Winter training

This is the lake I swim in during Summer
 Not so inviting just now! 

It was a snow storm here two days ago, -11 yesterday and possibly warming up so that tomorrow we will get a few days of rain rather than more snow. In the UK and Northern Europe just now all the airports are shut due to the snowstorms hitting them. All this makes training a challenge! So I've had a few extremes to consider winter, how to keep fit and what can make training through it more fun. As I can’t avoid winter where I live I chose to embrace it instead. So I thought I would share with you some of the things I like to try at this time of year, in case you are looking to make your winter training more fun too.

Off season training is a great time to improve specific technique, rebalance the body using targeted strength and conditioning, and enjoy using and maintaining your fitness doing something other than your main sport (racing triathlons for me).

Rain, cold, short days, Christmas lunches, New Year’s parties all can seem to conspire against getting a good adaptive phase to get into solid training when the New Year arrives. So how do you persuade yourself to get out of your warm bed and go for that run in the cold, dark and wet?

So a few thought that seem to work for me

1. I am swimming more
2. I am enjoying using my fitness doing something different and better suited to winter
3. I have a simple strength routine I do from home
4. I am practicing more yoga
5. I am learning to love my home trainer sessions
6. Sometimes I just have to toughen up and enjoy getting out there, rain, snow or shine!

1/ Swim more
Winter swimming is great. When it is freezing outside, go swimming in a lovely heated indoor pool. Not only will you gain fitness, you can also take the time to do some really focussed sessions for technique improvement or build strength and water feel through longer sessions.

I have recently been sponsored by Hotel Beauregard in La Clusaz, a stunning hotel with a great warm pool, sauna, spa and steam room right at the base of the ski lifts. The pool is not very long (under 20 meters) but that didn’t stop me enjoying a great 5.7k swim there on Friday while the snow fell outside the windows. I was even warm enough after to enjoy running home through the snow in snow boots and with my backpack. I felt like I was in army training! It kept the heart rate a lot higher than normal though. Strength and aerobic training together.

Winter is a great time to join a squad or masters swim program and get some advice and group motivation to improve and enjoy. I love heading to squad with my tri team, TMT Annecy, twice a week. There are some great swimmers there that I can learn from both by watching and chasing. It is also a good, well structured session.

So enjoy your swimming. I have been loving mine lately which is great as I seemed to be fighting with it over the summer and now, with the pressure off, I have just been able to enjoy it. Funnily enough enjoying it more has made me want to swim more and swimming more has made me a stronger, faster swimmer.

2/ Different sports to enjoy
In this I have an unfair advantage as I live close to the lovely ski resort of La Clusaz in the French Alps, so although I cannot ride on the roads for all of winter and some of autumn and spring, I have the benefit of easily accessible winter alpine sports to indulge in.

I love cross country skiing. I try to go skate skiing at least three times a week at the moment. It is great for aerobic fitness and strength but even more importantly for me, is almost magical, that feeling of being out amongst the mountains gliding through the forests, along the valley or up on the Plateau.

It is a time to appreciate my fitness that was hard earned over the summer. My skating is better than it has ever been, and not because I have done a lot in the past. I am really a recently converted alpine/telemark skier who is more used to using lifts to get up the hills and metal edges to come down again. It is more likely my improved fitness and strength from the season that has helped my technique out the most.

Outside of skate skiing some of the other winter “training” I am doing includes; shovelling the snow off the driveway, telemark skiing (in bounds only so far this season although spring should offer great backcountry options), snow shoeing over the mountain behind our house to take the long way to the pool, lugging 20kg of kid plus a sled up deep, steep slopes for the boys to enjoy some sledding and running on snow covered roads and paths. I’m getting better at this, either in normal runners with warm woollen socks or in comfy snow boots depending on the depth. Depending on where you live some of these may be an option either for a day, weekend or on a holiday where you not only have a great time but come home fitter and stronger for it too.

Other great off season options can include mountain biking, trail running, dancing, indoor climbing or other indoor sports. The only thing I would caution here is if your next season is really important to you may not wish to take on a brand new sport or a sport with a high rate of injury. For example I am not too phased by heading out for a ski even in bounds with occasional out of control human missiles to avoid as I have been skiing for 20+ years now and trust in my ability to keep out of trouble on skis. However I won’t be adding snowboarding to my winter repertoire this year as I haven’t done it before and don’t wish to go through a learning curve and the risks that entails just now.

3/ Strength and conditioning
I have seen lots of friends injured over the summer through training and racing. Triathletes are often comparatively weak in three key areas, core, glutes and shoulders. Without specific strength work, despite significant training in each discipline, it is easy to be out of body balance as it is much easier to build the large muscle groups than the smaller balancing/aligning ones. Maintaining good running swimming and cycling technique, particularly when fatigued at the end of a race or long training session are heavily dependent on these areas. Tight calves, hips, ITB and chest/neck are also common in triathletes. All of these put you at risk of injury.

By the end of last season I had lost a lot of my normal flexibility as I hadn’t been doing my usual level of yoga and lots more specific training. I had a sore knee on and off as well closely connected to a tight ITB and weak glutes.

I have now had a great break releasing any residual tightness and letting the body and mind really heal and recover from the season. As I ramp up my training again, I am putting more of an emphasis on strength and conditioning. I hope this will aid technique improvements that require such strength and keep me in better balance.

At home a few times a week I work on,
- Core
- Upper body
- ITB/glute/legs

In a separate blog I’ll put my routine in if you are interested. For now, there are some good links on the strength and conditioning section on the right.

I don’t go to a gym for this as it is easier to fit in from home. I have a chin up bar in the kitchen doorway, a medicine ball, kettle bell, swiss ball, core roller, set of free weights, a yoga mat, two children (one 19 and one 28 kgs), a snow shovel and a driveway often replenished with snow. With those I can enjoy a routine that fits in and around family life.

4/ Practice yoga
A big part of my end of season recovery was re-establishing a regular yoga practice. It is good for my mind, body and soul. It was really hard at first as it felt terrible when the body was tight and tired. I started with a promise to myself to at least do just 6 surinamiscars each day (sun salutes) and a short meditation. From there I slowly built into the standing poses as part of my sun salute B before adding the rest of the elements as the body opened up and was ready for them. I have now re-established a good, regular and relaxed practice that I look forward to.

The whole idea of asanas (physical stretches) in yoga is to calm the body enough for it to be still and release you from physical distractions for meditation. It works for me. I get multiple benefits; releasing the body in a way that removes residual tightness from training, building some strength particularly core, as well as allowing me the space to calm my breathing, thoughts and feelings, usually in that order.

If you do not have a quiet space at home (or kids happy to join your routine) or a regular practice that you know how to do safely by yourself, then find a good yoga school that suits your personality and preferences. Winter is lovely for yoga - warm rooms, warm people and bodies that need loosening up from all the tightness of the outside cold, often less activity and winter foods.

5/ Love your home trainer
Ok so this can be a hard task some days. I am planning to be doing a 2-3 hour session tomorrow as my key session of this week. That is a lot of sitting in one place looking at the same spot in front of you! A good view is a definite advantage. I used to do my home trainer from a garage with the door open to an awesome view down the valley. Liam could even do laps around me as I rode.

Some little companions for my ride

Best option is great preparation. I had a coach who once said home trainer is great for preparing the mind not just the body for competition as there is so little to distract you from the feelings of the effort. It is an easy way to ensure focus as, for better or worse, you have none of the distractions of the road; traffic, lights, scenery, changes in steepness/surface etc. I do buy the focus benefit, however I also make it a bit easier for myself by getting spare towels, drinks and gels etc all ready and set up on a table I can reach beside me, having music, videos at hand and an interesting program that breaks up the time into different work efforts. I often watch Gray’s Anatomy while I ride – entertaining but not too hard to follow even if you lose focus for a while mid effort. Also short episodes on DVD are easier for me as I am not committed to finishing it if I feel like turning it off. I have even been known to study French while on the HT in warm up and cool down. Great, good energy music works for any length session too.

One of my favourite sessions is a mix of overgearing and high cadence where you do 10 min cycles (5m OG/1m HC/4 min recovery, 4m OG/2m HC/4m recovery, 3m OG/3m HC/4m recovery, 2m OG/4m HC/4m recovery, 1m OG/5m HC/4m recovery). I also do one leg efforts to focus on technique and address specific leg weaknesses and as I setup near a window I can check my position / alignment and watch for any unnecessary movement.

Clearly you also need a good home trainer and suitable place to set it up. If you have young kids you will know to be wary of how accessible the back, spinning wheel is.

6/ Toughen up, get out there.
So you have some indoor options, some better winter outdoor options and finally, sometimes you just have to toughen up and get out there in whatever weather blows in.

Often when you are warm and dry inside looking out at the cold, dark and or wet can be really off putting. Once out there I often just relax into my run or whatever I am up to 7-10 mins into it when the blood has had time to get in the working muscles and warm you. One of the things I do to help me get out there more comfortably is do a little aerobic warm up like skipping before I go out if it is really cold.

Also making sure you are dressed right for the conditions. A really thin jacket that traps the heat and can be taken off once you have warmed up and stuck in a back pocket is good too. If you are running on roads at night a flouro reflective vest may not be a fashion statement but I am always happy to wear one if it saves me from being hit by a car.

So, enjoy your winter. It gives you some different opportunities. Last winter I ran on a full moon evening about 900m vertical ascent/descent and 15k up to a Plateau through the snow which varied from hard pack on the lower paths and roads to deep, dry powder at the top. It was a real joy (despite losing a toenail later from the descent). As we have a long winter here, I’m certainly hoping to enjoy winter training rather than feel that I have to endure it.

Firstly, enjoy your Christmas and New Years!
Joyeux noël et bonne année!

A bientot
C