Endurance Nation | Online Triathlon Coaching & Community

Every month we are fortunate enough to get feedback from the many athletes using our triathlon training plans. Some of it’s useful, some of it’s funny, all of it is great to receive…please keep that feedback coming by emailing us or posting to us via Twitter.  Thanks again to everyone who uses our plans and keep up the good work. Work WORKS!

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“I wanted to give you guys a big thank you.  I have actually been using a plan out of Matt Fitzgeralds book to prepare for a HIM. However, I’ve read about everything I can to help with this race. Last year I bonked like a big dog on the run and vowed that would not happen again this year.  I read your article on Active.com about proper pacing on the bike leg.  The following statement from your article really stood out to me:  ”and don’t get caught up in fighting for three to five bikes lengths of real estate on some unnamed hill at mile 65.2 of a 140-mile day. It just. Doesn’t. Matter. ”  I wasn’t racing a full but the point was still made.  My HIM was on a hilly course and it felt like the entire field passed me on the bike.  I just kept telling myself “It just doesn’t matter.  I will catch them on the run.”  I had also read your article about the LINE.  I kept telling myself I had to be able to get to mile 8 on the run then let it all hang out.  I can’t tell you how many people I passed on the run.  I nearly ran a stand alone half marathon PR following the advice from your articles.  I actually biked ~ 5 min slower this year as compared to last year, but finished 50 minutes faster!  Thanks again for putting out wise information!”

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“I’ll post on the forum later but wanted to thank you two first of all – just finished my Week 8 bike test and pretty chuffed to say the least. Increase from 265 to 296w in 7 weeks of training aint bad going!”

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“Point being – I don’t want to waste ANY time during the outseason when I’m 8 or 9 months away from my race and kill any more brain cells or time than I have to thinking about training.   Everything I’m doing right now is at threshold pace – zone 3, 4 and above for you heart rate training folks.   Yes – I said it, THRESHOLD pace – as in near balls-out dying and tongue hanging out kind of stuff.   Everybody else is doing EASY zone 1 long runs (in the freezing cold or rain) or 2 hours on the trainer while watching TV  (WTF?!).   I’m crushing myself for 30 minutes to an hour doing intervals for my runs as well as steady state Z3 and Z4 for my rides. Some say I’m crazy, but numbers don’t lie.  Test results in the lab as well as “functional” tests have shown that my hard work in the last 8 to 9 weeks (with Christmas holidays and a Vegas trip thrown in for good measure) has yielded the same bike test results as where I was in July ‘07 – after 5 to 6 months of traditional “do more base” training.   Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Zone 1 – you need that, you need the volume and you need to build endurance – but my point is – I don’t want to be building that NOW when I’m 8 months out from my A race.  I don’t want to fry my brain and kill countless hours getting to and from the pool, to and from the gym, to and from here / there etc etc  when I can just do some quality hard WORK right here in and around my home.”

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“Thanks also for your Ironman Wisconsin product that I bought last year.  (I came to the party late…)  I got several very useful pointers out of it and a lot of mental confidence.  I was sick and had a tough run in large part because of that, but otherwise had a great level of confidence and execution.  Even when I ran into difficulties in the run, being able to “execute” the best I could at the time and “work inside my box” let me come out of the race feeling like I couldn’t have done any better than I did on that day.  So thanks again for that help.”

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“I signed up last year and used the system to train through the spring and summer. I am now in week 13 of the off-season.
To put it mildly, I have 2 daughters, a wife and am active in my church. I do not have the time to put in the super long runs and rides that a lot of you guys do on a routine basis. EN has allowed me to train and reach new levels of fitness while still being able to put the money in the bank with the fam for this spring when I do have to get out and ramp my weekly plan above the 10 hr. mark. I am a MOPer but they have plenty of athletes on the team that are Age Group qualifiers. So if you want a great option that allows you to maintain a job, and semblance of family sanity I can’t think of another way to go. Triathletes already have the highest level of divorce amoung the sports and I was going that way quickly before I joined EN. Now my family is fairly happy and supportive of my training.”

Popularity: 11% [?]

Swim Finish / Transition Area by Mill Street Bridge

November 22nd, 2009 dawned cool and clear, with minimal breeze. The first thing I thought, stepping outside at 6am was, “Man, what a great day for a race!” Turns out I wasn’t that far off, with some incredible record-setting performances in both the professional and age group ranks. But that doesn’t mean it was easy. View EN pictures here, EN results here.

The Swim
Things were calm for the whole swim…any chop to be found was a direct result of enthusiastic swimming. It was also remarkably “not sunny” with sunrise not really taking place until 7:30. As a result, the Pros and faster AG swimmers really had minimal glare to contend with. Ironically the biggest challenge was the cold water temperatures. The longer you were in the water the worse it got, but everyone was affected in some way. From early onset of cramps (in the swim) to nearly debilitating shakes on the early miles of the bike, few were able to shake off the temps without difficulty.

T1 was well organized and chock full of volunteers. The only twist (no pun intended) was the ridiculously sharp turn at the transition exit. Athletes had to make a 90-degree turn in order to get to the mount line. Soaking wet, eating a gel, and running with a bike with one hand made being safe practically impossible. Yes, that picture above is of an athlete exiting T1 in a space blanket…he was that cold!

The Bike
True to form the bike was fast. Almost across the board everyone was faster in the first lap, mostly the result of a lack of any wind, but let’s not discount the desire to try and get warm either! As the day wore on the wind began to pick up a bit, slowing things down in lap two and three. This made heading out of Tempe towards the turnaround very difficult but gave everyone very favorable conditions for a final 18 miles back into town. The men’s winner, Jordan Rapp, set a bike course record in the low 4:20s, and the elite age groupers weren’t too far behind. There were the usual reports of drafting on the bike; it will be interesting to read more of the athlete reports as people get the chance to relate their complete version of events.

The Run
Skipping through an uneventful second transition, athletes were headed out for the three loop run. While it’s not a tough run on paper, there are plenty of turns and enough hills at the end of a long day to make even the toughest suffer.  The wind had little to no effect on the runners, and the heat wasn’t overwhelming. It was warm in the sun, for sure, but that quickly changed when the sun started to go down around 5:30.  If you didn’t have warmer gear for the night, you were going to be in for a very long, very cool run. Overall run times were quite consistent with previous editions of the race, and were a proper reflection of the conditions: you got out of it what you put into it.

The Finish
The atmosphere at an Ironman finish is electric, and Tempe did not disappoint. Loud music, cheering fans and inspirational moments everywhere. There’s something about watching folks who, pushed to the brink, suddenly bounce back to dash to the finish line. A testament to human will, or to some innate force that drives all of us to attain a goal we have sought for so long. I get goosebumps just writing about it!

Congratulations to all of the athletes at Ironman Arizona. You have earned your medal and some solid time off as well…probably best to rehydrate and try to get moisturized before the dry air turns you into human jerky! This is the end of the 2009 Four Keys Tour, and Rich and Patrick will not be on hand to support Team EN folks at Ironman Cozumel. So bummed to not be there, but know that you are racing on the shoulders of the other 200+ amazing Ironman finishes by your fellow teammates this year. You are fit, you are ready, and you will crush it!

Until next season, this is Rich and Patrick signing off. Be safe, have fun, and go fast!

Popularity: 19% [?]

Probably the best part of our coaching gig are the emails we get after a major race. Below are excerpts from a few we’ve received this week after Ironman Florida, the last two from athletes who are not even members of TeamEN:

“Hey guys, it was nice meeting you 2 finally. IMFL was an awesome experience for me, I beat my IMAZ time from last year by 3hr and 30min. If I could improve half that much this year I will be at the top of my age group for IMLO. All the stuff you guys had taught me played out exactly as you said. To be honest, most of the run I was hurting as expecting but all I could think about was how you guys had drilled it in my head that we could and will keep our LRP pace and that is exactly what I did. The only thing was my time in the aid station got a little longer throughout the race but my pace stayed the same…Looking forward to working with the team this year and getting fast enough to start competing. Thank you guys again for everything you have done and also for the cake for my new fiance and I at the dinner!!” — Chad

“I found your course talk to be very informative and helpful. Your tips and strategy for the bike and run helped me pace my day and I was able to break 10 hours (9:52). Plus, it was my first iron distance event.” — Jon

“I am holding you two and Robin Cline personally responsible for my awesome Florida IM race this past Saturday.  I did exactly what you said to do at your talk and in your literature.  It nearly killed me to watch what felt like 1000 people pass me on the bike… I held my ridiculously easy pace until I hit 231, picked it up a little bit, but then really picked it up at 85 miles… I started running sub 8 and felt like I really could, but thought about your advice and pulled back to 9:30 for 6 deliberate miles.  By 7, I thought that I could ease into 9 min miles, I felt strong, and I was determined to run the whole run (my one thing).  I never hit my line!!!  I also averaged 9:30 and did a 4:11 marathon (my pr is a 3:32)… but I never walked.  Plus I have struggled with bilateral Achilles tendinitis for the past month from Levoquin… and I still ran the whole thing.  An 11:35 for what little training I could do with my injuries is so above and beyond what I expected!  Thank you and thank you!  My dad also did what you suggested and he ran a 13:56 with many many injuries.  His last IM, he barely broke 16.  We just are incredulous with how well your technique has worked for us!!  Thank you!” — Jenny

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Executive Summary for Team EN at Ironman USA:

• 36 Team members competed. View the complete Team results here.
• 4 podium finishes: Maryka Sennema, 10:41, 1st W25-29, Kona; Jeffery Capobianco, 9:48, 3rd M35-39, Kona; Steve Chavez, 10:34, 3rd M50-54, Kona; Staci Studer, 11:11, 4th W35-39, Kona.
• We are in the process of gathering PR info from the Team, but standouts include Carrie Chavez, IMUSA Team Captain, posted a 22′ PR to earn 6th in her 40-44 age group with 11:30, and Mike Cook’s 10:43, a 50′ PR.
• Many first-timers reported great races. Without exception they credited the Team’s race execution focus with teaching them the skills that helped them avoid the pacing and other mistakes that hundreds of other athletes continue to make year after year.
• Team dinner at Nicola’s attended by over 70 athletes, family and friends.
• Nearly 100 athletes attended our Four Keys talk on Friday. Many, many thank-yous on the course and at the finish line by talk attendees.

Team race reports and stories from the weekends are beginning to trickle in. You can view them here.

Listen to the coaches recap on Triathlon Execution Radio

The Details:
Pictures here,

View this video online here.

The Swim: Water temps were a bi chillier than usual, but only by a few degrees. The water, as you can see, was calm and perfect for a great swim. Preliminary reports suggest it was a very aggressive & physical swim start. Almost everyone was close to their predicted time.

View this video online here.

The Bike: Cloudy and humid conditions ensured that everyone was pretty cool for the first one to two hours on the day. The roads were slick from the rain, but it wasn’t actually raining when the athletes were on the bike. A few folks geared up for the ride, probably scared from 2008, but it wasn’t really necessary.

Lap one was, as always, pretty fast. Most folks hit the timing mat at mile 36 (end of the out/back) with ridiculous time splits…the climb back to town settled most people down, but for many the damage had already been done. Lap two saw the adrenaline that carried most of the competitors through the first 56 miles fading fast. Hills were longer, the wind picked up and the return to town, all 20 miles from the end of the out/back (or 12 from the bottom of the “climbing section”) were very tough. Athletes who followed the Four Keys Ironman Execution protocol to pace properly were definitely in a good place…and in the minority.

We estimate that, on average, athletes rode to their potential on race day, if not a few minutes slower. Conditions were tough but not crazy.

View this video online here.

The Run: Athletes ran in the same overcast and muggy conditions that pervaded the bike leg, with the only real “break” coming in the form of about 90 solid minutes of hot, hot sun starting around 3:30pm. As a result, almost everyone had to deal with this on the run as some point, and for many it was the last straw.

As usual, the solitary portion of the run along River Road was tough for many…this year the officials really enforced the no-bikes rule back there making it hard for anyone to get in to cheer. Rich and Patrick rode down Papa Bear to River Road and then walked in to station themselves at about mile 7/19, critical pacing markers for out Team. From there they encouraged or cracked the whip as needed, Twittering updates to the rest of the team eagerly following the race online.

In all, most Team EN athletes had a solid day despite the weather and terrain. The combined humidity and heat zapped many goals, but few reported being disappointed. It was truly a day that demanded 110% mental focus, execution, and physical strength. Coming up short in any of those areas meant you paid the price.

From the Pointy End: On the pro / Kona qualification side, the folks were still fast. While the overall qualification times really didn’t change from past years, the conditions meant it was harder to earn that same time. The top athletes were once again the best runners on the day, able to run fast times despite the high temperatures. The men’s and women’s overall winners both built dominating leads on the bike and then cruised the run.

Congratulations to all the finishers. You have earned some well-deserved downtime…and lots of fluids! Happy recovery and see you at the races.

Popularity: 27% [?]