Winter Training Alternatives

I love snow! While some triathletes run to warm climates in the winter, I can't imagine a winter without snow! My first winter on the east coast for school, I nearly cried when December rolled around and I hadn't seen a flake and was highly disturbed at the green grass still brilliantly displayed on center campus. My east coast friends never heard of grass turning brown and going dormant for the winter. "Grass doesn't turn brown unless its dead." I tried to explain to them the concept of the ground freezing and being blanketed with feet of snow for months but they didn't get it, and I didn't get the concept of bare ground for 95% of the winter.


Over the past 2 months, I have spent a lot of time inside due to the snow and ice covered roads and trails, I've been on the trainer, treadmill, strength training at T2BB and swimming 8k+ workouts in the pool. However, I have also spent at least 30% of my time play/training outside. The following is a list of my recommendations for Fun winter Fitness when the snow starts falling or in some cases DUMPING:

 DOWNHILL SKIING

I went skiing on New Years Day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. I got several comments, "Wow! I didn't think you would be out here." or "Does your coach, Barb Lindqiust know about this?" Many athletes avoid "risky" activities such as skiing for fear of getting injured, but I think skiing only gets too risky when you start pushing your boundaries too far. I stuck to the blues and double blue groomers and had the best workout I had all winter. Downhill skiing is an awesome strength endurance activity for your legs. I wrote in my training log bike workout report the next day, "Highest wattage and best workout of the year. I think all the skiing actually helped loosen up and activate some muscles that had been getting lazy on the trainer."

XC SKIING 
I love classic cross country skiing. You can throw on a pair of skis and venture into the woods just about anywhere. Whenever I go xc skiing I think of the Robert Frost poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. There is no better mental and emotional therapy than getting lost somewhere in serene snowy woods.


SKATE SKIING
The highest VO2 maxes ever recorded belong to Noridc skiiers, and just this week past, I learned why. Peaked Sports set me up with demos, the whole get-up boots, skies, and poles. At first I felt like a goofy toddler with no coordination, but after a few miles and lots of drills and technique pointers from a good friend I was gliding away. Skate skiing is an amazing full body workout! Not only do you activate all your biking muscles, strengthen your glutes, fire your shoulders and triceps, you also get the heart muscles pumping! The only down fall to this sport is you have to find groomed trails. While that is easy in Jackson, with over a hundred miles of groomed trails within a 30 min drive, I know that is not the case for every location! If you have access to groomed trails, I highly recommend this activity for some winter cross training.

SLEDDING
Sledding is often thought to be just plain child's play fun, but after a few times running up a good snow covered hill, you will find that it can also be a great hill sprints/ VO2 workout! Go find the nearest sledding hill and get to work/ play.... this is where the lines really start getting blurred and fitness reallllly becomes fun!
(Side note, pulling people or Christmas trees on sleds can be a fun workout as well!)

SHOVELING

I love snow soooo much that I don't even mind a good workout of shoveling! That said, one must approach shoveling cautiously, conscientiously keeping the core engaged and using legs when lifting and throwing snow so as not to injure ones back! Shoveling should be approached as a full body workout and one that requires finesse, not just mindless grunt work....a disengaged mind usually leads to an injured body, and that goes for almost any activity!

SNOW BIKING
I love taking my mountain bike out for a spin on the snow packed roads to keep a little excitement in the winter training. There is also a growing interest in the world of fat biking. While I have yet to try one, it looks like a bundle of fun riding single track in the winter months! Riding mountain bikes on groomed trails is frowned upon and not all that great as you will sink in and end up walking a great deal of time. Fat Biking shall be my next venture in winter cross training!


 Keep training fun in the winter months and get creative! There are plenty of other fun winter activities that I am sure I failed to mention here. Summer isn't the only time to stay in beach body shape. Get outside and have fun! My mantra: I have a mantra that there is no such thing as bad weather, just poor preparation and dress. That being said, I don't do anything over low aerobic level training when the temperatures drop below 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Look forward to my next blog on how to dress for winter clothing!