As a triathlete, I take the fall months to boost my running speed and endurance. After a long year of juggling cycling, swimming and running, I relish the relative luxury to build myself into a stronger runner and then see how well I do in local 5K or marathon-distance events.
But more than taking time off from my multisport training, I enjoy knowing that what I’m doing in the fall and winter is going to pay off next spring when I jump back into triathlon training full time.
My No. 1 piece of advice when it comes to cross-training is make your workouts interesting. You want to wake up each day and want to go do it. For me, trail runs with my dog do the trick. For other people, interesting could be hiking one day, running with friends another day, mountain biking several days later, and so on.
My No. 2 piece of advice: Cross-training doesn’t have to be about focusing on one goal like a Thanksgiving weekend turkey trot or early winter event ride in Arizona. The goal of cross-training is to maintain your current level of fitness, offset some of the strain you may have put on your body throughout the summer, and give your mind a break from a rigid training calendar.
I do have one note of caution: Resist the urge to take your strong aerobic fitness and go out and be a superstar right off the bat. It takes time to learn new skills and for your muscles to adapt to a new sport – sprinting after the ball at a soccer game could result in a pulled muscle and sideline you for weeks. Take it easy and enjoy the learning process. Done right, cross-training should be humbling and exciting at the same time.
Abby Ruby is a coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Colorado Springs. For more information on the latest in training, fitness and nutrition, go to www.trainright.com/newsletter.
