Team TrainingPeaks

Well it is official!  Thanks to the support of all my friends and followers I made the cut and I am one of 20 TrainingPeaks Athlete Ambassadors!

The official announcement was made on the TrainingPeaks Blog (which should be in your RSS)!

I am pretty stoked about being affiliated with such a great company, brand and training tool.  I’ve been officially using the tool for almost a year and a half.  I started out as a free user (yeah they have a free version) and after a few months upgraded to the Premium version ($119/year) and haven’t turned back.  When I started this whole fitness thing I was mountain biking and uploading my Garmin data to Garmin Connect mostly just because. It was neat to see GPS data and top speed but I didn’t pay much attention to anything else.

When I signed up for my first Ironman Muskoka 70.3 I scoured the Internet and found BeginnerTriathlete.com a popular resource for beginner triathletes (go figure).  It allowed me to upload data and track time and distance but didn’t offer much else and I was good with that.  After learning a lot that year I started looking for more.  I needed a nutrition diary, I needed data analysis, and I needed it to be online.  After trying the free version on TrainingPeaks for a few months I was sold. 

I love the nutrition diary, it is easy to use and allows me to track the timing, type and amount of calories and where they come from.  I’ll be honest and say I only use this in season.  I don’t need to see the numbers for what goes in my mouth in the off season :)

I love the data uploading, from my PC using the Device Agent or from the web interface itself.  I travel for work and it makes it easy to upload and analyze data anywhere.  PC or MAC, they even have mobile apps.

I love the calendar, it is easy to read and fully customizable, and you can sync it with Outlook if you like.  It also integrates with Facebook and Twitter!

I love the dashboard which gives you a quick view of the data you want to see.  It is fully customizable and allows you a quick view of training, nutrition and metrics with the paid version.

I LOVE the analysis.  There are a lot of smart people working there and they have come up with very simple, yet useful ways of understanding the data.  It has helped me track progress, detect periods of overtraining and ensure I am fueling properly.

Hey if it is good enough for Crowie (3x IM WC, 2x 70.3 WC), Tommy D (Team Garmin-Cervelo), Team Sky Pro Cycling and other world class athletes it is good enough for me and you!

Anyway I am excited to be part of a group of 20 endurance athletes from around the world and one of five in Canada and am looking forward to a successful 2012 racing and training with my fellow ambassadors as well as my friends.