Endurance Nation | Triathlon Coaching, Ironman Training, Half Ironman, Beginner Triathlon

September traditionally marks the end of the season for Endurance Nation, as we use Ironman Wisconsin as a opportunity to reflect on the year, extract valuable lessons, and make plans to implement changes in 2011. Actually, this process is continuous, internally, but for many reasons a lot of stuff just comes together for us around the September time frame.

As such, this is a great opportunity for us to reflect on the year with you, our ENFans and TeamEN members, to share with you our lessons learned from 2010 and preview what we have in store for you–and the greater tri world–for 2011.

In Part I, we’ll talk about where we’ve been and where we are today. In Part II, we’ll reveal some (but not all) of our plans for next year.

1. The Waiting List
It started in May of 2009, but really took root in 2010. Closing registration to the Team, a potentially risky move, actually created a few opportunities:

• Focus and Efficiency: The waiting list allowed Patrick and I to focus 100% on our members during the time when they need us the most: the Ironman race season. Between supporting the team in the forums, travel to races, creating content for them, and much more, we just didn’t have the bandwidth to spare on what we felt would probably have been a trickle of new members joining in the heat of the racing season. Instead, we just closed the doors and locked them. However, we were surprised when the waiting list exploded eventually building to over 400 athletes multiple times by the summer of 2010.
• Filters: TeamEN–the community–belongs to the members, not to us. We just can’t describe to you the depth of the community that our members have built for themselves within virtual walls of EN. Going to a waitlist meant that the people who were invited really wanted to be on the Team, making adding new folks a much more seamless experience.

2. Re-Investing in the Team

1. We repaid our existing, longest serving members by offering to them a heavily discounted rate, for life. This core group of over 150 athletes has been with us since the beginning, through several iterations, and gyrations, of service delivery and pricing model. We sincerely appreciate their loyalty (sniff).
2. We created a partnership that allowed us to build our own proprietary membership and training plan platform focused on what we feel are the most important elements of the coach/athlete relationship. In short, “Here is my training plan. Right next to it, easy to find, is the content I have created to accompany each week of your training plan. If you have questions about THIS week, ask here; about your SEASON, ask there. Connect with your fellow teammates over here.” We are continually improving this interface.

Training Plans
Listening to feedback of the Team and applying our own observations, in August ’09 we completely rewrote our OutSeason plans, and created brand new podcasts and videos to accompany every training week. We ran a very successful OS training plan sale in September and many of these training plan customers decided to join EN in November after our offer of a training plan credit applied to membership.

We repeated this rewrite process again in December, this time to our entire suite of half and full Ironman training plans, and recorded new podcasts and videos to accompany the new plans. We applied a sale to these plans in January and February, and brought in a few more members in March through our training plan credit opportunity above.

2. New OutReach / Education Initiatives
In keeping with our progressive outreach through free eBooks and social media, we decided to compile some of our most precious resources into more digestible and exciting formats.

Virtual Seminars: Related to our filter and screening ideas above, we decided to create a series of “virtual seminars,” to deliver to the tri world our thoughts on OutSeason and Long Course training, and Ironman race execution. (links to all). We were successful in delivering our message to more athletes, identifying potential members for TeamEN.

100% FREE Tri Rallies: A  free training camp for our athletes and the general public, hosted by us on a couple of the Ironman courses. We hatched the idea while riding off the IMUSA course during our June ’09 camp and decided to focus on IMUSA and IMWI, the courses we are most familiar with.

Our first Tri-Rally was on the IMUSA course in June 2010. With only word of mouth marketing and RSVPs taken on Facebook, we truly had no idea what expect. We were very pleasantly surprised to have over 60 athletes attend the Rally and, though the weather didn’t exactly cooperate, I was still able to deliver about 3-4hrs of instruction and introduce many athletes to TeamEN. It was also a ton of fun and this was duplicated, with a few refinements, on the IMWI course in July, where over 70 athletes joined us.

ENFan: Our next to last epiphany of the summer was that we were under-serving all of the people who had connected themselves to our brand. Whether by downloading an ebook, taking one of our virtual seminars, purchasing a training plan, following us on Twitter, fanning us on Facebook, or attending a Tri Rally or Four Keys talk, these athletes had told us they were interested in hearing what we had to say and in connecting to Endurance Nation in some fashion. So we fired up ENFan, giving away our Four Keys DVD and a 10% training plan discount code. The response from you, our ENFans, has been incredible

3. Improved Race Weekends
Huge, huge, huge and, more importantly, incredibly fulfilling for us as coaches and founders of a community. An opportunity to meet our athletes again, watch them on their big day and be there for them and their families at the finishline.  The numbers:

• 20 at IMSG
• 24 at IMCDA
• 30+ at IMUSA
• 20 at IMLou
• 13 at IMCA
• 38 at IMWI

At each of these races we delivered our Four Keys talk to 70-120+ people — the Team and general public. And as we better leveraged our word of mouth networking tools the number of people present at the start of each talk (ie, a measurement of how well we had gotten the message out there and convinced people to actually put us on their calendars) dramatically increased.

By September of 2010, we sensed that we had finally reached a tipping point of awareness of EN and our race execution message as we received MANY props on the course, in coffee shops, and shouted through car windows by our fans.

4. Two Week Trial
Now for our final epiphany: as good, unique, valuable and amazingly cool we think TeamEN is, it’s hard as hell to explain to the public what is actually going on inside. Instead, we were expecting you to sign up on a waiting list and then sit by the phone waiting for us to call to join the team, which you only got to see and witness after paying us. Even with a 30-day money-back guarantee, we’ve realized this isn’t the most efficient scenario for you or for us.

On September 17th we invited our ENFans to create a two week trial membership. Nearly 420 athletes responded by creating a trial. Close to 100 of these ended their trial early, within 5 days, to start their season with the Team. By the time the dust settled on October 1st, a total of 155 new athletes joined the ranks of TeamEN.

Endurance Nation is now a team of over 525 Ironman and Half Ironman athletes. Next we’ll share with you some of our ideas and plans for 2011.

Interested in Joining TeamEN?
Become an ENFan to receive a FREE Four Keys DVD, and an invitation to our next trial membership opportunity, expected to take place near the end of October, 2010.

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Since bringing on board our latest crew of 100+ members and now with the launch of our OutSeason training plan sales, we’ve been fielding a LOT of season planning questions and discussions. Specifically:

“My head is currently at X, I’m racing Y, when should I start my OutSeason and how/when should I then move to my “InSeason” half or full Ironman training plan?”

I’ll answer these questions by presenting you with four common case studies that we see across our Team.

But first, let’s address the head space issue:

One common comment we are seeing from new members is that they have turned to EN after realizing the limitations and iffy results of their current training protocol. They come to us for a change, to get much faster with a much smaller training time investment. We get that and we’re happy to have them on board.

But we tell them that our OutSeason training plan is tough. It will redefine “work” for them.  We advise them to ask themselves “is my head in a place right now where I can commit to 20wks of hard work to get much, much faster?” If the answer is “not yet,” then we encourage them to come back to us when they are ready.

So, the starting point of your OutSeason isn’t a simple backplanning on the calendar of 20wks of OS + 12-20wks of IM/HIM training = Race Day. Rather, it’s “am I ready to do the WORK, starting on Date X?”

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s explore season planning by presenting you with our case studies. While there are certainly exceptions and special cases, these scenarios probably cover 90% of the scheduling issues we see daily with our team:

May (or Earlier) A-Race:
Cali, New Orleans 70.3, IMSG, Wildflower, IMTX, etc.

• OutSeason: Begin Monday, October 4th
• End OutSeason: Sunday, February 20th.
• Begin A-Race Training Plan (IM or HIM): after transition, 12-16wks out from your A-race
• Notes:
  • “Warm Winter Athletes,” ie, folks who can ride outside all year, may consider following our “outdoor volume guidance” included with our plans in mid-January or so, to “lean forward” towards the higher volume shift coming when they begin their in-season plan.
  • “Cold Winter Athletes,” stuck on a trainer: stick to our volume guidance. No need to ride longer than 2.5hrs on a trainer, ever.

June or July A-Race
IMCDA, IMUSA, June or July HIM’s

• OutSeason: begin October 4th or November 1st, depending on where your head and ’10 season is at.
• End OutSeason: 20wks later, just follow the plan.
• Begin A-Race Plan: at the end of your OS. However, if you’re an Ironman athlete and have an HIM in route to that race, you’re going to do our Ironman training plan and insert your HIM into your Ironman training plan.
• Notes:
  • Warm Winter athletes: Ok to do an April or early May (if racing IMCDA) or early June (if racing IMUSA) HIM.
  • Cold Winter athletes: prefer you to not do a May or June HIM in route to June or July Ironman. You’ll be coming kinda late to the Ironman volume party and we need your training to be very race specific, without a 7-10 day messiness caused by working your training around a scheduled half Ironman.

August-September A-Race
IMLou, Canada, September, and August-September Halfs

• Begin OutSeason: October, November, or January. Really, it’s more a function of where your head is and can you put events on the calendar before your A-race that will encourage you to keep your eye on shorter term goals. For you, there really isn’t the Warm/Cold Weather concerns above. Rather, you’re faced with a long season and we need you to focus on shorter term stuff so you don’t go nuts.
• Begin InSeason: at the end of your OS plan, but:
  • Warm Winter Athletes: we like to see you peak for a May or June race, rather than focus on one event in August or July for months and months.
  • Cold Winter Athletes: sorta the same as above but probably not as important for you because your season is generally shorter.

October-November A-Race
Kona, Soma Half, IMAZ, FL, Cozumel, etc

• Begin OutSeason: January
• Begin InSeason: DEFINITELY encourage everyone to have a split season, with a May – June or July A-race(s) and then transition to the last 12wks of our HIM or Ironman training plan.

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It’s Fall and time for another annual rewrite of our OutSeason training plans, now in their 7th generation of improvement, and our annual OutSeason Training Plan Sale.

It’s also the season of the recycled, paraphrased training advice that appears in the tri mags year after year as coaches try to catch your attention— by telling you the same advice that everyone else is telling you, apparently.

We do things differently. Our nearly 20 years of Ironman coaching experience and interactions with a team of over 500 long course triathletes forces us to step back and think long and hard about things like:

• What is time return on race day for every training minute we ask our athletes to invest?
• Is the cost of that training time constant across the year, or variable? That is, more expensive at certain points in the season?
• When is the best time of year to make our athletes much faster on race day?

We’ve captured these ideas, and much, much more, in our FREE OutSeason Virtual Seminar, currently subscribed to by over 2000 age group triathletes just like you. We you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to sign up (it’s FREE!!) and redefine how you think of fitness and endurance training.

But that’s us talking.

We’d now like to share with you the thoughts, observations, experiences, and results of our athletes in our OutSeason training program.  We asked them four questions and below are their answers:

How did you to train in the OS, before EN?

“Nothing too formal, to be honest I wasn’t real serious but was told by old coach to MTB, do some running, nothing formal. Mainly low z1 work.”

“I had a one on one coach for 3 years before EN. OS consisted of the “Training Bible”/Joe Friel base building. About 3-4 runs a week—when I trained with HR, all at zone 1. No intervals. When my coach went to training with pace, those runs were done at Epace–which was determined by HR as there was no run testing. About 3-4 rides on the trainer a week—also at zone 1-2 with some one legged drills and spin-ups. No intervals. The peak longest ride was 2.5-3 hours on the trainer for me as it was Feb and March when the base building volume was its highest. When my coach went to training with a PM, I did one test at the start of the OS then did a few intervals at 85% (called “The Sweet Spot Ride”). There was no testing again for the rest of the season or any guidance with how to pace an IM or HIM with the PM. 3-4 swims a week: with 100 and 400 IM sets (as in fly, back, breast, free) with IM drills (breast kick drills, one armed fly drills) with sets of 200, 300 pull with buoy and paddles, 100-400 sets at T-pace or descend for a total of 2800-3200 for each swim. The peak amount of time per week was 15-17 hours.”

What do/did you do differently in the EN flavor OS?

“Obviously it was structured so I followed EN protocol. High intensity work on the bike and run. No swimming.”

“NOT SWIM! Hallelujah!!! Test for run and bike, use that test to set training zones, train at  FTP, 120%FTP, tempo pace for the sole purpose of increasing FTP and Vdot. Simply, I trained to get FAST…in the most time efficient way possible. I learned what hard work really was…which has made me not just physically, but mentally stronger. I saved myself from going crazy from not doing 3 hour trainer rides and IM drills in Feb.”

What changes/gains/results did you see in your training, racing, and self-coaching knowledge?

“When the weather was nice enough to ride outside with friends they all noticed how much faster I was on the bike. Only real comparison racewise would be a 21 minute improvement in a long sprint race. FYI, this result was the same weekend as a HIM RR and another 20 mi ride so legs weren’t firing like I would have liked them to.”

“In my first OS, I had a 38% gain in my FTP and a 4 point increase in my Vdot. Despite not swimming all OS, after 4 weeks of doing Coach Rich’s swim drills, I was swimming just as fast as I did when I went to Masters 4 times a week and way faster than when I did those stoopid IM sets. I finally have a grasp of what a powerful tool my powermeter is for training and racing. I can know make reasonable decisions (when my ego is in check) about my training schedule as a self-coached athlete.

What would you tell a training partner who is considering the choice between Old Skool and EN OS?

“Basically results speak for themselves. 15% gain on the bike in 20 weeks.”

“If you are interested in training smarter and more efficient, if your ego isn’t wrapped around training 20+ hours a week “like the pros”, if you want to execute to the very best of the fitness that you bring to race day…then EN is the way. It is the most time efficient method to squeeze out as much fitness from your body while preserving your sanity, home life, and job. Even if I won the lottery, didn’t have work or clean my bathrooms ever again and had OODLES of time on my hands, I would still train the EN way. It just makes sense.”

Other observations from our athletes
(sorry, they didn’t specifically answer our questions

“While I was attracted to EN by their race execution philosophy, I’ve since learned that the emphasis on “minimize time, maximize value” of each workout has value not just for the time-crunched athlete, but also for someone like me, who is both a veteran trainer and an older athlete (two different concepts; veteran is someone with at least 5-7 years of consistent long-course training under his/her belt; older is whatever age you want to use, probably somewhere north of 50-55). For the vet who still wants to improve, and probably has years, if not decades of “base” in biking and running, doing more volume will probably not help very much. EN’s focus on more intensive, shorter efforts, especially in the Out Season, offers a route to faster times on the race course. And for the older athlete, who probably has signficantly more need for recovery, doing less volume provides that opportunity.  While top end speed is probably less in the older athlete, we still have opportunities to mazimize our potential through judicious use of short, intense intervals. The EN program, designed for the “time-crunched” athlete, fits the bill nicely for different reasons for the older athlete, who might not necessarily be time-crunched, but whose ability to fit in massive amounts of training is restricted by other factors, such as injury, slower healing times, and reduced hormone levels (e.g., HGH, testosterone.) I haven’t yet gone through a full season on the program, but I do have one OS and one IM result so far. No question, as a life-long swimmer, I was anxious about de-emphasizing that aspect of my training life. I saw NO dropoff in my swim race times, however. And, my IM result was quite satisfying – on a very warm day (temps up to low 80s), I bettered my time from the year before by six minutes, when the temps had been in the 50s, by six minutes, and could have gone even faster if I’d had a reason to – I won my AG by 10 minutes, and just cruised  my run home! At my age, keeping my times the same from year to year I regard as a big accomplishment, to say nothing of getting better.”

“I’ll offer some of my thoughts having been doing this for about 7 years and starting with the Triathlete’s Training Bible back in 2003. TTB (at least the version I worked with) emphasized true Old Skool techniques (large volume with significant time in heart rate Z1-Z2). I was trying to log upwards of 16-20 hrs/week (this was less than advocated by TTB, but was all I thought I could manage working full time and being married… fortunately, no kids at that time) in the “offseason,” and was frequently doing 5-6 hr rides and 2-2.5 hr runs on the weekends while cramming in 10,000 meters of swimming (again, less than advocated by TTB) and additional bikes/runs during the week.  My goal was IM Wisconsin in 2004, and I did very well for me, finishing in 12:27, (~1:10 sw / ~6:10 bike / ~5:00 run). After that, I wanted another shot, because I thought I could do better. I switched from TTB to “Going Long” (Gordo Byrn) which was similar, but offered a few differences. a month or so before my second shot at Moo in 2007, I switched to Crucible Fitness with Rich just as EN was being launched. I listened to R&P’s advice, but didn’t heed it. I was one of the morons walking the marathon talking about my great (for me) bike split en route to a 6 hour ego death march (and puking at mile 22) on the marathon. For 2007, my (mostly) Going Long training again averaged in the 15-20 hrs/week and netted me 1:12 sw / 5:50 bike / 6:00 run and a disappointing finish, although I wonder if I’d have done better with better execution, because I think the fitness was there.  FFW to 2010 as I was training for IMLP. With 3 more years of EN under my belt, my training volume had significantly dropped. I was now taking months completely off from swimming while focusing on the bike and run (although my run focus has been shaky at best). My average training hours are way down (maxing at about 12… maybe). At LP, I PRed in 12:12:27 (1:13 sw / 6:11 bike / 4:35 run). This result came after virtually no swimming until 12 weeks out, and then only 2x/week (total of 5Km-6Km), even when the Race Prep called for 3x/wk, and I was exactly 3 minutes off my BEST IM swim trying to cramalmost twice as much swimming into a week. In addition, I really didn’t follow the run portion of the plan this year. I ran rather infrequently, but trying to hit the long runs. When I DID start hitting more runs (about 6 weeks out) I didn’t hit a lot of the interval work prescribed, but rather, ran pretty steady. I still PRed my marathon run by 25 minutes. What I DID do was hit almost every bike workout at the prescribed wattages.  These plans work to keep me in great shape at half the time of Old Skool plans. I’m eager to find out what I can do if I really apply myself to ALL aspects of the plans, and I’m now working to improve my running. With easier access to the pool later this year and a renewed interest in running, maybe I can finally hit all aspects of the plan and see where it can take me at the Half IM level.”

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Athletes preparing for Ironman Wisconsin are eager for any information to give them a leg up on the day.  Having seen the recent reports from Ironman Coeur d’Alene and Ironman Lake Placid, everyone is sure to be excited about their preparations. Without a doubt, a large part of success on race day is being 100% ready to handle whatever the event will bring in terms of the course, weather, the competition, etc.

While no one has all of the answers, here is a quick review of the top questions inside Endurance Nation about racing Ironman Wisconsin.

What is the swim like?
The Madison swim is pretty unique…well, not the swim itself but rather the stadium-like feel the venue offers. The swim is a two lap, counter-clockwise rectangle, with the long sides parallel to the shore, and with a deep water start from the bottom left corner of the rectangle. However, Monona Terrace, packed with spectators at each level and in the parking deck, is on your right shoulder (on way out), giving the swim a very unique feel! Be sure to moo like a cow when you make the first left turn, in true Wisconsin fashion! Note: You do not exit the water at the end of the first lap, just continue swimming.

I’ve heard the Wisconsin transition is crazy? Something about a helix!?!?
Yep. Upon exiting the water and having your wetsuit stripped, you then run up the “helix.” Think spiraling ramp up a parking deck. Everyone has to do it, it’s no big deal, and the spectators lining the helix will make it an experience you’ll never forget! The changing tent? Think huge convention center room with convention center chairs. You then exit, run to your bike, mount at the top of the opposite helix and ride down it. Don’t worry, everyone runs the same distance, and don’t sweat riding down the helix. Again, think parking garage ramp and just take your time. Safety is your number one priority here.

I’ve heard the Wisconsin bike is tough…how tough?
Yes, the IMWI bike course, in our opinion, is the second most challenging on the US Ironman circuit, holding the title for years before IMSG stepped up to take the title. 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.

The  course is a stick and loop affair: out of town and generally uphill 16 miles towards Verona and the start of The Loop. Twice through a 40-mile loop, then return to Madison. As we said, the entire course is a never ending affair of rolling hills, turns, and constant terrain changes. We highly recommend you drive (not ride!!) the course before race day.

Ok, what is the run like?
The Wisconsin run course is two laps, winding, urban, mostly flat and not nearly as challenging as the bike course. There are two sorta-significant hills on the course:

1. Observatory Drive, at about miles 8 and 18. A couple of rollers, then a short, steep, switchback downhill that rolls into State Street.
2. State Street, at the end of each lap. Actually, you need to climb up to the Capitol before heading to the end of each lap and, depending on how you’re feeling, that climb can feel like it starts on State Street…or much sooner! Either way, State Street is packed with spectators to cheer you on!

The rest of the run course has a little of everything: turns, roads through campus (and even a lap of the Camp Randall football field!), a shaded dirt walking path next to the lake, hundreds of spectators on State Street, and more. In fact, there will likely be only about 400 yards on each lap where you will not be cheered on by spectators.

What Can My Family Do on Race Day?
If they want to see you on the bike, the town of Verona puts on a neat family festival they can attend while they wait for you to come through town twice. The race should offer shuttles to Verona. Another option is to take one of many county roads to the hilliest hills on the course (Old Sauk, Timberlane, Midtown) and contribute to the Tour de France vibe on the climbs. If they want to stay in Madison while you ride, downtown Madison, and especially State Street, offer a range of activities. In fact, if you look at the run map, you’ll see that your family can station themselves near the ends of State Street and only walk a couple blocks to catch you coming and going many times.

What’s the biggest mistake I could make?
Without a doubt, overcooking the bike, especially on the hills. You really, really need to be thinking out there 100% of the time. We highly recommend that you commit yourself to Just Riding Along (JRA) for the first 90-120′, ignoring the others around you. Coach Rich rode a 5:12 and qualified for Kona in 2002 doing just this: a 72 mile bike ride after a 40 mile warmup.

What is the temperature like on race day?
Temps for IMWI have historically been highly variable. In 2005, it was 95+. In 2006, 55 and raining. Best to be prepared nutritionally for a hot day and gear-wise for a cold one — you just don’t know. At the end of the day, everyone else has to race under the same conditions!

What’s Your Top Swim Tip?
Only go as fast as your ability to maintain good form. If your form begins to go because you are tired or working too hard, just slow down. It’s a long day, so don’t sweat 2-3 mintues on the swim.

What’s Your Top Bike Tip?

You’re basically warming up until about mile 40 of the bike. Don’t worry, the hammerheads will come back to you or you’ll see them on the run. The bike course is very unforgiving and they will pay, don’t worry.

What’s Your Top Run Tip?
Run very easy for the first 6 miles, ignoring the crowds in the first mile. Then settle into your pace, preparing for the real race that starts at mile 18. At mile 18, put your head down and get it done. Count the number of people you’re passing and keep your head in the game. You can do anything for 8 miles!

Additional Resources:

• Podcast: Coach’s Tips — Ironman Wisconsin. More insights on IMWI from Coach Rich.
• Podcast: Four Keys of Ironman Execution Pre-Race Talk, IMWI Edition, from our Ironman Wisconsin Tri Rally.
• Podcast: Advanced Ironman Racing Topics — climbing, descending, bike handling, bike fit principles, bike setup, nutrition and much more!
• Podcast: The Ironman Taper, De-MYTH-ified — Join Coach Rich and Coach Patrick  for this 20-minute podcast on the myths and truths of Ironman tapering. Why we do it, when to do it, and how to do it. Eliminate some doubt, pick up some tips, get ready for your next race EN-style!
• Podcast: Ironman Race Week — Rich and Patrick talk about what to do, and what NOT to do, for every day of your Ironman race week.
• Event: Ironman Wisconsin Four Keys Talk, Friday, 10am at the KSwiss booth.  Join Rich, Patrick, 40+ TeamEN athletes and 100+ other competitors for our patented get-your-head-screwed-on-straight session!
• Complete TeamEN Race Weekend Schedule, including training and beers with the coaches
  

Become an ENFan today to receive a FREE Four Keys DVD, 10% training plan discount code, and a FREE trial membership opportunity.

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