73: The Racing Mistakes We’d Never Make

<p>You can know exactly what you’re <em>supposed</em> to do as an endurance athlete… and still get it wrong.</p><p>I’m a dietitian, but I’m also human first. And after years of triathlon, running, gravel racing, and now mountain biking, I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. So have Hanna and Mary.</p><p>In this episode of the Endurance Eats Podcast, Team HAM is back! Hanna, Alex, and Mary are looking back at years of training and racing to answer one question: <strong>If we could do it all over again, what would we do differently?</strong></p><p>We’re talking about everything from running a first marathon on basically no fuel (yes, really) to underfueling Ironman training, learning how to fuel a finicky gut, and realizing that sometimes the biggest thing holding you back has nothing to do with fitness.</p><p>Because endurance sports teach you a lot. Fueling matters. Recovery matters. Mental preparation matters. But so does knowing when to push, when to back off, and how to keep the sport you love actually enjoyable.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>What You’ll Learn</strong></p><ul><li><p>What I would completely change about how I trained and fueled for Ironman Wisconsin</p></li><li><p>Why knowing how to fuel and actually practicing your fueling are two very different things</p></li><li><p>How endurance fueling has changed since our early racing days</p></li><li><p>Why Hanna once felt like taking fuel during training was almost “cheating”</p></li><li><p>The fueling mistake that can happen when you’re feeling <em>too good</em> during a race</p></li><li><p>Why your recovery nutrition can determine what you get out of your next workout</p></li><li><p>How Mary learned what works for her finicky gut through years of trial and error</p></li><li><p>Why Hanna says her biggest do-over might actually be mental preparation—not nutrition</p></li><li><p>How we think about training during busy, stressful, or ridiculously hot seasons of life</p></li><li><p>Why “maintenance is a win” can be one of the smartest approaches to long-term training</p></li><li><p>The importance of focusing on what you can control on race day</p></li><li><p>Why preserving the joy of your sport might matter more than forcing yourself through another training block</p></li></ul><p>And yes, somehow we also get into mountain biking, slow walkers, candy corn, and whether mellowcreme pumpkins count as endurance fuel. It’s Team HAM. What did you expect?</p><p>Want to fuel your training and racing with mo