I just found out I'm an 11-minute superstar! That's what my coach Rich Strauss dubs Endurance Nation athletes like me. We're the athletes who set massive Ironman PRs this year (mine was 1 hour 35 minutes) by ticking off the miles between 18-25 of the marathon by RUNNING, and not walking like 90% of everyone else around us. Granted my quad pain derailed my experience a bit, but that was the only thing that got in my way. From my experience at Endurance Nation, I KNEW there was another way to work the Ironman from start to finish. I had the fitness, execution strategy, and confidence to not slow down and walk in those miles. I had the goods to keep it going all the way to the finish.
Rich puts it perfectly:
The net is that the Endurance Nation athlete begins the race with the confident knowledge that there IS another way!...I’ve been to every US Ironman this year and have become intimately familiar with miles 18-25, for the people on track to finish between 11:30 and 16:30. I say intimately because I’ve been out on the bike course as well, either as a competitor, draft marshal, or specatator. I’ve seen Tom, Dick, and Harry mixing it up at mile 45 of bike and then I’ve seen our three friends at mile 18 of the run. And, race after race, the Endurance Nation athlete is the Eleven Minute Superstar who is ticking away at 10-11′ pace, not slowing down, while these guys are walking. If you are standing on the course between miles 18 and 25 between 6-9pm on race day, what is most remarkable is how many people are walking and how few people are running. The few who are, who continue to tick away at 10-11′ pace, are superstars by comparison.
The result? Ernie EN’er sets a massive 1:30-2hr PR simply by not slowing down! Sure, he rode and ran faster because he was faster on race day…but the majority of that PR is the result of just doing it differently this time, showing up extremely prepare, out-executing the competition, and not slowing down.
For my next Ironman, I'm going sub-13. No doubt EN can get me there, and I'll do it by being an 11-minute Superstar one more time! You can too! Here's Rich's complete post on Dance of the 11-Minute Superstars.
