Posted: December 20, 2005

Multisport by Lance Watson: Holidays Hints - Training Through The Turmoil

By Lance Watson.

While the holidays are a joyful and relaxing break for most people, they can present endurance athletes with quite the opposite! With restricted training times and an interruption to their otherwise conventional routines, what is supposed to be a time of tranquility can be seen as a time of inability for many athletes. Holidays can be a challenge to training if you are traveling quite frequently, visiting friends or relatives in a snowy climate or visiting people in a small town whose only pool is forty kilometers away. On that note, planning to have a down week is a good way to give yourself a break from having to fit your training around the schedules of others or pool closures due to Christmas break and New Years.

If you have already planned to train through the Christmas holidays, then prepare your training ahead as much as possible by taking into account that you will have to be flexible. Even if you can do little else while running errands, or visiting numerous family members, it is very realistic to plan a week of only run training. As you well know, running is the easiest and most time-efficient of the three sports to fit in, with simply running shoes, a nice warm get-up and the outdoors necessary. A week of running will be enough for maintaining your overall fitness. If you are able to travel with your bike, stationary trainer and your swim cords, then you can easily perform minimal bike and swim maintenance workouts over the holidays.

Organize group ‘training’ with the people that accompany you. Take some family members on a Christmas Eve group jog to look at the warm lights in the neighborhood, or organize a Boxing Day hike for friends and family instead of spending your last pennies in a crowded mall. Perhaps these activities will eventually become tradition! Or maybe even arrange to give yourself (or receive) a new training toy and then declare that you have to learn how to use it before you go back to work!

If you really want to stick it out in all three disciplines, then advance research on the holiday pool and recreation center schedules in your hometown or where you are visiting is a great way to start. Check if there is a gym that will allow you to set up your wind-trainer in, or if there are treadmills in that hotel workout room. Be prepared to be flexible with your swim training. Some length swimming will only be available in forty five minute groupings or less, but remember that even a short time in the pool doing drills and maintaining feel is better than none at all.

As cross-training is a great way to keep fit and spend time with the family, but be aware of the risks of certain activities when you aren’t as fit. Triathletes have extremely strong tanks and endless zest for any sort of competition, which allows them to play hard during activities at which they lack the proper conditioning and skills. Playing once a year road hockey or squash with your relatives is going to leave you sore for at least three days afterwards. Even snowboarding and cross country skiing will leave you aching if you hardly do it otherwise. Plan the duration and intensity of your sessions according to your skill level not your fitness. If you feel you just need to go longer, or you’re just having too much good old fashion fun… then plan for a good massage and rest days afterwards!

With some advance planning and creative time management, it is possible to stay fit during the hectic Holiday Season. Take time to enjoy your family and friends during this time, and perhaps try to incorporate them into your small training days. Show your loved ones the beauty of running outside on a crisp winter’s night… and instead of feeling like light training, it will feel more like unwrapping their first gift from under the tree!

Over the past 20 years, Lance Watson has coached a number of Ironman and Olympic Games Champions .
Beginner and experienced triathletes can contact him at LifeSport Coaching (coach@LifeSport.ca) or visit LifeSport.ca.
Thanks to Jessica Kirkwood for her contribution to this piece.

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Posted with permission from LifeSport.ca.

© Copyright 2005 Lance Watson Professional Coaching Inc.