Gabriella Rao, RD

Happy New Year and hello 2026! To set the stage for a positive, fulfilling year, I wanted to write a little blurb on prioritizing consistency over perfection. 

This is valuable advice in all parts of life, and is also applicable to being an endurance athlete. Many endurance athletes consider themselves type A personalities (hello, it’s me), which means we often strive for perfection and will go to great lengths to meet our goals. 

However, this is often not the best mindset to have when it comes to endurance training. Ultimately, what will help you meet your goals is not perfection, but consistency — showing up often enough, well-fueled, and well-rested. 

Training cycles are MONTHS long! It’s unrealistic to think that one could execute every run, workout, and long run perfectly over such a long period. The real magic comes when we take that unplanned rest day and allow our bodies to recover so that we can crush our next workout or long run. Training adaptations come from repeated stress paired with adequate fueling, not from flawless execution of the training plan. 

Furthermore, striving for perfection creates an all-or-nothing thinking pattern where one missed workout becomes a catastrophe. This type of mindset can increase risk for injury, under-fueling, burnout, and anxiety around training and fueling. 

On the other hand, prioritizing consistency over perfection creates a confident and adaptable athlete who is able to work with the curve balls that life throws at them. So, next time your training plans go awry, whether that be from illness, family or job stress, travel, etc., try to recognize that consistency, not perfection, is what garners progress.

TLDR Takeaways:

• Aim for 80-90% execution of your plan, not 100%.
• Plan ahead for travel, busy days, etc. but be realistic with your ability to train on such days.
• Build routines that promote consistency. If it’s sustainable, it’s working.
• Have self-compassion! In everything you do – training, fueling, and being an imperfect human.

Just some thoughts and practices to bring into the new year.

Cheers,
Gabby