping everything real in terms of targets, the dream might be the Olympics etc etc, but we all know life is about setting out smaller achievable targets, by doing this its easier to keep them positive and committed. Actually another common phrase of mine is when consoling someone when they haven't achieved what they wanted after a race, "your bad days make the good days even sweeter". The final thing I try to push is that you need to be able to brush off and joke about almost anything, if someone is feeling like crap after a poor performance being able put it out of their head asap is important and what better way than just going back to ripping the piss out of your friends!

Ok the above is far from a 5point action plan on how to reduce the dropoff rates that I think you were looking from me ha, but I guess I'm trying to put across a feel for the environment that I think is important for clubs to have. Hmm actually one specific thing I do is if I see someone has fallen off the bandwagon and hasn't appeared in a while, ask a friend of their to specifically go ask them why have they stopped training. Sometimes they have a valid reason, other times they have just drifted or too busy and a gentle reminder as such can be just enough to convince them back!

Timmaay

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I think one of the first races I noticed you was at Croagh Patrick about 8 years ago when you were a country mile ahead of me (which was a trend that would continue to be set in races since!).

What was your most memorable hill race?

That couldn't have been 8years ago ha? I did Croagh Patrick at least twice, that was always a highlight, bucket loads of fitness needed, alongside insane downhill skills, the quickest way down was basically skiing down the scree ha!

Anyways most memorable, Brockagh, my 1st (and maybe only?) IMRA win, and making it sweeter again it was an utter dogfight against Mick Byrne (for anyone who doesn't know him, hes a 50yr old hero of Wicklow athletics ha), I'd never properly beaten Mick before, he'd rarely venture up the hills but the under footing in Brockagh would be quite good so would have suited him. At the summit I was shocked to find myself still within only afew metres of him, so I knew it was my one big chance, as I was tidy on the downhill. When we turned I passed him quick enough and put the foot down (well no other way on the downhill ha). I had some bit of a gap built until we got back down onto the fireroads, advantage back to him, we traded places several times, I was not giving up my 1st possible IMRA win that easy. It came down to the last 20m, when my yet undiscovered middle distance speed helped me over the line 1stly. I still annoy Mick about that race now ha.


You've dabbled in and out of hill races over the years. Has hill running been a serious focus in any year or is there some unfulfilled potential there? You could be too busy just enjoying it

Ah now, I'd say I more than dabbled in and out ha! Well I guess the motocross did see the hills and indeed all athletics go by the wayside. But I completed at least 2 Leinster Leagues, and afew winter leagues also, I'd be regularly doing hill runs for training also. But yep, most certainly I think there is plenty unfulfilled potential there, however there is just no overlap between the hills and middle distance. I did 2 hill runs last year, and 2bh got on rubbish enough in both, partly a lack of hill fitness, and not enough downhill practice. I 100% do plan on getting back at the hills at some stage, that could be 2yrs, could be 10yrs. And in terms of too busy just enjoying it ha, the only thing more enjoyable than being at the end of a race and in bits is being one place further up the field and in even more pain, that will never change, I have to get the most out of myself!

pconn062

Last day to get questions in for Timmaay, who has been a great candidate all week and has gave some really interesting answers. New candidate lined up for tomorrow and it's going to be a good one!