Excellence through community
Campfire Endurance Coaching was co-founded by two friends who believe that endurance sports (and, crucially, training for those sports) can alter your life in myriad and positive ways. Running, cycling, swimming, rowing, skiing, and many other sports draw athletes of all types because there is something in the activity that fires those athletes’ imaginations: they see themselves wearing the kit, completing the event, improving at a new endeavor, overcoming the challenge, or enjoying (and, possibly, triumphing in) the competition.
What those athletes don’t sense, at the outset, is that some part of them hungers for adversity, since that is primarily what endurance sports offer. Team and ball sports usually prioritize a clash of manual skills alongside physical demands—it’s the rare person who can walk out on a tennis court having never seen a racket and simply play. Endurance sports, while there is certainly a skill component, primarily require the athlete to, well, endure. It’s right there in the name. Can you train your body to last longer? Having achieved that goal, can you last longer at a slightly faster pace?
Non-endurance athletes often look at us confusedly. They know that running a marathon, participating in a bike race, or finishing a triathlon requires substantial discomfort, having run up a flight of stairs or tried to catch a departing bus. One can almost hear them thinking Why would you do that for hours, if you don’t have a ball to kick or hit or throw or score with? We believe that there’s something in endurance people that love the work of changing their physiologies, and then seeing what those changed bodies can do in the shared experience of an event.
Endurance training takes time. It takes a lot of effort, and that effort is usually seen only by the person doing the work or by their immediate family. Endurance sports can be a lonely endeavor, a fact borne out by the titles of books and stories about this type of sport: “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,” “Once a Runner,” “The Amateurs,” and so on. Some athletes enjoy that solo time, but we think that, after a while, everybody loves someone to overcome adversity alongside, someone with whom you can share your effort. Maybe that person pushes you while you push them back, but really the benefit derives from being seen for your work.
It’s in that spirit that we’re announcing Team Campfire. At Campfire we have coached hundreds of athletes to great results over the years, but our greatest results are the athletes who see that participating and improving in endurance sports leads to a happier, faster, and healthier life. By launching the team, we’re expanding our ability to help other athletes share that happier, faster, and healthier existence, and we plan to do it through plenty of community connection.
As a member of the team, you’ll have many different ways to achieve excellence through community. Every team member gets:
Access to our online winter Endurance Spin series, 16 sessions spread out over four months between November and the end of February
Participation in our Discord and Facebook groups, where you can set up workouts with other team members, ask questions of the Campfire coaches during our monthly Ask Us Anything sessions OR via different channels dedicated to inquisitive athletes
Access to our yearly Campfire kit sales so you can wear the kit during races and training sessions
Team discounts with our sponsors
Discounts on Campfire clinics, camps, and custom plans
Free annual consultation with a Campfire Coach
Inclusion in team parties and events
Additionally, athletes at the Explorer ($199/year) and Scout ($399/year) get a Campfire Brand Swag Bundle of a custom technical trucker, swim cap, water bottle, and holographic sticker.
Athletes at the Scout level get included access to all our pre-built training plans, allowing those athletes to build their own training year of different plans. Many of those options have “completer” and “competer” options. Those plans include:
Sprint Completer
Sprint Competer
Olympic Completer
Olympic Competer
70.3 Completer
70.3 Competer
140.6 Completer
Beginner Half Marathon
Intermediate Marathon
Gravel Experienced (50-200 miles event)
Cross is Coming
Multisport Base (6-8 hours/week)
Multisport Base (10-12 hours/week)
10k Open Water Swim
Cycling Base
Running Base
Finally, we of course plan to continue to offer our “Ranger” level, which is one-to-one coaching. One-to-one coaching is what we do best and will always prioritize, as we believe it is the best way for athletes to achieve their goals in the most efficient way possible. Through robust and regular communication (phone/Zoom, text/email, and the TrainingPeaks comment feature), dynamic and individualized training programs, and decades of coaching experience, our one-to-one athletes know that they are making no compromises in their pursuit of a faster, happier, healthier life.
The team launches on September 7th, 2023. If you already get our newsletter, you’ll be notified upon launch. Can’t miss this opportunity? Sign up for our newsletter below and you’ll have first crack at this amazing new endurance home. Join us around the campfire.