So we’re in the heart of the ski season, 24 days before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Nearly a month removed from the winter solstice, sunset still comes early, making it tough to squeeze in a run or a ride outside after work. Bicyclists anxiously flock to the roads between snowstorms, and runners frequently have to struggle with the lesser of two evilsrunning in the cold and snow or facing the drudgery of a treadmill.
But this is a very important time of year for endurance athletes. In fact, the way you train this time of year may be the clearest differentiation of whether you are a serious endurance athlete or a casual one.
Serious endurance athletes are already training with the Bolder Boulder, the Triple Bypass and the Boulder Peak Triathlon in mind. Serious endurance athletes understand this is when you rebuild a “base” of strength and aerobic conditioning that will support intensified training and competitive endeavors over the spring and summer. The stronger and fitter you are coming out of winter, the faster and harder you can train entering the summer.
“Every building starts with a foundation,” said Rich Castro, president of the Boulder Road Runners. “Your base is your foundation. Get on your bicycle, get in the pool, start your running program — nice, long, slow, easy stuff the body can accommodate easily. Then you build on it.”
My typical week lately has included a 10-mile run on the weekend, a hard 5-mile run in Red Rocks Park that includes running up the amphitheater steps, and a tempo-like 5-mile run above 7,000 feet on the rolling hills of Lookout Mountain Road. I’m also swimming a mile twice a week, doing a long, hard ride on the weekend (usually up Lookout Mountain to Genesee) when weather permits and a brisk weeknight spinning class.
“After the race season, you have to start over and start increasing for the rigors of speed work and the racing you’re going to have next season,” said Judyann Cummings, a Denver triathlete who won the women’s 50-54 age-group title at the long distance world championships last October in Perth, Australia. “The base is really, really important.”
Cummings, who is a personal trainer and triathlon coach, is coached by former Olympic bronze medalist Susan Williams of Littleton. Cummings took one week off after the world championships — which included a 1.8-mile swim, a 50-mile ride and a 12.4-mile run — and then got back to work. Much of that work took place in the weight room.
“Until about March 1, I’m concentrating on doing more weights — a lot more — than I would during the racing season,” Cummings said. “Susan is really big on that. This year I’m gradually increasing the amount of weight that I’m (pushing), decreasing the reps a little bit, and increasing my overall time spent lifting weights. In March I will back off, decrease the amount of weight and increase the reps.”
Before January, Cummings cuts back on the frequency and duration of her runs and rides. But in January she starts adding distance and hills.
Some triathletes, Cummings notes, use the winter months to work on their weakest event. If that’s swimming, for example, try swimming four times a week and do only one or two runs and rides.
For runners, base building should include hill workouts — Castro calls hills “speed work in disguise” — that will strengthen your legs for the track workouts to come later in the year. On the bike — indoors or out — Cummings suggests some “big-gear hills” for much the same reason.
“You have it at a really high resistance, but try to keep RPMs at around 60 — that’s pretty slow,” Cummings said. “Try to keep your heart rate at 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. You’re building strength.”
Now is the time to pick events that will be your primary goals this year and find some races along the way that can help keep you motivated.
“A lot of times, people say, ‘I want to get in shape, I want to lose weight,’ ” Castro said. “Hey, set some real concrete goals. Announce them to people. Get involved with a group. Get some structure, some coaching.”
Decide this is the year to be a serious endurance athlete instead of a casual one.
