If you ask most endurance athletes what they want, the answer is simple: I want to get faster. But when you dig a little deeper, when you step back and look at the full picture, you often find that speed isn’t the real limiter. The real barriers are usually less glamorous, less obvious, and far more fundamental. Let’s break down what’s holding so many athletes back.
Training that doesn’t match the demands of the event
You can’t train for a 70.3 like you’re training for an Olympic. You can’t prepare for an Ironman with workouts built for someone racing two hours shorter. Many athletes train hard – but not specifically. Event-specific readiness is everything. If your race demands five hours of steady aerobic durability and controlled execution, but your training is a patchwork of interval bursts and short sessions, you’re not really preparing your body for the job ahead. Hard work is not the same as correct work.
Focusing on getting faster instead of removing what’s slowing you down
Everyone loves speed workouts. They feel productive. They make you tired in a satisfying way. But sometimes the biggest gains come from subtracting, not adding.
Removing limiters like:
- Poor pacing habits
- Weak aerobic base
- Inadequate fueling
- Inconsistent easy days
- Overtraining disguised as “motivation”
Getting faster is easy once you stop repeatedly slowing yourself down. Speed is often the reward for fixing the fundamentals.
A training and metabolic mismatch
Many athletes unknowingly train in a way that contradicts how they want to race. They want to race aerobically, efficiently, and sustainably- but they spend most training days in the “kind of hard” gray zone.
This mismatch creates an athlete who’s fit, but not metabolically prepared:
- Poor fat utilization
- High carbohydrate dependence
- Early race fade
- Difficulty holding race pace late
You don’t race like you train – you race like you’ve adapted. Metabolism doesn’t lie.
Limited work capacity and durability
Speed fades quickly when the body isn’t durable enough to sustain it for the full event. Durability isn’t about being fast – it’s about being able to express your speed deep into the race.
That means:
- Aerobic volume
- Carefully integrated strength
- Long-duration sessions
- Consistent weekly structure
Durability is not built overnight. Which leads to…
The compressed timeline problem
Many athletes want long-term results in short-term training cycles. But aerobic development isn’t microwaveable. It’s a crockpot process: slow, steady, patient.
You cannot rush:
- Metabolic efficiency
- Muscular durability
- Pacing intelligence
- Work capacity
- Confidence
When the development timeline is too compressed, something has to give- and it’s usually performance.
Poor recovery habits (it’s not a tool, it’s a 24-hour practice)
Recovery doesn’t start when you finish your workout. It’s happening every hour of every day. Sleep, stress management, fueling, hydration, movement quality: these are daily practices, not optional accessories. Athletes often treat recovery as something they “do” rather than a way they live. But without consistent recovery habits, even perfect training won’t stick.
Before you embark on your next season, spend time sitting with this question: what’s holding me back? Viewed through the lens of what you’d like to achieve next season, the answer to that question informs your entire approach.
Keep reading
- Why Durability Matters
- Five Things You’re Missing with FTP
- Free Speed: Get Faster Without Doing More
About Elizabeth Waterstraat
Elizabeth Waterstraat is the founder and head coach of Multisport Mastery, established in 2007. A USA Triathlon Level III Coach with 20 years of coaching experience and 26 years as an endurance athlete, Elizabeth works with athletes ranging from first-time triathletes to national champions and world championship qualifiers. Her coaching approach emphasizes individualized training, athlete education, consistency, and long-term development.
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