Remove labels. Choose connection. Train aligned to your body.
Beginner. Intermediate. Advanced. Elite.
Four simple words and yet they quietly shape what we believe we are allowed to pursue.
You ride up to a cycling group and wonder if you will be dropped.
You stand in a strength class, reach for a lighter weight, and wonder if anyone notices.
You turn your run into a walk but feel the need to justify it, even to yourself.
These moments may seem small, almost insignificant, but they often reveal something deeper, not about your fitness but about your identity.
Before we talk about training plans or performance metrics, it is worth pausing and asking yourself:
What do I actually believe about myself as an athlete? Can I call myself an athlete?
Do I believe I belong here, or am I still trying to earn that belonging?
Long before a coach assigns a plan or a race assigns a start wave, most of us have already made a quiet decision about where we fit. We give ourselves a level, sometimes without even realizing it, and that decision begins to shape how we show up, how much we push, and whether we reach for support at all.
At Element Sports Coaching, we guide women to ask different questions.
Between us, we have raced professionally, finished Ironmans and ultramarathons, navigated cancer, rebuilt through injury, and trained through the hormonal shifts of midlife.
What we have learned is simple: your level does not define your potential; your awareness does.
So instead of asking, “How fast are you?” we ask:
What do you love about sport?
What is your body telling you?
Do you know when to push and when to recover?
How do you know when you are working hard?
Do you, and can you, give yourself permission to recover?
Yes, we prepare women for races and meaningful performance goals. But we care just as much about consistency, capacity, recovery, and training that respects your physiology.
When hormones shift, your ability to recover changes. When stress increases, what you can handle shifts. As life evolves, training must evolve with it.
Levels Are Not Your Identity
Beginner, intermediate, and advanced are not fixed categories. They reflect your recent adaptation, not your worth.
Beginner Phase = Limited Recent Adaptation
You might be in a beginner phase if:
- You have not trained consistently in the last 6 to 12 months
- You are rebuilding after illness, injury, burnout, or life disruption
- You are entering a new discipline
- You are relearning how your body responds to load
Notice the word phase. Phases shift. Your athletic identity does not have to.
Intermediate Phase = Holding Steady, Curious about the Change
You might be in an intermediate phase if:
- You train consistently while balancing many priorities
- You understand pacing and fueling, but sense they need refinement.
- You love sport, yet notice that something feels different
- You sense that what once worked no longer works the same way
In midlife, physiology can shift faster than strategy. When that happens, staying steady requires adjustment rather than simply more effort.
Advanced = Precision and Capacity
You might be in an advanced phase if:
- You apply the discipline of sport to your life and the wisdom of your life to your sport
- You thrive on meaningful physical challenge and recover with intention so you can sustain the work you love
- You are deeply curious about how your body and mind respond, continuously refining strengths and addressing limiters
- You pursue excellence in how you participate, not just in the outcome
In this phase, performance is not driven by ego or distance, but by mastery. You are refining how you train and recover within the context of your current priorities and physiology.
What This Means for You
You may move between phases over time. You may feel advanced in one discipline while rebuilding in another. You may have the knowledge and still benefit from support in applying it consistently. And if you are navigating perimenopause, menopause, recovery from cancer, or simply a demanding stretch of life, your needs may be more nuanced than any label can capture.
None of this is fixed, and none of it determines whether you belong.
The more useful question is not, “What level am I?” but rather, “How do I feel? What do I want and what does my body need right now?"
At Element Sports Coaching, that is where we begin. We look at your training history, your physiology, your goals, your stress load, and the realities of your day to day life. From there, we build a path that aligns with who you are today, not who you were five years ago or who you think you should be.
If you are unsure where you fit, that uncertainty is not a weakness. It is a sign that you are ready for a thoughtful approach.
If this resonates, book a call. Together, we can clarify where you are and what support will move you forward with confidence.
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