ROLAND DE HAAN
LANGUAGES
Armenian
Dutch
English
Italian
VERIFIED EXPERIENCE
Coming Soon
SPECIALTIES
Biking
Exercise Physiology
Middle of the Pack & Back of the Pack Racers
Nutrition
Running
PRICING
LOCATION
Eersel (Eindhoven/Tilburg area) Noord-Brabant
CERTIFICATIONS
ESCI Level 1
Specialties
swim
bike
run
nutrition
Certifications
About Me
Long time ago I started my sporting career as a small boy on the soccer pitch and later I played volleyball and badminton. All great sports … until I came across triathlon in the year 2000. I couldn’t really swim at the time, but was used to running and riding my MTB now and then. Handwritten training schedules based on Joe Friel’s Triathlon Bible together with a big portion of training discipline brought me to starting line of a local short-distance triathlon race after a year of training. The race was one big adventure of which unfortunately I have few memories today, except finishing after 2h40m and not being able to anything non-liquid till hours after the race … In short, it was a fantastic experience!!!Slowly by slowly, I started to take things more seriously and train more, mainly for short-distance races. Improving steadily over time and now and then finishing on the podium in small races helped me to keep motivation high. In 2007 I participated for the first time in a middle-distance race and this felt rather good, so that in the following years I continued racing both short-distance and middle-distance races. Although it seemed previously unreachable, I took up a new challenge in 2013: Ironman Switzerland. This meant training even more, working on a good and comfortable position on the bike, and more focus on nutrition in the lead up to the race. The race start was not ideal with a non-wetsuit swim in the beautiful Zürichsee, but the bike ride through the Swiss hills went pretty smooth. On the hot and steamy run, which beforehand I had feared the most, I never dared to push the pace too much until the last 5K. Just in time, as it turned out 1 day later, to claim my spot for the IM World Championship in Hawaii that year. IM Hawaii was tough but definitely a great and unforgettable experience, which I wish others may experience as well! Afterwards, I still did several full- and middle-distance triathlon, but also shorter-distance races with various teams in the Dutch Teamcompetitie.Meanwhile, I started in 2017 my own company, 3-SMART, to work as a (part-time) triathlon coach to share my knowledge and experience with other ambitious athletes. This was a great, inspiring, and learning period during which I was fortunate to work with many enthusiastic athletes which achieved ambitious personal goals! However, over time it became more and more difficult to combine my personal development as a coach with my job as a data science consultant, personal life balance and my own ambitions in triathlon. Thus, I quit my consultancy job and started as a full-time coach in the beginning of 2020 to follow my dream in becoming the best coach I can be!As a coach, I guided over 40 athletes of all different levels and each with their own story towards their ambitious goals. Most of them focus on middle-distance and full-distance racing. Highlights include two athletes participating at IM Hawaii, others obtaining age-group podium finishes at national triathlon championships, and Xterra championships.
Philosophy
The goal of my coaching is to guide athletes to achieve unanticipated progress or results by exploiting training data, scientific knowledge and anecdotal evidence while deliberately taking into account the specific circumstances and conditions of the individuals.I pursue this by using my own triathlon experience, but also the most recent knowledge and scientific literature in the area of training, exercise physiology, sports nutrition, psychology and more. Besides, I strongly focus on the analysis of heart rate, pace, and power data to assess individual training sessions and monitor progress over time. Regular (field) testing is also an important part of the training plan to make sure an athlete always trains at the right intensities.However, more important even for a successful long-time collaboration are a healthy work-life-sport balance, and trust, commitment and open communication between coach and athlete. Therefore, all these aspects get my continuous attention during a coaching relationship.
Credentials
See www.3-smart.nl . • Bi-Lingual - Armenian/Dutch/English/Italian
Accomplishments
- Coached tens of athletes to finishing the IM70.3's and IM's. - Coached athletes to qualification for IM World Championships. - Coached athletes to age-group wins/podiums in national and international race.
Experience
- Triathlon coach since 2017. - Coached around 70 (tri)athletes towards their ambitious goals. - Running trainer since 2022. - Organized multiple training camps at Mallorca (2023, 2024)