Does anyone have any personal recommendations for a tri coach in the Denver/Boulder area?
- first time 70.3 (Boulder in June 2015)
- focus on training schedule and nutrition
- needs the most improvement in swimming
Thanks!
D3 multisport. Mike and his staff are great.
Curt Chesney in Boulder. 5x AG world champion http://chesneytriathloncoaching.com/
You might consider using a coach remotely for you overall season planning/training, then use a swim specific instructor this winter to point out where you need to improve and drills to keep working at all season to reinforce the changes. They should be able to work with your primary coach. That’s how I’m managing my athletes. Honestly, everyone can improve their swimming at least a little.
My point being, that you shouldn’t limit yourself only geographically and to get a swimming expert you might get someone not as strong in cycling, running or nutrition. It might be ideal to get someone that has athletes who have done Boulder. Maybe a coach in Boulder… being the tri capital of the world, I’d guess you might find one there. But perhaps one far away from there is more cost effective too or adds other value.
Does anyone have any personal recommendations for a tri coach in the Denver/Boulder area?
- first time 70.3 (Boulder in June 2015)
- focus on training schedule and nutrition
- needs the most improvement in swimming
Thanks!
Mark Van Akkeren is in Boulder, and he has had the fasted swim split at Kona before. (49 something in…2006? 7? 8? Somewhere in there…) He’s also on the forums (MarkyV) and in the coaches database. You did look there, right?
John
Practically everyone who does tri in Denver/Boulder is also a coach, so you have almost unlimited options here. It’s hard to make a recommendation without knowing what you are looking for, but here are some things to consider:
- do you want a group training environment and access to group workouts or do you plan to mostly train on your own?
- do you want someone who is available on occasion to do a swim analysis or run or bike with you?
- do you care about being part of a coaching club or team?
- will the coach work with you on schedule changes?
- is email contact unlimited (I wouldn’t work with someone who limited email contact)
- how much do you want to spend?
- do you prefer male or female?
Remember, the best athletes are not necessarily the best coaches and what’s most important is the relationship you have with that person and if you trust their plan. If you trust them, you are more likely to follow the plan and get the results you are seeking.
simon butterworth. amazing athlete and an even more amazing guy! good luck:)
You might check out Scott Jones of IMJ Coaching. He’ll be speaking today on the World Triathlon Summit series as well if you want to get a flavor of his style and approach.
I second Mike Ricci of D3 (one of two USAT Coaches of the Year). There are many great reasons he is such a respected coach and I can’t say enough good things about him (or the rest of D3 for that matter).
I have never used their coaching services but I would check out Endurance Corner. I believe most of their coaches are based in boulder and they run a number of camps out of there. You could always check out a camp to see if their philosophy lines up with what you are looking for.
I follow a good bit of the free material they put on their website, podcast interviews, etc. and have always felt their coaches have a solid approach. Just their free material has helped me a good deal.
Do you think the top performing athletes inherently make the best coaches?
Mat Steinmetz at 51 Speeshop. Great guy, knows his stuff.
From what I hear there are so many coaches in Boulder you can walk down Pearl Street and anyone who doesn’t smell like Patchouli is a tri coach.
Good point on results, It always makes me chuckle when the best selling point of a coach is his/her own athletic results. It is not the top element on a sales pitch, and actually tells me that they are more likely to be concerned with their own training than their athletes. Also Brett Sutton and Col Stewart have been wildy successful WITHOUT ever having even done a triathlon. Lets talk about what their athletes have done, how have they improved, etc.
Nah, i heard some guys playing hackey sack with ass long dreads the other day debating CP, MLSS, FTP and LT power.
I’m going to tell Tilburs that! Ya know, his TT football and rugby prowess and all.
I will recommend Tony DeBoom. Great guy, great coach.
D3 multisport. Mike and his staff are great.
Curt Chesney in Boulder. 5x AG world champion http://chesneytriathloncoaching.com/
I’ve swam with Mike’s group. Great guy. Been doing it a long time. Heard a lot about Curt from a buddy who trains with him regularly. He has a lot of respect for his cycling knowledge.
A good friend of mine coaches with this group. http://www.ipaendurance.com/ His name is Colin Laughery and he often posts here. He’s coached for one of the big Boulder coaching services before, and just had one of his current athletes qualify and go to Kona that really surprised me (with fitness gains made and race strategy to get there).
Also, a couple other local friends that coach, AJ Baucco- http://baucco.com/ and James Hadley- http://www.hadmeister.com/
AJ once gave me the best tip I’ve got yet on racing in hot weather (just keep hydrating early and don’t worry about how often you have to pee).
There are a ton of others as well. Just make sure they aren’t a BSer with a good website(s) and that whoever you choose has a plan that will fit with your budget, goals and work schedule.
Try AJ Baucco great guy just moved to Boulder, reasonable and works with all levels plus very accessible
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Good point on results,** It always makes me chuckle when the best selling point of a coach is his/her own athletic results. It is not the top element on a sales pitch, and actually tells me that they are more likely to be concerned with their own training than their athletes.** Also Brett Sutton and Col Stewart have been wildy successful WITHOUT ever having even done a triathlon. Lets talk about what their athletes have done, how have they improved, etc.
Agree 100%, it was another coach on this thread that once shared this with me
“It’s interesting that many people think its a great athlete that will make a great coach, yet there are not many who would think that a great coach will make a great athlete. It seems that in the second paradigm we understand that the skills do not transfer well, they’re different domains but in the first paradigm the misconception is that the skills do transfer well.”
I think this really rings true with triathletes. Many pro athletes use their athletic results to give “credibility” to their coaching. and write their race results on their blog. Instead I would rather see a blog on articles to help an athlete develop and become better. Also when posting results, I see many athletes post their athletes “best” results, but don’t compare the results they have from before and after they started to be coached. A podium finish is great to see, but what GAINS has that coached made for that athlete, how are they BETTER now then before?
Take a look at ipaendurance.com. Seriously the best team and coaches I’ve ever trained with. One of the coaches is Colin Laughery, a regular contributor here and a nine hour Kona finisher. Dean Maruna, world champion duathlete, Bill Garrels and Steve Gibson, also very accomplished athletes. A unique thing of IPA for me is that we all train together. We are all helping each other get faster, athletes and coaches. Check out the IPA Endurance FB page. I’ll add you if you want. Come to a couple workouts and see if you think we are a fit for you. If you want to continue, signing day is Dec. 12th.