For many people, the onset of winter means a retreat into the relative warmth of a gym, away from the outdoor trails that came to define a summer workout regimen. When you live in an area that enjoys warm weather throughout the year, though, you’ll have many additional opportunities to take advantage of things like marathons and triathlons.
If you’re an avid runner intent on engaging in these activities all year round, then there are certain steps you’ll need to take in the weeks and months between races. Getting and staying fit could prove to be a challenge, but you can bolster your abilities and safeguard yourself against injury by putting into practice some of the tips included in a new report out of Texas, a place that’s no stranger to warm winter weather.
When you’re training for a long-distance race like a triathlon, you’re naturally at a disadvantage if you put all of the responsibility for developing a training regimen on yourself. Triathlons are even trickier than marathons because you have to worry about swimming and cycling in addition to running.
It behooves you to work with a coach or a trainer when readying your body for such a test of your physical prowess. Even a couple sessions can allow him or her to enlighten you as to the type of conditioning that will allow you to reap the most benefit.
Barring that, you should at the very least set a goal for yourself and then stick to reaching that metric. Whether your goal is to increase distance or speed, simply having something to look forward to will allow your body to more easily acclimate to the enhanced rigors of this type of training. Goals should be ever-shifting as you become more adept at breaking barriers that previously seemed unfathomable.
Establish a pace, time, and distance for the day rather than just winging it. If you say to yourself that you’re going to do one thing, stick to that. When your legs tell you you could go another mile, you may actually do a disservice to your body if you push beyond what you were initially considering.
This ties right into the idea that a little rest goes a long way. Too many people plan to rest for a day only to try to sneak in some mileage when they should be allowing their bodies to heal. In fact, interspersing intense days with days where you’re letting your body recuperate will give you the extra energy you need to go further when you do return to a more intensive workout.
About the author
