“[Coaching] is fulfilling, but it also sincerely does make me better. It makes me a better athlete. Miguel (Marin), just the way that he wanted to get better as a person and as a runner. He was a young person, didn't have life figured out and was still trying to figure himself out. I'm still trying to figure myself out. Just seeing him put the effort into himself that he did. There were so many times that made me be like, ‘I can do this. I can be better and improve upon things about myself and my emotional stability, my mental stability.’ All these things improve just by the relationship that we had.”

My guest for today’s episode is CJ Albertson. Just three weeks after setting a personal best of 2:08:17 at the Chicago Marathon, CJ came into the New York City Marathon and delivered another stellar performance, finishing 10th in 2:10:57.

CJ's year has been nothing short of extraordinary—top American at both the Boston and Chicago Marathons, a 5th-place finish at the Olympic Trials, and now, another top-10 finish in New York. No American had ever run sub-2:11 marathons so close together, but CJ isn't one to shy away from a challenge. We'll talk about his mindset, his breakout year, and his relentless pursuit of faster times.

Plus, CJ also shares a bit about how he was running in memory of Miguel Marin, who was one of his athletes who ran track and cross country at Clovis Community College. The 22-year-old died in a car crash over the weekend. A GoFundMe has been set up to assist with his family’s expenses. You can find the link to it here.

Plus, we do our overrated/underrated segment on training elements with CJ to close out the show.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: CJ Albertson | @cjalbertson on Instagram

Time stamps:

3:24 - Reflections on his past year of marathoning

8:07 - Which of his marathons was the most satisfying this year

10:14 - How he approached racing both the Chicago and NYC marathons

13:10 - Factors that led to his improvement

15:13 - Hopes for what’s next in his career

22:25 - Race breakdown: 1st Ave

24:51 - Race breakdown: 5th Ave

28:32 - Thoughts on how to close the gap on becoming top American

30:24 - How he hopes to continue improving

36:30 - Race weight + fueling strategy while racing

41:08 - Going after the 2025 World Championships team

50:02 - Reflecting on Miguel Marin, his athlete who just passed away

56:40 - Answering listener questions

1:02:02 - How coaching others makes him a better athlete

1:04:24 - Overrated/underrated: training methods

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