Training for a Triathlon can be more complex than we imagine. Three sports (as if one was not enough!), managing the volume, the intensity and the combination of it all! And then the transitions, nutrition and the myriad technicalities! For first timers, we need a framework to undertake a complex race like this, and for the serial offenders(!!) amongst us, a coach helps change gear and achieve our goal!
Triathlon racing can be an expensive lifestyle, with its international racing destinations and the plethora of gear. A coach will help us maximise hours and the sweat we spend training and agonising - make it count! To push us when we need it, to pull back when recovery is paramount, and most importantly, to lift us out of the doldrums when we need it. For need it, we will!
Some of us could even require specialised coaching for the swim or the bike leg, for speed and technique and all those little things that we didn’t even know existed!
Here are the dream makers…Triathlon, Marathon, Bike and Swim coaches! Please note, although we have indicated location for each coach, most of them train athletes remotely, anywhere in the world. As always, please help us keep this updated through your comments or email us.
Triathlon/Marathon Coaches:
Kimberly Shah
About: American born, Kimberley lives in Mumbai. She has worked as a Master Trainer Educator for multiple brands, raced competitively and given talks and lectures in her field for over a decade. Racing competitively in the sport of triathlon for over a decade, she brought the first triathlon to Gujarat to help introduce a new sport to the country which is rapidly growing today. She has directed and organized several running events throughout the state.
Kimberly has traveled the globe competing in triathlons and road races of all distances from 5km runs to the Full Distance Triathlon (3.8km swim/180km cycle/42km run). She has been part of Team USA multiple years and has her highest placing of 13th at the World Championships and 3rd in America in the sprint triathlon distance. In 2014 she won the overall Chicago Triple Challenge (racing all 3 Chicago Triathlon races) in addition to taking overall female win of the Chicago Super Sprint Triathlon, named All-American for multiple seasons in the sport, and took 3rd at the Aquabike US Nationals 2014.
On Coaching: Shah works with coaching endurance athletes for triathlons and marathons in Mumbai and has created a fitness lifestyle program to get those who have a busy life on the road or in beginning their journey to living a healthier NJOYable Lifestyle. Kimberley specializes in endurance training and running biomechanics, as well as metabolic testing.
Contact: http://www.kimberlyshah.com
Location: Mumbai
Chaitanya Velhal
Chaitanya is also a scientist and has a Master's Degree in BioTechnology and BioMechanics.onman Coach, and a 3-time Ironman (full). Professionally, he is a Co-founder and Head Coach at his own Academy of Endurance Sports. He holds the record for being the fastest Indian Ultra-cyclist and the fastest Indian to qualify for Race Across America (RAAM), and one of the top 3 Ironman Triathletes in India. He has won several prestigious race titles such as the "Deccan Cliffhanger", "Desert500", "Enduro", etc.
Chaitanya is also a scientist, and has a Masters Degree in BioTechnology and BioMechanics.
On Coaching: Chaitanya's scientific knowledge has allowed him to understand how to train the human body for optimal performance in sports and provided an edge over his peers. Chaitanya's experience and passion for his sport constantly drives him to pass on this knowledge to his students and create awareness in the field. With his Pioneering Scientific Coaching Techniques, he aims to be the best Scientific Athletic Endurance Coach in the country!
Contact: powerpeakstrainingATgmailDOTcom
Location: Pune
Atul Godbole
Chaitanya is also a scientist and has a Masters Degree in BioTechnology and BioMechanics.he human body for optimal performance in sports and provided an edge over his peers. Chaitanya's experience and passion for his sport constantly drive him to pass on this knowledge to his students and create awareness in the field. With his Pioneering Scientific Coaching Techniques, he aims to be the best Scientific Athletic Endurance Coach in the country!
On Coaching: Atul believes in coaching which follows and adapts to each individual athlete rather than the athlete following a cookie-cutter training plan. Atul also firmly believes in specificity in training, where the training must be done to match the various conditions of the target goal/race.
Contact: ww.motiv8coaching.com
Location: Pune
Kaustubh Radkar
About :Dr. Kaustubh Radkar is one of the most experienced coaches in India, with 12 years of Ironman racing experience.He is the first Ironman certified coach in India (October 2015), and has coached 70+ Indian athletes across a Full Ironman Finish line. A 23x Ironman Finisher, Kaustubh won his first national swimming medal in 1995. Over the years, he represented India in several international competitions. While living and working in America, he finished his first Ironman race in Arizona in 2008. Kaustubh is one of the fastest swimmers in the Ironman circuit in the world, with a fastest swim time of 47:30 for 3.8kms, he is India's leader in Open water swimming.
On Coaching: "My philosophy is based on creating a sound program that teaches individuals to recognise their own limits; analysed in a safe and scientific manner to get them across the finish line. I don’t have a cookie cutter approach, my training is based on a trainees' history and their goals. I create a weekly program utilising periodisation, heart rate, HRV, RPE amongst other training tools."
Contact: https://www.kaustubhradkar.com
Location: Pune
Viv Menon
About: Vivek Menon is a certified Ironman Coach and Triathlete. He represented his school and college in football and holds a black belt in Karate. He has also represented his country in the International Karate championships held in Malaysia, where he was the 3rd runner-up. He has done 3 x 70.3 races and several marathons.
On Coaching:
Vivek believes that the journey of training is more interesting than the actual race itself. He is more interested in the actual process and details around training as opposed to simply racing. He is well-versed in the technicalities of running footwear and gear such as GPS watches, foot-pods, run dynamics/gait devices.
Viv also believes in implementing theories and experimentation. He is proficient with various training methodologies such as FIRST, Lydiard, 80/20 running (high volume), Maffetone and Heart rate training for distance running.
For triathlons, he models his training around linear periodisation built on the basic principles of progressive overload, specificity, reversibility and individuality. Of course, all of this is slotted into the base, build and peak phases of training.
Contact: vivmenonATgmailDOTcom
Location: Mumbai
Yoska
About: Deepak Raj: 20 time Ironman Triathlete (PB:10:19:08 sec), 13 Marathons across globe (PB:2:59:53 sec), Boston Qualifier, Certified coach from IRONMAN University, Triathlon Australia and Australia Institute of Personal Trainers, has coached 500+ athletes globally (couch potatoes, marathon podium finishers, Ironman and Ultraman triathletes)
On Coaching: At Yoska, we provide a triathlon training program designed for everyone. Whether you want to do your first triathlon or want to improve your triathlon performance or want to do your first IRONMAN. One of our coaches will be your ongoing mentor and answer all queries. The plan will be personalized basis your current fitness levels and running goals. Goals can be race specific such as Triathlons, Marathons, Cycling or even lifestyle fitness.
Contact: https://www.yoska.in
Location: Australia, Bangalore
Bike Coaches
Bikey Venky
About: Being unfit for most of the early years of life, his racing career started in 2011, with Tour of Nilgiris (TFN), as a battle for health and weightloss. Once the fitness bug got the better of him, he did several more races; 2017: Tour of Friendship, Thailand and 2018: Tour de Bintan, he has just completed Giro Delle Dolomiti, Italy.
On Coaching: A holistic approach to coaching that takes into consideration both the physical and mental aspects of athlete performance, is what BVCoaching believes in. Understanding the athletes' physical and mental strengths and weaknesses; structuring a program that would help them flourish and develop as well-rounded performers are the key drivers at BVCoaching.
Venky a.k.a BikeyVenky is the head coach at BVCoaching. He is certified in power based training from Peaks Coaching Group(USA) trained by Hunter Allen. He has coached hundreds of athletes across all the age categories and skill levels to personal bests and medals at local races as well as medals at National level.
Contact: https://bvcoaching.in/contact-us/
Location: Bangalore
Nigel Smith
About: 49 years old, British Cycling Level 3 Accredited Coach, Nigel Smith, started as a club level runner. An injury forced him to start his cycling career. Having competed in time trials (a staple of the UK competitive cycling scene), criterium (circuit) racing and sportives, he supplementing these events with multiple training trips to the Alps, Majorca, Corsica & the Canary Islands. He continues to race in India, here since 2015, in both, Masters and ‘Open’ Elite events, attaining some significant results including multiple age group podiums.
On Coaching: He has worked with Scott-India since the last 3 years in supporting their Development Racing Team programme. This included securing a multi-year corporate backer so that for the first time we will be able to put a full structure & process in place for some of the country’s hopeful future stars.
"In parallel with my work with Scott, I have numerous clients, across all disciplines and abilities. I also run turbo training classes twice a week in Mumbai."
Nigel provides personalized bike programs and is an expert at fitting the bike. He has supplemented his on-going Coaching Education by completing a Sports Nutrition Course with the ACSM, via Exercise Science Academy, Mumbai.
Contact: NigelDOTdavidsmithATbtinternetDOTcom
Location: Mumbai
Swim Coaches
Ashutosh Barve:
About: A Mechanical Engineer by profession, Ashutosh turned his passion of studying ‘swimming technique’ into a profession four years ago, to became one of the first Indians to pioneer as a “front crawl swim stroke video analyst”. He is certified by the American Swimming Coaches Association. Ashutosh has raced in over 20 state and national level Open Water Sea races in the open and masters category, ranging from 3km, 5km to 10km, with numerous “top ten” finishes.
On Coaching:
He believes that the two pillars for all athletes, whether beginner or an elite swimmer, to achieve swimming success are: Technique and Intensity.
Technique : Technique is important as water is nearly 800 times denser than air, so it is essential to work towards improving one’s body position and stroke efficiency.
Intensity : As in any sport, every workout workout has a purpose, so it is important to do each set and stroke with mindfulness. This helps the athlete grow their understanding of good technique and develop the skill to execute the same under stress.
"Knowing what to do requires understanding, and being able to do it requires skill. "
Location: Mumbai , Pune, Nashik (also available pan India in special cases)
Nutritionist:
Devesh Nihalani:
About: Devesh is a Sports Nutritionist who is an avid Triathlete himself. He is certified in Sports
Nutrition, Weight Management, Functional Training, and Sport and Exercise Psychology.
He’s an Ironman 70.3 finisher and has run several Half Marathons, his favorite being at Ladakh
for the unique challenges posed by the altitude. Training and Racing is a lifestyle for him and he
loves working with athletes who share a similar passion for speed and endurance.
On Nutrition: “No matter how hard you train, you can’t achieve progress with a bad diet and poor recovery.”
Devesh looks after each athlete in an individualized holistic manner and promotes meeting
nutritional requirements via whole foods as far as possible. He has a science backed approach
to meal planning with enough variation to ensure no athlete is left crying over lunch. Whether
you want to gain weight or lose weight, Devesh insists on maintaining a smile on your face while
maximizing performance.
Devesh stays away from fad diets and encourages his clients to have a better working knowledge
of food and to understand how their bodies react to different foods at different times.
Contact: https://www.deveshnihalani.com
Location: Mumbai