How We Coach, Part 10 of 10
Who We Coach: The Athletes, the Options and How to Choose
The short answer: We coach endurance athletes in triathlon, running and cycling, from a first finish line to elite racing. Every athlete is coached with the same method, StressLogic, and every plan starts from the athlete in front of us. What changes between our three options, 1-1 Comprehensive, 1-1 Foundation and TrainingPlans+, is how closely a coach is involved each week. This article explains who we coach, how the options differ, how to choose between them, and what four very different ANC athletes built this year.
The question to ask before choosing a coach
Choosing coaching is a big decision, and most athletes start by comparing plans or the coach's race results. A better first question is: what kind of support will help you the most in the season you have ahead?
An athlete with a stable life and a clear plan may need structure more than daily contact. An athlete juggling a family, travel and an important race may need a coach adjusting the week as it happens. Both deserve the same method. They need different amounts of a coach's time.
How coaching is usually offered, and where it runs out
Coaching is often sold in levels where the top level gets the real thinking and the lower levels get a template. Or every athlete gets the same plan with the name changed, whatever their history, their schedule or their race.
Both leave athletes short. A template can't know that you lost a week to work travel, that your running is your limiter or that your race is in the heat. And when the method itself changes between levels, the athlete paying less ends up with weaker coaching.
At ANC, every option runs on the same method and starts from your own numbers. The difference between the options is how often a coach steers your week.
Who we coach
Our athletes come from every part of endurance sport.
- First time triathletes learning how to train for three sports.
- Athletes racing their first IRONMAN or 70.3.
- Experienced age groupers chasing personal bests.
- Qualification and championship athletes aiming at world championships.
- Pro and elite athletes.
- Runners and marathoners, from a first marathon to a twentieth.
- Road and gravel cyclists.
- Athletes returning or rebuilding after time away or a hard season.
An athlete's value to us has nothing to do with their finish time or their level. Every athlete gets the same care, and every plan is built for the person doing it.
Who coaches you
ANC was founded by Angela Naeth, a professional triathlete and coach. Angela has more than 18 years of coaching and more than 20 years in endurance sport. She is a 3 time IRONMAN Champion and a 19 time IRONMAN 70.3 winner, and she finished 8th at the IRONMAN World Championship. She has raced as a pro in triathlon and gravel cycling, ran Division I track in college and holds a Master's in Physical Therapy and Health Sciences and a Bachelor's in Health Science and Nutrition.
That background means ANC coaching comes from both sides of the sport. Angela has raced at the top level and coached athletes at every level, so the coaching blends physiology with what actually happens in training and on race day.
Every ANC coach is educated in one shared ANC method covering physiology, zones, block choice and weekly load. Each coach also brings their own experience. Holly Koksel, who appears in this series as an athlete, also coaches with ANC.
Four athletes, four very different seasons
The best way to show who we coach is to show the athletes. Here are four from this year, each at a different point in their sport.
Katy: an experienced age grouper chasing a PB
Katy Walmsley is a triathlete, a parent of three and a swim coach. She had already finished Kona in 2023. She came to ANC training about 7.5 hours a week and wanted her running hours to count for Boston.
Her plan fit around school runs and kids' events, with bike and swim carrying much of her aerobic work. She moved through Base, an Aerobic Expansion bridge, Build, VO2 Max and marathon specific blocks.
Katy's weekly run TSS through her Boston build
What it measures. The training stress from Katy's running each week from December 2025 to Boston on April 20, 2026. The last two bars, in orange, are her final taper week and race week.
The story at this point. Katy's run load rose through December to a big week around New Year, then held steady through February and March, mostly between about 300 and 400 TSS a week. Her running got faster while her run load stayed manageable. In April it dropped away for the taper, and the last bar is race week, which includes Boston itself.
How to read it. Each bar is one week of running. Look at how steady the middle of the build is, with only a few lighter weeks.
You might see this in your own training if you are a triathlete training for a marathon. Your run load can stay steady while the rest of your training carries the aerobic work.
She ran a half marathon best of 1:34:09 and then Boston in 3:28:46, a marathon PR. She is now building for La Quinta 70.3 on December 6.
Ben: a runner and triathlete with big goals
Ben Creswick is a student who rides to work. Before ANC he was already training 10 to 16 hours a week. His goals are big: to win his age group or finish top 3, and to qualify for Kona.
Ben's weekly running before and after joining ANC
What it measures. Ben's running each week from late April to late September 2026, in kilometers. Blue bars are before he joined ANC, and orange bars are after.
The story at this point. Ben joined ANC in late August with IRONMAN 70.3 Tri Cities and the Victoria Marathon coming up. Before ANC his weeks mostly ran about 45 to 65 km, roughly 28 to 40 miles. With ANC, as his marathon build took shape, his weeks reached about 50 to 90 km, roughly 31 to 56 miles, with lighter weeks around his races.
How to read it. Each bar is one week. The dashed line marks when he joined. Look at how the orange weeks go up and down. The lighter weeks sit around his 70.3.
You might see this in your own training if you have a strong engine and a race coming soon. The right plan can raise your running while still giving you light weeks when you need them.
His first job was execution. "We need to keep some reins on you," Angela told him, and he learned to hold back on easy days. He placed 3rd in his age group at Tri Cities in 4:20:01, then ran 2:46:42 at Victoria, 3rd of 299 in his age group. This winter he is in Base and Durability, with IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria and IRONMAN Canada on his calendar for 2027.
Holly: an ultra runner and IRONMAN athlete
Holly Koksel holds the 12 hour course record at Anchor Down, 63.70 miles. This year she raced the Anchor Down 6 hour and then IRONMAN Maryland six weeks later.
She trained about 9.3 hours a week, with much of her aerobic work on the bike and her longest run about two and a half hours. At Anchor Down, in the hottest year on record, she ran 31.85 miles and won the women's race, 2nd of 72 overall. Six weeks later she rode 5:18:22 at IRONMAN Maryland. She is now back in Base for the winter.
Graham: rebuilding and racing a world championship
Graham Lloyd came to ANC strong on the bike and rebuilding his running from walks. His run started with short walk run sessions and grew step by step, one change at a time. His bike built through Aerobic Expansion and Hybrid work.
He trained through summer heat and rode real climbs to prepare for Nice, and he finished the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship there on September 13. On October 11 he ran what he called his "fastest 5k since June 2018." Now he is building his base again, and he is already asking about what comes next: "What half marathon time would we be aiming for? I'm certainly willing to experiment."
These four lead very different lives: a parent training around three kids, a student with big goals, an ultra runner who also coaches and an athlete rebuilding his running while racing a world championship. They were coached the same way. Each one started with an honest look at where they were. Each one got blocks chosen for their races and their life. Each one had weeks that pushed and weeks that pulled back. And each one talked with their coach about how it was going.
One method, three ways to work with us
Every option runs on StressLogic, the same way of deciding your training each week. The options differ in how closely a coach is involved week to week.
1-1 Comprehensive
Our flagship. Your coach steers your training every week and keeps adapting it to your performance, your recovery, your life stress and how you say you feel. You get daily feedback and unlimited communication, including support with fueling and swim development. Comprehensive coaching also maps your full metabolic profile on the bike and run.
1-1 Foundation
Built and overseen by an ANC coach for you alone, and delivered each week in a steady structure. Your coach gives feedback on your key, quality and long sessions, and the weekly load levels are applied every week. Changes come when your performance, recovery or execution call for them.
TrainingPlans+
Self guided plans built by ANC in TrainingPeaks Premium. They are set on your own Critical Power, Critical Speed and heart rate zones, with build blocks and durability phases between races. Marathon and half marathon plans are built when you register and extended every four weeks. We suggest starting 16 to 20 weeks before your race, and heart rate guidance is optional.
How to choose the right option
Start with how much coach involvement you want, and then look at your season.
Your weeks change often
Work travel, family and shifting schedules mean your plan needs adjusting as the week happens. 1-1 Comprehensive fits, because your coach steers every week.
You have an important race and a complicated life
A key race with a busy life around it is where daily feedback and full race planning help most. 1-1 Comprehensive fits.
Your life is steady and you want a coach built plan
If your weeks are predictable and you want a coach to build and oversee your plan, with feedback on your key sessions, 1-1 Foundation fits.
You like to train on your own
If you want a strong plan built on your own zones and you are happy to follow it yourself, TrainingPlans+ fits. We suggest starting 16 to 20 weeks before your race.
You are not sure yet
Tell us about your season at intake. We will help you choose.
How we coach, whatever the option
A few things are the same for every athlete.
- We coach the athlete in front of us. Your plan starts from your history, your life and your goals.
- Data informs, and the coach decides. We read your numbers alongside your comments and our own observations.
- Every session has a reason. You should always know why a session is in your week and why now.
- Education is part of coaching. We explain why your intensities are set where they are, what your metrics mean and how adaptation works, so you can make good decisions yourself.
- Execution counts. Fueling, pacing, logistics, travel, sleep and a calm race week are part of performance.
Your first month with us
Whichever option you choose, your start looks much the same.
- Intake. You tell us about your sport, your history, your devices, your schedule, your races and what you enjoy. If you have TrainingPeaks history, we rebuild your recent training load from it.
- An easy first week. Built from the hours you have, and guided by effort and heart rate.
- A test week. Critical Power on the bike and Critical Speed on the run and in the pool, with easy days between.
- Strength. Added once testing is done.
- Your first block. Chosen from your calendar, your fitness, your limiter and your history.
From there, each week is set from how the last one went.
What coaching needs from you
Coaching works best as a conversation. We ask for honest comments after your sessions, a heads up when life changes the week, and your questions whenever something doesn't make sense. When Graham told us his legs loosened after the first mile and a half of every early session, Angela called it good data, and he learned to use it himself. When Holly asked why her ultra block had IRONMAN intensity in it, Angela explained the block type she was in. Understanding the plan helps you make good choices on race day and on the days when life changes the week.
We coach across whole seasons. Katy went from a marathon PR in April straight into planning a 70.3 in December. Ben's winter base is built for two A races next summer and his longer goal of Kona. Holly went from a 6 hour win to an IRONMAN six weeks later. Graham's comeback started with walking. Each next step builds on the last one.
To put it in a few lines: one method for every athlete, three levels of coach involvement, a plan that starts from you, and a season built one step at a time.
What this means for you
What this means for you
ANC is a good fit if you want to understand your training as well as do it. Whichever option you choose, your plan is built on your own numbers, your blocks are chosen for your races and your life, and your weeks follow how you are actually responding.
A good question to ask yourself: in the season ahead, how often will your week need to change, and who do you want deciding how?
Keep reading in the How We Coach series
- StressLogic: how we decide your training
- Part 2: Learning where you are
- Part 4: Fitting training to life
- Training block types
- Race prep
Athlete stories from this article:
Coaching built around you
If you would like coaching that starts with who you are and where you want to go, start at angelanaethcoaching.com.
Tell us your goal race and the hours you really have. Or see our online 70.3 coaching, online marathon coaching, online IRONMAN coaching or find the coaching service that fits you.