About Coach Karen, ChiliTri & Your Team

Triathlon Coaching, Training Plans and Training Camps

Chili Tri triathlon coaching and camps is nestled in the Spanish mountains overlooking the Mediterranean sea. We offer you a truly unique triathlon training experience for solo and very small groups of athletes. Small numbers of athletes enable us to offer exactly what you require during your stay with us.

Choose from our standard daily activity schedule or a la carte training sessions which meet your specific training needs and personal race & event goals. Enjoy fully coached triathlon and swimming camps and clinics with on-site accommodation and one to one coaching from a professional coach. You will also benefit from full swim video analysis in our on-site Endless Pool. We also offer online coaching and training plans on TrainingPeaks, FinalSurge and TrainingTilt.

My Philosophy

I believe in a holistic approach to your training. For your continuous progression and great race results, you need more than just hours on the bike, in the pool or out on the track. Great performance is only possible if you stay injury free (pre-hab), get all the healthy nutrition you need, allow your body and mind enough recovery time and learn some mental tips and tricks to stay strong when the going gets tough.

Karen Parnell, Level 3 High Performing Coach, British Triathlon

Training also needs to be fun, interesting, intelligent, tailored to your needs and effective - you need to enjoy the journey as well as the destination!

Our coaches always create training sessions & schedules that takes all of these factors into account for you and also your work/life/train balance. While we make sure you get to spend lots of efficient and effective training hours, you will also learn & experience what it is to train ‘smart’.

Finally, fun is a key ingredient of our training philosophy. With a variety of training, a sense of accomplishment (we will push you to reach new heights) and visible progress, you will become stronger, fitter, happier and ready for chasing your next goals.

Our Certifications

**IRONMAN® Certified Coach**
We are proud to be part of the IRONMAN family and have been coaching athletes to success in live and virtual races for over four years. Karen is an IRONMAN Certified Coach, has training plans on the IRONMAN platform and works closely with the team in the US and Europe.

**WOWSA Level 3 Open Water Swimming Coach**
My passion is open water swimming so in order to share this with you I qualified as a WOWSA coach. I have coached athletes for Sprint Triathlon to IRONMAN distance swims and also marathon swims.

British Triathlon Federation Level 3 High Performing Coach and Tutor
British Triathlon are our governing body and we've worked closely with the BTF for many years. Karen is not only a Level 3 but is also a tutor, educating the next generation of triathlon coaches.

Meet The Team

Karen Parnell

Triathlon & Open Water Swim Coach

Karen is a British Triathlon Level 3 HPCP Coach & IRONMAN Certified Consultant Coach. She is the head coach at ChiliTri. Karen is also an ASA & WOWSA Level 3 Open Water swimming coach and fully qualified Personal Trainer. I also work as a Coach Educator & Assessor for the British Triathlon Federation, helping to develop the next generation of triathlon coaches in the UK.

TrainingPeaks Level 2 Coach

FinalSurge IRONMAN Coach

UKAD Clean Coach Certified

World Triathlon Coaching Female Triathletes Certified

British Triathlon Tutor Coach Educator

Sean Baker

Triathlon Coach & Race Official

Sean is a British Triathlon Coach & ITU race official. Sean has been head technical official referee at many triathlon events including international championships.

Local Guides and Coaches

We work will highly experienced and qualified coaches and guides to help make our camps effective, safe and most of all enjoyable. They have been working with ChiliTri for many years and know the very best places to train and enjoy the mountains, roads, lakes, beaches and secret places only the locals know about.

We also work with an internationally renowned manual therapist who has worked with athletes at the various Olympic games including Tokyo so if you need to sort out a niggle or long term issue we can help you.

Karen Parnell is a certified Stryd coach. Stryd is a device that enables you to run and train with power.

Karen Parnell is a Nivel 3 Técnicos Federados registered with the Federación Andaluza de Triatlón. Level 3 triathlon coach in Spain.

Karen Parnell is a Level 2 Coach in TrainingPeaks. She can deliver all level of plans via TrainingPeaks plus off-shelf plans.

Karen Parnell is a qualified Open Water Coach via the ASA/Swim England program.

Karen Parnell is certified under the World Triathlon Coaching Female athletes scheme.

Karen Parnell is certified under the UK Anti Doping Clean Coach program.

Karen Parnell is a qualified Personal Trainer, Strength Coach and Pilates instructor.

Karen Parnell is a WOWSA Level 3 Open water Swimming Coach.

Coach Karen is a certified 80/20 Endurance coach so you know your plans are balanced

Karen is a British Triathlon Coach Educator helping to shape the triathlon coaches of the future..

Heat specific training and racing using latest core temperature sensor – Core Coach

Karen is currently studying for an MSc in Sports Performance Coaching at the University of Stirling.

ChiliTri Athlete Testimonials

Karen brought me from Zero to Hero on my Ironman journey. I had never completed a triathlon and so had a lot to learn. Karen taught me and trained me with patience and motivation. She gave timely weekly plans that reflected my other commitments and enabled me to have a balance between training and work. Karen was always available for me to speak with and was able to answer questions that I had. She gave advice on nutrition, bike set up and maintenance, to name but a few. I visited Karen's training camp on a number of occasions. The facilities are great, she has an endless swimming pool that I could use as well as lots of strength and conditioning equipment. I would highly recommend Karen, she is very knowledgeable and passionate about training. She made me feel very comfortable and confident that I would achieve my goal.

Lorraine Butler, Athlete & Head Teacher

Having been an endurance athlete for 20 years, I have worked with online services and face to face coaches. To me, Karen has all the best qualities you want/need. Knowledgeable and caring and a willingness to communicate whenever needed via email, website, or social media. Karen is there to answer questions or deal with potential problems.

However, what really sets Karen apart from other coaches is her depth of knowledge. Certified at the highest levels and gifted with the ability to teach you, as an athlete, as you grow. Truly outstanding!

Bobby, International Teacher

I’ve been working with Karen over the last few months in the build up to the 2018 season. Karen has helped me considerably with my swim stroke through coaching sessions and training plans. I was really struggling with my breathing technique but Karen quickly fixed this and had me swimming competently after just a few sessions. The training plans and nutrition advice that she has provided have considerably improved my performance. The training plans were adjusted to my needs, feedback and goals. I liked the variety of the workouts and the intensity. I’d recommend Karen to triathletes of all levels. I hope to work with her again in the future.