143: Why Every Woman Needs a Goal That Makes Her Feel Alive Again
Why Every Woman Needs a Goal That Makes Her Feel Alive Again
Let's be honest for a second. At some point in your 30s, the workouts start to feel a little... obligatory. You're still showing up. You're still putting in the work. But somewhere along the way, the excitement went quiet. Training stopped feeling like something you chose and started feeling like something you owed, to your body, to your health, to some version of yourself you're trying to hold onto.
If that hits a little close to home, you are not alone, and Episode 143 of the Broads podcast is exactly what you need to hear right now.
In this week's episode, Tara gets real about her second time competing at APEX, what choosing a genuine performance goal did to her entire relationship with training, and why the thing most women are missing in their fitness journey isn't a better program or more discipline, it's a goal that actually makes them feel something.
The Missing Ingredient Nobody's Talking About
We're in an era of fitness content overload. Macro tracking, progressive overload, sleep optimization, recovery protocols, there is no shortage of what to do. But Tara makes a compelling case that for a lot of women, especially those in their late 30s and beyond, the real problem isn't strategy. It's a spark.
There's a big difference between training to control your body and training to trust it. One keeps you stuck in a loop of anxiety and obligation. The other opens the door to something way more powerful, the experience of discovering what your body is actually capable of when you give it a real challenge to rise to.
That shift doesn't happen by accident. It happens when you commit to a goal that feels just a little bit scary. Something with stakes. Something that matters to you, not to the algorithm or the before-and-after reel.
What Competing at APEX Actually Feels Like
Tara's relationship with athletics has always been complicated. But something about APEX, a competitive fitness event that tests real, raw performance, feels different. She takes listeners behind the scenes of what it's like standing 150 meters from the finish line, the mental and physical chaos of competition day, and why that experience cracked something open in her.
This wasn't just a race recap. It was a window into what becomes possible when you stop training around your fear of not being enough and start training toward something that lights you up from the inside.
What Getting 4th Place Twice Actually Taught Her
Here's where it gets really good. Tara came in 4th place at APEX, twice. And rather than spinning that into a motivational "I came back stronger" narrative, she does something more valuable: she gets honest about what she actually learned from not standing on the podium.
Spoiler: it was more than a first-place finish ever could have given her.
Progress isn't always linear, and it doesn't always come with a trophy. Sometimes it shows up as a PR nobody else witnessed, a moment of clarity mid-race, or the simple, undeniable fact that you showed up and competed when you could have stayed comfortable at home. That is the win. And reframing what success looks like in training is one of the most freeing things a woman can do for her long-term relationship with fitness.
Why Strength Training in Your Late 30s Is an Act of Rebellion
This might be Tara's boldest take in the episode, and it absolutely lands: pursuing strength in your late 30s is genuinely rebellious.
Think about the cultural noise women absorb at this life stage. You're told your metabolism is tanking, your hormones are a disaster, your body is becoming harder to manage. The message, subtle or not, is that your best athletic years are behind you and you should probably just focus on staying "healthy."
Training for performance pushes back against all of that. It says I'm not here to manage my decline. I'm here to find out what I'm made of. There's something deeply powerful about a woman in her late 30s chasing a goal that has nothing to do with shrinking and everything to do with expanding what she believes is possible for herself.
The Real Goal: Training to Trust Your Body
One of the most resonant themes of this episode is the distinction between training as control versus training as trust. So many women, especially those who have spent years in diet culture or tied their self-worth to how their body looks, come to fitness from a place of trying to manage or fix themselves.
Performance goals flip that script entirely. When you're training for something real, something that requires you to actually show up and perform, you start to experience your body differently. You stop seeing it as a problem to be solved and start seeing it as a partner. One that, given the right challenge, might just surprise you.
Ready to Find Your Goal?
If you've been going through the motions in your training, this episode is a gentle but firm nudge to ask yourself: What would a goal that actually excites me look like?
Not a goal driven by guilt. Not a goal designed to make you smaller. A goal that makes you want to train, that gives your effort a purpose, that makes you feel like an athlete, because you are one.
Listen to Episode 143 on Apple Podcasts and get the full story straight from Tara.
And while you're at it, grab the FREE Balanced Plate Blueprint Macronutrient Guide at broads.app/macronutrient-guide, because fueling right is part of training to trust your body, not fight it.
What's one goal that used to excite you that you've let slip? Or is there a goal on your radar right now that feels just a little scary? Share it with the Broads community, we want to hear it.
New episodes of the Broads podcast drop weekly. Follow along on Instagram @broads.podcast and @broads.app.
