The last official race in Katara showed that I improved in all disciplines, especially in running. Obviously thanks to my coach for this; Barney was closely following up on my progress, based on the physical conditions (the responses of my body), he built up trainings sessions. This resulted in massive improvements as mentioned above, a good indication can be IM 70.3 in Oman when Barney managed to train me within 3 months only to have a great performance for a tough race. What parts I enjoy more… I would say all; Barney is a well-organized coach, he is very consistent. Triathlon for Barney is not just a fun but more about one of the important activities in our life and routines; he is a highly-skilled athlete who is able to transform you from an entry level athlete to a professional athlete. I really like how is organized training sessions eg flexible but at the same time with a scientific meaning behind; he always explains why particular training sessions. He always advises which equipments are important to have as they are really needed to enhance my performance. Overall he is a good person who always shares his knowledges. In summary I enjoy all parts.

After completing one Ironman 70.3 race, I set my sights on completing my first full distance Ironman and I chose Hamburg. For my first IM 70.3, I had used an online plan that I purchased from an online coaching company. The plan was adequate to complete the event, but was not tailored to me as a 43 year old age group athlete with various injuries and work/family commitments (including a toddler and a baby!). As part of my preparation for Hamburg, my plan was to do my second IM 70.3 in Dubai which I completed in March 2022. While I completed, I had really struggled and the race didnt go well, my nutrition plan from the online program wasn't correct for me, had some issues with my gear, and overall had a bad experience which impacted me mentally, and I started questioning if I could even finish a full Ironman. This is when I knew I needed a tailored plan from a triathlon coach and settled on BMC Coaching. 

Having only 3 months to prepare, I had a meeting with Coach Barney where he looked at all my data on Training Peaks and asked me allot of questions about my goals for the Ironman, amount of time I have to train, injuries, work/family commitments,  and various other questions. He then prepared a tailored plan for me that was perfectly suited for my needs. As the plan progressed, he followed up with me weekly to see how I was advancing and provided motivation throughout the process. He was available on whats app for any questions I had. Most importantly for me, Coach Barney was able to provide modifications to the plan based on an ankle injury I had that we worked around, as well as make adjustments and move things around due to a lot of work travel I have to do. 

Another very important contribution was on the nutrition side of things, Coach Barney provided a dedication nutrition plan that gave me the right amount of carbs with the type of product best suited to my needs, as well as advise on salt intake which was probably my downfall in Dubai. He also provided oversight ensuring I didn't miss sessions, and just knowing that a coach is looking at the data and completion in the background motivated me and made me sure I am on track. That's another huge difference with an online plan that has no real oversight when workouts can get dropped. My ankle continued to be an issue so Coach Barney adjusted the plan accordingly , and I did a great taper that ensured I was ready on race day. It was a tough day and things didn't go as planned, but I stuck to the game plan and adjusted as needed and was able to finish in 14 hours 25 minutes. If I had continued to wing it with the online plan, I dont think I would have finished but having Coach Banrey's plan was the difference between success and failure. Thanks Coach! 

I have played football all my life so I wanted to try a new sport and decided to get myself a bike and started last summer. When I started training fully in august 2021 I had no real structure or knowledge on how to train all three disciplines in an effective way. The programme has not only given me some real structure to my training weeks it has improved my knowledge of what works for me and how I should be training to get the best results. I always had a good foundation level of fitness due to participating in other sports but I have now reached much higher levels. By including longer run sessions combined with harder, faster interval work I have really seen an impact in my speed over short distances and my endurance capabilities. I am gradually building my power on the bike and my speed on the swim. Although the volume has been testing it has been structured in a way that has not over stretched me and caused injury and there is always an open dialogue between me and Barney if I don’t feel right he is always happy to adapt where necessary to suit my needs. The training peaks app where my training is uploaded to is so good for organisation and accountability. I can see my sessions a week in advance and it is visual in indicating if I have completed the sessions. I started as a true beginner and I still have a lot to learn but I am loving the training programme and I look forward to where I will progress to next.

I know Barney since a couple of years, we have been competitors, friends and he is now my coach. My initial objective was to improve my swimming skills but what I got from his coaching was to make my training smarter (I also improved my swim of course). We focus on one major objective and he plans my weeks accordingly, with an always changing planning and different exercices (never boring) which are based on his continuous research of the latest sports sciences. The two things I love about his coaching (among many) is first that he applies similar training to himself and got great results and second that the benefits of every exercises is explained I even got the link to great articles sometimes.

When I started training with the coach, I was weak in terms of aerobic fitness, and after the coach put me a training plan that suits me, now I am better and my fitness is better than ever and I look forward to more results in the future. Professionalism in training and the coach's understanding of the player's requirements is very important psychologically and physically and I am very enjoying training and quality.

Flexibility, easy to change workout as life routine change and to adapt it, and accountability.

I’ve improved my aerobic base for long course triathlon. I appreciate the flexibility due to my work schedule and feedback from him after each session. Furthermore, he has also been very motivating during my injury.