Brad Tavel Official Coach Thread
Here's your personal Coach Thread, as promised. This is where you'll return to post all your "coach" questions as responses; I'll see them and reply. This first post is here to guide you through your first year on EN, so you can always come back here.
As you'll see in this forum, I handle all manner of edits and changes. So post away, know that I reply here usually M/W/F each week.
Power User Tip: Click the Star icon by the Title of this thread to subscribe, and you'll get email updates when I do reply.
Coach Notes (click to watch video)
Your Races
Focus is Atlantic City 70.3 I've toyed with the idea of IM MD but i know i'm not close to being able to do it
03/2020 south beach orApril 20 St. Anthony's (Type) Name- 05/17/20 2020 New York Gran Fondo probably the 50 mile route
- 9/20 Atlantic City tri or aquabike (date TBD)
Your Notes
10 years ago, I was a smoker and weighed 265lbs. started with sprint tri's..first oly was St.anthony's in 2008: 3:30:00
then in 2009, weight came down to 205, did Atlanta 1/2marathon in 2:30, Columbia oly in 3:10 and Eagleman in 7:14 (Swim 42, bike 2:58, run/walk....the rest of the time). Decent swimmer, used to be good on the bike, but i'm slower now, not a runner.. I could usually turn in a 33:00 swim, 1:10-1:20 bike and the run averaged 11-13min/miles. I did the Atlantic City Aquabike in the rain last year...Swim 49/Bike 2:50..4th in AG. Shortly after, I had 3 abdominal surgeries and months of inactivity and eating. I've been tooling around abit on the bike and in the pool but want to put things together for Atlantic City 2020 (not sure if its aquabike or full tri???) I saw your video on run durability and thought...heck....lets give the run another try. (BTW, I was an EN member almost a decade ago but dropped out just due to time constraints..kids...and business....and loss of focus really.) Swim 3x/wk average 1,750m Bike 3x/wk average 60-100miles...Weigh 230. starting a run/walk program but want to switch to your run durability...Fitness, i'd say is fair.
Season Outline
These are your recommended training plans, including the date you should start each one (sometimes you won't complete a full plan but transition to another one). You can change your plans on Final Surge by clicking on Training Plans / My Plans. Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.
>> Last updated by Coach on August 16, 2019
- On 8/19/2019 Load the Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 9/15/2019
- On 9/16/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 2 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/13/2019
- On 10/14/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 2 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 11/10/2019
- On 10/27/2019 Load the OutSeason for Triathletes (Bike Focus) Plan, 14wks to end on 2/1/2020
- On 2/2/2020 Load the Swim Camp to end on 2/15/2020
- On 2/16/2020 Load the Short Course, 20wks to end on 4/19/2019
- On 4/20/2019 Load the Metric Century, Balanced (12 Weeks) to end on 5/17/2020
- Connect with Coach P for more.
Training Plan Support in Your First Month
You can connect with @matt limbert as needed in your first month to get dialed in with your training plans and data. You can set up a call with him online here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1 and he'll be on this thread shortly!
Your Homework
Check out our Body Composition Course online here.
Tell Me Your Season Goals
- What will make you consider this season a success?
- What's your biggest limiter right now?
Start Learning
Every month we hold live events as part of our commitment to make you just as smart as you are fit. Feel free to visit our Coach Lesson page and our Office Hours page to find the next opportunity to connect with Coach Patrick and your Teammates.
Contact Points
As part of your journey to becoming a Self Coached Triathlete inside TeamEN, we are prepared to give you excellent support for your first 90 days. Our goal is to transition you from live, in-person support to using our digital resources and the Team to help you continue your progress as you execute your Three Year Plan.
These are all the key points in your first year where we must talk. Please remember to include your phone number.
- Welcome Call in Week One (set it up here)
- Training Plan Call in Week Two to talk about your season (set it up here)
- End of Trial Call -- We review your experience & Unlock Year One / Race Execution for you (set it up here)
- End of Season Call -- We review your year & Strategize for your End of Year Gap and Year Two (TBD in this Coach Thread)
Questions
- Coach Questions - Right here in this thread. Always reply to this same thread, it keeps a record for us as we evolve together!
- General Questions - Simple stuff can go to the Q & A Central Forum for the Team to answer. For example, Best Bike? How to improve run cadence? How to flip turn?
- Need Help? - Please check the EN Help Site first!
- Admin Questions - Billing or orders or whatnot? Use the red chat button at the bottom of the Members Site (not forums) or email us here.
- Specific Questions about a Race or Power, etc? - You can post those into the General Discussion Forum and set the title or tags for that topic. Race questions to the Racing Forum, etc. Not sure where to post? Put it in the General Discussion forum and we will sort it out. Whatever you do, PLEASE ask your questions!!
For short or last minute questions, we recommend you use the Red Chat Icon on the main Members website.
We have also organized a complete chart of the best ways to contact us online here.
Your First Month on the Team
You have quite a few things to do when you start up. There are instructions on the top of the website, but you can review them under Resources / Trial Member Welcome.
Your First Year Inside Endurance Nation
This will be unlocked after your trial expires.
Looking forward to working with you this year,
~ Coach P
Comments
Brad,
Welcome to Endurance Nation! I'm Matt and I'm here to help make your first 30 days as easy as possible.
I'll help you get up to speed with your plan, your basic schedule, workout terminology, and all of our resources. I'll send some links to articles, forums or coach videos that apply to your training. I encourage you to look around and let me know what you are interested in. There are ton of videos, coach lessons and forums that are available to you as a TeamEN member. Coach Patrick mentioned body composition and we have some good videos on daily nutrition and how build some sustainable habits there.
Good work connecting your Garmin account to Final Surge. I looks like all your workout data is updating "automagically."
Here are some other easy steps to get the most out out your training plan, Coach Thread and Final Surge.
Again, Power user tip! Subscribe to this Coach Thread and get an email when respond. It keeps the communication moving. Click on the red star and check box just to the right of your thread title. This way you will get an email when you get a response in your Coach thread. See 5 sec video here:
Consider downloading the Final Surge App.
This makes it way easier to add comments about how you felt, ate, weather etc (for the bike) and sets, paces etc (for the swim). Those are all super helpful to you as you track your progress, prepare and plan your for your race.
It makes it super easy to add comments about your workout. Click on the "pencil" icon to tap "how I felt" or "perceived effort." Then add a few notes about what you ate/drank (helps to figure out what works best for you on the bike), how you felt mentally, the weather or any aches etc. Those comments are really handy when you are comparing workouts, tailoring your own training, evaluating progress and planning for your ride. It also makes it easy to look at and plan for your upcoming workouts.Just a quick not goes a long way.
Final Surge | Mobile Apps
https://www.finalsurge.com/apps
You can also setup Final Surge to send you emails with your workouts every day.
Integrated Zones. Customization.
You will do some run and bike tests this weekend. Once we have that power or heart rate data we can integrate your zones and customize your workouts. Once you customize them, the workouts will say 20' @ (135-145 heart rate) vs. 20' @ Zone 2. So, you won't have to memorize the numbers. Boom!
Here is how you update your training plan with integrated and customized zones:
https://www.endurancenation.us/help/final-surge-how-to-update-your-integrated-training-zones/
I look forward to hearing more, watching you build your fitness and get smarter about training and race execution. Let me know how I can help!
My goal is to make your first month of Endurance Nation as simple and as awesome as possible! For any questions you have getting started - chat with me here in this forum or schedule a call with me here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1
Talk with you soon.
Matt
Thanks....pretty much diving into the program. Completed swim test....bike tomorrow. Beginning to track body composition and formulating goals for training...nutrition...mind set. My motto in hiking/climbing...."not how high the peak..just be on top"...right now, same mind set, not how fast, just be injury free and finish the training set. Journey of a thousand steps and all....
Brad, I love your long term approach.
You mentioned body composition and goals. Here are Coach Patrick's video lessons on Body Composition and Habits/Goals:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Courses/Nutrition.aspx
http://members.endurancenation.us/Learning/CoachLessons/HabitsNotGoals[January2019].aspx
Finished run test. 231lbs rolling around a track.....think the "Blob" from the steve McQueen movie. Anyway, its a starting point. Next up, bike test.
I prefer to think of this as the Hulk Smash phase. Coming soon the Flash phase. Nice job - getting after it and knocking it out!🔥
I love the consistency this week. Your notes on your Saturday run are spot on! Keeping track of what you did, how you felt and that little reminder/goal for next time - that's awesome.
Congratulations on your run breakthrough. Nice work.
Nice job getting in the open water swim this week. How are you feeling?
@Bradley Tavel
Welcome to your SECOND MONTH inside Endurance Nation!
To help you continue your progress, we have a few short questions for you. You can copy the questions and put your answers in your reply to this thread (no need to copy the questions, just keep the numbers the same!).
** Rankings **
Please rate the following items on a Scale of 1 to 3 (1 = Unsatisfactory, 2 = Satisfactory, 3 = Great!):
** Subjective Information **
** Additional Learning **
Now that we are beyond the initial learning curve of Endurance Nation, it's time to give deeper into some additional resources that can really help you out.
You have several options:
** Need Coach Input? **
Don’t forget you can schedule a check in call with Coach Patrick online here: https://calendly.com/pmccrann/15min
We are looking forward to your answers!
Hey Brad, Brenda will reach out to you this week about what you want to do with your account.
If you want "just the workouts" - its PlanEN and you will keep your Final Surge account and Brenda will send you a copy of this Coach Thread - including your season plan.
As you know, there is a ton more to Endurance Nation than "just the workouts" - If you want to keep chatting here - and keep access to all forums, GroupMe and Coach Lesson video library you will need to think about TeamEN. There are lots of other folks on the team that are going into the same OutSeason plan you are - at the end of Oct. You can connect with them on GroupMe. Folks are always in there talking training and its great for accountability.
GroupMe is the live version of all things Endurance Nation. This is an app you can download to your smartphone, visit on the web, and even search if you want.
Figure out which one works best for you and let Brenda know.