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.

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

“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.

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

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.”

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

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.

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

On August 29th, almost 20 TeamEN athletes will put months of hard work to the test at Ironman Louisville. It will be hot, it will be difficult and they will be challenged. But these folks are ready. Let’s take a minute to get to know the people behind the names and bib numbers…it’s a great bunch that we can’t wait to support on race day!

I’m Barb Spitler, a 51 year old triathlete, preparing for my first full IM, in Louisville, KY.  I’m a marathoner, having done 12 thus far; The Great Wall Marathon in China being the most difficult.  I have completed 2 HIM’s (Steelhead) an Olympic distance, and numerous sprint distance races.  My other pursuits include: martial arts, scuba diving, kayaking, hiking, reading, and paranormal research!

This picture is of me and my beautiful Mother, on her 90th birthday in July.  She is a strong woman who has always encouraged me to pursue my dreams.  Completing an Ironman has been a dream for many years.

As a teacher, I strive to inspire my students to believe in themselves, that they can set goals and accomplish them.  Using myself and my experiences as an example, they look at me through different eyes, and at themselves with possibility.  My favorite quote, that I keep on my chalkboard all year is: “Imagine what you would do if you knew you couldn’t fail.” (Anonymous)
I consider myself so fortunate for having found Endurance Nation, Rich and Patrick, and all of my wonderful teamates who make this truly a triathlon family!


Chad Scott — This has been an exciting year for me! I just recently married (2 months ago) the love of my life and I’m so thankful that she is so supportive in all my training and racing. This will be my 3rd Ironman, I’ve competed in IMFL and IMAZ. This particular Ironman was suppose to be my first Ironman about 4 years ago, however, due to injury’s I was not able to compete. So this is my revenge on this race as the first time around I was injured. This will be my 2nd Ironman racing EN style and I have complete confidence in that I can execute my race plan. My goals for this race are to just execute my plan as best as I can and to not dwell on obstacles that might be thrown at me through the course of the day, just stay focused and race in my box! My one thing is “I can do all things through he who strengthens me”!


I’m  Matt Seaton and I joined EN this past December.  I live in Pineville, Louisiana with my wife Cindy and we have three boys (23,18,17).  This will be my third IM and my second time at IM LOU.  After being injured all of 09, I’m really looking forward to IM LOU.  My wife Cindy will be at this race with me and you might hear on the course with her bullhorn supporting the team. Look forward to meeting everyone.


Frank Haun — Both guys will be doing the race in KY.  This being my 6th and my nephew’s first Ironman. We’ll be support by the two lovely ladies in the picture – my wife and mother-in-law along with other family members. Wishing everyone the best Luck and Looking forward to meeting everyone in KY.


Dan Kerr — Lancaster, PA has been my home for the past 19 years. I’m married to Lori and we have two boys, Colin (14) and Kyle (12).

I’ve been with Endurance Nation since the beginning, joining the team after Coach Patrick helped me to my first Ironman finish in 2007. I think I heard Coach Rich deliver one of the first Four Keys talks (though it wasn’t called that at the time) at the epic camp in Lake Placid the month before the 2007 race. “There’s no such thing as a good bike followed by a bad run” reverberated in my head on race day!

Louisville will be my second Ironman. I’m feeling more pressure to perform this time around, but am still fired up about the opportunity. Like many others in haus, the last few years have presented a number of personal hurdles to cross. I’m extremely grateful to be able to toe the line healthy and strong. That will be my race mantra.


Aimee Hendrigan – I live in Boston with my husband Bob, directly across the street from Fenway Park! I was raised in Cambridge, Mass and grew up a swimmer. In college I played varsity water polo (little-known fact: my team nickname was “Killer” – trust me, it was ironic!). After college I spent many fun-filled years in California, where I first dabbled in triathlons. I lived in Santa Barbara, and then in the Bay Area, where I got my masters in city planning at Cal. I’ve been back in Boston for six years and currently work at a foundation, making grants aimed at ending homelessness and creating healthy communities. This is my first Ironman; I’ve done two half IMs in the past year and many sprints and Olympics prior to that. Looking forward to a HOT day!

Scott Liston
Fairfield, OH
M45-49 age group, Ironman Louisville Bib Number 2598
My wonderful family! Eric (18), Deb, Mark (16), Aimee (12), Me, Brian (20)
This is my first Ironman.  I did sprints from ’03-06, Olys from 07 to 09 and also did Muncie Endurathon HIM (5:25) and Toyota Challenge HIM (5:57 in Hurricane Ike, gusting to 60 MPH winds) in 2008.  2009 was a tough year with some knee issues which were diagnosed to be a functional leg length discrepancy that showed up with all the HIM-prep biking.  4mm shims on the left leg later, and voila, I am back in the game!  Time to move up to Ironman!

In high school, I did one year of swimming, one year of cross country, and some soccer.  I was interested in triathlon in the mid 80s and even subscribed to Triathlete mag and bought a Trek tri bike of the era in 1986.  Life (graduate degree, four kids, career) managed to get the priority but I lost weight and did a marathon in 2000 then switched to triathlon in ’03.  In October, I celebrate a decade of fitness and am truly blessed to have family and friends support me on this journey.
I live in Fairfield, Ohio near Cincinnati.  I am a finance manager at Procter & Gamble in corporate new business development getting P&G into new business models, primarily services.  I am married; my beautiful wife, Deb, comes out to races a couple times a year and usually takes home hardware in the duathlon! I have four beautiful children ages 20, 18, 16, and 12.  I am thankful to God for the opportunity to do the sport of triathlon and I look forward to meeting my teammates on Thursday, August 26th.


Dan Gilliatt 31, Winterset Iowa.  This is Ironman #5, I’ve done IMFL x3, IMOO 1x.  I’m not exactly sure why in the heck I chose IMLV.  I’m married to Brittany and live on an acreage in rural Iowa with our two dogs.  In real life I’m a firefighter/paramedic for the Des Moines Fire Dept.  My goal is to nail my execution and put myself in a good spot (relatively) to start racing at mile 18.


Yasko Howell — I started my tri career in 2001,  trained with a friend to do Danskin triathlon in Seattle (women’s sprint race series nationwide), have done bunch of Sprints, Olympics, HIM since then, and finally did my first IM AZ in ’06 (13hr51min), and then IM Japan in ’07 (12hr50min).  It’s been 3 years since IM Japan, and I am very excited to do this race (hopefully in EN way), especially after I had to withdraw from IM China in March due to an injury.  For me (and my husband), IM training/races is a way of life, and we enjoy the journey together.  I feel blessed to be healthy and strong to be able to train and race, and enjoy all the people we meet along the way.  I hope we are showing many good/positive aspects of what triathlon brings to our life to our 12 yr old daughter. (She is a competitive swimmer, and does triathlon occasionally)  Our goal is to do at least 1 IM race in each continent, and we have conquered North America, Asia, and hopefully Europe next year (signed up for Regensburg in ’11).  Maybe I could qualify for Kona when I am in the 60s!   I can’t wait to see Coach Patrick and all the IMLou peeps I got to know via the group forum!


Michael Johnson – 7th IM of career. Did IMLOU last yr. with the WRONG gearing….still set a PB!! (12:37) Definitely looking for another PB..Hoping for sub12hr if all goes well. I will be entered in the Executive Challenge this year (will be wearing their white kit) on raceday. If I see any EN kit it will say hi.


Rick Jansik, 48 years old, born and raised in Miami, Florida and currently living in Tampa. I have three children, twin sons who are 24 and a 14 year old daughter.

Two years ago I retired from 24 years in the Army, I am now working at US Special Operations Command as a civilian Intelligence Analyst.

I started participating in running events back in 2001 finishing my first marathon in 4 hours 20 min.  Since then I have finished 12 marathons (pr 3:45), 14 half marathons as well as many distances in between.

I competed in my first triathlon in 2007, since then I have finished at least 10 per year. I have steadily improved my age group finishes, July 30th I was second in AG at the Ft Desoto Top Gun Triathlon.

My first Ironman Louisville goal is to finish, second I would like to finish close to 11 hours.

Between running, triathlons and duathlons I will compete in at least 25 events this year.  With the help of my Endurance Nation training plan I am at my peak in physical fitness which I plan to take advantage of as long as I can.

I will be bringing my best friend and personal motivator Laura to the race; I look forward to meeting all my fellow EN competitors.

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

The Plans Themselves
We currently offer:

• 20wk OutSeason
• 12 and 20wk IM and HIM training plans

OutSeason:
Low volume, high intensity solutions to make you much faster. Notes:

• 5-8hrs total volume per week
• Divided into 3 training plans: a FTP/Threshold/T-pace block, a Vo2Max block, another Threshold block.
• Swims are not scheduled into the plan, but the plan includes tables with 20wks x 2-3 swim per week x Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced options, so you can insert them into the weekly training schedule wherever you want, if you do chose to swim in the OutSeason.

Long Course Training Plans (HIM and IM)

• 20wk plans = 8wks of General Prep + 12wks of Race Preparation training. These are written from the perspective of “this person may be starting this plan without a good base of fitness = we start things out slowly and ramp up gradually.” Think you pick this plan up in January to train for IMCDA after having not done much organized training since your last race at the end of October…as an example.
• 12wk plans = this 12wk Race Prep phase above. That is, the 12wk plans are IDENTICAL to the last 12wks of the 20wk plans. In contrast to the 20wk plans, we assume that you have been doing at least 8wks of organized training before dropping into this 12wk plan. We drop you right into Race Prep training on Day 1 with no gentle ramp up.

Now, after this preface, let’s talk about how we recommend you fit all of this togther across season. Notes:

• The OutSeason plans are our bestest tools for making you much, much faster while also keeping your training volume committment very low for a long time. This is a very, very good thing for you as an age grouper. So, whenver possible, we like you to default to this OS flavor of training because it’s so effective, the volume is so low, allowing you to preserve your head and your lifestyle committments for a long time.
• You are going to exit the OS plan very, very fit, even with it’s low volume requirement. You will exit the OS plan far more fit than Week 1 of our 20wk plan assumes you to be. For this reason…
• We prefer that our OS graduates only train for their A-race (HIM or IM) for 12 to 16wks. By this, we mean feet on the floor at 5:30am, head focused and actually training for this one event 12-16wks away. In our experience maintaining this focus for longer than 16wks begins to take a large mental toll.

Let’s now apply these thoughts to some annual schedule case studies:

Early Season (April – mid June) Half Ironman:

• Start the OS plan on whatever date of the calendar you can committ yourself to hard, but short, work for 20wks. We strongly recommend that you do not end your season and then drop right into our OS plan. You’ll want 2-4 or more weeks to decompress, pretend you’re a normal person, etc before you committ to making yourself much faster. So when exactly you start the OS plan is not as important as “is your head in the right place to start?”
• Next, back plan 6-12wks from your early season HIM.
• How does the end of your OS fit within this 6-12wk window? In our experience, you can go straight from our low volume OS right into the last 6wks of our HIM training plan and have a very, very successful race. Not so sure? Exit the OS plan at 8, 10, or 12wks out. Or you can add 30-45′ to the OS long run option and 1-1.5hrs to the OS long bike option, to give yourself a head start on the HIM plan volume while still keeping yourself in the OS plan…and making yourself much, much faster.

The guidance above works for a sorta early season IM as well, like IMCDA, for example, or IMUSA if you are cold-winter athlete.

• Stay in the OS plan until ~16wks out from your IM
• Consider adding volume to the OS long bike and long run, per above, if weather permits.
• Better yet, schedule an April or May HIM, doing:
  • 20wks of the OS plan, or as much as you fit in
  • Then insert yourself into the last 16wks or so of our 20wk IM plan, inserting your HIM into this IM training plan.

Late Season Ironan (IMCA, Louisville, WI, etc)

• Full 20wks of the OS
• 6-12wks of HIM training for a May or June HIM, then…
• Transition to the last 10-12wks of our 12wk plan in route to your Ironman
• If you find yourself with some messy weeks or just not sure what to do, your default solution is the OS plan.

Within this guidance there are many, many more considerations and we could talk this stuff for days. Questions?

• TeamEN: post your Q’s to the Macro Thread here
• ENFans: post your season planning, training plan stackin’ Q’s to this blog post and we’ll try to answer them.

Become an ENFan to save 10% on our training plans, and get a FREE Four Keys DVD.

By Rich Strauss

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

In Part I we discussed your role as The Coach. As a typical triathlete, this is the role you’re likely most familiar with, as you search for the latest and greatest training secrets to make you faster. But as your self-coaching instructor, I want you to take a step back and consider your true, more important role: The Time Investment Manager.

As an adult living and working in the real world, you know that TIME is your most precious commodity. You can make more money, you can buy more stuff, but there is only so much of your time to go around and, when you spend it, it’s gone forever. From this simple fact we draw three time investment principles:

Time Investment Principle #1: Any discussion of HOW to train must begin with a discussion of how much time do you have available to train.

Triathlon is culturally predisposed to frame most training discussions within the context of training volume: how much, how far, how long should I train. We also look to two primary sources for training advice: the former Pro Turned Coaching Guru, or the Local Fast Guy. But before you listen to the advice of either, ask yourself one question: “does this person’s lifestyle, and resultant training time available, closely resemble my own?”

The Former Pro: his job was to train, eat, and sleep…and nothing more, creating the ability to train 30 or more hours per week. If that former pro can’t step back from that perspective and frame the training discussion within YOUR constraints — busy age grouper with a fixed amount of time to devote to training — we advise you to significantly discount or ignore their training advice. Quite simply, what worked for him worked because he could do a LOT of it and recover from it. Your life conditions are very different so your training solution must be different.

The Local Fast Guy: again, ask yourself if their life conditions resemble yours. If yes, they may be a valuable learning resource for you. But if they are single, self-employed, no kids, with nearly limitless time to train during the week and on the weekends, and they are not able to frame their advice within your different life conditions, you should discount their advice as well.

Our coaching advice in Part I was framed within the constraints we’ve observed across thousands of age groupers just like you.

Time Investment Principle #2: What is Your Return on Investment (ROI) on Race Day for Every Training and Admin Minute (and Dollar) Invested?

So, your time is limited and we’ve told you to discount much of the advice you’ve been told to listen to…what are you left with? The same principle you likely use to make many decisions in your real life! Triathlon should be no different!

Before you ride 6hrs on a Sunday, or invest  2hrs of training and admin time in a 1hr master’s swim session or weightroom visit, or drop $$$$ on a carbon aero widget, just ask yourself “what is this time or money investment going to get me on race day?” Compare ROI’s between investment choices and make good decisions.

So how should you invest your limited training time and triathlon budget? In our experience, as professional Ironman coaches coaching a team of age groupers just like you:

High ROI Investments:

• 45-90 minutes of hard interval training per week, on the bike.
• Well planned tempo paced running intervals
• Running frequency
• 1-on-1 swim lessons, especially with underwater video
• Training with pace (ie, purchasing a GPS or training on a measured run course)
• Aero helmet
• Training with power
• Bike fit

Low ROI Investments

• Weight training
• Swimming year round
• Race wheels, especially a rear disk
• Easy cycling volume
• LSD running, to the exclusion of tempo work

Some of these likely make sense to you. Some may have you saying “WHAAA…..?” For more detail we recommend you take our Rethinking the Off Season virtual seminar, or read our 130+ page Long Course Training Manual

Time Investment Principle #3: Training Time Cost is Variable Across the Season

Your primary training input is time: time on the bike, time packing a bag, driving to the pool, swimming, showering, etc. We use Principles 1 and 2 to help us decide how and where to apply these time inputs across our training week. But the last missing piece is to understand that not all time is created equal. Our observation is that your time can be more or less expensive, depending on the time of year and your lifestyle constraints. Let’s discuss two typical examples:

Inexpensive Time: 3.5hr Saturday ride in June.
The sun rises at 5am. You can be on the bike by 5:30a and home by 9a, in time to shower, put your mom/dad hat on and be a responsible human being for the rest of day. You can do that ride in the sun, with your friends, adding a valuable social component to your training. Your goal race, Ironman Louisville or an August half Ironman is about 8-10 weeks away so this investment in June makes sense to all parties involved, especially your family!

Expensive Time: 3.5hr trainer ride in December
You’ve asked your family and lifestyle to accommodate your crazy triathlon habit all year. You’ve likely incurred some Spousal Approval Unit (SAU) costs in the process. You’ve also committed a large portion of own headspace, for months at a time, to thinking about, motivating yourself, and strategerizing this triathlon game. Now it’s 5:30am in December, in Chicago, 32 degrees out (heatwave) and you swing your leg over your bike on the drainer. You cast your head forward to your A-race, Ironman Wisconsin in September, do the math on how many similar trainer rides you have on the calendar before your bike touches the pavement again and make a note to hide the gun from yourself and your family for fear that someone might use it…

Same ride, same time investment, but with dramatically different cost considerations.

Conclusion

We can share many stories of athletes who’ve come to us for advice, after being sentenced to 18hr training weeks, or 4hr Zone 1 base building trainer rides in February for an Ironman in September. In our opinion, these coaches or Off Season training plans blindly apply the cultural training knowledge of the sport without considering these three deeper principles above.

So, let’s combine our discussions from Part I and Part II to create our Off Season training guidance for you:

1. The Off Season is best time of the year to make yourself significantly faster:
   • A moderate amount of get-faster training will make you significantly faster on race day (ie, high ROI)
   • There is no competing requirement to also build endurance for your goal race distance. You can separate FAST from FAR, freeing up recovery resources to make you much, much faster.
2. Your Off Season training should be extremely low volume:
   • Off Season training time is more expensive than In Season time, demanding you spend less of it on high ROI activities.
   • As an age grouper with limited time available, low volume in the Off Season is just the right thing to do, for your head, your lifestyle, and your family.

Interested in learning more?

Please take the Endurance Nation FREE five-part “Rethinking the OutSeason” Email 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. Join the more than 5,000 athletes who have benefitted from the EN approach to winter training!

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

With Ironman Louisville just around corner, athletes competing in the event are eager to learn more about the course and how to approach race day given the unique characteristics of the event: a time trial swim start, moderately hilly bike course, and the potential for a very hot race day.

Here are some additional resources for you:

• • Ironman Louisville 2010: Quick Recap
  • Ironman Louisville 2010 Race Report Podcast Series
  • Ironman Louisville 2010 Report Part Two: Results and Testimonials

Ironman Louisville: Coach Advice for the Event

What is the swim like?
The Louisville swim is probably the most unique swim on the IM calendar. Louisville is a time trial, non-wetsuit start while every other US Ironman is a wave start. The start order is “first come, first served,” and the countdown for the swim cutoff begins when the LAST person gets in the water. This is how it works out on race day:

• Get your transition set up and then you’ll walk about half mile upriver to a small park/dock to get in line. Your position in line is your position in the line, and the earlier you get in line, the closer you are to the front, the closer to 7am you get in the water and the more time (see swim cutoff note above) you have to complete the swim.
• At 7am the first age-grouper gets in the water and the organizers do their best to start the next and the next and the next in 1-2 second intervals. You can do the math, but in ’07 it took them about 37 minutes to get everyone in the water. In ’08 it took 45 minutes. If you are in danger of not making the swim cutoff, it behooves you to get in line very, very early.
• You will swim upriver, but between an island and the mainland, so there is very little to no current. You’ll swim past the end of the island a few hundred meters, make a left and a left again into the current, then swim downriver to the swim exit and transition area. It’s funky, but if you look at the historical swim times from the event you’ll see that they look to be on par with every other Ironman swim. More importantly, everyone has to do it so it’s not a big deal.
  

What is transition like?
Very simple. You’ll run up a boat ramp, through the changing tents and out to your bike on the grass. You’ll enter the bike course on a wide sidewalk or directly onto the road. The transition is simple and straight forward.

What is the bike course like?
The Ironman Louisville bike course is “fair,” in that you’re not struggling to survive against a wicked hilly course stacked with long climbs, longer descents, mind-numbing flats or other variables. It’s just…a bike ride with some flats, some hills (but nothing crazy) and some downhills (but nothing scary). It has a little bit of everything: bottle-tossing train tracks (early), flat along the river, rolling hills in the horse country, tons of spectators through Lagrange, flat to generally downhill and fast back to transition.

You start flat along the river to a short climb into Prospect. Once through Prospect the course is rolling to the start of the out and back. In the center of the out and back is a creek/low ground so it’s generally downhill, across the creek, uphill, flat, flip it and return. The bridge across the creek is at the very bottom of the hill = a good bit of speed, and of course it has a rough seam on the right side that is known to launch bottles and other gear. Hit the bridge towards the center and you’ll be fine.

Once you’ve completed the out and back, you turn right and carry on to the start of a counterclockwise loop that you do twice. The loop has a little bit of everything but nothing too crazy or anything to be overly concerned about. At the end of the second loop you continue straight, generally downhill and flat back to Louisville WITHOUT doing the out and back. Yep, you only do it once, on your way out to the loop. That’s it, pretty straight forward. If you are looking for some extra credit information, please read our Climbing Smart on Race Day article. It’s helped thousands of triathletes have great races on hilly courses.

What is the run like?
It’s more or less a dead flat out and back, with just enough slight turns that you don’t see miles and miles into the distance. The only “hills” are a climb just past the top of a bridge over the Ohio and almost into Indiana, before flipping it and coming back (you only do this Ohio bridge thing once, at the start of the first lap); and a dive under an overhead train bridge. As you head back towards the end of the first lap, you’ll take a quick jog left, then right, running maddeningly close to the finishing chute…before flipping a u-turn and heading back out for Lap Two.

The toughest part has to be that it’s six miles straight out of town, minimal turns, which puts you very, very far away from spectators and free mojo. There are many, quiet miles to be had out there…very tough!

What Can My Family do on Race Day?
If they want to see you on the bike, the town of Lagrange puts on a neat family festival they can attend while they wait for you to come through town twice on the loop (your kids can play with a fire truck!). If they want to stay in Louisville while you ride, downtown Louisville, and especially Fourth Street Live, offer a range of activities. In fact, if you look at the course maps, you’ll see that a good portion of the area along the river between the finish and transition area is grass, a large park, a playground and other options for staying busy. Just make sure the family is prepared for a long day in the heat (see below).

I’ve heard the finish line is very unique?
Yep! Picture your typical urban downtown with high rises on either side of the street. Now put a class ceiling, about 3 stories up, over about 2-3 blocks of the main street. Fill this covered area with bars and restaurants, a cross walk overhead to a food court…and now put the finish of an Ironman right there in the middle of it all! Very cool, very unique…very LOUD.

What’s the Biggest Mistake I Could Make?
Without a doubt, overcooking the bike, especially on the hills. We highly recommend that you commit yourself to Just Riding Along (JRA) for the first 90 to 120 minutes, ignoring the others around you. Last year Coach Patrick was spectating on the bike out and back, and people were already over-extending themselves!!

The most important thing you need to do is to stay on top of your hydration, making sure you take in enough fluid through the heat and all of the terrain changes. The second more important thing to do is to stay as cool as possible on the bike — this means dumping water on the back of your neck and, if need be, on your shorts (femoral artery).

Also, the last 20 miles of the bike course are pretty fast and you want to be able to take advantage of that by not being That Guy. You know, the one who is too shelled from having drilled himself for 90 miles and is now relegated to the hoods with 20 miles to think about how in the world can he possibly run a marathon in this heat with these legs. In other words, it pays to be smart so you can finish fast and confidently vs slowly and terrified of the run.

What is the Temperature Like on Race Day?
Bad news? It’s gonna be hot. Hot and humid. Good news? You KNOW it’s going to be hot and humid…it’s Kentucky in August! (2009 was an outlier with the cooler temps.) Trust us, that piece of mind vs the unknown of other races (such as IMCDA, IMUSA, or IMWI) is actually very valuable. Pretty much everyone in the US should have plenty of time to train in the heat before the event so the heat is usually not the problem that it sometimes is at other, less weather-consistent races.

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 minutes on the swim. Don’t try to get all Ricky Racer with drafting and current strategery — swim your swim and you’ll be fine!

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). After that, ride steady and stay on top of your nutrition.

What’s Your Top Run Tip?
Run very easy for the first 6 miles, 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

FREE Race Seminars
Visit our FREE Resources page to find an extensive library of training and racing guidance. Tap into our years of experience to take your triathlon game to the next level!

Four Keys Pre-Race Talk
Coach Patrick will be on hand to support TeamEN, our ENFans, and deliver our Four Keys Pre-Race talk to the general public. All attendees will receive a FREE Four Keys DVD!  Go here for more details and to RSVP to the talk

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!

ENFans,

It’s been a great summer connecting with so many of you at our free Lake Placid and Wisconsin (links) Tri-Rallies and at the races! Your emails, tweets, shoutouts, handshakes, and thank you’s are sincerely appreciated!

Your gratitude has been very powerful for us, as coaches and leaders, and we have decided to significantly turn up the volume of our FREE vibe.

As an ENFan you’ll also receive:

• A 10% discount on any Endurance Nation training plan or learning product. Just use code ENFan10 in the EN Store here.
• A subscription to our TeamEN Updates, full of quality training and racing content, exclusive to our ENFans and TeamEN members!
• Future invitations to join TeamEN, as space becomes available.
• Opportunity to purchase exclusive ENFan training and racing apparel (coming soon).

Ready to claim your FREE DVD?
Go here to register.

You must register by September 17th for the free DVD. DVD’s will ship around September 20th.

Why Free?
We are creating a free opportunity to connect with Endurance Nation for two simple reasons. First, we have thousands of people inside the EN network, from Facebook Fans to Training Plan users to followers on Twitter, and you can all benefit from being connected to one another. Second, it’s just the right thing to do. Triathlon is supposed to be fun and cool and all about the people, and this move means we can make all three of those things happen for thousands of YOU.

We are grassroots, anti-guru triathlon coaches. We are not former pro triathletes, or AG’ers who bill ourselves as fast guys, telling you that we have the secrets to triathlon greatness and then charging you $$$ for the privilege of letting us coach you, emailing you a couple times per week, or talking to us on the phone. That’s just not how we roll.

As an ENFan, you will simply learn more about the coaches and TeamEN Membership:

• The Coaches: Do they know what they are doing and are they, as coaches, a good fit for me? If yes, we hope you decide to purchase a training plan from us. We’ll even give you a 10% discount as an ENFan.
• TeamEN Membership: What does it mean to have access to over 20 training plans, support from the coaches, a Team of over 400 Ironman and 70.3 athletes, and much more? Do I need these additional resources? Is the Team a good fit for me? If yes, we hope you decide to upgrade from ENFan to TeamEN Member when you receive an invitation from us.

If no…no worries! We simply don’t count the nickles. We prefer to share and let you get to know us. It’s the right thing to do.

Visit Endurance Nation to create a FREE Five-Day Trial or Shop our Triathlon Training Plans!