Just hit the ground and getting settled. Lots and lots of admin things to do, but the good news is that the weather is cooperating, the Team looks ready and we have plenty of caffeine!!!
You’ll find a brief pre-4Keys talk below. You can view our growing picture album online here and, of course, follow the Team all weekend and on race day via the Endurance Nation homepage!
FourKeys @ Ironman Louisville 2009
Popularity: 9% [?]
This coming Sunday is the August Ironman double-header with IM Louisville and IM Canada. IM Canada is the oldest North American Ironman event with this year it’s 27th running. Contrast this with Louisville, one of the youngest NA IM events which will take place in Kentucky for a third time this weekend. Team EN athletes will be present in good numbers at both events. Here is our Roster Snap Shots….enjoy and good luck to everyone!
PS — If you can’t be in Louisville at our FREE Friday 10am Pre-Race Talk, then follow Team EN online via our homepage on race day!
IM Louisville EN Athletes
MATT SAMOJEDEN:
First timer! “I did triathlons 20 years ago for 3 years and the longest was a ½ IM. I have been out of the sport for 20 years and turned into major couch potato. I started exercising again a year ago April. I started training to do triathlons last summer, joined EN nation in August. I will be down 76 lb on race day from my weight last April.” His expectations for race day: “Execute the EN way and stay in my box. Watch with a smile while the others who don’t understand proper pacing hammer the hills. Being my first IM I have no formal time targets, the objective is to finish. I don’t know how dark the run will get but I plan to only walk portions of the aid stations. One thing: To finish and hear the words “you are an Ironman”!!”
JIM YANOSCHIK:
Jim has done 23 IM’s but this will be his first time in Louisville. “I promised my wife that I would do IM Lou one day because we could visit her aunt and uncle who lives in Georgetown, KY. My wife has a horse and we would be in the middle of horse country. It was going to be a good trip. Last week Uncle Dennis went to the doctor with a pain in the leg. Turns out that he has cancer in 6 places in his chest and his leg. The doctors are still trying to determine the source of the cancer. My one thing has become to do the race for Uncle Dennis and his fight with the disease. I will try to think that if I am in too much pain, I can slow down. Uncle Dennis does not have that luxury. My expectations are to have a long catered training day and stay in the moment. My goal is to keep my stomach contents down and have a solid run. Pretty basic.”
CHRIS BENNETT:
This will be number three and first in Louisville for Chris. His race day thoughts: “Expectations? To be hot and bothered, but to also PR. The one thing on race day I’m looking for is to not blow up on the run like in my previous two. Mile 18 …”
BERNIE CONWAY:
This will be IM number 20 for Bernie and his second time in Louisville. His race day expectations: “I expect that it will be hot and humid. I also expect that I will be asking myself several times throughout the day why I keep doing these races. The answer to that question is also my “one thing”, stay focused, take charge of the situation, and bring this to the conclusion you’ve worked for.”
SCOTT BOLIN:
Third IM and first time in Louisville. “I’m expecting to finish, on my feet mostly, with a time close to my fastest if not faster (10:06) but won’t be disappointed with just finishing. I honestly don’t like to talk about expectations beforehand…. My “one thing” is to run under 3:30 for the marathon.”
NED PAYNE:
This will be the fourth IM for Ned and his first time in Louisville. He race day thoughts: “My big thing for this race is to be able to enjoy it knowing that I had a great training plan. I have not felt this good before a race in a long time. I am looking forward to counting people I pass in the last 8 miles of the run. I have to be honest about that. Having said that, I know I have just thrown out the largest jinx I ever could. Now I have to go and find a chicken to sacrifice.”
GREG CROFFORD:
Greg returns to Louisville this year for his second IM. His expectations this year: “Looked to just finish last year. This year I’m looking to push it a little more while leaving room to recover quickly. I’ve got two little girls that I’ll look forward to seeing along the course to keep me going.”
KRIS FRAZIER:
Kris is our RC for Louisville and she also is returning to Louisville for her second IM. Her race day thoughts: “Happy to have my health, good friends, family & training partners. My one thing is to honor the wisdom, tips, help and support of my fellow training partners by executing to the fullest extent of my fitness & abilities.”
DANIEL R MELAMED:
This will be IM number three for Dan. Dan raced a cold and raining IMWI in 2006 and then raced Vineman in 2008 with temps in the 90’s. His thoughts for Sunday: “… my hope for race day is weather somewhere—anywhere in between [IMwI and Vineman]. I have really enjoyed training this summer and my aim is to have just as much fun on race day. My One Thing: I shouldn’t be able to do this at all, but here I am anyway. So I have lots of admiration for fast people but no time goal for myself. I’m grateful to be out there and able to bring it home on 4th Street.”
MICHAEL JOHNSON:
This will the 6th IM for Michael. He has raced 4 non WTC events as well as IMFL. Last year he raced Redman to a PB of 12:43. His expectations for Louisville: “Goal: RUN the marathon (never have done it). One thing = Race to your capability. I deserve it!”
KATY ROSANE:
This will be number 10 for Katy and her first time in Louisville. Her veteran race day expectations: “…the usual…do everything I can to keep moving forward!!”
DAVE VANNETTE:
First timer! His perspective on Sunday: “I’m expecting that it’s going to be a long day… That said, I’m really excited about this race, and having my whole immediate family and some friends there to cheer me on will definitely give me a boost, especially on the run. EN and the coaches really have to get props for getting me to where I am today; I’m in the best shape of my life, mentally prepared, not really nervous, and feeling ready to execute a solid race. I have a few ‘one things’ for the day: 1) I want to make my wife and family proud and give them a good show at the finish line, not walking, not making them wait for hours and hours. 2) When I hit ‘The Line’ I want to suffer like a champ, my goal is to be able to say that one of my greatest athletic strengths is my ability to suffer well. 3) I’m not likely to be able to do IM in the next couple of years so I really want to make this one count! 4) I want to run a strong last 5k (sub-8’s).”
IM Canada EN RACERS
JORDAN VANCE:
First time in Penticton and his second IM. His expectations for the day: “My only expectation is to finish. Would love to finish sub-11 hours. My one thing? I suppose I could say that it’s to forget expectations come race day, stay positive, and keep moving forward.
FRED GILBERT:
Also a first time in Penticton and second IM for Fred – he finished the Vineman Full last year. A few thoughts on Sunday: ” I really just want to experience the magic of this legendary race, take it all in, and leave everything I’ve got out on the course. If I do that I will be happy. And I wouldn’t complain a bit if I finished sub-10:30!”
JAMES GRAHAM:
Another going for IM number two and first time at this course. James race day expectations: “Expectations are to have a strong race and improve on IM debut last year of 11:33 at Wisconsin and not get stung by a bee this year.
Really looking forward to doing this course have heard how hard it is and beautiful. One-Thing’s: negative split the run which I have done in all my races since joining EN (1 x IM + 2 x HIM) Go sub 11hrs.”
SCOTT BERGMAN:
This will be Scott’s fourth IM and all fourth in Canada. He goes to his familiar IM stomping ground with this race day plan: “Plan A – Sub 11:30, Plan B – PR last year’s time of 12:01. My One thing is Actually two things – 1) #1828. This was my Brother-in-Law’s badge number. He passed away from cancer this year. He was one of the most decorated helicopter pilots in Army history during his two tours in Vietnam then dedicated the next 36 years serving his community as a Fire Fighter. I am dedicating this race to him. 2) After four consecutive years of Ironman I am going to take at least a year off (but still do HIM’s). This is a PR year for me.”
JILL BRAMMER:
IM Canada will be Jill’s second IM after her first IM in Lake Placid last year. She is hoping for weather improvement in Penticton. Her thoughts: “I’m a little nervous about the hills since I live in South Florida where the largest hill is a drawbridge but I survived IMLP so I’ll have a go at the hills in Canada and see how they compare.”
LAIRD LIDSTER:
This will be number three for Laird and first time on the IM Canada course. His thoughts for Sunday: “Expectations: Simply execute a smart race plan. Patience early on the bike, stay on target, hold back in the first 5 miles of the run. My One Thing: still working in that…hard to have just “one thing”!!!!! I normally go through a whole list when the going gets tough.”
GLENN BYRD:
a.k.a. the Byrdman raced IM Wisconsin last year and will go number two in Penticton. “Expectations: I expect to have a blast! The long months of training are over and the race is the icing on that cake. My race day ‘one thing’ – FINISH!”
PATTY HARRIS:
Patty is also going for number four and has three previous finishes at IM Canada. Her one thing: “To finish smart (and therefore, happy)!”
RANDY KNIGHT:
First IM for Randy. At 48 years here is Randy’s first journey to Ironman: “In 2004 I got off the coach and joined the gym/ Nautilus Running Club, these guys were so cool. I had always dreamt of being an Ironman, but the fact I couldn’t swim 50 meters was an issue. I joined a Masters swim club, bought a bike and toed the line at a local Sprint Triathlon. My next race, a week later was the 07 Newfoundland Ironman 70.3 and I have been addicted ever since. I joined EN in March 08, did the 09 OS and IMC Intermediate plan and feel that I can achieve my sub 14 hour goal. My biggest dream however happened this week, the arrival of my first child, my daughter Emma Jane 8lbs 5oz. It will be tough leaving her this week, I will have her picture with me for the whole race, she is my little miracle and my biggest inspiration.
DEREK WOODHURST:
This is Derek’s third IMC. He did a 12:14 in 2004 at 50 years old. Two years later did a 11:41. This year he ages up to the 55-59 age group and is looking to go a fast 11:00-11:15! “My whole race is about execution. I have used the EN out season plan, then the IM plan very diligently. My nose is glued to my PM on the bike and I plan to execute very carefully in order to have a good run. EN’s race plan worked well for me at a June Half-Ironman race in Oliver (just south of Penticton) where I won my age group.”
TONY STOCKER (IMC RACE CAPTAIN):
This will be IM number four but first in Penticton. His thoughts: “Hoping to finish in the 14-15 hour time range this year. Little worried about the swim and bike portions due to shoulder injury, and general weak biking. My one thing for the race will be to go sub 5 on the marathon.” I think optimism will have a hand in Tonys’ day as he signed off his email: “There are no wrong turnings. Only paths you had not known you were meant to walk.”
Popularity: 8% [?]
While no one has all of the answers, here is a quick review of the top questions inside Endurance Nation about racing Ironman Wisconsin. In addition to these race specific tips, don’t forget to download our free race execution guide, downloaded by over 3000 Ironman athletes, to help you manage the overall picture of racing as well. Travel safely and best of luck on race day!
In our opinion, what truly separates one course from another isn’t total elevation gain, winds, etc, but rather how often it forces you to make a decision. Lots of little good decisions create a good day. Lots of little bad decisions add up to create a very bad day. At Wisconsin you are making decisions for the entire 112 miles. Flat, false flat, up, down, left, right, head/cross/tailwind, do I shift/not shift into my small/big ring? Do I power or noodle up this little/big hill? On the Wisconsin course you are never doing any one single thing for longer than about five minutes. This creates the opportunity to make a lot of little (and big) mistakes that express themselves somewhere on the run. Wisconsin, more than any other US course, rewards the smart, patient, and disciplined cyclist. Strength can be a liability on this course, if you don’t know how to use properly.
We highly recommend you read our Climbing Smart on Race Day article. It’s helped thousands of athletes have great races on hilly courses.by Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann, Endurance Nation
Endurance Nation is the world’s only 400 person long course triathlon team, with 25-35 athletes in every US Ironman this season. Download the Endurance Nation Ironman Race Kit, FREE! The Kit includes: The Four Keys to Ironman Execution eBook, 6 x 30′ preview videos of our Ironman Course Talks, and the Ironman Transition Training Plan eBook, a comprehensive guide for the “what now” questions rattling around in your head post race! The kit is our gift to you, as a demonstration of our committment to changing the Ironman training, racing, and coaching game!
Popularity: 10% [?]
In Part I we introduced you to the principle that performance fitness is in the muscles, not in the cardiovascular system. Now we would like to introduce you to Return on Investment (ROI) and the Principle of Specificity, Endurance Nation’s “do-not-pass-go” concepts for the age-group athlete living and working in the real world.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Return on Investment is the rate of return, on race day, for every training minute spent.
Just for a second let’s forget all this training/exercise physiology mumbo-jumbo. Let’s talk about the real world; your reality as an age-grouper living in an age grouper world. It’s a busy place! Between family, work, a personal life outside of training, family, and…family…your weekly time-pie is cut into many slices. Training is just one of those slices and, we feel, relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
As age-group athletes you owe it to all of the very important pie slices in your life to consider the rate of return on race day for each training minute spent. Dads, when you’re walking your daughter down the aisle on her wedding day, are you going to regret not spending more time in the gym trying to improve your half Ironman bike split? Moms? We hope not! As coaches completely focused on the R.O.I. of each training session and totally dialed into helping you achieve the maximum results with a minimum of time invested, we have concluded that sport-specific activities are the answer and the non-sport-specific stuff gets tossed first.
The Principle of Specificity states that the benefits that you get from a particular type of training are very specific to the type of activity that you performed to get those benefits. In other words, if you want to get good at a thing, do that thing.
Certain movement patterns activate specific muscles. For example, cycling activates the muscles of the quadriceps and the soleus. Most importantly, while cycling these muscles, and many, many others, all work in concert together (firing patterns, joint angles, rate of firing, etc) to create the very sport-specific act of pedaling a bike. There is no better way to force these cycling muscles to become better at pedaling a bike than by…pedaling a bike.
Traditional triathlon training says that you should include a period of strength training. The idea is that the strength you gain by pushing up a leg press will be converted, at some point in the season, to pushing pedals harder and faster or running faster. In other words, we spend a lot of time doing one thing (packing a bag, driving to the gym, lifting, showering, re-packing, and driving to work/home/etc.) in the hopes that it will eventually help us do another thing, running or riding a bike, better. However, what you’ve really done, by going to the gym two hours a week and pushing up weight on the leg press, is made your legs very good at pushing up weight on the leg press.
Endurance athletes are told to strength train because it will either (A) make you stronger or (B) help prevent injuries. If our ultimate goals are to push pedals harder/faster, to run faster, and to become more efficient and competent at both, shouldn’t you be out there on the road instead? The best, most time efficient machine for improving cycling is your bike and, with an additional two hours of cycling a week vs going to the gym, you’ll increase cycling volume by about 30%. Now that is a significant change that will improve your ability TO RIDE A BIKE! And if it’s winter time, then go one better and don’t ride your bike an additional two hours. We believe you should sleep in, bank some breakfast time with the kids, and in general avoid a volume-is-the-answer focus when you are months and months away from your goal races.
The fact is that endurance athletes are simply not limited by the amount of force they can produce. Let’s examine the force required to pedal a bike. Let’s say you’re on a three-mile hill at 10% grade. You’re in the lowest gear, at about 50 rpm, and the hill takes about 30 minutes to climb. So 30 minutes’ x 50 rpm = 1,500 pedal revolutions. If you went to the gym and put a weight on the leg press that you could lift 1,500 times in 30 minutes, how heavy would that weight be? More importantly, how strong would you need to be lift this weight 1,500 times? Any endurance activity is, by definition, one you do for a long time. Because of this, the force requirements of endurance activities are extremely low compared to the traditional weight-training movement.
That said, we realize that strength training has general health benefits for all of us, particularly for those over 40 years old. However, we are speaking as triathlon coaches with the goal of maximizing your triathlon potential, not as health care professionals. You’ve asked us to invest your time to achieve the highest triathlon race day ROI. Our experience, and the science, says that the best investment of your time is to actually do what it is you are trying to get better at, not do another thing because you hope the benefits will transfer.
If you are recovering from an injury or just looking for general health benefits, we believe you should:
In summary, if you want to weight lift or cross-train this Winter, don’t do it because you are hoping to be a better triathlete. Do it because you enjoy it, because it keeps you active and fit, and because it fits into your time-limited winter season. Most importantly, we encourage you to carefully consider the race day Return On Investment of every training minute spent, making your training as efficient and as results-focused as possible.
In the next installment of the series, we’ll discuss how we frame a season of Endurance Nation training: Fast then Far.
Interested in learning more? We’d like to invite you to attend our FREE five week “Rethinking the OutSeason” Virtual Seminar. We’ll cover these topics above in much greater detail while also teaching you the basics of training with power, pace, annual scheduling, and much more. During the seminar you’ll receive our OutSeason, Training with Power, and Training with Pace eBooks (3 total).
You’ll also automagically become an ENFan, receiving a FREE Four Keys DVD, 10% training plan discount, and an invitation to create a FREE 14-day trial membership to TeamEN, September 20 through October 4!
Popularity: 12% [?]
At Endurance Nation (www.endurancenation.us), we are changing the triathlon game by focusing exclusively on age-group triathlon training that leads to measurable, quantifiable results. What you are about to read is the foundation of our approach to training and exactly what led to hundreds athletes in fall of 2007 and 2008 to–in just 16 weeks–improve their 10k times by an average of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, improve upon their previous half marathon best by 4 minutes and 47 seconds and boost their power on the bike by an average of 15%.
Fitness is in the muscles, not the cardiovascular system.
In other words, running with a higher heart rate doesn’t make you faster, it just means you have a higher heart rate while running. Running faster by working harder is what makes you faster. If you want to run, bike or swim faster next racing season, you will need to run, bike, or swim faster in training. By putting the focus on the muscles (which we control) vs. heart rate (which is out of our control) we add a new level of awareness and agency to our training. Let’s take a closer look at how muscles power our exercise.
We control the force of muscle contractions primarily by recruiting and using more motor units. Small-force contractions use fewer motor units. In order to produce more force, we begin to recruit more motor units. Motor units are called into action based on what is called the “size principle.” According to the size principal, low force contractions recruit small, mainly slow twitch motor units. Higher force contractions recruit mainly large, fast-twitch motor units. As the force requirement increases, the motor units recruited get larger and more fast-twitch. For example, high force activities such as jumping or sprinting will recruit primarily large, fast-twitch motor units. Lower force activities such as a slow jog will recruit primarily smaller, slow-twitch motor units. As we move from jogging slowly to running faster, we begin to recruit larger, fast-twitch motor units.
Here’s a real-world example to make things clearer: Imagine that you are doing a graded exercise test on a treadmill or exercise bike. During a graded exercise test, the exercise intensity is increased every minute going from very light to maximal effort. At the start, you begin to engage slow-twitch muscle fibers, using primarily fat as fuel and no lactate is produced. As the intensity increases, you begin to engage some intermediate fibers and just a few fast-twitch fibers (as well as the already active slow-twitch fibers). You have activated a few fast-twitch fibers, producing some lactate. However, because you are not producing much lactate, and your slow-twitch fibers can consume lactate as a source of fuel, lactate levels do not increase significantly. As the intensity increases further, you begin to activate additional fast-twitch fibers. These fibers produce lactate and consume primarily carbohydrates.
Eventually you will reach an exercise intensity that results in more lactate production than your slow-twitch fibers can clear. This point is called the lactate threshold and it is marked by a rise in the level of blood lactate. Lactate accumulation can contribute to fatigue because it can reduce the capability of muscles to produce force (by inhibiting anaerobic glycolytic pathways). Therefore, we can exercise at intensities just below our lactate threshold for quite a while, but we fatigue quickly at intensities above our lactate threshold.
A few critical things to point out:
But what about cardiovascular fitness? Cardiovascular fitness is actually adaptations occurring in three areas: blood volume, heart stroke volume, and an increase in blood capillaries.
Think of these adaptations as reworking the plumbing in your body to deliver more blood, and therefore oxygen and nutrients, to working muscles. These adaptations happen very quickly and once they are complete it is still the muscles doing the work. Therefore, the composition and work capacity of our muscles is the limiter, not the plumbing. At every distance that you might race as a triathlete, from sprint to Ironman, you have plenty of cardiovascular capacity left, even if you are pushing very hard. Therefore, cardiovascular adaptations are not an important training consideration as far as performance is concerned.
To summarize the science-speak:
So what does this science-speak mean for you?
In the next installment of the series, we’ll discuss two of the most important component of the Endurance Nation training paradigm: Return on Investment (ROI) and the Principle of Specificity.
Interested in learning more? We’d like to invite you to attend our FREE five week “Rethinking the OutSeason” Virtual Seminar. We’ll cover these topics above in much greater detail while also teaching you the basics of training with power, pace, annual scheduling, and much more. During the seminar you’ll receive our OutSeason, Training with Power, and Training with Pace eBooks (3 total).
You’ll also automagically become an ENFan, receiving a FREE Four Keys DVD, 10% training plan discount, and an invitation to create a FREE 14-day trial membership to TeamEN, September 20 through October 4!
Popularity: 14% [?]
Become an ENFan for a free DVD, a training plan discount and a shot at the September 2010 two-week FREE trial.
We keep the size of TeamEN limited to ensure quality and customer service.
We issue invitations periodically to our ENFans, based on changes to the roster.
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