Post by robreddy on Feb 20, 2008 16:22:40 GMT -5
so last night I met up witht he Wisconsin Westside Three (Rob, Dave and Tim) for our weekly tuesday night hill run (awesome run everyone is invited = shameless plug).
But truth be told - it really SUCKED out there. Was COLD, snowing, hills seemed steeper, dark - all sorts of nasty stuff that adds up to a very difficult training evening. But afterwards as the 4 of us texted back and forth encouragement as we most always do - the one comment I made and believe is that "Last night we built Ironmen"
So that got me thinking today about WINTER IM training - I do think training for IM in the winter is different than the spring/summer training that we do for IM. So here are some general thoughts, ideas, suggestions and advice for winter IM training - really want to hear input from others....
1. Winter is the time to SWIM, A LOT. Build a huge swim base now and you can live off that in the summer - particularly when you need to spend lots of time ont he bike. Very good way to build your aerobic engine while getting your body into good condition with minimal risk of injury (I know some have sholder problems).
2. Unless you are doing a very early IM no need for super long sessions on the trainer. Cap it at 2 hours but get ont he trainer 4 times a week.
3. Don't be afraid of the WINTER BRICK - nice trainer ride of 30 - 90 min right into a run of 15 - 45 min. The idea is to condition the legs to the transistion from bike to run as when you start doing bigger bricks when outside your legs are already used to the 'feeling'. If you are lucky to have a treadmill at home with your trainer hitting a 15 min run after 'most' trainer rides is HUGE bonus.
4. Keeping on the trainer track - learning how to peddle with good technique AND learning high cadence are more important than slugging out long trainer rides IMO. Practice skills on the rainer not just turning the peddles over for hours and hours.
5. IF ou gotta loose weight start down that path NOW. Trying to loose 10 - 30 pounds while doing big to huge IM training will kill you - that is the time you need to eat!!
6. Run out side - even if you hate it - no way I could hit an hour run last night due to the weather - so I upped the intensity a bit and put in a hard 40 min - feel like I got the same benefits.
7. STOP thinking about your IM race - you have more than enough time this summer to fret and worry about your IM - let it go for a while and just concentrate on your training plan and hitting it day after day - consistency.
8. Planning in the winter for your trainig sets you up to DO the trainig in the spring and summer. Work with your training partners NOW to coordinate schedules - for example - some of the people I train with are already working on the dates for Epic Fridays as they are some of the most important trainig days in our schedules - figuring out now what we will be doing allows the rest of your training plan to be build around those days and also gives you the chance to request days off and make 'life' arrangements.
9. KEEP HEALTHY - winter is the time lots of people get sick - work hard to stay healthy so you go into your big training in teh best condition possible.
10. Strike a happy balance between training v. work v. life v. family and all the other tings NOW. Cause come peak training time in the summer stuff will have to give.
OK - so lots of other folks with great insight - what would be some more WINTER IM advice!!!!!
r
But truth be told - it really SUCKED out there. Was COLD, snowing, hills seemed steeper, dark - all sorts of nasty stuff that adds up to a very difficult training evening. But afterwards as the 4 of us texted back and forth encouragement as we most always do - the one comment I made and believe is that "Last night we built Ironmen"
So that got me thinking today about WINTER IM training - I do think training for IM in the winter is different than the spring/summer training that we do for IM. So here are some general thoughts, ideas, suggestions and advice for winter IM training - really want to hear input from others....
1. Winter is the time to SWIM, A LOT. Build a huge swim base now and you can live off that in the summer - particularly when you need to spend lots of time ont he bike. Very good way to build your aerobic engine while getting your body into good condition with minimal risk of injury (I know some have sholder problems).
2. Unless you are doing a very early IM no need for super long sessions on the trainer. Cap it at 2 hours but get ont he trainer 4 times a week.
3. Don't be afraid of the WINTER BRICK - nice trainer ride of 30 - 90 min right into a run of 15 - 45 min. The idea is to condition the legs to the transistion from bike to run as when you start doing bigger bricks when outside your legs are already used to the 'feeling'. If you are lucky to have a treadmill at home with your trainer hitting a 15 min run after 'most' trainer rides is HUGE bonus.
4. Keeping on the trainer track - learning how to peddle with good technique AND learning high cadence are more important than slugging out long trainer rides IMO. Practice skills on the rainer not just turning the peddles over for hours and hours.
5. IF ou gotta loose weight start down that path NOW. Trying to loose 10 - 30 pounds while doing big to huge IM training will kill you - that is the time you need to eat!!
6. Run out side - even if you hate it - no way I could hit an hour run last night due to the weather - so I upped the intensity a bit and put in a hard 40 min - feel like I got the same benefits.
7. STOP thinking about your IM race - you have more than enough time this summer to fret and worry about your IM - let it go for a while and just concentrate on your training plan and hitting it day after day - consistency.
8. Planning in the winter for your trainig sets you up to DO the trainig in the spring and summer. Work with your training partners NOW to coordinate schedules - for example - some of the people I train with are already working on the dates for Epic Fridays as they are some of the most important trainig days in our schedules - figuring out now what we will be doing allows the rest of your training plan to be build around those days and also gives you the chance to request days off and make 'life' arrangements.
9. KEEP HEALTHY - winter is the time lots of people get sick - work hard to stay healthy so you go into your big training in teh best condition possible.
10. Strike a happy balance between training v. work v. life v. family and all the other tings NOW. Cause come peak training time in the summer stuff will have to give.
OK - so lots of other folks with great insight - what would be some more WINTER IM advice!!!!!
r
