Since day one taking up triathlon in 2008 Stephen has been a massive reason why I’ve stuck with triathlon and enjoyed it to the extent that I have. He couldn’t do more to encourage and help those around him and is incredibly generous with both his time and knowledge. I’ve benefitted greatly from his technical knowledge and expertise, but it’s his absolute love of the sport and the passion that he brings to coaching that in my mind allows him to stand out as a coach. I can’t recommend him highly enough.
Steven has been coaching me this year and I’ve had a great season – completing the NS for the first time in 4 years, injury free. My performance has improved and he has delivered a quality personalised training and recovery program that allows me to maintain a healthy work, life AND training balance.Looking forward to working with Steven again next year.
I emailed Steve prior to purchasing the training plan and he responded quickly with really sensible advice based on my triathlon history and current training volume. Of course being an 45 going on 12 year old age grouper I ignored all sensible advice an purchased the only plan that gives me any remote, long shot of getting to Kona….I’ve just finished my first month of the base phase and despite pushing through a couple of those weird one-day training head-colds due to the increased volume, I’ve loved every minute so far.
Having read and enjoyed Friel’s Training Bible I was still left with just a big empty spreadsheet and too many decisions to make for myself. I’m a normal bloke for god’s sake, tell me what to do or I’ll just sit and watch the Discovery Channel!
Steve’s plan takes away all the science, mathematics and preparation that a triathlete with a full-time job just doesn’t have time for. Once the testing phase is done, each session is is concisely described, training zones set and drills presented via video links etc. where appropriate. For bike sessions I don’t need to know any more than I have a bike session today, once I fire up Zwift, some black-magic means Steve’s session is already there in front of me and ERG means I’m training at exactly the prescribed power throughout, brilliant!
Moving sessions around the plan to fit in with other work commitments is easy and intuitive and for some reason I’m actually motivated to stretch for the first time in 25 years because it’s on the plan. Well I say stretch, think Uma Thurman in Kill Bill trying to wiggle her big toe, but hey, I’m trying.
In all seriousness, having debated throwing a few quid at a properly structured, proven plan for the price of a decent pair of runners, I now couldn’t recommend highly enough. Absolutely fantastic value for money
I’m thrilled to start my FULL DISTANCE journey with you. My training partner fell in love with your plan and will be buying one too
I presented Coach Steven with a unique challenge of being time deficient and only had limited opportunities to train each week. And those times changed often. He worked to constantly adapt to my timings while also getting the most out of the time available. I found this adaptability and ability to these challenges a commendable skill. Coach Steven also had an excellent ability to keep me focused on either the week ahead or on the FULL DISTANCE process, as required.
I felt your coaching skills combined with your knowledge of when to push and when to accept my excuses (!) was such a help to me. Our partnership was key in getting me across the finish line in the race with a PB too…. I definitely did more brick sessions than in previous years and that stood to me on race day
Training to a plan built by someone who knows what they’re talking about has made a huge difference. For me having the structure outlined by Steven was motivating, but more importantly it has improved my enjoyment of racing and without-doubt has improved my times. I have had sprint and olympic PBs already this season and with Dublin HALF DISTANCE on the horizon I am confident of a PB at that distance too.
Just by way of saying thank for being my coach during my time leading up to the FULL DISTANCE Triathlon in Barcelona in Oct 2016.
During this time I found you very knowledgeable and helpful on providing advice and structure on the training plan you set for me. The detail was very helpful in understanding what was required both from each of the training session as well as the delivery of the race day performance. Your knowledge experience and understanding of the requirements showcased your knowledge of the sport and FULL DISTANCE distance racing.
Since we teamed up your coaching and advice has made a major difference & improvement to my training. Your analysis has highlighted instances where I was overtraining, brought a focus and rationale to training in the correct HR zones which has developed my endurance. Your coaching has also introduced proper periodization to my training. Crucially having you coaching me has taken away the usual second guessing that goes with setting one’s own training schedule. On the journey I have found that you listened well to my particular circumstances and been flexible and adaptive to suit my busy worklife. TrainingPeaks played a key role here also allowing me to lay out my work commitments in advance and you could tailor the training load and schedule to fit.
So thank you very much for the 2016 season and I look forward to working together again in 2017
I enlisted the help of Coach Steven to provide a comprehensive and structured training plan and improve my overall performance, he exceeded all my expectations! Coach Steven used Training Peaks to plan my sessions and monitor my progress, I found this hugely beneficial as it allowed me to track my improvement on-line. In addition, Coach Steven was very responsive to any queries I had. His experience of competing at multiple FULL DISTANCE events proved invaluable. Within six months of enlisting Coach Steven’s services, I recorded PB’s at Sprint, Olympic and HALF DISTANCE distances. I’m delighted to be working with Steven for another season, I cannot recommend him highly enough.
I have known Steven for a number of years and have been deeply impressed by his enthusiasm and effective efforts to promote the appreciation and understanding of the sport of Triathlon. Combined with his own experiences, interest in technology and new up to date training techniques & ideas, I decided to engage with Steven as my coach 2 years ago. Given my own experiences and while doubting the methods/sessions at times, “trust the plan”, his focus and commitment has kept me in check to successfully achieve my personal goals. As a partnership, it works and can only recommend anybody thinking about being successful in triathlon, to take on Steven as a coach!
I hired Steven to bring more structure and direction to my training, as I had been racing for a few year but not achieving the results I wanted. After a meeting with Steven to discuss my goals for the year, he created a clear plan focusing on the races I wanted to do. I got a detailed plan allowing me to see what was ahead in the next few weeks taking into account personal and work commitments. Steven even managed to update my plan on the fly to accommodate my unpredictable working environment. Steven zoned in on and focused on my run weaknesses and without letting my biking or swimming slide, Steven pushed me to achieve multiple PB’s. I enjoyed the constant monitoring my workouts and commenting with support or a kick start when needed. Steven is a pleasure to work with and makes the whole training planning seem so easy.