Trouble between Ironman and TriDot?

Triathlon Forum
21

Just went back through my emails to see what kind of IM Tridot spam I’ve had thrown at me.

I have gotten SO MUCH content about Tridot. Here’s a few:

  1. Every race you register for, you can check a box to sign-up for Tridot. I can’t imagine anyone actually does that, but it’s a pretty big value add to have your brand named bumped into EVERY consumers mind at checkout.
  2. Tridot Emails offering to start free or Hire a Coach
  3. Tridot emails to take stock of my fitness and read to learn more.
  4. Tridot emails about Nutrition
  5. Tridot monthly digest emails
  6. Tridot Emails with training tips on Time management hacks
  7. Tridot emails on Strength training for busy triathletes
  8. Every email from IM, even if it’s not about Tridot, as a Free Trial link to get started with Tridot
  9. Let’s not forget the numerous webcast ads with Elizabeth who just gets to focus on nailing her Tridot sessions.
    … I’m sure I can keep digging and go on and on.

I think the difficulty of what Tridot is doing is they are expecting a lot of sales out all of this marketing activity.

Unless they have a tangible consumer product that gets sold in the tradeshow expo like a shirt or trisuit, they should not expect enough direct revenue in the first year to pay for this thing.

This Tridot campaign needs to have enough capital to see the first year as a large awareness generator.

They’ve paid Ironman a lot of $$$ to get their foot in the door and have exclusive access in their product segment. They need to have enough funding ready to accept they are buying brand awareness and then even more funding to have some serious on-scene activations.

The reality is, every race needs to have a “breakfast fun run with Tridot” where you get a tshirt, do a 5k, get a free donut and coffee and get the sales pitch to sign everyone up for the trial.

They paid big money essentially for spamming your email and webcast. That’s the easy part.

They need a marketing team to be hitting the pavement at the races. And interestingly, enough, they seem to have a nationwide diverse group of coaches in their network they could have used to accomplish this!

In short, there is no way Ironman screwed anyone. Tridot followed the age old marketing plan of:

  1. Spend a lot of money
  2. ???
  3. Profit

On the flip side - Ironman absolutely should value a robust training/coaching partner and should want them to succeed. At this point in my triathlon life, I typically put races on the calendar to keep myself focused in my training. I could care less, to some degree, about racing another race. But I see the races as a way to keep me honest.

So, in a sense, the races are the things I’d be most willing to cut out. Not the training.

7 Likes
22

I took the courses between jobs to see if there was learnings after 25 years doing the sport. Good content for me in the swim & nutrition sections. Worth the money to scratch my learning itch.
I then tested the platform as an athlete to see if I would trust it and was throughly unimpressed. Bike workouts were useless, literally useless. I did them. Barely broke a sweat. And then the Ai algorithm put a bike test on Christmas day🤪
IMO TrainingPeaks is still the gold standard.

3 Likes
23

There is a new email out today.

We are writing to share an important update about the IRONMAN U program. Due to unresolved business matters, TriDot has terminated its sponsorship of IRONMAN, effective immediately. As a result, the IRONMAN U program in its current form has concluded. TriDot no longer operates IRONMAN U, and any inquiries regarding IRONMAN U should be directed to IRONMAN.

While our entire team—including our Master Coaches, subject-matter experts, and staff—is disappointed by this development, we remain steadfast in our commitment to you and the coaching community we’ve built together.

Here’s what you need to know:

TriDot is the creator and owner of all course content previously available through IRONMAN U. We will continue to ensure that coaches and prospective coaches have access to the same high-quality, industry leading education you’ve come to expect, plus all the additional benefits you’ve valued such as Coach Finder, monthly calls in Coach Hub, and usage of certified coach marks.

Introducing the Endurance Sports Coaching Institute (ESCI)

The course content and associated materials will be available under our new entity: the Endurance Sports Coaching Institute (ESCI). ESCI will launch soon and is committed to delivering the same rich and relevant content, curated by the same top experts to ensure coaches are educated, experienced, and equipped to provide high-quality coaching services to triathletes worldwide.

We’re moving forward with the same content, the same Master Coaches, the same subject-matter experts, and the same dedicated staff. But now we’ll be able to continue enhancing the program as we’d originally planned with new modules including “Coaching Female Athletes” and “Open-Water Swim Training and Racing,” new in-depth specialization courses, and we’ll be launching our Level 2 certification in 2026.

Your Path Forward - At No Additional Cost

As an IRONMAN U certified coach as of August 4, 2025, you are automatically eligible for an ESCI certification at no additional cost.

Continued Benefits through ESCI Certification:

  • Expand knowledge through ongoing educational resources
  • Enhance credibility using the ESCI certified coach marks
  • Build your network through a collaborative global coaching community
  • Grow your business with an active ESCI Coach Finder profile viewable to athletes around the world
  • Access to the Coaching Excellence Program, which offers curriculum related to growing your business in professionally facilitated small peer groups

Next Steps:

Click the button below to receive more information and ensure your profile remains visible to athletes in Coach Finder. Once ESCI officially launches, we’ll send you details about how to access your certification and take advantage of all the benefits.

1 Like
24

Does this mean Elizabeth is blacklisted from racing Ironman?

8 Likes
25

Jokes on them. I heard Mortal Hydration is offering Mortal Coaching aka Mortal Combat.

13 Likes
26

Read as… we were hoping to leverage the Ironman athlete and coach database to fund our own training certification platform and cannibalize the Ironman U program once launched. However, we failed to create a compelling story for the massive athlete and coaching database we were provided access to so we’ve decided to cut bait and just shift our reminding resources and effort into our endgame business model.

Our hope is that coaches don’t think we will assimilate their coaching data to refine our AI algorithms. We hope they are distracted by our shiny new certification division they won’t see SkyNet working on the back end to replace them.

This is just a joke. I actually don’t think they had nefarious intentions. I just think they made a massive misstep by not having a really powerful message to short circuit this exact thinking to ensure coaches were comfortable with their platform.

6 Likes
27

Haha

28

Looks like the IRONMAN and TriDot partnership is coming to an end. As someone who’s been part of the IRONMAN University coaching program for years, I’ve seen us get pushed from one platform to another, each time with the same message: move your athletes, start over, trust the system.

When the TriDot push started, I held off. Moving all our athletes from established platforms like TrainingPeaks over to something new without long-term clarity or proven results was a big ask. I decided to wait and see how it played out.

Turns out, that was the right call. Now that IRONMAN is ending its relationship with TriDot, it’s clear that jumping in blindly would’ve been a mistake. The coaches who shifted everything now have to re-evaluate again. Time wasted, data scattered, continuity broken.

This isn’t about which platform is better. It’s about stability, trust, and doing what’s right for our athletes. We need tools that work and last, not ones tied to short-term licensing deals or branding experiments.

I’ve always believed in choosing what works best for my team. That hasn’t changed. And frankly, I’m glad I stayed the course.

12 Likes
29

Help me understand something. I thought Tridot’s formula/idea was simply to flood the market with “affordable” training plans and less dependent on the coaches bringing their athletes to the platforms? Those athletes who don’t want $200/month coaching but potentially would get a $80/month AI generated “plan”?

Yes they were offering tiered “plans”, but I assumed they were going to crush it with basic/affordable training plans while the “gold standard” type of $500/month would be a small percentage of their market. (Which is why I never worried about this as a coach, I actually thought it would improve the value of a coach from people who did the cheap AI training plan version and then went to a coach when they wanted “more”)

Was that not the business plan, and it essentially relied on the coaches in the sport to bring their athletes to the platform?

1 Like
30

Interesting thread to come across today following receiving the same email as you all.

I have been trialling TriDot as a coach and athlete the last 2 weeks and definitely the lure for me was the partnership. As a coach who targets Ironman athletes I could see the benefit of using TriDot.

Now I’m left in limbo what to do. I wonder why the partnership broke down :thinking:

I liked the idea of TriDot, but some of the workouts did baffle me it had me doing and was vastly different to sessions I prescribe through TrainingPeaks. However I did not like that I’d be losing 10% of my monthly revenue as well as having to pay a monthly platform fee and 3.5% payment fee.

I also recently completed the recertification for the Ironman U course so will be interested to hear about that when communication finally comes out from Ironman.

For now I won’t be moving over to TriDot as the risk has suddenly increased

31

Never received email as certified coach. Maybe because I never coached via the platform.

Interesting last week I received marketing emails for 2 webinars with master coaches. One was with Crowie as I recall.

32

100%!!

33

Don’t move. Honestly.

34

Interesting observation is the tridot website is updated to new branding of coaching certification and keeps master coaches front and center of Crowie, Michielle, Mark Allen etc while the ironman website still links out to Tridot for programs and “find a coach”.

35

The worm has turned!!!

"It is our understanding that you received a communication from TriDot, our operating partner of the IRONMAN U® program, expressing the conclusion of the IRONMAN U program in its current form.

That communication has come as a surprise to us based upon our ongoing collaboration and longstanding partnership with TriDot…"

Yikes!

2 Likes
36

give it 24 hours…

37

Originally published at: Lessons From the IRONMAN x TriDot Break-Up - Slowtwitch News

Earlier this week, TriDot announced the termination of their business relationship with IRONMAN, and as such, will bring about sizable change to the IRONMAN University program for coaches once again.

TriDot emailed their coaching community about the change, stating in part:

“Due to unresolved business matters, TriDot has terminated its sponsorship of IRONMAN, effective immediately. As a result, the IRONMAN U program in its current form has concluded. TriDot no longer operates IRONMAN U, and any inquiries regarding IRONMAN U should be directed to IRONMAN.

While our entire team—including our Master Coaches, subject-matter experts, and staff—is disappointed by this development, we remain steadfast in our commitment to you and the coaching community we’ve built together.”

In their statement, TriDot also claimed full ownership of the education and training materials that formerly made up IRONMAN’s University program, and announced the launch of the Endurance Sports Coaching Institute — effectively, turning the former IRONMAN U certification into their own branded program. They also say that they will retain the coach finding tool and offering additional certifications in 2026.

IRONMAN, in response, told Slowtwitch:

“That communication has come as a surprise to us based upon our ongoing collaboration and longstanding partnership with TriDot. IRONMAN remains committed to our coaches, the IRONMAN U program, and the importance of education that makes our coaches and community stronger by helping athletes all over the world reach their respective finish lines. Looking forward, we are excited and deeply committed to investing in and growing The IRONMAN U programs and platforms to support the world’s best triathlon coaches, grow the coaching community, and together empower athletes to achieve their dreams. We will be sharing further updates and information related to IRONMAN U as soon as possible.”

This will mark the third major revision to the IRONMAN U program since its original announcement in August of 2015. And it comes as no surprise to many — as this was a relationship that was likely doomed to fail from the start.

How We Got Here

IRONMAN launched its certification program, IRONMAN U, almost exactly ten years ago, with a video of professionals like Mirinda Carfrae and TJ Tollakson talking about the importance of having a coach — but most importantly, coaches who understood IRONMAN racing. It came as USA Triathlon was continually selling out all of its Level I Coaching clinics, and IRONMAN — justifiably — wanted to tap into that audience of coaches.

Over the next few years, two things happened: demand for USA Triathlon’s coaching clinics began to drop-off, and IRONMAN became more heavy-handed in its branding and attempts to add coaches to its certifications. Certified coaches were given spotlights at key races, for instance. IRONMAN also featured coaches in outbound communications as athletes registered for their events.

Then we hit the roadblock of the pandemic: races cancelled. IRONMAN pivoted, looking to build an entire ecosystem for training. It launched massive series of virtual races. It acquired FulGaz, and was looking to build a full-scale digital platform. It hired staff to head the IRONMAN U platform and build out libraries of content to better educate coaches.

And then it largely fell flat. The digital ecosystem never materialized. FulGaz has never seen the same kind of broad adoption that Zwift or TrainerRoad have ever seen. Staff left, and those positions went unfilled.

Enter TriDot. Although Tricot’s business model was focused around its plans and algorithms, it checked many of the boxes that IRONMAN could be looking for. First, it’s a partner to be able to outsource much of the content production and infrastructure to. Second, well, it’s dollars in the door — and it came at a time when IRONMAN could use some financial wins. And it also made it easier to point to a single partner for training plans or coaching, rather than the generic “IRONMAN Certified Coach” and a finder there.

For TriDot, too, this looked like a win on paper. First, you had a new audience of coaches (and their athletes) to market to. Second, as part of the IRONMAN U certification process, it highly incentivized coaches to switch from other providers into TriDot as it looked to compete against other tools like TrainingPeaks. Between the two, it ultimately could help feed TriDot’s AI platform’s robustness; critical for tools like this one.

And Yet…Another Failure

Coaches we have talked to have all expressed the same concern with TriDot: that they as a company will direct market to their athletes, encouraging them to switch to the AI-based model, and have lost money as a result of it. To then be asked to switch to TriDot through the IRONMAN U program was, in one person’s words, “laughable.”

It’s clear that both companies underestimated the level of pushback that coaches would have toward switching to the TriDot platform. It’s also reasonable to assume, based on TriDot’s email to certified coaches, that they felt like they should be seeing more coaches migrating to the platform as part of the certification process. As of today, TriDot lists 895 coaches in their Coach Finding tool worldwide. That’s less than half of the number that TrainingPeaks currently lists, or less than those currently listed as active coaches by USA Triathlon.

It’s also reasonable to say that IRONMAN was taken aback by the announcement from TriDot. All of the IRONMAN U web links all still head to TriDot’s platform, which has since been rebranded to TriDot’s ESCI service. There’s still references to TriDot in IRONMAN’s purchasing flow. It leads us to believe that TriDot initiated this break-up.

Moving forward, it seems like IRONMAN will revert back to its original model of the University program, handling certification and education itself. That perhaps is smarter; it aligns more with the premium experiences that CEO Scott DeRue built out at Equinox. Being able to align an athlete, especially a newcomer, to a coach through the registration flow (e.g., a checkbox of whether you already have a coach, and if not, being interested in getting a coach for X rate), seems like a potential avenue.

As for TriDot, it seems harder to make sense of. They seem to be attempting to be all things to all people; are they an AI platform? A coaching services platform? A coaching certification company? The problem they still have to solve for is how their AI aligns with coaches; the market perception is that they are plans first. And even there, there’s more competition, with the likes of HumanGo and Athletica.ai available.

4 Likes
38

Something seems off on this whole thing…

39

40

Yep. It seems pretty crazy to burn the bridges like this. No inside scoop from tridot? I’d almost think that tridot got wind IM was going to give them the boot, so they jumped ship first.

But I also suspect it could just be as simple as a financial agreement to pay X amount per quarter and Tridot wasn’t get the return so they said enough is enough and burned the bridges. If that’s the case, it seems pretty risky as Ironman is the event they are training their athletes to be a part of and here they just went and publicly burned all bridges.

And I assume various coaches with a strong relationship to IM like Mark Allen would need to quickly disassociate from tridot. Although, who knows if he’s been delivering solid results for them anyway?

Another thought - and I think it also shows whoever runs the ship at tridot doesn’t have some good people around him (this response has to be from a man) that he relies on for counsel AND makes decisions based on emotion.

Either that, or they are a Trump Level™ genius and the scandal gets them more news and branding of their name in the headlines and the rest of the respectable world scratches their head wondering wtf.

1 Like