In the last eight weeks, has anything measurable about your training actually changed — load, volume, pace, or complexity?

No — my sessions look basically the same as they did two months ago

A bit, but only because I felt good or bad on the day

Yes, it has gone up in steps I planned in advance

Yes, and I also planned the easier weeks where it comes back down

Over your last four weeks of training, how much of it was specific to the thing you're actually trying to get better at?

Hard to say — I mostly just do whatever the session is

Some, but most of it is general fitness work

Most of it, with general work as support

It's deliberately split, and I could tell you the ratio

When did you last measure something — a time, a weight, a distance, a test — and write it down?

Sometime this year, but I'd have to go looking for it

Within the last two weeks, and I can compare it to the cycle before

The last time you woke up feeling wrecked before a hard session, what did you actually do?

Did the session as written and pushed through it

Did it, it was poor, and I changed nothing afterwards

Cut it short or dropped the intensity

Swapped it for an easy session and moved the hard one to a better day

Over the last three months, how have your rest days actually looked in a typical week?

No rest days — I train something every day

One, but I usually end up doing 'something light' anyway

One or two, and they're scheduled rather than accidental

What did you eat in the two hours before your last hard session?

Nothing — I trained on empty, and not on purpose

Something with carbohydrate in it, roughly on purpose

The same thing I always eat before hard sessions, because I know it works

After your last long or hard session, how long was it before you ate a proper meal?

More than three hours, or I skipped it altogether

Within an hour, and it had both protein and carbohydrate in it

Do you know roughly how much you drink on a heavy training day?

I drink when I'm thirsty and leave it at that

Roughly, and I deliberately drink more on hot or long days

Yes — I've actually checked what I lose, including in the heat

Think about your last competition or time trial. What was going through your head in the ten minutes before the start?

Mostly dread, and I tried not to think about it

Nerves — I just waited for them to pass

I had a couple of things I do to settle myself down

I ran through a routine I'd practised in training beforehand

The last time something went wrong mid-session or mid-race — a bad split, a cramp, a mistake — what happened next?

I finished, but I was flat for the remainder

I lost a bit of time and then got back on task

I used a reset I'd rehearsed before, and it worked

Can you say, in one sentence, the single thing you're trying to improve this season?

Not really — I just want to get better

Sort of, but it's broad, like 'get fitter'

Yes, it's specific and it has a number and a date attached

Who are you answering for?

My child, or an athlete I support

A squad or team I'm responsible for

What level are you currently competing at?

Training, but not competing right now

What's Limiting Your Athletic Performance? The Athlete Performance Scorecard

Most athletes who stop improving are not training too little. They are strong in two or three areas and quietly leaking the gains somewhere else — usually in recovery, fuelling, or the ten minutes before a race.

This 12-question scorecard grades you across four pillars — Training Design, Recovery & Sleep, Fuelling & Hydration and Mental Game — and returns a radar chart showing which one is actually holding you back. It takes about four minutes. Answer about what you really did, not what you meant to do.

This is a self-assessment for training and coaching purposes, not medical advice. If you have pain, an injury, or a health condition, speak to a doctor or a qualified physiotherapist before changing how you train.