TRI THIS Triathlon Coaching by Paul Newsome

3 Coaching Plans to suit all needs / budgets:

Making the decision to be coached directly for a major triathlon competition, or even just the next season, is a big step and requires considerable consideration. You might have just signed up for your first Ironman event and are a little scared about the prospect of taking on this huge task by yourself, or you might already be a seasoned Olympic Distance or Half Ironman Distance athlete who needs steering in the right direction this season to see your results soar. Choosing to have your training regime monitored and critiqued on a regular basis by a qualified coach is one of the best things you can do to help improve your performance and also keep you motivated towards your goals. Before continuing with the Athlete Questionnaire below, please view details of our 3 Coaching Plans, which detail content, level of service and full costings.

Here are a few useful reference guides for you:

In an effort to provide you with the very best coaching support possible, you will find the following articles very useful for you in association with your training and racing aspirations:

TRI THIS user guide A guide to training with Power by Joe FrielTraining and Racing with a Power Meter - abstract by Hunter Allen and Andrew CogganHow the Performance Manager allows us to track your progress and form TRI THIS Medical Waiver / Consent form


  • Guide to Training with Power, Joe Friel, 2001.

 

 

 
  • How the Performance Manager in WKO+ allows us to track your fitness progression. A great tool!

Athlete Questionnaire:

Plan, analyse, train - smarter with TRI THIS!The first stage in the process of having a unique training program created just for you is to tell the coach a little bit about yourself. Accurate and detailed information is key to the efficiency of this process. Please complete the questionnaire below which should take between 20 and 25 mins to fill in. You may at first 'balk' at the amount of information we require, but when forming a new coach-athlete relationship, this is entirely necessary.

We strongly recommend to avoid navigating away from this page (the hyperlinks that we provide to important areas for you to read should be 'safe' however) during this process by visiting other pages etc, due to the risk of losing important information you have already detailed. If possible complete the questions by cutting and pasting into a word document to prevent losing any data. All athlete information is considered private and personal and will not be used for any other purpose or given to any other party.

Please, when completing the online questionnaire, DO NOT USE your "ENTER" or "RETURN" keys to navigate down the form; instead use either your mouse cursor or the "TAB" key to move to each new field. We have had a few hiccups with not all segments of the questionnaire being recorded if the ENTER key is hit within the form, so to avoid losing 'work', DON'T HIT ENTER. Thankyou!

Part 1. General Information:

The following section collects information related to your various contact details and provides us with a brief 'introduction' to you as an athlete. Please be as accurate with your answers as you can be as these contact details will be used on a daily / weekly basis to communicate with you about your program.

First Name:

Last Name:
Email:
Best Phone Number:
Address:
City:
State / County:
Postal Code:
Country:  
Date of Birth:
Age as of 31/12/2007: yrs
Occupation:
Athlete Type:  
Race Category:  
Height: cm
Weight: kg
How did you hear about us?

Chosen Program Level (click here for full details):

 

 

 

Performance = Set-up fee* + £95 / US$195 / AUD$250 per month

Development = Set-up fee* + £65 / US$ 125 / AUD$160 per month

Introductory = Set-up fee* + £40 / US$75 / AUD$95 per month

*details of set-up fees and inclusions / exclusions are listed in the 3 Coaching Plans' Guide
Required Program duration: weeks

 

When would you like to commence your program:

 

 

 

Please write "asap" where necessary, or enter starting date (from a Monday)*

*Please note that it typically takes 2 weeks from receipt of this questionnaire to set up a Training Peaks Account for you, review your questionnaire comments, speak with you about your aspirations and goals on the telephone, prepare your Annual Training Planner and then write the first 4 weeks of your program. Forward planning and enquiry on your behalf is of paramount importance, especially when preparing for a major event such as an Ironman.

Part 2. Vital Training Statistics:

In this next section we aim to collect as much accurate information about your various training parameters as possible. You may not be able to answer all the questions, but please try to be as thorough as possible.

 
Training Age: mths yrs (i.e. number of years of continuous training / involvement in sport)
Max Heart Rate: bpm (i.e. this can be the highest figure you have seen your HR in any discipline or 220 minus age)
Resting Heart Rate: bpm (i.e. taken first thing in the morning, lying down, after a rest day)
Lactate Threshold HR: SWIM bpm BIKE bpm RUN bpm
  We define your lactate threshold heart rate simply as the average HR that you are able to sustain for a flat-out 1500m swim time trial, a 60 minute bike time trial or a 10km run time trial. If you have had your Lactate Thresholds assessed within the last 4 months using a more sophisticated lab-based method, simply input these figures.
PB 400m swim time: (Please complete one of these in your next swim session if you don't know!)
PB 50m swim time: (Please complete one of these in your next swim session if you don't know!)
Functional Theshold Power: watts (i.e. the average power you are able to hold on the bike for a 20 minute TT x 0.95)
PB 5km run time: (Please complete one of these in the next fortnight where practical if you don't know!)

Part 3. Ascertaining Your Strengths and Weaknesses: 

Check one statement below for each sport that best describes what is standing between you and success in achieving your goals?

    Swim:
    I find it difficult to finish the swim portion of a race.
    In choppy open water swims I lose more time than others in my race category.
    My swim technique is poor.
    My swimming gets slower as the race progresses.
    If I start the swim fast I start gasping for air and must slow down more than others in my race category.
    At the end of the swim portion I'm unable to speed up to catch those slightly ahead of me.

    Bike:
    Just finishing the bike leg of a race is difficult for me.
    I am passed by lots of other triathletes on hills.
    I'm a "masher"--I push big gears slowly.
    Even on flat courses my bike speed decreases near the end.
    As the bike portion of a race gets shorter I do worse relative to those in my category.
    In short races, I struggle to get over short "power" hills.

    Run:
    I usually find it difficult to finish long runs.
    I run up hills slower than most in my race category.
    I bounce up and down more than others when I run.
    My running gets slower as the race progresses.
    In shorter races, if I go anaerobic I'm forced to slow down.
    I almost never win a sprint to the finish line.

Part 4. Training Frequency:

Now let us know a little bit about how often you train on an ideal week.

Swim:

     

    		How many times do you swim with a swim squad?
    # Swims per Week 0 2 3 4 5 6
    3      
    4    
    4-5  
    5-6

Bike:

    2 rides/week (races of less than 4 hours only)
    3 rides/week
    4 rides/week
    4-5 rides/week
    5-6 rides/week

Run:

    2 runs/week (races of less than 4 hours only)
    3 runs/week
    4 runs/week
    4-5 runs/week
    5-6 runs/week

Typical Annual Training Total: hrs (i.e the total number of hours you typically spend training per year. If you need to estimate this based upon your average weekly training volume x 48 to 52 (weeks in a year + rest period where applicable) that is fine.

Part 5. Personal Goals and Ambitions:

Please list the race (or races) you want to train for, listing the dates and the aspirations you have for this race (or races). List them in the order of priority, i.e. rank them A, B, or C, where A = your highest priority (you may only have 1 to 3 of these per year) and C are casual "training races", e.g. a club x-country event.

In order to help the program planning process, please detail us with website links (where possible) to race calendars (for swim, cycle, run and triathlon events) in your local area (try using www.google.com if you are unsure). This will allow us to build up some “intermediate” races for you which will build you up towards the BIG event. Thankyou!

Part 6. Previous Achievements:

Now, please let us know some of the previous events that you have competed in and any relevant times and finishing positions. These can date back to when you first started racing, but please only list your top-5 performances in each category - thankyou! If you have no previous experience simple enter "NONE".

Sprint Triathlons:
Olympic Distance Triathlons:
Half Ironman/Ironman:
Other Sports, e.g Swimming, Cycling and Running as Individual Disciplines:

Part 7. Additional Disciplinary Information:

Swim:

Details of any swimming / upper body injuries:

Have you ever had any technical feedback on your stroke, if so, from whom and what advice did they give?
Do you have access to swim swimming footage of yourself which we can use to provide you with an analysis of your swim stroke? Yes No
Do you require any assistance with regards anxiety in open water swims? Yes No

Cycling:

Do you have access to indoor bike training equipment, e.g. a wind / turbo trainer? Do you own a power meter? If so, what type?
Please detail your last 4 weeks of Cycle training:
Injuries from cycling? If so please describe:
How recent was the injury?
What is the current status of the injury?
Do you require any physiotherapy assistance or advice currently?
 Yes No
Have you had your bike setup looked at recently and do you have any issues with sore back, saddle sores etc on longer rides?

Running:

Please detail your last 4 weeks of Run training:
Injuries from running? If so please describe:
How recent was the injury?
What is the current status of the injury?
Do you require any physiotherapy assistance or advice currently? Yes No

Weight Training / Core Stability:

Years Strength training: yrs
Are you currently lifting? Y N
Number of sessions per week:
Please detail us with a sample of your typical session, including any detail of the amount of weight you lift for each exercise and number of reps / sets:
At TRI THIS we are very keen on also adopting Core Stability Training as part of your overall program. Do you require information on how best to go about doing this? Y N

Diet and Nutrition:

For most endurance events lasting over 2 hrs, having a good race nutrition strategy and indeed a good general diet, can make the difference between a “finish” and a great result. Please detail here what you know by the term “race nutrition strategy” and provide a brief description of the fluid and carbohydrate consumption you would be looking to ingest per hour in your chosen event.

We cannot stress how important it is to be on top of this aspect of your preparation and if you are unsure about anything with regards diet and nutrition, we suggest that we begin “putting the wheels in motion” to help you. We will soon be using the skills and advice of one of Australia's leading sports dieticians Boris Kazakov from Dietbiz to help you with this aspect of your training program.

Coaching Input:

As this is a remote, online coaching service with minimal face-2-face contact, how do you envisage the coach helping you to best achieve your results?

"Coaching" in every form of the word requires an open two-way communication pathway to exist for optimal results. We will do our very best to help you with this and as the athlete, you should also be prepared to keep us fully updated with your progress when requested.

Are you interested in participating in or receiving information about our TRI THIS training camps and Swim Smooth Clinics?

Yes No

Finally, thanks for your input and detail provided, can we just ask:

How long did it take you to complete this form? mins