Five things that actually made a difference for me. Not gimmicks, just genuinely worth the money if you can manage it.
First, a coach. Structure, accountability, someone else's knowledge and experience doing the thinking so I don't have to. Honestly, just taking that mental load off me alone was worth it.
Second, a proper bike fit. Better position, more comfort, more efficiency. You can have the best legs in the world and still lose time to a bad position.
Third, recovery tools. For me that's Normatec boots. Feels like a leg massage whenever I want one, and recovery isn't optional if you're training this much.
Fourth, a decent trisuit. Sounds small, but comfort over long sessions and races matters more than people think. Bad chafing or a bad fit can ruin a session that had nothing wrong with the training itself.
Fifth, a smart indoor trainer. Erg mode takes the guesswork out of structured sessions entirely, it holds the power for you so you just focus on executing. Plus the data afterward tells you exactly what happened, not just how it felt.
None of it replaces the training itself. But every one of these made the training I was already doing count for more.
