I've used Sonni Dyer at TriMyCoach.com for duathlons and a marathon. Worked me hard and made sound allowances for the recovery cycle - exactly the mix that I could not produce on my own. Quick response to e-mail inquiries, good ability to ask questions and tailor a plan accordingly. Handles rants with a lot of class.

Pricing is extremely reasonable. I'm not using him just now as I'm dialing back the racing a bit.

Sonni will take and reply to your questions if you want more info after looking at his site. He's one of if not THE best investments I've made in the sport.

we already did this topic like 2 weeks ago but im using Brendon Downey (1991 NZ national tri champ) love working with him, he's helped me immensely---his rates vary from like $8 a week to $30 a week. I got option 2. www.brendondowney.com Hes got the real life knowledge of being an elite, plus hes got the educational component.

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

I have seen these threads before and although it is great to hear of all the success stories and accolades for the coaches out there, I really think it would be more useful to Herschel to hear about who NOT to use....not that I want to see anybody's reputation brought down here, but really how much good does it do to hear about 15 or 20 guys who are all great, availalble, reasonably priced,etc. If they're all good, then why doensn't H just draw a name out of a hat, or have someone pick one for him randomly??

And the survey is not accurate because you are most likely selecting athletes who had positive responses. Also we all know you get out what you put in for most coaching relationships.

I could bash one fairly known coach who worked with me for two years but I ain't gonna go first.

The Mark Allen program sucked badly. Overtrained at distance. Little interaction with coaches. Sucked so bad when I emailed my top ten of why you suck, he called me personally to apologize and offer me a discount. I used Troy Jacobson's cookie cutter for IMFLA. Boring - same workouts over and over but effective. I use CTS now and am quite happy.

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Slow down or Go Around.

if you get a list of 15-20 coaches that their athletes have nothing bad to say about them, then picking them out of the hat isnt such a bad idea. There isnt a best coach in the world. Everyone interacts differently and needs different things. It'd be good to figure out what type of coach you want/need and then find that. If you want daily email contact you can pay for that---but some coaches dont have that option (like mine). If you want your coach to live 40 mins from you so that he/she can see how well you run, swim etc, then my coach who lives in NZ, is out.

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

Mike Plumb, $75/month, www.tripower.org

- Unlimited email/phone access (email to set up phone call time)

- weekly workouts, tailored to your schedule + goals

In my opinion, there is no better bang for your buck than Mike. Has all the knowledge/expereince of the expensive guys, gives the same types of workouts as the expensive guys...except he just isn't that expensive.

Email me directly if you have any other specific questions about this. Good luck.

I've been working with Joel Filliol of www.Competitionzone.com for about 18 months and have had great success. His experience with elites and his scientific, logical, attentive-to-detail style are what I value most. Having got to know him I can honestly say that he is a very intelligent, modest guy with no ego getting in the way. And he truly cares about how I perform; but don't expect to be smothered with attention -- you get out what you put in for sure. As for rates, it's $150 a month -- pretty reasonable compared to other guys offering the same level of service.

I'll second Mike Plumb, he's been fantastic. He's very quick with responses to my questions and works the program around my sometimes changing work schedule.

Mark

I don't use a coach, but have seen Mike Plumb get some success with friends of mine. Bang for the buck he seems to be fantastic, and of coaches of all rates he also seems fantastic. I don't say that in hopes that he will take it easy on me next time we race, but that would be really nice Mike!

Now let me plug not using a coach. I have found if I go to friends of mine who have been very successful, or who have had incredible performance jumps, and asked them how they did it, they have been very willing to share. My friends and I compare notes, and see what works and what does not. We all tweak our programs for our individual abilities, bodies, and training time. We seem to be successful. I have a friend who could only train 1 hour a day devise a method for himself and become great at shorter distances. I have friends who have qualified and won AGs at Hawaii writing their own program. With a little effort you can put together your own program.

With my limited training schedule I know I can swim once or twice a week and have a decent swim, but will do better if I swim masters. For biking I know that LSD and power pyramids in the winter, and then LSD and hammering with buddies some during the summer shows great results for me. For running, the closer I follow Jack Daniel's workouts, the better I will get.

The Jack Daniels I got onto because a few friends were doing great on that program. I try to follow a Zone diet, because a friend made tremendous improvements on it one year, and I tried it and had better results also. The LSD I got during the winter I got out of a few published workouts and it worked for me. The power pyramids I read M. Jones was doing, and I incorporated them and had good success. It is a long process, but nobody can tweak a program for me like I can.

The one big downside to not having a coach, is that I do not feel responsible to somebody to finish the workouts. But, that is what discipline is all about, and I am learning about that.

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"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC

I used Ben Hastings in Columbus Ohio and he was very good and reasonably priced.

He has had a good many athletes that have been very successfull with him, IMHA AG winners and qualifiers.

I am just starting to train with a group coached by Mike Ricci whom I do not know but who actually has a really good deal if you are able to access it.

For my second year of IM's I am manipulating my own schedule based in part upon last years combined with advice from some other athletes and my own particular weaknesses.

I am going to try this for a year and see how it works, taking last years schedule and adjusting based on needs, time and weaknesses.

I will display my ignorance here: What is LSD training. I tried to find it on the web an can't get a definition.

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Jon Bergmann
http://jonbergmann.com

Can mean either long slow distance or long steady distance.

Zeke