Beyond The Finish Line

Finishing a marathon off two training runs doesn’t make you tough. It means you missed the whole point.

Matt and Georgia take on the rise of untrained race entries and explain why the months of work are the reward, not the medal. They cover the ballot-entry trap and why time trials aren’t about PBs. Then listener Q&A on calorie deficits, returning from ACL surgery, and whether you’re ever too slow for a coach.

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You could do everything perfect and DNF ten minutes in.

Matt and Georgia get into the mindset side of endurance: why discipline doesn’t guarantee a good race, how to adapt your goal on the day, and what to do after a race falls apart. There’s also a Port Macquarie recap, Georgia’s postpartum comeback, and listener questions on trail running, getting back to a sub-2 half, and holding marathon fitness.

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You are a human, zone two training works for you.

Last week was the five zones. This week is how to train them. Coach Matt covers every zone from recovery to VO2: the exact sessions, durations and weekly placement TPP athletes use, and why you build zone two through duration, not pace. Georgia shares her first run back postpartum, and listener questions cover Garmin heart rate settings, cardiac drift and runner’s gut.

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You can't hold true VO2 max for more than 25 minutes across a whole session, so no, you didn't run your half marathon in zone 5.

Matt breaks down all five heart rate zones: what each one is for, how long you can hold it, and what it does to your body. That covers mitochondria, stroke volume and lactate clearance in zone 2, why zone 3 is the gray zone, and why zone 4 gives you the most bang for your buck. Then there's the real cost of a zone 5 session.

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Listener Q&A covers fueling a five-hour marathon, whether anyone can really hold zone five for an hour, finishing a marathon off a 24K long run, and how to stop chasing pace on your watch. Georgia, 10 weeks postpartum, asks Matt what her first two weeks back should look like. The answer isn't running.

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What Running Gear Is Actually Worth the Money?

Running is supposed to be simple and cheap. Somehow it's turned into $6 gels, $350 race entries and $600 watches. Matt and Georgia go through it item by item: what to spend on, and what to skip.

🎧 Listener Q&A:
– Is sub-4 realistic off a 4:33 marathon and a 25:12 5K
– Splitting a 25K long run in two when you've got a young family
– Two 30-minute gym sessions a week: what to prioritise

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🧪 Join our Beta Testing group:
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Matt strips endurance sport down to two questions: are you fast enough, and are you durable enough? He lays out the exact markers for each, why speed takes far longer to build than durability, and how to reverse-engineer a full year of training from one goal time. Then the announcement 18 months in the making: TPP's new coaching platform, built for the runners who've been asking for it. First 20 beta testers get it free.

Join our Beta Testing group

https://performanceproject.typeform.com/to/kRWZIxtt

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Endurance sport is a cruel mistress — you can do everything perfectly and still get nothing back. The athletes who make it are the ones who show up anyway.

Episode 81: how to actually debrief a race — good or bad. Sit with the emotion for a week, write it down as it fades, then compare the memory against the data. What the peaks and troughs tell you, when to dig into elevation, and how the little stuff quietly stacks. Plus what to do when the wall hits at 30k, when your gut betrays you, and when a perfect block still didn't deliver. Big announcement coming next week.

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40,000 runners is the edge — Sydney Marathon is flirting with breaking its own event, and we need to talk about it.

Episode 80: the Sydney Marathon 2026 recap. 70+ at the shakeout run, 36 TPP athletes with 33 PBs (27 of them by 15+ minutes), and an honest coach's take on the bottlenecks, wave timings, and slower runners baking in the heat. Plus Georgia's first big event with Millie, business updates, and listener Q&A on gels, stress fractures, race-day underperformance, and knowing when a good workout means you should push your goal.

📢 Next week is a full Sydney Marathon Q&A — DM us your questions.

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Sydney Marathon is four days away and you've got nothing left to gain. Only nervous energy to lose.

Emergency episode. Matt and Georgia work through every race-week fear runners actually have: heavy shakeout-run legs, a bad night's sleep, carb loading, and whether you'll make it to 42. Matt's worst-case exercise for killing head noise, the sleep study that proves one rough night won't cost you, and carb loading without the maths. Plus listener Q&A on triathlon vs marathon fitness and whether Pilates counts as strength work. Matt also explains the 17 stitches that just put his sub-10 Ironman at 50/50.

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Your Sydney Marathon Q&A, plus a full catch-up on life. Georgia is back from having Millie. Matt recaps a 24-hour team backyard ultra. Where his Iron Man WA prep is landing 15 weeks out,

Then ten rapid-fire Sydney Marathon listener questions covering pacing on the hills, arrival timing, aid stations, carb load meals, GPS vs elapsed time, and the seven days leading in.

🎧 Listener Q&A:
– Should I power up the hills to hold pace?
– How long before the gun should I arrive?
– Any hill advice if I've only trained on flat?
– Should I stop at every aid station on my first marathon?
– Favourite carb load meal if you could only pick one forever?
– Best post-race recovery routine?
– Sub-4 pacing strategy when the GPS gets shaky?
– Bad calf pain race week — push through or shut it down?
– What should the seven days leading in actually look like?

🎁 TPP shakeout run Saturday morning in the Sydney CBD — details on @beyondthefinishline_pod. Come say hi.

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Is a 70.3 an Ironman?

Episode 77: everything you need to know about triathlon as a runner. Every distance from super sprint to full Iron Man, actual mandatory gear vs the nice-to-haves, a realistic weekly training structure for a first-timer, and the beginner mistakes that end most sprint races. Plus Georgia's final episode before becoming a mum, and listener Q&A on long-run recovery and running by effort on the trails.

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Cross training isn't the easy option it's how you keep the volume up, take the impact out, and stop breaking yourself when running twice a day isn't the answer.

Episode 76: everything runners need to know about cross training. What it actually is, why bike and swim are the goats, when to sub a run and when to keep it, matching stimulus (easy, threshold, VO2), and the one-for-one rule for most athletes. Plus a full "would you rather" round covering DNFs, PRs, race photos, beat-up shoes, and retirement scenarios.

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Anyone can do a marathon — but should you? And how long should you actually wait before you sign up?

Episode 75: the marathon isn't the default goal for every runner, and it might not be yours. Why the best endurance athletes on the planet spend a decade at short course first, why waiting 3-5 years for your first marathon is a legitimate strategy, and the hidden costs no one talks about. Plus listener Q&A on post-marathon speed work, one big race vs shorter PBs, and whether social media invented the modern marathon boom.

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What goes up must come down the post-race blues aren't a bug, they're built into the sport.

Episode 74: what to do when the race is over and you don't know what to do next. The 18-24 month goal reframe, how to actually define recovery, the "directionally correct" trick for finding your next thing, and why the post-race window is the best time to do everything your training block wouldn't let you.

Plus Matt nearly dies, Gold Coast Marathon with 26 TPP athletes, and listener Q&A on cadence, mechanics, and trail vs road carb loading.

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The hay is in the barn race week is where most people fuck up what they've already earned.

Episode 73:
your Race Week Survival Guide. Tapering, maranoia, race morning logistics, carb loading without going full donut bender, controlling nervous energy on the start line, and the first 10k mistake that ends most marathons before they start. Built for Gold Coast Marathon weekend — applies to any race.

🎁 BTFL listener exclusive — TPP shakeout run Friday 9:30am at Bam Bam Bakehouse, Mermaid Beach. Coffees on us. All welcome.

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Listener questions, fully loaded from "am I overtraining or just adapting?" to "is sub-4 realistic on three runs a week?"

Episode 72 is our favourite episode of the month your questions, answered. Matt and Georgia get through how to tell the difference between overtraining and adaptive fatigue, why motivation is bullshit and discipline is everything, how to taper for Hyrox, why your 5k time matters for the marathon (round two), what it means when your 5k won't budge, the minimum race schedule that gives you real data, and how to build durability for the last 10k without destroying yourself every weekend.

🎁 BTFL listener exclusive — one spot at the TPP Sydney Marathon training camp (July 30 – Aug 1, Hunter Valley). DM @beyondthefinishline_pod or @the_performance_project_ to claim it.

🎧 Listener Q&A:

– How do I know if I'm overdoing it or if it's just adaptive fatigue?

– Motivation comes and goes — what do you actually do about it?

– Do you taper for Hyrox the same way as for a race?

– Performance anxiety around 5k time trials — how do you handle it?

– Why does the 5k actually matter for my marathon?

– What if my 5k time doesn't move after a full block?

– Sub-4 on three runs a week and a physio job — realistic or delusional?

– What's the minimum race schedule that still gives you the data?

– Should I structure my long runs around the post-32k point?

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Listener Questions

11:52 Georgia's Pregnancy Journey and Running

24:11 Matt's Endurance Training and Self-Coaching

35:53 Listener Questions: Training and Motivation

39:01 Assessing Training Effectiveness

43:42 Training Frequency and Goals

47:58 Performance Anxiety and 5K Time Trials

51:56 Racing Strategy and Data Collection

55:23 Building Durability for Marathon Success

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—
The Performance Project is an endurance coaching company built to help everyday athletes Do Hard Things. Our mission is to build Australia's strongest endurance community — through training, storytelling, and a relentless commitment to chasing what's hard.
Do Hard Things.

The cheap stuff that's actually good, the bougie stuff that's actually worth it, and the products we'd never touch.

a no-BS gear breakdown for runners. Matt and Georgia run through shorts, sports bras, shoes, hats, sunnies, socks, vests, watches, and headphones with honest takes on what's worth the money and what's a waste.

Plus listener questions on social media and running, when to do your strength sessions, and whether to pull the pin on a marathon block you're hating.

🎁 BTFL listener exclusive — one spot at the TPP Sydney Marathon training camp (July 30 – Aug 1). DM @beyondthefinishline_pod or @the_performance_project_ to claim it.

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Your 5k time will tell you exactly what marathon you can run most people just don't know how to read it.

Episode 70: Matt nerds out on the 5k and why it's the single most important measuring stick in your training. The correlation no one talks about, Jack Daniels' V Dot system, what your 5k tells you about VO2 max, aerobic threshold, and where your race is going to fall apart. Fast-twitch vs slow-twitch, when to retest, and why the 5k makes you a better marathoner (but the marathon won't make you a better 5k runner).

🎁 BTFL listener exclusive — one spot at the TPP Sydney Marathon training camp (July 30 – Aug 1). DM @beyondthefinishline_pod or @the_performance_project_ to claim it.

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You don't get to choose if your race goes sideways — you only get to choose what you do when it does.

Episode 69: what to do when your race turns to shit. How to know when plan A is gone, when to switch to plan B, and how to make mid-race decisions that keep you in control. Matt breaks down the A/B/C framework he uses at every distance — pacing, nutrition, gear, crew comms — the warning signs telling you to pivot, and why a plan B doesn't always mean giving up the goal. Plus listener questions on trail running quads, pram running, and the 5k after the marathon.

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