Brite Coaching

Find a performance journey that works for you and your life.

CHRISTINE FLETCHER. Head Coach.

How Brite Came to Be…
Along the way, many have offered me platforms to stand on as a young athlete, student of exercise physiology, entrepreneur and Coach. Becoming a professional dedicated Coach to endurance athletes thankfully didn’t happen over night. It happened over years of learning, listening, doing, racing, training, loving, suffering, understanding, not understanding, testing and embracing. My expertise as a Coach comes from years of being a sponge to information and hundreds of endurance races and thousands of training hours and mentors sharing and coaches guiding me and teachers teaching me. As ancient as the concept of “endurance” is, we are all still learning how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. But, what we know for sure is the individuality of prescribing progressive training concepts to athletes matters most. In fact, only matters. And to those that instilled knowledge in me, I am forever grateful. My goal is now to carefully pass along this knowledge to athletes with endurance goals of any nature and to explain the big picture as much as communicate the minutiae of details. This approach reaches far beyond training plans and workouts. It goes deeper than files and garmins. It starts with a relationship based on trust, communication and sliding pegs in sand. It covers lifestyle, time constraints, bodily constraints, nutrition, global wellness, hormonal balance, community engagement and a true honest real connection with purpose. My longevity in this sport comes from an ebb and flow of priorities and commitment routed in purpose and drive. Everyone deserves to experience something sustainable.

To touch on my experience: I am the founder of Brite Coaching. I spent 18+ years racing as a pro cyclist and triathlete when living in Vancouver, BC. I have a degree from McGill University in Exercise Science coupled with a Training Peaks Coaching Certification and USAT Coach Certification if that matters. My real experience and knowledge is based on being in the trenches with 42 Ironman (7 times at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships), countless half IM, marathons, 10km, adventure races, swimruns, road cycling races and criterium, road cycling stage races, nordic skiing loppets and now, more often than not, snowshoe extravaganzas with my golden retriever.

In the fall of 2014, I launched an indoor cycling program for cyclists, triathletes and mountain bikers. The success of this program spun off into specialized training camps, beginner workshops, women’s only cycling programs, corporate coaching and team coaching. With the rise in Zwift and various training apps, we wrapped this program up to embrace the new training habits of time starved athletes. I work best with corporate executives, highly functioning individuals and spirited athletes determined to work on something together.

"Having completing over 42 Ironman events and 200+ Half Ironman & Olympic races, my pursuit of the ultimate human potential drives me. When I set goals I do everything I can to achieve them. This focus and energy is how I coach.  The first step is getting to know the athlete as both an individual and a competitor. I do everything I can to learn & understand what it takes to bring out the very best in athletes I coach. Over the years I have been coached by some of the sports top coaches from Joel Filliol (Elite Coach), Julie-Anne White (Top Pro Ironman Athlete, Paul Cross, Barb & Larry Zimich (Professional Masters Cyclists), Brian MacDonald, Kevin Purcell, Clint Lien, Peter Reid, Jasper Blake (Ironman Champion), Dr. Ben Sporer (Exercise Physiologist). I have worked with Sports Nutritionists, Biomechanists, Sports Medicine Doctors, Sports Therapists and Sports Psychologists. They all played an important role in shaping how I now share this invaluable knowledge with my athletes to be the best they can be." CONTACT: christine@brite.coach

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

  1. 42-time IRONMAN Competitor (18 years as a Professional)

  2. Raced 7x in the World Championship Hawaii Ironman (4x as a professional)

  3. Ironman Mont Tremblant 1st Female, 2nd overall 2019

  4. Ironman Mont Tremblant 1st Female, overall 2018

  5. Ironman Mont Tremblant 70.3 2nd Female, 1st F45-49 2018

  6. Wildflower Overall Female AG Champion 2018

  7. Lake Sonoma 50 Ultra, 9th Female

  8. Ironman Canada 2013, 4th Place & 2014, 6th Place

  9. Half Ironman Vancouver 2013, 4th Place

  10. Half Ironman Oliver 2013, 1st Place

  11. Skate Ski Loppet (50km), Washington, 1st Place

  12. Skate Ski Loppet (30km), Whistler Olympic Park, 4th Place

  13. Rev 3 Venice Florida 2012, 8th Place

  14. Ironman Muskoka 70.3 2012, 5th Place

  15. Ironman Timberman 70.3 2012, 4th Place

  16. Vancouver Olympic Triathlon 2012, 1st Place

  17. Subaru Olympic Triathlon 2012, 1st Place

  18. Oliver Sprint Triathlon 2012, 1st Place

  19. Ironman Honu 70.3 2011, 3rd Place

  20. Ironman Lake Stevens 2011, 12th Place

  21. Subaru Victoria Half Ironman 2010, Champion

  22. Ironman Boise 70.3 2010, 4th Place

  23. Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 2011, 4th Place

  24. Ironman Miami 70.3 2010, 8th Place

  25. Ironman Syracuse 70.3 2010, 8th Place

  26. Desert Half Ironman Champion 2011

  27. Ironman Arizona 2009, 10th Place

  28. Ironman Coeur D'Alene 2009, 8th Place

  29. Ironman Austin 70.3 2009, 8th Place

  30. Ironman Lake Placid 2009, 11th Place

  31. Ironman California 70.3 2008, 2009, 2010

  32. Ironman Canada 2007, 11th place

  33. Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens, 7th place

  34. Oliver Half Ironman 2007, Champion

  35. Ironman Arizona 2007, 6th place

  36. Ironman 70.3 Baja 2006, 8th place

  37. Ironman Coeur D’Alene 2006, 10h place

  38. Ironman Canada 2005, 3rd place

  39. Ironman Canada 2004, 8th

  40. Desert Half Ironman Champion 2005

  41. New Balance Half Ironman Champion 2004

  42. Columbia Plateau Champion 2004

  43. Female Triathlete of the Year 2003 by Triathlon BC Columbia

  44. Female Triathlete of the Year 2003 by Triathlon Canada

  45. Inside Triathlon Magazine’s top North American age-group performer

  46. Provincial Triathlon Age Group Champion ‘03

  47. National Triathlon Age Group Champion ‘03

  48. World Triathlon Championships (New Zealand) ‘03, 4th

GINA GRAIN. Strength & Conditioning Coach

Gina Grain has been a member of the Brite Coaching Team for the past 10 years. Gina holds numerous roles with Brite including our resident Sports Scientist, Strength & Condition Coach and resource for specific power, strength, endurance assessments. While Gina runs her our company: TWG Sports (Train With Grain), she is very much a team member of Brite and works with 99% of the athletes we lead from an assessment and strength perspective. Due to the changing world we live in right now, Gina has opened up some of her precious time to take on a small handful of athletes to coach from both an endurance and strength perspective. For more information about her services and rates, please contact us.

Background: Gina is a track cycling Olympian and professional racer, with numerous international titles and Canadian championships. Complimenting her professional cycling career, Gina holds her Masters degree in Exercise Science and Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. She is a certified Strength and Conditioning Coach with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and Certified Speed and Agility Coach.

We invite you to read more about Gina’s expertise here.

KAREN THIBODEAU. Endurance Coach

Karen has always been passionate about sport, and all aspects of healthy living. Her early love for training and competition started as a competitive swimmer. Swimming eventually earned me an athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where she obtained a BS in exercise physiology. 

Several years later she was introduced to the world of biking and running and found herself in the fortunate position to pursue a career in Triathlon. Karen competed as a professional long distance triathlete for 7 years. Career highlights Includes two 2nd place finishes at Ironman Canada and represented Canada at World Championships in 2017.

However, above and beyond personal athletic success it has been the sports community and its like minded players that have imprinted her life in meaningful ways. For this reason Karen is passionate about coaching others, not only to achieving personal success, but to cultivate an environment that provides a similar sense of connection and community. 

When not training you can find Karen working as a nurse in the areas of mental health, addictions and obesity medicine.