What Do You Want to Accomplish?

You hear about "goal setting" all of the time in some form, whether that be goal times, life goals, field goals...just goals.  Different things motivate different people.  Many people (especially athletes) are goal driven...so with that said what are your goals?  You don't have to share them with us, or share them with anyone, but it's not a bad idea to write them down and to take a look a them every once in a while. 

Writing the goals down is one step, but having a plan to accomplish them is an even bigger piece to the puzzle.  Basically within large goals, there are smaller ones to hit along the way.  If you're not a runner and want to eventually run a marathon shouldn't you probably run a half marathon first?

Before the December Running Challenge starts tomorrow take a step back and think about what it's going to take to accomplish this goal.  Are you going to have to set your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier, go to bed 30 minutes later, run during lunch, run to the grocery store to get something and then run home...it all counts.  Everyone has a little time in their day to get that run in...are you up for it?

The breakdown of the challenge is in yesterday's post, if you want more details let us know (endureitclub@gmail.com) and we'd be happy to share with you.

If you need a little pick me up, or reason to get out the door...this usually seems to help.  Warning if you're offended easily I might not watch it...

The Running Challenge Awaits!

We are officially two days away from the start of the Endure It December Running Challenge.  The running challenge is rather straight forward, you run every day for the month of December.  Sound crazy?  The crazy thing to me is people trying to say they don't have 20-50 minutes a day to get a run in.  The beautiful thing about running is that  you can do it right out of your back door, or front door, or on a treadmill...you get the point. This is a great way to stay active during the holiday season when we all tend to indulge a bit too much in the holiday festivities.

If you want to get involved with the running challenge send an email to endureitclub@gmail.com and we'll make sure to forward you the schedule or you can click here to view it.  If you're too lazy to send us an email here it is...

12/1 - 20 minutes            12/2 - 30 minutes          12/3 - 25 minutes
12/4 - 35 minutes            12/5 - 20 minutes          12/6 - 25 minutes
12/7 - 20 minutes            12/8 - 30 minutes          12/9 - 25 minutes
12/10 - 25 minutes          12/11 - 40 minutes        12/12 - 20 minutes
12/13 - 30 minutes          12/14 - 25 minutes        12/15 - 30 minutes
12/16 - 30 minutes          12/17 - 25 minutes        12/18 - 45 minutes
12/19 - 25 minutes          12/20 - 30 minutes        12/21 - 25 minutes
12/22 - 35 minutes          12/23 - 30 minutes        12/24 - 50 minutes
12/25 - 30 minutes          12/26 - 25 minutes        12/27 - 35 minutes
12/28 - 25 minutes          12/29 - 35 minutes        12/30 - 25 minutes
12/31 - 35 minutes

That's it...pretty straight forward.  We'd love to know how many people are participating so let us know (endureitclub@gmail.com).  Also let us know if there are other things you'd like to see up here on the blog.

Some Turkey Trot Pics

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend and that you've started to work off some of that extra food you've been eating all weekend.  We had a great turn out for the Turkey Trot in Naperville as is evidenced through some pics from our Post Trot Party.  Thanks Dean for the Bloody Mary's, Beert for the bagels and coffee...and Bird for the visual stimulation.

Bloody Mary's By Dean

Bird and Blaine

A meeting of the minds

Turney that hat is ugly

Bird in a seductive pose

Not sure if he's a bike mechanic or an 80's porn star...

Awesome Weather Awaits

If you haven't checked the weather forecast for the next couple of days you might want to take a look.  It looks like today, tomorrow, and Friday are going to be amazing!!  We all hope you get out and enjoy it by doing something active.  Whether that's breaking yourself in a "Turkey Bowl" football game with friends/family, getting dropped by your kids on their bikes, or getting in trouble from your significant other because you were out training when you were supposed to be cleaning the house make sure you enjoy this.  It's probably pretty safe to say we're not going to have weather like this for quite a few months.

Don't forget that a group of us is meeting at the Naperville Endure It Sports store tomorrow morning at 6:45 a.m. to head down to the turkey trot.  We have a nice group of people meeting up already, and there is always room for more, so shoot us an email (endureitclub@gmail.com) to let us know if you're going to join us.  We'll have some coffee and juice afterwords as well.

Our computrainer classes are in full swing and it's great to see the hard work everyone is putting in.  The work will pay off, so make sure you stay the course.  We are always looking for suggestions on things you would like posted to this blog, nutrition information, training information, more pictures, interviews with Bird...let us know at endureitclub@gmail.com  .

To change up the triathlon videos a bit here is one to get you primed and ready for the Tour de France...oh wait it's not until July...still fun to watch!

It's Almost Turkey Time

Often times we hear questions like "why do you get up so early?"  and I'm not sure about you, but if I don't get the workout done in the morning odds are it doesn't get done.  Life happens, you get busy and your motivation falls off...so with that said, who's joining us for the Turkey Trot on Thursday?

We're meeting at the Naperville Endure It Sports store at 6:45 a.m.  We'll chat it up a bit and then head down to the start.  We are all super busy later in the day, so get up early and get a workout in...you won't regret it!  If you're planning on joining us please shoot us an email at endureitclub@gmail.com so that we can make sure we have enough coffee/juice/bagels/EPO/tequila/worms/sport taps. We hope to see you there!

Here's Meb to give you a little motivation to get out and run...

Congrats IMAZ Finishers

Yesterday was the final Ironman of the season in the U.S. (next weekend there is one in Cozumel, Mexico)  We had a couple of Endure It athletes which raced yesterday in Arizona and of those that I'm aware raced they all posted personal bests.  I'm sure it was the "sport taps" provided prior to leaving which helped them.

If you're interested in racing there next year, you're going to want to make sure you're on the computer stalking the Ironman website today when registration opens.

As the weather here continues to be it's dreary self, motivation may start to dwindle.  Just remember something is better than nothing.  If that means you can get 20 minutes on your bike at home on the trainer than go for it!

The Naperville Turkey Trot is this Thursday, come and avoid the crazy parking mess in downtown Naperville and meet us at Endure It at 6:45 a.m.  We will leave from the store together to head down to the turkey trot.  If you plan on joining us please shoot us an email at endureitclub@gmail.com . 

I stumbled upon this last week (well maybe Bird wanted me to search Linsey Corbin on the internet) but it's always fun to see how the pro's train...enjoy.

Great Work This Week

Our first round of threshold tests are done. I know they aren't easy, and believe me the hard work will pay off.  The next couple weeks might not feel the best...remember you're using new numbers so it may be difficult, or it might feel easy.  The important thing to remember is that we need to stick with the numbers we tested at.  Don't go off of numbers you would like to have tested at...or you think you should have tested at...use the numbers you tested at!

Though we aren't Lance...



...we had some great results!

Upcoming Endure It Club Events

November 24 - Naperville Turkey Trot - Meet at Endure It Naperville - 6:45 a.m.

December 10 - Kona Viewing Party @ Endure It Naperville - Time TBD

December 15 - Endure It Holiday Party @ Blackfinn - 7:00 p.m.

Running Drills & December Running Challenge

Thanks to those of you who made it out last night for the running clinic.  I do think it was extremely beneficial, and something we could all use to help us improve our running efficiency!  We'll try to get another clinic set up at the Willowbrook store in the spring.  If you did miss it, unfortunately we didn't have any video cameras rolling because it was quite humorous at times watching us try to complete these drills.  I have found a short video which helps to demonstrate some of the drills we incorporated last night.



We also talked briefly about the December Running Challenge.  If you're interested in joining us with the running challenge please email us (endureitclub@gmail.com) and we'll get you set up with all of the information that you need.  It is a great way to help stay motivated through the start of the winter and to help fight off those holiday pounds before they appear.

Some of us are swimming with a masters group tonight...are you? Why not?  All levels are welcome!!  For more information shoot us an email (endureitclub@gmail.com) and there is even a discount...why wouldn't you?

Upcoming Events

November 24th - Naperville Turkey Trot - Meet @ Endure It Naperville at 6:45 a.m. (sign up for the race on your own though...sorry)

December 10th - Kona Viewing Party - Come join us to watch this years NBC broadcast of Ironman Hawaii...who knows maybe we'll catch a glimpse of one of our amazing athletes that raced there.

December 15th - Endure It Holiday Party @ Blackfinn - 7:00 pm...be there!

CLUB MEETING TONIGHT & Masters Swimming Information

The Endure It Club will be hosting it's monthly meeting tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Naperville store.  We are hosting a Natural Running Clinic with Newton Running.  Do you want to become a better triathlete, a better runner, or improve your "sport taps", or hang out with the coolest people wearing spandex and lycra on 5th Avenue in Naperville tonight?  Then you should come check out Endure It.  We can't guarantee you'll run like this...



...but we think you'll better than this guy...



...and if you don't look better than that guy at least you can say you met...

The One and Only David Fix...doing his best "Blue Steel" in Hawaii

Also there is a great masters swim group that meets at Naperville North High School for 4 practices a week (Tues/Thurs @ 7:30-9:00 p.m. & Sat. @ 6:30-7:45 a.m. & Sun @ 3:00-4:30 p.m.) which still has space and is open to Endure It athletes at a 10% discount.  For more information on the masters group email us at endureitclub@gmail.com we have quite a few athletes there already and would love to have more of you join us.

We Have Speedo

Did you know Endure It now carries Speedo?  There's no excuse for skipping swim workouts because you don't have enough gear.  We have it, so stop in and check out our selection of suits and goggles!

This is definitely a time of the year where our swim training suffers.  I mean who wants to jump into a cold pool when it's cold outside...and probably dark outside too?  To try to combat this something that helps is to set small goals for yourself.  Something as simple as I'm going to swim at least 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...how ever many times you want to...can be very effective.  We're going to hit up a swim challenge in January, so stay tuned.

In the mean time check out a short clip of Kona runner-up Pete Jacobs getting his work done.

Event Reminders

Things at Endure It are super busy right now so to help you keep everything straight here are some friendly reminders.

Threshold Testing is taking place during all weekday classes this week. Good luck, and at the bottom of this post I've copied some tips that we listed last week.

Wednesday November 16th - 7:00 p.m. @ Endure It Naperville - Club Meeting - Natural Running Clinic.  We will have a tech rep from Newton Running to come present a clinic on Natural Running.  Please join us and bring your running gear.  If you plan on attending the meeting shoot us a quick email at endureitclub@gmail.com so that we can get a rough idea on numbers.

Thursday November 24th - Naperville Turkey Trot - Meet @ Endure it Naperville at 6:45 a.m. Get your turkey day started with a little exercise!  Avoid the parking mess that will be downtown Naperville, and meet at Endure It instead.  We'll have some juice, coffee, bagels, and high fives...Bird might even demonstrate some "sport taps". We are planning on running down to the trot together and then meeting up after to jog it back to the shop for a light breakfast and to talk about how fast we "could" have run if we were actually in season.  If you plan on meeting up with us at Endure It please shoot us an email (endureitclub@gmail.com) so that we can make sure to have enough food/coffee/juice/sport taps to go around.

December 15 - Endure It Holiday Party @ Blackfinn  Napeville - 7:00 p.m.
Be there...nothing more to say other than be there!

For some tips on how to attack the threshold testing here you go.


Be as fresh as possible with a good night sleep, some breakfast before class, and I wouldn't recommend a super hard day of training before testing.

Make sure your mind is in the right place. This is going to hurt, think about that ahead of time and know that everyone else there is suffering along right with you.

Get a good warm up in, if that means waiting at Endure It before the coach gets there so that you can set up right away and start spinning then do it. You're not going to burn yourself out with a good solid warm up. You want to make sure your heart and muscles are geared up and ready to rock.

Once you start the test stay steady! If your power is jumping around like crazy it takes more energy. There shouldn't be 20-50 watt surges, that will hurt later in the test!

Remember as time goes on it becomes more difficult to raise that average power number. BUT at the same time do not go out too hard.

It's better to see numbers increase as the time goes on than to see someone peg it from the start and then fight for dear life to keep their numbers where they are.

Stay focused, don't worry about anyone else

Stay efficient on the bike, any movement not directly related to spinning the pedals is a waste of movement...also read waste of energy. So if you're bouncing around like a kid with ADHD who hasn't taken his meds and instead ate 3 large pixie sticks and 2 cans of Mountain Dew...you're wasting a ton of energy!

Break the test down into segments...first 10 minutes, next 5, next 5, next 5 and then every minute.

With those segments set little goals for yourself depending on how you're feeling. For example, if you're working really hard then your goal might be to hold the average wattage you're at. Or if it's easy you might want to increase the average wattage by 2 watts in a 5 minute range. The key is to make small goals!! If you think you're going to blow things up by 10 or 15 watts you might be setting yourself up for a disappointment.

Remember this is hard, it's supposed to be hard and you won't regret working hard!!

6th Annual Endure It! Team Time Trial Series

 

Back for its 6th year, our Indoor Team Time Trial Series is set to take place on the Computrainers: 

January 8, 2012 Register Here
March 18, 2012 Register Here

 This classic event is one of a kind. It is a 2-person team effort with drafting enabled on our custom 12.48 mile time trial course. Strategy, teamwork, pacing, and sheer guts all play a factor in this race of truth. Scheduled opposite our threshold testing weeks, this is a great way to break up the Winter grind and monotony.

Course: 12.48 miles,  mostly flat
Average Finish Time: 33 minutes
Start Times: 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm (4 teams per time slot)
Cost: $40 per team (additional races only $20 per team)
Divisions: Male, Female, Coed
Timing: Time stops when both riders cross the finish line

Find a partner, whether its a friend, the guy next to you in computrainer class, Dean Patsavas himself, or the sexy guy/gal from the produce section, anyone you think might look good in spandex, it doesn't matter. The time slots will fill up fast.

The first wave will begin promptly at 7am.  To stay on schedule 10 minutes will be allotted for warm up on the Computrainers prior to your race.  You are encouraged to bring your own trainer for warm up.  There is plenty of space in the shop to set up and ride.  It you're unfamiliar with drafting on the Computrainer, plan to arrive early enough to see at least some of the race prior to yours.


If you have been a frequent rider in CT classes already, you have a good idea of your current threshold wattage.  It is ideal to find someone with similar power, but not necessary.  If you are in search of a partner contact Dan at daniel.dziubski@gmail.com, he will find your time trial counterpart.

Some Cyclocross Action...

The cyclocross crew has been out there tearing up the races every week...and to prove it here are a few pics.  Thanks Spyder!

Blaine rockin out...

Seriously, who puts a tree there? And why aren't you bunny hopping it?

Byers is confused to why he's riding down Schlapp on a cross bike...

Spyder still rockin sweat pants

Craig where is the Endure It kit?

We've heard Spyder likes to play in the mud...

You don't even look dirty

Sweet yellow shoes Blaine, what do you think you're Ron Good?

Is this a running race? Get on your bike punk!

And the ugliest dressed goes to Byers, some of Blaine's yellow shoes would finish this off well.

Throw some 'bows Spyder

Focus...by the camera not Blaine

Threshold Tests are Next Week - Here are Some Tips

The first round of threshold tests at Endure It will take place next week.  If you've tested before you know how painful this can be, if you haven't tested there is NOTHING to be nervous about!!  But it will be rather painful, one way to think about it though is as soon as you start you have less than 30 minutes of suffering left.  At Endure It we threshold test in a manner where we get your average power from a 30 minute effort.  There are other ways and other protocols to use, but we have found that this suits us the best for right now.  Obviously things can change.

So how should you go about attacking the threshold test.  Instead of writing a long narrative, if you want that I'd rather talk than type so just contact one of us at the shop, here are some tips to help you prepare and execute the test.

• Be as fresh as possible with a good night sleep, some breakfast before class, and I wouldn't recommend a super hard day of training before testing.
• Make sure your mind is in the right place.  This is going to hurt, think about that ahead of time and know that everyone else there is suffering along right with you.
• Get a good warm up in, if that means waiting at Endure It before the coach gets there so that you can set up right away and start spinning then do it.  You're not going to burn yourself out with a good solid warm up.  You want to make sure your heart and muscles are geared up and ready to rock.
• Once you start the test stay steady!  If your power is jumping around like crazy it takes more energy.  There shouldn't be 20-50 watt surges, that will hurt later in the test!
• Remember as time goes on it becomes more difficult to raise that average power number.  BUT at the same time do not go out too hard.
• It's better to see numbers increase as the time goes on than to see someone peg it from the start and then fight for dear life to keep their numbers where they are.
• Stay focused, don't worry about anyone else
• Stay efficient on the bike, any movement not directly related to spinning the pedals is a waste of movement...also read waste of energy.  So if you're bouncing around like a kid with ADHD who hasn't taken his meds and instead ate 3 large pixie sticks and 2 cans of Mountain Dew...you're wasting a ton of energy!
• Break the test down into segments...first 10 minutes, next 5, next 5, next 5 and then every minute.
• With those segments set little goals for yourself depending on how you're feeling.  For example, if you're working really hard then your goal might be to hold the average wattage you're at.  Or if it's easy you might want to increase the average wattage by 2 watts in a 5 minute range.  The key is to make small goals!!  If you think you're going to blow things up by 10 or 15 watts you might be setting yourself up for a disappointment.
• Remember this is hard, it's supposed to be hard and you won't regret working hard!!

For a little motivation here is 3 time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander completing a lactate test.



Don't forget the upcoming Endure It Club Events

November 16 - Club Meeting @ Naperville - 7:00 p.m. - Natural Running Clinic presented by Newton

November 24 - Naperville Turkey Trot - Meet at Endure It Naperville at 6:45 a.m.

December 15 - Club Holiday Party @ Blackfinn - 7:00 p.m.

December 17 - NBC Kona Viewing Party @ Endure It Naperville - Details to follow

The Importance of Core Work

We all know that without a strong core our bodies won't perform to the level which we would like them to.  But at the same time we sometimes ask what types of exercises can we do to help us build a strong core.  We are also all super busy and trying to find time to do one more thing isn't the easiest thing to do.  There are great resources out there to help with Core work, and we'll start to highlight some here on the blog.  So to kick it off here is a short (6 minutes) video clip of Professional Triathlete Rasmus Henning demonstrating some core work:

UPCOMING ENDURE IT EVENTS

November 16 - Club Meeting - 7:00 p.m. @ Naperville

• Natural Running Clinic presented by Newton

November 24 - Naperville Turkey Trot - Meet @ Naperville at 6:45 a.m.

• Register Here https://napervilleturkeytrot.com/registration.php

December 15 - Club Holiday Party - 7:00 p.m. @ Blackfinn in Downtown Naperville

• You're not going to want to miss this!  Years past have been EPIC!

Can You Guess What Arrived Yesterday?

Here are a couple of hints...



You'll definitely want to stop in to the shop to check out this new bike, and you just might have to get one...I mean you should always have one more bike than what you currently do right?


There has been a lot happening at Endure It the past few weeks with Computrainer classes starting up full force again, new 2012 bikes arriving daily, and the blog has been getting a great number of hits lately...thank you!!  We are always trying to make an effort to improve, and to better help you as athletes.  With that said what would you like to see more of?  Email us at endureitclub@gmail.com and please share what you would like to see more of whether it be training tips, nutrition advice, upcoming event ideas, improvements to past events, gear reviews...if you can think of it send it on in to us!

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 16 - 7:00 p.m. Club Meeting @ Endure It Naperville - Newton Natural Running Clinic

November 24 - 6:45 a.m. Naperville Turkey Trot - Meet @ Endure It Naperville

• For registration information click here: https://napervilleturkeytrot.com/registration.php

December 15 - 7:00 p.m. Endure It Holiday Party @ Blackfinn Naperville **this will be EPIC**

• 16 West Jefferson Avenue, Naperville, IL    http://www.blackfinnchicago.com/naperville/

To help keep everyone motivated through the winter months we're going to try to put up some videos (which we didn't take, we found on the internet) so here is one of the first ones.  It's Macca running out in Kona with some of his posse.

Meeting Tonight & Smoothie Ideas

Come to the Endure It Club Meeting tonight at Willowbrook at 7:00 p.m.  Coach Sara Fix will be speaking about training, recovering and doing it all over again.  There will also be a USANA Representative to speak about the benefits of supplementation for endurance athletes and free chair massages (first come first serve).  We hope to see you there!

 Smoothie Ideas

As athletes it's of the utmost importance that we fuel our bodies well before, during and after training.  One of the best ways to do this (especially for the time crunched athletes that we are) is to make a quick smoothie which we can grab quickly and take with us where ever we might need to go.  We have to send out a special thanks to Dan "Birdseed" Dzuibski for forwarding on these awesome concoction ideas!

Classic smoothie

• 4 strawberries
• .5cup blueberries
• 1 banana
• 1.5 cup almond milk
• 1 scoop protein (vanilla)
• couple pieces of ice
• 1 heaping scoop raw creamy unsalted almond butter

Blueberry Nut

• .5 banana
• .5 cup almond or coconut yogurt
• 2 tbsp nut butter
• 1 date
• .5 cup blueberry
• 1 cup ice
• .5 cup almond milk
• 1 scoop protein

Chocolate Banana

• 2 frozen banana
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp flax
• 1tbsp cocoa powder
• 1tsp vanilla
• honey, syrup, agave to taste

Birdseed Drink

• .25 cup cashews
• .25 cup almonds
• blend those very finely
• .5 cup water
• .5 cup almond milk
• .75 cup blueberries
• 1 scoop protein
• 1 frozen banana

Are you trying to be the best at exercise?

The infamous Kenny Powers (who had a bike in Kona by the way, the picture is on my phone though so I'll post it some other time) claims that he "plays real sports, and isn't just trying to be the best at exercise".



Those of us that are "trying to be the best at exercise" should sign up for a computrainer class...otherwise you may end up living in your brothers house with a small gut, sweet facial hair, a mullet, and spend your time listening to self-motivation tapes telling everyone why you are the greatest...do you really want to be "that guy"?

November...Computrainer...DO IT!

November's here, Computrainer Classes are rollin', you don't want to fall behind do you?  We still have room in some classes.  I mean who wouldn't like a set like this:

Shut Up and Ride

And if you're still not convinced...Starsky and Hutch say "Do it, do it"

Don't forget the following events coming up:

November 3 - 7:00 pm @ Endure It Willowbrook - Club Meeting featuring Coach Sara Fix, USANA Supplementation for Endurance Athletes, and free Chair Massages

November 16 - 7:00 pm @ Endure It Naperville - Club Meeting - Natural Running Clinic presented by Newton

November 24 - 6:45 am @ Endure It Naperville - Naperville Turkey Trot

December 15 - 7:00 pm @ Blackfinn Naperville - Endure It Holiday Party