Triangle Institute triathlon coaching
April 30th, 2007 by Nikola Tosic
I got an email this morning from James Cunnama about the new service offered in South Africa by Triangle (the organizers of Ironman South Africa, Ironman France, Ironman 70.3 Monaco, Ironman Austria and Ironman 70.3 Austria). James Cunnama and Paul Wolff, race director of Ironman South Africa, are offering coaching services through Triangle Institute in Port Elizabeth.
I do not know anyone who trained with them so far so if you are one of them feel free to comment on their service bellow (this is what blogs are for). From what I see their services are mostly for entry-level triathletes and also their prices are quite good.
FinishLine Program 2008 by Triangle Institute
Prices of triathlon coaching in South Africa in general are very low and, in my opinion, this needs to change quickly. It is not possible for any coach anywhere in the world, be it Mongolila, South Africa or USA, to dedicate enough time to write an acceptable quality training plan and still make a decent living of it. Most coaches I have met are forced by the marketplace (South African triathletes - US!) to sell training plans for as little as few hundred Rand a month. It is not possible for a coach to dedicate enough time to one plan for such a small compensation so they either have to consider triathlon coaching a second job (or even a hobby) or they try to compensate with quantity instead of quality.
Another strategy is that coaches also take on sponsors for extra income and than resell or advertise sponsor products and service to their athletes. As this can make sense in some cases I think coaches must be as objective as possible. I would not trust my coach very much if he was trying to sell me a certain gel or wheelset. Coaches should do coaching only.
In my (limited) experience the optimal relationship between price and quality is following: minimum R1000 per month and a coach does not take on more than 10 athletes. This still amounts to a small monthly income of R10.000 and that is why I think this is a minimum.
Still when I go to a race and I see what kind of bikes are used and what kind of cars are parked I can not really say that there is lack of money to pay the coaches. It seams to me that we, South African triathletes, do not take coaching as such a serious part of our triathlon lifestyle. That buying an aero helmet, a new wheelset, a new carbon frame, new shoes, etc all come in front of hiring a coach.
While coaching is something that will make the biggest difference on our result and will make our time and energy investment most efficient. Not to mention the most important effect of coach - keeping you healthy.
So please take coaches seriusly and do not think for one moment that anything under R1000 is expensive. The only reason the triathlon coaching is underdeveloped in South Africa (and it is) is because of this lack of will to pay the proper price for the service.
Check out the TriCape.com coach directory and hire a coach if you dont have one yet…
