Do I need a coach?
Working with an experienced coach gives significant benefits compared with ‘do it yourself’ training or following a generic training plan from the internet:
PLANNING: A coach works with you to plan your season around major goals/events, making sure the specific demands of those events are met.
EFFICIENCY: A coached training programme is the most effective way to make use of training time that is limited (in some cases severely) by work, education or other commitments.
FOCUS: By identifying your individual strengths and weaknesses, the programme can be tailored to help you develop your strengths and address any weaknesses.
MOTIVATION: Having a coach can help with motivation, providing encouragement and accountability.
SUPPORT: A coach can help you deal with injury, illness and other problems that may hold you back.
CONFIDENCE: A coach is there to recognise your potential (even when you don’t!) and help get the best out of you as an athlete.
EXPERTISE: A coach provides the expertise that you may lack, so that you can focus on your training and the rest of your life.
EXPERIENCE: An experienced coach has lived through the highs and lows of training and racing (both personally and with other athletes), enabling you to benefit from that experience.
In summary, having a coach makes you part of a TEAM! This is fundamental to the way we work together.
What is included?
Coaching packages include an initial consultation and assessment to understand your current performance, strengths and weaknesses, as well as to set your initial goals. You will also get a bike fit to ensure you are set up correctly, and running gait and form analysis to make sure you are running efficiently. You will then receive a personalised training programme to deliver your goals, subject to your work/education and family commitments and training time available each week. You get regular feedback on your training with everything you need to support you and help you reach your goals. You will also receive an extensive set of guides giving you all the information you need and we give technical advice and support where required.
How is it different to following a training plan?
Buying a set training plan, or following sessions on an online training platform, can be an excellent and cost-effective way to get started with training. It does have a few disadvantages though – the main one being that a set plan doesn’t adapt to your changing needs (and your needs almost always do change for one reason or another). A ‘one size fits all’ plan relies on you to know whether you are doing too much or too little. It doesn’t adapt if you get injured or decide to enter an additional race. It doesn’t notice that you’re finding a session too hard (or too easy!) and change the training load accordingly. And of course, a set training plan doesn’t give you the advice, support, encouragement and accountability you get from having a personal coach.
How do you track my training progress?
We use Training Peaks to plan and prescribe your training, monitor your progress and communicate about each workout. A basic Training Peaks account is free of charge and covers most requirements, while a Premium account with more functionality is included with Silver and Gold coaching packages. You will receive your planned sessions on Training Peaks including details of what to do as well as explanatory notes, and you can also see the planned training for the next period (usually 1-2 weeks in advance). Workouts sync with Garmin, Wahoo, Zwift etc so you can run them automatically and get step by step instructions. When you finish the session, the data is uploaded into Training Peaks for us both to review and comment on. If you need to change something, let us know and we can adjust the plan accordingly.
What happens when I sign up?
The first step is to fill in an information form which covers your background, current training, strengths and weaknesses, your goals in both short and longer term and information about your lifestyle and work/education/family commitments. We will then have an initial consultation including a discussion of any issues arising from your information form and questions you may have. We will also schedule an assessment of your position on the bike, your running form and measurement of current fitness.
Once the agreed training plan is in place, the scheduled workouts appear in your Training Peaks calendar. You get a green light in the calendar when you complete the session as scheduled. When you have key events coming up, the plan will be tailored to allow you to peak for the event and optimise your form at the right time.
On an ongoing basis, we will review your progress against the plan, retesting your fitness where necessary and adjusting the plan as your fitness and goals progress.
Do you include strength work in your training programmes?
Yes, we do. Studies suggest significant benefits from specific strength work to power on the bike, running form and injury prevention. We suggest 2-3 strength sessions per week, to build strength where needed and then maintain it.
What does a typical week look like?
It’s difficult to suggest a typical week as there are so many variations in time available for training, training focus (cycling, duathlon or triathlon), strengths and weaknesses, point in the training year, etc. As a rough guide a cycling programme may have 2-3 specific workouts, 1-2 longer rides and 2-3 strength sessions, varying from 6 to 10+ hours per week. A duathlon programme may have 3-4 specific workouts across bike and run, a longer ride and run, and 2-3 strength sessions, varying from 8 to 12+ hours per week. A triathlon programme may have 4-7 specific workouts across swim, bike and run, a longer ride and run, and 2-3 strength sessions, varying from 10 to 15+ hours per week. In all cases we make the plan to work sustainably around your other commitments.
We programme at least one rest/very light day per week – two for people with less time/more commitments. For people with a ‘conventional’ 5 day working/education week the shorter sessions are planned in the week and longer sessions at the weekend, but this can be adapted to suit different availability patterns.
How much does it cost?
Coaching packages start from £60 per month, plus a £75 start-up fee to cover the initial setup, consultation and assessment. See the Coaching page for more details.
How do you work with duathletes/ triathletes?
Originally from a cycling coaching background, I am an experienced and British Triathlon-qualified coach of duathletes and triathletes. I have been especially successful with athletes who are newer to cycling, as they benefit from my specialist knowledge and experience.
Catenary works with multisport athletes in different ways depending on your requirements. We can plan your entire training holistically, programming swim, bike, run and strength sessions. You may already work with a run or swim coach, personal strength trainer or join club training sessions: these sessions can be incorporated into an overall training programme so that we still plan and monitor your total training volume, as well as the split across swim, bike and run and strength. We then plan training periodisation, tapering for races etc, enabling you to get the best from your training.
Cycling expertise can be applied to the bike leg of a non-drafting duathlon/triathlon, planning it in a similar way to a cycling time trial, which we have found leads to improved times and overall results. Draft-legal events have some of the features of a cycling road or circuit race and the skills and tactics can be applied similarly. Cycling skills are often underappreciated by triathletes, and triathlon coaches, but as you usually spend more than half of your time on the bike during a duathlon or triathlon, the gains in overall time can be highly significant.
Do I need a power meter?
You don't need one, but they are highly recommended. In recent years price reductions have meant power meters have become much more accessible, meaning you can view your power on the bike in real time and analyse this data afterwards. They are probably the single most useful tool available to help you improve your performance, both by targeting your training and by pacing your races (especially time trials and non-drafting triathlon bike legs) more effectively.
If you don't have a power meter, we will use a combination of heart rate and perceived exertion to guide your training. Heart rate is a useful guide to effort levels, and we need it if power data isn’t available. It takes longer to react to a change in effort level, and is influenced by temperature, fatigue, hydration and stress/excitement so this needs to be borne in mind.
Will I get faster?!
Great question! Details vary of course, but everyone, fast or slow, can get faster by following a Catenary Coaching training programme. It might be a big improvement, or a smaller one. It might happen quickly, or take many months, but you will get faster if you put the work in!
A ‘cat-EEE-nary’ is the mathematical shape made by a rope or chain hanging freely between two points and derives from the Latin word for chain (‘catena’). This relates to bike chains of course, but conceptually also to a link between goals, training and performance. Or just a geeky word which happens to alliterate with ‘cycle’ and ‘coaching’ – you decide!
