tri coaches for a poor triathlete

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

ie if you have a marathon virgin with 10000 followers that is good but that would not really help you with more advacned athletes.

Unless you are a total and utter c0ck. Then your club mates will probably shun you.

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

Unless you are a total and utter c0ck. Then your club mates will probably shun you.

brian C brought cervelo to ireland.....

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

brian C brought cervelo to ireland.....

What's his club now?

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

What's his club now?

who stayed longer you or him ;-)

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

who stayed longer you or him ;-)

Who left and who got kicked out?

tunney

Some good examples in some other threads, and in various boards, of why sponsorship isn't always forthcoming to the guys who get results

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

Some good examples in some other threads, and in various boards, of why sponsorship isn't always forthcoming to the guys who get results

of course , at the same time many fast people also understand that sponsorship ,for getting a snickers or a twix isnt worth the time investment ( and at least 50% of the deals are that ) and you are way better of buying 2nd hand or at the right time of the year . and then you have people that are happy to pretend to be sponsored for a snickers , to boast their ego.


anyway to keep the thread a bit on track
askng for sponsorhip without telling what you can do for it, is pointless.
ie i came 30th and i want sponsorship 999 times out of 1000 wont get one a reply.
saying I write a blog thats read by 3000 people have 3000 twitter friends of which are most of them triathletes ( since this is a tri forum ) and i can help to promote your product is much more likley to get you a response.

poor me dosnt work often either ( and if so maybe in december but not in january ;-)

sconhome

peter kern wrote: »

of course , at the same time many fast people also understand that sponsorship ,for getting a snickers or a twix isnt worth the time investment ( and at least 50% of the deals are that ) and you are way better of buying 2nd hand or at the right time of the year . and then you have people that are happy to pretend to be sponsored for a snickers , to boast their ego.


anyway to keep the thread a bit on track
askng for sponsorhip without telling what you can do for it, is pointless.
ie i came 30th and i want sponsorship 999 times out of 1000 wont get one a reply.
saying I write a blog thats read by 3000 people have 3000 twitter friends of which are most of them triathletes ( since this is a tri forum ) and i can help to promote your product is much more likley to get you a response.

Good points ^

OP - I may have read it wrong when you say 'poor triathlete' are you a weak triathlete looking for a good coach to improve you or a non-wealthy triathlete looking for a cheap coach?

peter kern

since was quite harsh in my first post maybe i can claryfy that Sean.

the op is somebody that in his first year of tri did very well, and in a few years (2-3) certainly has a chance to be in the top 5 in kilkee or dublin.( non drafting)

and while i complained about his pool swim attidude , is somebody that actually brings it togheter when the gun goes off .

unlike many triathletes he does not drive a 4 wheel car a mercedes or BMW. but has a car ,and as he said 2 bikes with a powermeter, ( me being somebody who considers a car and a power meter and 2 bikes luxury goods for a triathlete, would consider him not poor.... )
i guess the term poor is relativ and you can also be quite poor if you have loads of money but no time. when i look at him he dosnt seem to starve ;-)

he is certainly not a poor (slow) triathlete ,on the contrary faster than kevin thornton in his first year of tri ,since his name has appeared in that post .
Conisdering he wants somebody to give up free time for him , it rubs me the wrong way , that one would want that , without giving his best in swim training. ( iam aware that iam biased here as i do belive he works hard for his run and bike and in open water traing swims, he did also well ,so one could very well say, I could have focused on the positive aspects in my first post.

Still i think that a "poor" triathlete should not have free "attitude speed" left untapped before asking for a discount ( and its not like i have not said this quite a few times to him (and yes its not all about me ...but thats the first thing a coach is going to tell him and he hasnt taken in that advice ,yet ) .
a good soccer player from a slum has to have the initial drive to get out there and get noticed

at the same time its undenyable that he can be good and that he is a racer.

MojoMaker

Who is this rockstar?

boysinblack

MojoMaker wrote: »

Who is this rockstar?

Looking at the kilkee results I can't see anyone in the top 40 that was in their first year of tri 🀔

Huff n Puff

peter kern wrote: »

since was quite harsh in my first post maybe i can claryfy that Sean.

I would have replied the same way if someone started a thread like this. It is a little insulting to you from this guy. He name checks a triathlon coach in the post while asking for a different coaching option.

With quotes like:

"Any affordable coaches out there ?? "
"find them very expensive"
"need to find a coach that won't break the bank"

the implication is that you are too expensive and not worth the money. Surely he knows you post here regularly and would read it? This thread just seems a little bit inappropriate.

As for the coaching part: I always find it strange that people go in search of a personal coach so early in their triathlon development.

rooneyjm

boysinblack wrote: »

MojoMaker wrote: »

Who is this rockstar?

Looking at the kilkee results I can't see anyone in the top 40 that was in their first year of tri 🀔

He's just outside that

rooneyjm

As for the coaching part: I always find it strange that people go in search of a personal coach so early in their triathlon development.
Why. If your 40 and only going to be in it for a few years then why not make the most of it.

As for the rest. Don't be so sensitive, I doubt Peter was insulted. Last thing we want is people afraid of starting a thread in fear of insulting or being a little inappropriate. We're all big boys

zico10

MojoMaker wrote: »

Who is this rockstar?

It's against boards' rules to identify or speculate as to the identity of a poster. Discussion can still happen without you knowing the answer to this and anybody who gives you the answer will probably be the cue for the thread to be closed.

hunter9

Ok so I think perhaps my initial post was misinterpreted. I wasn't saying that Peter is not a great coach. It's just that I can only see him in a group session every 2 weeks, and unfortunately I simply can't afford (financially) to see him for one on one sessions, as much as I would like to.
I prioritised triathlons over every other aspect of my life in the last year, and saved up for bikes and powermeters, foregoing any holiday or luxuries to do so. Perhaps I would have been better spending that money on coaching rather than powermeters, but hindsight is 20/20.
Regarding the question of sponsorship, I would like to clarify I wasn't asking how *I* would get sponsorship; it was more curiosity about how it all works. I do appreciate the responses and it does make sense that for a brand it is more about exposure than results.
PS. When I finally get over my surgery and back to training, feel free to stand on my head whenever I stop at the end of the pool Peter

tunney

Is just outside the top fourty in kilkee a good result? Devil's advocate.

zico10

tunney wrote: »

Is just outside the top fourty in kilkee a good result? Devil's advocate.

I think you're going for a little more than Devil's advocate, but I'd suggest it's not a bad place to finish after being 10 minutes down after the swim in what was his debut year.
After coming out of the water, were all the cyclists he would have had to pass a help or a hindrance? There could be equally valid reasons for both being true, but I'm glad, unlike the OP, I got to start in the first wave and didn't have to deal with hundreds of cyclists ahead of me on the road.

peter kern

I always find it strange that people go in search of a personal coach so early in their triathlon development.[/QUOTE]

get the basics right early is one point .
also that guy would have had a few fastest bike splits in some races so thats not that early in developemt. ( ie cycle wise he would be very close to when you were in triathlon)
ie there is already a good engine here.

i think coach or no coach is not based where you are in development

its other factors
ie do you want to study the sport or not
most importantly get a second opinion
the reason i do not like is to have somebody to be accountable to ( i persoanlly think that person should not take a coach but thats what many people do )
there is many reasons but i would say its great to learn the basics from a coach or somebody that really knows ,then once you have it and you are not very serious go alone but i think it would be really beneficial if in the first 6 or month or so people had a good coach .to get the basics right

where we certainly agree there is many people that have coaches that should not. as there is way to many people that have v expensive bikes that should not have them

hunter9

peter kern wrote: »

I always find it strange that people go in search of a personal coach so early in their triathlon development.

I found it really beneficial to have a swim coach at the very start. I came from more of a cycling background with some running experience so had a little bit of direction in those. As for the swimming, i had no clue of anything, so the swim sessions where key to keep me going.
IMO if someone asked about getting a coach at the very start i'd definitely say yes, it's a challenging sport and confusing at times to put all the training together so why not

MojoMaker

Would you not drop in to Alex Williams and see if he'd put a plan together for you and monitor it over time?

peter kern

i welcomed you to the run session ,after you came to one.
never saw you again, it was not only discounted it was free...

hunter9 wrote: »

Ok so I think perhaps my initial post was misinterpreted. I wasn't saying that Peter is not a great coach. It's just that I can only see him in a group session every 2 weeks, and unfortunately I simply can't afford (financially) to see him for one on one sessions, as much as I would like to.
I prioritised triathlons over every other aspect of my life in the last year, and saved up for bikes and powermeters, foregoing any holiday or luxuries to do so. Perhaps I would have been better spending that money on coaching rather than powermeters, but hindsight is 20/20.
Regarding the question of sponsorship, I would like to clarify I wasn't asking how *I* would get sponsorship; it was more curiosity about how it all works. I do appreciate the responses and it does make sense that for a brand it is more about exposure than results.
PS. When I finally get over my surgery and back to training, feel free to stand on my head whenever I stop at the end of the pool Peter

hunter9

peter kern wrote: »

i welcomed you to the run session ,after you came to one.
never saw you again, it was not only discounted it was free...

As I said before I'm up at 4am to go to that swim session. I then have to go to work from 14.00-22.30 and I work the evening before till 22.30.

Huff n Puff

peter kern wrote: »

i think coach or no coach is not based where you are in development

I would agree with that.

Used to be that newbies would train by themselves for the first year, then join a club and learn the ins and outs of the sport there from senior members + by doing their own research + trial and error (getting to know what works for you and what doesn't - often time you learn more from the mistakes you make). After a number of years and maybe a plateau in performance or you are looking to eke out another 5% improvement, head down the personal coaching avenue.

I find too many people are jumping into one on one coaching too early without exhausting other options. People take a short term view to things and want immediate success.

Maybe the knowledge and willingness to help newcomers is not available at most clubs now? Give me a group of 4 or 5 strong, positive lads to train day in day out with over one on one / email me a set coaching anyday (I know you don't coach like that). Every set we might do, might not be ideal for me but it is what keeps me going in the sport year in and year out. It's just another way of looking at things. This way also costs nothing for those that are stuck for money.

joey100

I'm not sure it's people taking a short term view of the sport that makes them get a coach. I think Tunney described it best when he said some people are time rich some don't have the time but have the cash. If you don't have the time going with a 'good' coach is probably best use of your time.

I'm in a club but I've moved house. Their is no club really around me that would suit, and even my own club has a huge variety of levels. Can be hard to find people to train with in a club, not every club has 4/5 strong lads with the same work schedule that live close together, have similar races and time of races planned and can organise training together. That's an ideal situation really and not the reality for the majority.

I really don't see the problem with people paying for coaching, it's their money, if they can afford it fire away, same as people on 8000 euro super bikes with 3000 wheels. If they can afford it and want it what's the problem? They aren't harming anyone. We don't know people's individual situations and it's too easy to say first year beginners shouldn't have a coach. We might not know the reason for them going with a coach.

In an ideal world everyone would join a club and have a great time training with the club and learn lots and eventually end up with enough of a knowledge base to help others out. this isn't the case though, and people make the most of their own individual situations.