As a working dude running multiple companies and involved with all sorts of different thing, training often falls (unfortunately) to the bottom of the daily priority list – there’s only so many hours in the day and trying to get my triathlon training in at the end of a 16hour day is pretty tough – nothing like going for a run or hopping on the trainer at 11pm…

Anyway, thanks to Patrick and Rich over at Team Endurance Nation, thankfully my weekly training schedule is only around 8 hours a week – and it still kicks my butt…

For those of you who want to train efficiently and maximize your training time during the “not so nice time of the year” (it’s kinda cold and rainy here in Vancouver), I highly recommend checking out their 2013 OutSeason Training Plan and then transition into one of their half or full ironman training plans. I used their plan for my last Ironman in 2010 and PB’d by an hour, but trained probably half the time I did for my previous IM. I’m just a recreational guy and I’m happy finishing under 12 hours, but even if you’re a top age grouper, their advanced plans are absolutely applicable to kick some butt in your age group (Coach Patrick ripped off a 9:58 in his last IM)

Either way, I trust everyone’s training has gotten off to a great start in 2013 and look forward to hearing how you guys do. Hit me up or follow me on the iwillnotbonk facebook page above.

cheers

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Until the next time, be safe out there and happy training!

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In its inaugural year, the Valley First Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan (VFGFAMO) featured spectacular riding through Canada’s wine country, and welcomed over 2,000 cyclists, including special guests Eddy Merckx, Trevor Linden and pro cyclist, Svein Tuft.

The 2012 edition promises to be even better.

Register today for your chance to ride with legends, and experience a European-style cycling event in the heart of the South Okanagan wine country. The 2nd annual VFGFAMO includes several new wrinkles; such as a new Cortofondo (~55 km) ride to complement the Granfondo (160 km) and Mediofondo (92 km) categories, as well as a new Start/Finish at Penticton’s legendary Gyro Park. Stay tuned for more announcements and exciting surprises.

In the meantime, tell your friends it’s “Granfondo Axel Merckx” for 2012!

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All the craziness will be documented via GoPro2 so suffice to say, this should be interesting…

stay tuned!

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photo credit: Sonic Fitness

6:59am — music blasting, kayakers herding swimmers, and nearly 2500 Ironman athletes treading water or standing on the beach of the Ironman swim start, waiting pensively to start a very, very big and long day.

7:00am — BOOM! And so begins perhaps the most unique spectacle in all of endurance sports — the Ironman swim start. Nearly 2500 bodies and 5000 arms and legs churning the water to start a 140.6 mile day. Below are our tips for surviving, and excelling at, the Ironman swim.

Where to Line Up

Endurance Nation had over 1000 Ironman finishes in 2011. Rich and Patrick have nearly 30 Ironman finishes between them and have been to 4-6 Ironmans every year since 2002.  We’ve learned that a lot of fast people position themselves right on the buoy line. Many more people position themselves as far as possible away from these people, as far from the buoy line as they can get. As a consequence, the middle of the start line is often less crowded than you would expect.

Therefore we usually recommend you position yourself near the middle of the start line and then seed yourself front to back about 2-4 minutes faster than you expect to swim. For example, if you expect to swim a 1:10, find those 1:05-08 people. In our experience it is better to be swum (politely) around by slightly faster swimmers than to be timid about your starting position, seed yourself around much slower swimmers, and then have to swim through many swimmers for 2.4 miles.

Only Swim as Fast as Your Ability to Maintain Form

The net difference between you swimming “hard” and swimming “easy” is usually only about 2-4 minutes in an 11-17 hour day. It’s just not worth it to try to make something happen. Instead, focus on swimming as smoothly and efficiently as you know how. Swim with your best possible form and only swim fast enough as your ability to maintain your form.

It’s helpful to have some individual cues for what good/not good form is for you. For some folks your breathing count (3-count or 4-count strokes per breath) is a good metric. Others prefer to focus on perceived exertion. Whatever you choose, know that it’s time to slow down if you start to feel your form slip!

Keep Your Head Inside the Box

2500+ bodies trashing around in a small space, all trying to go the same direction. It’s the very definition of chaos! Maintain your focus by keeping your head inside The Box of what you can control:

In the Box: Head position, breathing, body rotation, catch, pull, etc. All of your form cues. These are things you CAN control, focus on these.
Out of the Box: Any contact you experience, the pacing of other athletes, etc. Basically anything that takes your focus away your form.

The simple tool we use to keep our heads in the Box is to count our strokes. Left, right, left, right, 1, 2, 3, 4, keep counting until you lose count then start over again. The simple act of counting arm strokes will bring your head back into the Box of what you can control, helping you let go of the stuff outside of your Box. Try it, it works!

Keep Head-Lift to a Minimum

We typically lift our heads to keep feet in sight as we draft (a little), or to sight on navigation buoys (a lot!). Every time you lift your head…you drop your feet/hips…and you compromise your form a bit. Here’s what to do.

Drafting: Don’t think so much about drafting, and looking for feet, that you forget to keep your head in the Box and focused on form. 2500 people all swimming the same direction…relax, it’s gonna happen. 
Navigation: 2500 people all swimming the same direction…that’s a lot of people to follow, put on your right or left side, and in general decrease how frequently you need to compromise your from by lifting your head to sight for buoys.

FREE Endurance Nation Swim Clinic eBook

Go here to download our “Swim Clinic eBook“– over 25 pages of swim drills, videos, 45 minutes of podcasts, and much more. Published in 2005 and revised in 2008, this resource has been used by over 10,000 athletes as their go-to swim technique guide!

Do you have course-specific swim advice? Where to line up, navigation tips, etc for specific Ironmans? Please share them with us and our readers in the comments below!

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It’s the end of another big year, with this one seeing me set PRs at distances from the 5k to Ironman, culminating in a personal best finish at Ironman Hawaii of 9:52 (photo on left).

In addition to all the racing stuff, we moved the family to Rhode Island into a great neighborhood that’s perfect for the kids. It’s kind of hard to ask for anything for Christmas when your year goes so well!

So, I’ll GIVE instead of TAKING this year. Use the code Holiday50 to save 50% off of any one of my training guides. I have written books on how to train for triathlon, how to prepare for your best marathon and how to build the ultimate training lifestyle.

Click on the cover below for more information, and don’t forget to use the code Holiday50 to save!

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 Competitive Triathlon In
Ten Hours A Week 

Your Best Marathon:
A Racing Primer
Train to Live, Live to Train:
The Insider’s Guide to Building the Ultimate Fitness Lifestyle

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TeamEN rallied instantly around Chris’ family, raising almost $6,000 for the G. Christopher Gleason Education Fund for his two children (details below). To continue our Team commitment to this cause, we have partnered with Road ID (www.roadid.com). Using the code pcEndurance, you can save 10% on any RoadID purchase — and 25% of every order will be donated to the G. Christopher Gleason Education Fund. This deal will only last until December 31, 2011…so act quickly!

This is a great way to proactively protect yourself and those close to you while saving some money and giving to a great cause. Whether you need an entire RoadID or simply want to add a commemorative tag in Chris’ memory, you’ll be all set.

Again, the website is www.roadid.com and the code is “pcEndurance” (without the quotes). Shop before 12/31 to get your discount and help the Gleason family!

Thanks!

Coach Patrick

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The rest of us? Well, we are focused on getting to the finish line as fast as we possibly can.

One hundred and forty point six miles has a way of filtering out the best both within the field of competition, but also within each individual. Having a great Ironman is less about what you bring to the table in terms of your fitness, but rather what you do with that fitness on race day.

Years of coaching and racing Ironman has taught me that the race really comes down to the marathon. Twenty six point two miles will show whether or not you were really able to put together a complete race. Many will turn to training, throwing countless run miles at a problem that is as much about mental strategy as it is about physical fitness. Here are our top six Ironman marathon secrets.

It’s Not About Pace, It’s About Not Slowing Down

It’s easy to get caught up in planning your race out long before the gun goes off. You tell your family when they can expect to see you based on what you think your paces will be…but odds are you won’t be there when you said. That’s because race day pacing has very little to do with that one great run you had six weeks ago and are basing your entire performance upon.

Instead, a great Ironman marathon is simply about not slowing down. If you look at the detailed results of any Ironman event, you’ll see that the splits for the majority of the field over the second half of the race are significantly slower than the first half. Usually a minute or more slower per mile.

Your goal when racing isn’t to find new speed, but to find a sustainable speed that you can hold across your entire day while the competition takes off too fast…and then blows up as you run steadily by.

Incorporate Walking as a Strategy, Not as Failure

If anyone tells you that they aren’t going to walk a single step in an Ironman they are either Criag Alexander (so fit!) or a total newbie (so unaware!).  Based on our experience coaching thousands of Ironman finishers through Endurance Nation, we have learned that walking is actually an important part of your overall strategy.

We encourage our athletes to walk 30 steps at every single aid station, which is roughly once a mile. This will allow you to get your nutrition in, assess your current status, drop your heart rate and refocus on the next mile. In this manner, walking at an aid station becomes your reward for running between aid stations. We give you a hard number like 30 so you can’t fudge it and sneak in extra walking…30 steps and get back to work!

Six Miles of Conservative Pacing Is the Key to a Strong Finish

In 2008 we had over twenty Endurance Nation athletes, from 10-hour to 15-hour finishers, wear their GPS units on the run and report back their data. From this grand experiment we learned two things. First, that every single person ran to fast in the first six miles of the day relative to their overall run performance. Second, that the athletes closest to an overall equal split actually performed the best within their respective age group.

In other words, if you want to have a great race, your job is to focus on slowing down over the first six miles. We recommend you aim for a target pace of approximately 30″ slower per mile for these first six miles. After that point, you can bump it up to your target run pace and go from there. Your last 10k will thank us for sure!

Have Three Physical Running Cues for Your Day

Most IM marathoners leave T2 with a specific pace goal in mind, a target that history has shown is easy to over-achieve against early and then never touch again after about mile 8 or 10. Since our goal is to not slow down, a huge part of that “steady” running lies in maintaining proper form.

Good form requires less effort to move down the road; how many of you have watch an Ironman only to see some of the fittest people you can imagine doubled over at the waist or leaning terribly to one side?

Instead of following a pace into a brick wall, identify three running form cues that will allow you to maintain good form and proper pace. My personal favorites are Chin Up to promote good posture; Elbows Back to keep my stride open and Loose Fingers to reduce tension in hands, arms, shoulders and the neck area.

Build A Repeatable Nutrition Schedule by Mile Marker

Having a food plan is better than not having one. Just because there’s a ton of free food on the course doesn’t mean that your body will be able to process it all. Instead of relying on a plan based on time (i.e., a gel every 30 minutes) build these into the existing support structure on the course.

Since aid stations on the run are spread out approximately one mile between each one, use your calculator to do some fancy math. If you plan on running 8:00/miles and you need a gel around 30 minutes, then you are eating at miles 4, 8, 12, and so on. You can then fill in the other miles with water and sports drink.

This four-mile routine is not only infinitely repeatable on your day, it’s easy to remember and execute…both of which are critical compontents of success on your IM race day.

Be Equal Parts Mentally and Physically Ready

Fitness alone won’t get you across the full 140.6 miles. In fact, you could argue that the reason why we pick such a compelling event as the ironman is precisely because we want to push our bodies to the point where we are truly tested.

While many Ironman competitors have hit the “wall” when running a stand alone marathon, that struggle pales in comparison to what happens at the end of the Ironman. With your body pushed beyond its limits, running on fumes of gels and sports drink, you have to find a way to will yourself to the finishline despite the pain and/or discomfort you are experiencing.

It is precisely at this point that the mental component of your race day toolkit becomes so important. Give the strength of the argument you can expect from your body, this is the official heads up to your brain that you must set the terms of this conversation early. Prepare your notes, burn it into your subconscious. Know that your body will try to sneak up on you. It’ll throw a cramp at you; it might even make you see crazy visions or disrupt your ability to do math.

Whatever the challenge, know that your top goal is to continue making forward progress; this momentum is your best friend and one of the most important elements towards creating a great Ironman marathon experience.

What else do you have to add about the IM marathon, please add it in the comments below!!!

photo credit: koadmunkee

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#1 — Team Hoyt

The amazing story of Rick and Dick Hoyt; I have had the opportunity to race alongside them both many times. To see them compete is to truly understand the power of the human spirit.

#2 — Simon Whitfield’s Gold Medal Finish @ 2000 Sydney Olympics
A first for the sport in its debut olympics, Simon grabs gold with what is now his renown finishing kick. Awesome to watch.

#3 — Ironman Hawaii 2008
A great mashup of the day, compiled here in one video. Also Craig Alexander’s first win at the distance…a great day.

#4 – The Original Julie Moss Finish
While not every Ironman needs to be this dramatic or epic, what happens to Julie and how she perservered to the finish captured the attention of the sporting world and put Ironman triathlon in the global spotlight.

#5 — The Ironwar: Dave Scott and Mark Allen
A video introspective on what these two amazing athletes were able to do when pushing one another in a competitive streak that ran across years and culminated in a single epic day.

I am sure we didn’t get your favorite video…so please share in the comments!

 photo credit: Gamma-Ray Productions

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EN had a total of  10  athletes race in a variety of races with an 80% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 11/20

Ironman Arizona

Al Truscott (photo at left) crossed the finish line in 11:25. You can read his race report here.  He also said “Coach Rich was there to provide quiet help a total of 10 times along the course during race day; and Coach P laid down the breadcrumbs on his comeback trail for me to follow. They are coaches in the true sense of the word – they don’t tell you what to do, so much as show you the way to go.”

David Lesh (photo at right) PR’d with a time of 10:23:02.  Members can read his race report here.  He also said “In only a year Team EN took me from an absolute beginner triathlete to finishing my first Ironman. I learned so much from both the coaches and the team members and it was awesome having the support of the team on race day. Thank you for making my first Ironman journey such a wonderful experience.”

Jennifer Eckert earned a PR with a finish time of 13:33:38 and said “How do you go faster when you’re 5 years older?  Train with Team EN!  Thanks you guys…maybe I’ll have a shot at that Kona slot when I turn 60!!”  Members can read her race report here.

Jeremy Behler completed his first Ironman in 10:06:12.  You can read his race report here.

Jonathan Needell (photo at left) also raced his first Ironman for a finish time of 13:48:41.  Members can read his full race report here, but he said of the experience “I overlapped a coach and EN and found out EN was right when I was injured during a typical build period eight weeks before the race. EN only next race.”

Stephanie Stevens earned a new PR with a time of 13:13:00 and said “Still have room for improvement, but I know where that improvement needs to come from.  Thanks RnP!!”

Paul Stone completed the race in 12:20:18 for a new PR and said “Without the execution guidance from Endurance Nation I would not have finished my first IM at all.  But to come back and have a great second IM proves the coaches have something great going. I’m glad to be a part of a great community and team.  Thanks guys.”

Terry Olivas PR’d as well with a time of 10:29:49 and said “There’s no way I could have made it to the top 10% of the M40-44 age group without EN.  How many PR’s can one person have?”

Races on 11/27

Polar Cats 5k

Kevin Walter finished this race with a time of 20:59 and said “Fastest VDOT of 2011 and over 1-minute faster than the last time I raced this course! Managed 10th Overall and 1st M40-44. One month into the outseason.”

Races on 12/4

Rock N Roll Las Vegas

David Salzman completed the half marathon race in a PR-earning 1:40:05.  You can read his race report here.

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As many of you have heard by now, we lost one of our own, Chris Gleason, when he died at the end of the Philadelphia Marathon this past Sunday. A consummate competitor and one of our founding members, Chris has been an integral part of Endurance Nation from the very start. Those fortunate enough to have known Chris personally will recall his unique ability to bring out the best in himself and everyone else around him.

His spirit was truly irrepressible; it’s no surprise that I have as many “Chris G” stories as I do race finishes. There are few others that have had more of an effect on the course of my personal and professional life over the last few years.

Chris is survived by his wife, a daughter (9) and a son (6). The Endurance Nation community is rallying to provide financial and emotional support in this incredibly challenging time. If you are able, please give via our family donation fund (here) — this is open to anyone to contribute. If you are on the Team and want to learn more about the memorial services planned this weekend and to share your memories of Chris, please visit the EN forums here.

As tragic as his passing has been, the reminder that life is fleeting and that we have to make the most of every single day is a blessing. I, for one, am not going to let this lesson pass me by.

We miss you Chris.

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Meet a few of them below.

Terry Olivas

TeamEN Ironman Arizona Race Captain

My name is Terry Olivas and I’m a 40-year-old heart surgeon from Anchorage, Alaska.  I have been with Endurance Nation for 2 years and, thanks to them, I’m well-prepared for another race.  This is going to be my second ironman.  I raced IMAZ last year but many factors left me feeling frustrated despite a fairly well-executed first ironman.  I am back this year for redemption with hopes of running a clean race to my utmost potential.  It has been a long year with a job change and move from North Dakota to Alaska, so I’m very excited to have a great race.  As always, I’ll be joined by my awesome wife, Peggy, and many family and friends who are making the trip.

John Stark

Danville, CA (San Francisco Bay Area)

Endurance Nation Race Director 

Well, here we go.  After a long season being your race director it is now my turn to execute on a race day.  Unfortunately, it will be a swim, bike, and WALK for me.  My left knee finally screamed “NO MAS” about 6 weeks ago. So I am now officially an AquaVelo dude.  My goal for IMAZ this year is to simply “have fun with my fitness.”  My “One Thing” is to high five as many volunteers as I can and to cheer on as many athletes (EN and non-EN) along the course as I can.  Especially during those late hours when the death march is happening.  OK, that is Two Things.  :-)

About me:  I am 47, a stay-at-home-dad, married to the best wife ever, Cheryl, and we have a 9 year old son, Nolan.  We live about 45 minutes east of San Francisco.   I have been an EN member since October of 2008.  I have completed IM CdA 2x (2006 and 2009), completed 12+ Half Ironman’s, completed ultra running events up to 50 miles, finished 5 marathons, and done countless shorter distance events.  I run the local Cub Scouts, oversee technology for the elementary school foundation (hardware side), love to work in the yard, a computer technology hobbyist, and sell other peoples crap on eBay.  In my previous life I was an International Marketing Executive with a focus on Asia with offices in Hong Kong, Makati (Philippines), and Sydney (Australia).

This was my first year as EN Race Director and learned a lot.  I am already ramping for the 2012 season and I hope to be able to support TeamEN even more in the coming year.

Rock on!

David Ambrose

My name is David Ambrose.  Married with two daughters living in Ojai, California.

I am the chief financial officer of a small regional managed care health plan in SoCal.  AZ will be my 4th IM distance race (first time at AZ) and my first IM after a 2 year break from this distance.  After AZ, I will again be taking at least a two year break again from this distance, though I will keep busy with lots of cycling events and shorter course triathlons.  In AZ I will be joined by my wife and two daughters, who guarantee to provide me an extra boost of motivation when they spot me on the run.  My youngest daughter is very excited to be part of this adventure.  I’ve been with EN since December 2008 and have made tremendous fitness and performance gains over the last three years.  In AZ, given the course dynamics (assuming no weird weather implications and other intangibles outside my contro)l, my FTP and running being much greater than 2 years ago — I have a very good opportunity to have an IM PR time — possibly a very large PR, though I do not take this for granted at all.  If I can demonstrate to others than one can get faster with age, then I will have a big smile. My fantasy is to converge with some EN teammates on the run, form a group dynamic, and we all motor along taking turns leading our little pack.  That would be sweet!  For those of you volunteering and cheering on the team,  thank you very much.  Every little cheer out of energy will be absorbed by the athletes and utilized allowing everyone to have an awesome day.

Scott Alexander

Started tris in 2004, never ran more than 1/4 mile in my life until 2003. Born and raised in NorCal, moved to Dallas TX 9.5 years ago for job/promotion. Would like to get back to California.

6th Ironman start; IMFL2006, IMAZ2007 (when in April), IMCDA2008, IMFL2008, IMCDA2009 (DNF), IMAZ2011.
EN member since April 2008.
Goal: always a new PR! Last IMAZ time was 13:51, best IM time (IMFL2008) 13:06
First thing I’m doing post-IM: finding a cold Guinness or two to enjoy!

First thing I’m doing when I get back to ‘reality’: finding a new job, hopefully something on the West Coast, and in the sporting industry (anyone have contacts for me???).

Paul Stone

Paul stone from Dallas Tx.  I am 38 and in my second year with EN.  I have enjoyed the journey and can honestly say that after getting sick and losing 8 pounds the morning of IM CDA last year I only survived the entire day because of the execution advice of RnP on race day.  This year I come more prepared and educated than before.  My wife Lisa, my sons Ethan and Everett will be there as well as my parents.  We cannot wait to meet more of the team and complete the day.  See you guys on the road! Let’s all have the day we planned. EXECUTE. Then back to the pain cave.

Matt Samojeden

Matt Samojeden, 55 years young and Live in St Louis MO.  Third year doing Triathlons after being away from the sport for over 20 years.  This is my 1st IM AZ, my second IM this year and 6th IM. This is my third season with EN.  I’m a business development executive for Hubbell, a large electrical equipment manufacture. The job has a significant amount of travel which makes getting the training done an added challenge at times.  My wife Sandra of 23 years is into Nature and wildlife photography.  So when I not training, I get to be Sherpa and carry the heavy gear.

My goals for IM AZ this year is for a run PB!  I hope my legs show up and don’t cramp in the cold water swim!  Looking forward to meeting all at the race.

Andrew Kantor

I am excited to say that IMAZ is my first IM.  My journey started 4 years ago when I was asked to compete in a triathlon relay team for my company as the runner.  I decided that day I completed the relay that next year that I would do my first Triathlon so my triathlon career began.  So it began…I did my first year of Tri’s on my mountain bike, bought a road bike in 2009 and completed IMKS in 2010, and signed up for IMAZ in November 2010 when I volunteered at IMAZ .  I have a very supportive wife (Cynthia ) and three extremely supportive children (Allie (8), Trev (6), and Will Scottie (3) who have been very understanding during the EN training plan.  I was brought to the Haus by Alex Tasic who helped me with some of my first swim lessons in Kansas…thanks Alex!!!!  I am very excited and ready for the IM adventure!!!!

David Lesh

M31 – Sacramento, CA

This is my first season doing triathlons. I purchased my first real bike in August 2010, had only ever jogged as far as 10k, and never swam for real until I joined EN in October 2010 after my first sprint triathlon. From there I went on to complete multiple Olympic distance triathlons and a half Ironman (Vineman), getting faster and more confident with each race. Arizona will be my first attempt at the iron distance. My journey from absolute beginner to Ironman hopeful has been challenging in many ways, but has also been one of the most enjoyable and enlightening years of my life. My wife Katie will be joining me at the race and has been my greatest supporter since I started this crazy triathlon game. I am super excited to meet and race with members of Team EN that have been with me on this journey.

Jennifer Eckert

Hi, my name is Jennifer Eckert.  I’m 58 years old and have been racing triathlon for 20 years. My husband and I combined families and were responsible for the raising of our 3 children, all of whom are 34 and up now! I also have 3 grandchildren.
My first triathlon was a sprint distance in the early 90′s.  I caught the bug and increased my racing as the years came and went.  In my early 50′s I started bike racing on a women’s developmental team.  Crits, TT’s and road races.  It was a positive experience where I made some lifelong friends and learned some valuable lessons, (like racing against 20 year old college athletes is tough!!)  After getting taken out in a race I decided I would go back to the more civilized sport of triathlon.    Ironman Arizona will be my 4th Ironman.  I didn’t jump into Ironman and did my first in 2006 at 53 years of age.  I had watched my husband, who is my faithful training partner, supporter and biggest fan do many Ironman races before I decided to take the plunge.  I retired from management in the insurance claim industry 3 years ago and have plenty of time to train and sleep now!   My other Ironman races include Florida, Coeur D’alene and Canada.  Other memorable races completed were Pacific Grove, Alcatraz, Vineman and Tritons in Bozeman, Mt.
I’m looking forward to racing in Arizona, but will miss toeing the line my SO, Mike.  He had to withdraw due to an injury.  But he will be out there all day long cheering me on with words of encouragement which is the best!  I’m also looking forward to meeting new friends of Team EN.

Scott Dinhofer

Hey all! This will be my third IM start having done IMAZ last November & IMKY this past August. I am a divorced father of three girls (10,10 & 12 (yes Twins)) I was getting into marathons around the time I got married in ’95. Married life, commuting an hour or so each way to work and kids took their toll on me and I topped the scales a few years ago at 206. After getting separated a friend recommended I do an ironman, yes straight up, go for it! I was already down a bit in weight & was following a book he recommended and into my training for IMAZ. A little over a year ago, I was poking around the internet when I found a video of two guys preaching their four keys of ironman execution. This led me to the EN website, a purchase of the Long Course Tri Ebook which I devoured and here I am.  I am now about 170 which is 17 lbs lighter than a year ago. Looking forward to catching up with EN friends and meeting new ones in Tempe and executing a good race.

Dominic Malleo

I’m Dominic Malleo from Morristown, NJ.  IMAZ will be my 5th IM and 4th with Endurance Nation.  I’m pictured with my wife and best friend, Tracie our 7 year old daughter and 5 year old triplets!  This will be the first time since 2007 that my kids will be traveling with me to a race and I’m very excited to share the experience them.  My “one thing” is a PR (sub 11:26).  But no matter what the clock says, this is my last IM and I plan to enjoy the day, high five and kiss the fam as often as I see them, and shout out as many “Go EN”s as I can.  A special thanks to Rich & Patrick – your plans, tips and execution techniques have helped me get the most out of my fitness year after year.  I look forward to seeing the team out there.  Good luck and execute like the race ninjas you are.  Go EN!

Stephanie Stevens

Ready for IMAZ….bring it on!  This is my fourth year of triathlon, and my second Ironman (I did IMCDA in June).  I come from a long athletic background, but I was a Division I springboard/platform diver in college, and had never done cardio exercise for more than about 45 minutes at a time prior to triathlon.  My nerves are not as high as they were for IMCDA, so that is a good thing.  I’m from the Denver area and found EN after trying out some local triathlon teams and not being able to make it to many team practices due to my full work schedule (I’m a pediatrician in private practice and work entirely too much).  EN has been the best thing for me – I am running faster than I ever have (ok, that’s not saying a whole lot).  I will be at the race with a few Denver tri-buddies and my college roommate.  My husband and two teenage boys should be in the “audience”, as well as one of my best friends from childhood.  Glad to have tons of support on the course.  Really looking forward to seeing those of you I met in Coeur d’Alene and Aspen and meeting the rest of you.  I don’t have a lot of specific time goals for this race, mostly just goals related to my execution.  But, I am hoping to finish before my family has to leave for the airport to catch a 10pm flight.  Give me a shout-out or a high-five on the course…team EN is the best!

Mike Davis

I am Mike Davis, 46 years old and live in Colorado Springs with my wife Mary and two daughters Brandi and Cassie.  This is my 3rd year in triathlon and IMAZ with be my first Ironman. After running track and cross country in high school I didn’t do much in athletics until I started cycling about 10 years ago.  After a rough start to the year fighting foot issues and then a self inflicted shoulder injury in a crash I am coming to IMAZ feeling healthy with no goals other than to have fun and finish the race.  Mary and Cassie will be with me in AZ to cheer me for race day (and enjoy the much better weather)!

Mark Ulfig

Age 55, Married to Isabelle, father to Tyler and two precocious dogs, Elliot and Chief.  Ironman Arizona will be my 6th Ironman after completing Texas 2011, Wisconsin 2007, Louisville 2008, Lake Placid 2009 and Cozumel 2009.

Born and raised in the Detroit area now living in San Antonio.  Avid outdoorsman and lifelong learner, attended University of Michigan Engineering School, University of Houston Business School and Wayne State Law School.

Isabelle Ulfig

51 years old, family is Mark (hubby) and Tyler (son)  & our two big dogs. Presently living in San Antonio — though my hometown is Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Ironman Arizona will be my 14th (!) Ironman race. Previous IM races include Texas this past May, Canada (3x), Wisconsin (2x), Vineman, Lake Placid (3x), Coeur d’Alene, Florida, and Louisville.   Mark and I are also planning to race Ironman Canada in 2012.

Henry Sacco

My name is Henry Sacco. I live in Northern Massachusetts with my awesome wife Susan, daughter Ariel and son Henry Michael. I’m 42 years old and have been actively involved in endurance sports for the last three years. I work in a corporate environment and spend most of my day at a desk or in meetings. The three sport discipline of triathlon was a perfect outlet as I really wanted something interesting and challenging to keep me fit.

I started out in 2009 entering 5k races, half marathons and sprint triathlons. It wasn’t until my second year that I got the Ironman bug. This year I raced Ironman Lake Placid, Timberman HIM and now Ironman Arizona. I’ve found that I really enjoy the discipline required to execute long course triathlons and I’ve learned that it is so much more than just fitness! I’m surely still a newbie, but am looking forward to many additional years of racing.

This is my first year training with Endurance Nation and I could not be happier. I especially like that fact that the coaches account for the needs of age group athletes by building plans that accommodate disparate schedules and allow us to maximize the limited hours in a week. The wealth of knowledge found in my team mates and on the EN forums cannot be matched. Thanks EN!

Aaron Linkow

My name is Aaron Linkow and this is my 2nd year racing with Endurance Nation.  Last year I raced IMCDA and had a blast, so I thought I’d give it another go this year with IMAZ.  I love the team feeling and the collective knowledge of all the members, it’s wisdom you can’t find on your own.  This year was a race heavy season with 7 time trial bike races and 4 triathlons of various distances.  I’ve been married for 13 years and have 3 wonderful daughters (that started racing this year).  They love attending the races and cheering for daddy. Attached is a picture of the family after my kids race (prior to my 70.3).  I look forward to seeing everyone in Arizona.

Steve Swanlund

This is the end of my first year with Endurance Nation, and my second Ironman since joining. Ironman Couer d’Alene was an awesome experience and one that was made even better by the members that did it with me.  My membership with EN allowed me to take part in the Epic Aspen Bicycle Camp in September in preparation for Ironman Arizona where I met some great people.  These late season Ironmans are tough to train for having been training for 50 weeks consecutively, but it was made a little bit more pleasant having the team to bounce ideas and concerns off.  I am looking forward to completing this challenge and having a great time doing it.

Jeremy Behler

This is the end of my first year with EN and IMAZ will be my first 140.6.  I’ve been doing triathlons for 2 years.  My background is in cycling where I raced in college (Breaking Away anyone???).  I picked up running 5 years ago and just started swimming 2 years ago as I got into triathlon.

I live in Cincinnati where I work at Procter and Gamble.  I’m married to Meredith with three kids: Davis (7), Clark (5), and Maggie (2.5).

Carrie Larson

My name is Carrie Larson and I am from CO.   AZ will be my third IM with EN.  I was lucky enough to have found EN right before my first IM CDA in 2010. I loved it!  I  did CDA again this year and am excited to be in AZ.  I am a mom of 3 boys, Finn (11), Luke (8), and Connor (6).  My husband TJ and family are so supportive.  They help to make it all happen for me.  I work full time as a sales rep for an Eyewear Company,  part time as Fitness instructor and  as a Private Instructor in Beaver Creek/Vail.  My first triathlon was in 1991 and I continue to love the sport.  I have had so much fun this year with racing.  I qualified for Nationals and I am in a Gatorade commercial.  This is all new to me… I just have FUN.   My kids loved seeing it on tv. I just want to give back and love seeing the passion that everyone has.  I look forward to meeting everyone and hope to spend time getting to know you all.

Jonathan Needell

My name is Jonathan Needell and I am a 41 y.o. age group triathlete competing in Ironman Arizona. This is my first full Ironman.  I am a proud father of 2 beautiful kids (Caroline 11 and Harry 9).  My wife’s name is Christine and she is my best friend and my whole family has been very supportive this year.  I am originally from New York.  I am a 1992 graduate from St. Lawrence University. I spent 20 or so years being very overweight to obese. Two years ago I went on a diet and started masters swimming. Then I started running and eventually cycling. In the last 18 months I have completed a half marathon, marathon, two olympic triathlons, three half Ironman’s, and now I am attempting my first full Ironman. I recently (8 weeks out) injured my hip. Hip tendonitis with a bit of a tear. Rehabbing it is going well but I will not know if I can run until I get off the bike. I joined Team EN this year to learn how to keep up this Triathlon lifestyle for longer than a couple of years and I am looking forward to a long Tri career and the race on November 20th.

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Want To Learn More About Team EN?
Take one of our five FREE Triathlon Email Seminars: Short Course, Beginner, Half Iron, Ironman, OutSeason. Click here to find your seminar. You can also become a Fan of Endurance Nation on Facebook.

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Create a FREE five-day trial to check out everything Endurance Nation has to offer. From 20+ training plans to over 500 pages of resources, from 100+ daily forum posts to our weekly coach chat sessions, there’s something for every triathlete!

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EN had a total of  4  athletes race in a variety of races with a 75% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 11/6

Santa Clarita Marathon

Mac Caudill ran this race to a 3:43:30 finish, a PR by 3 minutes!

Races on 11/11

Veterans’ Day 11k

David Brannon completed this run in 51:29 for a PR.  He said “My Vdot for a 10K was a 7:33 pace so that was my target pace…came away with 7:31 average pace. It was a cold but sunny morning… just perfect for racing. I appreciate the direction of the coaches with setting goals through bike and run testing. “

Races on 11/12

Santa Barbara Half Marathon

Anson Lam raced to a PR finish time of 1:33:02 and said “This was my fifth half-marathon since my first one in January, and I’ve PR’ed every time since then. I’m only into week 5 of the Outseason, but I still knocked off over 3 minutes on my half-marathon time since starting the plan. Can’t wait to see the results once I’m done with the OS!”

Races on 11/13

Miami Man

Dewey Carpenter competed in this half-Ironman race for a finish time of 6:57:01.  Members can read his race report here.

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After years of reviewing results and the feedback of our athletes, customers, and comparing both with our own training and racing experience, we have come to the conclusion that brick workouts become less valuable as the distance of your goal race increases. In other words, they are more relevant to sprint triathlon training than your next Ironman.

Brick Workouts Have (Limited) Value for the Long Course Triathlete
Before we go further, let’s be clear that there is some value to running off the bike on tired legs.

Mental Value: Feel it, taste it, experience it so that your first experience with running off the bike isn’t on race day.
Pacing Value: Learning the disconnect between Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Pace. You’ve just been pedaling a bike for hours and now you are running. It’s very common for you to feel like you’re running at 8:00 per mile pace, only to actually be running at 7:30 per mile pace or faster.In addition, because everyone around you is running too fast, you are getting a lot of feedback that this “too fast” pace is the correct one. In fact you’ll most likely feel as though you’re not running fast enough!  A brick run will help you experience this disconnect without the pressure of a race. It will also build your confidence to run your pace vs the pace that everyone else is running in the first critical miles on race day.
How Do I Get My Legs Back” Value: It’s important to learn how to adjust your running form in the first couple miles in order to get your running legs back. A few bricks can help you develop and refine your own strategy to achieve this.

Become a Faster Runner by Creating Opportunities to Run Faster on Fresher Legs
Inside Endurance Nation we define fitness as the ability to do work. The “work” referenced here is the effort required to propel you down the road on the run, up mountains on your bike, or across the pool. Increased fitness then is the capacity to do more work.

The purpose of every single workout is essentially to increase your capacity to do work, and it’s under this lens that the value of a brick workout quickly disappears. Simply put, very often a brick run for the long course triathlete is a relatively slow run on tired legs. We’ve learned that the best way to become a faster runner is to create more opportunities to run faster on fresher legs.

Long Course Running is about Race Execution First, Fitness Second
There is no doubt that long course triathletes are very fit people. They swim, bike, and run a LOT, and they are doing a LOT of brick runs. But the vast majority of long course triathletes are under-performing — running slower than their potential — on race day, especially at Ironman.

Our experience across thousands of Ironman and 70.3 finishes since 2007 says that the majority of the time, failure to run to your potential on race day is a race execution issue. This is accomplished by either riding or running too hard, especially in the early stages of each leg of the race.

The Bike:  Riding the first 45 to 90 minutes of the Half Ironman or the first two hours of the Ironman bike too hard, especially when hills and headwinds are present.
The Run:  Running too fast in the first three to four miles of the Half Ironman or the first six to eight miles of the Ironman.

Just stand on a random hill on any Ironman bike course and you’ll see the majority of the field crushing it, working much too hard. Next, stand at mile one of the run course — you’ll think that the majority of the field is going to run a sub 3:30 marathon because there sure are a lot of folks running sub 8:00 miles. But then go out to mile 18 and you’ll see these same very, very fit people running dramatically slower.

Yet after the race, the discussion around under-performance turns away from strategy to fitness. This is because triathlon culture presents training and fitness as the answer to questions about speed and performance vs becoming a smarter, better executing long course triathlete.

Running Off the Bike is an Issue of Skill
As a triathlete fit enough to ride and run, you have no issue getting off of your bike and actually running. The challenge lies in being able to synchronize how you are working (input) with how fast you are actually running (output). One brick run where you realize that your actual pace is significantly faster than your perceived pace is enough to drive home the lesson.

For most, the initial transition about bike to run is about finding their running stride. Learning how to get from the funny post-bike leg feeling to a smooth running stride is an individual process  that, once learned, is effectively ingrained in your brain.

While running with your proper form is more efficient, it’s not necessarily any faster than the early time you spent running off the bike (as that’s usually faster than desired). If anything, finding your “run legs” means settling down into a pace that’s appropriate for the race itself.

The Wrap Up
We realize that two triathlon coaches telling their athletes and readers to not run off the bike…is very unusual! We have reflected on what we’ve learned in our nearly 20 years of Ironman coaching, over 40 personal finishes, thousands of athletes coached and dozens of races observed.

In summary, we’ve learned :

The vast majority of the time, under-performing the run is the result of overcooking the bike or the first quarter to one third of the run.
If you want to run fast you need to create opportunities to run fast, on fresher legs, vs slowly on tired legs.

Interested in learn more?
Go here to download our Brick Adjustment Guidelines, a FREE resource we’ve created to help you integrate these ideas into your training plan!

Go here to listen to the podcast Rich and Patrick recorded to accompany this article.

Endurance Nation Triathlon Coaching
With over 500 members, we are the worlds largest and fastest growing long course triathlon team. Go here to create a FREE 5-day trial membership.

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

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EN had a total of  8  athletes race in a variety of races with a 100% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 11/5

Tyranena Beer Run

Sue Chapman ran this half marathon and PR’d with a time of 2:06.

Ironman Florida

Brian Comiskey (photo at left) raced to a finish of 11:05 and a PR!  He said “Solid execution with bike and marathon PR’s and also a nice bump in AG placing compared to 2010.  It was great seeing CoachP at the bike start and at Mile 18.”

Scott Davis also earned a new PR with a finish time of 12:33.  He said “Was a near  perfect day for me.  Had a great, uneventful swim, great T-1, smooth and steady on the bike, T-2 was smooth and fast, and I was able to run the entire marathon. Was shooting for sub 13 hrs, and was able to execute! Coach P was at mile 18 giving out that great EN advice, and at the finish to chear us on.”

James Elmer raced to a 11:59:21 finish and a PR.  He said “Great support.  Thanks to Tim Dux for help at the end.  Awesome seeing Coach P at 4 keys talk and at mile 6, 9, 18.    thanks for the great training plan and all the great advice from Wicked Smart Members et al.”

David Morris crossed the line in 11:43 for a new PR as well.  He said “With less preparation and fitness, I confirmed that race day is about execution and not fitness. Despite a slower pace on the run than I hoped for, I still had enough in the tank to prevent a total slowdown shuffle and finish with over an hour PR. Thanks EN! and on course support from coach P!”

Marc Robards took on the IMFL course and finished in 11:08:56.

Shawn Thompson raced his first ever IM and finished with a time of 11:46:56.  He said “My First IM was a huge success.  45 minutes faster than expected.  This had nothing to do with my fitness.  In fact I missed more training in the last 6 weeks than the rest of the year.  So instead of focussing on what I want to do, I made an honest assessment of what a can do today and Executed!!!  Work Works, but Execution makes your Race Day!!!!

Steven Wallace finished the race with a PR-worthy time of 13:45 and said “I stuck to the EN plan and was blown away.  I did what my friends nicknamed my riding technique and did the “Yoga ride”  This being the first time I just took it very easy so I set my HR alarm to mid zone 2 and tried to avoid the beeping.  So I ended up being able to run the Marathon while everyone around me, in was walking in the last couple of hours.  I also enjoyed having the team around.  It got me out to a swim practice where I did some sighting work that I think helped me turn in a 1:24 swim when I expected to be 1:30.  Thanks everyone for the great time.”

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As a triathlete it’s easy to get caught up in confusing and conflicting advice on how you should/should not train. As coaches of busy age group triathletes, just like you, we’d like you step back and consider our approach for maximizing results for our Team.

The conversation of how to train takes place within the context of relatively fixed resources: time, money, etc. Any discussion of how to train must be approached first with the question:

What approach will yield the highest rate of return, on race day, for my investment?

These are questions you deal with in your real world every day — in your job, with your family, and in your personal life — about how and where to spend your time, money, and attention on a long list of possible choices. triathlon training is no different!

In this series we will introduce you to the concept of framing the majority of triathlon training and purchasing decisions with the context of Return on Investment. We’ll then drill this topic down into each discipline, identifying for you both high and low ROI opportunities in each sport. In the process we hope to bring you several years up the learning curve, saving you hundreds of misspent training hours–and thousands of dollars as well!

The Return on Investment question has two components:

The cost of inputs.
The absolute potential gain/time savings on race day.

Typical Age Grouper Inputs
The “stuff” we have available to “spend” on our sport

Time — How much time to spend swimming, biking and running each day and across a week. This should include the admin time (packing a bag, driving to a session, showering afterwards, etc) on the front and back end of each session.
Headspace — Every training session comes at a cost (and often a benefit) to the amount of room we have in our heads for stuff. A three hour solo trainer ride in your basement in January and a three hour Saturday ride with your friends in the sun in June are just two examples.
Spousal Approval Units (SAUs) — Our tongue-in-cheek term for the costs that your training decisions have on the live of those important to you.
Money — Pretty obvious!

The costs of each of these inputs are variable, usually as a function of their distance from race day and/or your experience in the sport.

Time
Training and admin time applied farther away from your goal race is more costly than time applied closer to your race. In addition, training time applied closer to your race generally has a greater rate of return on race day than time spent months and months in advance.

For example:

A three hour trainer ride on a Sunday in December — during the holidays and in the cold and dark after a long year of triathlon training, while ignoring a well-defined “honey-do” list of things you have been putting off, just because your upcoming season ends with Ironman Florida in 11 months — is much more costly than that same ride, outdoors in the sun with your friends in September.
Likewise, that 3hr ride in September is much more likely to have an impact on race day than the 3hr ride that did or did not happen eleven months before your race.

Headspace
It’s relatively easy to determine the time cost of a training session: time on the road + admin time (preparing, driving, showering, etc) = total time investment. However, the cost, or benefit, of that session to your headspace — the limited amount of attention, motivation, and personal investment we each have available to us — is an intangible cost and often difficult to determine.

As Ironman coaches whose athletes are registering for races often a year in advance, we encourage you to be very, very aware of the fact that you only have so much motivation and focus to apply to the problem of training for your race. If you are putting your feet on the floor at 0530 in January and telling yourself you are “training for” Ironman Wisconsin…that’s a very, very dangerous place to be. You are at high risk of being burned out, insane, or worse by June.

Spousal Approval Units (SAUs)
We all have an SAU account and it helps, to say the least, if we can keep that balance in the black! Your decision to make a time and head space allocation to a training event is also a decision to impose an often involuntary expense on those close to you. This is very often a debit to your SAU account. Very simply, if you’re not careful with how you spend your SAU’s, while not making an effort to accrue as many as you can here and there, you’ll find yourself in a situation where “how to train for this triathlon” is the least of your worries!

Money
A $500 expense is a $500 expense regardless of when you decide to spend it. However, the ROI of many expenses is often a function of the experience of the athlete. For example:

A non-swimmer spending $500 for 10 x 1h one-on-one technique coaching sessions with a knowledgable coach armed with an underwater video camara — is a high ROI investment.
This same athlete instead spending $500 to upgrade their aerobars to the latest and greatest they saw advertised in a magazine — is a very low ROI investment.

With regards to these inputs, we see ourselves as time and headspace investment managers, SAU balance consultants, and triathlon financial advisors. Our advice is this:

Keep your training volume as low as you can for as long as you can.
Frame all purchasing decisions within the ROI equation, resisting the siren call of bling.

Instead of racking up huge training and admin hours in January when they are very costly and have a low rate of return for your September goal race, try to keep your January time investment very low. Create a training plan that weights your training hours closer to your race, where they will do you the most good.

Keep your head investment low by putting short term goals in the calendar. We generally like our athletes to not be training for–or focused on–anything farther than about 8-12 weeks in the future.

Rather than nickle and diming your family for a 4-5hr ride every Saturday for months and months, we suggest you limit the length of these training sessions. Cut it short and/or do what you have to do to accrue SAU’s so you can cash them in closer to your race.

Finally, recognize a marketing pitch as just that, even going so far as to assign a dollar amount to each “promised” minute saved on race day.

We’ve found that applying the ROI lenses to all of your training and purchasing decisions is very powerful. For example:

What dollar per hour value do you place on your time on the weekends? Remember that this is YOUR time, not your bosses. This is when you likely spend time with your kids. What’s your hourly on watching (or missing) your 10yo boy’s soccer game? Let’s say that amount is $100 per hour.

If I can achieve the same or better results with a 4hr ride vs a 6hr ride…why would I waste $200 of your time per ride x 4 Saturdays per month x 7 months = $5600?
Or before I have you invest 30’ in packing a bag and driving to the gym + swimming + showering + driving x $x/hr x 3 sessions per week in January…I need to able to tell you what rate of return on that time cost investment you can expect on race day, in September.
The disk wheel ($1500) or aero helmet ($150)?

In future installments of this series we’ll drill down this ROI discussion into each of three sports, sharing with you our high and low ROI activities and investments for each.

Endurance Nation Triathlon Coaching
Go here to create a FREE 5-day trial membership!

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

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Endurance Nation has officially launched two unique programs created to encourage you to train with an Endurance Nation training plan or join TeamEN for your 2012 season. They are unique and probably controversial, but if they can help you be a better triathlete then bring it on!!!

Cash for Clunkers

Our plans are in the 9th generation of improvement, proven through the results of thousands, and include tons of high quality supporting documentation. If you have already purchased a competitors training plan in the last six months? No worries!!!

We want to get you out of that clunker training plan and into a shiny new 2012 EN training plan! Buy an Endurance Nation training plan and we’ll reimburse you for the cost of your other training plan, up to $100. How it works:

Go here to purchase an Endurance Nation training plan, noting our discount codes, then…
Email us the receipt of your other training plan, with your mailing address.
We’ll cut you a check and mail it to the address above.
Da Rules:

This program only applies to EN training plan purchases made after November 1st, 2011.
You can only exchange for competitors plans purchased since 5/1/2011.

Got Questions?  Ask us on the EN Facebook page and we’ll help you out!
NEW: Triathlete Liberation Project

Are you currently coached by a traditional 1-on-1 coach?  Wondering if he/she provides you with 100-400% of the value of our $99/month Team Coaching solution?

We invite you to try our Team Coaching solution that we’ve perfected over the last four years, as we’ve built EN from 80 athletes in 2007 to over 500 today…with 80 having joined since September for the 2012 season…with these demonstrated results and testimonials.

Many, many of our members are former 1:1 coached athletes who like going faster, saving money and taking charge of their training.

How the Liberation process works:

Go here to create your trial membership.
Email us at admin@endurancenation.us with your EN Username as well as your current coaching situation. Be sure to make the title “Triathlete Liberation Project”.
If you decide to join TeamEN at the end of your trial, we’ll send you a check for $100 that you can use to pay off your old coach, sign up for a new race, or something else to mark the occasion of your independence.

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

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Depending on how you structure your year, racing at Ironman Florida in November is either really early in your season or really, really late. Most folks are in the latter boat since, being newbies, they spend the better part of the year getting ready for this one single day. The pressure is high, but the course is friendly and pretty straightforward. If you hit it on a tougher than average day, like this year’s event, your ability to execute and pace become critically important.

Coach Patrick was on hand to support the 28 members racing and the handful of Training Plan athletes. Across all these folks, we have a pretty good sense of how the day played out. To view the pictures from the weekend, go to our Ironman Florida Gallery. To learn more about Ironman Florida, read race reports and listen to athlete podcasts, please visit our Ironman Florida Race Site.

The Swim

For those of you concerned about a mass start, once again IMFL proved that it’s not really of a concern here. With a standing beach start, people naturally begin  to spread out as they wade into the water.

Even though there was a slight wind from the North / NorthEast, the water had minimal waves as compare to some of the more epic years. The water was pushing folks left to right, so into the buoys on the way out and away from the buoys on the way back in.  Time lost here was most likely mitigated by the water pushing folks across the buoys on the stretch of the swim that paralleled the shoreline.

Consensus seems to be that starting the second loop — with the diagonal swim back out to begin the trip around the buoys — was the hardest part of the day. At this point most folks were swimming directly into the waves. The top overall swimmer, who went sub-45 minutes, decided to avoid this challenge by running down the beach. I think a lot of the other competitors would have done the same had they known!

The Bike

While the day started out innocently enough, by the time the swim was over competitors were facing a stiff headwind for the first 30 miles of the bike. Peaking between 17 and 20 miles an hour by 11 am, the wind did eventually drop to about 6 to 8mph later in the day on the run. That said, the wind played a significant factor on the bike. From forcing athletes to be patient in the early headwinds to rewarding their ability to keep pushing the pedals in a beneficial tailwind, the wind remained consistent.

This meant the wind had a net zero effect on the overall race (assuming you paced properly). In other words, your steady effort into the wind might have netted you 14 miles per hour, but the same effort with a tailwind gave you 20mph. Not the way you’d necessarily plan to average 17 miles per hour, but effectively nonetheless.

The wind also reputed affected the drafting, especially the mid-race sections with a significant crosswind. Combined with the hard work of the marshals, things seemed to have operated about as fairly as they could.

The biggest hiccup people seemed to have was flat tired due to debris or poor road conditions. Whatever you do, make sure you have your bike 100% ready to go by IMFL 2012 and that you have total confidence in your ability to change a tire!

The Run

By the time folks started the run for most age groupers, the day had warmed to just over 70 degrees. While this isn’t warm by any stretch, it felt quite hot given the cooler temperatures from the morning. The wind remained constant on the run, pushing athletes out of T2 towards the run turnaround, but slowing them down on the return trip.

Without a doubt, the serpentine nature of the run gave the racers a reprieve from the wind and maybe allowed folks to actually run. As the day word on and the temperature began to drop back down, your body’s ability to digest  food and handle the rigors of the event grew exponentially. Of course, not everyone was actualy ready eat.

Standing out  by the entrance to the state park, you could see by about 5:30 pm that quite a few people had started walking.. It was about this time that the sun truly dropped taking the temperature with it. Standing on the side of the road, Coach Patrick was wearing two shirts, a fleece and a cycling jacket….with jeans…and he was still cold!

The consistent nature of the wind seemingly kept the run very fair,..the fast folks still went very fast. If anything, people paid the price for out-performing their fitness on the bike. But that’s the nature of the beast in Florida!

At the Finish

Coach P was able to make it to the finish line by about 6:30pm, and he caught more than 50% of our athletes exiting the finish. You can watch the interviews on our YouTube Channel. Hearing about the race, firsthand, moments after crossing the finish, really gives insight as to how powerful the Ironman experience is. To see the excitement on our athletes faces, you’d think they had just won the lottery instead of surviving 140.6 miles!

If you are looking for more information about Ironman Florida, be sure to explore our IMFL Race Site or ask the Coaches/Team on the Endurance Nation Facebook page. If you are an age group triathlete looking to train for Ironman Florida and want to get faster while keeping a life and a job, create a FREE 5-day.Trial Membership and explore Endurance Nation for yourself!

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

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When we say that our Endurance Nation plans make you tangibly faster, everyone wants to know what’s in it for them. How will it help them specifically? While I can’t predict your fitness future I can show you the data from one of our members. In a little under a year, he boosted his FTP up by 47 watts and improve his w/kg ratio from 3.0 wkg to 4.1 w/kg!

Not only could his former self not ride with him…not too many others in his area can either. Enjoy the data view, you geeks!!!!

10/16        20 min test, FTP 222 (4.1 w/kg)

8/11          20 min test, FTP 221

6/30          42 min test, FTP 218

5/25          23 min test  hill time trial, FTP  206

3/22          42 min CT test, FTP 201

2/07          42 min CT  test, FTP 195

12/26/10   42 min CT test, FTP 185

11/27/10   First FTP test ever, FTP 175  (3.0 w/kg)

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This is a lively bunch with HUGE mojo and lots of laughing and chatter!  Go TeamEN!

Meet a few of them below.

Jonathan McKenzie

2011 Ironman Florida Race Captain

I am Jonathan McKenzie a person who once thought people who did anything over a 5k were nuts.  Triathlons thats just for those fitness nerds. Well, today I sit 7 days out from my first ironman after a 3+ year journey. I started at about 217lbs and I will be racing IMFL at 177lbs.  I have completed about a dozen sprints (2) olympics and (2) 70.3 races. My wife has supported me through the whole process and for that I am very grateful. We have had a son in the middle of this triathlon journey and he is completely amazing.  My life is now mush more healthy and happy physically and mentally as a result of triathlon.  I joined Team EN last November and have really enjoyed the coaching philosophy.  I hope to just finish this first ironman and enjoy the whole day, no real time goals are set for this race other than achieving my potential on that day. I hope all of the competitors at IMFL are safe and wish the very best executed race for all Team EN athletes.

I have attached a picture of myself and beautiful wife and son. If you see them out there Tell them thanks for letting me be a part of this great sport.

Robert Craig

My name is Robert Craig and I am a 46 y.o. age group triathlete competing in Ironman Florida for the 3rd time (2005,2008, present).  I am a proud father of 3 beautiful kids (Kyle 20, Meghan 9, and Robbie Jr., 7).  My wife’s name is Margherita and she is my best friend and an awesome triathlon support crew chief.  I am originally from Wildwood Crest, NJ.  I am a 1989 graduate from The University of Alabama and then I served 5 years active duty in the U.S. Army.  I separated after making Captain and then attended Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program.   I currently work as an Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant in Punta Gorda, Florida.  In  April 2006 I was struck by a car while training on my bike and suffered multiple trauma.  It was a hit and run accident in which I was struck from behind.  I required specialized hip socket (acetabular) surgery and had to learn how to walk again after 3 months of non-weight bearing.  I was told by the local orthopedic surgeon that I’d be lucky if I walked without a limp and certainly would not be able to run again.  Fortunately for me, I was transferred to a major trauma center and had one of the world’s best orthopedic trauma surgeon’s operate on me.  He told me I would do Ironman again and I believed him.  I was determined and began my return journey to Ironman training in November 2006.  I competed in Ironman Florida in 2008 but came down with a stomach virus the day before.  This led to a disappointing 13:41 finish.  This is my year for redemption so I joined Team EN last October and started with the October Outseason program.  I transitioned to the 20 week intermediate IM program and feel the best that I have ever felt leading up to an Ironman.  I think Team EN is going to have an awesome day on November 5, 2011.

Melanie Neumann

Here is a short bio of me:  I am competing in my second IM this weekend, completing IMKY in 2009.  I initially was just a runner, but pulled my hamstring in a marathon which relegated me to only cycling and swimming while I rehabbed the hamstring.  Blessing in disguise because I would have never done my first tri without that injury–and I was hooked on triathlon ever since.  I am a thirty-something attorney specializing in global food safety, which requires a tremendous amount of business travel that has made IM training a very interesting experience in time management! I am also a cancer survivor which puts all my race performances–and all of life–into a new perspective for me.  No matter if I have a good or bad race, or a good or bad day at the office or home, I am always thankful to be able to have just be here to experience each day as it comes. So bring on IMFL! I am ready to have fun and fully experience the journey!

Dottie Catlin

Dottie (on left) will be racing with her sister, Amy (on right).
I am so excited for my first IM. I was a 3-sport, Division I athlete in college, have run 5 marathons and completed 4 HIMs. I think I live a very balanced and happy life (although many think I am crazy). But, challenging myself athletically is just my thing. I THINK I am going to love the IM distance, but we shall see. My goal for IMFL can be broken down into an aggressive strategy (12-13hrs), realistic (13-15hrs), and still okay 15-17. If I DNF I really hope I am not in the hospital!!! I have a great support crew coming-my wife, and our 3 kids, ages 5, 4 and 1. Speaking of kids, this was the reason I decided to join EN and train for an IM-to lose the baby fat after the last pregnancy. That I did! I am still an athena, but I feel good and strong again-ready to do the best I can. I’ve been with EN since Jan OS followed by a few HIM plans, leading up to this IM plan. I’m looking forward to meeting teammates in Florida! Let’s go get it!!

Geoff Sage

52 yrs old, married to Brenda for 30 yrs, two sons Matt age 26 and Nate age 24. Triathlete since 2005, began running marathons in 1995. Completed IMCDA in 2006  IMSG in 2010 and IMTX in 2011. EN member since May 2010. On staff as CFO/Treasurer of Central Christian Church (centralchristian.com) in Las Vegas, NV for the past 10 years. Central is a place that practices radical grace where all are welcome to experience a life-changing message of the Gospel.

Scott Davis

Age 42
High Point, NC
I  own a computer graphics company that caters to the home fashions industry, and am a self professed gadget geek. I live in the great state of North Carolina with the love of my life Michelle, and our two daughters Hayden, and Kiana. This has been a year of many 1st’s for me. 1st year training with EN, 1st year participating in a mountain training camp, 1st year completing a HIM, 1st year riding over 75 miles, and the one I am most excited about this will be my 1st Ironman. I feel that I have done everything that I can do to prepare for the race, I just now need to execute like an EN Ninja!

Shawn Thompson

37yo
married with a 2.5yo and one on the way.
Been in the Army for 18 years.
IMFL is my first full and I never thought I would be doing this.  I am in the Army and have been training in one form or another by nature of the job, but gravitated towards the gym and beach muscles.  Then had a back injury in 2005 that led to an artificial disc in March 2009.  After surgery I realized quickly that the gym days were over so had to find something to do or my wife was going to kill me for moping around the house.  My friend, and fellow teammate, Jamison Gaddy was telling me all about his adventures in triathlons.  So on Fathers day 2009 I did my first sprint and it was all over after that.  I traded in my Harley for a Cervelo P2.  I progressed to HIMs, but did it all wrong for a year or so.  Then found EN and started setting PRs and crushing my training partners.  The team is fantastic.  Everyone truly enjoys helping you achieve you goals, whatever you fitness level.  I couldn’t do this without the support of my wife and son.  They are the best.

Dusty Holcomb

I joined EN in September 2010 to prepare for my 2nd year of endurance sports with IMFL being my “A” race.  Training for IMFL has been a ton of fun and made extremely interesting by the arrival of our son Davis on 9/18/11.  I can’t wait to race down the chute at IMFL and see my super supportive wife Tonya and my soon to be 3 year old daughter Maddie.  I love that I am helping set a healthy lifestyle example for my family!  One day I’ll race with them!

Steve Kwiatkowski

This year I’m competing in my 5th Ironman Florida along with my daughter Lisa…her 2nd.  We kept up a blog this past year about the ‘journey’ atwww.irondaughterirondad.com

I’m a 57 year old, middle of the pack triathlete, with a PR 3 years ago of 12:57, and looking for a new PR this year.  I joined Endurance Nation a year ago for the January OS, and have enjoyed adding a lot more intensity into my training than I have in the past.

My 3 ‘kids’ are grown, married to Carolyn, and live in Davidson NC, just north of Charlotte.  I’m originally from Toronto Canada, and have been in the States for 30 years now, so about the only Canadian thing left over is the odd ‘eh’ and a weakness for beer.

I own my own software company that specializes in online sales presentations and online training programs, targeted to the automotive business.

By the numbers, I’m a ‘challenged’ swimmer…never swam until 6 years ago when I got into triathlon…probably end up around 1:30-1:40’ish…280 FTP on the bike, 41 vDOT running, so once the swim is over, the joy begins

David Morris

I started in triathlon during the end of medical school in Nashville, TN and steadily increased my mileage and interest until completing my first IM at Arizona in 2007 prior to the birth of my first daughter. I finished my training in Urology at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and moved back to Nashville 2 years ago. After some dabbling in ultra trailrunning, I was bitten again by the tri bug after my daughters were old enough to walk on their own. This is my first year with EN and I have been very happy with the ROI and time limits that helped me reach new potential while limiting the impact on my family. My family and one set of parents and in laws will be in Florida to cheer me on.

Casey Seabright

Casey Seabright is a native of Minnesota who now lives in the Atlanta area and works for Delta Air Lines.

This is my first year racing triathlons and my first year with EN. I was strictly a duathlete (non-swimmer) and IM sherpa for my Ironman wife Kim. I took swim lessons last year, signed up for IM FL and took the plunge. This year I completed a sprint, an Olympic, and 2 HIM tri’s. My goal for this year has been to make the swim cut-off at IM FL and to finish upright. My wife and I will be joining about 20 friends from the Atlanta area at the start line as well as the E’ Nation!  Good Luck everyone!

Brian Pautsch

Orland Park, IL

This will be my first Ironman race. I’ve been with EN for about a year now and have learned so much. I volunteered at IMFL last year to support the team, meet the coaches, see the race firsthand and guarantee my spot for 2011. My out season started great until I hurt my hamstring. PT is helping, but it may be an issue on the run race day. My goal is to get to the start line as healthy as possible and try to enjoy the day. If all goes well, great…if not, it’ll be a huge learning experience. No matter what happens, I will finish and then start getting ready for IMFL 2012. My parents, wife and kids will all be at the race. I’m really looking forward to seeing them as much as possible during the race. Seeing them at the finish line will be my biggest motivation all day.

Marc Robards

Tallahassee, FL
40
Ironman Florida will be my second Ironman, and second Ironman Florida! My goal is to execute at least as well as I did last year, spend less time napping in transition, avoid the draft packs, nail a low VI, negative split the run, thank as many volunteers as I can, and have fun on my favorite racing day of the year!

Tim Dux

Originally from Australia I have lived in the US for the last 7 years. I met my Wife, Jennifer, in Orlando after a 15k road race 6 years ago. In my teens and early 20’s I played professional rugby until a broken back put a premature end to my career. Training for an IM has reignited a flame in me for competition, perseverance and discipline that I have missed since giving up competitive weekly sport. A year ago I decided to step up and embark on this journey and I am elated that I did. I have drunk the EN cool aid since January this year and I am 100% convinced that without the support none of this would be possible. My goal is to enjoy the day, and execute. I am ok going slower in order to execute the race properly. My inspiration for doing this was the 30 for 30 on ESPN about Terry Fox, on my fridge I have a sign that simply reads: “what would Terry Fox do”, it keeps me going daily.lkjhkll

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Want To Learn More About Team EN?
Take one of our five FREE Triathlon Email Seminars: Short Course, Beginner, Half Iron, Ironman, OutSeason. Click here to find your seminar. You can also become a Fan of Endurance Nation on Facebook.

Ready To Train?
Create a FREE five-day trial to check out everything Endurance Nation has to offer. From 20+ training plans to over 500 pages of resources, from 100+ daily forum posts to our weekly coach chat sessions, there’s something for every triathlete!

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

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EN had a total of  4  athletes race in a variety of races with a 75% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 10/29

Sri Chinmoy Triathlon

Scott Connolly finished this sprint tri in 1:09:03 and said “Standard swim in pretty dirty water (500m), 21km cycle in the wind and 5km run – didn’t run well, a 20.40, I was hoping to run closer to 19.00. Finished 10th in the individuals out of 110 odd competitors. “

Gumbo Flats Pumpkin Run

Dave Barr raced to a 10k PR with a time of 44:36.

Beach to Battleship

Stephen Chappell raced to a new PR in this half-ironman with a time of 5:54 and said “8th place in my category out of 40: 2nd best run time in Category, that surprise me. As I did not see any other in my group running on the course. I assumed everyone was ahead of me. I left some power on the course, I guess I did not want to blow up on the run. So I stayed conservative on the bike.  So for first HIM, I was well pleased. I tried to slow my legs down on the run on the first 3 miles, but I just kept getting stronger throughout the run part.”

Races on 10/30

Rock & Roll Los Angeles

Anson Lam ran this half marathon and raced to a 1:34:51 finish for a new PR.

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EN had a total of  4  athletes race in a variety of races with a 71% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 10/23/11

Austin 70.3

Patricia Rosen completed her race in 6:11.  She said “Great race.  Tough conditions on the bike.  Run was not nearly as hot as in prior years.  I was third out of water, third off the bike and third finisher.  Missed second place by 1 minute.  Person who was first finished in 5:43 and was slow in the swim.  I might have caught her on the bike but she was smoking on the run.  She earned her first place handily!  My performance was consistent and typical of my performance on this course… although bike was slower slightly.      Thanks Rich and Patrick for making it possible!  Thoroughly enjoyed meeting others on the team.”

Mark Roberts raced to a finish time of 5:18:15.

George Sadler earned a new PR with a time of 5:18:56.  Of the experience, George said “Couldn’t have done this without the EN team showing the way!  Workworks!!”

Brian Hovey crossed the finish line in 5:18:03, earning a PR.  Brian said “Overall, I was very happy with how this race turned out for me.  Of the three 70.3′s that I have done this one was the most difficult, especially given the wind on the bike and the heat/hills on the run.  I think that theTeam EN training program, especially the track work for the run really helped prepare me for the race.  Since joining, I have now had PR’s at the Olympic and 70.3 distances – thanks!”

Steve Dorris also PR’d in this race with a time of 5:52:56.  Steve said “Good News: beat my 2008 time on this course by over 28 minutes! 15 min faster on the bike and 12 min faster on the run.    Bad News: Poor run execution cost me about 6 min on the run as I fell apart at about 10.5 miles and final mile was a blistering 13:31 pace!  Stooooopid!”

Soma Triathlon

Betsy Kantor raced her very first half ironman and finished in 6:23:08!  Of her first HIM experience she said “Thanks again Coaches R&P.  Its been a fun 20 weeks of training, and I am a believer in the EN WAY.   I got 2nd in age group!  And it wasn’t even my best day (I got a trigger point in my right glut from falling hard for the wetsuit strippers-it bothered me the rest of the day.)  I loved watching people chug past me on uphills then smoking them on the downhill.  Also, loved reeling in folks on  my second loops.  Looking forward to the OS and catching the gal who beat me twice.”

Terry Olivas raced toa 5:03:01 finish and a new PR!  Members can read the full race report here.  Terry said “Who PR’s a HIM in the middle of IM training on no taper and with no appreciable effort whatsoever?  EN members like me.”

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In fact, they should be entirely avoided unless your daily schedule requires you combine your bike and run workouts! Here’s why we think you should consider making the same change.

It’s about Race Execution, Not Fitness
The triathlon space is culturally conditioned to seek out a training or money solution to a perceived problem or issue: I had a bad run at Ironman X. In order to fix this, I must train more/harder/differently to fix it.

However, our experience says that 95% of the time failure to run to your potential on race day is a race execution issue — usually riding or running too hard, especially in the early stages of each leg.

As athletes we have over 40 Ironman and half-Ironman finishes between us. As coaches we have nearly 20 years of Ironman-specific experience, having coached over 400 Ironman finishers in our years as one-on-one coaches before founding Endurance Nation in 2007. Endurance Nation is now over 500 athletes strong, with over 1000 full and half Ironman finishes in 2011 alone. Finally, Rich and/or Patrick have been at every US Ironman since 2007 to witness how the race plays out for front/middle/back of the pack athletes in all age groups.

This is a LOT of data about what works and what doesn’t work. Our conclusion is that while a poor run is often determined to be a caused by a lack of training or fitness, the truth is that it’s usually a race execution issue:

The Bike: Riding the first 45 to 90 minutes of the Half Ironman or first two hours of the Ironman bike too hard, specifically hills and headwinds.
The Run: Running too fast in the first 3 to 4 miles of the Half Ironman or the first 6 to 8 miles of the Ironman.

There is No Magical Run-Off-the-Bike Fitness
A run off the bike is nothing more than another run on tired legs. Before we go further, let’s be clear that there is some value to running off the bike on tired legs:

Mental Value: Feel it, taste it, experience it so that your first experience with running off the bike isn’t on race day.
Pacing Value: Specifically, the disconnect between Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Pace. You’ve just been pedaling a bike for hours and now you are running. It’s very common for you to feel like you’re running at Pace X, only to actually be running at Pace Y. Generally, Y is faster than X and, because everyone around you is running too fast, you are getting a lot of feedback that Y is the correct pace, that you’re not running fast enough and that X, the slower (correct!) pace, is wayyy too slow! A brick run will help you experience this disconnect and build your confidence to run your pace vs the pace that everyone else is running in the first critical miles on race day.

But once you get these two points above…you get it. Continuing to do brick after brick after these lessons have been learned is the training equivalent of hammering a nail that’s already in the wall: easy to do yet causes peripheral damage and yields minimal results. As coaches, we’ve learned that the key to becoming a faster runner is to create opportunities for you to run faster on fresher legs.

Bricks and Running Off/Near the Bike in Endurance Nation
So, for 2012, this is how our squad, and our training plan customers, will be executing their runs “near” their cycling sessions, in order from most to least preferred:

Separated by Several Hours — An AM bike followed by a PM run.  For example, rather than doing a hard 1hr bike followed by a 25-30’ run, you can now do that 1hr bike and then run later in the day or evening for 30-45 minutes, very likely at a faster pace and with better form than that traditional AM brick run.
Run First, then Bike — Coach Rich experimented with this in 2011 while training for Ironman Wisconsin. Coffee then run 45-60’ at Easy to Marathon Pace. Have breakfast then do his normal Saturday or Sunday ride. Observations:

Was able to run MUCH faster, in cooler temps and on fresher legs vs the traditional post long ride brick.
The run had very little impact on the quality of his bike.
However, nutrition did need to be carefully managed for rides over about 3hrs: you’re burning ~700-800 calories before breakfast, then eating about 600-800 calories before jumping on the bike to burn another 2000-3000+ calories. As a result, you really need to pay attention to properly fueling yourself during the ride. This is a good thing as every long ride should be an opportunity to practice your nutrition!

Bricks for Time Efficiency: At the end of the day, one of our primary goals is to help you manage your training time more effectively. Running straight off the bike is a very time efficient training session: one workout, one costume change, done. However, you are combining the sessions for time efficiency purposes only, NOT to develop magical run-off-the-bike fitness…because there is none!

We realize that two triathlon coaches telling their athletes and readers to not run off the bike…is very unusual! We’ve received some “colorful” emails and we welcome your comments below!

We look at it this way: We can do what everyone does, giving you what you think you need because it’s just how things have been done, or…

We can reflect on what we’ve learned in our nearly 20 years of Ironman coaching, over 40 personal finishes, thousands of athletes coached and dozens of races observed.

What we’ve learned and how we apply it:

The vast majority of the time, under-performing the run is the result of overcooking the bike or the first quarter to one third of the run.
If you want to run fast you need to create opportunities to run fast. We do that by creating for you more opportunities to run faster, on fresher legs, vs slowly on tired legs.
The address the mental and proper pacing issues by:

Putting “big days” into your training plan. A “Big Day” is a 30-60’ swim followed by a 3-4hr bike and a 30-60’ run. “This is what it feels like to put it all together across a long day, this is what it feels like to run on tired legs. I get it. Done.”
Teaching you how to execute the half and full Ironman bike and run. With over a thousand race day data points this year alone…TeamEN has a well-honed race execution system and every EN athlete races on the shoulders of the hundreds who’ve gone before him.

Endurance Nation Triathlon Coaching
Learn more about endurance training by taking one of our FREE online seminars! We’ll even include a free copy of our Four Keys of Ironman Execution DVD, a $37 value!

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

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EN had a total of  4  athletes race in a variety of races with an 50% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 10/8/11

Ironman World Championship

Jonathan Lieberman earned a PR in Kona with a finish time of 14:21:37!  Members can read his full race report here.  He said “This Team and this Race have affected me in such positive ways; I will be an EN team member for life.”

Rev3 South Carolina

Marc Robards (photo at left) competed in the sprint tri and earned a PR of 49:29:00.  He placed second in the 40-44 age group by 3 seconds and said “Work works!”

Races on 10/9

Rev3 South Carolina

Chris Hardbeck raced to a 5:31 finish in the half Ironman.  Members can read his full race report here.  Of the race he said “The hilly course, on a windy day, proved to be very challenging.  Had I not gathered so many tools from EN, both knowledge and fitness, I know that I would’ve boogered the bike and blown up on the run.  As it is, I turned in a solid effort and finished with a steady run pace that, although not a pr, was one of my faster runs on a very tough course.  That’s progress.  Looking forward to Year #2 with EN in 2012!  Thanks R & P and everyone else in the EN Haus!”

Races on 10/16

Detroit Free Press Marathon

Pat Ward ran the race for fun; pacing her son in the first half and a friend in the second half for a finish time of 4:13:10.

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Every year Endurance Nation is fortunate to put between 10 and 20 athletes on the starting line of the Ironman World Championships in Kona.  From qualifiers to lottery folks, from members to training plan athletes, we come from different backgrounds but share in the challenging training and the epic day.

Tune in to each of the four podcasts below to get a different perspective on the day, and check us out at www.endurancenation.us if you want to create a FREE 5-day trial and explore the Team for yourself!

Coach Patrick

Coach P interviews…himself! That’s right. A quick overview of his breakthrough race in Kona as well as a note about things he would do differently if given the change to race on the Big Island again. From swim to bike to run, the full day is laid out here!

For more information, be sure to check out his race report on his blog!

Listen to Coach Patrick’s podcast here.

Jonathan Lieberman

Coach P interviews the one, the only, cue the drum roll and the Rocky music: JONATHAN LIEBERMAN!!!

Jonathan got a lottery slot, validated it at Ironman Lake Placid and then raced the Big Dance a mere ten weeks later. Nothing like competing in the world championships in your second ever Ironman…and none of this was lost on Jon. His focus, tenacity and perserverance are amazing, as is his journey. You can hear it all, in the first person, in this podcast!

Listen to Jonathan’s podcast here.

Keith Buell

Coach Patrick sits down with Keith Buell to learn about his interested path to the World Championships. It’s a great story and Keith really makes the most of his day…very cool!

Listen to Keith’s podcast here.

Greg Charbeneau

Coach Patrick interviews Greg “The Fish” Charbeneau on his first ever Ironman Kona experience. Greg’s a regular guy, kids in college, relatively fit…and he almost cracked 10 hours!!! Hear how he did it and why he considers Endurance Nation his secret weapon.

Listen to Greg’s podcast here.

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

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