About
Mike James
Endurance & performance coach. Personal trainer. Four-time full Ironman finisher. Based near Crickhowell & Brecon, Powys.
Who I am and what I do
15 years of coaching, and I still train for the same things I coach.
I've been a personal trainer for over 15 years, helping people improve their fitness, build strength and achieve goals they never thought possible.
Sport and fitness have always been a huge part of my life. I played rugby for years before getting into endurance sport, taking on Ironman Wales in 2012, and that's where my love for triathlon started. Since then I've completed four full Ironmans and five half Ironmans, and I've held Ironman All World Athlete Bronze status in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
I now coach everyone from complete beginners to experienced age-group athletes, helping people with strength and fitness, running goals, endurance events, fat loss and confidence, and everything from 5Ks through to marathons and triathlon.
By the numbers
A verified racing record
4
Full Ironman finishes
5
Half Ironman finishes
2023 · 2024 · 2025
Ironman All World Athlete Bronze
18:00 / 39:00 / 1:23
5K / 10K / half marathon PBs
Coaching philosophy
Realistic, achievable, built around your life
Training plans that ignore work, family and the rest of your life don't survive contact with real life. Every programme Mike builds starts with where you actually are and how much time you actually have, then works backwards from there.
That doesn't mean easy. It means sustainable: sessions that are challenging, purposeful and realistic enough that you keep showing up for them, week after week, all the way to race day.
Clients consistently mention two things: that Mike is easy to talk to and genuinely invested, and that his own experience, the highs and the low points of Ironman training, means he's coaching from having been there himself, not from a textbook.
Regular check-ins on progress, energy, injuries and life outside training mean plans get adjusted before small issues become setbacks, not after.
Track record
Experience across a wide range of athletes and goals
In Mike's own words: "I have trained Commonwealth athletes, Team GB athletes, Welsh champion triathletes and Ironman competitors, in addition to helping clients lose weight, run marathons, recover after injury and adopt a healthier lifestyle. I'm able to help clients with health considerations such as diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease."
Endurance athletes
From first-time 5K runners to age-group triathletes preparing for Ironman Wales.
Everyday clients
People building fitness, losing weight and gaining confidence and consistency.
Returning & rehabbing
Clients returning after injury, illness or a long break from structured training.
Where I coach
A private studio near Crickhowell & Brecon
Face-to-face sessions run from Mike's private studio at the Old Stable Blocks, Glan Usk Estate, Crickhowell, Powys, roughly five miles from both Crickhowell and Brecon, right in the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog). It's a quiet, well-equipped space away from a crowded commercial gym floor: free weights, barbells, suspension training, changing facilities and showers.
Clients further afield train with Mike through online coaching: the same individual attention and planning, delivered remotely.
In the press
Mike on the racecourse
Mike doesn't just coach endurance events. He races them. He was featured in the Abergavenny Chronicle after placing 32nd in the Craig Yr Allt Winter Fell Race.
Read the Abergavenny Chronicle article →