You may love your coach. You may absolutely hate your coach. But either way, there are definitely at least a few things that you hate hearing them say to you. They could be the type of thing that's more of an annoying inconvenience than anything else. Or they could make your heart start beating faster out of anxiety. Or they could ruin your entire week because you can't stop thinking about them. I happen to love my coaches, but there are most definitely some things that I would rather not hear them say. Here are a few examples I have heard:

1. "Surprise 2k/5k today"

As someone who definitely needs to mentally prepare for these at least the day before, a surprise 2k/5k is not appreciated. I also need to make sure that I'm actually staying hydrated so I don't pass out afterward.

2. "We are rowing on the square"

Halfway through your first novice season, you think that you're done with rowing on the square. No longer will you struggle to get your blade out of the water. Jokes on you because two years into your rowing career your coach decides to put your boat back on the square in an attempt to help the set.

3. "It's too windy to go out today"

This always means one of two things. One, you're going on the longest run ever because you need to fill the time. Two, you will be doing some sort of circuit for the duration of practice. I have had both happen before. As much as I hate running, doing circuits for nearly two hours is far worse.

4. "When can you come talk to me?"

If you are expecting this text then it's not that bad. If you get it randomly in the middle of class that's another story. This is especially nervewracking when they don't give you any clue as to why they need you to come in.

5. "I'll tell you the workout after the warmup"

If your coach won't tell you the workout beforehand it's usually because it's not going to be fun. In my personal experience with this statement, the workout was always a surprise 5k.

6. "We're out of snacks"

I know this sounds really petty. This is also a student-athlete problem too. We always keep a cooler of fruit and various kinds of bars and fruit snacks to have after practice in our erg room. Last semester I went straight to class from practice and didn't have a break to eat until noon. I, along with at least a few other people, almost depended on those snacks to hold me over until then. So it was very unfortunate when we were all out.

7. "Today's workout is H.O.P."

If you do not know, H.O.P. stands for Hour of Power. This workout is a strong rival with the 5k as far as difficult workouts go. It's a partner workout. One partner runs a certain distance while the second partner ergs. Once the runner gets back they switch. This goes back and forth until the hour is up. You're constantly moving and constantly out of breath.