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1. The Plateau is Normal: Everyone hits a plateau at some point. It's a natural part of the process. Don't get discouraged – it's an opportunity to re-evaluate your training and find new ways to challenge yourself.

2. Life Happens: Work, family, and other commitments can impact your training time and consistency. It's important to be flexible and adapt your training to fit your current lifestyle.

3. The Aging Athlete: Our bodies change as we age. It's important to adjust our expectations and training accordingly. Focus on maintaining fitness, preventing injury, and enjoying the process.

4. Rediscovering Your "Why": Sometimes, a shift in motivation can reignite your passion for running. Explore new goals, try different types of running, or find new ways to connect with the running community.

5. The Power of Consistency: Even if you're not getting faster, consistent running offers numerous physical and mental health benefits. Celebrate those victories!

6. Finding Joy in the Journey: Running is a lifelong journey with ups and downs. Focus on the joy of movement, the camaraderie of the running community, and the personal growth that comes with the challenges.

We’re run coaches who just took on our first HYROX event! In today’s episode, we’re giving you a full recap of our experience—breaking down the highs, the struggles, and what we learned from this epic challenge.

For those of you new to HYROX, here’s a quick refresher. HYROX is the ultimate fitness competition that combines running, functional strength, and endurance. Athletes complete eight one-kilometer runs, each followed by a workout station like sled pushes, rowing, burpee broad jumps, and wall balls. It’s a true test of both cardiovascular endurance and muscular stamina.

8x 1k run

1 strength station in between

1. Ski erg 1k

2. Sled push 50 meters

3. Sled pull 50 meters

4. Burpree board jump 80 meters

5. Row 1k

6. 200 meter farmer carry

7. 100 meter lunges

8. 100 wall balls

Now, let’s dive into our experience from race day!

Let’s break it down:

• What Went Well: Our running background definitely helped. The one-kilometer segments felt like a chance to reset and control our breathing before diving back into the next challenge.

• Biggest Challenge: The sled push and pull were absolute killers. We knew they’d be tough, but the sheer leg burn was next level. It’s a game-changer, and we now have major respect for those who make it look easy.

• Proud Moments: Crossing that finish line! The last wall ball station was brutal, but the energy in the room and the support from other athletes pushed us through.

Key Takeaways as Run Coaches

1. Running Strategy Matters – A strong run base helps, but knowing how to pace yourself between stations is key. We went out too hot at the start and paid for it later.

2. Strength Work is Non-Negotiable – Runners, take note: leg power, grip strength, and full-body endurance are just as important as speed. We’re definitely going to tweak our training plans.

3. HYROX is for Everyone – One of the coolest parts was seeing people of all fitness levels tackle this challenge. Whether you’re an elite athlete or just looking for a new goal, HYROX is an incredible test of grit and determination.

What’s Next for Us?

Would we do it again? Absolutely! But next time, we’re coming in stronger, more prepared, and ready to take on those sleds with a vengeance. We’ll be incorporating more functional strength training and refining our pacing strategy.

And for anyone thinking about trying HYROX—do it! It’s tough, but the sense of accomplishment is 100% worth it.

 277. How often should you be racing? Do you even need to race?

As we gear up for the spring racing season it might seem like everyone is out there racing. How often should you race? Do you even need to race? There are a lot of questions you might have about racing, but it is not something we talk about frequently enough in the running world. Some athletes appear to race almost every weekend. How is it possible? Before we answer that question it is important to define your goals and then label each race as priority for performance or not. We can’t be in peak shape all year round. Not every race has to be an A race. You don’t always have to run a race to be a ‘real runner’ or prove your fitness. Some people like racing others don’t. Don’t let other people define your goals for you.

What is the purpose of racing?

Test fitness

Fun

Competition

Community/support others

Habit

How do you define your goals as a runner

Performance goals

Community goals

Longevity goals

Does racing help or hurt your long term goals?

A. B. C races

You have to actually train. You can’t always test

What if you don’t like to race

Do you actually not like it or do you just get nervous..? Even if you hit your goal time, do you still not care?

Strava can be a great source of motivation as it gamification of the sport of running, but can there be some downsides to the app? While it can be fun to scroll through and see what friends are doing for runs, does it promote constant comparison? In Jan 2023 I started to feel like people were ‘watching’ my training as I geared up for Boston 3 months postpartum from baby number 3.. Were people actually watching? I don’t know, but the fact that I was feeling ‘pressure’ to ‘perform’ or show up on strava was real. I decided to go ghost on strava for 3 months, and it was an interesting experience. 

Self talk while running

Thinking that people will be analyzing your splits

Wanting the average pace to be XYZ

Coming up with excuses for how the run went and what you would write

Getting back to the basics. 

Running for yourself

Taking out all the chatter

Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation

Why do you run?

Did you enjoy running more when people didn’t see your stats?

How can you find balance with technology and running

Boundaries

Having a reset

Sitting in the discomfort

We talk a lot about marathon training on this podcast, but we should take a step back and chat about how to know if you are READY to train for your first marathon. It’s always about balancing risk vs reward. Training for a marathon is HARD on the body and if you don’t have a strong base going into the training you are increasing your risk of injury or burn out. We developed a prerequisite to marathon training plan a few years ago. This is a program you would do BEFORE starting your marathon training plan to ensure you are in a good place to marathon train.

https://run4prs.co/2019/07/08/training-for-your-first-marathon-part-1/

Knowing what kind of runner you are is key when it comes to planning races. You may have seen a lot of hype on social media or the media in general about the world major marathons like NY and Boston. Even when I tell people I coach runners, I often through out names like “we help people train for the NYC marathon”. Why? Because most people have heard of these races. But just because they are well known doesn’t mean they are the end all be all of running. In fact, there are dozens of marathons that take place every weekend around the globe. Each state has several marathons. Some states like California probably have close to 100 or more marathons every year. So what makes these world majors so special? They have been selected by Abbott world majors association because they meet special criteria. The biggest criteria is the size of the race. Local large marathons around here have a few thousand people where as a world major marathon would have tens of thousands of people. What is the benefit of doing such a large race? Well it depends on your goals and also how you like to race. Some athletes thrive with crowd support and lots of people to run with. Other people don’t get any benefit from crowd support and don’t enjoy running on busy courses. You have to factor these things into consideration when you register/think about doing a world major. Another factor is travel and money. Traveling for a race internationally or even flying to a race can be stressful and take more time/energy/planning. The cost also plays a huge factor. I was 23 years old when I ran Boston for the first time, and I remember we almost drained our savings account to make the trip out there the first time. If you have a lot of disposable income or you really make it a priority to save up, the majors can be great, but we also want to point out that attempting the run the majors is something that takes substantial amounts of money. 

Jason - Talking point

Abbotworld majors > https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/

Marathon Tours

Destination Marathons > https://sportstoursinternational.com/

Guaranteed entry: London, Berlin, Sydney

No Entry: Tokyo, NYC, Boston, Chicago

Marathon Tours

Destination Marathons > https://sportstoursinternational.com/

Guaranteed entry: London, Berlin, Sydney

No Entry: Tokyo, NYC, Boston, Chicago

Treadmill running

As we head into the winter months, it can be hard to train outside in the sub zero temps but it can also be dangerous with the icy footing. Many people opt for the treadmill for a number of reasons. It can be a topic of mixed emotions for many runners. I know I personally felt shamed by runners in the past for utilizing the treadmill despite exclusively training on a treadmill for a few marathons in my earlier years as a runner with great success. 

Why is the treadmill so controversial?

Why do some people crush it on the treadmill?

Why does the treadmill feel so hard to some people?

Should you utilize the incline feature?

271. Did you peak with running already or is it a plateau?

Have you ever heard the quote “what would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?” that is a good one for todays podcast episode. A lot of people would love to look into a crystal ball and see what their full potential is if they gave running their all. Many people allow fear of failure to hold them back from giving 100% commitment/effort into The truth is that most people quit before they reach their full potential OR they stop putting in the same effort. It’s important to recognize that there is more to life than running so of course many people have other goals they want to pursue, but it’s important what language we use when we talk about our potential in the sport. I often hear people say they think they already reached their full potential within the sport after a few years. Did you really reach your full potential in the sport or are you stuck at a plateau?

How do you know if it’s a peak or a plateau

How long have you been training

Have you changed your training within the past 2-3 years

Have you focused on various events in running

Have you been coached

Peaking:

How can you continue to motivate yourself to be in endurance events if you already reached your peak?

What if you didn’t reach your true potential but you don’t want to continue to train at that high of a level?

Plateau

How can you breakthrough

How long would it take to breakthrough

What does it really take to achieve some of those big goals like OTQ or BQ

Do you actually have the desire to put in that much work?

Sacrifices in place 

Athletes give us their races vs us recommending races