CABIN FEVER

Winter training has been taken to an all new level this year.

Old man winter has provided us with everything winter has to offer, snow, arctic temps, ice, more snow, wind, blizzard complete with 20 inches of snow and gale force winds enough to shut down school and….everything else (including Cosport where I work which in the history of 16 yrs of working there, has never closed) and then more arctic cold.

To those training for Boston. I commend you long runs outside in this…or, on the TM…ick. I’m not sure which is worse. Which is why as long as I live in Chicago, Boston is never a big dream of mine.

To those training for an early season IM or even ½ IM……..I commend you. Long rides indoors, long runs out in frigid temps or on the TM, jumping into a pool when you are already frostbitten from just walking into the health club…. I commend you. Oh, wait. I am 1 of those people training for an early season ½. April as it turns out. When I signed up I was hoping for a mild winter. 

Below are some tips I have found to ease the pain with that comes with hard core winter training:

 wear Skinfit, even just during ADLs (in PT world that means activities of daily living) and during outdoor workouts
 put your coat, running gear, etc in the dryer for 10 min before putting it on
 use the blow drier at the health club to heat up your swimsuit and cap
 put the Garmin in cadence mode when running over black ice or glazed over snow to avoid seeing the slow pace, focus on form
 create an awesome, lengthy, and killer playlist for you Ipod with all your favorite rockers push you through those long indoor workout sessions
 go to Carla’s Sunday morning bike class to help pass the time with “gossip topic” of the week, 3 hrs is nothing!
 drink LOTS of very HOT coffee in the early morning and laugh at the thought of giving it up
 Mtn bike through deep snow because you are sick of the trainer, ouch.
 wear your coat for 20 mininuites when you come indoors
 plaster Aquaphor all over your face before running outside in arctic temps, then re-apply all the best moisturizers repeatedly on the hour afterwards to avoid the cracked, scaly, summit of MT. Everest look
 FOCUS and BELIEVE………. that this will only make you stronger and faster and APPRECIATE the warmer temps …..when they finally come…. even more.

And yes, I actually do all of the above.