PM sent.

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Mark Saroni
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COACHING | TRAINING PLANS
MS Kinesiology | USAT LII | USAC L3

You are a pro but don't know where to start? You must be very talented!
There are a bunch of coaches hanging around here and I'm sure you will receive some replies here and get private messages as well. Hope to see you reporting back here and to hear you weren't plateauing at all, but still had lots to gain!

As a pro for 4 years myself here’s what I’ve done in the past:
Look at other pros who are like you, strengths, weaknesses etc and have improved under their coach. Find their coach as ask to talk about Coaching

Ask other pros you trust who they would recommend and why.

After phone calls with a few narrow it down to 2-3 and then fly out to see them and have a couple days of face to face time.

Make sure before you start talking to coaches you write out what you think you need from a coach and what you want from a coach. Be very open and honest and blunt with what you are looking for and expect.

Good luck! There are good coaches out there and some no so much! I’ve been very fortunate to have amazing experiences with all my coaches.

Well you could start with some more information, other than you are a new pro. What was your background, how old, what races did you do this past season, how did you do, what are some key workouts you have done, 15x100 swim times, stand alone run races, any bike TT's to report, where do you think you have the most room for improvement, what are your goals, etc??

I'm happy to talk to you about my coach if you're interested. I agree with Jocelyn that finding athletes with similar backgrounds as you who are improving is probably a good first step. I've got a running and slight swimming background and my wife and I have been with our coach for 3 years now, ever since we started the sport. I feel like I've had a fairly solid first year as a pro and a lot of that is owed to my coach. As much as I like the technical side of stuff, I really don't like planning workouts or having to think about training so having a coach who takes over that 100% (with my input) was important. PM me if you're curious to talk more!

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

3x Look at Jocelyn's advice. And follow it as best you can.
It takes a lot of time to do the research and actually interview multiple coaches. Treat it like a job. I don't know if she has a document you could use?

She's tied for the best athlete/interviewer I've ever talked too. It's was very clear that she prepared her coaching search the same as she prepares for triathlon. Professionally. That shows in her race results.

I knew the way she interviewed, that she'd make the best decision for herself. (I wasn't even in the finale, but I respect her approach)

Where are you based, that could help narrow down some options too as having someone face to face could be good.

I like clint Lien up in BC canada, he has had a lot of success but doesn’t charge a lot or carry on about the pros he has helped. He is anstraight talker too.

The life sport guys are well regarded as are purple patch. Jurgen Zach in Thailand is having success and you can go train out of phuket with him to escape winter. Grant Giles in Australia is a bit of a legend and behind most of the current crop of Aussie long course pros, he had a huge stable of pros working under him. Tim Reed coaches now too as does pete jacobs both recent world champions.

You have a huge amount of options.

Thanks for your reply. I was a swimmer as a child, took up cycling as a young adult racing a bit and eventually took up triathlon in my late 20's. I'm 36 yrs old now. Over time my training morphed into exclusively adventure type workouts for fun. Lots and lots of volume of all types of activities outdoors, never doing much structure until a few weeks out of an event. This year I raced 70.3 Mont-Tremblant early season which was a bit of a disaster, finished 4th at the full in Tremblant in August (but my pb on the course is the previous year as an amateur low 8h30's), and just raced IM Florida (14th - pb marathon 2h50, had flatted on the bike - 8:29) and Cozumel (10th - 8:23) this fall. I haven't done any stand alone races... and very few key workouts - my MO leading into races has been a weekly race pace runs coming off a 6-8h bike ride.. progressing their length from week to week. I used to pull off 100's sets of that nature swimming 1:06 - 1:08.. haven't done that type of stuff in a while though. I feel my run will continue to progress and feel like I have the most room to gain on both the swim and the bike and perhaps that would put me in a better position to constantly challenge for podium spots in these races. I am also aware that at 36 I don't have an other 15 years to improve and develop, and I may also be close to my ceiling? I don't know for sure and that's ok, but I do think I still have several good years and me if I can stay healthy and motivated and I'd like to see just how far I can take it. I'm a coach myself and so realize the value of having structure in your programming, and specific work to improve in areas that require improvement, I suppose.

good info thanks :)

thanks a lot for the reply and advice. Appreciate it.

36 isnt too old in ling course, sounds like you have a fee pro years in you so have a crack mate. AG racing is always there, and pro events and travelling to some great locations is a life experience its not just about winning, you are going to be competitive.

 
The wife won the ITU World Series at 37, and her first Ironman at 40.

You're a pup you've plenty of years in you yet, and fresh legs, go chase it.

Good luck.

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http://www.sweat7.com
Facebook Page: Sweat7
Twitter: @sweat7coaching

Not to echo more of what Jocelyn recommended, but if you're looking for written content, Ruth Brennan Morrey wrote a great article on finding a coach. In summary, she just came off a some great AG results and was in the hunt for a coach going into the pro ranks. Sound familiar?

You got some great advises here. Do you need someone by your side during training? Otherwise you have a lot of options. You can even find guys abroad , Europe or anywhere to your likings. Loads of german coaches if you like that Arnold style ;) Or swedish guys like Björn and some other guys.

I’m putting on a swim focused pro camp in January for 2 weeks. We’ll have about 10 athletes who come in to train. Actually, Jocelyn will be one of them. It’s a good time to meet other pros, see how others train and get faster in the swim.

If you have questions, feel free to send me a message.

Tim

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http://www.magnoliamasters.com
http://www.snappingtortuga.com
http://www.swimeasyspeed.com

Living the dream 👍

Choosing a coach at your age, better get it right first time.

Talk to your fellow pros and know EXACTLY what you want to work on.

Good luck.

I saw past Tremblant IM results and though: "Who's that guy from Moncton,N.B., he should race with the pros !" :-) .
My thoughts: Make sure you find a coach that understands your lifestyle and can translate that to IM performances. You definitely got potential as an endurance athlete. The big question is will you get bored by "traditional" IM Tri workouts ...

LOuis :-)

Go for it!

But – haven't you been racing pro since at least 2015??

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Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

I had a few races as a pro in 2015, then I took a huge step back from the sport and decided to have an other crack at it this season.

Ah, thought I'd seen your named on pro lists a few times.

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Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

Thanks Louis!