I believe that it is too common for athletes and coaches to place a singular focus on the simple accumulation of training miles or hours without considering the critical supporting elements that facilitate successful training. Aspects such as fueling, sleep, recovery and healthy eating habits are often considered mere afterthoughts, with the greatest barometer of training success measured simply in “how much.” This proves costly for many amateur athletes, as most have to balance training load with very busy lives at work, with family and relationships, as well as a myriad of other factors. Logging hours of training, at the exclusion of what I call “the supporting cast,” typically leads to the rest of life becoming overstretched. We have so many athletes walking around fit yet fatigued, and not achieving the results of their hard work. Here are the five most common self-sabotaging training scenarios I’ve seen, and how you can avoid the same pitfalls.