2011: 70.3 finisher, multiple triathlons, marathon.

I used Endurance Company in the 2011 season. While I did not choose the one-on-one coaching option, I enjoyed my experience with the training plan that Joe created for my races. The first plan I used was for Ironman Kansas. Each workout was detailed and offered lots of variety. Having been in the sport of Triathlon for 8 years, it was great to have a specific purpose for each Swim, Bike and Run that I did.

I knew the goal of each workout and what intensity I should be focused on. Each week, Joe would send out an email to those training for the same race. He would give us specific training tips for the upcoming week and talk about the key workouts that we needed to pay attention to. It was great to have a proven athlete and mentor available to ask questions or even to provide assurance throughout the training process.

There are a couple of things I learned from Joe’s training plans:

1. Longer does not always mean better! I discovered that a 45 minute bike with a specific purpose and intensity can provide even more benefit than a 2 hour ride with no purpose.

2. I can do Easley hill repeats. I had always avoided this hill, mostly because I could. When this hill showed up on my training plan, I was not trilled. In the end, I conquered this hill 5 times in 1 evening and realized that bike conditioning was working!

3. You can’t overdose on Salt tablets. Seems silly to say, but I had always thought that that you should only take a couple of salt tablets every hour. A chronic sufferer of leg cramps, I learned that taking lot of salt tablets consistently throughout my entire run, really helped and I didn’t OD!

In my opinion, there are 2 misconceptions that I am guilty of believing early in my triathlon career: 1. only elite athletes get coaching 2. PRs are the only way to measure success. I can tell you I am NOT an Elite athlete, I am an Age Grouper. I proudly finish consistently in the top 25% of my age group at most of my races, but I do not podium and that is OK! I did PR in a few races in 2011, but the successes I took away from the season was measured by how confident I felt going into the races and how great my body felt crossing the finish line. I had a great season and really enjoyed using Joe’s plans!