December hits different.
The weather shifts. The daylight disappears at 4pm. Travel and family obligations pop up. Your routine? It gets messy.
For endurance athletes, this time of year can feel like a tug-of-war between wanting to stay consistent… and wanting to hibernate until spring.
If you’ve been feeling a little off, sluggish, unmotivated, or pulled in ten directions, you’re not doing anything wrong. This is normal. Better yet? It’s fixable.
Here’s how to reset your training rhythm this winter without spiraling into burnout mode.
1. Start With an Honest Audit (Not a Punishing One)
Before you slam into “new routine” mode, take a minute to look at:
What’s working
What’s not
What you’re craving
What’s draining you
Think of it like tidying your mental training closet.
A few questions to ask yourself:
What part of my routine felt impossible this month?
What actually felt good?
What rhythms have I outgrown this year?
What do I need more of? (Sleep? Strength? Connection? Stability?)
You can’t reset what you don’t understand.
2. Choose Your “Anchor Habits” (Your Winter Non-Negotiables)
Anchor habits are the 1–3 small things that stabilize your entire week.
For endurance athletes, these might be:
A weekly long run (even if shorter than usual)
A strength or mobility session
A morning routine that grounds your brain
A 10-minute mindset practice
A bedtime you actually protect
These are the habits that help you feel like yourself, even when life gets chaotic.
Set them. Protect them. Let everything else be flexible around them.
3. Build a Smaller Plan Than You Think You Need
The biggest mistake athletes make in December?
Trying to jump into a perfect routine.
Instead, scale down. Way down.
Aim for a plan that feels almost too easy. From a coaching and sport psych perspective, this does two things:
Rebuilds your consistency streak
Strengthens your self-trust
The point isn’t peak fitness. The point is momentum.
4. Create a Winter Training Structure That Fits Real Life
Winter training is its own animal. You have to adjust to the season.
Here’s a simple structure I recommend for most athletes in December:
2–3 short weekday sessions (30–45 min)
1 longer session on the weekend
1–2 mobility/strength days (short, functional, supportive)
Mindset work integrated weekly
Planned rest, not reactive rest
You don’t need volume.You need structure.
5. Reset Your Motivation by Resetting Your Environment
Motivation doesn’t magically appear. It comes from cues and structure.
A few easy environmental resets:
Lay out your morning run gear at night
Set alarms labeled “move for 10 min” or “brain break”
Create a “winter workout box” (gloves, headlamp, nutrition)
Build a 3-song pre-workout playlist
Reorganize your training space (fresh = motivating)
When your environment supports your goals, the friction decreases and that’s what creates consistency.
6. Use Winter for What It’s Designed For: Recovery & Foundation
This is the season for:
You don’t need to feel “on fire.”You just need to lay the foundation for spring.
And honestly? Most athletes don’t do this. Which is why the ones who do end up outperforming everyone else by March.
7. Don’t Go Into “All or Nothing” Mode
December has its own chaos: holidays, travel, weather, unpredictable schedules, social commitments.
Don’t fight the season. Flow with it.
If you miss a workout? Cool, adjust. If your long run becomes a medium run? Still a win.
If you only hit your anchor habits for a week? That’s consistency.
Perfection isn’t the goal. Consistency is.
Your Winter Reset in One Sentence:
Make the next four weeks about stability, not intensity.
That’s how you start January with energy instead of exhaustion.
If you want help building a realistic winter routine, I’ve got openings for individual coaching sessions in December.