Today’s inbox check finds an email newsletter from Mark Allen Online, announcing recruitment for their Elite Team. Makes sense, this is a good time of year to capture people’s attention and the concept of an elite team and coaching fast people certainly does gain attention.
I think we lit the fuse on EN about exactly one year ago and since then we have quickly grown to a team of over 425 members, about half of whom have joined us since September. We put well over 100 athletes across Ironman finishes all over the world. Seventeen at IMCDA, twenty at IMLP, thirteen at IMLouisville, etc. 18 of these under 10:50, of which seven finished under 10:10. I was at every race this season (with the exception of Canada) to support each and every one of these athletes. I was behind the finish line or behind the fence to greet, catch, and/or congratulate nearly every one of them. Our high dollar, elite coach counterparts were strangely absent….
We had our share of fast folks, to be sure, but you know who gives me the most job satisifaction? Our 11:30+ crew. Why the MOP’ers?:
- Most of them had MASSIVE PR’s, crossing the line with 1-3hr+ PR’s. That’s just fookin’ cool, I don’t care who you are.
- They listen. In my mind I divide athletes into JV and Varsity. Sometimes interactions with members of the Varsity squad can be a test of wills: “I’m a fast guy. I’m doing you a favor by letting you coach me/I already know a lot about being fast, what are you going to do for me?” You are very good at what you do for your real job…we are very good at what we do. We will explain to you our methods…but in the end we are the coaches and you’re going to do it our way. Our way adapted to fit you, but in the end, you’re in our Haus and you’re gonna do it our way. We NEVER have these conversations with our MOP athletes. They are eager to learn and, if they don’t get it or have their doubts, they are more than willing to place their goals in our hands and trust us to make it happen. That’s just a cool thing.
- They are often overlooked and they don’t want things to be dumbed down. In the tri-world, fast guys are supposed to talk to each other about fast guy stuff: power, pace, nutrition, % body fat, biomechanics and other geekitude. The beginner Ironman is on the other side. The tri-world speaks very slowly to these people, with no words over four sylables. The MOP’er is in the middle of the room, with no one speaking to them and or addressing their needs. They DON’T want it dumbed down. They want to train and race with the intelligence of the fast guys, and set massive PR’s in the process. They have no attitudes with us, are eager to learn what we have to teach them, and appreciate our hard work. It’s just cool to work with them.
I wrote more about this last week in my post about our Eleven Minute Superstars
So, a few actions items from a chat with Patrick this morning, me at a Panera in Pasadena, him huddled in a corner of his kitchen while his girlz sleep:
- We will continue to just get it done. A poster on Slowtwitch a while back said that the nature of EN is to celebrate competitive mediocrity, a budget solution that was inferior due to it’s affordability. That makes me smile. I often wonder if our business would go up if we charged more! After taking a few shots, Patrick and I have gone back into the workroom, putting our heads down and getting it done every day. Our mission? To respond through the performances and experiences of our team next season, period. All of our athletes, BOP, MOP, and FOP, are quietly working in their pain caves to take heads at the races next year. In short, we don’t “need” an elite team. All of our athletes are training the best and smartest we know how to teach them.
- That said, we may fire up a Bizzarro Elite Team. You gotta be in the bottom 25% of your age-group to apply. Why? Just because it would be fun and cool thing to do it. We, they, and our Team would just dig it. It’s exactly what EN is all about.
So, if you’re a fast guy wondering if EN is the right place for you, come on over. See our results, see Varsity points above. Make no mistake that we are building monsters in the lab right now.
BOP/MOP athletes: we definitely have a place for you and we have a demonstrated track record of creating 1-3hr PR’s for you folks.
Rich Strauss
Endurance Nation Coach and Head AzzKicker, diggin’ the free java refills at Panera.
Popularity: 8% [?]
