Garmin acquired TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic. The market leader in wearables just validated two things at once: that coaching matters, and that AI coaching is no longer a gimmick. Raw data was never the product. A pile of HRV, load, and pace numbers doesn’t help the athlete staring at it wondering what to do tomorrow, so Garmin paid to own the part that turns numbers into a plan.
But even after these deals, the hard part is still missing. All that sensor data is blind to most of what actually drives a training decision. “My knee felt off on the descent.” “Work travel next week, so I’ve got a forced deload.” “I’m hitting every number, but it feels too hard and I’m scared I’ll hit a wall.” A good coach hears that and adjusts. An algorithm looking only at sensors can’t, and most self-coached athletes don’t have a coach. Turning the data plus the qualitative context sensors can’t see into decisions an athlete trusts is the whole game. It’s exactly why I started building Ontrack.