Surviving the Winter Grind

In the Southern Hemisphere especially here, down south in New Zealand, winter has arrived. Hopefully you have dragged yourself out of the autumn rut and your training is ticking along nicely.

More likely, though, it isn't going the way you want it to.

The cold, dark sessions are starting to test your motivation, everything feels like hard work, and the summer sun feels a long way off. So how do you make the winter grind easier on yourself?

Here are 5 strategies that work well at this time of year.

1) Don't go at it alone: "A problem shared is a problem halved" or in the case of the winter grind at least it is not just you who is out there freezing your arse off. Good training partners are worth their weight in goal. Check out this article about how to choose the right training partner.

Just knowing that someone else is going to be out there to meet you makes the whole thing easier.

There's no talking yourself out of a session when you know someone's waiting on you and once you're out there together, it's the conversation and the shared jokes that do the heavy lifting. On your own the same session is just cold, dark and your mind has nothing to do but focus on how cold your toes are. With company the cold is still there but they stop being the main event. Share the winter grind and the winter grind is halved.

2) Take it indoors: No matter how tough you are sometimes the black ice, darkness, blizzards and frozen fingers mean indoor training is often safer, easier and always warmer. A bike on the wind trainer, a session on the treadmill or an indoor circuit still gets training in the bank while also saving the limited mental energy that battling the elements can drain fast.

Choose your battles wisely. Retreat indoors when it makes sense, keep warm and sweat it out.

3) Blow out the cobwebs: Having some short regular winter racing can be great to bump up the intensity, blow out the cobwebs and keep the competitive juices flowing. Local winter cyclocross, park runs, kayak and cross country series are great ways to keep the motivational fires burning through the coldest of nuclear winters.

4) Keep your eye on the prize: Humans are visual animals, so get your goals written down somewhere you'll see them (Want help setting some DUMB goals? Check out this article).

A picture's worth a thousand words.

Build a vision board or surround yourself with photos from past events, your idols, anything that reminds you why you're heading out there in the cold. Keep your eye on the prize and keep pushing.

5) Harden the f**k up

At the end of the day everyone can do with hardening up a bit and just getting out there and getting things done.  

There is nothing like a good old mother nature training session to harden you up.

When most people look out the window at rain and a gale, the last thing they want to do is head out the door. Mother nature is a tough old bitch who'll harden you up fast. So instead of dreading the cold, wet and wind, treat it as a chance to test your skills, endurance and strength (physically and mentally). Forget the planned session (i.e. if you have structured intervals they are going to be less than optimal when you are trying to stay in your boat as white caps break over the deck or you are down to a crawl as you battle your way into the head wind) instead just focus on surviving whatever mother nature throws at you.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable, but …

If you are not prepared and do not respect mother nature she will punish you and things can get dangerous. So always ask yourself the 'What if' question. What if I fell out of my boat would I get blown off shore or towards the shore? What if I get a puncture or mechanical and have to stand around for ages fixing it, do I have enough gear to stay warm? Always be prepared and have a plan.

Having spent some time in the Norwegian winter I have always loved their saying

"Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær."

Which translates to;

“There's no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing choices.”

Get out there and use this winter to build the foundation for your season ahead. Champions do the work when it's wet, dark, cold and no one's watching.

Train hard, but train smart.

Matty

Check out the Multisport Winter Base Training Plan HERE for help with your winter training