Coaching Services - Triathlon & Beyond

Coaching Services

Coaching Origins

I have now been coaching, in one capacity or another, for over 25 years. My first athlete was me. I started triathlon from scratch in the summer of 2000 with essentially zero knowledge about training, conditioning, racing, etc. I didn’t even know that I didn’t know anything. Over time, I began to educate myself about training through a combination of self-study and observations in the real world. As I began to see some progress in my own triathlon journey, I started to get inquiries from others if I would consider coaching them, and I gradually found myself going from making casual training suggestions to formally coaching athletes in both group settings and one-on-one.

I do not always think that athletic experience is a good proxy for successful coaching, but I do believe my own journey in sport has given me a broad range of varied experiences. Granted, my athletic pursuits were generally in the scope of Ironman distance racing, but along those lines I know what it’s like to go from just wanting to finish an Ironman (first Ironman in 2001 was 12:55 and 1034th place) to trying to win an Ironman (IM victory in 2014), and every step that exists along the way. I believe the primary advantage to this experience as a coach is the empathy that comes from experiencing all the various levels of athletic progression. 

Coaching Philosophy & Process

One of my primary goals is for training and racing to contribute positively to an athlete’s overall life rather than come at the expense of it. I recognize that athletes bring many facets of themselves into the process, and that training does not happen in a vacuum. By taking a holistic approach to athletic development, I believe that athletes are more likely to stay engaged in the process, find greater enjoyment in their training, and perform more consistently over time.

I generally design training with long term goals in mind, but I will only progress training based on the training response rate of the athlete. In other words, I do not make long-term outlines that assume various phases of training to start and end based on dates on a calendar. Instead, I try to create reasonable amounts of challenges and overload that evolve as the athlete does, not only across a season of racing, but across multiple seasons. As athletes enter different phases of their competitive development, their training can, and will, change based on the new demands that present themselves.

Above all else, my goal is try to understand what works with each individual athlete. While there are certainly universal elements to athlete progression for everyone, there are still the underlying nuances that makes each and every one us different. With the use of communication, collaboration, and continual reflection, is it my intention to continually strive to best meet the needs of every athlete that I have the opportunity to work with.

There is no shortcut to success in endurance athletics. It takes time and work. I will never try to sugar coat that. But I will try to to help facilitate an athletic journey that is hopefully more enjoyable, challenging and, most importantly, rewarding. When someone enjoys the process, the work they string together starts to compound and eventually the results are indicative of that. 

Who is this coaching for?

My foundational coaching work has been in triathlon, with a specific focus on long course race consisting primarily of Ironman and Half Ironman distances. However, my coaching has not been limited to long course triathlon as I have also worked with athletes in short course triathlon, cycling (road and TT), open running, trail running, ultra swimming, hybrid racing (e.g., HYROX), indoor rowing competitions, SkiMo racing, and a myriad of other pursuits.

More details on my coaching background can be found HERE.

I believe that my coaching is best suited for athletes who are focused on long-term progress in sport, as I believe it takes time to build the proper rapport and understanding that reflects an effective coach-athlete relationship. I am open to working with athletes with much shorter time frames, but I feel it is worth disclosing the limitations that may exist under those circumstances.

Coaching tiers and pricing

I know that many coaching services are often tiered into different packages, but long ago I decided not to offer multiple tiers of coaching that have different service levels, communication limits, or other predefined guidelines. I find it easier to work in a more straightforward way: I simply coach someone, or I do not.

Coaching is offered at $600 per month, billed quarterly.

If you are interested in learning more about coaching or consulting services, please reach out via the contact link below.