The High Performance Human
I'm Simon Ward, Health, Wellness and Performance Coach. This newsletter is for athletes in their late 50s and beyond — the ones who aren't slowing down, but training smarter. Whether you're chasing finish lines or just want to keep doing the sports you love for years to come, we'll explore the best strategies for performance, recovery, longevity, and living well for longer.
Are You Actually Ready for Your Ironman? (Use This Simple Sanity Check)
If you’ve signed up for an Ironman this year, this is the point where things start to get real. We’re into April. The race is no longer a distant idea. It’s coming. For most athletes in the UK and Europe, you’re now counting down in weeks rather than months. The long sessions are creeping in, fatigue is starting to build, and a question quietly starts to surface. Am I actually where I should be? This is the point where things either come together or begin to drift off course. The danger is...
Fit, Healthy… So Why Did I Decide to Take Statins?
For years, I was firmly against taking statins. Like many endurance athletes, I believed that if you trained consistently, ate reasonably well, and looked after yourself, you could control most aspects of your health. Medication felt like something you turned to only when you’d run out of other options. But recently, I changed my mind. Not quickly, and not easily. In fact, this has been a decision that’s been building for the past five years. Beth and I discussed this in our recent podcast -...
Be Battle Ready - The cost of getting this wrong
Hi Reader I’ve just got back from a great few days away with Beth. Part of the trip was the Nevis to St Kitts swim, which we’d both been looking forward to for a while. (You can listen to the full story in our next podcast) It’s a good example of what I mean when I talk about being “battle ready”. Not peak fitness for one event. But being in a position where you can say yes to something like that and know your body will handle it. The problem is, most athletes move in the opposite direction...
Fit But Fragile: Why Your Training Might Be Setting You Up to Fail
What if your training isn't making you stronger, but slowly breaking you down? I see this pattern all the time with endurance athletes, particularly those over 50. On the surface, everything looks good. Training is consistent, volume is solid, and there’s a clear level of discipline. These are people who are putting in the work week after week, often managing eight to twelve hours of training alongside busy lives. But when you look a little closer, there’s usually something else going on....
Be Battle Ready - What Happens When Your A Race Gets Cancelled?
You’ve done the work. Months of training, early mornings, missed evenings, everything building towards one single day. Your fitness is improving, your confidence is growing, and you can finally see the finish line in sight. And then it’s gone. The race is cancelled. For many athletes, that moment hits far harder than they expect. It is not just disappointment. It is a sudden loss of direction. The structure disappears, the urgency fades, and the question quickly follows. What’s the point now?...
Be Battle Ready - Why Training More Is Making You Slower
Most endurance athletes believe that improving performance is largely a question of doing more training. More miles, more hours, more long sessions. On the surface that seems logical. If a certain amount of training makes you fitter, then increasing the volume should make you even fitter. It is a simple equation that has been reinforced for decades within endurance sport. However, after more than 30 years of coaching and competing, I have come to a different conclusion. The athletes who...
Be Battle Ready - How to Prepare for Open Water Swimming When You Only Have a Pool
If you live in the UK and your first triathlon is in April or May, you face a familiar problem. The lakes are still cold, organised open water sessions have not started yet, and most of your swim training is happening in a pool. For many triathletes this creates anxiety about the first race of the season. Pool swimming feels controlled and predictable, while open water can feel chaotic. There are swimmers around you, visibility is limited and you have to navigate rather than simply follow a...
Be Battle Ready - Different Events. Same Foundations.
Different events, same foundations. How we’re preparing for a swim, ultra, paddleboard race and 700km gravel ride. Beth and I have committed to four very different endurance challenges in 2026: A 2.4 mile open water swim from Nevis to St Kitts A 50km trail ultra A 40km stand up paddle-board race A 700km multi-day gravel ride along the Camino in Spain At first glance, these appear to require four separate training programmes. Swimming fitness, ultra-specific run durability, paddle-board...
Be Battle Ready - The Ironman Principles That Stood the Test of Time (15 years on)
The Ironman Principles That Stood the Test of Time (15 years on) Beth has been doing what she does best lately: keeping me honest. She dug out a poster I made about 15 years ago, back in 2011/2012, with a list of training and racing principles I used to send out to athletes. “Guiding lights,” I called them. And then she decided the only fair way to revisit them was to read them out to me while I was not allowed to look at the list. No cheating. No polishing the answers. Just a live audit of...
Be Battle Ready - Fit Does Not Mean Safe: Nick Parkes’ Wake-Up Call for Every Masters Athlete
Fit Does Not Mean Safe: Nick Parkes’ Wake-Up Call for Every Masters Athlete If you train hard, race often, and feel strong for your age, it’s easy to believe you are sorted. Nick Parkes felt that too. On 30 July 2023, at the GB National Open Water Championships at Rother Valley, Nick stood on the pontoon ready to race the “triple crown” (5k, 3k, 2k). No wetsuit. Great form. Recent podium overseas. In his words, he felt “invincible”. Nick Parkes swam 36k/wk and was English National AG...
I'm Simon Ward, Health, Wellness and Performance Coach. This newsletter is for athletes in their late 50s and beyond — the ones who aren't slowing down, but training smarter. Whether you're chasing finish lines or just want to keep doing the sports you love for years to come, we'll explore the best strategies for performance, recovery, longevity, and living well for longer.