Soper Performance Coaching

03/09/2024

We’re looking for peak performers in the coaching world!

Coaches are the backbone of TrainingPeaks, sharing every moment—the heartbreaks and the victories—with their athletes. To thank our coaches for all they do, we want to hear about a time when your coach helped you reach a peak performance.

By sharing your story, you’ll enter your coach into a random drawing to win a prize!

Share your story: https://bit.ly/3AQftxJ

03/08/2024

Not sure all of our past and present athletes see the ‘love’ 😂😂 but the message is true.

Coaching is about helping to build a positive support network centred around the athlete and their goal(s)!

Get in touch if you’re looking for any level of support. From consultations, training plans through to 1-to-1 coaching programmes there’s an array of options to help you build confidence and move to the next level.

11/04/2024

Pleased to have passed re-certification with TrainingPeaks to maintain Level 2 Coach Accreditation!

06/04/2024

No pictures from the top as nothing to see in the cloud and the wind was howling! Brutal intro to the hill race, knee deep in places and a few get downs (uphill oddly enough). 2024 race season started! Huge thanks to for organising and putting on a mega spread at the end.

16/01/2024

Another excellent article from the TrainingPeaks blog giving a great insight into lactate and lactate threshold, and its place as part of endurance sports coaching.

Lactate threshold is one of the most important and most-used metrics when measuring fitness. Here's what you need to know to use it right.

25/11/2023

Hiring an endurance coach is a viable option for athletes of all levels. Here are some things to consider when deciding whether you should.

21/02/2023

Busy start to the week and huge thanks to the continued collaboration with and their programme as I welcome a new athlete into a personalised cycling training partnership.

01/02/2023

As part of any initial consultation there is always the discussion around available data from training, inevitably leading to chats about HR vs Power.

There is an abundance of information available online ranging from simple guides listing pros and cons through to detailed scientific journals. It can be a topic that consumes hours of reading.

However, I like to keep these sorts of things simple. If you have a power meter....focus your training based on power. Why? Power is instant and not subject to external variables. The snapshot below is taken from a recent training session of one of my athletes. Whilst it may not look like much the data analysis can be seen in two ways:

1. Power Mind: the athlete started a recovery period from high intensity as they crossed the "blue line". Power reduced and the athlete went into a recovery phase.

Or......

2. HR Mind: the athlete started a recovery period when the HR started to reduce as indicated with the arrow. Makes sense....but this was 40 seconds after the effort was finished! The HR was high but the effort was not....

Accurate and controlled training = power meter.
Training hard by feeling = heart rate monitor.

Training with both = happy coach 😉

27/01/2023

Overtraining plagues many athletes at some point in endurance training. Knowing these signs will help you keep them focused and out of the hole.

10/12/2022

Expert cycling coach Mike Schultz dives into the downsides and benefits of indoor cycling, and offers tips to maximize your fitness gains.

30/11/2022

One of the advantages of moving indoors over the winter is the putting the openrun headphones on with podcasts that can help contribute to a growth mindset as winter bites and motivation can take a hit.

The podcast is a great recommendation for superb insights into the minds of people at the top of their industry. Just finished the podcast with and was amazed by the passion he has discussing highly recommend you give the podcasts a try!

28/11/2022

Amazing weather for getting in some miles today. It’s a bit stop / start just now with work and injury recovery progressing slowly but well worth the cold start to enjoy the sunshine in the ‘shire!