How to Train This (And Every Fall) Inside Endurance Nation [Updated for 2019 Season Edition!]

Coach Patrick · September 18, 2017 4:19PM

Once your season has ended, you likely feel a bit lost. Our top priority is to keep you focused right now — your "free training time" is an opportunity to get a head start on next season.

While you might be adrift, now is the best time to start building the foundation for your future goals using our Run Durability Program and the accountability of your Teammates!

>> Join the Run Durability Chat Group to Create Your Own Run Streak & Stay Motivated <<

FAFQ: Frequently Asked Fall Questions

Here’s some of the most popular questions we get in the Fall:

1. What Is Actionable Right Now?

You have lessons learned from your Race Reports (you did do one, didn't you??!!) but the next race you are going to do is more than nine months away! You know the OutSeason® is coming at the end of October but is that even the right OS for you?

2. Where Is The Value Of EN Right Now?

While many of you chose Endurance Nation to do your Race Preparation and Race Execution, the value of the Team is much deeper than the last 12 weeks to your race. Many of your teammates are living examples of the value of a long-term approach to training, with the advice and experience to help you make the leap to a better YOU.

And we have our Run Training Plans as well as our Run Durability Program (RDP), designed to keep you consistent and on point throughout the Fall.

3. When Do I Start the OutSeason®?

There are two main OutSeason® Starts…October 29th, 2018 and January 7th 2019, but you can start it on your own any time too (it just lacks the community vibe).

Should I Choose October OS?

If your "A" Race is before July 1st
If you are a veteran athlete with more than three years of racing.

Or Should I Choose January OS?

If your "A" Race is after July 1st.
You have less than three years of triathlon training & racing experience.

What is the Run Durability Program (RDP)?

It's more than a methodology, it's a mindset. It's a training approach that explicitly targets your race day performance goals. Run frequency and daily consistency of running trump individual "key" runs. Weekly targets are more important than any single run. Your run fitness is the accumulation of all running you do, not of just a vDOT score or your pace on your last long run.

Building incrementally over time -- using lots of very small pieces -- Run Durability becomes an integral part of your endurance arsenal. The four key components of Run Durability are:

Frequency
Consistency
Steady Effort
TRP Pace (Total Run Pace), defined as the midpoint of Zone 1 / Long Run Pace and Zone 2 / Marathon Pace

There are Three, One Month Run Durability Modules available to you. You can build anything from a four- to a twelve-week program that will enable you to continue quality running through out your OutSeason® and the remainder of your year. To learn more, here is a brief overview from the Training Plan Central Page.

Why Use Run Durability?

Reason #1: To Make You Faster On Race Day.

If you can’t run at your TRP pace on race day, instead putting up a Run Split worth of comparison to your Bike Split…then you likely have a durability problem. Certainly bike pacing and nutrition need to be evaluated as well. At the end of the day, you either have the run pedigree to do what you want on race day or you don’t.

Reason #2: To Help You Make a Macro-Level Change in Your Total Aannual Running Volume.

Most endurance athletes run good mileage in the twelve weeks leading up to their race, but if you look across the year the weekly run volume is actually very low. This is a very simple thing to fix with far-reaching impacts.

Reason #3: To Reduce the "Cost" of Running vs Your Total Training.

It’s very hard to improve on the swim, bike and run when all of your training is new. Or when your training is ramping up. All of a sudden, jumping from 15 to 30 miles of running a week means that all of your weekly workouts will suffer until your system adapts to the training load. By doing the Run Durability Program, you will have a baseline mileage with essentially Zero Cost, allowing you to create gains on the Bike and elsewhere.

Reason #4: To Reduce Your Chance of Run Injury.

We are tired of athletes breaking down on the run and missing out on the value of consistent months, seasons, and years of running. A great runner isn't made -- she is built over years. Having to stop running, entering Run Jail and struggling to complete the long runs...these are all signs of underdeveloped run capacity. If we can get your run right, we can make your season awesome!

Learn More About RDP

Read this blog post on a full understanding of how RDP works: https://www.endurancenation.us/blog/run/the-run-durability-advantage-building-a-better-next-year-by-running-more-this-year/

Watch the full RDP webinar here:

https://endurancenation.wistia.com/medias/ctkl2233gz?embedType=async&seo=false&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=2

How To Get Started

Step One: Find and Load a Run Durability Plan

You can find these under Training Plan / My Plan on the Members Site. Click the "Move / Change Plan" button on the page and load up your RDP plan of choice. Note, set a reminder for when it ends so you can load the next plan!

Step Two: Determine Your Fall Run Weekly Mileage Goals

The best means of doing this is checking out your training log. Whether it's on paper or in digital form, your training log contains the answer to unlocking your true potential.

So before you set some audacious goal for running, pull out your training log and take a good hard look that what your average weekly running volume was for the past 12 months. Most training logs have this baked in, but if not you might have to do a little bit of math either way, knowing this number will give you a good sense of where your run potential lies.

Beginner runners generally average between 10 in 15 miles a week across a year.
Intermediate runners will average between 15 and 20 miles a week across a year.
Advanced runners will average the between 20 and 30 miles a week across a year.

Remember you have a few weeks to reach your goals…don’t try to hit it right in the first week!!!

Step Three: Plan Your Run Streak

The basic Run Durability Plan has five runs a week in it. So let’s commit to that first off…5 runs a week or 20 runs a month. More advanced athletes can start with 6 runs, but regardless, we want to be at seven runs a week by the third month of Run Durability. This can be daily runs, or one day with a Split Run so you have a day off to recover.

Step Four: Join the EN Run Durability GroupMe

This is a text app you can use to quickly chat and cheer other runners on. New for 2017, this will ideally foster support and that "TeamEN" feeling without requiring a lengthy forum post. Share thoughts, pictures and even video.

>> You can join the group using this URL: https://app.groupme.com/join_group/34349815/2Tbioa

Step Five: Make Running Social Again!

Since you are running often and a social / comfortable pace, you have zero excuses as to why you can't include others. Remember, giving the gift of fitness to others means that it will all come back to you.

Share the code RUNWITHFRIENDS and they can save 50% on their first month of PlanEN membership - normally $47.

Send them to http://www.endurancenation.us/pricing-2/, tell them to pick Plan*EN and it's time to get your run on!

Conclusion

Before you head off into the sunset, firing up Maintenance Mode or simply not training for months, give the Run Durability Program (RDP) a try.

Whether you get in one month of good running or all the way up to three months (!) the power to control next season is in your hands, and the Team is ready!

scott dinhofer · September 17, 2018 3:13PM

Noticing that this thread mentions an "October OS," but no NOS? was planning on an NOS....

guidance please @Coach Patrick