May 2020 – how best to beat that COVID-19 ‘iso’ year? So 7yrs after my first Sunny Coast 70.3 in 2013, I wasn’t getting any younger and decide now or never, time to challenge myself to another Sunny Coast 70.3! But this time I was going to do something different, a first for me in fact… I have completed many endurance events but always trained solo and had never used a coach. I did my research and found a local Tri Coach in Stuart Payne and his ‘Tri Tribe’ that was a significant additional benefit to being part of Stuart’s group.
Stuart and his club members are a fantastic friendly bunch of people. Stuart’s coaching has been out of the top drawer. The online app, Training Peaks that Stuart uses simplifies the approach an athlete is tasked with, sessions are easy to view for the week ahead, no thinking about or having to plan your own sessions, as the athlete you simply have to execute on the plan Stuart has prepared for you on the app.
Besides this, the weekend group runs and rides make the longer sessions easier, sociable and fun, learning new routes and skills along the way. Stuart’s regular participation on our weekend sessions is another added benefit with his hands-on coaching and challenging you to challenge yourself and achieve more as an athlete and person.
Stuart’s weekly check in’s and regular access and responsiveness from him throughout the week is excellent. I am not sure if this is normal for a Coach but he seemed always available & reassuring throughout the process. It became very clear early on that he is a very knowledgeable coach and experienced triathlete himself… he knows what we are going through!
I must mention that I am not an age group competitive type athlete, just your average Joe. My goals for using a coach were to train smarter, be more efficient with my time, energy and training sessions, manage my aging body while avoiding injury and to better my time from 7 years ago, I shared these goals with Stuart at the start…
Best decision I ever made signing up to Readytotri, I met some wonderful people (each on their own journey), learned how to train smarter, was definitely more efficient with my time, energy and training sessions and no injuries…. the results speak for themselves – thanks Stuart and team.
2013 : 6h:19min:08sec
2020: 5h:30min:12sec