Ramon Curto
“Exercise physiology, encoded into every training decision.”
Most athletes work hard. They follow their plans, hit their sessions, log their kilometres. And still they plateau — not because they lack commitment, but because they are missing the layer that converts consistent training into race-day performance.
That layer is data interpretation: reading the pattern in your Garmin Training Status trend, understanding why your threshold pace improved in week 8 but your race-day pacing fell apart in km 32, knowing when to push through and when to protect.
I spent 15 years learning to read that pattern — first as an Exercise Physiology researcher, then through direct endurance coaching. SportPlan turns that experience into an autonomous engine that evaluates every athlete from actual physiological data, not generic programmes.
Education & credentials
Coaching philosophy
Data is the diagnosis. The engine supplies the context.
Garmin and Strava give the raw signals. SportPlan interprets why Body Battery stays low when load looks normal, what aerobic decoupling means for race strategy, and whether an 'Unproductive' Training Status is alarming or expected in the current phase. The autonomous engine combines those signals into the next training decision.
The 80/20 that most athletes get backwards.
Most self-coached athletes spend 60–70% of training at an intensity too hard for aerobic development and too easy for quality work. SportPlan detects that grey-zone pattern, keeps easy days genuinely easy, and protects the quality sessions that produce specific adaptation.
Consistency beats intensity. But consistency requires load management.
The athletes who improve most are not those who train hardest; they train consistently across complete builds. SportPlan manages acute:chronic load, recovery, and session changes day by day from current data. No human review or approval is required.
Connected training has a data advantage.
SportPlan analyses every completed Garmin or Strava session: heart-rate curves, Training Load trends, Body Battery recovery, and HRV status. That longitudinal physiological picture gives the autonomous engine more context for each decision than sporadic observation alone.
Who SportPlan is built for
SportPlan is built for endurance athletes with a specific race goal, a consistent training history, and connected training data. Typical athletes who use the autonomous platform:
- ▸Marathon runners targeting Boston Qualification or sub-3:30
- ▸Half-marathon runners targeting sub-1:30 or age-group podiums
- ▸Triathlon athletes preparing for 70.3 or full Ironman events
- ▸Masters runners (40+) rebuilding race pace with age-appropriate periodization
- ▸Trail and ultra athletes preparing for first 50K or 100-mile events
- ▸Time-constrained professionals training 7–12 hours per week with race ambitions
Methodology in practice
Week 1: Baseline assessment
The autonomous engine analyses the past 90 days of available Garmin or Strava history to establish threshold pace, HRV baseline, typical weekly load, and intensity distribution. This usually exposes incorrect zone calibration or grey-zone intensity on easy days. No human review or approval is required.
Weeks 2–8: Zone calibration and aerobic base
Training intensity is corrected to true polarized distribution. Easy days are genuinely easy (Garmin HR ceiling alerts set at 75–78% max HR). Two quality sessions per week are protected. Training Load rises progressively with ACWR kept below 1.35.
Weeks 6–14: Threshold development
Threshold tempo runs build from 20 to 40 minutes of continuous work. Marathon-pace long runs introduce race-specific stimulus. Training Status trend shifts toward 'Productive'. Threshold-pace response is measured against each athlete's individual baseline throughout the block; improvement varies and is not guaranteed.
Race week: Taper and execution
Volume reduces 40–50% while frequency is maintained. Body Battery targets 60+ on race morning. Garmin race-day protocol set with pace alerts at goal pace ±4 seconds per km. Post-race data review identifies execution patterns for the next cycle.
Read the training methodology blog
41 in-depth articles on Garmin data, training methodology, race preparation, and sports science — all grounded in sports science and the autonomous training methodology.
Your plan for your next race
Connect Garmin or Strava, answer a 60-second quiz, and see your first week of training built around your real data. One plan, SportPlan Pro, with everything included, race planning too.
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