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Summary:

In Episode 58 of The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, Coach Justin and Coach Katie kick off the new year with a deep dive into goal setting for endurance athletes. They explore how to create meaningful, realistic, and trackable goals that go beyond race results, emphasizing the importance of process-oriented habits like recovery, nutrition, mobility, and consistency. Drawing from their own experiences and coaching philosophies, they discuss how to balance performance goals with lifestyle demands, why goals should evolve throughout the season, and how small, often-overlooked details can be the difference between stagnation and long-term progress. This episode offers practical insight to help athletes set goals they can actually sustain—and enjoy—throughout the year.

Key Takeaways from the Episode

• Goals should include both quantitative (performance-based) and qualitative (process-based) elements
• Outcome goals alone can lead to disappointment; process goals build consistency and resilience
• Realistic goal setting requires an honest look at time availability, life demands, and recovery
• Goals should be reassessed and adjusted as training progresses—up or down as needed
• Small habits like mobility, self-care, hydration, and fueling often limit progress more than training volume
• Treat recovery and self-care like workouts by scheduling and tracking them
• SMART goals help turn big ambitions into actionable, measurable steps
• Enjoying the journey—not just the outcome—is key to long-term athletic growth

For all things coaching, reach out:

Coach Katie: www.Fuel2Run.com

Coach Justin: www.TabulaRasaRacing.com

Podcast Email: theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

Send us a text

Summary:
In this Year in Review episode of The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, Coach Justin and Coach Katie reflect on their 2025 seasons, sharing honest insights into training volume, race performances, injuries, recovery, and lessons learned along the way. They break down personal stats, highlight key wins and challenges, and discuss how consistency, smart adjustments, and mindset shaped their year as both athletes and coaches. The episode also celebrates the podcast’s first year, offers a behind-the-scenes look at its growth, and looks ahead to 2026 goals—including upcoming races, training focus areas, and new content ideas—making this a valuable and relatable listen for endurance athletes planning their own year ahead.

Takeaways:

• 2025 was a year of consistency, learning, and adaptation for both coaches, with strong training volume but necessary adjustments due to life, health, and injury.
• Coach Katie logged over 2,300 miles of running, emphasizing consistency and speed development after her spring marathon, which she believes will pay off in future marathon performance.
• Marathon success isn’t just about mileage—sleep, stress management, fueling, and mental pressure played a major role in race-day outcomes.
• Post-marathon recovery can be unpredictable; illness, fatigue, and life events can delay a return to training even when fitness is high.
• Speed-focused training and shorter races can be a powerful way to build long-term endurance performance and prevent burnout.
• Coach Justin completed nearly 700 hours of training across swim, bike, run, and strength, highlighting the demands of triathlon training.
• Strength training made up a significant portion of Justin’s year and contributed to improved durability, bike power, and run resilience.
• Gravel cycling proved to be a valuable cross-training tool, improving bike handling, strength, and confidence while reducing mental burnout.
• The run-walk method can be an effective and ego-free strategy for maintaining consistency, managing injuries, and improving long-distance performance.
• Swimming progress came from improved muscular endurance and consistency rather than raw speed, with plans to focus on speed development in 2026.
• Both coaches emphasized the importance of reflection—tracking data, reviewing training honestly, and learning from setbacks.
• Looking ahead to 2026, the focus will be on smarter race preparation, better sleep and recovery strategies, and sharing more behind-the-scenes training content with listeners.
• The podcast’s first year was driven by passion rather than monetization, with a strong emphasis on community, education, and athlete support.

For all things coaching, reach out:

Coach Katie: www.Fuel2Run.com

Coach Justin: www.TabulaRasaRacing.com

Podcast Email: theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

Send us a text

Summary:

In this episode of The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, we dive into how endurance athletes can strategically set their race calendar for the season ahead. We discuss the importance of choosing races that align with your goals, fitness level, and life demands, rather than overloading your schedule. You’ll learn how to balance “A,” “B,” and “C” races, why more races don’t always mean better results, and how proper planning supports consistent training, recovery, and long-term performance. Whether you’re a runner or triathlete, this episode will help you build a race calendar that sets you up for success instead of burnout.

Takeaways:

• Setting your race calendar should start with your overall goals, not the number of races you want to do
• Athletes often over-schedule races, which can limit fitness development and increase burnout
• Choosing races should account for life stress, time availability, and recovery capacity, not just motivation
• Using A, B, and C race categories helps prioritize training focus and manage expectations
• An “A race” should anchor the season and guide the structure of the training plan
• B and C races can be used as training opportunities, not peak performances
• Racing too frequently can interrupt consistent training and long-term progress
• The race calendar should allow adequate build phases, recovery periods, and mental breaks
• Choosing not to race because of fear of failure could cause you to miss out on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth opportunities.
• Flexibility is important — race plans may need to change as fitness, health, or life circumstances change
• A well-planned race calendar supports consistency, confidence, and sustainable performance

For all things coaching, reach out:

Coach Katie: www.Fuel2Run.com

Coach Justin: www.TabulaRasaRacing.com

Podcast Email: theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com