Trial Member - Comparing Benefits of EN
Hello Everyone. I signed up for the free trial a couple months ago, but frankly just trolled around the site and didn't engage much. Given it was the end of the season I cancelled my membership (which by the way was SUPER easy, and scored points for EN).
So here's where I am:
- Got into Tris seriously for the first time this year. Did a couple sprints (including a 1st AG overall in my first one), a couple Olys, and a HIM at Steelhead 70.3 with a time of 4:57. My training was bascially thrown together from talking with other people and using free plans on the web. Did this while managing a 60 hr workweek and a family with 3 kids under 6.
- Signed up for IMAZ in 11/11 so starting to map out my plans for the year. Hoping for a sub 11 hr time.
- I'm a member of a local tri club that has training groups, etc.
- For the price of EN, I could get a local coach 1-1 here in town.
So, this is what I am weighing as I think about signing up long term for EN. Would appreciate your thoughts on what EN offers vs. my other options.
I know a couple EN members/former members and they speak highly of the group.
Thanks in advance,
Jeremy
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Comments
No doubt that it's a reasonably major investment over doing all of your planning yourself. If you're planning to purchase plans(s) anyway, then the incremental price is a lot smaller. You are looking at potentially purchasing three plans: OS, HIM, IM. I did my own plans for a few years, and did fairly well... but last year was my first spring/summer in here and it was - no doubt - both an eye opener and a breakthrough race. The plans are just smarter/better than I could put together. You could do a lot worse than just buy their plans.
I could (almost) hire a 1-1 coach in my neck of the woods vs. pay for EN, too.
It's been said many times, but the advantages of being inside include:
- A huge base of experience...to the point that it's statistically relevant. You're pretty fast - not so different than me actually - and I'm in a similar situation (though my kids are a little older...I'm 46). You and I benefit from there beign a lot of people in our situation and a lot of people that have tried a lot of things...and REAL DATA that back up the answers that you will get here.
- Your local coach could be great. Don't get me wrong... but what you are getting here is not the same. It's not really 1-1 coaching. It's more like self coaching with a huge knowledge base to draw from and plans that have evolved over the years.
- If you bite on getting involved in teh forums etc, than you get that same "club support" sort of thing (rah, rah sense...I've already addressed the knowledge issue) as long as you'e ok with it being n online thing.
-There are people here who are older than you and faster...people who have been in your place and gotten better.... people who will never be as fast as you, but know a hell of a lot... and a lot of people just learning together, too.
- Finally (at least on my list), you're getting a method that works and is pretty darn time efficient. Again, maybe your local coach is That Good, but my guess is that s/he just doesn't have the same experience under his/her belt as the plans and people here.
-If you're "inside", you'll find the coaches are able to help you manipulate your plan(s) in a way that's efficient as most 1-1 coaches could do... I assume you know about both the "macro" and "micro" threads.
-in addition to your club mates who may be doing your long course races, you'll have teammates from EN, and a big presence at AZ for sure.
If you need someone to physically be there and hold your hand during your training, obviously, you won't find that here. But you will find training weekends together and you will find fora in which people literally trade their day to day data if you want that.
This is definitely an environment where you certainly get a whole lot of bang, but the way to get your biggest bang/buck is to get involved in teh discussions.
Hope this helps.
- The ROI focus here is huge for me. I am able to balance work/life/training and get the most bang for my buck at any point in the season. This is a concept that not many out there have quite gotten yet (although some are finally starting to come along). Anyway as folks above have said, even just buying the EN plans will go a long way in helping you on that front.
- Having a community of knowledgeable folks who are all playing off the same sheet of music to turn to for help is priceless. Your own Tri-Club will certainly give you some of the "rah rah" stuff and may also be there for motivation during weekly training sets. But when you have a question about how to adjust your training due to issue X or Y, the feedback you get from those folks (or folks on any open tri forum) is going to be coming from lots of different points of view. It's really helpful to be able to ask a question related to a training plan (EN or otherwise) and get a response that is consistent with the philosophy that plan was built upon. All other input is really just, well, ignorant.
- I can't say enough about the motivational benefits of training "with" other ENers. Accountability is one piece, but the other is that "we're all in this together" feeling. So when the 2x20 feels like it's gonna kick your ass, you know there are XX other ENers doing the same freakin workout that morning and somehow that helps you get through!
- The race day execution guidance (and support from this team) is HUGE! Especially for a first timer. You'll be racing your first Ironman as if you already had a few under your belt. While lots of this guidance is out there in the DVD's and on the EN Blog, I can't stress enough how much more prepared ENers who are active in the forum and really absorb the EN Koolaid and then plan their races (getting lots of feedback from the team along the way) than any other first timer out there.
Finally, as you've seen, we are all about bringing folks into the EN Team who "get" us and want to be here. Deciding this isn't for you and canceling a membership is a no hassle proposition. I'd encourage you to consider signing up and joining us in the January OS group. Just a few weeks of participating actively in the Jan OS should give you a really clear idea if this place is the right solution for you.
Oh, just one more thing, IMAZ is a great race- but it does make for a really looooooong season. January is a great time to start your OS, but consider planning for a HIM or some other big event in the early part of the season to break your year into two "seasons". Otherwise, you are going to turn into a basketcase before race day!
Thanks all..helpful.
I'm not worried about the absolute cost...just trying to understand where I'd get better value. I can think of numerous advantages for each. Have any EN members used 1-1 coaches directly in the past? That would be helpful perspective.
My training this past season was about half done on my own and half with others. I swim with a Masters program so had a group there (both triathletes and swimmers). My weekday biking and running was almost totally solo. Weekend rides were done with 1-2 buddies who were also training.
I'd expect this to be similar over the coming year.
But to address your workouts:
Although the proscribed swims obviously wouldn't be the same as your Masters swims, I would be very surprised to learn that there were not lots of folks in here that do that, i.e., go to a masters workout on their swim days.
You will find that your weekend bikes may feel unorthodox to your training buddies if you do them EN style. Generally speaking, EN long rides are shorter in duration but harder in intensity than what most HIM/IM plans have you doing. Picking a Saturday ride off my HIM plan from last year, it consisted of WU, then 2 x 20 @ FTP, then 2 x 35 @ 85% (just faster than HIM race intensity), then fill the rest of the time at 75-80%. (replace those with Z4/5, high Z3, and Z2/Z3 if you are a heart rate person). If you're to get the most out of your EN-style plan, you either need to have training buddies who are willing to go along with some harder riding or maybe meet you after an hour, or train solo. The IM rides aren't a lot different in flavor. It's just different than a lot of people thinking about long course are used to, and you need to be aware of that as you plan to train with them. Maybe you can bring them along and show them how it's done. :-)
The problem with your question about 1-1 coaches here is that you'll get a terrible sample bias. Yes, there are many people here that had 1-1 coaches and are now here. But the fact that they are here inherently biases the responses that you will get - you will get people who tell you why they are here and abandoned the 1-1 coaching model! The only people that are here are the ones who found this more valuable to them!
For the record, my answer to that points out sort of a technical issue with your question... and is pretty typical of the interplay on these forums. You'll find people who will answer your question directly, but also people who will point out underlying assumptions that you might not have thought of that affect the greater problem. :-)
Anyway, best of luck with your decision. We would all be happy to have you here and part of the team mojo. But if the 1-1 coaching thing is where you're more comfortable, go for it. (Easy for me to say... it's not me you're paying! :-) )
Several things which haven't been mentioned, which I highly value in EN:
- The customer service is over the top. Rich and Patrick not only continually updarte their training plans, but also are always accessible to an unbelieveable degree online for questions, feedback. They follow the precept - delight the cutsomer by providing what's needed, BEFORE we know we need it.
- NO ONE knows how to execute a long course triathlon like the EN team. Knowing HOW to execute on race day is possibly MORE IMPORTANT than how fit you are, and no one teaches and demonstrates this better than the coaches and the athletes here - it's why I joined.
- We value smart, interactive people on our team. If you like to both learn and teach through talking with fellow athletes, you'll find a home here.
Yes, I was self coached x2 years before coming to EN. It was alright, I logged a lot of 2 hr zone 2 rides all through the weekends. Sure I got relatively faster. A few things stuck out that made me love EN. There is no real secrets here. Guys and gals are pretty open to what their goals are and they give you an objective number (ftp/vDdot). You know pretty much what it takes.
Second, I learned absolutely nothing when I was 1:1 coached, nothing about race execution. If you engage yourself, read the wiki, blog posts, the forums, interact in the groups, you will be a smarter triathlete period. You will know how to train (efficiently) and how to race like a vet
Hi Jeremy,
Welcome to your trial membership. My only comment is to not confuse proximity with knowledge and expertise in Ironman-specific coaching. Before we started EN in 2007 I had put over 400 1:1 coached athletes across IM finishlines since 2001. Patrick (I think) was about 300 since 2003-04.
We started EN with ~80 athletes and we are at nearly 500 now. That's 20-40 athletes at every US Ironman. This has not only significantly improved our coaching game, but the collective knowledge and experience of the group, with those kinds of numbers training, preparing, and racing together, is simply off the charts, as others have been trying to convey to you.
Jeremy,
I am just entering my 2nd year with EN. What I see in you first bullet 60 hr work week and two kids. The EN OS would give you time with the family over a traditional LSD coach.
For me this is one reason that I am here for the hard qualitly workouts and a life as well.
Gordon
My brother was recently faced with the same question - 1:1 coach or EN....he knew that he could self coach himself pretty well, but when I showed him the website - specifically the event info for IM CDA which he signed up for, he realized that he could never get that kind of coaching from his 1:1 coach and knew this could make a huge difference. He also felt it would be a lot more fun to race as part of the EN team than with just a couple of friends...thus he signed up for EN....
Once again...thanks for the input everyone. I must admit I do like to Geek Out on this stuff, and the energy/enthusiasm here is contagious. Defnitely leaning toward EN as I sleep on it a few more nights.
One other thing....there probably isn't an EN iPhone app is there? Does anyone access the site via iPhone or another smartphone?
I recently joined EN after a year with a local coach ($125/mo). I have also read most of the Tri training books out there. Some of the stuff he had be doing was terrific (z3 and z4 work) and improved my performance last season. However, I expect to see a higher level of improvement from the EN plans because they are tougher and smarter than anything I got from the local coach. His base of experience just could not compare to that of RnP. I considered other lower cost online coaching resources, but the reason I joined EN is that it is not buying into a black box. You can look at sample weeks, and listen to pod casts of their philosophy and know what to expect in their training plans. With other services, there was not a comparable transparency, so I would have had to make a leap of faith. I'd rather know what I'm going to get. The only folks I would not recommend EN to are #1 - if you're not willing to work hard, or #2 - you don't think you can buy into the "fast then far" and lower volume philosophy.
I think they are working on it, they have a background for the iphone they just released
On my blackberry, it looks surprisingly like the full version on my PC. I just usually hit my Training Plan page anyways.