Ironman blog by Jenny – follow me on my journey to Ironman Austria (My first & only full distance triathlon)
Where I plan to provide some insights, tips and thoughts that any outdoor endurance sport enthusiast might find interesting, regardless of your level, sport or distance.
1 – January ’25 – Cold weather
You sign up to an event. An outdoor endurance event. Potentially the biggest physical challenge you have undertaken yet. It doesn’t have to be a full distance triathlon; it might be your first 5km parkrun. It’s January, so even though you have months (5 months in my case) to prepare, you know that building up through your training gradually, consistently, keeping to “the plan”, gives you the best chance of success, and a smooth stress-free journey to race day. Plus… it’s a new year, with a new challenge, so you’re just excited to get going!
I’ve been squeezing training sessions in around work in the dark, starting run and bike sessions at 6:30am, or heading to the pool at 8pm – it can be psychologically tough. But when looking ahead to 3 hours out on the bike, or 1hr 45min running after an hour in the pool on the weekends, I thought, that will be beautiful in the crisp winter sunshine! Wrong. January (and let’s face it, February too) in the UK are not months that favour us outdoor athletes. This year so far as consistently thrown wind, rain, fog, ice and snow at us, meaning sticking to the training plan and keeping calm about the challenge set, feels at times daunting. There was a specific weeklong window in early January when the sub 2° temperatures just meant the risk of slipping off my bike on ice was just too high. Missing out those 3-hour rides so early on felt like I’d failed and sticking to the plan the first week I’d started it.
So here are my tips and thoughts for outdoor endurance sports training in these early winter months.
“Miss a session now and you will still make the finish line. Come off your bike now and break a collarbone, and you might not make the start.”
Back up plans
My “long sessions” this month have included 3-hour long bike rides, running 1hr 45min at a time, and 1 hour swim sessions. Overall, I have managed most of the sessions set out by my coach. Some of those missed were because of picking up a cold, but the British winter has not always been kind. So, what other training options have I employed?
Outdoor bike ride on the plan… time to break out the turbo trainer. My turbo is set up in the kitchen, with a nice view of the back garden so lots of daylight and with some imagination, like being outside if I open the patio doors. But what if you can’t face sitting on an exercise bike / turbo trainer for 3 hours? (I can’t!) My colleague David Lee recommends breaking it into sections, taking a couple of minutes break to get off the bike to walk / stretch, or do 1.5hr in the morning and again in the evening. Afterall, you stop at traffic lights or to grab a coffee at a café mid ride.
Icey pavements looking like even walking isn’t safe never mind running… Hit the trails instead. Your event might be on the road, but a smooth gravel path isn’t going to cause you to slip over like an icy tarmac pavement will. You can also head out later in the day when the ice has thawed (yes, you might need to miss parkrun, but it’s probably been cancelled due to ice anyway), or pick a route that has been in any sunshine, avoiding north facing shadowed sections which still harbour hidden ice. There’s always the treadmill too!
Don’t forget you can also move days around – changing an indoor swim scheduled for a more favourable day, to a typical winter one, allowing you to push that bike session into kinder conditions. But remember… moving your sessions around can lead to overload in certain areas. Doing all your high intensity interval training sessions on back-to-back days is a recipe for disaster, so you might just be better off missing a session.
Risk management
As my husband said to me one icy 1° Saturday morning… “miss a session now and you will still make the finish line. Come off your bike now and break a collarbone, and you might not make the start.”
Being sensible and missing a session is not the end of the world. You will still be moving forward toward your goal event. What else could you do with the extra time? Massage, strength session, cleaning and checking sporting equipment? There’s always something productive you can be doing.
Warm up indoors
If you already feel cold before you head outside, it is going to be even harder to warm up. That feeling of cold air hitting your lungs while your knees and ankles demand more oxygen to fuel their surrounding muscles, can be quite unpleasant, so before you head out, get moving. Squats, star jumps, marching on the stop, calf raises, trunk twists, inch worms… they all get you moving and prepare your body for the exercise session ahead.
Clothing choice
This part is key! And unfortunately, often a little bit trial and error. I find that layers are the best way forward. You can always unzip a light jacket, or take arm warmers off, use a buff as a headband and then wrap it around your wrist should your head get too warm. I also keep a record of temperature and what I wore, so that as you learn what clothing options suited you for what type of session, you can take the guess work out of it. 2 Top tips for running… Firstly, start off feeling slightly cold – you will warm up. Secondly, add 10° to the temperature and think what would you be wearing generally in the day for that? For example, on a 17° day for a walk I might wear light trousers and a t-shirt, or skirt with a long sleeve top, so on a 7° run I will likely wear long leggings and t-shirt, or shorts and a long sleeve top (depending on the session)
I hope you have found some of this insightful! Let’s hope that February weather is a little calmer and more mild.
