While many Atomica athletes have already sprung into racing action with their impressive results at MSO Provincials, it is not uncommon for triathletes to feel a little less spring in their step this time of year despite the longer days and the (in theory) increased sunshine. There are a number of reasons for this including the accumulation of hours spent on indoor trainers and treadmills that make up most of our winter base training. That repetition and lack of different physiological and sensory stimulation can leave us feeling flat. But, rest assured that you’re not alone if you are experiencing this slump. Furthermore, feeling this now doesn’t mean you’ll feel this way all spring! Here are a few things you can do to give your training vibe a good clean.
Six Secrets for Springing Forward:
1) Trust the work you’ve put in all winter! Know that the base work you did will set you up to handle the higher-end sharpening of race-specific training which (depending on your race schedule) will begin soon!
2) Say yes to spring socials. Commit to at least one social training session a week. Share in the training and racing of your friends as this does much to energize your own training.
3) Get a bike tune-up! (watch for our next post on how to do that). As I always tell my athletes, a clean bike is a fast bike. No doubt you’ve sweat long and hard over your tri bars, and they’re in need of deep clean! But more importantly, getting the gears, brake pads etc. checked is going to do much for making your first outdoor ride safe and fun.
4) Sign up for a pre-race race….this can be a race done as a hard effort workout (a 5km or even Swimming Ontario Champs!) with the purpose of getting those cobwebs out in a no-pressure scenario well before your first goal race.
5) Get to a training camp! Ok, so you may be too late to join us in South Carolina, but that doesn’t mean you can’t discuss a weekend staycation training camp with your coach. The mental and physical benefits of putting in a little extra work in a concentrated time-frame can be enormous and certainly boost race season confidence.
6) Renovate your race fuel. It’s very common for triathletes to have leftover gels, drink mix, chews, and bars from last race season. That’s great and can mean you’ll be all ready nutritionally for your first race. However, all that stuff DOES expire so be sure to go through it all this spring, check the expiry dates, and replace the expired fuel.
Happy Training! -Coach Z