Welcome to the coaching page. This page contains the basic information to give you an overview of how I work. Directly below are links to the Ironman guide (its a work in progress) and also the athlete login link which is for coached athletes only.
Cheers: John
Cheers: John
Triathlon coaching
Struggling to make improvement or not sure where to start then let me help through a well-structured, balanced training program designed for you and your life.
I am a triathlon specific coach which means understanding the differences required to be a multisport athlete.
Personally I believe that if you want to be a better triathlete then your training needs to be specific to triathlon and not a mash up of some swim bike run specific sessions.
I have been a triathlete for over 25 years and a triathlon coach for over ten years. I have been involved in coaching for the Canterbury Triathlon club from their junior program to their age group athletes. I have coached a broad range of abilities from complete novices to an age group duathlon world champion. So from children to adults of all abilities I believe I have the skill set to help you achieve your goals and all programs are tailored to your needs and not a generic one size fits all homogenized program that is of no relevance to you and your life.
If you scroll down the page you can see an insight into how I work.
Cheers - John
Struggling to make improvement or not sure where to start then let me help through a well-structured, balanced training program designed for you and your life.
I am a triathlon specific coach which means understanding the differences required to be a multisport athlete.
Personally I believe that if you want to be a better triathlete then your training needs to be specific to triathlon and not a mash up of some swim bike run specific sessions.
I have been a triathlete for over 25 years and a triathlon coach for over ten years. I have been involved in coaching for the Canterbury Triathlon club from their junior program to their age group athletes. I have coached a broad range of abilities from complete novices to an age group duathlon world champion. So from children to adults of all abilities I believe I have the skill set to help you achieve your goals and all programs are tailored to your needs and not a generic one size fits all homogenized program that is of no relevance to you and your life.
If you scroll down the page you can see an insight into how I work.
Cheers - John
Other ServicesRun technique coaching - one on one session focusing on form and efficiency. Pricing on request
Bike fit - Triathlon specific bike set up. The needs of the triathlete are significantly different form the needs of a cyclist and your bike set up should also reflect this. Also race distance matters and set up for Ironman is different from a short course set up. $150 - 250 depending on time involved and if a follow up session is required I Race tooYes I am a coach who practices what I preach. Often I test concepts out personally before implementing them in an athletes program. Off course nobody lives your life so often we are creating a plan that's very personalized and very specific.
As a coach and an athlete other than the obvious experience I think I bring empathy and understanding to a program and how that it is going to impact on your life. Its not always about looking at power files and training stress scores but possibly asking how your partner is coping with all the training you are doing. Think about that for a moment. My lovely wife is often completely over Ironman about 6 weeks out from the race and sometimes in this selfish sport its about being mindful of what's actually important Yes, I race as well
Ironman Australia Game face on at the start of the bike |
Session of the month
Transition 101
This session is more of a guide on how to execute a good transition for short course racing. Transition practice is often over looked but in all honesty it can save you a lot of time. 
Program templateThis is the template I use for my athletes. You are welcome to use it as a start point. My coached athletes also get notes attached with these.
| ||||
Pricing
Initial informal contact - No Charge
Initial Consultation - $250. This includes:
Monthly subscription - $150 a month. This includes
One of program - this is what we call a fax and forget program. Rather than a generic internet program it is tailored to you and your life
Mentoring - $100 per consult.
- Covers coaching styles
- Covers your needs
- How I work and how your program may look
- Its also an informal meeting to assess if we are going to get on! Lets be honest that's important :)
Initial Consultation - $250. This includes:
- Planning session for season and key race.
- Establishing client objectives.
- First block of training including any associated notes and sessions
Monthly subscription - $150 a month. This includes
- Coaching consult to monitor progress - usually once every 5th week on your recovery week to assess progress and make any changes and modifications.
- Access to client coaching pages, resources and discounts.
- Access to me (during normal working hours) to discuss any issues or questions - txt, phone or Email.
One of program - this is what we call a fax and forget program. Rather than a generic internet program it is tailored to you and your life
- You get a program tailored to you, your needs but no other contact.
- Ideal for the experienced athlete who just wants a bit of structure and help on how to fit a program into there life.
- Includes extra swim bike and run sessions relative to the race you are training for.
- Includes generic race week notes.
- 9 week short course / Olympic distance plan - $600.
- 12 week 1/2 ironman plan - $750.
- 18 week Ironman plan - $1,000.
Mentoring - $100 per consult.
- For the athlete writing his own program who needs a little direction.
- This essentially is to stop you from doing dumb stuff.
- Its a sit down session where we go over your program and look and the why, what and when you should be doing things.
How a program may be formatted
So how do I put it all together?
Bear in mind that this is just a rough guide and that any program is tailored to the individual athlete and the event they are training for. I am not the generic one size fits all homogenized coach but having said that you need to be mindful that there are still some fundamentals of training that cannot be ignored and that needs to be a consideration in a well structured program.
I personally base most of my programs on 4 weeks training 1 week recovery.
This allows for a little more consistency which is a fundamental to training.
It also gives me a the ability to be a little more flexible in how the weeks are structured.
It allows me if required to put the program over a two week cycle within that 4 week block
This is how a plan may look with an overview to a whole year. Each phase is determined by where the athlete is at and also what event they are training for so the duration of each section may vary.
Out of season program: This is all about keeping the body ticking over but also just making it low key and fun. Often post season I recommend a break not only for the athlete but for the other people in your life. I often call it free form training where the athlete can just chill out. However if there is a long term goal then the out of season program is just about ticking over or more often than not working on weakness.
Sessions are planned to reduce impact on life.
—This is a low key version of 4 weeks on 1 week off.
—Focus maintaining a basic fitness and maybe doing some stuff for fun.
—There will be a reduced number of sessions focused on skills and weakness.
Pre-season: This phase is solely focused on getting the athlete ready for serious training. If you can imagine starting a program from zero fitness and then building towards a race or would you rather be prepared for the load so we can reduce injury risk and have you physically ready to train for your big event.
—This is still the same format as before 4 weeks on 1 week off
—Sessions gradually added as the athlete progresses
—Format of week will begin to transition towards in season program
—Bench marking begins
—The objective is to be in good shape so that an athlete can hit the key build ready to go
Key build / In season: for this I have used Ironman as a guide. I use the word key build for this phase as it helps focus the athlete on the fact that its getting real and the mind set is about their big day.
—Format is focused on the event and this is the phase where it becomes all about the race.
—Recovery weeks are very easy but have bench marking time trials to monitor progression.
—Brick sessions and specific course focused training begin.
Key build for an Iron distance race is 18 weeks as follows:
—4 weeks on with focus on run volume starting two weeks in.
—1 Recovery week including benchmarking.
—4 weeks Big volume phase both in bike and running.
—1 Recovery week including benchmarking.
—4 weeks - Two weeks in start to drop run volume (that’s about 6 weeks out to race day) and increase swim volume.
—1 Recovery week including benchmarking.
—2 weeks shorter and at a higher intensity.
—1 week taper to race.--
Bear in mind that this is just a rough guide and that any program is tailored to the individual athlete and the event they are training for. I am not the generic one size fits all homogenized coach but having said that you need to be mindful that there are still some fundamentals of training that cannot be ignored and that needs to be a consideration in a well structured program.
I personally base most of my programs on 4 weeks training 1 week recovery.
This allows for a little more consistency which is a fundamental to training.
It also gives me a the ability to be a little more flexible in how the weeks are structured.
It allows me if required to put the program over a two week cycle within that 4 week block
This is how a plan may look with an overview to a whole year. Each phase is determined by where the athlete is at and also what event they are training for so the duration of each section may vary.
Out of season program: This is all about keeping the body ticking over but also just making it low key and fun. Often post season I recommend a break not only for the athlete but for the other people in your life. I often call it free form training where the athlete can just chill out. However if there is a long term goal then the out of season program is just about ticking over or more often than not working on weakness.
Sessions are planned to reduce impact on life.
—This is a low key version of 4 weeks on 1 week off.
—Focus maintaining a basic fitness and maybe doing some stuff for fun.
—There will be a reduced number of sessions focused on skills and weakness.
Pre-season: This phase is solely focused on getting the athlete ready for serious training. If you can imagine starting a program from zero fitness and then building towards a race or would you rather be prepared for the load so we can reduce injury risk and have you physically ready to train for your big event.
—This is still the same format as before 4 weeks on 1 week off
—Sessions gradually added as the athlete progresses
—Format of week will begin to transition towards in season program
—Bench marking begins
—The objective is to be in good shape so that an athlete can hit the key build ready to go
Key build / In season: for this I have used Ironman as a guide. I use the word key build for this phase as it helps focus the athlete on the fact that its getting real and the mind set is about their big day.
—Format is focused on the event and this is the phase where it becomes all about the race.
—Recovery weeks are very easy but have bench marking time trials to monitor progression.
—Brick sessions and specific course focused training begin.
Key build for an Iron distance race is 18 weeks as follows:
—4 weeks on with focus on run volume starting two weeks in.
—1 Recovery week including benchmarking.
—4 weeks Big volume phase both in bike and running.
—1 Recovery week including benchmarking.
—4 weeks - Two weeks in start to drop run volume (that’s about 6 weeks out to race day) and increase swim volume.
—1 Recovery week including benchmarking.
—2 weeks shorter and at a higher intensity.
—1 week taper to race.--
How a program may look
This is a sample of an athletes program - I have not gone into sessions specifics as that's what you pay for. It gives you a window into how a week may be structured depending on what you are training for and also your ability
