Fall Is for Fun! How Training in Blocks Keeps You Fresh for Years

As summer winds down and the air starts to cool, a lot of multisport athletes feel their season slowing down. The days get shorter, the mornings get darker, and after a long spring and summer of racing and training, the schedule naturally starts to ease up. And that's exactly how it should be.

Every sport has an off season

I've said this every single year since Terrier started in 2005. Football, baseball, soccer, cycling's pro peloton. Every sport in the world has an off season. Triathlon and endurance sports are no different. Your body has been working hard since the new year, and your mind has too. Fall is the time to let both breathe.

It's okay to dial back the intensity. It's okay to stop forcing yourself into a locked in schedule. Enjoy a Friday or Saturday night out with friends. You don't need to be up at 6:00 a.m. on the weekend for that long ride over the GW Bridge or that long run in Central Park. Push it back a few hours, have a breakfast that’s about the taste, not about the calores and carbs needed for the long workout ahead. Head out when you feel like it, not when your coach or your schedule tells you.

I'm not telling you to go cold turkey. I don't suggest that at all. Keep moving, always keep moving. But this is a great time to chill a bit.

Play the long game

Remember, you want to do this for many, many years, not just a few before you burn out. In more than 20 years of coaching, I have seen burnout over and over, and I still see it today. Athletes who treat every month like race month eventually lose the spark, get injured, and plateau. The ones who last are the ones who learn when to push and when to pull back.

Keep it fun

So put something fun on the calendar. A local 5K with family and friends (the non training ones, of course). A Tough Mudder. A trail run in Van Cortlandt Park. Something that keeps you motivated and keeps your fitness without the pressure of a big A race.

That is the whole point. Keep it fun. 

Work on your weakness

Fall is also the perfect time to focus on the discipline you most want to improve.

If you come out of the water last, then be in the water first for the next few months. Book some swim sessions, work on your technique, and get comfortable. If the bike is where you lose time, get on the trainer or join a group ride and build some strength. At Terrier, we have always focused on run specific training this time of year. With the cool weather and the NYC Marathon just around the corner, it has always been the perfect transition. There really is nothing else in the world like running in Central Park in the fall. The leaves, the energy, the teams training, and the tails wagging off leash on every path. If you're reading this and have never experienced Central Park in the fall, put it on your bucket list!

How we do it: training in blocks

If you've trained with Terrier for any length of time, you know our calendar isn't one long, uniform grind. We break the year into seasonal blocks, each with its own focus, intensity, and purpose. Here's how it plays out:

Triathlon Performance (February through June): building aerobic capacity, multisport efficiency, and race sharpness.

Transition Week (end of June into July): a deliberate breather to recover, absorb the work, and reset.

Half & Full Marathon Block (July through early November): that's where we are right now, turning the aerobic base into run specific endurance and durability.

Strength, Mobility & Limiter Block (November through January): the one endurance athletes love to skip. Raw strength, joint mobility, and dedicated time on the weaknesses that have been holding you back.

Think of it like renovating a house room by room instead of repainting every wall at once. Each block gives your body one clear signal to adapt to, keeps things fresh so you don't plateau, and builds the foundation for the next. Recovery isn't an afterthought squeezed in when you're hurt. It's written right into the calendar.

Enjoy the season

Mix it up, try something new, sleep in, eat more, drink more. Your body will thank you. There is nothing better than coming out of winter into spring feeling rested, fit, and ready to crush 2027. Well, that starts now. Not on February 1, 2027.

Want to see the full 2026 and 2027 block calendars and dig into why we train this way? Sniff it out here: terrierfitnessandtravel.com/blocks

A presto! Live your pawfect life.

Robert & Bolt