Endurance Nation | Online Triathlon Coaching & Community

Coach Patrick busted out the digital recorder on Friday to outline, in a little over 6 minutes, the Ironman Arizona race and what to do when you are there and on race day. Coach Rich will give you the full skinny for IM racing and IMAZ on site with his typical pre-race debriefing (stay tuned here for details), but this should give you something to think about as you dial in your taper!

Download the MP3 here.

Happy Tapering!!!

<<Anything else Coach P missed? Post it in the comments section!>>

Popularity: 21% [?]

It’s that time of year when we all start to think about testing our training hours on the race course. For many of us these early season races are non- priority races or “training races”. There are a few different ideas as to what a training race is and how it should be done. Some people think that it just means you don’t taper and keep up with the training schedule right up til guntime.  This gives us a nice excuse for not doing well. While a training race is a prime opportunity to get some training, more importantly, it is a chance to test our self in the exact environment that we are training to excel in. Here are a few key points to consider when you are planning your early season races and race simulation workouts.

1. Its still a Race: A training race is NOT a time to waste entry fee dollars to swim, bike,and run around in a circle with a bunch of other spandex clad freaks for the heck of it! It is an opportunity to really test your training fitness in the field and against your peers and competitors. Aim for a specific, measurable goal with your early season races. While this training race will not require a 3 week peeking phase you should take the few days before to make sure you are well rested and ready for a good effort, physically, mentally and with all your equipment working 100%! You have committed the money, time, energy, and other sacrifices to be there. Make it worth while!

2. Make a goal: If you have been working hard on your cycling all winter and spring, your first low-priority event of the year might be a good opportunity to focus on the bike leg 100%. See how fast you can really go. How hard you can push your self, and how does that compare to your competition? If you know the course and/or the conditions are very similar to a race you had the previous season, see if you can beat that bike split of yours. Remember to stay within 2 inches of crazy Phil the ex-Belgian pro road racer. Yes, the Bike leg is only 1 part of the whole triathlon conundrum but one step at a time, it’s a “training race” remember… On the other hand you and your coach, might be working on your cycling but aren’t to the point where you want to throw down yet. So focusing on a solid effort in the swim and/or run coulc be a better option, while your bike leg will be time to focus on being efficient and not extending your self too far as opposed to trying to break the sound barrier on the fast decent coming into T2.

3.  Gain experience. A training race is a prime opportunity to learn about your self or about your competition, your preparation, your fueling plan, your equipment, your warm up (or there lack of), if you run well in the wind, on the hills or down hills? How did you feel afterwards. Like you just parted the seas? Or do you feel recovered after 15’ of hanging out by the kiddy pool of Powerade and table of bananas, thinking “man I could have gone way harder?” The list goes on. Come the big race day you can’t afford to be caught off guard by something silly. A cross wind hitting your fancy new disc wheel, your cool new PTS tank top and tri shorts fitting right in your aero position, and how big are those pockets? Do they fit 1 or 2 cliff bars? Gaining as much experience about your self, and how your body works in a race situation will have you better prepared come the big day. This may not have you breaking any records but when the going gets tough the prepared shine through. Anyone can post a personal best in their ideal conditions on their ideal terrain. You want a personal best in any conditions, on any terrain, on any decided day.

Coaching is not only Eric’s full-time job, it’s his pride and joy. “I take it personally. I am also a competitive triathlete and I am as careful with my athletes as I am with myself.” He coaches athletes of all levels in triathlon, cycling, mountain bike racing, cyclocross and is working with RAAm solo rider and team this year!

http://Erickenney.blogspot.com

Popularity: 32% [?]

One of the perks of living in the metro Boston area — aside from the sub-zero temps and snow-packed winters that mean I can’t train a lot — is the proximity of some really smart folks who are into athletics. The long-time popularity of the Boston Marathon, for example, means that there is quite a strong regional running community: teams, local races, group runs, etc. Most importantly it means that I have access to world-reknown experts like Dr. Thomas Michaud, D.C., one of the foremost experts in the world on foot biomechanics, foot orthoses, and gait analysis.

Dr. Michaud built his practice (literally) from the ground up, putting walls up, laying the floors, etc — and building new tools to do the analyses he wanted to perform. He’s the kinda guy with a couple of 400+ page books to his credit and a few patents…a nice guy to know.

Last time I was in, he was telling me about a recent article he wrote for Uta Pippig (also a patient/friend) regarding achilles injuries.  I was really impressed at how well Dr. Michaud lays out the challenges facing runners, common achilles issues and then offers some basic treatment options — ones that he would have you do if you showed up at his office anyway. You don’t find that kind of professional advice very often, and I think it’s worth checking out.

Here is the introduction:

“Despite its broad width and significant length, runners injure their Achilles tendons with surprising regularity. In a recent study of 69 military cadets participating in a six-week basic training program that included distance running, 10 of the 69 trainees suffered an Achilles tendon overuse injury¹.

The prevalence of this injury is easy to understand when you consider the tremendous strain runners place on this tendon; for example, during the push-off phase of the running cycle, the Achilles tendon is exposed to a force of seven times bodyweight². This is close to the maximum strain the tendon can tolerate without rupturing³. Also, when you couple the high strain forces with the fact that the Achilles tendon significantly weakens as we get older, it is easy to see why this tendon is injured so frequently.”

More wicked smart information after the jump…

Popularity: 34% [?]

From one of our members doing her “final exam” in our Off-Season ENGroups program:

I will sum the entire experience in two bullet points.

• Learn to Love the 2×20s
• Everything Rich says about Work on the Bike and if you want to ride fast you need to ride fast. IS ALL TRUE

Read the full story here!

Popularity: 16% [?]

Join Endurance Nation coaches and founders, Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann for this FREE hour-long presentation on how to train and race your next long course triathlon. From start to finish, Rich and Patrick cover:

• How to structure your training;
• Key workouts to execute;
• Race day strategies;
• Pacing guidance;
• Racing as an “A” race or as Ironman preparation.

Click here to download the webcast (audio + PDF files) to your desktop.

This FREE resource was made possible by the members of Endurance Nation; check them out online here or join them with a free two week trial membership.

+++++++++++++

Endurance Nation is like nothing else out there: two very successful, experienced, high-dollar, full-roster-for-years coaches have combined resources to create the best coaching value in the tri-space, period. They have flipped traditional coaching on its head by creating a member-driven community focused on learning, networking, and training. The formula is very simple. For $99 a year, Endurance Nation founders Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann:

• Give every member open access to every single one of the training plans they’ve been selling for years at $100-150 each.
• Deliver focused and high-quality support through members-only forums.
• Facilitate team and community building through training groups, our robust forum, training camps and clinics.
• Leverage technology, economies of scale, and the upfront capital of the subscription model to provide the incentive to innovate and over-deliver support to their athletes.
  
• Present the total package within one clear, consistent, and unified coaching message.
• Here is a small sample of the value we’ve created for their athletes since our launch in November 2007.
  

Remember, all this is only $99/yr. That’s $1.75/wk, likely your DAILY coffee budget! Please review the results and testimonials of our athletes. Create a 14-day trial membership today!

Popularity: 47% [?]