The marathon is done, and this week I put my lifting belt back on.

For the past few months, running 45+ miles a week has taken the lead role in my training. I’ve kept strength work ticking over, but if I’m honest it’s been in the back seat, squeezed in around the mileage whenever recovery allowed. Now Berlin is behind me, so the focus flips. I’ll still run, but strength is the priority for the next few months.

That switch is exactly what I want to talk about, because I get asked a lot how I balance everything, and the honest answer is that I don’t try to do it all at once.

It’s not hybrid, it’s just fitness

I talk a lot about balance and being capable across multiple areas. I don’t really buy into the “hybrid” label, to me it’s just fitness. Being strong, being fit, being able to move your own bodyweight well, and the by-product of all that is a decent all round physique.

But here’s the catch. Sometimes you have a specific goal, and a specific goal takes the focus. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything, not at the same time, not well. Marathon training and heavy strength work both demand recovery, and you only have so much of it to spend. Something has to take the back seat for a while. The trick is to pick what gets the focus right now and let everything else tick over on a smaller dose until it’s its turn, rather than pushing every area forward at the same pace all year and ending up average at all of it.

The identity trap

The biggest mistake I see is people tying their identity to one area of fitness. “I’m a runner,” says the person who can barely lift the milk off the counter to make a cup of tea. “I’m strong,” says the person who’s out of breath walking up the stairs.

I was the second one in my twenties. I could bench press 180kg and be wrecked by a flight of stairs. Neither version is capable, they’re both just very good at one thing. The moment a label becomes your identity, you stop training everything it doesn’t cover, and that’s usually exactly what you need. If you call yourself a runner, go and see how you get on with a set of pull ups or a heavy squat. If you’re a lifter, go and run three miles. Wherever you come up short is where your next block of training should go.

The hybrid era

The newer camp is the hybrid crowd, and I’m not sure how I feel about Hyrox and the like. It’s all a bit high-fivey for me, and I do think if you rely on a group to give you a reason to train, you might struggle to train for life. That’s my view, and it’s only that.

But let me be clear, hybrid athletes are fit. Properly fit. Anyone running, lifting and carrying that much is doing something right. My only point is that you don’t need an event, a brand or a crowd to be well rounded. Use them if they get you out the door, but make sure you’ve also got a way to train on a cold, dark Tuesday when nobody’s watching, because that’s the version that lasts decades.

Why now is the time to build

This time of year is a great window to gain strength and muscle, because we tend to eat more naturally as the nights draw in. That food is fuel, so put it to good use rather than fighting it. It’s the same reason I’d argue winter is the best time of year to train, and a proper strength block now sets you up well for next summer. If you’ve been endurance-heavy for months, this is the time to flip the switch, eat enough to support it, lift properly, and let the running drop to a maintenance dose.

So how do you balance staying capable?

For me it comes down to taking turns. One area gets the focus for a few months, and everything else gets just enough to hold on to what you’ve built, which takes far less than building it did. Then the priority rotates. Marathon block, then strength block, then maybe a skill block like handstands or advanced calisthenics. Over a few years, that rotation is what makes you well rounded. Every so often, check what’s quietly fallen away, because that’s usually your next block.

And don’t let a block become who you are. The priority changes, you don’t.

That’s the whole idea. Sprint, rest, rotate. Marathon done, now I get strong, and when that’s built, something else gets its turn. Stay capable by taking it in turns, not by trying to do everything at once.