About Silas Cullen

Silas’ first realised his passion for endurance type sports as a competitive swimmer. He competed in swimming at school age before progressing to triathlon, eventually competing for New Zealand 1998. Silas then discovered the world of bike racing and began competing in national and international one day events and stage races. Silas then decided to make a career of coaching endurance sports and completed a degree in Sports Science, specialising in sports performance. After graduating in 2000 he then began work as a full time endurance coach, with many great success stories and achievements. Silas’ coaching results include many Elite and Age Group national champions and both professional as well as amateur athletes. Silas’ true passion lies in designing totally customised training plans that take into consideration every aspect of preparing physically and mentally for events. Through the use of online training files (power, heart rate, cadence, mapping tools etc) and an online training log, Silas adapts and refines training with the goal of translating training time and effort into performance improvement and results. The end goal is delivering amazing and sometimes life changing experiences, in endurance events.

Coaching experience

Triathlon / Duathlon - Sprint distance to Ironman, off road and on road, in New Zealand and abroad.

Cycling - All major one day races and tours in NZ, Cycle sportives in Europe.

Running – Many distances and events from 5km on the track to the Marathon de Sables across the Sahara and a 160km run around Lake Taupo.

Multisport – All major races in NZ and in the UK.

Adventure racing – Southern traverse and various 24 hour races.

Walking – Oxfam 100km among others.

Kayaking - King of the Harbour, Trans Taupo and smaller local races.

Rugby – Short period as a fitness trainer at North Shore Bays Rugby Club.

Qualifications

Triathlon NZ Coaching Level 2

UCI Cycle Coaching Level 2 (currently completing)

Bachelor of Sport and Recreation

Diploma in Business studies

Sporting achievements

Cycling

14th l’Etape du Tour 2012

47th Marmotte Cyclosportive 2013

75th l'Etape du Tour (the day after the Marmotte) 2013

2nd New Zealand Road Championships 2nd 2012

5th UCI Tour of Wellington 2001

19th Tour of Southland 2007

23rd Tour du Mont Blanc 330km and 8000+ ascended meters 2014

Also

Triathlon

23rd Triathlon World Championships 1998

Half Ironman (70.3) PB 4:09

Standard distance (Olympic) triathlon PB 1:52

Sailing

P Class, Starling, Laser national level

Judo – Brown belt

Water polo – National level

Multi sport – Some north island events

Swimming – Capital swim club, coach Garry Hurring 1990-95

Cycle Touring

Asia – From Phuket, Thailand to the border of China and back including Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos.

South America - the full length from Cape Horn to Caribbean Coast including Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, www.cyclelifeonline.com

Actively Involved in

Triathlon NZ - Silas has run the Triathlon NZ coaching level 1 course for the Wellington area for the past two years. This course is aimed giving new aspiring coaches the skills they need to become successful coaches. For information please visit the Triathlon NZ web site here http://www.triathlon.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=3330

Bike NZ