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Trial Member-Question

nealashleynealashley
in Coaching Forum 🧢
Been impressed with this site for awhile and thought I would check it out for seven days. Never done a tri before but have been biking and running for about 4 weeks. Don't laugh but right now my best time and distance on the bike is approximately 15 miles @ 15.8 mph AND my running is currently a run/walk interval (running for 3 minutes/walking for 2). As you can tell, I'm not in the best fitness shape although I'm not overweight. My main question is would I be better off as a member OR just buying an outseason plan until my general fitness level increases? Am in good enough shape to even start the outseason plan? In essence, I'm trying to decide if joining EN may be putting the "cart before the horse" since I'm not in great shape OR if it would help me getting started in the right direction and the right path. Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong place. 



Thanks in advance, 



Neal

Comments

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Neal, it depends on your goals. At your current level of fitness just about any program will result in significant improvements. On the other hand, if you desire to eventually do a HIM or full Ironman, then you do not want to learn bad training habits along the way. EN could really shorten the learning curve. But in the meantime, you have a lot of work to do. And as we say in the Haus, "Work, Works!"
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Hi Neal,

    Thanks for creating your trial membership. To be completely honest with you, we, and our training plans, are not a "couch to triathlon" resource. All of our plans assume a base level of fitness, especially running durability, at the start of the plan. And while I think you could get there very quickly, I don't think you need to pay us to get you ready to join the team or buy one of our plans, if that makes sense. 

    My recommendation is:

    1. Register for a 10k, or two, for November and December, if you can find them. 
    2. Find a free plan on the net to train for that. 
    3. Within this plan, ride your bike 2-3x's per week. 

    The purpose of #1 and #2 above is to put a goal on the calendar for you and then use a resource that gets you there by building running durability. You get this by running 3-5x/wk, getting there via a smart progression. This running durability is the foundation of triathlon training and creating it should be your first step. 

    The purpose of #3 is to just get you riding your bike. 

    Now, integrating this running guidance and cycling guidance together will take some smart guy work but I think you'll benefit from trying to figure this out on your own before using one of our plans or joining the team. 

    Basically, I think you're about 8-10wks away from being able to use EN as a resource and that requires you to simple build up your running durability. 

  • nealashleynealashley
    Rich,

    I appreciate your honesty. I could tell you guys were top notch.

    Is there anyway you can give me a prerequisite time volume on both the bike and the run before I join? (ex. 60 min run 90 min bike)?
    Also, should I worry about swimming right now at all because it's just as bad?

    Sounds like I could possibly be ready for the January membership drive.

    Thanks in advance,

    Neal
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Any 10k training plan would do, assuming that it builds you up to about 60 min run. That plus running a total of 4x per week would be fine. 

    As for the bike, just ride and experiment with riding very hard. The bike is very low risk so don't be afraid to push yourself. 

  • nealashleynealashley
    Wow...that was fast. Thanks for the advice and I'll be doing the work necessary to join in January!

    Obviously, save yourself the time from creating a season plan for me yet... =)

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