Hi Reader,
What is it that interrupts your training consistency? In my experience there are normally two things - illness or injury. In this week's podcast Beth and I went deep on what actually protects you from both through winter. Not motivation tips. Practical habits.
There's one thing we discussed that I want to bring directly to you here, because I think it's the most immediately useful thing in the whole conversation.
Every morning through winter - particularly the grey ones where you're not clearly well but not clearly ill - ask yourself three questions before you commit to the session.
How did I sleep?
How do I feel?
How is my motivation?
If two out of three are poor, the session doesn't get cancelled. It gets changed. Easier, shorter, less intense. Something that keeps the habit alive without digging a hole you'll spend the next two weeks climbing out of.
It sounds almost too simple. But most athletes are operating on binary thinking - I either train or I don't. And that binary approach fails in the grey areas, which is where winter lives most of the time.
There's a version of this I've used for years that cuts through the rationalising very quickly. If you wouldn't send a sick child to school, don't send yourself to a hard training session. We apply a level of care and common sense to children that we completely ignore in ourselves. Usually because we don't want to hear what the honest answer is telling us.
Here's the broader point those three questions sit inside. The athletes who arrive at next season's first race in the best shape are almost never the ones who trained hardest through winter. They're the ones who trained most consistently. Who protected their sleep, their nutrition, their mobility, their recovery weeks - and who managed the grey areas sensibly rather than pushing through until something broke.
Consistent imperfect training beats sporadic perfect training. Every single time.
That's not a consolation prize for athletes who couldn't hack the hard blocks. It's the actual approach that produces long-term results. Every coach I respect keeps coming back to it.
Train smart,
Wardy
P.S. Building that kind of consistent structure through winter - not just knowing what to do but having the framework and accountability to actually do it - is exactly what SWAT is designed around. New members join at £65 a month, no minimum term. Find out more https://www.simonward.co.uk/swat-inner-circle
P.P.S. Beth and I go through everything in practical detail in this week's episode - the recovery day question, the training load question, the winter specific habits that protect your immune system. Worth your time right now as the darker months arrive.
Listen here: Why Winter Training Falls Apart and What to Do About It
Read the full article here: How to Stay Consistent Through Winter Training: Seven Habits That Actually Work
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Simon Ward
Performance coach for endurance athletes over 50
Helping you train smarter, race stronger, and stay in the sport for the long haul.
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