Endurance Nation

Let’s talk about going faster with less effort…but first…a disclaimer: The topic of running efficiency is a currently a hot one. Google “Pose Method, “Chi Running,” “barefoot running,” “Born to Run,” “Newton shoes,” etc and you’ll be led to books, articles, links and studies espousing this, that and the other theory about how to run [...]

Endurance Nation presents the Four Keys of Ironman Execution Talk. Rich Strauss, head coach and founder of Endurance Nation, will share with you the race day execution tips and mental strategies that have created PR performances for thousands of athletes. Rich has delivered this talk, live, to over 1500 athletes at Ironman venues since 2003. [...]

Let’s begin by breaking the topic down into two major components: Running Potential and Running Success. Running Potential: “What CAN I run on race day, given current fitness, training, etc?” The best predictor of Running Potential on race day is your VDot score. Running Success: “Given my running potential, what WILL I run on race [...]

The Ironman run course is where PR hopes and dreams go to die a painful death. The course is littered with the bodies of very fit people who’ve done all the right training, or so they think, but who slow down dramatically on the run. In our opinion, traditional Ironman training has several weaknesses, and [...]

My Ironman St George review has received a lot of comments, emails and posts on the net…from a lot of scared people, frankly! I’d like to take a few moments to get your mind right about this race, and about Ironman racing in general. The Triathlon World’s Perspective/Advice on Racing: You spend months and months [...]

#1: Nutrition is key. Plan, pack and prepare your foods in advance. On your grocery days, set aside some time to wash, chop and bag fruits, veggies and prepare basic meals for the week. Chopped up veggies can become salad fixings, a healthy on the go snack or be incorporated with meat for a quick [...]

Question: What are the considerations for a Half Ironman race rehearsal? Rich Strauss: All of our long course training plans include two race rehearsal workouts, roughly at 6 and 3 weeks out from your race. These are, without a doubt, the most important individual training session in your schedule. You want to get these right, [...]

Question: If the prescribed intensity of a workout is just not happening, should I just go easy? Rich Strauss: Rather than going easy, don’t be afraid to just pull the plug, take a day off and not do anything, especially on the bike. We like to see our athletes get in 4-5 runs per week [...]

I spent this past weekend on the Ironman St. George course, training and recon-ing the event with some TeamEN athletes. Well worth the long drive from LA to meet and connect with our athletes in what is, hands down, my favorite part of the country. We covered all of the bike course on Friday and [...]

* Marathon training then creates some significant opportunity costs for the triathlete looking to become a faster triathlete

1. At some point marathon training begins to compromise get-faster-on-the-bike training.
2. Marathon training, in my experience, is not the best and most time efficient tool to make someone a faster runner, to lift their VDot. Stronger, more durable, can go longer…yes…but for me that’s what we do in the last 16wks or so before an IM. Before that we focus on making you faster.
3. The net is that you don’t really get that much faster at either: your marathon training isn’t super great cuz you’ve still got your triathlete hat on = riding a bike, etc. And your bike doesn’t get much faster because you’re having to compromise your bike training because of all the marathon running you’re doing.