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Such a relief to be with like-minded people

rmillerrmiller
in Community Forum 🏠

 I just wanted to say that it is such a huge relief to be surrounded with like-minded people on here.

Over the past year, I've tried various other online communities, and in each case I've been continually frustrated by the huge amounts of bad information that is out there.  I don't know how many discussions I've gotten into where someone else prescribes 'more volume' as the solution to every problem.  Even when I tried to point out that studies and anecdotal evidence has shown there to be another way, their response is always akin to 'build a v8 - don't tune up a 4 cylinder'.  I even referred someone to Coggan's power zones article on training peaks, and the response was 'yeah thats one study - studies are not gospel'.  As if this random guy on an internet forum IS.

Everything was 'want to run faster?  work your way up to 60 miles per week with all easy miles', or 'nothing against tempo/threshold runs, but the secret to getting faster is higher volume of easy miles', or 'an IM is an aerobic activity, Z4 work does absolutely nothing for you unless you are shooting for a Kona spot'.  I just got so sick of it because it was inciting my 'hey someone on the internet is wrong!' response far too often.

So, that is all.  Thank you.

Comments

  • steveperxsteveperx
    @Ryan:

    I'm with you. My first couple of years in the sport was spent banging my head against the volume wall while I tried to fit in 60+ hrs/week of work, 20 hrs/week of training and still find time to spend with my wife (thank goodness we didn't have kids back then)! I simply could not function in the sport today if I had to hit 20+ hrs of "base" training week in and week out. Interestingly, I've still gotten faster on EN's model. n=1, I guess, but it works for me and keeps the family happy.
  • mgraffeomgraffeo
    Welcome aboard, Ryan. Good to have you. Many vets here can vouch for the fact that there is another way. Pretty sure there've been a few thousand who've done IM the EN way, and there aren't many stories of 'wow, I wish I'd spent more time doing 20+ hour base weeks in January!'
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Ryan,

    Thanks for the props! I think the keys are:

    • The members here have been "filtered," through lack of better term, into a group with similar goals, experiences, training beliefs, etc. One valuable result of PnI making so much content available for free on outside, is that it filters out the people who don't get it, don't want to get it, have different ideas, etc. That's not to say that PnInEN have the triathlon training and racing nut 100% cracked, everyone else is wrong, etc. In fact you'll see us and the team have very open discussions as we brainstorm how to continually improve everything we do around here. But we are not a debating society. That's what Slowtwitch, BT.com, and other places are for.
    • The 5-day trial, pay to play membership, and real name screen names (a big one) are extensions of this: we offer people every opportunity to figure out they don't like us. Then they gotta pay to be on the team = you have skin in the game of helping this be a quality space. And no TriTimmy9000 bullshit means we all talk to people like real people. Add to this the real world stuff that happens at races, training camps, etc and it's a very cool space! Bring friends!
  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    @Ryan, great to have you here!!!
  • John WithrowJohn Withrow
    Ryan-- Welcome to da Haus! You hit the nail on the head. Lots of like minded folks trying to get faster while fitting training into our real world lives. This is a positive environment with a ton of MoJo. Read as much as you can and ask lots of questions in the forums. We are all learning from each other here.
  • Bruce ThompsonBruce Thompson

    Ryan - welcome.  I think you'll find this community both inspiring and practical.  We're all trying to balance jobs, family, and other interests with triathlons, and the EN approach works great to help with that balance.  ENers are so willing to share their own knowledge and experiences in a respectful and adult manner no matter how fast they or you are - it is one of the best things about EN.  So don't be shy about asking questions.  You'll get a insightful reply quickly.  Also, I love you quote from others who advocate slow pace high volume works about "Z4 doesn't do anything for you unless you are going for KQ"  Duh?  Isn't that the point?

  • Keith WickKeith Wick

     It's amazing how so many people can have respectful discussions online.....why can't this happen on other sites within the internet world????  The answer:  No one else has a retired Marine with unlimited flight access anywhere in the country who is willing to show up on your doorstep and deliver a kick to the nutz 

    Welcome aboard!!!

  • Coach RichCoach Rich
    Posted By Keith Wick on 05 Jul 2012 08:33 AM

     It's amazing how so many people can have respectful discussions online.....why can't this happen on other sites within the internet world????  The answer:  No one else has a retired Marine with unlimited flight access anywhere in the country who is willing to show up on your doorstep and deliver a kick to the nutz 

    Welcome aboard!!!

     

    Yep. I'm 45' from LAX and about 12hrs from anywhere in the US.

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