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TRAINING BREAKDOWN:
“The off-season is where you build the foundations for success in 2026.”
By Emma O’Toole
Hi everyone,
It’s October 5th, and for many of you today might mark the end of your season. Maybe you’re racing one last event, maybe you’ve already raced for the final time this year. Now comes the off-season, the reset button.
The off-season is where you build the foundations for success in 2026. It’s the time to reset, rebuild, and do the work that will make you return stronger, faster, and more resilient in 2026.
However, for many runners and cyclists, the off-season is wasted, or worse, it becomes the time where habits slip, mistakes pile up, and the hard work from the season is undone. And for us over 30, the off-season is even more important: our recovery takes longer, we’re naturally losing muscle mass, and inconsistency in our training hits harder.
In today’s newsletter, I’m going to share with you the 5 most common mistakes I see runners and cyclists over 30 make in the off-season with their running and cycling and what you can do instead.
Next week I’ll tackle strength training mistakes, but this is a final reminder for the cyclists reading this newsletter that my BUILT TO RIDE OFF SEASON 16 week strength training progamme waitlist closes TONIGHT! If you want to avoid the strength training mistakes we’ll talk about next week, this programme is how you get ahead of the curve, click here for more details.
Running and cycling mistakes:
1. Avoiding intensity altogether
It’s easy to think the off-season should be all Zone 2. Easy miles, steady rides, nothing but base.
And yes, Zone 2 is exceptionally important, so too is going out with “no-target” rides. Those rides where you step away from the data and enjoy the pureness of just training. I’ve had a few of those lately. However, if all you do is plod along at one pace, you’ll lose sharpness. Neuromuscular efficiency, top-end speed, and coordination all start to decline when you avoid intensity completely.
It’s also going to make it a lot harder for you when you do want to push your body again, you’ll take longer to recover and find the sessions more challenging.
Instead of forgoing all intensity, keep some intensity littered into your training week. It’s nothing too specific, like target half marathon pace work, but it’s enough to keep your engine revving at that top end.
2. Ignoring your weaknesses
The off-season is the perfect window to work on the things you normally avoid.
For runners, that might mean working on cadence, or your ability to run uphill. For cyclists, maybe it’s your climbing strength, cornering skills or final kick at the end of a race.
For example: A runner who always fades in the last 5k of a half marathon often blames their “fitness.” But often it’s a strength or technique limiter: their body has broken down because it’s not strong enough to handle what you’re asking of it, or your mechanics have fallen apart and the wheel well and truly come off. The off-season is where you can fix that.
Instead of trying to spin 5 plates and not really do a good job with any, look back at the past 10 months of your running and cycling. What sessions have you enjoyed this year and why? What sessions have you not enjoyed this year and why? What races/events went well and which didn’t go so well, why is that? What session do you see on the training plan and not look forward to?
These are just some questions that you can ask yourself to find your weak link and then you can make it your off-season project to improve.
3. Big swings in your training volume
One week, you’re barely riding. The following week, you’re 200km into the Festive 500, even though you’ve barely touched the bike in weeks.
This kind of yo-yo training is a recipe for setbacks. Your connective tissue, tendons, and aerobic system don’t adapt to sudden spikes, they adapt to steady and consistent stress coupled with the necessary recovery to allow those adaptations to take place.
Big swings in training volume is something I see each winter in particular with challenges like the Festive 500 and amongst those I see riders who don’t finish, who get injured or those who few limp into January burned out before their season has began because they’re going from riding 5 hours a week to attempting to ride 500km in 7 days.
The off-season is a chance for you to scale back from your peak season volume and intensity for your body (and mind) to recover, but there still needs to be consistency. For example, dropping from 50km a week of running to a baseline of 30km.
4. The turbo trap
Zwift, Rouvy, TrainerRoad… fire them up and it’s like being in a sweet shop. You can pick any workout, any race, any challenge.
Sounds great, right?
Not always.
This is because when every session is a random, you’re moving your body but you’re not moving forwards. The same goes for the runners who don’t follow a plan to their running in the off-season.
“Sweetshop training” creates decision fatigue (learn more about it here) and scattergun training results. One week is threshold-heavy, the next week VO₂max, the next all recovery rides. There’s no structure, no progression and no balance.
And when you’re over 30, with busy schedules and limited training time, you can’t afford “junk miles” on the turbo or on the tarmac. Every hour has to count, even in the off-season.
Stick to a structured block or plan that progresses week on week. That way, your time drives consistent fitness rather than just populating your training calendar.
5. The intensity trap
The opposite of mistake #1.
Instead of too much Zone 2, this one’s about going full gas in every session.
Cyclists: jumping into every Zwift race possible.
Runners: choosing a hard 30-minute blast because it feels more exciting than a steady 50-minute run in the cold and rain.
The problem here is that you’re just adding fatigue on top of fatigue. You never recover fully, you never build your base, and you end up starting the 2026 build burnt out instead of ready.
Your running and cycling off-season blueprint:
Don’t avoid all intensity. Although the majority of your training is steady aerobic work, sprinkle in some intensity.
Work on your weak link. Choose one limiter to your performance, (eg. cadence, hills, sprint finish) and make it your focus this winter.
Stay consistent. Scale back from your peak season training volume, but keep a consistent weekly training schedule rather than yo-yoing.
Be deliberate. Follow a simple structure or progressive training plan instead of random sessions.
Balance your training. Some hard efforts are fine and we want them, but don’t let them take over by turning every session into a race or all-out effort.
If you avoid these mistakes and use this off-season window to train progressively, address your weaknesses, and recover, you’ll hit the ground running in 2026.
The runners and cyclists who keep improving into their 40s, 50s, and 60s aren’t the ones who hammer every Zwift race possible to them, they’re the ones who train smart, consistent, and deliberate in the off-season … and this is your chance to do the same…
… Just like Robert, who has improved his FTP by 21w, lost 8 kilos and placed 🥈 in 2 races just 5 weeks into us working together. I'm really proud of him and excited for what more is to come!
Don't forget to join my wonderful free community for runners and cyclists over 30 for ongoing support with your training, click the link above.
Apologies for the delay getting this out to you this morning, technology has been testing me this week!
Have a great Sunday!
Emma x
Don’t forget! The BUILT TO RIDE OFF SEASON 16 week strength training progamme waitlist closes TONIGHT- click here to learn more.
PS. GET A FREE EBOOK BY SHARING THIS NEWSLETTER WITH A LIKE-MINDED RUNNER, CYCLIST AND TRIATHLETE…
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