A personal introduction
We have enjoyed the congratulations after our launch and have been riding the hype of finally being live. It’s also great to see the athletes celebrating their spots for Roth (including some of our Sense Endurance triathletes) and the high-level racing of the past weekends.
Behind the scenes, we’ve completed all our amazing short and sweet 15-week triathlon plans for all levels and with a huge range of structured workouts (pace, power, and RPE for the various disciplines), which can be found on our TrainingPeaks profile: Sense Endurance Coaching.
As this is our second post, we want to use it to present the head coach behind our practice: Tom. We’ll let him introduce himself.
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Ultimately, I started triathlon as a New Year’s Resolution. I was a black belt in Taekwondo, a multiple national champion, and placed 2nd at the latest European Championships. However, the sport was becoming boring, and I sought a new challenge. To quote my 18-year-old self: “I want to do something I am bad at.” That was the start of a lifelong passion so far and finally led to the founding of Sense Endurance Coaching.
I’m currently working full-time as a coach at Sense Endurance, but before pivoting fully, I worked as a legal translator specialised in tax matters for a decade. As a triathlete myself and a part-time coach with over 15 years of experience in the sport, I spent the last 1.5 years before the launch pursuing certifications to offer more than just my own experiences and knowledge. During this time, I became 80/20 Endurance certified, ITCA certified, and TriSutto certified as a triathlon coach. Moreover, I have been closely working with legendary triathlon coach Brett Sutton as part of his Coach the Coach programme.
My own sports experience is extensive. Besides my black belt and competitive history in high-level Taekwondo, I swam competitively during university, ran competitively on both the road and the track, and raced every possible triathlon distance, nabbing national titles and podium spots along the way. All the while, I helped other athletes, either remotely with plans and advice or even poolside to work on their swim technique.
Having worked with a variety of plans and coaches, the idea of founding Sense Endurance Coaching was ultimately based on dissatisfaction turned into a passion for doing things better. I had been working with a coach who initially seemed to provide the level of commitment that matched mine (after all, you are placing your health and the success of your season in their hands, as well as paying for it). However, a lack of focus crept in, workouts were provided late, injuries were forgotten or misremembered, and the ultimate season goal was not kept in mind, leading to a completely wrong preparation for a full-distance event. Talking to athletes in the sport, I realised my experiences were not rare and these were prevalent.
Even when working with coaches who do offer commitment and respond on time, another feeling of unease crept in over time. As I was doing workouts and completing plans, I was losing my joy in the sport and felt I was becoming weaker even as my fitness improved. Most coaching approaches nowadays have you glued to your screen chasing predetermined numbers (which are hopefully accurate enough to have the workouts make sense, but that’s an issue in itself and worth a later blog post) or ever-increasing cardiovascular fitness—losing track of the body as a system and the efficient biomechanics required to finish the events and feel fit and healthy in your daily life.
Ultimately, this dissatisfaction led to a firm conviction: I can do better and have more to offer my athletes than many other coaches and plans.