Some interesting tweets from AC recently. I have seen a few from him over recent times referring to someone, unnamed and about their definition of Z2. This weekend he went called out Inigo San Millan saying he isn’t precise enough.
Separately he has previously mentioned that if you’re not working with world class athletes putting in world class performances then he isn’t interested in your opinion. No San Millan definitely works with a higher grade of athlete than Couzens. And AC keeps harking back to Maffatone and Mark Allen FFS.
If you have listened to San Millan you will know that he isn’t precise with any specific marker but actually IMO, his advice is practical and easy enough to follow without the need for a lactate meter or metabolic cart. I am too shite and old to have any desire to go to a uni and get tested and doubt it will add anything to what I am doing. San Millan replied and AC had to back down a bit.
All a bit childish from him. Especially as he has a habit of blocking anyone who asks him anything. He has blocked two guys who work for Team UAE and others who work at a higher level than AC does. From what I saw at the time they simply disagreed but weren’t rude or confrontational.
If people are rude or argumentative sure but these were questions. If you want to be a ‘guru’ then sure but if you want to seem knowledgeable to people who know the field then not so much.
I stopped following AC a while ago: I don’t work with a coach, and like to figure things out on my own. I find AC to be incredibly prescriptive and intollerent to other ideas. I am sure that his techniques do work for certain athletes, however, other techniques work well for other athletes. I am pretty pleased with the level I have achieved, who knows if I could have done better by following AC’s advice? To be honest who cares?
I enjoy listening to Inigo San Millan’s podcasts - he is certainly far more accessible than AC, my wife who is not a huge athlete, just runs 5k a few times a week, is a massive fan
But there are good eggs and bad eggs, some are easier to coach than others, they prefer someone there, egging them on. Whilst the coach enjoys the proof that their technique works, so they’re not left with egg on their face.
That’s where TBB went right, Sutto didn’t put all of his eggs in one basket, he had a full coup of athletes, so if one was rotten, he’d still look good. He was never going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, was he? CW was his nest egg.
According to AC, I am doing no where near enough training to get to the top of my potential, for example, he claims that to KQ, his athletes train and average of 20 hours per week, with up to 30 hours per week in peak season, while still training 12+ hours per week during Oct and Nov.
Even though I train a lot, I have never come close to AC training hours. I would argue that it is pretty much impossible for someone who works and has a partner / kids to do that much. I would also argue that the volume of training is likely to be unhealthy.
Earlier this year, AC posted that if you cannot run a marathon tomorrow, then you are not fit enough - I know he is being provocative, but I feel that this is a rather silly suggestion
A few years ago he was tweeting and writing that you needed a mix of intensities all year round, still focused on z2. Now it’s do anything but Z1, occassionally Z2 unless you’re winning Kona.
He tweets as if it is impossible to get really fir without all the tech available today while at the same time idolising triathletes who only had a HRM, and they weren’t always reliable.
That’s the point though, AC isn’t telling ‘the truth’, he is telling one version of it, which is fine. If I came along said something about another way get really fit for an endurance event, he could rightly slap me down by asking waht I know and whay have I got to back that up. But when others who work with athletes winning grand tours in cycling or Olympic medals question him on his tweets he spits his dummy out and blocks them. He seems not to accept any other version or nuance even from people like San Millan, Swart or Wakefield. Maybe his athletes need to do 20 hours a week to KQ as they’re going so slowly all the time Yeah, I went there.
Yeah, I went there. 
