Getting to know.... kernkraft!

shotgunmcos

Zombie, zombie nation.....Na na nana na na.......

Previous threads of this series are:

Kurt Godel
littlemsfickle
BTH
Green&Red
Catzweazle
Dory
Oryx
RQ
Fazz
Bambaata
pgibbo
AKW
shotgunmcos

As much fun and torture as I had from a stint in this series, it is time to hand the baton over to one who moves to a different beat....

May I present peter kern......... Enjoy!

peter the one thing the people really want to know is...... how long can you hold a plank for after reading this ?:D

tunney

Exactly how many keys is your keyboard missing?

Fazz

Hi Peter,

1 - what ranks as your top 3 race performances (with splits please)?

2 - favourite race distance as I think you've done them all?

3 - will you race Kilkee this year or any others or does coaching take over at main races?

4 - When you were training for your 9hr ironman, what avg weekly volume in each discipline were you at?

5 - favourite race you've done and why?

6 - How often do you perform testing sessions on your athletes you coach?

7 - favourite session to do?

8 - favourite session to coach?

9 - what are the 3 most important criteria in success at triathlon in your opinion?

10 - How does one prepare best for the marathon portion of an ironman? Or is it mainly mental battles for the last couple hours! ?

peter kern

thanks Mike
I did not really want to do this I dodnt talk very often aobut myself I am more the listener and observer person. Having said so i was very impressed with getting to know kurt and Akw. and your story how you met your wife mike was total class ( my respect for that answer)

i am a coach and not an athlete so i dont do planks ;-) if i do them i dont stop the time i finish when i fell that i have been working enough then i do count another 10 seconds and then i stop. I am not worried about the time I hold it, I am worried what it is going to do for me and how it will affect the rest of the day
the reality is I need to do planks but again I havent really trained really for 5 years.


And to get one thing of my chest at the very start.

As I do get tired of the question, are you racing again .
I do not, when I race this is for me to stay in touch how hard it actually is to race and the whole process that at race entails , i think the CEO of a supermarket should work 3-7 days a year at the shop floor to keep in touch, what it is like to work for his company and observe customers so I think i still need to race but when i race its more work then enjoyment. At the same time if I was to wake up 1 day and decide i am going to change my bank card pin with a new goal time ( its still the same as it was till 2005 ) then so it be. To be honest I cant see it really happen.

I want to stay fit as i realized at the end of 2012 if you are not fit life gets harder.

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

Exactly how many keys is your keyboard missing?

none ,
I am dyslexic , I was told i would never learn english, i did not listen to them and I now speak english and spanish. ( write horrible all three languages) but I get buy and the people that care deal with my writing and the others dont deal with it not a biggy .

At the same time when people tell me they cant swim cycle or run I tell them to f..ck off and get a grip if they really wnat it they can do it maby never perfect but always better than they think.

sconhome

Hi Peter, fair play stepping up to the challenge of the week. Sorry if you have addressed this in normal threads.

How did you get into coaching?
What do you think is the biggest development in coaching knowledge for triathlon training in the last decade?
What differentiates you from other coaches? Your unique selling point that makes PB3 better than other coaches.
What other coach do you admire the most?

peter kern

Fazz wrote: »

Hi Peter,

1 - what ranks as your top 3 race performances (with splits please)?
my top perofrmance was malaysi Ironman with a fractured ripp it was a Dnf but thats the only perfromace iam poud off. I think 57 non wetsuit swim 4.50 bike dnf at k 35 as i got out of the price money and i had made a deal i race for as long as i am in the price money. I rode more than 90 k out of the saddle in that race .

the other perofrmance iam poud of 2 month before i broke 9 hours i was in a dip I spoke to a friend and that i was tired , he asked me what did you achieve so far, I said nothing, I left I went todo a 10 k race that day won it and got a place offered for the challenger roth .... split was 32.40 ish

3rd kilkee last year that hurt and i was so tired i could not go to the part

2 - favourite race distance as I think you've done them all?
I dodn have a favorite distance. i hate 3 k 20 3k run duathlons

3 - will you race Kilkee this year or any others or does coaching take over at main races?
answered above , if i do 1 race its usually kilkee ...its just the best day in triathlon ( soalr berg in roth is probabply the most eerie race expereince in triathlon in a race )

4 - When you were training for your 9hr ironman, what avg weekly volume in each discipline were you at?
its very hard to meassure most of my training was done while travelling on a bike around australia and new zealand.
so there was weeks I did not swim than there was weeks were i swam 60 km on my own when in ireland it was then aobut 20k swim 80 k running and a good bit of cycling. I would not train like i tained back then so its not really relevant.

5 - favourite race you've done and why?
as above I would like to master malaysia ironman the race got me twice

6 - How often do you perform testing sessions on your athletes you coach?
I test them pretty much every session i see them.

7 - favourite session to do? cycling to the Nac at 5 am in the moring.

8 - favourite session to coach? its much more who I coach. favorite session is when everybody is focused but still has time for a laugh.


9 - what are the 3 most important criteria in success at triathlon in your opinion? consitency , a strong mind and to be honest something has to be wrong with somebody to really perfom ;-0 the anger of lance A will never be beaten . so let me say its being honest to oneslef.

10 - How does one prepare best for the marathon portion of an ironman? Or is it mainly mental battles for the last couple hours! ?

one swims and bikes a lot. and the other thing is everybody dies a few times in an IM marathon its how your get yourself out of it that counts so its much more mental prep and the focuse for the next step not to the finish line.

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

none ,
I am dyslexic , I was told i would never learn english, i did not listen to them and I now speak english and spanish. ( write horrible all three languages) but I get buy and the people that care deal with my writing and the others dont deal with it not a biggy .

I did not know that. There would have been alot less Sutton-eqsue abuse had it been known. Always assumed it was a lack of attention to spelling and detail rather than a condition.

Did you consider voice to text technologies? May make your life easier.

Is it just writing or reading too that is affected? Apologies for my ignorance on the subject.

How did this affect your school years? You must have hated school?

peter kern wrote: »

At the same time when people tell me thay can swim cycle or run I tell them to f..ck off and get a grip if they really wnat it they can do it maby never perfect but always better than they think.

As in you overcame your issues and others can too if they really try?
Agree with this if that is the case.

Oryx

Hi Peter

As a coach do you think the stick, or the carrot approach works best? As in criticism vs encouragement?

What has given you the biggest reward, your own achievements, or those of the athletes you coach?

What are the key qualities of a good coach?

What are the key qualities of a good athlete?

Can an adult learner ever swim competitively?

Most unusual thing you have ever eaten?

Can you dance?

tunney

You are well known for your Ferrari-esque approach to weight.

How skinny is too skinny? I have only ever heard you twice tell people "you don't need to loose any more weight"

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

You are well known for your Ferrari-esque approach to weight.

How skinny is too skinny? I have only ever heard you twice tell people "you don't need to loose any more weight"

its very simple science Itu elite atheltes get taller and lighter ......they swim about the same cycle about the same and run faster
so absolute not kern style. and i have never ever meassured skin faults...
i have only an eye scale. I dodnt reall advise people to use a scale either.

generally for males its hard to say there is too light. again in an itu studdy it was suggested that some 20 % had some eating disorder ( take this with a grain of salt but its also not that easy ) . for females this is a very different issue and way more complex.
and many carrers have been destroyed by asking females to lose too much weight or wrong comments.

overall ( and i would read this very carefully as this is only a snipped ) as long as body is healthy there is no too light.


it lso daepends on many other things if you try to get to light and it takes too much mental energy it can get problematic.and 1 kg for the sake of frustration is hard to argue about.

zico10

Did you keep a blog anywhere of your cycle(s) around the world?

If not, then do you mind answering questions here about them?

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

Did you keep a blog anywhere of your cycle(s) around the world?

If not, then do you mind answering questions here about them?

I am not going to write a lot but if you have a question go ahead

I dont even have pics b
i have then all in my brain :-0

I think my first bike holidays were at age of 10

the first solo trip when I was 14 in germany

first solo bike trip abroad was at 15en in the uk
.
I guess I was one of the few people that moved to scotland on a bike over x mas when I was 19.

I always kept in simple and always broke the rule that says take half the luagges you think you need and take twice the money.
and took twice the luaggage and half the money.but even more duct tape and cable binders than recommended.

Patagonia south Bolivia and the table mountain area in Venezuela the best I have done I guess.

the other questions from Akw and orxy i will reply tonight speciall Akw s ones made me think.

peter kern

As in you overcame your issues and others can too if they really try?
Agree with this if that is the case

tunny
its very simple in my mind we can imporve pretty much everything if we really want it . its only about how much we really really want it . I wanted to learn english as it was absolutely crucial for me to travel and traveling was the most important thing in my live, so English i did learn it was not easy and i will never be perfect. but it is better than jose maurihinos so i dodnt think its really an issue for coaching ;-0

Dory Dory

Hi Peter. I know absolutely nothing about you other than what I have read above, so I'll start with these very meager questions...

Is your real name Peter Kern?

I assume you are a triathlon coach - do you coach with a club, or on your own?

Do you coach all three disciplines yourself? Or do you collaborate with other coaches?

What is your sporting background, including accomplishments?

Have you ever fired an athlete? If so, why?

Do you prefer coaching men or women, and why?

Any tips for a quick T1 and T2?

How many bikes do you have? And do they have names?

Would you please pick the distance, then put together the best triathlon relay team of boardsies, and explain the why?

Do you have any tattoos? If so, of how many, of what, and where?

These will do for now.

Kurt Godel

Hi Peter,
1. Have you ever trained an adult from non-swimmer to uber-fish?
2. What do you think your ultimate IM time goal was/is? (assume sponsorship, money, time etc)
3. You mentioned before you swam with a home-made tether in Australia- was this out of necessity? Do you still use tethered work in your training/coaching?
4. What are your views on TI water temperature rules, in respect of the Irish climate?
5. You seem to have done a lot of travelling- what made you stay in Ireland?
6. Ever ran an IMRA race?
7. What is the maximum annual spend a mid-pack hobbyist should spend on tri, in your opinion?

SlowMe

What was (is?) your strongest discipline as an athlete?

What discipline do you feel most comfortable coaching?

If the answers above are different what are your comments on that fact?

Have you coached outside of Ireland? If so is there something about coaching here that is particularly interesting or different?

This forum has a lot of useful info and reference for us as athletes - how do you find it as a coach?

Ever tried to learn to speak a little Irish for the craic?

peter kern

Dory Dory wrote: »

Hi Peter. I know absolutely nothing about you other than what I have read above, so I'll start with these very meager questions...

Is your real name Peter Kern?
yes it is

I assume you are a triathlon coach - do you coach with a club, or on your own?
Most questions I get asked I never really thought about good question it a bit of a mix I am a triathlon coach first and formost , I am very strongly european and I dodnt believe in borders in our monday and wed swimsessions we tend to have people from 5-8 different clubs. I aslo do sessions for 2 clubs so, so in short it dosnt matter to me and it is really the first time i think about.

Do you coach all three disciplines yourself? Or do you collaborate with other coaches?
I am a stong believer that a triathlon coach should coach all 3 disciplines its one sport in my mind. so I coach all three.

What is your sporting background, including accomplishments?

Happily, not many accomplishments, most really good coaches were not really good athletes. I did race a few races at pro level but nothing to write home really.


Have you ever fired an athlete? If so, why?

Do you prefer coaching men or women, and why?

I like to work with athletes that want to achieve personal bests
that also answers the question above

Any tips for a quick T1 and T2?
show me a your transition and i tell you what to improve.

How many bikes do you have? And do they have names?
i have 2 bikes a steel frame concorde i got for 50 euro from fernado fuentes ( best deal ever) and a tt bike
my real love however is mariposa ( butterfly) my touirng bike which should still hang around in germany that frame did some 180 000 k and was my car and travel vehicle many years and also my house for some 3.5 years . And dragonfly an old softride bike (still my favorite bike i ever rode ) made it into my inner circle. to deserve a name.


Would you please pick the distance, then put together the best triathlon relay team of boardsies, and explain the why?
okane1 swim fazz bike huff n puff run very simple best swimmer best cyclist best runner ;-) as far as iam aware of
female relay would be littlemisfrickle for swim bike run
I would use them for any distance. if we have 12 weeks for prep.

Do you have any tattoos? If so, of how many, of what, and where?

no I dont have them

These will do for now.

again in the blue box
ps I realise I forgot lcd so I would give him half the bike and half the run.

zico10

zico10 wrote: »

If not, then do you mind answering questions here about them

peter kern wrote: »

I am not going to write a lot but if you have a question go ahead

Alright here goes;

What route did you take both times?

Were they planned before you left? Or did you just go wherever the road took you?

Did you ever end up in any dangerous situations along the way?

Any accidents/injuries along the way? If so, what did you do about them?

peter kern

SlowMe wrote: »

What was (is?) your strongest discipline as an athlete?
balanced

What discipline do you feel most comfortable coaching?
I probably enjoy swim coaching a bit more. one day i would love to coach a pole vaulter as I think this might be the ultimate coaching
or discus as also v techniqual.

If the answers above are different what are your comments on that fact?

Have you coached outside of Ireland? If so is there something about coaching here that is particularly interesting or different?

the difference is that Irish people are very thight in shoulder but stronger in the core than on the continent

This forum has a lot of useful info and reference for us as athletes - how do you find it as a coach?
in half pink
can i quote savilero balisteros asked how he learend to play golf ?
he said he looked at club players and did it totally different.
so that is one side at the other side i look a lot at the sbr thread and see how training compares to race performances so indeed very valuable.

Ever tried to learn to speak a little Irish for the craic?

no I do not
personally i would think that for myself improving my french would be more valauble. A the same time I think its very important that the language should be kept alive its very important cultural heritage.

peter kern

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Hi Peter,
1. Have you ever trained an adult from non-swimmer to uber-fish?
an uber fish for me is somebody that swim sub 19 in oly and 47 in im so no i havent. but we have one guy that last year started in the slowes lane of his club and we should get him to 19.30 in 2 years.

2. What do you think your ultimate IM time goal was/is? (assume sponsorship, money, time etc) 49 swim 4.38 bike 2.58 run 8.29.30
3. You mentioned before you swam with a home-made tether in Australia- was this out of necessity? yes i was cycling in the outback and sometimes found small pools.

i use elastics for all 3 dicipliens in coaching
Do you still use tethered work in your training/coaching?
4. What are your views on TI water temperature rules, in respect of the Irish climate?
very clearly gloves and hut and go for it. have beginner races and options of run but you want to win the race you need to swim .
at the same time I also do understand the race officials once you are on their side saftey comes first
5. You seem to have done a lot of travelling- what made you stay in Ireland?
the weather keeps me here ...
6. Ever ran an IMRA race?
once and i think i was 3rd
7. What is the maximum annual spend a mid-pack hobbyist should spend on tri, in your opinion?

i said this to a client last saturday if they drive a small car as much as they want. as its a way better investment than a big car.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

Alright here goes;

What route did you take both times?
in south america i cycled santiago de chile to ushia a lot careterra austal than back more on argenian side to santiago
up to bolivia a fwe round in boliva peru ecuador columbia venezuela brasil a bit back to columbia and then home from caracas.
I planned 1 year stayed 2 ...

Were they planned before you left? Or did you just go wherever the road took you?
the way is the goal. so no. I dodnt plan I never now where i sleep its mostly sunrise to sunset and where the sun sets I sleep
so i often have loads of food on the bike ( once i weight the bike before going out to torres del paine park and it was 87 is kg ....so more food is my planning to be free. I stayed 13 days in the park one of my favorite places)

Did you ever end up in any dangerous situations along the way?


I saw what i believe was farc in the middle of the road in columbia
i was lucky a lorry passed me so i just hang on to the lorry, not much time to think sometime after wa passed i saw the face of the lorry driver and it was white.
that was it

Any accidents/injuries along the way? If so, what did you do about them?

no nothing
I do more alone than maybe one should do. (Iam ok if i dodnt have to talk to anybody for 2 weeks ) at the same time i am always cautious and I stop when i feel its better to stop . i had a goal to cycle up to 6000meter unfortunately the road was so bad that it took me way longer to reach 5650is meter than i hoped . SO i just walked up the rest to 6.150 and left the bike back as i did not want to take more risk than needed. still was fantastic stuff .
and often i have turned around when my gut feeling tells me so.

peter kern

sory for replying in the blue box just easier for me

peter kern

if you know a good voice to text software iam all up for it . last time i looke it wasnt quite ready .

my reading is ok not the fastest but above averager reading comprehension. at the same time if there is a graph I do not really read the article only if the graph is really intersting .

when I was in scotland I had some briliant teachers so i liked school then

tunney wrote: »

I did not know that. There would have been alot less Sutton-eqsue abuse had it been known. Always assumed it was a lack of attention to spelling and detail rather than a condition.

Did you consider voice to text technologies? May make your life easier.

Is it just writing or reading too that is affected? Apologies for my ignorance on the subject.

How did this affect your school years? You must have hated school?



As in you overcame your issues and others can too if they really try?
Agree with this if that is the case.

shotgunmcos

peter kern wrote: »

sory for replying in the blue box just easier for me

Do it whatever way you want Peter, you were doing great.

The guy in the slow lane getting to 19:30 in 2 years. Hmmm interesting.
How slow is the slow lane?
Was he a beginner swimmer/adult learner or reacquainting with childhood swimming experience?

If A, then do you subscribe to the perspective that you either respond best to volume or intensity or is it an equal mix for all? What swim volume, assuming quality sets, will it take to get from adult beginner to sub20?

What swim toy could you not do without for progress?

peter kern

AKW wrote: »

Hi Peter, fair play stepping up to the challenge of the week. Sorry if you have addressed this in normal threads.

How did you get into coaching?
What do you think is the biggest development in coaching knowledge for triathlon training in the last decade?
What differentiates you from other coaches? Your unique selling point that makes PB3 better than other coaches.
What other coach do you admire the most?

AKW wrote: »

Hi Peter, fair play stepping up to the challenge of the week. Sorry if you have addressed this in normal threads.

How did you get into coaching?
i dodnt really know that and never thought about it to be honestI will think aobut that more ... .

What do you think is the biggest development in coaching knowledge for triathlon training in the last decade?

Again I will think aobut it but I would think it is the fact that many people realise that brett sutton the leeds boys and the d squad etc are the best because they spend the most time togheter . SO i think we realize that hard capable work is more important than anything else ( it takes huge sacrifice for coach and athelte but it works )

What differentiates you from other coaches? Your unique selling point that makes PB3 better than other coaches.

I am a difficuilt coach its hard for people to work with me.that could be the main difference... I tick differently to most people I am crazy in a way i am more like the crazy professor .
I think every coach is different . My strenght is that I observe atheltes very well and I try to educate them to know whats best for them I am not a spoon feeder. some mistakes have to be made to people to understand something .


. I seriously struggle with people that look for a babysitter.or a guru .I need people that have a bit of self initiative and are not sheeps. I work very well with people that have an idea that it is actually not that hard ( yet so difficult )

I dodnt sugger coat and people know that what i say is what i think and most people appreciate that. for the first time when we work togheter i like them to listen only to me , after we have the basics. i like it if they look around and see for themselves.
I am not sure whats my unique selling point maybe 13 nat champs titles which is more than any other tri coach in Ireland .


but I would like to say i am a anti bull**** coach that likes to keep it simple ( i have been in the bs when i was playing table tennis tought me a lesson )
.I go a bit balisitc when i hear that people that are seriously train for triathlon do 60 min swim sessions ( you waste all the time going to a pool so at least 2 of them should be 90 min ) I believe in strong main sets 2.5 k for a main set is a good start ( sometimes shorter sometimes much longer longer )



I like to see the people i work with as often as possible (I coach 10 seessions a week I watch by seeing I dont really use a stop watch hr power ( i dodnt mind none of them ) but they are not my first reference point I feel it more ( and naturally like a power meter an hr etc that has disadvantages) but this is how i work and i try to look whats happening in side the person not just the numbers they produce.
I am being told that i dodnt care aobut gear yet once i see you train heard i make sure you use a latex tube when you race .SO yes its true i dodnt care aobut gear for the people that dont trian . I think amy wolfe was the first Irish female that used a disc. I do understand my gear but again first we get the work done. when overweight people come to me and want to talk gear I mentally cry. as i know they havent understood what it is about ( at least in my mind ) But above all I challenge them that what their think is their limit is by far not the limit.
I have still so many limits to be the coach I want to be, but I have the goal to get there one day








question aobut coaches


there is a coach in the phoenix park I see evert saturday he is 76 years old his is still so enthusiastic what does ( i hope my people don t notice that i watch him form time to time , I love how he interacts with people he makes them feel he cares and he has such a positive aura ) I hope to be like he is when i am 76.
I said something very similar about carol walsh.( she obvioulsy is half the age of 76 ;-)



I also like what eanna at base 2 race does and stepehn in limerick .

I think arthur lydiard was the coach most ahead of his time ever . so was sutton in triathlon. if it is power based training michael krueger would be class. there is the owner of tower 26 who i think is a class open water coach. and the ammount of hours darren smith works is i think 2nd to none biggest thirst for knowledge i could think of.

At the same time the marketing empire joe friel set up is amazing too

pep guardiola i think is an amazing coach ( joe filliol the equivalent in triathlon coaching) and what jupp heynckes did with bayern munich was class and I can not understadn how he could not win coach of the year for 2013 . fergusons lifework in mancherster is amazing too and kind of unmatched in coaching.

peter kern

he started swimming in his clubs beginnerer lane 10 min plus for 400, he is now 5.45 in a 50 m pool . I need to get deeper inot that but adult learner and no swiming at all
I have a female in the vet category ( you would not beleive if whe you see her that she is a vet . she could not swim a single meter october 2012 i am very confident we get her to sub 6.10 this year in a 50 m pool

talent is of course 1 thing the sheer will another thing volume is of course not low 15 k a week. but again i very very strongly believe a good triathlete needs to be in the game after the swim .

I think every stroke is a drill exercise in the first place if done with intend to become a better swimmer. but yes strong main sets and technique and also recovery sessions done in pool.


What swim toy could you not do without for progress?

for some a snorkel for some a band for some a metronome. for some my foot to give them a kick in the backside ...
and for some rest ....

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Do it whatever way you want Peter, you were doing great.

The guy in the slow lane getting to 19:30 in 2 years. Hmmm interesting.
How slow is the slow lane?
Was he a beginner swimmer/adult learner or reacquainting with childhood swimming experience?

If A, then do you subscribe to the perspective that you either respond best to volume or intensity or is it an equal mix for all? What swim volume, assuming quality sets, will it take to get from adult beginner to sub20?

peter kern

Oryx wrote: »

Hi Peter

As a coach do you think the stick, or the carrot approach works best? As in criticism vs encouragement?
I think honesty works best , trial and error also v important ofent one does not know what works . its all so simple yet sometimes so complex

What has given you the biggest reward, your own achievements, or those of the athletes you coach?
I have never achieved my goals so very little reward. whenver i can make a small change with ahtletes it is rewarding. people always want to hear about big success storries , but its the small storries of shaving of a sec here getting people that train that make the big storries and i love this.
I had one lady do a 157 k bike ride last sat in ****ty weather. that made me very happy was her longest bike ride ever . she will rember this bike ride when she does her first Ironman and that will stand to her

What are the key qualities of a good coach? like there is no perfect athlete there is no perfect coach , so there is coaches with different strengh. but being able to motive is one being able to hold people back another one.
I will expand on this later

What are the key qualities of a good athlete?
as above the perfect athelte does not exist
consitency consitency consitency , hard work focusing on themselves being open minded. high goals

Can an adult learner ever swim competitively?
again it depends what is competeively. but we have seen dults learners to break 20 min for 1500.

Most unusual thing you have ever eaten?
there is loads of stuff whenever I tralve i make sure to eat everything . the most curious for some reason was a fried mars bar

Can you dance?

i was part of the genesis video i cant dance ...so iam a realy good bad dancer

sconhome

Great answers Peter, thank you.

I've seen you in action so the crazy professor analogy is very apt and accurate

(In the nicest possible way! Think Doc Brown from Back to the Future)

interested

Hey Peter

Enjoying so far, some great answers already ...

- With so many early morning swim coaching sessions going on for you at the moment (recent weather, it cant be easy) - whats a lie on for you ? 7am ? or similar ?
- Favourite place to swim in Ireland / worldwide ... for fun ?
- Favourite thing to do when not coaching / 'doing' sport ?
- Money no object - dream bike / components ?


Mark

peter kern

ta

interested wrote: »

Hey Peter

Enjoying so far, some great answers already ...

- With so many early morning swim coaching sessions going on for you at the moment (recent weather, it cant be easy) - whats a lie on for you ? 7am ? or similar ?
the more rain the better as in the pool I overheat,si i consider it a bit like a sauna. what most people dodnt realice it hardly ever rains from 5 - 6.30am a lie in for me depends very much every so often there is a day when i dodnt get up before 3pm, i often only sleep 5 hours and then catch up. Not good but thats the way i roll.

- Favourite place to swim in Ireland / worldwide ... for fun ?
I have to say I love saepoint in dublin but there is also so many amazing beaches at the west coast its amazing. in the world the nicest place i trained was ningaloo reef in western australia.


- Favourite thing to do when not coaching / 'doing' sport ?

obviously travelling , and then there is the unknown side of me that is into art..

- Money no object - dream bike / components ?
I would get the guys in new zealand that built sarah Ulmers bike. walser would do me too as wheel call disc most likely a leightweight disc and a zipp 808 in the front wheel contiental gp olympic version ( 300 euro a piece ) stock bike most likely speed concept 9 or possibly felt DI at the same time I like the classic titanflex and falcao and tjs new bike are very intersting having ridden a no beam bike I think its a good thing for ironman ( especaily when you ride harsh wheels )
components I would not really mind but i guess sram red or even campy not Di2 really dont like it.


Mark

interested

peter kern wrote: »

ta

I was lucky enough to swim about near the ningaloo in a couple of spots myself - incredible part of the word - I loved the isolation.

Thanks Peter.

pgibbo

Enjoyabe reading so far Peter.

Why do you think that women seem to be better at dialling in their RPE and pace better than men? Is this a generalisation or do you believe it to be true?
Have you ever considered trying to qualify for Kona as an AG'er?
What sort of training do you do yourself? Many hours a week?
Have you ever worked with any PRO athletes? If so, how did that go?
What did you work at before coaching?
Favourite movie?
Favourite meal - all courses.
Five dinner guests you'd like to have around?
What would be your dream trip?

P.

peter kern

pgibbo wrote: »

Enjoyabe reading so far Peter.

Why do you think that women seem to be better at dialling in their RPE and pace better than men? Is this a generalisation or do you believe it to be true?
I think it is correct to say that men go out to fast and females often to cautious.

Have you ever considered trying to qualify for Kona as an AG'er?
only very briefly but again if i was to go there i would not go there to fill the numbers I would want to perform and for that you have to train seriously hard.dosnt really go hand in hand with my other goals. but I want to get 7 atheltes to hawaii in 3 years time and go over

What sort of training do you do yourself? Many hours a week?
I cycle as fast as i can to work tue and thur thats about 40 min . i try to do 2 swims a week and then i run some weeks twice.when one swim is a mums and coach swim I do actually work hard and the week before the duathlon I did my first run interval session in a long time.

Have you ever worked with any PRO athletes? If so, how did that go?
the term pro is a very difficult one for me a pro athlete is one that races at least worldcup level and has top 35 potential in hawaii. So no I have not worked with one and I was very close last year as I had somebody that could have gone there. But it was unfortunately not the right of the life for the athlete.It would have been a massive commitment But the numbers would have been there and the talent was more than proven in another sport.
I have worked with a couple of athletes that had a pro or elite level
card l that raced elite and worked full time I have 1or two athletes who in two years time can race pro while working.
At the moment I restructure pb3 to prepare to accommodate more elite amateur/pro and I have taken a bit of a step backwards as there need to be a financial base. 1 year when i looked at it I made less than 7 euro an hour with those athletes you take away overheads etc etc so you need to have a foundation bellow that. But in about 3 month time I will start to scout some long term talent.
and if somebody tells you they can work with this level of atheltes and train really hard... medicority in both is the result as it takes a huge emotional commitment.


What did you work at before coaching?
I am totally agnostic, but believe it or not but I wanted to restore old churches ( on the continent of course as churches in ireland dodnt do it for me ;-) . That never materialized as I was not good enough and also with travelling a lot what I did was working 3-6 month really flat out as a plasterer and then travell or study

Favourite movie?
when I watch mainly arthouse moves and small lables from all around the world. and to be honest i hardly ever rember their names, not into hollywood. Anna Katharina is one that comes to mind , a theater set in a movie set ,I think is class
Favourite meal - all courses.
Asian food goes with me and eating in Singapore is what I like
Five dinner guests you'd like to have around?
i humbold ( darwin would also do) , bill gates ,einstein, anne frank and geroge Bush junior. (as i cant figure out this guy ) hugo chavez would be another one
What would be your dream trip?
cycle dublin - cape town , a good while away though.

P.

see above

Dory Dory

peter kern wrote: »

i was part of the genesis video i cant dance ...so iam a realy good bad dancer

^^^ Kidding, right?? (The video thing, not the good bad dancer thing)

May I ask your place of birth, age, height, weight, color of hair and eyes?

You mentioned that you never achieved your goals....and you also mentioned that a key quality of a good athlete is to set high goals. Were your goals too high, or why did you not achieve those goals? Have you given up on those goals? And if so, when or what occurred to give up on those goals??

Where do you consider home?

So thumbs up on a Trek Speed Concept 9? Discuss.

peter kern

Dory Dory wrote: »

^^^ Kidding, right?? (The video thing, not the good bad dancer thing)

of course i was Kidding ;-)

May I ask your place of birth, age, height, weight, color of hair and eyes?
for some reason i dodnt want to answer that but if you send me a pm its ok



You mentioned that you never achieved your goals....and you also mentioned that a key quality of a good athlete is to set high goals. Were your goals too high, or why did you not achieve those goals? Have you given up on those goals? And if so, when or what occurred to give up on those goals??
good question
yes my goals where always 1 step and more ahead. and to be fair, you could say i reached my goal I set sometimes in 1995 or so, breaking 9 hours in an ironman. Mind you, I had actualy no real Idea what triathlon was apart from having heard about roth ironman, and seen that sub 9 was a serious time back then .

when i was ready for sub 9 ( my urge to travel was always more powerful than the tri dream)
i missed it while travelling through Australia by 3-4mim due to a silly mistake in my prep , min and the guy i am I stoped at 37 k with no real issue but the knowlege sub 9 is gone.
but back 2005 sub 9 wasnt really serious anymore, so when i did go sub 9 my goal was not sub 9 i tried to shoot for 8.40. Was that achievable 2005 is debatable, but I seriously misplaced the bike for the first 60 k and totally cracked at 130 k .

real pro level was around 8.15 back then and there was no way i would have made that .....so i had my shot at it

If would i go back i would have my goals a little bit more realistic and enjoy ticking the boxes of improvement. the one thing i learned there is how easy it can be to get greedy. So I learned a lesson for life...
Sorry for rambling on

Where do you consider home?
home is dublin,


So thumbs up on a Trek Speed Concept 9? Discuss.

its hard to discuss i have never seen you on a bike but overall it tests very favorable in the windtunnel.

Kurt Godel

This is a great read so far

What are your three favourite works of art, and why?

peter kern

there is a artist from venzuela called jesu de soto is art is made in such a way that you have to move to understand it . its fantastic to actually watch people to move to watch it. Its very engaging
kids get it in a second for adults it takes longer .

el boscos the garden of early delights I can spend hours looking at this pic crazy stuff given the time it was painted.
https://www.google.com/search?q=el+bosco&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=6zPqUq-DDvGv7AaKuoHIBg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1276&bih=706#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Aba7t12AZJOCEM%253A%3BA7qJI9ttUdQBIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F-fLyOVWIQh0c%252FTm421jXOS5I%252FAAAAAAAAApI%252Ffm8ndh9TZLI%252Fs1600%252FJardin_des_Delices_New.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fatrioiluminati.blogspot.com%252F2011%252F09%252Fsobre-el-gran-maestre-iluminista.html%3B1600%3B867

ups 3 it was looking at eduardos munchs screen in this crazy landscape of the lofoten, was stunning. When i see the pic i see 4 weeks of cycling in norway going past me feels then like yesterday.

btw I know nothing about art . I just look at it and think.

Green&Red

Hi Peter,
I've seen you out at Seapoint swimming (or at least someone was pointed out as you), where is your favourite place to swim in Dublin? Ireland? the world?

Have you travelled much of Ireland (other than to races)?

What do you do to relax?

Can you sing?

You say Dublin is home, how do Irish people treat you, as one of their own?
What is the most annoying thing about Ireland?

Have you watched/attended gaelic games?
What other sports do you follow?

Have you ever punched anyone? (In a tri swim doesnt count :pac:)

What your favourite flavour of crisps? And have you come to call all crisps tayto?

peter kern

Green&Red wrote: »

Hi Peter,
I've seen you out at Seapoint swimming (or at least someone was pointed out as you), where is your favourite place to swim in Dublin? Ireland? the world?

Have you travelled much of Ireland (other than to races)?

When i was 20 i cycled 3 weeks around Ireland and i did travel quite a bit since then, and when I do tri camps around Ireland with clubs I often arrive 1 day earlier or stay one day longer to explore the area

What do you do to relax?
this is quite embarasing I dodnt watch much tv ( well in fact i dodnt have a tv ) but every sunday i watch a german krimi called tatort (i started this a year ago ....

Can you sing?
;-) hopeless .

You say Dublin is home, how do Irish people treat you, as one of their own?
its takes 2 sides to integrate.
for some I will always be the german. for some they treat me as a person and never make the german comments. I arrive in ireland when people still turned around when they saw a black person in the street . now that was funny . the germans and the Irish have one thing incommon and that concerns the dislike of a country that always loses in the penalty shootout ;-) ;-) ( just kidding of course)

What is the most annoying thing about Ireland?
you are way too punctual. i left grmany for that and you are still too punctual. I have more a spanish timing going.

Have you watched/attended gaelic games?
its better if i say nothing aobut that, as I lose my mind talking about GAA. but again great cultural heritage.

What other sports do you follow?
to be honest not as much as one would think and when i watch it i dodnt really watch the sport, i look at why they do something the way they do it and try to think what they do in training to practise that . I am not a fan i am an observer, so I dont get the exictment and i dodnt really get it that fans of 2 soccer teams hate each other. Its totally crazy in my mind they both do what they love so why the hate . the only time i got really partial when i bet on the olympic games and had my money on emma snowshill.

Have you ever punched anyone? (In a tri swim doesnt count :pac:)
no i dodnt believe in fighting its a loss of intellect , I have once (regredably) pulled somebody backwards that was so blatantly drafting the third time i saw him while spectating a race . But deservedly I was the one to deal with the consequences.

What your favourite flavour of crisps? And have you come to call all crisps tayto?

chease or vinegar . no re taytoo and i still call then chips very often...


btw peronally i think iam done now cheers for reading and i am glad i made somebodies turbo session more plesant.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

btw peronally i think iam done now

I think not until Tuesday.:D

But I'll keep my questions short.

Do you have a driving licence?

Have you ever owned a car?

peter kern wrote: »

I want to get 7 atheltes to hawaii in 3 years time and go over

Have you these seven people in mind already?

peter kern

i have a driving license since 1993
no never owned a car

the numbers to get to hawaii are not too hard too achieve, doing well there is .
I just had an email of somebody that ticks many boxes what i am looking for . and i can see 8 people, i see, to go there. A squad of atletes in dublin wanting to go to hawaii and train together is in the top 3 of my priority list. the lava pb squad so to speak.
I hope not to be rude now and its a guy I massivly respect, but i always say if Owen M can go sub 9 many can. What this guy did is amazing in my mind.

Dory Dory

We've already established that your user name is your real name, and I'm guessing you do not have a log on here.....however, if you did have a log, and if you had to use something other than your real name as your user name, then what would your log be called, and what would your user name be?

peter kern

i guess i would call it, it never gets easier.
login locomotion I guess it would be , would capture me well .
or pb3 for personal best x3 which is what the pb3 in pb3coaching stands for.
i guess this is what life is about give your personal best and challenge yourself

at the same time i think it would be better ( not always possible ) if people use their real name, i guess the internet would be a better and less absusive place .


and the best blog title ( i have never read it) is the difficult 2nd album
or something like that I like it. they the first milion is always the hardest but its still extremly hard to replicate success.

pgibbo

Hi Peter,
I know you are involved with 2 clubs but I believe for one of these you just do swim sessions. I'm interested in your involvement with T3. Do you provide structure and guidance to club members as well as coached sessions or how does it work?
I'm curious because I think some clubs are very disjointed and only offer coached sessions from coaches who don't communicate. Do you think clubs should be investing more in co-ordinating sessions or plans for members rather than just scheduling swim, bike and run sessions without any oversight on how they all hang together based on goals and where in their season athletes are?

Hope the above makes sense.

Thanks,
P.

littlemsfickle

tunney wrote: »

You are well known for your Ferrari-esque approach to weight.

How skinny is too skinny? I have only ever heard you twice tell people "you don't need to loose any more weight"

......he told me to eat more junk.

Very interesting so far, I'll need to think of a good question;)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

What do you see as pros/cons for power metres/hrms etc?
If I recall from the previous science thread that you are not really a fan of power, any particular reason why? I would have thought having more data available on Un coached sessions can only be a good thing to see how an athlete has performed?
What happened to you in IM Malyasia with the fractured ribs? Did you go into the race with the injury or have a crash?
What do you make of the sutton/team tbb fallout and his views that pros are sheep being led a merry dance by WTC?

catweazle

What's your own personal opinion on the top Irish ironman guys - they are still a long way off the top women pros times. Is there anyone you see out there that can take it down to low 8 hours

Which of Keane or Noble would be more suited to long distance

Favourite movie character

Have you done a stand alone marathon and what was your best time if yes?

Why do Germans love heavy metal so much?

peter kern

pgibbo wrote: »

Hi Peter,
I know you are involved with 2 clubs but I believe for one of these you just do swim sessions. I'm interested in your involvement with T3. Do you provide structure and guidance to club members as well as coached sessions or how does it work?
I'm curious because I think some clubs are very disjointed and only offer coached sessions from coaches who don't communicate. Do you think clubs should be investing more in co-ordinating sessions or plans for members rather than just scheduling swim, bike and run sessions without any oversight on how they all hang together based on goals and where in their season athletes are?

Hope the above makes sense.

Thanks,
P.

this is a very good question which i often discuss behind the sceens.
there is not one way to do it. I will have to think about this one to say the right things. and I cant really answer that question as frank as i would like. so here is a quick brain storm
And to be very clear if i should say something that realy annoys somebody
there is a lot of people that put in massive ammounts of time in for their club and hardly anybody says thank you for they work they do.
this is a big problem.

firstly ,Coaches ( and myself)are funny creatures they all seem to think they are the best in the world, when i get athletes that have other coches to come to sessions of mine i often write a quick note to a coach. Do you think they bother to answer ... no because we all think we are the best and are offended if athelte goes to another coach, one of the notable exeptions was pete freedman,( ecxellent coach btw ) joyce s wolfe coach who would have always engaged with me what i had to say.and guess what we both learned from that. So it is a problem of us coaches that things are not joined. often we feel threadend by other coaches .



secondly,as let me use Team ttb ( as it is widely known ) which unfortunaltey no is no more what it was, it was coach driven (if you want replace it with the d spuad fine). that s why they can beat federations that have way more money to burn, but are too much driven by politicians who only think about to defend their power. the same sometimes happens in clubs.( make no mistake its tough to run a club, I am just saying where i am comming from)

third the athletes 100 atheltes 70 different opinions . 50 different life scedules ... its not easy to coordinate and the most frustrating aspect of a tri coach.

Somethimes I talk to clubs and i tell them what i think, they tell me this is fine but they dont want to make the changes, there is way too much politics going on.
one club I did a camp with last year and a few month later I saw 5 or 6 of them at a race and they were all very excited to tell me what they had implemented.Some nice simple changes and certainly from what did hear people seemed to be happy.

where clubs often go wrong, their get one guy in for a tri talk then they do lactate testing with another group ( why they do this, if there is not structure to use the tests i dodnt understand but i guess its sexy and BS sells, hard work is much harder to sell). then they will have another talk, then the nutritionist comes in and talks about how they train and by the end people are totally confussed. A said this b that c came up with this 5 min exercise that works better than a 90 min session etc . but people dont understand the basics . they then talk aobut junk miles and believe junk miles are very slow miles when those are not junk miles and all the stuff they get side tracked with vo2 numbers which they dont even understand . they dont understand the basics .

training is about consitency and consitency, in coaching many approaches do work, but as Sutton would say stick and pick.
Overinformation is also a problen besides communication I mean its all out there on the internet ... but everybody has to sell something and the amount of rubbish totally outweights the stuff that makes sense. but we want every 1 years something new and special ... I always say every country gets the prime minister it deserves and we atheltes also deserve all this rubbish as we demand it. to crate an illusin its not our fault that we ware slow we just havent found the right gadgets replace with any other magic glue yet
THERE IS NO MAGIC CLUE this is the most important thing.

I hope huff and puff will take over next week as I really like what he does in Nenagh. and sligo tri club certainly does something well and so does go tri.

there is some lovely clubs around ireland !!!
I think right now all clubs are to similar and clubs should find their niche better especially in dublin .
ie some clubs with no coaching at all ( lets face it its not always needed as clubs can have other aspects) and some with really good coaching in small groups and some in the middle good coaching in big groups.

than their can be the big clubs where you are a number most of the times, but they can offer many sessions on the cheap with many different coaches.

their should be more clubs with really good coaching that is coordinated and yes you are right they are scare to non excistent at the same time thats going to cost to do it well.

I think the problem starts when people want great coaching for 50euro membership fee. they spend thousands on bikes and then they dont have the money to pay 50 euro more for better coaching.

this is a problem initself ( even i do get sidetracked as usual ) the biggest problem is too make triathlon more accessible for more people and especially for people from lower income groups. I know I am expensive but if somebody comes to me with a 500 euro aluminum bike and tells me they have no car as they dont have enough money but they really want to be good, I d let them in and ask them to help out with timming or other stuff. at the same time when the guy in the merceds tries to bring me down on price I ask them to move on.
And i think clubs should have a few more free places for those not as fortunate (and with the receccion their is many people under pressure)

I hope that would answer your question a bit and i know i did dodge your question a bit.

so yes, in an ideal world their should be a head coach and I would think the head coach has to oversee at least 1 swim 1 bike 1 run session a week and gives a session outline for other coaches.and they meet every 2 weeks to discuss progress, but this is not the only way.

peter kern

Finley Thousands Grit wrote: »

What do you see as pros/cons for power metres/hrms etc?
If I recall from the previous science thread that you are not really a fan of power, any particular reason why? I would have thought having more data available on Un coached sessions can only be a good thing to see how an athlete has performed?
What happened to you in IM Malyasia with the fractured ribs? Did you go into the race with the injury or have a crash?
What do you make of the sutton/team tbb fallout and his views that pros are sheep being led a merry dance by WTC?

gadgets
what i am trying to say is there is no magic glue, there is only one think and that is results and people like to forget that.
can I use you since you ask me aobut gadgets, where is your results with your training you do ( this is not rude or mean as you train very hard and i respect that a lot but i dodnt see the results ) I tell you what i think you focus so much about the numbers that you forget to think aobut your body and your mind . ( this can be very wrong but hey its a guess)
I am not against anything the point of that thread was to make people think that we did run quite fast beofre hr vo2 tests etc so they are the icing of the cake but not the cake
you do see aobove that i think micheal krueger does what he does very well with power , but so do darren smith and brett sutton without power. what they all 3 do is they get results.


and yes numbers are very good and a power meter is something very objective...


Malaysia too funny some 3-4 days before the race I was thinking how pointless it is what iam doing while walking on the street and suddently i feel through a board into a hole ....


ttb
i think it was the first reall team that managed to survive for longer that ttb did was outstanding.
yes if pros dodnt mange to come togheter they will always be the ones to lose out.
Wtc does what they do very well so why should they take over the work the pros should do themselves ?????????

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

No offence taken at all, a 10:33 result does not match or reward work/effort put in but there are other circumstances as to why rather than blaming gadgets. I agree totally, results are the one and only measure. Athletes (myself included) can sometimes rely too much on numbers which can be counter productive. My question on gagdets was more coming from a coaching perspective rather than an athletes. What i mean by that is surely the more information a coach has on an athlete the more helpful it can be as long as the numbers do not completely rule or dictate training and act as an aid to improve performance. The question would need to be asked why so many top cycling coaches have switched to power based training? or why are all teams in the pro peleton now riding/training with power.
There is no hiding place, but there are pitfalls on using it. As you say some that do and don't have equally fantastic results as coaches.