Okay - back to the drama so I can lay this one to rest...

Switching coaches is somewhat like breaking up a relationship - you never know how the other party is going to react. It's way easier to initiate the contact with a new coach - not so easy on the break up. Not to mention the soon to be old coach was over seas, as he had been for several months at that point. It was winter during the time he was gone though and I didn't see how my silly questions would actually fit into his world cup adventure, so I didn't ask them. This was a mistake on my behalf because although I had the best of intentions to be mellow and not take it to heart that I was basically paying for his travels and not receiving anything in return, I thought I would be satisfied. But no one was checking in on me - all email correspondence would be about him and asking how the travels are going, etc. Suddenly I found myself in the sponsorship category and lacking the coach/athlete relationship.

The first races of the season started up and I found myself dropped like a rock from the bunch. Rightfully so - I had been doing ZERO intensity all winter and although that built up my aerobic engine, it did nothing for my top end. Sure there's a time and a place for the base mileage - but March came quickly and I had nothing to give. I expressed this dissatisfaction with the coach - and it took a while for the response since he was still over seas. But the writing was on the wall. I tried to make it work - I tried communicating more. But when a friend of mine said she had finally found "the" coach - I decided to do some shopping.

And boy did that open my eyes up to how much you could actually get for $250 a month. Weekly interaction? Custom training plans tailored to me? Someone who actually comes out and watches the races? No passive aggressive behavior? Yet something held me back from immediately making the switch - maybe it was seeded in my childhood relationship with my father, or maybe it was fear of change. I hired them the next day.

But the breakup didn't work out as one would have hoped. The old coach was still traveling and I had emailed him I would like a break. I told him straight up I didn't want to pay $250 for a non-customized training plan, no feedback or interaction, etc. He tried to hold me to another month of payment and I called him on it. I refused to pay him. I told him all of the reasons in hope that he would be able to improve this with his other clients. But instead of taking a complaint as a compliment, he took it personally.

The community we're involved in is small. And this coach is well known since he's been around for so long. His wife is a teammate and has said she knows a little bit of what's going on but doesn't want to get in the middle of it. I respect that - I wouldn't either. But he's got a chip on his shoulder toward me now and it's starting to filter out into the community. I thought we were cool - but apparently his $250 is worth more than a relationship. What a chump.

The reason this is all coming to a head and pouring out of my chest - I recently contacted a promoter at a race and asked about host housing. The promoter was excited and offered his house but asked if the old coach would be joining us as well. I told him I hadn't spoken with him and didn't know. Well said coach responded to promoter saying he and I were in a fight and didn't think it would be a good idea. The promoter called me about it - and I was completely embarrassed. I had no idea we were in a tiff until I found out from someone else in another state. I told the promoter that I no longer used the coach and he apparently took it personally. Luckily the promoter has other options for housing for the coach - and I"m happy to hear we won't be in the same house. But seriously, how old is this guy?

The real catch - it's not like I won't see this guy over and over again, week in and week out. I saw him on Tuesday and did he say one word to me? Nope. What a jack ass. A friend and I were talking about it and we both think I should call him on it in front of a bunch of people. But then I got to thinking about it, and it's kind of sad really. I guess he doesn't know who is real friends are - or at least he doesn't know how to treat them. What a dick. Too bad he burned that bridge.

I missed my 2008 drama goal....

It didn't take long for some drama to develop. And I should have figured it would given the cast of characters involved in my life. It's funny though - the drama didn't develop until after I had severed the ties with said person, but they developed nonetheless and now I have to clean up a little mess.

I don't have much time today to blog about it - but basically I hired said person to provide professional services. Said person decided half way through the year to follow their dreams and compete on a world cup level. I fully applauded their efforts - yet my own needs were not being met. Months went by with little to no contact, yet I continued to pay the $250 a month for said services. As you can imagine, this started to wear on my nerves. Why shell out $250 clams a month for nothing?

Let me dive a little deeper - said person was providing coaching services. We never signed a contract, but it was understood he would provide weekly workouts, feedback, email contact, etc. This was fantastic at first - but then when he decided to pursue other ventures I found myself being shoved to the side, along with other clients and decided enough was enough. Why should I be paying for his other ventures when I wasn't getting my part of the deal?

I'm not a big person on confrontation - and as you could probably predict shit hit the fan and splattered everywhere....

more to come when I have some time to get this off my chest. Duties call!