Winter Training Tips

Winter Training Tips
By Kelly Keane

As endurance athletes, we often dread training in the cold dark winters. These cold months are often the “down time” period for many athletes, however it is still crucial for endurance athletes to maintain their fitness level and not allow deconditioning to occur. Outlined below are a few running workouts to keep you motivated and energized during the winter months.

1. Maintain your aerobic capacity and endurance by mixing it up! Go cross country skiing or snowshoeing. This is a great way to increase strength and also tax your aerobic capacity. Going for a 90 min snowshoe or cross country ski will give you an incredible cardiovascular workout while also lessening your chance of injury.

2. Hit the gym. Winter is a great time to focus on your injury prevention program. Strength and flexibility work should be performed 2-3 times a week. Below is an example of a great winter strength training program.

Day one:
2-3 sets of 12-15 reps
Lunges with dumbbells
Step ups onto a box with dumbbells
Chest press
Back Row
Shoulder Press
Core work with the exercise ball

Day 2:
Running Drill work. Begin with doing each exercise for 20-25 meters and do the whole circuit once. Build up to doing each exercise for 50 meters and do the circuit 3 times through.
Hopping drills- Hop on one leg, then switch
Skipping
Double leg jumps. Focus on jumping for height and landing on the balls of your feet.
High knees
Butt kicks

3. Run IN the snow! Track work may be impossible for some athletes. Fartlek running is a great winter running workout. Some suggestion for winter running workouts may include:

- Speed play- Don't even look at your watch. Pick a land mark and pick up the pace until you get there. Then jog easy and repeat for the duration of an hour run. The length of each interval will vary, so your speed will change accordingly. This is a great leg turnover workout but also a strength workout because you do it for a full hour.

- Put the yaktraxs on or snow shoes and do hill repeats in the snow. This is a great strength and power workout. Again, I recommend not timing the intervals, just pick a landmark of about 100-150 meters on the hill, and run up and down 10 times.

4. Treadmill workouts. Hit the treadmill for some variety. Start out with a pace that is comfortable for you. After a warm up, begin by raising the incline 1 level, hold this for 1 min, then up to 1.5, then 2, then 2.5 try to work up to level 5 or 6. Then bring the incline levels back down. This will be around 24 min of pure strength work. It will be amazing how quickly 20-24 min will see on the treadmill. This is a great winter strength workout.

5. The next workout is similar to the treadmill hill workout, except this workout involves changing the speed. Start at a pace that is comfortable for you. Then every 1 min increase the pace. Get faster for 10 minutes, and then begin to decrease the speed. This workout will get you about 20 minutes of work, so it is a great tempo effort workout designed to increase your stamina.

6. Be flexible and adjust your program accordingly. Check the weather forecast everyday and be prepared to make changes.

7. Remember: keep it fun!

Kelly Keane — Winner at Houston Marathon and Texas Man Triathlon

"I was able to train harder and longer the following day, when usually I am still fatigued. I recently won the Dallas Texas Man Half Ironman."
Other Articles : How to stay energized and hydrated during a marathon and Train for Aerobic Capacity and Lactate Threshold

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