Tri Coach recmomendations

I'm looking for something similar.  I appreciate the list of recommendations.  I'm nervous about selecting/interviewing someone.  I had an awesome coach and she retired from coaching in the spring.  I feel like I need some help with the selection process after I had a bad coaching experience recently.  I don't know how all of this is supposed to work.

Thanks for the recommendation, Shane.  I work with most athletes year-round, changing the training focus and objectives throughout the year, with goals for both short term and long term athlete development, but have two "once and done" IMers dropping off by the end of August.  (one just raced IMLP and the other is racing IMMT) As of September 1, I'll have openings for 3 athletes.  For someone with long term goals, or their first long course race the following year, when this year's races are winding down in the fall can be a good time to start working with a coach.  One of the mistakes I see people make is thinking if they're targeting an IM, and most stock plans are 16-20 weeks, then that's all the farther out before a race they should start with a coach.  That can cause an athlete to miss out on much of the benefits of being coached instead of going it alone.

My specialty is the average AGer trying to get faster or tackle their first long course race, but they have either physical limitations due to a past injury or chronic illness, or a constantly changing schedule that makes using generic plans nearly impossible.  We optimize their training to get the best performance despite the limitations imposed by their health or time constraints.

I should also note that, along with the other coaches Shane mentioned, he is one of the people I'd personally consider if I were looking for a coach.

Marc's advice is excellent.  This is the sort of great information that you'll find in the other threads about selecting a coach.  Spend some time researching, interviewing, and putting some thought into the decision before pulling the trigger.  IMO, assuming a basic level of competency, compatibility between the coach and athlete is the most important thing to look for.

Thanks all!

What's wrong with a canned plan?  I know of champion teams that have set workouts that are part of their tradition and heritage.  They wouldn't dare change their plan because they feel it is part of their success, so if there are hundreds of athletes that have followed a canned plan and shown dramatic improvements from what they were doing before wouldn't you welcome the same canned plan?  

Do you believe that someone new to the sport should be on the same training plan as say...Javier Gomez or Lionel Sanders?

Canned plans can and do work well for many people.  For others, not so much.  I followed some canned plans for a few years, they made me stronger and I got faster in races.  Then I hired a coach (Shane) and I got a lot faster, a lot sooner.  

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with a good canned plan, but they're still rarely going to provide the optimum results for an individual.  Think of it this way, if a canned plan approximates 80% of an optimum training regimen for an athlete, they're likely to see some pretty nice results.  Definitely much better than they likely achieved in the past following a haphazard approach to their training.  If that same athlete were to have access to a custom regimen for them that achieves 95% of optimum, they're going to have better results.

Absolutely!!!  If they can't do at least 25 hours of training a week then they they shouldn't even attempt a local sprint triathlon. :-)