Background:

Kristen is an assistant professor of athletic coaching education in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences at West Virginia University. Kristen received her Ph.D. in exercise science with an emphasis in exercise and sport psychology from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and her M.S. in physical education with an emphasis in sport psychology from the University of Idaho. She is a Certified Consultant (CC) with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology and is recognized on the USOC Registry of sport psychology service providers. Currently, she serves on the USAC Coaching Education Advisory Committee, and is the sport psychology editor for the Performance Conditioning for Cycling. As a performance enhancement consultant and sport psychology educator she has works with coach education, positive sport parenting education, and team and individual athletes from youth developmental through the collegiate and elite levels across a range of sports.

In addition to her academic credentials, Kristen is a certified Category I USA Cycling coach and a level 2 United States Track and Field (USATF) coach specializing in endurance training. She has coached at the high school, collegiate, masters, recreational, and elite levels.

Her areas of consulting and education concentration include performance enhancement, talent development and overtraining and underrecovery issues. She has worked on grants, projects, and consultations for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Cycling (USAC), United States Tennis Association (USTA), Carmichael Training Systems (CTS), and USA Water Polo. She has written for applied publications such as Olympic Coach, Performance Conditioning for Cycling, VeloNews, Inside Triathlon, and Dirt Rag. Kristen has also served as an expert panelist or consultant for features in publications such as Runner's World, Backpacker, and Adventure Sports Magazine. She also co-authored Bike Racing for Juniors: A Guide for Riders, Parents, and Coaches with Steve McCauley.

A former collegiate runner and cyclist at Boston University, she now competes in road, cyclocross, and mountain bike races but her main emphasis is on endurance and ultra endurance endeavors, especially professional level multiday multidiscipline adventure racing.

Coaching Philosophy:

As a coach, I am committed to several key elements, regardless of the level of competition:

• I believe very strongly in a holistic approach to life. Rarely can life be compartmentalized into neat separate elements. Along the same lines, the physical can not be separated from the psychological. In my coaching, I believe it is important to pay attention to and work with the interaction between life and sport.
• Ultimately, I believe that sport should be fun, even at the most elite levels. How we each define fun will be different and so it is very important that both the coach and athlete have a clear idea of what it means to the athlete.
• Training is your journey and goals are your goals. It is my role as a coach to do all that I can to facilitate and support you in your efforts.
• Coaching is a partnership relationship between the coach and athlete. While it is my job to be the expert on the science and art of training, the athlete is an expert on his or her body and life. Only when we communicate clearly and collaborate can we maximize your potential.
• As I mentioned, clear and open communication is crucial. Trust and respect are also key elements for a successful coach-athlete relationship. As a coach, I strive to build and reinforce these things. I am always open to questions and I am always willing to discuss ideas.
• Peak performance is not an all or nothing endeavor or a destination. Striving to be your best is a journey of personal challenges and triumphs. As a coach, it is my role to help athletes see and prepare for these challenges.
• Training is important. However, training alone will not help an athlete improve. Carefully planned training will only bring about performance gains when it is coupled with proper recovery and life balance. In my coaching, I emphasize recovery behaviors and quality training over quantity.

Overall, while numbers play an important role in the scientific monitoring of training, I balance my coaching through an understanding of people and how personal ideas and real life influence training.

Client Testimonials:

I have been mountain biking and mountain bike racing since I was 45, which was 20 years ago. As I have grown older I have continued to push myself with longer and more challenging events, and with numerous 100 mile mountain bike races and 24 hour solo events under my belt, I wanted to move up to the next level and try a multi day mountain bike race. This summer that dream came true for me. I raced in the Breck Epic six day stage race in Breckenridge, Colorado from July 5 to July 10. It covered 200 miles and 40,000 feet of climbing.

When I started aiming for longer and harder races I knew I would need someone to guide my training. I have been teaching kindergarten or first grade for 30 years and must maximize my training time. Six years ago I set the goal to be the first woman over 60 to finish the Leadville 100 mountain bike race in under 12 hours. I had previously done so at age 54 in 11:50:53. At this time I was extremely fortunate to get hooked up with Kristen Dieffenbach and accomplished my goal at age 61 in 11:24:30. With Kristen's guidance I have had exceptional success at the races I have attended. She knows just how hard to push and when I need to back off to keep from getting injured. Kristen has guided my training with the use of a Power Tap to be sure I am working appropriately. I am very goal oriented and when I have someone telling me what to do it is easy for me to do it. Kristen is an excellent coach, whom I am very lucky to have in my life.

When I decided last fall to enter the Breck Epic all training focused on increasing my speed and strength. I was the oldest competitor to finish the race and I was competitive on all the stages. The race winners may have ridden twice as fast as I did, but they didn't have any more fun or greater feeling of accomplishment.

I now know that a 65 year old woman can do six days of racing without being the least bit sore at the end. This tells me I can go faster the next time I do the race. With Kristen's guidance I will continue to grow as a mountain bike racer. I see no limits.

I am personally grateful for the opportunity to work with such top quality personnel. You have put together a winning formula.

Thank you,
Wendy Skean