Snow and how to deal with it.

If you have spend every year of your life in exotic and warm places and probably can't relate to the headline, good for you! The rest of us have to figure out what do you do when snow impacts the possibilities for training outside. I live in Upstate New York, and here we get so much snow that cycling outside is impossible, and occasionally also running becomes difficult.

Swimming is great for the Winter, since you can't put in long hours on the road, it allows you spend more time working on your technique in the pool. CrossFit is also just about optimal for the Winter, it builds strength and improves flexibility. The nature of a CrossFit workout makes the recovery time rather long, but since you don't spend a lot of time on the road, and more importantly don't get very tired from high intensity running or biking, the extra recovery time is not a problem.

My primary goals of 2011 are in the late Summer, which means that the training now is mostly base training, that is, continuous training at a low to moderate intensity. Since the pace is relatively moderate, it is possible to continue running outside even though there is a bit of snow on the ground. The treadmill is a possibility, even though I only use it if snow forces me off the roads. I find it very boring, especially when you're not doing high intensity work.

The really tricky thing is to keep the bike training going during the Winter. There is no doubt that keeping the biking going over the Winter improves your level during the Summer substantially. The second best investment I ever made for cycling (after my bike...) is my CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer. It is really quiet, smooth and comes with a lifetime warranty on the roll. However, even a good trainer doesn't change that riding indoors is about as boring as it gets. I don't have the patience to just ride a steady pace for the duration of my workout, so I try to mix it up with some intervals, even when I am doing an endurance ride. I just make sure to stay within the heart rate zone. The trainer is excellent for developing power, so often I ride at a slow cadence for 4 times 5min with equal recovery. It is also fun to do 2 or 3 times 15min where you try to go as fast as possible between two different heart rates (e.g. 120 and 144), the trick is to not go above the upper heart rate, and also not below the lower one. A more intense workout I really like is the Wien's 20-40's: Do 4 or 5min hard and at the start of every minute you increase the intensity for 20s. By the end of the last 20s you are working very hard. You can repeat this two to four times.

Training during the Winter is never going to be as fun as training when it is warm and sunny outside. But with a little thought and imagination, training during the Winter can be quite fun, and very effective. It helps tremendously to have a long term goal to work towards, it makes you much more motivated to do the necessary work.