Every month we collect the testimonials and feedback from our member athletes and training plan users. We are laser-focused on delivering great training plans, and listening to what our folks have to say is a huge part of how we do business. But it’s also a great way for you to cut through all the marketing and learn more about what we do…so enjoy!

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“I had a great race – with highlights including meeting the Endurance Nation coaches at mile 18 of the marathon with enough gas in the tank to keep going. Managed a personal record of 12:18 for the race, which is about 1:30 better than my previous best. Endurance Nation rules!”

“Thanks a bunch! I am enjoying exploring all the various resources you have. For what it’s worth, it made it a lot easier for me to justify spending the money to buy the plan knowing that I’ve taken advantage of lots of information that’s already available…sort of like Public Radio I guess. :-)”

“I’m looking forward to doing things with a somewhat different approach this year. Will be a fun experiment and a fun season, I’m sure.”

“Lung-splitting? All the time? Are my endorphins giving me rose colored glasses or am I right in saying that we don’t fall in the category of relentless hard workouts every time we swing our legs over the bike? I don’t think we can compare EN to Carmichael – I haven’t previewed the workouts, I’m just going by what’s written in this post, but this reads like Carmichael’s workouts are huge hammerfests and that is NOT what I’m doing every day on the bike. I feel like I’m strategically working the entire spectrum of my zones. So yeah, I’m flirting with the red on my 2 x 15s but then I get a reprieve in Z3 that, while not “easy”, is psychologically and physically a different animal than Z4 or 5, and certainly doesn’t split my lungs. And the only time I’ve ever felt prone to injury is when I’m a) ramping up (easy) mileage or b) doing the VO2 max block when I’m running and biking in Z5.

If I had to “hammer” for 60 minutes straight day in and day out, I’d probably be looking for a way to “accidentally” stab myself with a fork (or a screw, ha) to get out of the workout, but I LOVE what we do on the bike here. In fact, the variety of intensity is definitely, 100% without a doubt what is keeping me sane and on the bike this winter.”

“They are 2 people, trying to service 400 athletes on the team, and also sell plans for self-trained athletes. We on the team (which is what is sold out) are paying for their quality experience, development of their plans, expertise and service. If they don’t have a cutoff at some point, they cannot administer all of the plans for all of the groups, the website info., answer our questions, tweak our plans when we ask for help, be on live chat with the team once during the week, and by the way, they travel all over the US to attend every IM race and cheer on their team members! Also, they hold free training ‘rallys’ for different parts of the U.S., which they attend and locate a hotel for those planning to attend. (i.e. Midwest, on IM WI course, Lake Placid) What other coaches attend every IM race for the atheletes they coach? Personally, if they didn’t have a cutoff, I think I would have to think twice about being on the team. I wouldn’t like it if there were 1000 athletes and I didn’t get my personal answers! They also are open to suggestions from their athletes regarding things (forum administration) that we may think could be done differently. We aren’t all started on the same plan at the same time. We list our A races and they actually answer us personally, with how to tweak our training throughout the year. They record podcasts for various training, etc.

The bottom line is we the team, are paying for Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann, not some hired assistant coaches. I get the coaching personally from them, and look forward to seeing them and getting together with them pre-race, at Louisville. THAT is why they have ‘slashed out wording and lack of access’ currently. I am getting exactly what I paid for, no less. I hope this helps to answer your question. As I said I’m a noobie to IM and to the team, but I tell you, it is worth every penny in my humble opinion.”

“Only 7 weeks of using @teamEN OutSeason® training plan increases my FTP 10% & w/kg 16%. This stuff works – thx RnP! #workworks”

“Coggan protocol FTP bike tests: Nov 19 – 221 W; Jan 18 – 232 W; Feb 22 – 253 painful…but Progress! #workworks”

“I just want to say ‘work WORKS’! I just returned from the Mardi Gras 1/2 marathon and set a PR by 6 minutes. Thanks RnP for a tough Out Season plan that actually works. I’ve never been emotional crossing a finish at any race but I was emotional this past Sunday. I was in a very serious bike accident last summer that required both knee and face surgery and the Mardi Gras 1/2 was my first race since the accident. When I started the October OS, I was basically starting from scratch, not having trained since before June. Imagine my shock to beat my pre-accident best by 6 minutes! I couldn’t believe it.”

If you have a testimonial you’d like to add to our monthly list, please send it in to admin [at] endurancenation [dot] us. Thanks!