Endurance Nation | Online Triathlon Coaching & Community

Coach P has had it up to here (!) with folks not respecting the limits of their body’s current fitness. If you want to excel, you need to respect your limits and push them with purpose!

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Just a final reminder that Endurance Nation’s 2009 Membership Drive for the 2009 Ironman and Half Ironman season officially ends this Friday, May 1st. Member athletes pay only $79/mo to receive training plans delivered monthly, participate in online race groups and have access to the 24/7 support in the EN Forums. Take EN for a FREE 30-day trial spin to see if our Team Coaching approach is a good fit for you! Create your trial membership today!

Endurance Nation Coaches Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann lead a team of over 400 Ironman and Half Ironman athletes through a unique “team coaching” model. Members have seen incredible results following EN’s focused, age-grouper specific training protocols. Our community is supporting, knowledgeable and very ambitious.  On their own initiative, several sleeper cells have organized several regional member-directed training camps: MidWest (link), North East, NorCal, and others coming soon!

We will have 20-30 athletes at EVERY US Ironman this season. In addition to pre-race strategy and online support, the coaches will be on hand to deliver their Four Keys Pre-Race Talk to the team, organize a team dinner, and create a fun weekend for family members. The team will be out in similar numbers at several Half Ironman events as well.

Create your trial membership today!

If you decide to not join our team this season, best of luck to you. You might want to consider following the team on Twitter or subscribing to our Blog, Podcast, or Video updates. Maybe you can use our growing library of Free Training Resources to make the most of your year. Do us a favor and please look for Rich, Patrick, and the Endurance Nation athletes at your key races this year…be sure to say hi, we don’t bite! Again, good luck and please check in with us in the Fall, when we open up the doors to new members sometime after Ironman Wisconsin.

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This past weekend nearly 20 Endurance Nation athletes, members of the Minnisota and Illinois Sleeper Cells, met for a weekend of riding, training, and camaraderie in Madison, WI. The coolest part: this was a 100% member organized and directed event. What started out a suggestion in a forum thread snowballed to a full on training camp, with two swank cabins, camp t-shirts, team dinners at great steakhouses, and much more!

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Meet John Stark: EN NorCal Sleeper Cell Member and our Ironman Couer d’Alene Team Captain. John joined EN in October 2008. In that time his FTP on the bike has increased 14%, from 235 to 275w. Rich and John discuss his progress within EN and his performance at Ironman California 70.3

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Can your triathlon coach or training plan demonstrate a history
of delivering results and testimonials like the ones you’ve heard in
these podcasts?

Please create a 30-day free trial to check us out before the 5/1/2009 deadline.

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Ten (10) Endurance Nation athletes raced the Boston Marathon this week. Coach Patrick hosted a lunch for the team on Saturday and was out on the race course to support our athletes. Look for a more detailed post from him next week!

But in the meantime, running and early season triathlon PR’s continue to fall!

Geoff P: I’ve lost 25 pounds since November, and in the best shape of my life!
I just have to share my enthusiasm about my post-EN OutSeason fitness, cuz it’s just overflowing this morning! I’m in the best shape of my life, thanks to EN. And I’m enjoying doing cool stuff with my fitness:

• Ran the Foxboro Ten-Miler in February. I’ve never run this distance before. Loved it, felt great. And best of all is that because I felt so fit from the OS, I only decided to do the race 2 days before. Awesome.
• Did the Multisport World Time Trial with some new EN friends. What?! I’ve only noodled around on my bike before. I would never have worked that hard before on the bike (before EN). I’ve always just rode hard enough to finish MOP in sprint tri’s. Did the Time Trial and had fun, and rode my @$$ off.
• Rode for probably the 3rd or 4th time last weekend, and my bike computer stays over 20mph on the flats. Without trashing my legs. What!? I’ve never felt so good on the bike. My friends are freaking out. I’m freaking out.
• I’m in West Palm Beach this weekend for my wife’s business trip, and ran a local 5K this morning (again on a historically uncharacteristic whim). Blew it out! I was hoping to break 24:00, since my last test in February was 24:57. Woo hoo – 22:32! Yummy vDOT jump from 38 to 43!  Work friggin’ works, and I’m enjoying the work!

Matt Sullivan: 1:06 5k PR
Ran a local 5K this morning in Oak Park. Haven’t tested my VDOT since December when I ran a 19:46. I really wanted an 18:30 today but would have been fine with any PR. I ran an 18:40! 1:06 minute PR and a new VDOT of 54. I started the OS with a 49 so that’s a 5 point increase. I’ll take it!!

Jesse Spates, Earthday Half Marathon, 7:40 PR, 45′ negative split
I am extremely please with the results and am realized how much all of this hard offseason work is paying off.

Brian Quarton, Illinois Marathon, 3:01
First half in 1:31:36. Negative split second half in 1:30:11 would be a PR for an open half marathon.

Matt Graffeo: Wrentham Duathlon
I flat-out hammered on the bike. Figured that the 2nd run was only 2 miles, and I could do anything for 2 miles. So I pounded the pedals. The hills somehow felt much less steep this year. On the flats, with my chin tucked down, I could hear Coach Rich saying “it’s criminal how much speed I get out of my watts,” feeling the exact same way. All of a sudden, I found myself among fast dudes, with disc wheels, SRM’s, etc. This was a new phenomenon, as they’re usually up the road a ways. Long story short, I got off the bike, and out on the run, shoulder to shoulder with the fastest guy in my club, and while he outran me, I had a terrific race. Finished 21st overall (up from 46th last year), and felt terrific.  Oh yeah, and that bike split? 6th, out of 338. That’s a gain of 47 places on 2 months of OS. No way I do that on hours of Z1-2 on the trainer…Work works. I’m almost bummed to start the HIM plan, as I’m getting so much out of the OS!

DaisyMack, Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, 1:29, 8:57 pace
Not tapered, did the race the day after a 50 mile bike and spent the first 3 miles at a 10-minute pace fighting the crown…came away with a faster pace than a half marathon last year (for which I did taper). And I was definitely not racing this – I ran comfortably the whole race and finished feeling like I had several more miles left in my legs.

Michele508, OS improvements: VDOT 34 to 37, FTP 139 to 184.
I was riding my ride and trying to keep my watts between 170 and 200. I have to admit that on the first hill, I stood up. Then I looked at the hill and my watts, and put my butt back on the seat and reigned myself in. Let them pass me. (Even the girl on the mountain bike with toe cages.) I’d get them soon enough. AND I DID! I was flying on the down hills and flats. Maintaining my watts, constantly yelling “left!”. I was MAYBE passed permanently by 5 guys and 1 girl. It was amazing. Overall time 1:19:19 (by my watch). Official 1:19:28.I am excited because as I was getting older I was going from BOP steadily towards MOP. This result was solid MOP. AG 9/20, OA 170/338. OS improvements: VDOT 34 to 37, FTP 139 to 184.

Can your triathlon coach or training plan demonstrate a history of delivering results and testimonials like these?

Please create a 30-day free trial to check us out before the 5/1/2009 deadline.

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