#481 Chasing Mastery with Matt Fitzgerald
Welcome
Welcome to Episode #481 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts Coaches Rich Soares and April Spilde. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance news, coaching tips and discussion.
This week we have a special feature with guest author, athlete and coach Matt Fitzgerald.
Show Sponsor: UCAN
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In Today's Show
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Announcements and News
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Featuring our 303 Webinar Series interview with Matt Fitzgerald
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Special Get Gritty: Rich and April Mastery Chase
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TriDot Workout of the Week - Rich
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Fun Segment: Tri-Battle: April vs. Rich!
Announcements and News:
TriDot Pool School - Last week’s Pool School was an incredible success:
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20 athletes on average made a 15% improvement (reduction) in their 100y time
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At 6000 feet on the USAFA campus
Upcoming Programming - Our February focus will be on swimming.
Mar. 7 - Webinar with author and coach Matt Fitzgerald on his new book Chasing Mastery
Mar. 15 - Run Drills and Run Mechanics
Mar. 22 - Trail and Snow Running
Mar. 29 - USAT CEO Vic Brumfield on USA Triathlon’s strategic plan – Elevate 2028: Focus Forward – which is USAT’s roadmap to LA 2028.
Announcing Coaches Corner (aka Office Hours) with Coaches April Spilde and Rich Soares. Every 3rd Tuesday of the month.
Link to March 18 Coaches Corner - https://www.facebook.com/share/15reK1J3m5/
Grit2Greatness Endurance Website and Social Media - Come check out our new coaching
Website - Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching
Facebook page @grit2greatnessendurance
Ask A Coach Sponsor: G2G Endurance
Triathletes, it’s time to unlock your potential! Grit2Greatness Coaching has joined forces with TriDot to bring you personalized, science-backed training that actually works. No fluff—just smarter training, better results, and a 2-week free trial to get you started. After that? Plans start at just $14.99/month. The best athletes don’t just train harder; they train smarter. Click the link in our show notes and see what’s possible!
Train With Coach Rich:
Coach Rich Soares
Rich.soares@tridot.com
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
Train with Coach April:
Coach April Spilde
April.spilde@tridot.com
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
Ask A Coach: Chasing Mastery with Matt Fitzgerald
There's more to endurance performance than training. Best-selling author and coach Matt Fitzgerald gives athletes 25 practical lessons to unlock their true potential and master their sport.
Every athlete's pursuit of performance will eventually become a game of diminishing returns. Matt Fitzgerald invites endurance athletes to focus on mastery, and performance will follow.
The path to mastery goes well beyond an athlete's training program and stretches beyond the realm of sport. The end goal is for the athlete to realize their full potential, which will elevate their experience both in their sport and the rest of life.
Preorder on Amazon for March 27th. Chasing Mastery: 25 Lessons to Cultivate Your Full Potential in Endurance Sports: Fitzgerald, Matt: 9798990795808: Amazon.com: Books
Get Gritty Tip:Chasing Mastery Take-Aways
April:
There’s so much that I learned that it’s hard to choose one, but I’d have to say I loved and will continue to think about the power of self-regulation. I think that is such a magnificent concept and speaks to how our daily choices really do determine our long term outcomes. True mastery comes from self-regulation: the ability to control your emotions, thoughts, and actions in pursuit of your goals. Talent and training matter, but they’re not enough. The best athletes—regardless of age or ability—are those who develop discipline, resilience, and the capacity to push themselves to their absolute limit. Mastery isn’t about being the fastest; it’s about taking control of what you can and becoming the best version of yourself. I can choose to be Marcus or Bella…Being good at a sport isn’t just about performance or raw speed—it’s about mastering your full potential.
Rich:
What I loved about it is that it’s so empowering. On the one hand it helps us to accept that we only have the potential we were born with, but it also gives us all of the responsibility of living up to that potential. The responsibility is squarely on the athlete to master and own all the decisions. Whether it’s how well you executed today’s workout, the decisions that set you up for success for not, decisions around training, recovery, nutrition, injury - everything. Even the decision to work with a coach or not.
TriDot Workout of the Week:“Fartleks”
Where does the word “Fartlek” come from and what does it mean?
Fartlek is a middle and long-distance runner's training approach developed in the late 1930s by Swedish Olympian Gösta Holmér. It has been described as a relatively unscientific blending of continuous training (e.g., long slow distance training), with its steady pace of moderate-high intensity aerobic intensity,[2] and interval training, with its “spacing of more intense exercise and rest intervals.” Simply stated, in its widely adapted contemporary forms, Fartlek training is alternating periods of faster and slower running, often over natural terrain, including both “level and hilly terrain.
Session Note
As with interval runs, the goal with fartleks is to be consistent throughout the session from start to finish. Don't go out too fast or cut your recovery periods short early in the session. This will negatively impact your training toward the end of your session. Be disciplined and hold consistent pacing and recovery periods for the entire session.
Warmup
2-3 min jog followed by 2x10 yards or meters of each drill:
Quick Feet
Butt Kicks
Skipping for Height & Distance
A Skips
Asymmetric Arm Swings
B Skips
Bounds
2 x 40-60 yard or meter Strides
Leg Swings
Main Set
3-9 x 4 min @ Z4 (60 sec jog)
Balance of time @ Z2
Session Note
Your goal is to perform each repeat with a consistent effort. The pace of your last repeat should be the same or slightly faster than your first. Be conservative and don't go out too hard on the first one else your later repeats will be negatively impacted. The most significant training benefit will come in how well you perform on the last few efforts. Recoveries should be at an extremely slow jog.
Fun Segment: Tri-Battle: April vs. Rich
Triathlon Edition – Do Rich and April Agree, or is There a Friendly Argument Brewing?
Now we’re taking this debate beyond the run and into the full triathlon experience! In this segement, we will break down our Top 5 triathlon favorites—but do we actually agree, or is this about to turn into a friendly (but competitive) triathlon showdown?
How it Works:
- After each pick is revealed, Rich and April have 30 seconds to defend their choice.
- If we agree—great! Mutual validation.
- If we disagree—it's time for the Great Triathlon Debate!
- Each person gets 30 seconds to makes their case.
- At the end, they either:
- Convince the other to switch sides
- Agree to disagree
Who had the better argument? Folks, keep your eyes peeled for our polls this week on social media. Next episode, we’ll reveal the results and either celebrate a victory lap or begrudgingly admit defeat.
Closing:
Thanks again for listening this week. Please be sure to follow us @303Triathlon and @grit2greatnessendurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment. We'd really appreciate it!
Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!