MaxEndurance Newsletter - October Edition

maxendurancecoaching
Oct 19, 2021
3 min read

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October Spotlight: Casey's MaxExperience

"I knew I needed change and to get out of my comfort zone, so I trusted the process and James’ leadership with an open mind."

If you would have told me I would go from nearly dying (not literally) after running one mile to completing an IronMan in less than 20 months before becoming a MaxEndurance athlete, I’d have laughed at you right in your face. In 2005, I retired from competitive gymnastics. As a member of the U.S. National team for 5 years prior, I felt I had done everything I wanted to in the realm of athletic achievements from consecutive National Champion titles to World Champion, and World Record Holder. Fast forward to 2020. I was looking for a way to “get back in shape”. After speaking with Coach James, he had me try his 28-day home challenge finishing with a 5k which would be the nearly the furthest I had ever run to this point. First up…1 mile for time. I had achieved the pinnacle of my sport. One Mile?? Easy Peasy, right? Wrong!!! I totally could feel myself dying. I knew I needed change and to get out of my comfort zone, so I trusted the process and James’ leadership with an open mind. After the 28-day challenge and a sufficient 5k under my belt, we decided to keep it going and sign up for the JMR ½ marathon. Since the event was delayed due to Covid, virtual was the only option. The in-person event was postponed for December. With a successful 13.1 completion in July, and plenty of time to build more endurance, we then focused on an ultra-distance event and settled on a 24hr 50-mile challenge in September. Upon completion of the 50-mile challenge we were planning “the next”. If I’m being honest, we talked about “the next” quite a bit during the challenge…. Since we had built up the volume and were feeling more confident, I wanted to focus on speed work and race the JMR 13.1 in December for speed. Still, not fully knowing what I don’t know, I followed the program and trusted the process. Sometimes I questioned why I was doing this, but ALWAYS trusted the process and Coach James’ knowledge. From July to Dec, MaxEndurance programming shaved over 13 min off my time and I placed 4th in my age group!!! I never would imagine I’d call myself a “runner”, but how could I not after going through all that??! Mid-March 2021, James approached me and asked if I’d be interested in completing a full-distance triathlon. Aka an IronMan Triathlon. Without hesitation I said YES! Training began promptly on April 1st. To no surprise at all, the only thing I COULD do was trust. Up to this point in my journey James hadn’t given me reason not to…so why stop now! What seemed like a blink of an eye, 5 months passed, and we were tapering for this thing! Lots of planning and sacrifice went into our successful completion of covering 140.6 miles of swimming, biking, and running in 16 hours, and I am grateful to have trained for and with Coach James and MaxEndurance! The most rewarding part of being a MaxEndurance athlete has been having our family of 5 be a part of the journey. Now our children don’t mind getting out for a swim, bike, or run… 20 months (and counting), countless hours of training, early mornings, long weekends, pseudo-suffering has all been WELL worth its weight in gold for our family’s journey to physical health and well-being. Thank you, MaxEndurance and Coach James!! Here’s to “THE NEXT”!!

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Experience MaxEndurance Service of the Month

MaxStrength

100% customized strength plan
Designed for runners, cyclists & triathletes
Build strength and prevent injury
Program delivered virtually
Weekly video coaching call
Unlimited email/text support

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Coach's Corner

With races quickly approaching this fall and winter, I wanted to share a few tips on tapering for the event. Tapering is an important part of the training cycle that allows you to get the most benefit on race day. Here are some important things to remember while tapering:

Stay true to your plan. Don’t add time or intensity to your scheduled runs because you feel good that day.
Decrease your overall volume for the week, but maintain the same training schedule.
Intensity is okay. Running at race pace during a workout or two is beneficial.
The taper is about recovery and rebuilding your body from the training you’ve done, so focus on rest and quality nutrition!