Chasing Mastery: 25 Lessons to Cultivate Your Full Potential in Endurance Sports

by Matt Fitzgerald

There's more to endurance performance than training. Best-selling author and coach Matt Fitzgerald gives athletes five keys to unlock their true potential and master their sport.

Every athlete's pursuit of performance will eventually become a game of diminishing returns. Matt Fitzgerald invites endurance athletes to focus on mastery, and performance will follow.

The path to mastery goes well beyond an athlete's training program and stretches beyond the realm of sport. The end goal is for the athlete to realize their full potential, which will elevate their experience both in their sport and the rest of life.

Fitzgerald identifies five foundational aspects of

Motivation: How You Feel
Knowledge: What to Do
Understanding: Why It Works
Assimilation: How It Works for You
Challenge: How to Keep Pushing Your Limits

Drawing lessons from history, literature, and science, Fitzgerald shakes up the traditional paradigm of athlete development with thought-provoking ideas and valuable practices on each ambition. Chasing Mastery is a springboard for athletes of all ages and abilities to engage their true potential.

264 pages, Paperback

Published March 25, 2025

About the author

Matt Fitzgerald is the author of numerous books on sports history and endurance sports. He has enjoyed unprecedented access to professional endurance athletes over the course of his career. His best-sellers include Racing Weight and Brain Training for Runners. He has also written extensively for Triathlete, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, Outside, Runner's World, Bicycling, Competitor, and countless other sports and fitness publications.

Reviews

[Patrick Leber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed a few takeaways that reinforced some of my own beliefs while learning a few. I had previously believed great coaches must be curious, flexible, and motivating. Curious to seek information; flexible to adjust a client’s training plan, & motivating to empower an athlete to be part of training plan adjustments.

I had to re-read the section about knowledge being overrated a few times (Lesson 7 - Consider the Source). Knowledge allows a coach to be great as outlined in the many examples Matt listed. I am confused how knowledge is overrated when “it’s what a coach does with what they know that matters.” I’m probably overthinking it as knowledge is the key to being a great coach by knowing to be curious, flexible, & motivating.

I applied one takeaway to my long run this past weekend and it worked so well. I altered my mindset from meeting a specific “on paper” goal based on how I was feeling. Afterwards, I felt that I experienced “hard fun”! I was so impressed and have labeled this as my best workout in my current training cycle. Thank you Matt :-)

[Amanda Felbab · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent read for *serious* endurance athletes. I put the emphasis on serious, but this book can help you no matter what your skill or level (as long as you seriously want to maximize your potential!).

The book provides 25 lessons with each lesson having its own dedicated chapter. I love lists, so this was good format for me. I found all lessons actionable or at least thought-provoking. I also appreciated the “from principle to practice” summary at the end of each chapter, and I can see going back and reviewing these periodically.

I’m a big fan of the author’s other books, but this one stands out. This may be partially due to the timing being perfect for me, as I have recently gotten very serious about my running. I highly recommend this book if you want to cultivate your full potential!I

[Sam Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished- read before bed over a month and was engaging. Helps that I’m thoroughly obsessed with running. I have read his other book, “Run like a Pro…” and heard him on Strength Running podcast. It hit me that he made the case for having a coach which is something I am currently considering.

I’m going to go back through my highlights of this book and see if there’s more wisdom. There was oddly a lot of good life advice about Mastery in general which could apply to sports and professional pursuits.