Episode Summary:

In this episode of Coach's Corner, Coaches Justin and Katie discuss the challenges faced after completing a marathon, including physical recovery, emotional struggles, and the importance of finding motivation to train again. They share personal experiences and insights on how to navigate the post-race blues, the significance of reflection, and the role of support in the recovery process. The conversation emphasizes the need to be kind to oneself during this time and explores the idea of exploring new opportunities in training.

Episode Takeaways

• Post-marathon recovery can be challenging both physically and emotionally.
• Many athletes experience a lack of motivation after completing a significant race.
• It's important to listen to your body and take necessary recovery time.
• Finding a supportive community or mentor can help during recovery.
• Reflection on past races can provide valuable insights for future training.
• Building back fitness should be approached gradually and with patience.
• Setting new goals can help reignite motivation after a race.
• It's essential to focus on the process rather than just the outcome.
• Exploring different training methods can provide a refreshing change.
• Self-talk plays a crucial role in maintaining a positive mindset during recovery.

In this episode of the Endurance Athlete Journey podcast, Coaches Justin and Katie delve into the critical topic of heat training for endurance athletes. They discuss the physiological effects of heat on the body, the importance of hydration and electrolyte balance, and the individual factors that influence heat tolerance. The conversation emphasizes the need for acclimatization, adjusting training expectations, and recognizing the risks associated with heat training, including heat-related illnesses.

Listeners are provided with practical strategies for safely training in hot conditions and optimizing performance during the summer months. In this conversation, Coaches Katie and Justin delve into the critical aspects of hydration and heat acclimation for athletes. They discuss the importance of electrolytes, effective hydration strategies during training, and the mental challenges posed by heat. The coaches emphasize the need for athletes to adjust their expectations and training plans when facing high temperatures, as well as the benefits of heat training for performance enhancement. They also share practical tips for managing hydration and cooling strategies during workouts.

Katie and Justin completed their A races for the season, and this is the race recap episode. This episode includes a long discussion with some of the following topics:

• Katie shares a recap of her recent marathon including the week leading up to the race, the few days prior the race, the race details, and how she is recovering post-race
• Katie shares what went well and what she struggled with prior to the race and during the race. This includes details on how she fueled pre-race and during the race. She also struggled a bit with sleep prior to the race, which may have had a slight impact on her race.
• Justin talks about his recent Olympic distance triathlon, including a bit about his pre-race details including fueling and what happened during the race and his recovery post-race.
• Justin shares some of the struggles with weather prior to the race including the shortened swim and how he adapted to these changes. He also discussed what went well during the race and some of his struggles, particularly during the run portion of the race.
• At the end both Justin and Katie share what is up next and why it is important to take a step back from intensive training and focus on the basics for a bit before diving back into another race

This is a race recap episode but there are likely some nuggets of wisdom and some things you may find relatable about Katie and Justin's race recap. As always feel free to follow us on Instagram or on Facebook @theenduranceathletejourney. If you would like to join our community on Facebook, you can do this by going to our group @theenduranceathletejourneygroup.

If you would like to see more in-depth analysis from Coach Justin's races, you can download his after race debrief reports. These reports have more insight into his training along with his breakdown of the race and a peek into what he is focusing on post-race. These reports are in the Coach's Corner Library (at the bottom of the page) on Tabula Rasa Racing website:

https://tabularasaracing.com/coachs-corner-library

In this episode of the Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, Coach Justin talks about the role of the brick workout. He dives into the purpose behind the brick workout and how/when it fits into your training plan. He also discusses some key things to focus on during these types of training sessions. Finally, he covers the potential risks and the benefits of these types of workouts.

In this episode of the Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast we talk all about the art of the taper. We dive into what is the purpose of the taper and why it is important to taper before a big race. We also discuss how to approach the taper including some considerations when planning a taper. We talk about mistakes people make when tapering and how to avoid these mistake. We also dive deep into the mental and nutritional side of tapering.

Here is an outline of our discussion on the taper:

• Katie's current experience with tapering for her marathon
• Different aspects of the taper and how to plan a taper including how to manipulate volume, frequency, and intensity to plan your taper
• What to consider with training volume and intensity during the taper
• When to do a longer taper vs a shorter taper and how your consistency with training might determine how long you taper
• The mental side of the taper including positive visualization, keeping your mind from wandering and reducing anxiety, and avoiding social media as much as possible during the taper
• Why the week of the taper is not a good time to start new projects and get active in other ways
• Planning your final race day strategy including finalizing your pacing plan and fueling strategy
• Using this time to practice aspects of the race such as changing a tire on your bike or packing and planning for the race
• The nutritional considerations during the taper to avoid weight gain while also eating enough to repair your body for the race

There is a lot more to this episode so hopefully this information is helpful as you plan your taper strategy. Justin wrote a blog on this topic if you want to check that out: https://tabularasaracing.com/coachs-corner-library/f/the-art-of-the-taper

Coach Katie and Coach Justin are fresh off their respective race courses so during this episode, we provide some race recaps.

• Coach Katie: NoCo Half Marathon
• Coach Justin: Smith Mountain Lake Sprint Triathlon

We talk about:

• How we both approached our tapers
• Pre-race fueling strategy
• Our race execution
• Our thoughts on how we used these races in preparation for future races

We discuss the following

• Why meal planning and prep is so important
• How it can help save time and money
• What happens when we don’t plan ahead
• It does not have to be perfect. There is all this stuff on instagram of people prepping perfect meals and putting the meal portioned out perfectly in a tupperware for the week. This is not necessary! Don’t overthink it!
• Steps for meal prep including planning, prepping grocery list and shopping
• Tips for meal planning from apps you can use to how to make it easier and less time intensive
• Bulk cooking and how meal planning my look for different types of schedules and preferences. Some people are okay with leftovers or eating the same meal over again and some people prefer more variety.
• Convenience options such as Greek yogurt, Rotisserie chicken, canned beans, pre-cooked rice, pre-cooked hard boiled eggs, cooked shrimp or salmon, pre-cut fruit or veggies, or cottage cheese.
• Combining bulk items with convenience options with some quick meal ideas to make meals for the week.
• Other considerations with meal planning including how to allow for some flexibility

Sometimes being an endurance athlete requires an advanced degree in time management. You may be the parent of small children or very active children. There are no “bonus points” earned by missing out on important events or opportunities to be active in your kid’s lives simply so that you can get your workout in.

Once you find a race distance that fits easily into your life (notice I said easily and not possible), then you can go about structuring your training to meet whatever your expectations are of yourself.

Not only should you find a race distance that fits into your life, but the expectations you form on how you want to perform should also fit into your life. Expecting podium results without the ability to train for that kind of performance is going to get you injured, frustrated, or alone or some combination of those. We discuss questions you may need to ask yourself when picking a race.

We discuss several different types of lifestyle challenges and some may overlap.

Working parent/stay at home parent with younger kids: We discuss challenges which may include having to wake up early before the kids wake up to workout or doing the workout later in the evening when the kids are in bed. This is a balancing act of figuring out how to fit in the workout around the work schedule and your partners work schedule.

Several strategies are discuss to fit in the workout including being creative with how and when you do the workout.

Working parent/stay at home parent with school age children and teenagers: As kids get older, they start to become more active. Sometimes this requires a little flexibility and creativity when it comes to time management. As kids reach those teenage years, you start to gain a little more flexibility in terms of being able to leave them at home while you head out for a long workout. However, the level of activities and commitments tend to be greater as kids get older.

Strategies are suggested including slit training sessions and trying to get in a workout while the child is at an activity.

People who work shift work or extended shifts like nurses: The main thing these athletes tend to struggle with is quality sleep. This is especially true if the shift work is on a rotating schedule. With the disruption or poor quality sleep, the ability to recover from training sessions can be slowed.

We discuss strategies for shift works/12 hour shifts including scheduling the bulk of training on non-work days, getting shorted workouts on work days and being creative with how they do the workout.

Tips for shift workers working the night shift: For night shift workers, training will typically need to be structured either after the shift and before sleeping for the day or after waking up before starting the next shift. It might be most ideal to schedule the exercise after getting some sleep and before you start your next shift.

Expectations for this type of schedule and trying to train might need to be adjusted due to issues with sleep and disruptions in circadian rhythm.

Service workers with atypical work schedules: Most of the time, these types of athletes are your “night owls”. So structuring a training plan where you may be prescribing morning and evening sessions is not going to work for these types of athletes. This is a very challenging schedule due to lack of consistency.

People who travel for work: For athletes like this, it can be challenging to get in consistent training especially if your focus is on triathlon. Bike and swim training are the most challenging to get in while on the road.

Suggestions for this type of scheduling including researching the hotel and location of travel ahead of time to see if there is a gym available or safe paths or parks for running.