New year - new races! Now that we are currently braving the off-season, it's a great time to reassess next year and to prepare for the races you are keen to do. A great way to prepare is to diarize the dates of the races so that appropriate planning of training can take place without you having to try squeeze in last minute efforts just to try avoid the full brunt of the suffering.
Off season training is generally considered a time to rest and relax after a hard year of training. However it should be recognized by both professional and age - group athletes as a great opportunity for some serious strength training...
You may believe this is only physical strength training, but in fact sometimes it is a good time to train mental strength!

I recently read an article by Coach Brett Sutton who mentions 3 types of athletes when it comes to off season:
1.       Athletes who are doing stimulus work on their weak points.
2.       Athletes who have shown weakness in training or racing through the year and are not yet mentally strong enough to make the jump to the next level.
3.       Athletes, who have shown great courage in training and racing through the year, but need to be held back from training themselves into the ground.
With regards to the 3 athletes we usually see Athlete 1 taking time off, doing active recovery and training procedures so that they can better those areas of weaknesses during the off season. Athlete 2 may need to use the off season to regain focus on training in general,  rebuilding, getting back the 'inner strength' and drive to get better to take on the new season. This can be done by focusing on regaining mental strength by trying new training techniques or adjusting old ones to avoid consistent poor efforts or niggles during race seasons. Athlete 3 is usually the athlete who works themselves to the bone to do well and then can't find it in them to slow down during off season. These athletes require a variety in their training (cross training, 'fun' form of training, continue with training but with a lesser load or intensity) so that they do not burn out completely.
Your top athletes are obviously where they are because they are fanatical about improving their weakness, and if they are professional they usually have the time to do so, even more so during off season! For age -groupers who generally have families to care for and day jobs, sometimes 2, it does become difficult to improve weaknesses during the season, which is why off-season training becomes that much more important! Using this time wisely to focus on squashing those weak points takes a lot of mental strength to keep working at a skill, technique or method of training that has not been working for you previously or that is difficult to grasp. The session itself may not be 'hard', but having the mental strength to keeping trying it is what counts towards the long term goal.
A lot of the time you hear the words, "I didn't win but I tried my best" which is great but then it is usually followed by "Time to rest up for the next month, before I training starts again" which doesn't lead to the objective of getting better, faster, stronger, fitter. Instead you should hear the words of "How am I gonna get better to win next time!". That is the objective of an off season.
Please understand that I do fully believe in rest and fully believe in taking some time off but in the form of active recovery, shorter more focused sessions as well as variation of training (Strength training/Cross training). Off-season does not necessarily mean switch off completely!