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Endurance Nation: From the Athletes’ Perspective
10/5/2008 |
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Endurance Nation (EN), founded by Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann in late 2007, is a method of coaching that differs from the traditional business model of a one-on-one relationship. EN is built on the theory that group knowledge is wiser and more efficient than 1:1 coaching: athletes who participate in EN are encouraged to participate in forums, virtual training events, and real-world camps. Patrick and Rich are constantly be updating the EN website with new books, podcasts, videos and blog posts, with a heavy emphasis on quantitative, results-oriented training protocols. In addition to this online experience, the coaches provide race-specific training camps and they travel to each Ironman in North America for athlete support and to deliver their famous Four Keys pre-race talk a day or two before the event. To further sweeten the deal, the coaches promise all of the above for about $400-500 for an entire season of training.
Since saving more than $3,000 on the cost of an average one-on-one coaching commitment sounds almost too good to be true, we decided to check in with four random athletes who participate in EN to get the scoop.
A Quick Convert
Mike Biarnesen is a 48 year-old professional, married with two teenagers. He first got involved in triathlon at the age of 41, when a fitness center friend talked him into doing a local race. “A ‘micro’ I call it – 500 yd swim, 6 mi bike, 3 mi run,” Biarnesen says. But it was enough to get him hooked. “I went from a relatively sedentary lifestyle (volleyball once a week, with beer and pizza afterwards), to a heavy endurance/multisport commitment.” He quickly moved up the distance ladder and completed his first IM in 2004. Another friend introduced him to Rich Strauss, at the time of Crucible Fitness, and he was quickly converted to training and racing with power.
That first IM Biarnesen completed was IM Wisconsin in 2004, with a time of 12:44:29. In 2006, under Strauss’ tutelage, he brought that time down to 11:41 at the same race in 2006. Then again, in 2007 – now a member of EN – Biarnesen dropped that time to 11:09 at Wisconsin. Since then, Biarnesen has also taken 15 minutes off his half iron time, with a PR of 4:52 at Muncie this year.
“What makes EN different is the solid and consistent training and racing philosophy, backed by real results. A close second would be the team environment created in a virtual community.” This year, Biarnesen raced at IM Canada (11:14:16), where he was able to meet other EN athletes he had known only through the forum. “Most of them were like old friends/training buddies. With many of us doing IMWI in 2009, we are already forming REAL group training dates with regional folks in EN, so virtual partners will become real training partners for me next season!”
Return on Investment
Steve Cramer is a 37-year-old software engineer, married with three kids under the age of ten. He played a number of sports as a kid, but by college, he was pretty sedentary. In 2001, nudged by his wife, Cramer started running local 5K’s, and by 2003 he did his first sprint triathlon. By 2004, he stepped up to half-iron distance and in 2005, Cramer completed IMCDA.
“That first Ironman in Coeur d’Alene was built primarily on the traditional LSD approach with very little intensity,” Cramer says. “Looking back I think it was pretty clear that I lost a good bit of actual fitness by not including intensity in the program.” In 2005, Cramer teamed up with Rich Strauss and continued on with EN when it was born in 2007. In three years he’s gone from an 11:37 at the first IM to a 10:08 – and a Kona slot. Cramer started 2008 following the EN Off-Season program; this lifted his FTP from 265w at the end of 2007 to 282w in 2008. From there he raced Oceanside 70.3 (PR), Auburn World’s Toughest Half (PR and top-10 overall), Alcatraz and IM Lake Placid, which resulted in a PR and that Kona slot.
For Cramer “it’s not really about the coaching, but the environment and the community that Rich and Patrick have established. In EN, we have a bona fide team environment, where everyone at the table is there because they’re committed to both their own improvement, as well as to helping their teammates.”
“You’ll hear countless coaches admit that there’s really no secret workout or set of intervals that will magically work to lift your fitness above and beyond the willingness and ability to get out there and do the work. Rich and Patrick’s focus on maximizing ROI for the athlete’s training hour fits the 90% of age-group athletes that need to shoehorn their training around their lives.”
Never Let Things Get Stale
David Halligan is a Systems Director and VP at PNC Global Investment Servicing; he’s 39 and married with two kids ages 5 and 3. He started running with his dad when he was in 1st grade and was doing 10K’s by the time he was 12. He played a number of various sports, and did crew for a couple of years while in college. But then the rest of the 90s was spent getting fat and lazy (his own words!). In 1998, he started running, and by 2003, he took the tri plunge, starting with sprints and Olympics. In 2007, he moved up to the half iron distance, and this year raced his first IM at Lake Placid.
Halligan was self-coached until his first 70.3 last year. “Up until last year, I had never run more than 13.1 miles and it was once in 1998 at a half mary that I did in something like 2:25.” This past May as a member of EN, Halligan ran the Big Lake Half Marathon in 1:33, placing 3rd in the Clydesdale Division. He then took 3 minutes off his local tri club’s 11 mile time trial. In June, he joined a group of other EN athletes and participated in the annual EN Lake Placid Training Camp; Halligan completed his first IMLP in 12:39.
When asked why he values EN, Halligan can’t say enough. “The folks who participate in EN come from all different backgrounds and age groups. The wealth of knowledge that exists among the members is amazing. If anyone posts a question on a forum, it not only gets answered by Patrick and/or Rich, but multiple members share their experiences as well.”
“Patrick and Rich never let things get stale. They’re always looking at how they can improve things for us athletes. They use their own data as well as ours to come up with plans that benefit their members.”
Perfect Storm of Body, Mind and Spirit
Linda Patch, 50, is married with four sons aged 15-22 and runs her own public relations and marketing business, Linda Patch & Associates. According to Patch, “we have always been a crazy, busy, athletic family.” For most of her life, she was a dancer (“I was before the age of Title IX”), but once she had kids, Patch focused mainly on running. “As a working mother of four, running was the quickest activity I could fit into my busy life!” Patch is proud that she inspires her boys, and the whole family gets involved with her training and racing, from mapping out routes for training rides to picking themes for her big races.
Patch is racing IM Florida this year, so this past summer was more training-focused than race focused for her. However, since she began with EN in October 2007, her power at functional threshold on the bike has increased by 40w for a 26% increase and she scored a 3 minute PR at a 10K at the end of the off-season program.
“I have had a number of coaching relationships including some pricey 1:1 scenarios with names you would recognize,” Patch says – but she’s never been happier or better served than she is with EN. “The off-season program was indescribably effective – and so much fun. The on-going experience of having a cohesive group to ‘train’ with – athletes who are all on the same page and speaking the same language – is very powerful.” In addition, Patch feels the guidance and tools one gets from EN is an unbelievable value for the money. “There are instructional podcasts and webinars that help guide our training – those alone are worth the yearly membership price and more.”
The combination of on-going feedback from Strauss and McCrann, along with that of other athletes, and the camaraderie has led Patch to be more consistent – which has led to “leaps of progress” in all three disciplines as well as igniting a new found confidence in herself. “For me, it’s been the perfect storm of body, mind and spirit.”
From The Coaches
Rich Strauss has been coaching Ironman athletes full time since 2001 under the brand of Crucible Fitness. Over the years he’s personally coached hundreds of finishers and well over a thousand more have used his training plans. Says Rich, “It’s been an incredible first year of growth, challenges, hard work and fulfillment, but we are extremely proud of what we and our athletes have been able to accomplish. I have been the expensive, one-on-one, $350/mo, full for years coach. But through the systems and community we’ve created at Endurance Nation we are able to provide an incredible combination of quality and value for our members. So much so that, faced with the realization that I just can’t create ~800% of that value for my one-on-one athletes, I did the right thing and fired myself. I’m now 100% committed to this “team coaching” method that we have developed.
Patrick McCrann started coaching triathletes full-time in 2003 via his company, Performance Training Systems. McCrann built PTS into a regional coaching powerhouse, with annual camps, clinics and seminars…but there was something missing. “The triathlon space is full of great people who love to train and race, but the way coaching and triathlon teams are built inherently draws divisions between most athletes. We built EN with the specific mission of creating a diverse community of athletes who are as interested in helping one another as they are in self-improvement.” The resulting energy and team vibe has literally transformed Endurance Nation from the outset. “Our members drive the learning and growth process; their membership fee frees Rich and I from the monthly 1:1 coaching tasks of making phone calls and analyzing sleep patterns to focusing on the creation of learning materials, support tools, and training experiences that impact the greater community of triathletes.”
The Conclusion
As these four powerful testimonials from four athletes show, Endurance Nation is quietly redefining the triathlon coaching experience. With well over 400 member athletes joining the team to ‘Connect, Learn, Achieve’ since it’s inception last year, EN is also one of the largest triathlon groups in the US. With 2009 around the corner, Rich and Patrick show no signs of slowing down. “We have just completely re-written all of our triathlon training plans based on the data and input from the 2008 season. Our epic training camp schedule is new and improved, with our Tour of California camp in February gaining in popularity with the return of a certain professional cyclist. We have a brand new learning and training Symposium in the works for March and several new projects in development,” says Rich. “We’d love to slow down, but our members won’t let us,” adds Patrick with a laugh.
Endurance Nation has its own column here on Xtri – you can check it out here (or find it under the Coaches Column tab). Check out the EN website at http://www.endurancenation.us.
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