BT coaching or Mark Allen online

2011-11-05 10:21 AM

Regular

Bedford, IN

Subject: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Ok I am going to use a coaching service and I'm down to Mark Allen online and Beginner Triathete online they seem pretty close the price works out about the same. They both use an online program to set your plan and they seem to work about the same from what can tell, I've seen playing with them. Advantages with B T are I've used their log for years love it and the coaches look through it and make suggestions on plans to use and comment weekly on your progress or lack there of, you can post or email questions to the coaches and I would have all my stuff together on one site, workouts imported in to my log and e-mailed daily to me. Advantages MAO are they have results that are easy to see from the group pic on Kona this year, Mark's experience and I have e-mailed with a few times with them and I enjoyed the back and forth and it was done in a timely manner they seem to have a very loyal following. So what to do, I'm a paided up gold member on BT through next summer just have to pay the coaching fee and its done monthly so.... I'm thinking about trying the BT for the next 9 weeks maintenance and re'evaluate in January when I start my season build up, anyone have any thoughts or advice?

2011-11-05 5:38 PM

in reply to: #3834654

Champion

9407

Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Does BT charge extra (beyond a gold membership) for training support for the D3 plans now or are you looking at a different BT coaching option? Or going with D3 and just continuing to use BT as the interface?

Shane

2011-11-05 7:14 PM

in reply to: #3835009

Regular

Bedford, IN

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Shane, Yeah I've been looking at the BT online coaching its extra not sure if its D3 coaches could be I guess. I've been a coach myself and a self coached trathlete/ runner for 30+ year and thought I might benefit from having someone else look at my log, help keep me on track maybe help pick my training. I'm moving into a new age group this coming year and feel I have a chance to do well.

2011-11-05 8:35 PM

in reply to: #3834654

Champion

9407

Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Just checked out the link to the online coaching here and I would definitely choose Mike and his team over MAO any day of the week. Although I don't have any first hand knowledge of this program, I have no doubt that Mike and his coaches provide top notch support that is more than worth the price of admission.

Shane

gordongecko

2011-11-06 1:21 AM

in reply to: #3834654

Veteran

176

North Bay Area, CA

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

I found the Allen interview in Inside Triathlon very interesting? They posted a picture of their Kona qualifiers and bragged about how great the training programs are BUT when asked how many people they online coach they would not say. Probably because they coach thousands of people and the percentage number of qualifiers would come out to be rather low. I say stick with BT.

2011-11-06 5:12 AM

in reply to: #3835131

Regular

Bedford, IN

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Shane,

guess I'm not sure who Mike is?

2011-11-06 5:25 AM

in reply to: #3835363

Champion

9407

Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

bzvbtc - 2011-11-06 7:12 AM

Shane,

guess I'm not sure who Mike is?

Mike Ricci is the head coach of D3 Multisport who has written many of the BT programs and he and his team of coaches provide the training support and online coaching to the gold members here.

A proven coach at many different levels of the sport and someone I would happily put my trust in the guide my training.

Shane

2011-11-06 12:49 PM

in reply to: #3835366

Regular

Bedford, IN

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Wow thanks I read up on him and D3 a little more I think that's the way I'm going thanks for your imput!

Bonafide505

2011-11-06 8:01 PM

in reply to: #3834654

Veteran

317

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Anyone have experience with the Carmichael online coaching? I've used several of his workouts and programs to get me ready for some important races with great results but I've no experience with individualized training program.

mikericci

2011-11-06 10:01 PM

in reply to: #3835131

8763

Boulder, Colorado

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

gsmacleod - 2011-11-05 7:35 PM Just checked out the link to the online coaching here and I would definitely choose Mike and his team over MAO any day of the week. Although I don't have any first hand knowledge of this program, I have no doubt that Mike and his coaches provide top notch support that is more than worth the price of admission. Shane

Shane, Thanks!

Regarding MAO and their IM Hawaii athletes - they may coach quite a few people - maybe in the upper hundreds and they probably sell many more plans, HOWEVER, the athletes who are chosen for the team are typically already proven Hawaii qualifiers and they get a deal to join the MAO team. Nothing wrong with that from a marketing sense - put your best athletes forward and others will say 'Oh wow - they get people to Kona' and I'm sure they do. Do the majority get to Kona, probably not. But, honestly getting 1-2 athletes a year to Kona if they haven't made it before is an undertaking.

Happy to answer any questions on the BT training plans / how it works etc.

Thanks guys. Have a great week.

mikericci

2011-11-06 10:03 PM

in reply to: #3836065

8763

Boulder, Colorado

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

Bonafide505 - 2011-11-06 7:01 PM Anyone have experience with the Carmichael online coaching? I've used several of his workouts and programs to get me ready for some important races with great results but I've no experience with individualized training program.

Here's what I know:

If you buy the minimum plan you'll end up with a coach who is serving many, many athletes, sometimes close to 150 athletes. If you pay for the top level coaching $500+, you'll probably get great service. I know coaches who have done both levels for CTS- seems like a great deal but it's one of those - you get what you pay for deals.

2011-11-07 7:50 AM

in reply to: #3836157

Champion

9407

Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

mikericci - 2011-11-07 12:03 AM

Here's what I know:

Mike makes a great point that not all athletes pay enough attention to when looking for a coach; what exactly is the coach going to provide and how many athletes will they be working with.

For roughly the same price, an athlete can find a coach who will write a personalized training plan for the athlete, one who will provide a generic training plan, one who will "develop" a training plan using an algorithm and different levels inbetween.

Further, the number of athletes that a coach takes on will vary greatly; because of this there are coaches who limit contact, limit the number of changes they will make to a plan, etc.

The key is finding out what you will get beforehand and making sure you are comfortable with the level of coaching you will recieve. Here are some questions that I would ask of any coach before beginning to work together:

- How many athletes do you coach?
- How do you approach setting up training for an athlete?
- Can I see some sample training programs?
- What results have you seen for athletes similar to me?
- Can I talk to some current athletes?
- Can I talk to some former athletes?
- How do you monitor training?
- Do you limit schedule changes?
- Do you limit contact?
- Are you continuing your coaching education?

IME the coaches who are the best at coaching are not necessarily the best at marketing and vice versa.

Shane

mikericci

2011-11-07 8:11 AM

in reply to: #3843427

8763

Boulder, Colorado

Subject: RE: BT coaching or Mark Allen online

gsmacleod - 2011-11-07 6:50 AM

mikericci - 2011-11-07 12:03 AM Here's what I know:

Mike makes a great point that not all athletes pay enough attention to when looking for a coach; what exactly is the coach going to provide and how many athletes will they be working with. For roughly the same price, an athlete can find a coach who will write a personalized training plan for the athlete, one who will provide a generic training plan, one who will "develop" a training plan using an algorithm and different levels inbetween. Further, the number of athletes that a coach takes on will vary greatly; because of this there are coaches who limit contact, limit the number of changes they will make to a plan, etc. The key is finding out what you will get beforehand and making sure you are comfortable with the level of coaching you will recieve. Here are some questions that I would ask of any coach before beginning to work together: - How many athletes do you coach? - How do you approach setting up training for an athlete? - Can I see some sample training programs? - What results have you seen for athletes similar to me? - Can I talk to some current athletes? - Can I talk to some former athletes? - How do you monitor training? - Do you limit schedule changes? - Do you limit contact? - Are you continuing your coaching education? IME the coaches who are the best at coaching are not necessarily the best at marketing and vice versa. Shane

I agree with Shane 100% on this. A few more questions I would ask:
What is your availability?
How soon do you reply to email and phone calls?
Can I see what an Annual Plan looks like?

Once you have a conversation with a coach and can get these questions answered, your decision should be relatively easy, all thins being equal (price, location, etc).