5 Winter Training Tips

Winter is a great time to reflect on your abilities and past performances.  It is also a great time to find weaknesses and try to eliminate them. This will help you have the best 2013 season!

What if my weakness is SWIMMING?

Work on your technique. If your technique improves and you become more efficient, you can shave minutes off your short and mid distance swim time.

Work on strength. Now is the time to strengthen the muscles that need to be strengthened. This will not only improve your speed and power, but it will also prevent injury. Doing strength training during the winter is the perfect time, because it doesn’t matter if you wake up sore the next day. You are in base training now.

What if my weakness is CYLING?

Learn to love the trainer 🙂 unless you live in Arizona…trainer workouts are great. Yes, they can be boring BUT they can provide you with so much power for next year. On a trainer you have the ability to control everything from pedal stroke to heart rate. Also, there are no outside influences to interfere with your workout. I like to join spin classes as well, just because it is nice to ride with people sometimes. A 1 hr spin class can give you a huge advantage going into 2013, and you will be ready to power through anything that takes around 1 hr.

Crosstrain. Mountain biking and cyclocross are great ways to mix the boring trainer training up and to gain more strength. Off roading takes skills and will improve explosiveness, all needed for shorter races.

What if my weakness is RUNNING?

Run. Run. Run. And do lots of run specific drills. If running is your weakness, you are in luck. Running through the winter is much easier then biking through the winter. Improve your form by including run specific drills and also include run specific strength training to get you faster. Building up “good-form” mileage throughout the winter will most likely minimize the risk of injury during 2013 and it will help you run faster. Include a few 5k/10k or even half marathon races. Have fun and don’t be afraid to push to your limits in those short races.

What if my weakness is leftover Christmas Cookies?

Well, I am not sure what to tell you about that. The best thing is probably to use them instead of gels or energy bars and you will be fine 🙂 They are after all made of all the things we need during long training days:

Fat, Protein and sugar and sometimes even with the occasional healthy nut 🙂

Happy Training!!!

Angie Axmann- Professional Triathlete