Attention all you warm weather people. You know who you are - those who get to train year round in 45°F+ weather, those who think it’s cold when they have to where long pants on a bike ride, those who own an indoor trainer for those rainy days! You are in big trouble! The North has a secret weapon - SNOW!! (That would be the white fluffy stuff you see emulated in the snow globes around Christimas time each year.)
Think about it - Lance trains in the blistering cold on the Alps in February. It’s the white fluffy stuff that turns an athlete into a tough-as-nails competitor. If you’ve ever ridden a bike through below-freezing temps, sleet and/or snow, you’ll know what I mean.
…and in addition, you get the added cardio & resistance benefits of shoveling!!
So, to all those in warm places - you’ve been warned! Get thee to the cold or risk losing to someone who did!
*The above is my insane rantings after finally thawing out from a ride through the snow-filled streets of Michigan last night. Just let me know if you can feel my pain!
Snow - we’re getting about 15 cm of the wonderful white stuff tonight up here in the Great White North. It means we get to go cross country skiing tomorrow. Can’t wait!! Also gives me a legitimate excuse not to go for a run tomorrow. (love skiing and biking but running…well that’s another matter!!)
45 degrees cold? Hah. These southern boys have no idea!
I was suppose to go to Hardwood Hills tommmorow… but my friends bailed :(… oh well… I completly second the x-country skiing, skate skiing is one of the best workouts that i’ve ever done… enter a 10 k race… and feel pain… lots of fun! And the snow it toronto… well… i was planning on breaking out the road bike again… oh well… guess thats got to wait.
in trying to tie together tom and our skier’s posts. . . . . i was able to ride my PC’s 100 mi the third day i had them, even tho i am a middle of the pack 40-something y/o yayhoo. how? skate skiing.
you know when youre snow training doesnt help you or turn into a tough as nails competitor? If come over to race Wildflower where its 93F in the shade—and theres about zero shade on the swim bike or run. Be forewarned. If you come to WF (or any other very hot race), better pack your bike and computrainer to the gym and do some spinning in the sauna, cause you’ll die without that heat training. Seriously.
I wonder if Bikram (Hot) yoga would help with this? I tried it out last week, and although I liked the warm studio (avg 94-98deg), found the style to be not strenuous enough for me. Maybe I should just ride the trainer with a motorcycle helmet and 4 sweatshirts instead…
I totally agree that XC skiing is ‘da bomb’ when it comes to a real winter workout in the snow…but am I the only one left who enjoys charging nordic through fresh powder instead of skate skiing on icy hard-pack? I’ll bet I’m the only one still preferring 3-pin bindings, too…less laterally stable and a bit harder to find these days, but soooo much easier on the upkeep and pocket-book.
I have to disagree with you. I train in Brazil and in the winter we have a minimun of 50 degrees. I have a better response of my trainings during the summer with normally we train from 80 to 100 degrees.
We are gonna start our season this feb with International Triathlon of Santos, and two years ago Chris McCormack almost fainted during the running.
For this race you have to train at 100’s otherwise you don’t finish…
I believe that close to the race you have to train at the same conditions that you are gonna face in the race ( adaptation )…
Regards,
I read an arcticle once that indicated that in order to do any damage to your lungs the air temperature had to be donw in the -80 degree Celsius range. I’ve gone running when it was -40 (and close to -50 C with the wind chill) and never had any problems.
Thanks Tom for bringing almost every thread back to PC’s. I am sure there are those out there who hate your for it.
Actually, mountainbikers find that PC’s smooth their power out so they can ride through stuff they couldn’t before without losing traction. I am sure the same would apply if you took them out in the snow. Why don’t you try it and report back.
The real secret weapon is humidity. Evaporation is for wimps - that sweat is supposed to drip, man, drip. Come to Mississippi in August and you’ll understand how easy you have it.
As I was running through the Botanic Gardens beside the Harbour here in Sydney at lunchtime today with the temperature in the mid-80’s, I was thinking that it couldn’t get much better. And then I saw this post and realised how wrong I was. All of this daylight and what I thought were ideal training conditions are really just a cruel trick. Wonder if I can find meat-wholesaler who will let me set up my windtrainer in his cold room . . . .
On a separate note, Ironman fever is hitting the long distance tri community this week in Australia as the lottery for places at Ironman Australia in April is being conducted. The phonecalls to lucky recipients started yesterday and are continuing. Its quite inspiring to watch/read the flow of comments on the IMA website. And it appears that Chris McCormack could return to defend his title . . .
