Friday, December 11, 2009

Its really cold...so what


After college I left Iowa City behind and moved back to Boulder to start my triathlon career. In that move I thought I had left the weeks of non stop bitter cold behind me in the midwest where they belong. However, this past 10 days or so have been brutal with an average temp of probably around 10. Simply put this is not Boulder weather, and it is certainly not good training weather...or is it?

Now I will be the first to admit that this morning when I headed to the gym to lift and run and it was -2 outside I did some bitching. But one of the guys at the club threw out a pretty good question, is there some advantage to trianing in the cold?

I wouldn't go so far as to say there is an advantage, I mean I haven't ridden outside in over a week and running has to be done slow and carefully, but maybe there are some good things that come of it. I mean I love the part of Rocky IV where Rocky heads to Siberia to train in the snow and chop wood. It makes you tough and it makes you use different muscles and strategies than you might otherwise. When fast isn't an option you are able to work on form and strength, really dial in the things that will help once the snow clears. I don't enjoy the trainer any more than the next guy, but I am caught up on 24, have seen some good movies, and will be that much more excited when I can put rubber to the road again.

Do I still want to go somewhere warm for a training camp, of course, but while I am stuck here in the tundra I think maybe I will try and do a better job of focusing on the training and the reasons behind it, and less on the fact that my beard freezes solid during a 20 min run.

Train smart, be safe, and find your inner Rocky!

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