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2019 OutSeason® Plans Are Here!

Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
edited November 26, 2018 3:47PM 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 twelve years more than 6,500 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:

  • 10/29/18 = November OutSeason® (Team Focus)
  • 12/03/18 = December OutSeason®
  • 01/07/19 = January OutSeason® (Team Focus)
  • 02/04/19 = February OutSeason®


2019 OutSeason Training Plan Availability

All of the 2019 plans are available only on Final Surge. If you don't have a Final Surge account yet, then you need to upgrade (this is mostly for legacy / older Members): Upgrade to Final Surge here. You will not see the old plans in the old drop down / EN platform anymore. Don't miss out!

Overview

The plans have been updated again for 2019, 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 Bike Focus OutSeason®; and in your EVEN years of EN Membership (2, 4, 6) you should pick the Run 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/Four Quality Bikes + Durability Running.


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

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.

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

  • 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. The "end of OutSeason" test for the run is ideally a 13.1 / half marathon.

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

  • The OS Swim plan Is separately listed in Final Surge; you can "layer" it on top of your OutSeason Plan as you see fit.
  • The Endurance Nation Functional Strength routine is also available as an add-on to your training plan. Each block is 4 weeks long, so mix and match as you like!
  • 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®, which is in the resource area (here).


The Swim

The OutSeason training plan has a swim option if you want to swim through the Winter; see info above.

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 both Zwift and Trainer Road (see below). In no particular order:


  • Phase 1 = Threshold Work: FTP, Sweet Spot, ABP -- 3 Rides Total
  • Phase 2 = Anaerobic Work: VO2 Long, VO2 Short, ABP. Bike Focus plans add a "Cruise & Crush" for 4 Rides Total
  • Phase 3 = Threshold Work: FTP, Peak, Sweet Spot Intervals. Bike Focus maintain the "Cruise & Crush" for 4 Rides Total
  • Added “Peak” Interval training to the Thursday rides in Phase 3 to allow for fitness gains without unnecessary training stress.

Bike Workouts Available for Zwift

Thanks to@scott dinhofer You can load your favorite 2019 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 Works are available by Ability Level: 

Bike Workouts Available on Trainer Road

Thanks to Super @Scott Imlay and his hard work, once you join the Endurance Nation Trainer Road group, you can access all of our workouts including the 2019 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:

  • Phase 1 = Hills Mid-Week, Steady On the Weekend.
  • Phase 2 = Threshold Intervals Mid-Week, Build Runs on the Weekend.
  • Phase 3 = Steady Mid-Week, Half Marathon prep run on the Weekend.

Thanks for reading and we hope you “enjoy” the 2019 OutSeason, our 13th OutSeason!!!

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