I have been training with Team Dillon for around 6 months now. The improvements I have made in all 3 disciplines have been huge. Under Michelle, my swimming stamina has increased by at least 300%. Before I would struggle with a 1500m set and now I am regularly swimming 4-5K. I have seen this much improvement because the variation in swim sets makes every swim enjoyable. I will also claim some credit as I have had to put a lot of effort in!! (Michelle says every completed set is like putting money in the bank which can be used later on during races).
Most of my cycling, due to the poor British winter weather, was done on the turbo – and I enjoyed every second of it!! The sessions Michelle puts on the programme are tough but when you start them they are incredibly fun and addictive (completely hammering yourself every session is a joy!!). You get a huge sense of satisfaction from that knowing what you are doing is working and you will be better from doing it. After doing around 4 months of turbo sessions and then going onto the road I was blown away with the amount of speed I could hold. Before training with Michelle I was struggling to hold 21mph for any length of time. Now I can hold 25mph without too much trouble. Michelle’s sessions have improved my biking beyond recognition.
As a runner, I thought I had already reached my potential and didn’t think I would improve at all seeing as I hadn’t for the past 1-2 years. I was training with a run club 3 times a week and training every day twice a day doing the same things day in day out. With Michelle I can honestly say I have never felt so strong during running and I have never been this fast before. I am even doing less mileage. I have seen my 5K PB drop by over a minute and this is only with 6 months of training. Every session is different. I have only repeated a session once (I think). Every session is fun and I am constantly finding I can push my body further and for longer as a result of these incredible sessions.
I am thoroughly enjoying every aspect of Team Dillon coaching. My favourite sessions so far are the bike run sessions. These are by far the most challenging and satisfying as you push yourself so hard that you have to collapse at the end. Every week I have seen some improvement and over a 6 month period a little becomes a lot. I can’t wait for this year’s winter training so I can improve the same amount again!!
The reason we all train is to race hard. I feel much more physically prepared for my events and I can’t wait for my first standard distance triathlon to see if I can put all three aspects together and break 2 hours.
