Blog
Embrace the Winter training!
26th Jan 2016
So winter is well and truly upon us again - the icy mornings before work, the dark evenings, those weekends where it never seems to stop raining...
Not the most appealing conditions to kick-start your new years resolutions or race preparation!
While it would be wonderful to fly off to a warm-weather training camp (until about April?!) sadly that is not a realistic option for many of us, and will never make up for consistent week-in, week-out training. Time to embrace some indoor training instead!
Winter is the perfect opportunity to work on your weaknesses and imbalances in the gym. Done correctly, this will build not only strength, but resilience against injuries ahead of race season. I have been fortunate enough to work with the Drummond Clinic assessing my biomechanics and mobility over the last couple of seasons. Lead physio Alex knows my strengths and weaknesses within triathlon, meaning I will get different gym programs tailored to my specific weaknesses and the time of year.
I am also fortunate enough to have a membership at David Lloyd Reading, and access to their top gym facilities. While January does tend to get busy with the new-years-resolution frenzy, its usually the best time to get introductory offers. Tolerate it for a few weeks, and all will be quieter again by Feb ;)
Indoor swimming is, well, the same as summer training unless you need to practise in a wetsuit! Most pools will allow this (if you don't mind feeling a bit conspicuous) but I would recommend checking first with the lifeguard! I would suggest swimming no more than 1km in neoprene or you can overheat. But then simply practise your race-speed wetsuit removal on poolside, before completing the set in your normal costume.
Treadmill running - the weather has to be pretty extreme for me personally to resort to this! But where the treadmill does come into its own, is for interval sessions at a fixed speed. You can't drift into a slower pace without realising, which can happen doing km's on the road. A typical session for 10k training might be 4 x 6 minutes at your 10k race pace, with 2 minutes easy jog recovery between each.
And finally - the love-it/hate-it staple of winter training - the turbo session! It does have a number of plus points over outdoor biking - not having to clean the bike tops my list! But also no need to dress in a dozen layers, lights, helmet etc, and you can have a buffet of snacks and drinks to hand - no fumbling in jersey pockets with numb hands in winter gloves (an art I have been mastering on my long rides!)
If like me you cycle to work, why not make it super-efficient by turbo-ing right before you leave home, and use the commute portion as a cool down? Or if you prefer evening training - cycle home from work as your warm up, then jump on to the turbo for the main set (which ideally will be set up ready to go). The easier you make the logistics, the more likely you are to do the session - since we all know starting is the hardest part!
You also don't need to spend loads or have all the latest gadgets although there are advantages to Wattbikes, Computrainers, power meters and so on, especially if you are motivated by numbers! But this all costs money, so at the moment I just use HR as my intensity guide, and a very old second-hand turbo!
Coaches will often set cadence targets for intervals - my solution for this was setting up all the playlists I need using songs of the correct bpm (currently that's everything from 50rpm to 110!) Genius money saving, I thought!
If anyone is interested, here's an insight into some of my motivational playlist favourites!
- Eminem - Lose Yourself (Predictable, but a motivational classic for a reason! Get ready to put yourself in the hurt locker)
- David Bowie - Modern Love / Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the name / Mark Ronson feat Amy Winehouse - Valerie (All perfect spinning tempo for warming up)
- Black Eyed Peas - Shut Up (Challenge yourself to keep the cadence for the whole song!)
- Chemical Brothers - Go (Because we all sometimes need reminding Just do your best - you cannot do more)
- Anything by Nightwish (A bit of Scandinavian darkness)...
- And anything by Aqua (the polar opposite - Scandinavian cheese! And yes, my favourite ever band, to my friends eternal embarrassment!)
- Yasmin - Finish Line (Happy memories as this was stuck in my head in my breakthrough race the National Triathlon Champs at Dambuster in 2011)
- Survivor - Burning Heart (For when you get bored of their better known Rocky anthem - Eye of the Tiger!)
- Titanium - David Guetta (not sure why this motivates, makes me think of my bionic collarbone! But the video does feature sprinting on a bike!)
- And finally - anything by Rammstein (There's nothing like a bit of angry German shouting to bring out your inner masochist ;) )
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