This podcast is all about Slow Burn, an 8-Week Running and Strength Program that will build you up without burning you out. Previously known as "The Strength Beta", Slow Burn is a new specialized product that will be offered to Fitness Protection Participants next year. In this podcast, you will hear from the coaches, explaining why they created the program, and from participants, telling you in their own words why they opted in and what they got out of it.   Slow Burn: Program FAQ $125 to participate Will be offered three times in 2020, the first is (tentatively) scheduled to begin on January 6 What we provide: 8 weeks of running and strength workouts designed by Coach MK and Alex Lanton, DPT/OCS, and led by Coach Sarah.  Please do not plan on any races for the duration of the program, and please do not plan to begin training for a marathon before late March. If you enter our Holiday Strength Challenge ($45), you receive a $45 coupon which may be applied towards any of our 2020 Slow Burn offerings. You must be an active member of Maintain for no less than one month prior to beginning Slow Burn - that means you are completing all the workouts as written for the time designated (75%, 90% of the time, as always).  You must remain a subscriber of FPP throughout the program. If you would like to do this but do not foresee being able to dial in your running over the holidays in December and you would prefer to begin this program in February rather than January, PLEASE e-mail info@fitnessprotection.com and let us know!   SHOWNOTES   WARMUP - Coach MK kicks things off with a reflection on the amazing day she had in New York City last Sunday, running her first marathon in three years and knowing that she absolutely could have gone faster. Coach MK is excited - she had a good race, which means that she’s ready to work towards a GREAT race. Part of what MK wants to impart to listeners is that she went into New York knowing what she needed to get from the experience, and it had nothing to do with finish times. SO when we here at Fitness Protection decided to debut our Slow Burn program in beta form, what did we need to get? And what did we need our people to get from the experience? We hear from two participants, Fran from NH and Helen from CA, talking about the ways in which Slow Burn differed from Maintain, in terms of priorities and focus Finally, MK reflects upon how much we learned from people’s initial interest in the program and from the responses we got in the first few weeks.   STRIDES - Getting into the meat of the program, the coaches talk about how Slow Burn evolved and what participants were doing on a week by week basis. Speed workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays and the 5 days a week of running-specific strength. MK talks about the importance of working with Alex Lanton, her OCS-certified physical therapist, to create the first month of strength circuits first and then create the second month based on some of the feedback received. We hear from Janet in Indiana and Tricia in Texas about the gains they made and the differences they feel in their running.   LONG RUN - As we dive into the long run, we note that there are many ways to view the off-season as runners. What do you want to do and what do you need to get? Runner types tend to look for superlatives - they want a program that promises some kind of -est. Strongest, fastest, thinnest. We at Fitness Protection think of it more in terms of a best next step, and this program encapsulates what we had in mind for a good way to focus energy when not training for a race. We hear from Janille in NV and Sara in AZ as they talk about what they personally felt like they had been missing and needed to get, and we were especially jazzed to hear about Sara’s amazing last long run of the program. One thing that does NOT go away in the off-season is the long run, and we kept our Slow Burn people running just as long on Saturdays as they would have done in Maintain, so that when they exit the program they get to keep their options (and Coach Sarah, perhaps unwisely, expresses her excitement about the Squires long run featured in the second month of Slow Burn!).   COOLDOWN - We hear from Anna in WI and Virginia - and we note that Virginia, as a non-Facebook user, still feels like she got her money’s worth from this plan despite not being one of the participants in the Facebook community.   We love hearing about Virginia’s mental wins, particularly the part where she realized that she COULD do those hard runs that looked so intimidating at the start. And we REALLY love when Anna says “You should do Slow Burn if you have big running goals but they are not immediate in nature!”    If this sounds interesting to you and you want to sign up, most spring marathons are going to be off the table for you (which, fine, because #fuckspring, amirite??). No races during the 8 weeks of Slow Burn, and you will need a few weeks off at least between Slow Burn and one of our 10-week marathon plans (but you may race a 10K or a half marathon at the conclusion of the program, and we will hear SUSAN talk about how she nailed her 10K last weekend - GO SUSAN).    Still interested? YAY! The first 2020 iteration of Slow Burn will begin either January 6 or February 6 (let us know if you have a preference!). Does that sound good to you? COOL! You must be in Maintain for at least one month doing the workouts as written prior to beginning Slow Burn. AND REMEMBER, the Holiday Drive ($45 for a single entry) gets you a $45 coupon for the program (priced at $125) that you can apply to any of the 2020 offerings. If you begin Slow Burn and are unable to complete it because life gets in the way, you will be admitted to another offering of the program within a year for 50% off.   GET EXCITED TO COME RUN WITH US! Not sure if Slow Burn will fit in your year? Let's talk it out in our Goal Setting Webinar! Click here to register! https://www.fitnessprotection.com/event-details/2020-planning-goal-setting   MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC and Sarah Axelrod leads Fitness Protection's #CoachedandLoved Community. Try our accessible, affordable monthly fitness plans at www.fitnessprotection.com!