The Full Circle Podcast

Are you one of the lucky runners who secured a spot in the New York City Marathon?  Every year, hundreds of thousands of people vie for a very limited number of entries into this famous and iconic race.  If you’re fortunate enough to get a spot in the New York City Marathon, be sure to train and plan well so you can enjoy your 26.2-mile tour of the five boroughs of New York City.  These are the be...

What does it mean to be a triathlete? Too many athletes misunderstand what it truly means to be a triathlete.  A triathlon is a single sport with three disciplines, not three individual sports strung together.  In order to successfully train for and race in triathlons, athletes need to understand and embrace this important distinction and apply it in their planning for their training and racing. R...

Coach Laura ran the Mountain Goat Run for the 14th time this year.  It may have been her 14th time running this race, but it certainly didn’t feel redundant to her. No matter how much experience we have in endurance sports, there are always new experiences to be had, new things to learn, and new joys to be felt.  This year’s Mountain Goat Run checked all those boxes and more for Coach Laura. Read...

This Coach Tip Tuesday is the 416th one that Coach Laura has written; today we’re celebrating the EIGHTH anniversary of Coach Tip Tuesday!  Coach Laura was inspired to keep sharing something she wrote every Tuesday by her friend and mentor Coach Brendan Jackson.  So, in what has become an annual tradition since that first Coach Tip Tuesday eight years ago, she is sharing something inspired by what...

How do you find the right cycling shoes?   Finding the best cycling shoes for you can be a long and tricky process.  It can be so long and so tricky, in fact, that some cyclists don’t realize that there might be a better option for them out there.  Once you understand some fundamentals about feet and what we should expect from a cycling shoe, finding the right one for you won’t feel like such a my...

At first glance, golf and endurance sports might seem like apples and tomatoes.  However, they are more similar than you might imagine, and there are valuable lessons endurance athletes can glean from the sport of golf and the athletes who play it. Read this Article:  https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/what-golf-the-masters-tournament-can-teach-endurance-athletes Ready to start training? Che...

A lot of multisport athletes who train for events that involve open water swimming leave a lot on the table in terms of speed and execution potential, and a lot of this stems from the fact that they are not training specifically enough for open water swimming in their swim workouts.  Learning how to appropriately leverage your swimming workouts can help you unlock the ability to execute open water...

“When can I do more?” This is one of the most common questions we hear from athletes because most athletes are excited about and/or anxious about needing to do more in their training.  However, the decision about whether or not to add more to an athlete’s training is something that should be treated with reverence, and there are many different factors to consider before deciding that adding more t...

Outdoor riding season has come again.  As the season changes from Winter to Spring, more cyclists and multisport athletes will be taking to the roads to get their training rides in.  And with that, the risk of being hit by a car increases.  While the only foolproof way to eliminate the risk of being hit by a car while cycling is to never ride outside or on roads, there are several things you can d...

A 5K is often the first distance that new runners train for.  It’s a wonderful distance to run and there are many, many 5K race options to choose from! Once you’ve set a goal to run a 5K, it can feel tricky or even overwhelming to figure out the best way to prepare for it, especially if you’ve never trained for an event like this before.  There’s good news!  With a little bit of planning and consi...

It’s the question at the forefront of almost all athletes’ minds: “When will I be faster?” The truthful answer is nuanced and somewhat complicated.  Therefore, it’s probably not the answer that most athletes want to hear.  That being said, understanding what sets the stage for speed gains and what it takes to achieve them is an important part of actually getting faster. Read this Article:  https:/...

Endurance sports goals don’t achieve themselves.  They require time, effort, and hard work. The average age-group athlete is a busy person who has a lot of demands competing for their time.  However, the average age-group athlete is also usually driven to want to accomplish the goals that they set for themselves. How can athletes make the necessary time for the training that is necessary to reach...

Can you stop your Garmin at 4.98 miles? If you’re like 98% of the athletes we’ve worked with over the years, you can’t.  Or rather…you won’t. We’re going to dive into why you should consider stopping that Garmin whenever your workout is complete, even if - gasp of shock! - a random distance is showing on your devices. Read this Article:  https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/can-you-stop-your-g...

Think you don’t need to bring hydration with you on Winter workouts? Think again. You need hydration in the Winter just as much as you do in the Summer.  But a whole plethora of unfortunate biological circumstances makes you feel like you don’t.  Don’t fall victim to this; you are actually thirsty in the Winter. Read this Article:  https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/can-you-stop-your-garmin-...

Some athletes dread indoor workouts. Others relish in them. Irrespective of the time of year or how one feels about them, what is the true purpose of indoor workouts? Read this Article: https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/what-is-the-purpose-of-indoor-workouts   Ready to start training? Check out our Coaching and Training Plan options: Training Plans Customized Training Plans Personalized Coa...

While a lack of motivation can strike any time of year, it seems to hit endurance athletes hardest during the Winter months.  If you are struggling to find the motivation to do workouts, don’t despair or beat yourself up about it.  Instead, take an alternative approach to help you reignite your workout mojo and to find a way back to consistency. Read this Article:  https://www.fullcircleendurance....

Are you currently injured, sick, or experiencing some other setback that is keeping you from training? The patience required to navigate times like these is very, very real.  At times, it can feel like time has stood still and like the path forward is too long to face.  Finding hope or something to look forward to may seem impossible. And yet…it is possible.  Yes, you can find hope and a path forw...

Unfortunately, almost all endurance athletes will sustain an injury at some point in their endurance sports journey.  When this happens, it’s important to take a pragmatic approach both to managing the injury itself and to one’s return to training.  Doing so shortens the overall time that an athlete has to be away from doing what they love and helps them ultimately return to training and racing wi...

Athletes often consider the workouts that they do on a day-to-day basis, but they don’t necessarily consider how those workouts build up over time and how workouts completed today and this week impact other workouts six months or more in the future.   An Annual Training Plan charts this long-term path toward an athlete’s goals, and a well-developed Annual Training Plan will take an athlete further...

How do you find the right running shoes?  It may seem simple at face value, but it’s actually a deceptive process and can be trickier than it initially appears.   But there's good news!  Once you understand some basic elements about your feet and about running shoes, you can absolutely find the right running shoes for you, no matter what type of running you do. Read this Article:  https://www...

The end of a year or season often prompts athletes to reflect on their past season and to consider what goals they would like to set in the future.  There is plenty of advice out there about how to set goals, but unfortunately, a lot of the common advice is also ineffective advice.  What are some effective strategies that runners, cyclists, triathletes, and swimmers can use to set goals so they ha...

Coach Laura gives an overview of the nine best nonfiction books she read in 2024! Read this Article:  https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/coach-lauras-top-9-nonfiction-books-of-2024 Books Referenced During the Episode: Lily’s Promise: Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond by Lily Ebert and Dov Forman  The Athlete's Gut: The Inside Science of Digestion, Nutrition, and Stomach Di...

Full Circle Endurance posted 88 new articles on our blog in 2024, and we have over 586 blog posts in our archives from almost a decade of writing.  These are the blog posts that readers connected with the most in 2024! #1 - Don’t Pull Up on Your Bicycle Pedals   #2 - The Law of Diminishing Returns #3 - Why You Shouldn't Wear a Wetsuit in Triathlons and Open Water Swimming #4 - How to Handle T...

Coach Laura gives an overview of the 10 best fiction books she read in 2024! Read this Article: https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/coach-lauras-top-10-fiction-books-of-2024   Books Referenced During the Episode: Arc of a Scythe Series (Trilogy + Stories) Scythe by Neal Shusterman Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman The Toll by Neal Shusterman Gleanings: Stories from Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shuste...

The Full Circle Podcast officially launched for the first time in January 2024.  Over the course of the year, 69 episodes were published.  Some of them really resonated with listeners!  We decided to share the Top 5 Episodes of the year. Read this Article: https://www.fullcircleendurance.com/blog/top-5-podcast-episodes-of-2024   Ready to start training? Check out our Coaching and Training Plan opt...