On-Line Coaching:
I have been a coach now for over five years and really feel that my services are a great value to those serious about achieving their fitness and athletic goals. I was thinking...here I have this great service that is getting results for those I am currently coaching. I just wish more people knew about it or could experience it to discover what I and my athletes already know.

How can I share this with others who maybe new to on-line coaching, may not trust it or have faith in it and/or have become dissatisfied with their current coach because he or she does not put the time, effort, and attention into their program that they feel is necessary for them to stay motivated and progressing forward.

Coaching Philosophy:
I view coaching as being a partner with the athlete. As a coach, I view myself as helping to facilitate and challenge the growth of the athlete in both their physical and mental limits. Continuously consulting with the athlete concerning progress, workouts, and challenges takes time but it is what coaching is all about. There is nothing more exciting to see when an athlete accomplishes something they previously thought impossible.

Coaching Method:
I use a multi-modal approach to coaching in which I take the best aspects of various methodologies and combine them to fit each individual athlete's specific limitations. I put a great deal of faith into "the numbers" and track all clients' Training Stress Scores (TSS), Chronic Training Loads (CTL), and Training Stress Balance (TSB) for all activities.

What Sets Me Apart From Other Coaches:
This is in-part related to my training methodology. I take the time to create incrementally increased weekly TSS goals for all athletes as part of their annual training plan. These TSS goals are then run through a program that projects your estimated level of fitness for up to 3-months out. If you follow the program and reach your weekly TSS goals you will arrive at your projected fitness level. However, it is common to have to adjust TSS goals based on each athlete's progress and ability to handle greater loads. As athletes enter their workouts via Trainingpeaks.com their actual weekly totals are loaded onto their training calendar and then compared with their planned weekly TSS goal.

"Okay, I Don't Understand TSS/CTL/TSB...I Just Want To Train."
That is why you have a coach. I worry about your data and all you need to do is enter your duration, heart rate and/or power/pace info, and I take care of the rest.

How Can This Be Accomplished On-Line?
It is really quite simple. I have listed the process below:
1) Goal Development via phone.

2) Annual Training Plan Development. Including TSS and CTL projections done by coach and centered around your goals.

3) Daily workouts developed each with an individual purpose to move you closer to your goal. These workouts are automatically emailed to you.

4) Each individual receives their own Performance Management Chart which displays and tracks their training progress.




On-line coaching is quite effective in terms of goal achievement and bang for your training buck.

1) Considering that personal training usually runs $50.00 to $75.00 per hour at 2-3 sessions per week and on-line training runs commonly for $200.00-$350.00 per month with 7 training sessions or more per week.

2) Your coach is always available for questions or concerns via email or phone.

3) Progress and data are tracked and quantified on a weekly basis by athletes estimating their efforts or by downloading their workouts from their power meter and swim and run devices.

Hopefully this brief description of how on-line coaching works will allow you to make a better decision in terms of achieving your goals.

I realize that you may still have more questions about on-line training and how this all works...so feel free to email me at pjtriman@juno.com with any further questions you may have. No question is to trivial so don't be shy about asking...

David Rosa Competing at Portugal National Championships

This is a video clip of David Rosa (Elite MTB XC) competing for the Portugal National Championships last year. I have been coaching David on and off for over a year now and he is showing great progress in his 30 second, 1 minute, 5 minute, and 20 minute power. David's goal is to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London for his home country of Portugal. David will have his sights set on July to best his last year's effort at this same race featured in the above video. David is shown at 8 minutes 4 seconds into this clip.

This clip pretty much sums up my high school basketball experience.

Tempo Ride

ME
I have been lately making good use of my computrainer as this file suggests. I love doing my tempo rides and interval workouts on my computrainer which allows me to get in extreme quality no matter what the weather or time of day. I have been gradually increasing my duration on my tempo rides while pretty much keeping the same intensity.

Get A Power Meter:
A power meter is invaluable in so many ways in both training and racing. Looking at the data isn't really that complicated as it looks but just like looking at an IQ test or other test data from various disciplines,,,, a power meter will quantify your experience on the bike and either validates or refutes what you are suspecting in terms of improvements, performance, strengths, and limiters.
All this analysis isn't quantum physics although it may seem quite complicated at first.

Coaching
Over the years I have really grown to love this aspect of coaching as it provides some hard evidence and objectivity to an otherwise very subjective task. Being a psychologist as well, I see a great deal of overlap when using data to make recommendations and conclusions. You have to look at the whole athlete and not just the data alone when making training decisions.

Coaching:
With my athletes I use a very time intensive method which is designed to track weekly TSS totals and compare those with the TSS goals I have set for them. I also track how they are feeling based on the volume of training and if it seems they are overly fatigued we re-calculate their TSS goals and TSS progression with a one of a kind program designed to predict future CTL based on TSS totals. This is all coordinated with their race schedule and annual training plan. Athletes update me on EVERY workout and I review EVERY workout to see their comments and get their feedback. Then based on all the data, athlete feedback, goals, and race schedule I then adjust their plan as we progress. There are continual revisions to their schedules as well as TSS goals but I find that this keeps everyone on the same page and progressing forward.

What To Do With Race Shirts? Make A Quilt!

I recently decided to clean out my closets and realized how many race shirts I had collected over the years. Outside of giving them away I had heard of others having their shirts made into a quilt. I thought this was an excellent idea and decided to have one made. I have a lot of memories wrapped up in my shirts. They represent a great deal of work and emotions from all my races spanning back to high school and collegiate track and field events all the way through my cycling and triathlon events of today. I really could't part with those shirts. So having a quilt made the most sense from an emotional standpoint but also from a recycling standpoint. Why waste all that material? These quilts don't come cheap but in my opinion they are well worth it. Here is a picture of my quilt which is in the process of being constructed.