Episode 114: Training Focus Areas for 2026

Intro banter:

The quiet January work of building fitness has started. I have to remind myself that I may not be seeing any breakthroughs but we are patiently building the 2026 foundation.

Katie:

Emphasizing process goals in 2026! Inspired by Steve Magness quote on goals: “A massive meta-analysis on the impact of goal setting on performance found: (1) Process goals had a large effect on performance. (2) Performance goals had a moderate effect. (3) Outcome goals had a negligible effect.

What are these types of goals?

• Process: The race plan. The next logical step/action you need to take.

• Performance: Run 4:10 for the mile.

• Outcome: Win the race.

Why do outcome goals often fall flat?

• They trigger a psychological tug-of-war.

• Focusing on the win activates both approach and avoidance motivation.

• We want the prize, but we are terrified of missing the mark.

• The fear of failure neutralizes the drive to succeed.

Process goals liberate us from this conflict. They tend to activate only approach motivation. There’s no baggage attached to the immediate step in front of you. We aren’t worried about the consequences of falling short. We are simply locked into the action itself. 

Process goals speak the language of our brain and body. They speak in actions instead of abstractions. They give us concrete sweets to execute right now. Outcomes are distant wishes; process is the immediate “how.” The brain craves the clarity of the next step.

The study found another massive benefit to process goals. They had a large effect on self-efficacy. When you focus on what you can control, your belief in yourself skyrockets. You stop judging yourself against others and start trusting your own capacity to execute.

To get the outcome you crave, you must essentially ignore it. Shift your mental energy to the inputs. Control the controllables. 

The paradox of high performance is simple. To get the outcome you want, you must let go of the need to have it. Shift your gaze from the horizon to your feet. Master the step right in front of you. The score takes care of itself when you take care of the work.” 

Additional thoughts on process goals:

• They tend to be a lot more intrinsically motivated – not chasing the public satisfaction of “I took my gel at the 15’ mark” vs. “I qualified for Boston”

• There are so many more opportunities for process goals than outcome goals in a training cycle, i.e. every day that you train and every decision within a race; take advantage of the dopamine hits you get from hitting them (which are intrinsically driven). Celebrate the small wins!

• A recent fun process goal for me - hit 1500 miles running in 2025. I was over 1400 in November and knew that this could be an exciting motivator for getting some more runs in at the end of pregnancy as long as my body allowed it. This was a fun process goal because:

• Focuses on behaviors and actions I can control: showing up consistently and running regularly.

• Guides day-to-day decisions (How often should I run this week? How long?) rather than a single result.

• Paired with other process goals, e.g. run 3 days/week, do ALL my mobility and strength that makes running possible, etc.

Katie 2026 focus areas (let’s start with yours though)

• Identifying minimum effective dose in run training with ample x-train, especially for injury-prone athletes (as well as athletes with multisport goals)

• Helping athletes build out their performance bubbles in a proactive way 

• Some long term planning with life/family/career goals: examples include conversations about when doing an Ironman makes the most sense, when starting a family makes the most sense, etc. 

Jim:

2026 Coaching — Focus Areas

Local Muscular Endurance

Why? Athletic performance is repeated application of force.  That’s often easy to do in 1 - 2 hours but becomes extremely demanding in hour 4 and beyond. We want to build athletes who are “robust and ready”. 

How do we train your quads, glutes, hips, and posterior chain to support long-distance efforts?

General Strength Examples:

• Weighted carries around the neighborhood or uphill

• Tire dragging

• Stairs with a weighted backpack or vest (in your building or outdoors)

• Stair stepper at the gym with added weight

• LME bodyweight and weighted workouts.

• Traditional weights in the gym. If you could do only one thing in the gym: Squat or any variation thereof.

• Body weight when you can’t get to the gym.  This often pairs well with mobility.

• Sledding! Organic hill repeats!

In-Sport Muscular Endurance

Swim

• Paddles + buoy work (e.g., 4 x 200 paddles + buoy as a standard cooldown)

• Swim with a parachute or small drag bag for resistance

Bike

• Low-cadence climbing (50–60 rpm)

• Standing starts: shift into your biggest gear, nearly stop, then accelerate hard out of the saddle for 15–20 seconds — ideally uphill or after a stoplight

• Big mountain climbs / long sustained efforts

Run

• Uphill treadmill sessions

• More structured hill intervals

• Mountain running

Hiking

• Weighted backpack hikes to build durability and leg strength

More Sub-Threshold Cycling and Running

For more intermediate and advanced athletes: A shift toward high Zone 2 / low Zone 3 (the “Norwegian-style” aerobic development model).

Cycling:

• More time in the 78–82% FTP range, or ~78–83% of max HR

• Sessions that build aerobic durability without drifting into threshold fatigue

Running:

• More controlled sub-threshold intervals, similar to the cycling approach

• Remember: Norwegian training is not threshold-heavy — it is sub-threshold heavy

Bike Trainer Approach

• Use trainer time wisely: more quality, less filler. Athletes are very time crunched.

• For newer athletes: accumulate steady time in the saddle to strengthen the aerobic base

• For experienced athletes: more mid- to upper-Z2 work to expand aerobic capacity

• The trainer becomes a targeted tool. There is a time and place for easy, mindless miles on the trainer but in general those are exceptions during an athlete's winter schedule. 

Custom Trainer Workouts

Athletes with 2–3+ years of consistent endurance training may be ready for highly specific, custom sessions designed to target:

• Aerobic durability

• Muscular endurance

• Sub-threshold repeatability

• Event-specific demands

These workouts will be written individually and integrated into your weekly plan.

Xert Platform (Limited Athletes)

A select number of athletes will use Xert, a powerful cycling analysis and forecasting platform that:

• Models your fitness signature. Power is treated in three dimensions - Low, High and Peak. This is fundamentally different from the one-dimensional view in TrainingPeaks.

• Projects readiness and optimal training windows

• Helps fine-tune intensity distribution and freshness

Respiratory Training

For certain athletes, 2026 will include a focused approach to:

• Breathing rate control

• Improving nasal breathing

• Enhancing ventilatory capacity

• Building respiratory durability

* Performance impact: Proper breathing mechanics can enhance oxygen efficiency, delay fatigue, and improve overall endurance performance

* Respiratory muscle training: Strengthening inspiratory muscles through specific training protocols has been shown to improve endurance metrics, with athletes running 16% farther before exhaustion and improving time trial performances

This is an evolving area of practice and will be a development focus in Q1 2026.  This is not a marginal gain. We are potentially leaving a lot of performance on the table by not training this system.

In future podcasts, I’ll discuss the use of the Tymewear device and BWB Respiratory Trainer.

Apply micro peak power bursts

We already do this quite often but nearly every swim bike and run workout will benefit from some micro peak power short intervals:

• Swim 4 x 25s 

• Bike 4-6 x 10-20” bursts

• Run 4-6 strides

Workout fueling and hydration/sodium guidelines by time and intensity
First, good fueling and hydration are habits we employ throughout the day. Conversely, it doesn’t start during the workout.  Aim to start all workouts well fueled and hydrated. Build a daily system around supporting your overall health and fitness.

Even in January, athletes are already getting in some 60’+ rides / runs.  It’s time to review fueling and hydration guidelines.

1. Under and up to 1 hour: Z1/Z2 training there is usually no need to take mid-exercise carbs. 


However, if you are hungry because maybe you missed a meal or pre-workout snack, have a snack and a full water bottle. When it doubt, fuel yourself regardless of the time/zone/distance/pace. Stash snacks in your car, run/bike/swim/gym bag, next to your trainer, etc. 
Fueling is the key to performance and general health. 

Bike Hydration: Like many athletes, it’s easy to get behind on daily hydration so I’ll consume one water bottle with a light electrolyte drink like PH 500 tab. 


Run Hydration: If it’s not crazy hot, I’ll usually hydrate before and after and not bring a bottle. 


2. 1 - 2 hours: Z1/Z2 training aim for 40-60 grams of carbs per hour. 



My personal preference is real food if this is a bike ride like fig and granola bars, or a cookie stop at a general store. 



Bike Hydration: Two water bottles with electrolyte mix like PH 500 for colder rides and PH 1000 or 1500 for warmer rides. 


Run Hydration: 1 water bottle or soft flask and scaling sodium based on temperature.  250mg/hour for cold, 1000mg/hour for hot.


3. 2+ hours: Z1/Z2 training, 60-75 grams of carbs per hour. 



For a bike ride of this length, I’ll bring real food and gels, usually eating solid food first then switching over to gels later in the ride.  


Bike Hydration: same as #2 and stopping to refill bottles after hour 2. 

Principle: consume one bottle per hour. 


Run Hydration: Two bottles or multiple soft flasks, hydration bladder. 


4. 45’ - 4+ hours: Z1/Z2/Z3 runs or ride where the workout includes tempo/threshold, fuel at 75-90 grams of carbs.

For example, any run/bike that has some climbing or assigned pace such as 5K/10K/HalfMar/Marathon run pace or tempo/sweet spot bike intervals, fuel the work.



Bike & Run Hydration: same as #2/3 and will add either Maurten 160 or 320 to bottles for liquid carbs.  A running hydration vest is super nice for long runs.


5. <90’: Z3/Z4/Z5 training (tempo/threshold/VO2 max/Anaerobic Capacity) 60 grams (or more!) of carbs per hour.



Bike & Run Hydration: 2 bottles with electrolyte and carbs. Gels in pocket.  I may not drink all on bike/run but will finish in the car or at home. These are demanding sessions and fueling/hydration is top of mind.

6. >90’: Z3/Z4/Z5 training (tempo/threshold/VO2 max/Anaerobic Capacity) 75-90 grams of carbs per hour.



Bike & Run Hydration: Bring out the big guns. Carbs/electrolytes in bottle, gels in the pocket.  Eat and drink every 15-20’.  Fueling/hydration is a major focus for these workouts, treating it like a race simulation. 


Don’t show up to a gun fight with a knife. Come fully loaded!  And if you have extra gels, you’ll probably make a friend in the group run/ride!

And have a recovery shake ready for right after the workout. I’ll bring one in the car for post-ride/run recovery.

7. >90’: Z3/Z4/Z5 training (tempo/threshold/VO2 max/Anaerobic Capacity). Once you have trained with 75-90 grams per hour, experiment with 90-120+ grams of carbs.


8. In races, apply the lessons learned in Guidelines Six and Seven to determine carb intake, trying to max out totals (while doing gut training). Always test your fueling during long training sessions and Race Simulations.

Adapted from David Roche article for The Feed.  

In support of the above:  Effects of Maltodextrin-Fructose Supplementation on Inflammatory Biomarkers and Lipidomic Profile Following Endurance Running

Protocol

Researchers had endurance runners do a hard 15K run (90% VO2max - roughly threshold effort) while either taking a carbohydrate drink (maltodextrin-fructose mix) or a placebo before, during, and after the run.

Measurements taken at baseline, immediately post-run, 3 hours, and 24 hours after

What they found:

Less Inflammation:

The runners who fueled with carbs showed significantly lower inflammation markers - things like white blood cells, IL-6, cortisol, and CRP all stayed lower compared to running on placebo.

Better Recovery Markers:

The carb group also showed healthier omega-3 levels and a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio at 24 hours post-run. This matters because a lower ratio means less inflammation lingering in the system.

Practical Applications for athletes

The researchers conclude that proper carbohydrate fueling during high-intensity endurance work doesn't just support performance - it actively mitigates the inflammatory stress response. 

Adequate carb intake isn't just about fueling the workout - it may also reduce the inflammatory "cost" of hard training.

Challenge or Resource of the week:
Jim: Muscular Endurance: All You Need to Know

Katie: Log your gear, particularly run shoes, in Strava, so you get an alert when it’s  time to switch out to new shoes. 

Gear pick of the week:

Katie: Challenge and gear combined - buy 2-3x of your favorite shoes if you know they are changing models! For me, Hoka Rocket X2s. 

Jim: Rep Plyometric Wood Jump Box - Medium size. 16” x 18” x 20”