Simon Ward, Be Battle Ready triathlon podcast - The podcast for strength, resilience, and longevity

The highs, the crash, and what overtraining syndrome taught one age-group world champion about ambition, recovery and knowing when to stop. Sue Reynolds was a guest on this podcast three years ago. At that point she had lost over 150 pounds, taken up triathlon in her fifties, and become a world age-group aqua bike and mixed relay champion. Her first book, The Athlete Inside, told that story. But S...

What standard GP testing misses, and why it matters more for athletes. Several months ago I wrote a LinkedIn post about my own decision to start taking statins, after several years of resisting that path. Katherine Caris-Harris, a performance nutritionist and fellow triathlete, reached out afterwards. She felt there were gaps in the conversation, and she was right. Katherine is a degree-qualified...

Phil Burt has fitted Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy and Geraint Thomas. He designs saddles for Physique, runs his own clinic in Manchester, and has spent two decades at the sharp end of bike fitting in elite sport. He also wrote a LinkedIn post recently that got a lot of people talking — and that's where this episode starts. Phil's argument: FTP is overrated. Not useless, but overrated....

Christine Clubbs started running at 40, accidentally fell into triathlon, and has since gone on to represent Great Britain as an age-grouper. She is also one of the most thoughtful self-experimenters I've had on the podcast. For the last two and a half years Christine has been tracking a remarkable range of data, but not in the way you might expect. No Whoop, no Oura ring, no algorithm telling her...

If you're putting in 12, 14, sometimes 20 hours a week and your times are going backwards, this episode is for you. This is a solo episode, and I want to talk about something I see constantly with athletes over 50, and it frustrates me because it's so avoidable. High volume training feels like commitment. It feels like the right thing to do. But for athletes in their late 40s, 50s and 60s, it's of...

We called them cheats. The reality is far more complicated. There have been plenty of books written about drugs in sport. Confessions, memoirs, exposés. But this one is different. James Witts is a sports journalist and former editor of 220 Triathlon Magazine — someone I've known for well over a decade. His new book, Dope, isn't a first-person account of falling from grace. It's a proper state-of-p...

If you've ever wondered whether your endurance base could carry you into gravel or mountain bike racing — or whether your FTP is really the thing holding you back — this episode is a timely reality check. Dave Schell is the founder of Kaizen Endurance, based in Boulder, Colorado, and has spent 15 years coaching cyclists and endurance athletes through some of the most demanding events on the calend...

Thinking about adding HYROX to your training? Or already racing and wondering why your nutrition isn't translating into performance? Dr Kelsie Johnson is a nutrition and performance coach who works with hybrid athletes: people combining serious strength work with endurance sport. With a PhD in nutrition and muscle mass, experience as an S&C coach at Aston Villa Women's, and a background in tri...

Carbon-plated running shoes have completely changed endurance sport. World records are tumbling. Recovery between sessions seems quicker. And for many runners and triathletes, they feel almost impossible to ignore. But are they coming with a hidden cost? In this episode, I’m joined by physio and sub-30-minute 10k runner Andy Smith to explore what these shoes are actually doing biomechanically, why...

What happens when everything looks right on the outside… but something isn’t quite right underneath? In this episode, I’m joined by Justin Robbins, a former Ironman athlete and coach who was training consistently, performing well, and doing all the things we’d typically associate with good health. But a routine blood test told a very different story. What followed was a complete rethink of how he...

What happens when you step away from sport for nearly 20 years… and then come back? In this episode, I’m joined by Jane Hansom, who did exactly that. From a long break after university to running a sub-3 marathon, winning her age group at Kona, and building a successful marketing business alongside her training, Jane’s story is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to start. We talk about c...

You’re 6–16 weeks out. This is the phase where most Ironman races are shaped. Not on race day, but in the decisions you make right now. It’s not about getting fitter. It’s about getting it right. 5 Main Points 1. Stick to the plan - Consistency beats last-minute changes. 2. Respect fatigue - Recovery is part of the training, not a weakness. 3. Practise race day - Don’t leave pacing, nutrition and...

If you’ve signed up for an Ironman this year, this is the point where things start to get real. You’re no longer thinking about training… you’re already in it. And for many athletes, this is the phase where small cracks begin to appear. Missed sessions, niggles, fatigue, and a growing sense of uncertainty about whether you’re actually on track. In this episode, Simon and Beth walk through the key...

In this episode, Beth and I reflect on our recent Nevis to St Kitts swim, a brilliant open water adventure that reminded us what it really means to be Battle Ready. We talk about the event itself, the experience of swimming across open water in a stunning setting, and what we learned from it. Then we shift gears into a more personal topic. I share why, after years of resisting it, I’ve decided to...

Mobility is one of the most overlooked parts of training. Most athletes ignore it until something hurts. Then it suddenly becomes important. In this episode, I’m joined by Tom Morrison, creator of the Simplistic Mobility Method. I first came across Tom through athletes I work with, and his name kept coming up again and again. What stood out to me is that Tom hasn’t just studied mobility. He lived...

You’ve trained for months. Everything is building nicely. Then suddenly, your A race is cancelled. For many athletes, that moment feels like the rug has been pulled from under them. Motivation drops, structure disappears, and the question becomes… what now? In this episode, Simon and Beth explore the emotional and practical impact of losing a key event. They discuss why races matter, why so many a...

Why training more isn’t always the answer Most endurance athletes assume that getting better simply means doing more training. More miles. More hours. More big sessions. But after decades of coaching and competing, Simon argues that the athletes who achieve the best long-term results are rarely the ones doing the most volume. They are the ones who train consistently without breaking down. In this...

The pool drills that prepare you for the chaos of open water swimming Learn how triathletes can practise open water swim skills in the pool and feel more confident on race day.   Can you really prepare for an open water swim if all you have access to is a pool? In this episode, Simon and Beth explain how triathletes can build open water skills into normal pool sessions before the race season begin...

In this real-world episode, Beth and I share our 2026 event calendar, from a 50k ultra and a 40k paddle-board race to a 2.4 mile Caribbean swim and a 700km gravel bike ride following one of the Camino trails in Spain. More importantly, we explain how we’re applying lessons from recent podcasts directly into our own training and lifestyle Different disciplines. Same foundations. 5 Talking Points Br...

Most athletes only think about heat training two weeks before flying to Kona. That’s reactive. Used early in the season, heat training can increase plasma volume, improve heart rate control and build durability before racing even starts. This episode was recorded last year and I’m re-releasing it now because this is exactly when smart athletes should be using it. I’m joined by Lindsey Hunt from Pr...

After three decades in endurance sport, what surprises me most isn’t what’s changed. It’s what hasn’t. Training trends come and go. Methods get rebranded. New tools promise breakthroughs. But the fundamentals that drive performance, health and longevity have barely moved. In this episode, I explain why most athletes don’t need more information — they need more consistent application of what alread...

Beth takes over hosting duties from Santa Barbara and pulls out a list of training and racing principles I wrote about 15 years ago. The catch is I’m not allowed to look at them. So we go through the big ones and I react in real time, seeing which ideas have genuinely stood the test of time, what I’d tweak with today’s experience, and what still matters most for age group athletes who want to perf...

This episode is not about marginal gains. It’s about the thing we all quietly assume, until we cannot: being fit does not make you bulletproof. Nick shares what happened when he suffered a heart attack and cardiac arrest during the GB National Open Water Championships (July 2023), mid-race, in open water. He was resuscitated on site, later underwent a double bypass, and then began the long, patien...

Welcome back. Part one was the foundations. This is the practical, straight-talking follow on where we get honest about what actually moves the needle over 50. We cover six actions that help you keep performance climbing while protecting recovery: less volume but better quality, HIIT done sensibly, reducing alcohol, daily creatine, the broken endurance run-walk approach, and regular health checks....

This week is part one of a two-parter where Beth and I strip things right back to the foundations that keep you training well, feeling good, and staying properly capable as the years tick on. No gimmicks, no hero sessions, and definitely no “smash yourself then need a week off” nonsense. We cover five core actions that make everything else work: regular strength training that you can actually stic...