2018 Full Iron-Distance Triathlon Plans (On Sale Thru 2/15/18)

Our Endurance Nation Full Training Plans are the perfect combination of Volume and Key Workouts. You’ll follow the progression to race day, using our included Resources to get smarter as you get stronger. The result? In as little as twelve weeks (if you show up fit!) or the full twenty (if you need a longer build) you will be ready to have the race of your life.

Over the past ten years, Endurance Nation has helped triathletes cross a total of 10,000 Ironman® finish lines. It’s no surprise we are five-time Ironman® TriClub Division One Global Champions — nobody else trains or races like Team Endurance Nation!

How to Use the EN*Full Plans:

• Twelve Weeks before Race Day — Use Weeks 9 through 20 to hone your fitness and peak for race day.
• Twenty Weeks before Race Day — Start with Weeks 1 through 8 to develop baseline fitness before you turn your attention to the race build.

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Overview

Our EN*Full plans have been updated again for 2018, with changes on both the micro and macro level. These are completely new plans and we’re excited to see your improvements!

Training Plan Focus: Bike or Run

Now you can choose the area you want to work on. In general, the rule of thumb is that in your ODD years of EN Membership (1, 3, 5, etc) you should pick the Run Focused EN*Full Plan®; and in your EVEN years of EN Membership (2, 4, 6) you should pick the Bike Focused EN*Full Plan®. This ensures a balance across multiple years of training and combines well with our Three Year Planning Goal Method.

If you aren’t a member, then we recommend you start with the Run Focus version. It’s never to early to start building a good run foundation!

Want to dive down a rabbit hole and see how we build Run Durability? Some light blog reading on your run game.

Run Focus Plan = Run Durability Focus balanced with Targeted Bike & Swim Sessions.

• An increased amount of Run Threshold works for all levels, peaking Level 3 athletes out a 3 x 1-mile repeats.
• Increased cruise interval work across all levels, peaking Level 3 athletes at 8 x 1k repeats.
• Combined Tempo run work from the Bike Focused plan, making the Tempo runs of weeks 16, 17, 18 and 19 longer single sets.
• Put additional runs into the Fridays of the plans. Strides for all levels for weeks 5 thru 9; then transition to steady Hill Runs for Level 2 and Level 3.
• Added Sunday “long” Brick run into the plans to build durability off the bike while creating a safe run space.

Bike Focus Plan = A Bike-heavy schedule, with Run Frequency and a normal Swim training load.

• Friday Zone 2 Ride as a bridge from Thursday Long Run to bigger Weekend Volume.
• Added Challenge Ride to Weeks 9 to 14 to merge Z3 and Z2 work.
• Gave L3 athletes option to move Camp Week / Race Sim swims to the morning of their Race Simulation.

Training Plan Levels: 1, 2 and 3 (3 being the Most Challenging)

2018 represents the end of the Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced labels. There are plenty of experienced folks who needed to use the Beginner Level, but resisted because they were veterans…and of course, great athletes who used the Beginner plans because they were first-timers to EN (not beginners).

Now you can choose your plan level off of your relative strength within the context of that plan. The higher the level, the harder the plan. In general, we recommend:

• Level One = Newer Athletes to the Sport or Athletes Returning from a layoff/injury
• Level Two = Consistent Athletes with 1 to 2 years of experience, continuing to build.
• Level Three = Experience / High Performing Athletes looking for a breakthrough year.

Combined Main Sets (Available for Members Only!)

Rather than three separate plans by ability level, we have combined them into a single plan — aka no more toggling plans just to see what other folks are doing. This is great for athletes who are a Level One Runner but a Level Two Biker. Or for athletes who want to start with Level One in the First Cycle, then move up to Level Two as they regain fitness.

Two Phases of Work/Testing

Endurance Nation Full plans are a combination of General Preparation and Race Preparation.

• General Prep Phase: 8 Weeks, #1 through #8
• Race Prep Phase: 12 Weeks, #9 through #20

Each Phase has a specific training focus by discipline. Athletes will test in Weeks 1, 5 and 9 to ensure zones and workouts will create the right training effect. Additional testing is optional in the remaining weeks on an as-needed basis.

Please Note: You do not HAVE TO test; we recommend it but it is your call!

EN*Full Training with the Team vs. Plan Only

General Improvements

The biggest change from the past is adding a “Recommended Day Off” on alternating Mondays in the long course plan from Weeks 9 to 19, L3 has an optional swim day.

• Added Run & Bike Warm up info to all Week 1 and Week 9 workouts.
• Maintained basic week flow for swim/bike/run even in final weeks.
• Added a weekly “accountability” exercise where athletes write a list (yes they have to write it) or at least three things that went well in the week, and at least three things they would like to improve.
• Added monthly equipment maintenance reminder.

The Swim

While we don’t swim much in the Endurance Nation OutSeason®, in-season we are all about quality training sessions to get ready. While the swim itself isn’t the “hardest” session you’ll do all week, it’s usually the most logistically challenging.  Each swim workout has a purpose and will build from skill to fitness to race-specific distance over the course of the plan.

• Mondays are for recovery/skill swim to facilitate weekend training absorption.
• Added L1 to L3 swim guidance.
• Added Red Mist workout to final weeks of the plan.
• Removed fourth swim day in weeks 14 and 16…max number of swim days is three.
• Specified 4,000yd swims in weeks 12 thru 19.
• Made the Week 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 Monday swims optional for L2 to increase swim volume.

The Bike

There are several changes for the bike workouts, and they are available in Zwift (Members, Coming Soon) and Trainer Road (Plan Athletes). In no particular order:

• Updated Sunday Always Be Pushing (ABP) rides with new effort guidance.
• Gave L1 athletes room to grow with early Sunday rides being more endurance than ABP (but gradually shifting over time).
• Made last six weeks to race very race-specific in terms of pacing.
• Removed excessive Bike from Week 18 / “three weeks out” part of the plan. Instead went with long rides on Sat/sun and the Long Run on Thursday (More advanced athletes get more work!).

The Run

The main focus of your OutSeason® running continues to be Run Durability. The team has seen excellent results on this approach, and we are continuing to refine it with an eye towards improving your “in season” events. IOW, there should be no such thing as a great OutSeason® followed by a crappy Race Season!

• Replaced Tempo Runs in Weeks 20 through 13 with Strides
• Pushed Run FTP work into the first 8 weeks of the 20-week plans.
• Added Daniels Cruise Intervals to Weeks 9 to 15 of the plans instead of standard FTP work.
• Added Zone 3 / HMP work to weeks 16, 17 & 18 instead of FTP work.
• Removed Hill Runs from Wks 9 to 16, replaced with strides.
• Updated the Race Rehearsal Run
• Added Zone 3 intensity to the beginning of the weekly Long Run.
• Reduced L1 FTP run intervals to Zone 3 for weeks 1 through 7.
• Fixed Week 9 L1 cruise interval distance.

Thanks and we hope you “enjoy” our 2018 Full Training Plans our 10th Season! 

If we can answer any questions, use the red button on the bottom of the screen to talk to a live staff member! 

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