Peter Eggleston
I grew up playing team sports at a relatively mediocre level with no background in endurance sport. Upon leaving university and starting work, most activity other than going to the pub ended for a while, until in my late 20s I came to the realisation that I needed to do something to prevent the slippery slope to middle-aged ill-health. I started running, and taught myself to swim. I have fond memories of the day that I finally managed to swim a length of front crawl!
After a few years of running, and a very poor first marathon, I was getting frustrated with regular running injuries. Whilst hungover on New Year’s Day in 2004, my wife entered me into the London Triathlon as I’d previously mentioned ‘one day I wouldn’t mind giving it a go’. I loved it and haven’t looked back. My first few years of training had no real structure or plan, until I decided to get more serious in 2007 after a humbling experience at the Shropshire Olympic triathlon, which was a qualifier for the age group world championships in Vancouver the following year. Through a lot of hard work, commitment and perspiration I steadily improved and then started working with the legendary triathlon coach, Bill Black, in 2010. I have learnt an enormous amount from Bill, who helped provide structure, accountability and also ensured I got the most out of my limited training hours.
In 2016, with 2 co-founders, I set up a financial software business, which resulted in a significant increase in stress and decrease in available training hours.
In 2019 I started working with Simon Beldon from Matt Bottrill Performance Coaching and have seen my bike performances taken to another level. I have competed for the GB Age Group team at several distances on a number of occasions, and have spent the last 7 years specialising in middle distance/70.3 triathlon.
My coaching interests have evolved over the years, starting with my first local club, Tri-Force, based in St Albans. Having spent many years fitting training into a busy life, with significant work commitments and a lot of international travel, I have had to learn how to optimise training to achieve the maximum benefit from limited hours. Having now sold the business and retired from finance, I have the time to fully commit to a coaching career and satisfy my passion to help people be the best that they can be.
Triathlon achievements:
Represented GB in Age Group World and European Championships on 19 occasions, with 8 podiums, highlights:
- World AG Long Course Champion 2022, and silver medallist 2017, 2019
- European AG Middle Distance Champion 2015
Ironman 70.3 racing including 10 age group podiums, highlights:
- competed at 4 Ironman 70.3 World Championships with 2 Top 10 finishes
- 5 age group wins at Oceanside (2015), Staffs (2015), Cascais (2019), Oman (2020), Swansea (2022)
Multiple age group National Champion titles at Olympic and Middle Distance triathlon
Coaching philosophy:
To help people be the best they possibly can be, allowing for their own circumstances and constraints (e.g. work and family commitments, age, objectives, genetics etc).
To provide support and guidance such that an individual enjoys the training process and doesn’t impose any limits on what they can achieve.
An awareness that every athlete is an individual and that no one training plan works for everyone. Training needs to be specific to the individual and their goals, whilst allowing for life to ‘get in the way’ and thus requires a flexible approach.
Qualifications:
Level 2 British Triathlon Coach
Level 3 Association of British Cycling Coach
BSc (Hons) Chemistry
MSc Biodiversity Conservation & Management