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For Episode 100, Coach Justin and Coach Katie are tackling one of the biggest reasons endurance athletes fall apart on race day: fueling that was never practiced like training.

You may think your stomach is the reason your fueling fails. But for many endurance athletes, the real issue is simpler: the gut was never trained to handle the fuel being asked of it on race day.

In this episode, Coach Justin and Coach Katie break down why fueling falls apart during long workouts and races, how gut training actually works, and why your race-day plan is only as strong as what your body has practiced in training.

What You’ll Learn

• Why GI issues do not always mean you need less fuel
• How to progressively train your gut to handle more carbohydrates
• Why copying another athlete’s fueling plan can backfire
• How to practice race-day fueling before it costs you performance

Timestamps:

00:00 Episode 100 and the importance of gut training
05:24 Why higher-carb fueling can improve training and recovery
07:16 The fear of eating before workouts
11:19 Fasted training, weight loss, and performance goals
18:57 What gut training actually means
20:02 Justin’s experience building up to 60 grams of carbs per hour
23:38 Carb targets, elite examples, and realistic expectations
32:24 Why underfueling leads to bonking and late-race fading
39:36 Common fueling mistakes athletes make before race day
42:18 Real food, gels, and why race-day products must be practiced
51:00 What changes inside the gut when you train it
55:56 How to build a progressive gut training protocol

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

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Miles can make a training plan feel clear. But they can also make it easy to chase a number without understanding the actual cost of the work.

In this episode, Coach Justin and Coach Katie break down the difference between training by minutes and training by miles — and why the better choice depends on your experience, your goals, your sport, and the stress your body is already carrying.

If you are a runner, triathlete, or endurance athlete trying to follow a plan without overdoing it, this conversation will help you think more clearly about volume, recovery, long runs, heat, terrain, and when “just hit the miles” may not be the smartest answer.

What You’ll Learn

• Why mileage does not always reflect the true stress of a workout
• When training by minutes may be better for newer athletes, triathletes, and time-crunched schedules
• Why runners often get emotionally attached to certain mileage numbers
• How to choose the training structure that fits where you are right now

Timestamps:

00:00 — Minutes vs miles in training plans
02:27 — Why many runners prefer mileage-based plans
06:50 — The downside of chasing mileage
12:00 — Fueling long runs by time, not distance
20:24 — How heat changes the cost of a workout
28:00 — Why template plans can miss the bigger picture
38:14 — The problem with arbitrary mileage goals
47:12 — The case for minutes-based training
56:16 — Time-crunched athletes and training stress
1:03:20 — Why training by time can feel freeing
1:20:33 — The limitations of minutes-based plans
1:28:42 — How to decide which method fits you

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

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What happens when the goal you can’t stop thinking about is the one you’re afraid to pursue?

Whether it’s your first race, moving up in distance, returning from injury, or taking another shot at something that didn’t go well the first time, many endurance athletes find themselves stuck in the space between wanting something and actually committing to it.

In this solo episode, Coach Justin explores the relationship between fear, confidence, and action. Using his own struggles with returning to Ironman racing and pursuing Unbound Gravel, he breaks down why waiting to feel ready often keeps athletes from pursuing the goals that matter most—and why confidence is usually the result of action, not the requirement for it.

What You'll Learn

• Why confidence is built through action, not before it
• The difference between fear, danger, and uncertainty
• How past experiences can make returning to a goal harder than starting something new
• Why committing to the first step matters more than committing to the finish line

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why this conversation about fear matters
03:15 – The thing you want most often scares you most
08:10 – Fear vs. courage in endurance sports
10:00 – Fear, danger, and risk are not the same thing
16:00 – Returning after setbacks, injury, and disappointment
21:15 – Why growth lives outside of comfort
25:00 – The real reason athletes keep postponing goals
26:00 – Confidence comes from action, not certainty
37:00 – Fear, excuses, and waiting until you're ready
45:15 – Taking the first step instead of the final step
49:30 – The lesson every endurance athlete needs to hear

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

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If you train seriously long enough, eventually you hit the point where your body stops feeling “good.” Your legs feel dead. Recovery slows down. Workouts that normally feel manageable suddenly feel heavy. And then the mental spiral starts:

Am I adapting… or breaking down?

In this episode, Coaches Justin and Katie break down the difference between normal training soreness, accumulated fatigue, and genuine warning-sign pain. They discuss how endurance athletes misinterpret body signals, when soreness is actually part of progress, and how to recognize when your body is telling you something more serious.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to tell the difference between productive soreness and injury-warning pain
• Why fatigue, stress, sleep, and life load all impact recovery
• When athletes should push through discomfort — and when they should back off
• What recovery tools actually do (and what they don’t)

Timestamps:
00:00 — Why soreness became the topic of this episode
02:10 — The fine line between soreness and pain
05:20 — Marathon training fatigue and struggling workouts
09:20 — Strength training, recovery, and accumulated fatigue
19:30 — Heat training, stress, and recovery load
23:15 — What delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) actually is
30:15 — Why soreness is part of adaptation
35:10 — When soreness becomes excessive
42:30 — Soreness vs fatigue vs injury
49:00 — Sharp pain, tendon pain, and warning signs
57:20 — Should you train through soreness?
1:04:30 — Recovery days, nutrition, hydration, and rebuilding

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

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In this solo episode of The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, Katie shares an honest update on her road to Grandma’s Marathon and takes listeners inside the reality of marathon training after a setback from illness. After battling the flu and losing valuable training time, Katie discusses the challenges of rebuilding fitness, navigating difficult workouts, and balancing confidence with uncertainty as race day approaches.

The episode also dives deep into the concept of functional overreaching — what it is, why endurance athletes sometimes intentionally push beyond their limit, and how to recognize the difference between productive fatigue and overtraining. Katie explains how athletes can safely use periods of increased training load to stimulate adaptation while avoiding the dangers of non-functional overreaching and burnout.

Topics covered include:

• An update on Katie's marathon training over the past two week
• Why workouts can suddenly feel harder than expected
• Understanding functional vs. non-functional overreaching
• Signs you may be pushing too far
• How recovery, sleep, and nutrition affect adaptation
• The importance of fueling during high-volume marathon training
• Why higher carbohydrate intake may improve recovery and performance
• Adjusting training when life, fatigue, and stress collide
• The mental side of marathon preparation and trusting the process

Katie also shares practical insight into her current marathon build, including high-mileage weeks, strength training integration, fueling experiments, and how she’s adapting her plan in real time leading into race day.

Whether you’re training for a marathon, triathlon, or simply trying to balance hard training with recovery, this episode offers a relatable and educational look at the fine line between pushing your limits and pushing too far.

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

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Being a strong runner does not guarantee a strong Ironman marathon.

In a standalone marathon, you start fresh. In a full Ironman, the marathon begins after a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, hours of fatigue, fueling decisions, pacing mistakes, and muscular damage that have already shaped what your run can become.

In this episode, Coach Justin and Coach Katie compare standalone marathon training with Ironman marathon training and explain why runners moving into long-course triathlon often need a completely different mindset. If you’ve ever assumed the Ironman run is “just a marathon,” this conversation will challenge that idea.

What You’ll Learn

• Why the Ironman marathon is usually decided before you ever start running
• How bike fitness and bike execution protect your run more than extra run volume
• Why fueling mistakes on the bike can sabotage the marathon later
• How runners need to rethink pacing, patience, recovery, and expectations in Ironman training

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why runners misunderstand the Ironman marathon
03:02 – How standalone marathon training is usually structured
08:41 – Why Ironman run training starts with bike fitness
17:44 – Why marathon expectations do not transfer cleanly to Ironman
22:03 – How overbiking destroys the run
33:04 – Why bike fueling determines marathon survival
43:25 – Flavor fatigue, texture fatigue, and long-course nutrition strategy
47:23 – Long runs: marathon training vs Ironman training
53:49 – How much run intensity belongs in Ironman training
1:02:22 – Why patience off the bike matters
1:10:17 – Recovery differences between marathon and Ironman training
1:25:35 – Final thoughts

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

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In this solo episode of The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, Katie takes a deep dive into the fascinating evolution of endurance fueling and how high-carb strategies are reshaping modern performance. From the early days of marathon racing in the late 1800s—when athletes fueled with steak, eggs, whiskey, and even avoided water—to today’s precision fueling strategies of 80–120 grams of carbs per hour, Katie explores how sports nutrition has transformed over time.

Using recent breakthroughs in marathon performance, including two sub-2-hour marathon performances in the London marathon, Katie examines the major factors driving athletes faster than ever before: fueling, shoe technology, training advancements, recovery science, and evolving sports nutrition products. This deep dive focuses on the fueling and sports nutrition products.

This episode covers:

• The surprising history of marathon fueling
• Why athletes once believed dehydration improved performance
• The discovery of glycogen and carbohydrate loading
• The rise of Gatorade, gels, and modern sports nutrition
• The low-carb/high-fat era and why many elite athletes have moved away from it
• How under-fueling still impacts many endurance athletes today
• The importance of gut training and individualized fueling
• Why modern athletes are prioritizing fueling over simply staying lean
• The future of high-carb fueling and endurance performance

Katie also reflects on how outdated “tough it out” mindsets still influence athletes today and explains why fueling is no longer viewed as separate from training—but an essential part of it.

Whether you're a marathoner, triathlete, cyclist, or endurance athlete looking to improve performance and recovery, this episode offers valuable insight into how fueling strategies have evolved—and where they may be heading next.

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail

If you are fit enough to finish the race, but not durable enough to keep training, eventually the cycle catches up with you.

You build fitness, make progress, start to believe things are working — and then something breaks down. Injury, inconsistency, burnout, lost motivation, or another restart from square one.

In this episode, we break down the difference between fitness and durability, why chasing performance too aggressively can keep athletes stuck, and what it actually takes to build a foundation that supports repeatable progress.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why fitness and durability are not the same thing
• How the “rebuild cycle” keeps endurance athletes from long-term progress
• Why more intensity is often the wrong solution
• How strength, frequency, recovery, and patience create sustainable performance

Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction to fitness vs durability
01:29 — Why run frequency sparked this conversation
04:39 — The limits of three-day-a-week training
08:43 — Why early performance gains do not last forever
16:03 — Fitness for completion vs durability for performance
21:00 — The rebuild cycle and why athletes get stuck
27:51 — Why cookie-cutter plans do not work for everyone
33:16 — Fitness is capacity; durability is replicability
43:28 — How to start building durability
52:30 — Adding frequency without overloading the body
1:04:54 — The danger of validating every workout
1:12:47 — Playing the long game in endurance training

If this episode helped you understand why your training keeps breaking down, share it with another runner, triathlete, or endurance athlete who may need to hear it.

You can also join The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast Group on Facebook to continue the conversation and connect with other endurance athletes working through the same challenges.

If you are tired of guessing your way through training, Coach Justin and Coach Katie are both active coaches accepting athletes.

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com