Who am I?
I am a British Cycling Level 3 Coach (with Road & Time Trial specialisation), a British Triathlon Group (Level 2 equivalent) Coach and a Training Peaks Level 2 Coach.
I have a scientific background, with a physics degree and PhD, so the quantitative aspect of training and performance analysis is natural for me. My background in ‘hard’ science means I also recognise the limitations of data when applied to humans, and the importance of qualitative feedback and feelings. I have immersed myself in sports physiology and psychology, bike fitting, running gait analysis, power-based training, swim/bike/run performance, aerodynamics, time trial pacing and road racing strategy.
I have been working with and developing people in management, consultancy and running my own business for many years, which I have found to be invaluable experience for the mentoring side of coaching. I use my learning and experience to help you get the most out of yourself as an athlete, with a balanced quantitative/qualitative approach to coaching.
My coaching services, including bike fits, gait analysis, provision of training plans and 1:1 coaching, are covered by coaching liability insurance (details on request).
What type of coach am I?
It’s important to work with a coach whose style suits what you are looking for as an athlete. This is what I stand for as a coach:
Supportive
I focus on the positives in every situation and support athletes through good times and bad.
Science-backed, people-focussed
I have extensive technical knowledge, and scientific training to back it up. I recognise that, when applied to human performance, data has its limits, and I enjoy the challenge this presents. I love to empower people by sharing my knowledge.
Dedicated
I am determined and thrive on challenges. I am dedicated to helping you to do the best you can as an athlete.
Teamwork
Endurance sport can be a lonely business, but I believe in integrating you into a team, with me as your coach, the other Catenary athletes, and the rest of your support network.
Lead by example
I train and race myself and will often be doing similar sessions (and sometimes races) to you. I never expect anything from you that I don’t expect of myself.
Belief
My starting point is complete belief and trust in you as a Catenary athlete. I am very loyal and won’t give up on you.
Why do I coach?
I coach because:
I love cycling, running and multisport and want to share this love with others
I enjoy helping people to improve and get the best out of themselves
I’ve seen people not get the most out of sport (and especially cycling), through lack of support, or unhelpful advice, and I want to change that where I can
I love supporting people, through good times and bad, and feeling like I am helping
I enjoy applying scientific understanding to data, and the challenge presented by the limitations of science when applied to human performance
I understand that the training/work/education/life balance is vital (I am not a ‘win at all costs’ coach) and love the challenge that this presents for busy people
I am an enthusiastic supporter of women’s cycling and multisport, and do what I can to redress the inequalities that I see every day
How did I get here?
I was a reasonably sporty teenager, playing rugby, football and athletics, which I was moderately good at. When I went to university and then into working life, long work hours, travel and other excuses led to an end to sport, which in turn led to me becoming progressively overweight over many years. I finally became determined to make a life change, prompted in part by my father’s heart surgery and the history of heart disease in our family. I started a weight loss programme of dieting and exercise, with a goal of losing 3 stone (19kg) in six months. The exercise included cycling, which I had always enjoyed as a teenager and student, and I started to rediscover the freedom and enjoyment from riding. I rode more and more, lost all the weight (and more) and set myself new challenges around cycling.
I have completed many sportives including iconic events such as l’Etape du Tour, Fred Whitton Challenge, Dartmoor Classic and Ride London 100. Club time trials were my entry into competition and time trialling has become my main discipline. I have competed in many Open time trial events including the Classic Series and other National events, with sub-20 minute 10 mile TT and 52 minute 25 mile TT PBs, and qualifying for the Age Group World Championships on two occasions. I have also competed in hill climb events including the National Championships with an age group top 5. I compete in road and circuit/crit racing, qualifying for a Cat 3 racing licence in my first season, and have track accreditation as well. I love riding offroad and enjoy trail rides, sportives and cyclocross races.
Getting better at cycling meant training, and understanding training led me to continue to improve, which also led to people asking me how I did it. I became interested in applying what I had learned to other athletes as well as myself, and this ultimately led to me becoming a coach.
Running took me longer to get back into, but I have enjoyed the new and different challenge, as well as learning from applying similar training principles from cycling into running. I have competed in 5k, 10k, half marathon and cross-country races.
In the process of being inspired back into sport by the amazing athletes on the television, and especially watching cycling for the first time, it surprised me, and continues to disappoint me, how badly women’s sport is treated compared to men’s (hopefully this is starting to change)! I was able to watch Laura Trott winning her gold medals in the 2012 Olympics (a key inspiration for me), but outside that it was almost impossible to watch women’s cycling (this is definitely changing now), and local cycling clubs and events were (and still are) male-dominated. My dissatisfaction with this became another theme of my cycling and coaching development, and our sponsorship scheme for female athletes arose from trying to do what I could to support women’s sport.
