Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

Triathlon Coaching, Price??
Quote | Reply
So last year I paid 150.00 USD each month for coaching and I felt like it was a rather decent price for what I received. I had the best season yet, granted this was only my 3rd year of triathlon so could be just better results since I am still climbing the mountain and haven't plateau'd yet. However, I am looking at changing coaches this year due to the lack of variability in my previous coach (2 Swim, bike, run only) workouts each week, as well as trying to improve swim and bike fitness more rapidly compared to bike fitness. How much would you pay for a coach and how much do you currently pay? Can you give me a list of questions to ask a potential new coach to see if we are a good fit? Or should I stay with old coach and just work in some additional swim and run sessions myself?

Thanks for advice Slowtwitch!
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I don't have a coach, and haven't really tri-ed in many years. A little over 4 years ago when I did get one it was $300 a month and that was the going rate for the Slowtwitch coaches people knew/respected here. I'm not sure if its gone up since then.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Am I understanding this right that your coach only offers 6 workouts a week for $150?? Does he/she have a plan that includes more workouts for more $$??


Coach at KonaCoach Multisport
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
A few questions.

Are you paying for a "custom" monthly coaching plan, or is this just a stock IM or 70.3 (or whatever race distance your racing) plan?

If your paying for a custom plan have you indicated to your coach what you want to work on? Has he seen what you need to work on thus, workouts in X weakness?


The one thing I would say is that in general, the most success you get is when training is consistent day in and day out. Now consistent can also a lot of times be "boring". I give all my athletes "base" workouts for the majority of their time. Those can be boring as hell, but it's the consistency of simply doing it day after day coupled with the key marker workouts that you improve the most. Now within 6 workouts a week, I'm guessing you are likely getting 1 speed/strength session a week within each discipline?

You should talk to your coach and see what he is thinking and having the ability to work on your weaknesses.


Ultimately from a coaching prospective, the key parameters I have to taking on an athlete is this:

-goal
-time/ability to train for said goal
-communicate

So what that means is that if you say you want to qualify for top 10 in AG nat's, you have to show me the ability/time to achieve that goal. You have to match your work ethic with your goal, and that's when you see the most success.

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I used Mike Plumb for several years in the past for $85/month. Fully custom workout schedule that matched my time available. His website is tripower.org. He is my go-to recommendation.

I have also used Endurance Nation (and am using their plans now). Although I am a huge fan of theirs, the two negatives are they run everyone through the same plans (although, their plans do WORK) and their standard price of $129 is too much (I think they would be better off with something in the sub-$100 range given the coaching model they have - and I would probably shift from plan-only to coaching if this were the case).

In searching for a coach, first be clear on your goals (e.g. qualify for Kona, finish an IM). Then be clear on how much time/energy you have to chasing those goals. Then be clear on what you want from a coach (do you want/need daily contact, just a schedule, nutrition advice, etc.). Then just ask the coach how he will go about helping you achieve those goals.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
You should be having discussion with your coach about your time availability each week to train, your goals, and be changing focus for different portions of the year per race schedule. All that should mean a lot of variation in your training schedule - assuming you've not come into the situation with a very rigid routine in the first place.


Personally I get a lot of info from potential athletes prior to first phone conversation via questionnaire and follow up questions. That sets things up for a good first conversation and will spur more questions from you. A few basic things you should be asking your coach are: what their past coaching results are, what is their racing and coaching experience, if they can refer you to past/current athletes, what relevant education they have, how often you can contact them, and how frequently are schedules sent/allow to be modified.

Ruble Triathlon Coaching Average of 30 coached PR's per year
Florida Triathlon Camps Train in North Americas winter training destination
Ruble Racing Events Midwest Triathlon Racing
Ruble Timing Midwest Event Timing
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I pay less and get more than you get.. but my coach is regional and full AFAIK. If you like your coach and feel you're not getting what you want... I'd talk to them first of all. This forum also has a coaching link if you want to look at local coaches... http://www.slowtwitch.com/coaches/

The Mike Plumb link looks to be similar to what I get for a little less... minus the local aspects I get with my coach.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [Terra-Man] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Yes. It was set in a way that each day gets a singular workout with some off the bike short runs after bike workouts.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I've generally charged $99 - $260 depending on how detailed and frequency of communication and updates an athlete wanted.

Package plans are lower and 1 time fees vs monthly.

Currently have a discount if signed up by the end of the year.

But whatever coach you work with make sure to ask lots of questions and ensure compatibility. Having a good relationship with the coach goes a long way.

Tony
http://www.endorphinhub.com

-Tony Zamora
http://www.endorphinhub.com
USA Triathlon Level 2
Certified Coach
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I have a local coach, and he charges me $100. Workouts are completely customized to me. Also he checks in weekly, and if I have any questions I can call/email/txt him anytime I want. I don't think he has any official certifications, but he really knows what he is doing.

He wanted to grab lunch the other day, to talk about next year, and where I wanted to focus my training for the next 2 months.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I pay $130/month for a custom-ish training plan. He takes the 3-4 workouts I can attend (due to classes/work) from my collegiate team's plan and then writes me an additional 6-7 workouts. However, it would be the same price even if he was writing me the 10-11 workouts himself. As a college student, this is near the max I can afford to pay, but would value his services around $250 a month.

When interviewing my coach, I asked about previous clients (Collegiate Oly racing is different than BOP IM training plans), expected communication, availability to answer texts at random times during the week, etc.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
A second vote for Coach Plumb. Reasonable rates, good communication and very knowledgeable. I spent a few years under his guidance and enjoyed it.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [aries33] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
You mentioned you were with him for a few years. Why did you leave? Does he do remote coaching?
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [TriLawGuy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I left the sport rather than him. I needed a break and wanted more time coaching my own kids. I now do triathlon for health rather than for competition. If i were to "get serious" again, I would go back to him. I'm based in Canada and Coach Plumb is based in California, so everything was done "remotely".
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Its not about the price, its about the connection you have with your coach. Most coaches offer the same thing in terms of communication so thats not a selling point.

Contact coaches, set up talks with them, ask them for a 2 week trial.

Paying for cheap coaching sounds great in the beginning but will bite you later. It all depends on what you're looking for though. Someone charging 100 per month either has no experience coaching and doesn't feel comfortable with their ability to charge more... likely you won't get much better than you are now. Or the person charging 100 per month is coaching 50 athletes and you'll get some minimal communication. or you will pay 100 per month and get a great coach... who knows.

Coaches and coaching prices is a crap shoot. Some people charge a ton and give you crap.

I've been coaching for 10 years and have seen it all. There are a ton of bad coaches though just doing it as a hobby

Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching



Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [JT_Dennen] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
This season I am charging $150/month, which is slightly low, however it is my first season of being an all in coach vs just consulting for some folks here and there and providing swim lessons. I do not play the game of building a 'package' you pay for my time monthly and I do what is necessary to get you to the goal. I have a few rules but they are pretty reasonable. I also work under a great network of coaches at Superfly (formerly Training Bible).

https://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I paid $165 a month for a coach this past year. Best money I ever spent. My best triathlon year ever. Had PRs at all distances and stayed healthy the entire year.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
When I raced I had 3 coaches over about 7 years.

I found there were two types of coaches....ones that were plan writers and ones that were true coaches. Plan writers, write workouts and send you a plan. They assume you do all the workouts they gave you, build the next plan. There is little feedback other than emails or some communication, on how workouts went. On and on this goes. Often these coaches do basically the same thing for all their IM athletes or HIM athletes. One coach I considered, in doing research gave all her athletes the same training plan...seriously how is that being a coach?

Coaches on the other hand, write your plan for some time period, you do the workouts, and they have a method to monitor how your workouts went. When writing your next plan they use the feedback you gave them on your workouts, check your power meter files ect to see how you responded to the training.

Out of the 3 'coaches' I had one I felt was a true coach. He would check my TP and see that I was off a bit and adjust workouts later in the week if he thought it needed to be tweaked. He checked my power files, my run files and used that data to create my plan for the next week. He also had fewer athletes and was invested in me even though I wasn't a fast triathlete. Of the other two coaches, one was a monthly plan writer, great compassionate and knowledgeable person, but limiting my running to 3x a week really hurt my runs in races. Next coach had a huge ego and wrote weekly plan basically the same for all IM athletes and would never explain why if I asked him which was not a good fit for me.

I can't understand doing 2x a week s/b/r. Usually that is enough to maintain and not improve. Given that you improved my guess is you have a lot of potential not yet developed. Unless you told your coach that is all you could do time wise, that alone would be enough for me to say find another coach.
Quote Reply
Re: Triathlon Coaching, Price?? [ITRIhard] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'm just starting with my first, but paying $200. A little more than I wanted, but it includes coached swim workouts several days a week and track workouts if I want to take part. Could pay less with the same coach, but only get workouts in 2 to 4 week blocks with much less communication, etc. I felt the constant communication and having the coached workouts was worth spending the extra.
Quote Reply