Following the recent post by Adski, I also wanted to share my experience working with Jim and the TB team.
My story: I recently successfully completed my swimrun race. It consisted of nearly 40km of trail running in the Alps mountains with a total elevation of 1600m mixed with 6km of open water lake swimming in cold water (15 C). My partner and I finished the race below 10 hours.
3 years ago I attempted the same race but missed the last cut-off time.
How come this time we made it ?
I credit a lot TB and the programming Jim designed.
I embarked on TB a year ago after years of unstructured training doing mainly random endurance work and bits of strength. I did have a good aerobic base but was just not training efficiently and missing the MS side. I therefore started with BB and transitioned to Green and Fighter. 6 months into it I reached out to Jim who helped me design a more tailored approach pivoting between an off season (more MS focused: BSQ, OHP, WPU and the regular DL. For HIC I was doing uphill sprints) and on season program (more E focus with unilateral MS exercises) while adding some BB in between. My MS training (especially OHP and TGU) were paramount for keeping my shoulders strong when swimming during the race. Combining E with MS has actually been one of the missing piece of the puzzle in my case. I was too focused on pure E in the past. Also instead of using a weekly template, Jim designed a 10 day template that would allow for more flexibility between training and resting.
Would I do anything differently in hindsight ?
Very few tweaks. I would essentially keep cycling through MS focus and E focus (on/off season) to avoid overtraining and adding 1-2x BB per year when switching program. I wish however I had done longer blocks of unilateral leg strength as uphill running was definitively tough and longer LSS sessions (I was generally at 45-60 min and should have increased these as well as incorporated some form of uphill running). Not a lot of changes in effect. That speaks a lot in favor of TB and Jim's help in fine tuning my programming.
Does TB work ?
In my case, TB brought me an integrated and sustainable framework of training MS and conditioning concurrently. It is a simple, effective (but not easy) programming whose benefits accrue and compound over time. It is excellent and unparalleled for GPP. Depending on what event I am preparing for, I would however pivot to a more specific programming for the last few weeks to mimic the actual event as close as possible. TB has however raised my general fitness level without any doubt. Its beauty lies in its simple periodisation framework while still offering sufficient flexibility to adjust it for one's own needs.
What are the benefits of having a TB coach ?
Following the standard TB templates alone would certainly give me 80% of the benefits. Having a TB coach (Jim in case), is about fine tuning a programming to one's specific needs and adding that extra 20% to make it even more relevant. I can only speak highly of my experience with Jim. Fast, responsive, clear and to the point. I have to give a lot of credit to him for finishing my race uninjured.