I have nearly 20 years experience of competing, coaching and learning in the sport of Ironman. During some of that time I worked with, and picked the minds of some of the best coaches in the business. For the other half I self-coached which enabled me to experiment and really come to understand the very best way to train for the Ironman distance. I have also done a wealth of reading over the years. I now have a very clear understanding of what it takes to succeed in the sport. I am however a big believer that there is not one right way to coach every athlete. We are all highly individual in how much volume and intensity we can handle. This is why a coach is such a good guide for most people, to enable a plan that is balanced in the specifics as well as recovery and when and where to put in the higher volume and intensity. No programme is ever set in stone, and so the most important aspect of having a coach, is they are able to make the right changes for you if and when need be. Communication between coach and athlete is so important with this to get the most out of yourself.I am a big believer in making training highly specific and not wasting time on the junk miles which are not going to enhance your performance but only add to fatigue. I am not a believer of long, slow, base miles. I only believe this leads to you teaching your body to go one speed and that is slow, and then when you try and add in intensity later it is very hard to do so. I like to teach the body to start to handle short bursts of speed early in the season and become more and more specific with the intervals as we progress towards your race. I am also very big on developing strength. I like my athletes to work on a Functional Strength Programme that I believe helps avoid injury, and helps maintain good form and posture. I also have a range of different recovery strategies that are highly important for an athlete to focus on if they want to really reach their potential.