Meet the team
Simon Pilcher
Performance Coach @ Vectis Academy & Sports Performance Centre.
Level 3 British Triathlon Coach
CPD Strength & Conditioning
Coaching forms a huge part of my life. Alongside coaching athletes of all abilities from 5k thru to IM, I volunteer at the local junior triathlon as club coach working with kids 8-18, along with currently working Part time as Sports Coach at a local primary school. My work at the Sports performance centre involves athlete consultations, physiological testing(Vo2/lactate) Run analysis etc.
I spent my early years playing football semi-professionally before work put an early stop to that. It's at that time i became more serious about running; It was something I could fit in around my new job which took me away from home a lot. I entered and completed My first marathon in NYC in 2005 and from that point was hooked.
Running then formed a huge part of my life as work took me to the Middle East for almost a decade, Running was my one constant, all I needed was my shoes and shorts and I was good to go.
Cycling, then sprint triathlons came later after learning to swim late in life; an Olympic triathlon then a 70.3 followed.
During this time he started working with a coach for the first time and it wasn't long before he was competing as a GB age group athlete, making his debut in the middle distance European Duathlon Championships finishing 7th in his age group.
"Being Coached opened my eyes to improvements in endurance sports and just how hard it is to look objectively at your own training and flaws. A good coach is a game changer."
In 2023/24 Simon is still actively training and competing at the island games in the 10,000m. He is also an ambassador for
BocoGear headwear.
"Consistency is key, There is no Fast Track to Fit"
Darren
Darren is a UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness, British Triathlon Level 2 Diploma Coach and Training Peaks Certified Coach.
Darren was a bit later to the sporting world, other than some recreational mountain biking growing up, but inspired by a family member he entered his first triathlon in 2011 (after all, how hard can it be?). He soon realised how tough this endurance sport could be after a breaststroke swim, painfully hilly bike and jog/walk 'run' to finish towards the back of the pack. A half marathon soon followed with similar results and while proud of completing these events Darren was keen to improve.
"I knew nothing about the requirements for these events so my training was pretty random and purely to just get round and survive!"
With a naturally inquisitive mind, research and learning about training principles and racing techniques filled as much time as the training itself over the next few years, and improvements came over swim, bike and run, with many running, cycling, and triathlon events up to 70.3.
"It took a while to really understand what I needed to do and what could be done; I kept picking up niggles doing too much, then having big breaks. Eventually things started to click though, I was getting faster and enjoying the training more, but trial and error is a slow and sometimes painful process; it would have been a lot easier if I had someone to guide me from the start and help me with what I needed to do!”
Darren is focusing on making the next step up in 70.3 performance in 2023 alongside cycling TTs and running events.