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The 2018 OutSeason® Plans are Here!

edited January 25, 2019 3:46PM in Announcements 🎙

Our OutSeason® Training Plans combine our focus on Quality Training with a commitment to Early Season Consistency.  The result? In just fourteen weeks (14) you will build incredible bike and run fitness, setting the tone for the remainder of your season.

Over the past ten years more than 5,000 athletes have taken the Endurance Nation OutSeason® challenge. Training together as group, the energy and motivation are contagious -- it’s hard not to get faster!

Official OutSeason® Start Dates are:


2018 OutSeason Training Plan Availability

If you go to your Training Plan page and click on the Move/Change My Training Plan button, you'll see the 2018 OutSeason® are available. By early November, we will remove the 2017 OS plans from the drop down and automagically update the plan for anyone who is lagging behind (the same end date).

Overview

The plans have been updated again for 2018, with changes on both the micro and macro level. These are completely new plans and we're excited to see your improvements! You can read about most of these changes on the Training Plan Central Page here.


Training Plan Focus: Bike or Run

Now you can choose the area you want to work on. In general, the rule of thumb is that in your ODD years of EN Membership (1, 3, 5, etc) you should pick the Run Focus OutSeason®; and in your EVEN years of EN Membership (2, 4, 6) you should pick the Bike Focus OutSeason®. This ensures a balance across multiple years of training, and it dovetails with our Three Year Plan Guidance for how you should focus.


  • Run Focus Plan = Durability Runs plus One Quality Run. Two Quality Bikes.

  • Bike Focus Plan = Three Quality Bikes + Durability Running.



Training Plan Levels: 1, 2 and 3 (3 being the Most Challenging)

2018 represents the end of the Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced labels. There are plenty of experienced folks who needed to use the Beginner Level, but resisted because they were veterans...and of course, great athletes who used the Beginner plans because they were first-timers to EN (not beginners).


Now you can choose your plan level off of your relative strength within the context of that plan. The higher the level, the harder the plan. In general, we recommend:


  • Level One = Newer Athletes to the Sport or Athletes Returning from a layoff / injury

  • Level Two = Consistent Athletes with 1 to 2 years of experience, continuing to build.

  • Level Three = Experience / High Performing Athletes looking for a breakthrough year.


Combined Main Sets

Rather than three separate plans by ability level, we have combined them into a single plan -- aka no more toggling plans just to see what other folks are doing. This is great for athletes who are a Level One Runner but a Level Two Biker. Or for athletes who want to start with Level One in the First Cycle, then move up to Level Two as they regain fitness.


Three Phases of Work/Testing

The OutSeason®  has traditionally been two phases of 8 and 6 weeks respectively. In 2018, we have moved to three phases -- both for increased benchmarking as well as additional “rest” phases between the work.


  • 4 Work + 1 Test as 1-4 (5)

  • 4 Work + 1 Test as 6-9 (10)

  • 3 Work + 1 Test as 11-13 (14)


Each “work” phase will have a training focus; each “test” phase will give 3 days for recovery before testing the focus discipline and returning to a regular training weekend. Bike and Run disciplines will both test in the final OS week.


Please Note: You do not HAVE TO test; we recommend it but it is your call!


Aggregated Resources

We have heard the call for help with our training plans, and we are doing our best to get organized. The first step has been to beef up the main OutSeason Plan Page resources for Members via the Training Plan Central Page:


Training Plan > Training Plan Central Page > OutSeason Plan Resources (here)

Here you will find links to the most relevant instructional resources, as well as the various tracking sheets around Body Composition, Running Durability, and Core.



Swim and Strength Options Remain Monday / Friday

  • Recommended: Monday and Friday should be rest days to allow for recovery.

  • Bonus Work: We encourage folks to do some core and strength work on these days as a compliment to the hard work of the outseason.

  • Swim Slower Than 2:00 Per 100 Yards? Or Can’t Stop Swimming? Don’t worry, we have maintained our Swim Supplement to add swim workouts to your OutSeason®.



The Swim

The OutSeason training plan still contains swim workouts in Weeks 11 through 14, so you can get a head start on the swimming in your next training plan. Don’t forget that most of you will transition into the Swim Camp training plan where you’ll “boost” the swim more.


For those of you who want to / need to continue working on the Swim, we encourage you to explore the resources we have available to you:



The Bike

There are several changes for the bike workouts, and they are available in Zwift and Trainer Road (see below). In no particular order:


  • Updated Bike FTP workouts to remove warm up (in sidebar now).

  • Combined Main Sets into single workouts.

  • Redefined the Functional Threshold work by training phase:

    • Phase 1 = Build time at FTP.

    • Phase 2 = Build FTP with fixed time intevals.

    • Phase 3 = Boost FTP with 110% sets.

  • Updated VO2 training sessions by Phase:

    • Phase 1 = 30" intervals

    • Phase 2 = 1’ intervals

    • Phase 3 = 30" PLUS Intervals (aka Max + Zone 5).

  • Updated Sunday ABP rides to reflect time in Zone 3 by ability level.

  • Added “Sweet Spot” training to the Saturday rides of the Bike Focused OutSeason® Plans to allow for fitness gains without unnecessary training stress.

Bike Workouts Available for Zwift

Thanks to @Jason Veith You can load your favorite 2018 OS workout into Zwift for training. The instructions on how to do that are available on Zwift here. New to Zwift? Get Started instructions are here

Of course, you are welcome to replace any OutSeason® interval ride with a Zwift Race -- a 25mi race would replace an FTP / Threshold Ride; a 15-ish mile race would replace a VO2 / High Intensity Ride. And don't forget about our weekend rides on Zwift either (learn more here). 

Click to download a compressed ZIP Archive of either a Run-Focused or Bike-Focused Plan by Ability Level: 

Bike Workouts Available on Trainer Road

Once you join the Endurance Nation Trainer Road group, you can access all of our workouts including the 2018 OutSeason® workouts. Learn how find EN workouts on Trainer Road here.


The Run

The main focus of your OutSeason® running continues to be Run Durability. The Team has seen excellent results on this approach, and we are continuing to refine it with an eye towards improving your “in season” events. IOW, there should be no such thing as a great OutSeason® followed by a crappy Race Season!


To that end, the changes are:


  • Changed weekly run targets from distance to frequency (# of runs per week)

  • Created three phases of the Quality Weekend Run:

    • Phase 1 = Zone 3 / HMP intervals

    • Phase 2 = Zone 4 / Threshold intervals

    • Phase 3 = Negative split running.

  • In the Bike Focused Plans, the Tuesday Brick Runs are optional and the Thursday brick run is now a Friday optional run.


Updated Training Plan Videos and Podcasts

We have updated most of the podcasts and videos for the 2018 OutSeason training plans.



OutSeason = Triathlon Season RoadMap Refresh

Finally...while we have your attention...we wanted to remind you that now is a great time to submit your 2018 race calendar to us via the *Triathlon Season Roadmap survey here. When you submit your TSR, we now know what you’re racing and can message you important information about your races -- race weekend activities, race-specific tips, and more -- in a timely manner.


Thanks and we hope you “enjoy” the 2018 OutSeason, our 12th OutSeason!!!


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Comments

  • Great work on these, Patrick.  Lotsa good stuff going on here!
  • Thanks Patrick! Big improvements! Almost makes me look forward to it!  :#
  • after reading through this thread and the JOS thread and video, it's truly obvious the amount of work (and listening to feedback) that went into these plans. Always pushing the envelope, looking forward (sorta) to hitting it hard in January.. 
  • I looked through both plans pretty closely last night and love the updates.  The obvious result of a lot of work.   Thank you.  I really like the rest/test week every five weeks, the simplification and easy adjustability based on individual level.  Most important for me with my wholesale adoption of run durability through frequency (I drank the Kool-Aid and am addicted) is the elimination of some of the "quality" runs the old plans called for each week.  It was simply too much for me to get in quality bike work and run 5-6 days per week with two of those runs involving Z4 and one of them Z5.  I think the general approach of frequency (TRP) + one quality (Z4) run + strides = just about perfect.  We'll see.  I'm almost anxious to dive in.  Almost.
  • I downloaded the bike plans.  Being less than savvy on the technology front how do I get them into Zwift?  I use a MacBook Pro.  Thanks!
  • @Brian Terwilliger The answer is in the original post above.  In the area that says "The instructions on how to do that are available on Zwift here".
  • I'm working with Zwift on a possible bug about Custom Workouts.  I tried to create a folder structure for the OS Workouts (by week) however they won't display in the correct order.  It shows the "Week 1, Week 2, Week 5, Week 10, Week 3) out of order.  I've tried just about everything I can think of (even resetting the created date/modified date).  At this point, I'm just going to be mindful and make sure to pick the correct week/workout before I get started.

    I'll let everyone know if I hear an answer from Zwift on how to fix this.

  • @Brian Terwilliger The answer is in the original post above.  In the area that says "The instructions on how to do that are available on Zwift here".
    Thanks.  I was looking in the darn "Whose In" thread where the bike workouts were originally posted.  
  • @Jason Veith great job with the Zwift OS workouts!  Easy-peasy to load up and worked like a charm ... #ZwiftWhisperer
  • @Brian Hagan , I live in GR MI, and I lived in AA for 6 years for grad school. If you ever want to meet up to train on the west side please let me know!
  • @Larry Peters Sounds good.  I love the GR Triathlon!
  • WOW!  This is a lot of work you did and tons of new info.  Thanks for the hard work, I hope to reciprocate in kind.
  • Hey @Coach Patrick

     I have some questions about the OS-Run Focus, week 11:
    1. Should the level-3 by 3x 1mi? Or are we take a step back after test week?
    2. Is the level-3 75 minutes or 85? Seems odd that we'd run less that level 2 ... or is the time drop because we're running 1x more a week?
    3. Do you we still want the option of the fast finish? Or is that left-over from the Coach Notes provided for wks 1-10? Obviously it's all "as you feel" 
    I'm gonna run 2x 1mi >> 75 min today and call it good. In the grand scheme of things none of this matters that much. But, if it's a copy-n-paste snafu, it may be worth correcting. To be honest, the Coach Notes seem identical to wks 1-10, where the run WAS almost entirely TRP ... but I guess this run is mostly TRP (if not all that steady)





  • Question:  See below.   How long is a level 1 run for?  55 mins or 70 mins, with the remainder at TRP?  

    Run is listed as 70 mins, but level 1 description is 55'  run done as 40'@ TRP, then 10' zone 3 

    Thanks. 

    70 min
    MS Choose Your Workout Below:
    • Level 1: 55' run done as 40' @ TRP, then 10' @ Zone 3
    • Level 2: 65' run done as 45' @ TRP, then 15' @ Zone 3
    • Level 3: 70' run done as 45' @ TRP, then 20' @ Zone 3
    • Remainder of all runs @ TRP.

    Coach Notes: This is your QUALITY long run of the week, set up as a Negative Split by finishing in Zone 3. Run as best you can given the zones listed; if you can't hit the numbers then just do the best you can! Do not exceed 10 miles here.
  • the header "70 min" clearly refers to the Level 3 run, all runs differ by level... do the one RXd for your level 
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