CHICAGO ENDURANCE COACH ALLIANCE (CECA)
Coach Chris Navin created the CHICAGO ENDURANCE COACH ALLIANCE (CECA) as a way for Chicago’s leading endurance sports coaches who have big hearts (not big egos!) to connect as a collective unit and help drive industry initiatives, develop exciting programs, and grow the endurance sports community…. while supporting our favorite local athletes, charities, and organizations. Simply put… we PLAN, TEST, LEARN, and INSPIRE together!
As a collective alliance, we also seek out and share opportunities to educate, network, and volunteer while delivering both collective and independent programs and services as a socially responsible community of experienced, certified coaches supporting local athlete, charities, and non-profits.
FOR ATHLETES: Click here to get started with a coach – or contact us at coach@4starendurance.com!
FOR COACHES: To join the CHICAGO ENDURANCE COACH ALLIANCE (CECA) network, please contact coach@4starendurance.com and request access to the “CECA” private facebook group for Chicago-area coaches to network and collaborate. Please note that we require SAFESPORT , USADA , and First AID/AED/CPR compliance to hold our community to the highest coaching standards, as well as at least one or more professional certification in a relevant endurance sports related governing body including the American Red Cross or any that fall under the TeamUSA umbrella of the U.S. Olmypic Committe (USOC), such as:
USAT TRIATHLON (USAT)
USA CYCLING (USAC)
ROAD RUNNERS CLUB OF AMERICA (RRCA)
IRONMAN UNIVERSITY
TRAININGPEAKS UNIVERSITY
USA TRACK & FIELD (USATF)
USA SWIMMING & US Masters Swimming (USMS)
ADULT LEARN TO SWIM (ALTS)
AMERICAN RED CROSS
SLOWTWITCH
WANT TO COACH THROUGH 4 STAR ENDURANCE?
CECA is our external coach network, but we also have a team of in-house 4 STAR ENDURANCE coaches who work together as a large team to share ideas, knowledge, passion, heart, and the common approach to give back to our communities and our sports through inspiring volunteerism. We manage training programs for groups an charity partners that use athlete-focused and data-driven 4 STAR COACHING PRINCIPLES to create “4 star citizen athletes” aiming to deliver consistent “4 star results” with tools such at TrainingPeaks to plan, test, educate, and inspire athletes to maximize their success with a big focus on fun & philanthropy… because know the true power that building strong fitness communities behind a strong cause can create!
We encourage prospective 4STAR coaches to first join our 4 STAR CLUB to build experience using TrainingPeaks and consider PRIVATE COACHING with COACH CHRIS for at least 1 season (minimum 3 months) to learn our 4 STAR COACHING METHODOLOGY and how to leverage TriDot and/or TrainingPeaks platforms effectively. Certified Coaches in good standing can receive an industry COACH DISCOUNT for up to 50% off private coaching and metabolic testing rates. If you’d like to start coaching with us, please contact coach@4starendurance.com with a copy of your certifications (must show expiration date) and let’s see what we can do together!
4STAR COACHING PRINCIPLES
We inspire others to develop their fitness through our FOUR STAR principles – strategically developed as the four most effective techniques to deliver “ScaryFun” motivation and “ScaryFast” proven results in keeping athletes accountable, results-driven, and successful:
PLAN.
TEST.
LEARN.
INSPIRE!
Our approach is always centered around building a 100% intimidation-free community to help athletes learn and develop through planning, testing, educating, and having fun!
SCARY SMART + MONSTER FUN
Have fun and you’ll never stop improving! From first timers all the way up to a world champion, we have helped develop programs and athletes across all levels of endurance sports. Our FOUR STAR ENDURANCE community is open to anyone who wants to become “scary smart” by using heart rate, power, VO2 Max, Metabolic Efficiency, and other data-driven techniques and technology in practical and effective methods to help find inspiration and motivation to pursue “monster” performances and epic achievements with a fun, supportive community!
PASSION & EXPERIENCE
We coach athletes of all ability levels – from beginners up to elite – whether you are crossing your first finish line, learning to swim, or competing to win a world championship (yes, we even helped coach the 2017 ITU AG World Champion)! Our large team of coaches are fun, silly, avid, smart, and active endurance racing junkies with over 100+ years of collective coaching experience. Our teams and athletes have won several championships including several IRONMAN TRI CLUB championships and the USAT CLUB NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!
PARTNERS
We have developed training programs for over 300 athletes annually as part of FFC’s RunMonster and TriMonster club teams, and are actively involved in several local charity training groups and non-profit club teams. Clients and partner organizations have included TEAM TO END AIDS (T2), Team Bright Pink, Chicago Tri Club, and xXx Racing – having helped athletes raise over $3 million for local charities in the past 10+ years. Our coaches have also served on committees and councils for Dare2Tri Paratriathlon Club, World Bicycle Relief, and the USA Triathlon Mideast Council.
EVENT PRODUCTION, RACES, and CAMPS
FOUR STAR ENDURANCE coaches have also served as race directors and coordinators who have produced events such as the Tri312 Indoor Triathlon Series, Chicago Time Trial Cup (CTTC), Chicago Run Fest, Ready to Run Charity 20-Miler, IronMonster Training Camp, and more. Our indoor triathlon series has helped to grow endurance sports and extend the multisport season in the midwest from January through April with local races as part of Chicago’s largest and longest running indoor race series – and featuring Chicago’s first ever Sprint and Olympic distance indoor triathlons.
COACHING COLLABORATIONS & MENTORSHIP
The best way to support an athlete effectively is with a team-based approach, because no one coach can be an expert in everything! Want to develop your own coaching skills through a mentorship with COACH CHRIS? Or are you coaching a specific athlete that you want another performance-oriented coach’s perspective on? A metabolic specialist to provide a “second opinion” to collaborate with for additional guidance on optimizing performance, metabolism, or learning to use TrainingPeaks more effectively both for yourself and your athletes?
Contact coach@4starendurance.com to inquire about any consulting, collaboration, or mentorship interests you might have – then sign up below to subscribe and get started on a monthly coaching collaboration, consultation, or mentorship with COACH CHRIS!