Confused about the "off" season

Winter season for triathletes can create frustration and confusion. How much time do you need to take off, what do you do when the weather gets cold and cloudy, how much is too much/too little.

No matter what you do, remember the goal would be focused on what your goals are you 2012.

The important points to remember:
• You don’t have to follow someone else’s training
• You don’t have to take a certain amount of time off
• Keep is social, keep it fun, focus on your goals.
• Find what works for you

Join my "off" season Insanity Challenge here

My winter training used to be like summer training, only more indoors. I would continue to swim with the same masters group, ride my trainer as frequent as I did outdoors and kept my run mileage up.

Over the years this regime has gotten repetitive and I realized I was doing this for the wrong reasons. Not to help my performance for the following year, more to try and maintain my lean body mass I worked so hard to achieve over the summer. Often I did not want to keep up training and over time I would end up doing nothing for a few months and start spring training at least 10 pounds heavier.

Whether you name the upcoming season “off” or “winter” I like to refer to it as “transitional” Depending on who you are, where you live, your experience, last race of this season and first race of next season this current time of year will have different meaning.

Whatever you want to call it I found my balance of cross training without running myself down with swimming biking and running. I found workouts that keep me lean, ok maybe gain 5 pounds which is healthy. I do loss endurance and speed but gain so much strength and have more time to focus on my business.

There are two main training approaches that I have found other coaches use describe the “transitional” season (winter). All of them advise taking some time off exercise, this could mean a week for some up to a month for others. I have tried both approaches and describe what I do below

1.Winter is the perfect time to increase your bike and run lactate threshold training with no swimming. I tried to follow this plan during the winter of 2010. I liked the short high intensity workouts 40-60 minutes a day. With my schedule I could not follow the exact day to day, week to week plan so really I did not follow this as it was intended to be used.

2.Winter is the perfect time to cross train, ski, snowshoe, take a break from swim, bike and running. When you are ready, start to prepare your body to train with light resistance workouts, easy pedaling, swimming and running. Form is the focus before you start building your base, adding duration and intensity.
What you do now is often dictated by a few factors:
• on your goals, short (3-12 months) and long term 1-3 years
• your previous training and racing experience,
• your final race of 2011
• first race of 2012
• strengths and weaknesses
• weather you live in a cold or hot climate.

I know a lot of triathletes who use the winter months for their marathoning. Going from tri season to marathon season doesn't give your body time to recover from a rigorous tri season. I prefer a break from tradition training, following a plan, peaking for an event. . I save a “marathon plan” till the spring. I do maintain some level or biking and running to keep some endurance levels up and to focus on technique.

This is what I find to be the best approach for me this time of year.
Since I peak in the fall, my tri training begins late spring. The bulk of my fall/winter training is strength and form based. This includes functional strength training with TRX, P90x and Insanity, indoor training for the outdoor athlete.

I also love to snowshoe if the snow is deep enough in Fort Collins. I do not travel into the high country because I hate traffic on I-70 during the winter and don’t want to spend the money skiing, something that I would have to learn how to do.

I do enjoy fall weather so I mountain bike and continue to run and road bike for the purpose of getting outdoors. I keep is social, make it fun. I commute around town on my mountain bike pn local trails and often extend my commute.

I love to run with my dogs locked up in a baseball diamond, chasing them for 10-15 minutes gives me my desired workout. I leave my watch and heart rate monitor at home and just enjoy running with maintaining good form.

I prefer to train in the morning. When the weather gets cold I don’t mind running indoors at the health club while watching the news. Since I don’t watch TV at home, watching the morning news is a treat for me and I prefer to train outdoors in summer heat anyways.

Since I train alone sometimes a spin class now and then is fun. My body is very sensitive to bike fit so I limit the amount of time I ride on another bike and would rather ride my trainer

I don't swim much because that is my strongest leg. I can generally get that where I want it in about six weeks. If I swim, it's generally just a short "maintenance" swim of 1000 yards twice per week at the most.

Many triathletes tend to work on their swim (often their weakness) with a masters group during the winter months. My thoughts on this is only effective if you are consistent and are swimming purposefully, working on your technique limiters and improving. Otherwise it maybe a waste of time and energy.

For me, trying various protocols, following a traditional periodized plan including the following phases of training work best.

• “off” after the last race of my season
• “Preparation” after I take time off (1-4 weeks)
• “Base” late winter/early springtime
• “Build” springtime into summer
• “Race” Summer into fall

You can email me about coaching programs or send me ideas for another article