Tips on training in our current environment.
This year has taken an unprecedented turn. While most of us were in a heavy training load for the upcoming season, last month everything came to a sudden halt. For the safety and health of everyone in our communities our races and any group training session with a good brew afterwards has become a thing of the past. This has left many athletes wondering what to do, with nothing to train for and the cooler months coming motivation to train hard is probably at the bottom of many people’s priorities at the moment. So how should we manage our training and health through the lockdown?
- Stay healthy, stay happy
Sounds pretty obvious, but right now it is more important than ever to look after your health, physically and mentally. Nothing should be prioritised more than the health and safety of you and your family at this time.
- Take a break
Although you haven’t raced, you have been putting your body through sessions that have been preparing you to race. Your system has still been under significant loads of training stress and depending on your situation there has probably been a significant amount of added stress that has come in to place over the past month. It is important for you to step back and have some time to regather and set up for a new training block and routine. If you need to take a week or two off of structured training to stay healthy as you work through sudden job losses, new work from home arrangements or having your kids around 24/7 that is ok. You don’t need to stop training, but you can probably take an extra sleep in every other morning and spend some time focusing on other aspects of home and work life.
- Get moving again
Once life has settled into a new routine it is critical you get moving again. Many of us train because we are aware of the benefits for our mental health and now more than ever it is important to honour movement as a way to stay not just physically but mentally healthy. Even if you can only ride or run with one other seize the opportunity to socialize and get outside. We are lucky we can even do this.
- When your moving, follow the rules
We are lucky enough (in Australia at least) to still have the freedom to get out for a run and ride, but please do not head out in groups of more than 2! Please don’t try and cheat the system. These measures have been put in place to keep us safe. The more people trying to break the rules, the higher chance the privilege of being able to roll out each morning will be taken away.
- Start some base training
With no races for at least 6 months it’s time to take your foot off the pedal and start some base training. Work on the weakness, take the extra time you might normally spend commuting to work to stretch and recover correctly. Slow down your training and focus on strengthening your cardiovascular endurance.
The Camino Comrades have all taken a breather to navigate through this time, sleeping in a little bit, making the most of the quite roads and enjoying the extra time that we have had to spend with our families. As we get moving again we are focussing on building a solid base for when the season resumes. We have been tapping out some big weekly kilometres on the bike and on the pavement getting through some of our biggest ride and run weeks. We are staying safe, staying healthy and staying home and hope that you are your families are too.
