Send us Fan Mail

Your motivation is still there—but your body may not respond to training, stress, and recovery the way it once did. Is that simply part of aging, a warning sign that deserves attention, or something you can actively manage?

In the first episode of this masters athlete series, Coach Justin and Coach Katie examine the hormonal, bone-health, sleep, fueling, and lifestyle changes endurance athletes may face as they get older. They also confront a difficult reality: preserving health and performance may require new strategies, medical guidance, and a willingness to stop treating every setback as something harder training can fix.

What You’ll Learn

• How hormonal changes can affect sleep, recovery, bone health, body composition, and the ability to train consistently
• Why underfueling becomes especially risky for aging runners, triathletes, and endurance athletes
• The complicated line between hormone replacement, healthy aging, and competitive fairness
• How experience and self-awareness can become genuine performance advantages as physical resilience changes

Timestamps

00:00 – Training updates and the start of a masters athlete series
09:17 – What changes as endurance athletes get older?
10:49 – Perimenopause, menopause, and hormonal fluctuations
18:47 – Hormone replacement and competitive fairness
25:11 – Declining testosterone and what male athletes can do
33:38 – Bone health concerns for masters athletes
34:47 – Underfueling, calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium
39:07 – Strength training, plyometrics, and DEXA scans
47:39 – Why sleep quality can change with age
50:32 – Caffeine, sleep routines, and training after a poor night
1:04:43 – Career, family, and the changing burden of life stress
1:09:24 – The advantage aging athletes should not overlook

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail

The most confident advice is not always the right advice for you.

Endurance athletes are surrounded by rigid rules about training, race goals, indoor workouts, and fueling. But what happens when the accepted formula does not fit your fitness, experience, body, or life?

In this listener Q&A episode, Coach Justin and Coach Katie explain how to evaluate common endurance recommendations, apply them with context, and make decisions based on the athlete in front of you—not a one-size-fits-all prescription.

What You’ll Learn

• How to recognize credible training advice—and the red flags behind overly certain claims
• When your race goal should guide training and when completed training should reset the goal
• What treadmills and indoor bike trainers do exceptionally well—and what they cannot prepare you for
• Why carbohydrate targets require more nuance than body weight, age, or a universal grams-per-hour formula

Timestamps

00:00 – Listener Q&A and training-life updates
12:13 – How do you know which training advice to trust?
22:26 – The difference between textbook knowledge and athlete-specific coaching
25:49 – Why elite-athlete advice may not apply to you
31:24 – Should race goals dictate training—or should training dictate race goals?
39:39 – How fixed goals can limit performance
44:56 – When race expectations should change during a training cycle
47:38 – Can you prepare for a race on a treadmill or indoor trainer?
50:20 – The strengths and limitations of indoor bike training
53:22 – Why treadmill training can be highly effective
57:47 – How should endurance athletes calculate carbohydrate needs?
1:13:35 – Carb targets, gut training, athlete size, and age

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail

You gave months of your life to a race—but the day you imagined never happened. Now you are left deciding what the result means, what went wrong, and whether another race will bring redemption or deepen the disappointment.

In this episode, Coach Justin and Coach Katie share their own difficult race experiences and explain how to process a disappointing performance before making your next decision. Because the healthiest response is not always another registration—it is understanding whether you still want the training process or simply want a different result.

What You’ll Learn

• How to separate a disappointing result from your identity and ability as an athlete
• Why illness, missed training, and panic training can turn one setback into a larger problem
• How to tell whether a redemption race is driven by genuine motivation or the need to prove yourself
• Why returning to the process—not chasing validation—creates greater enjoyment and longevity in endurance sports

Timestamps

0:00 – What to Do After a Disappointing Race
2:21 – Katie’s Experience at Grandma’s Marathon
5:17 – Justin’s Difficult Return at IRONMAN Florida 70.3
9:14 – The Emotional Recovery After a Race
14:11 – Wanting Another Race vs. Wanting Another Result
20:13 – When Outcome Pressure Ruins the Process
23:39 – Panic Training After Illness or Missed Workouts
28:43 – Why Athletes Struggle to Coach Themselves
38:10 – How Difficult Races Can Make Better Coaches
47:37 – Why Finishing Times Never Tell the Whole Story
1:09:51 – Shifting From Outcome Goals to the Training Process
1:15:50 – Should You Sign Up for a Redemption Race?

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com