Yesterday was the kind of New England day that Lewis Black jokes about in his routine. We experienced at least three of the four seasons in a period of just a few hours. The day started out like late early summer. There was still a pretty good snowpack from last week's snow (trust me, this one was only a "blizzard" to the media), and when I headed out for my run at 7 a.m., the temp was almost 60. Despite the combo of warm air and snowpack, there was little fog, probably because the airmass that had floated in was already moist when it got here.
I did a 32 minute run, went pretty easy, staying mostly on the new concrete sidewalks that they put in around my village of residence. Usually my runs divert away from public roads for a significant portion of the route, which makes it difficult to determine the true distances. The odometer calibration on my mountain bike is a little bit suspect; it is calibrated for an overall tire diameter somewhere between the big knobbies and the street slicks that I sometimes interchange them with. So today I tried using an online GPS applet which looks to be built from the googlemap API. You can find this at walkjogrun.net. This thing is still a bit buggy, but you can zoom in on the 'hood, click the points of your route, and voila, a turn by turn distance report is produced on the page. Pretty cool idea. I came up with about 4 miles for my run, so that it not too bad, as I was keeping my HR in z1 and z2 for most of it.
Oh yeah, the weather. So I went to work and began to toil away. Around 11 a.m., the skies darkened, the wind picked up, and suddenly it is raining sideways. Not just a little bit either. This was like the opening credits to Gilligan's Island. Huge trees curling horizontal, sheets of rain, nearly dark as night. This last about 10 minutes. By 1 p.m., the sun is out, there is not a cloud in the sky, and the temps have plummetted into the low 30's. So much for an early spring.
The good news is the two days of warm weather combined with the brief rain significantly eroded the snowpack. The streets and sidewalks are all clean now. I am not sure about the woods, but I think that it will be mostly runnable and rideable, so long as it stays cold enough to keep the mud frozen. That shouldn't be a problem, as tonight's low is supposed be below zero.
What does all this have to do with training? This is about flexibility, not the physical kind, but in your training activites. You have to be prepared to make the most out of what nature presents to you in the way of weather. Sure, the first two weeks of February were pretty damn spring-like, and we all got in some good road miles. My view, however, is that only the foolish started ramping up like it was time to start the Spring build. Take advantage of the nice days, sure, but why go out for four hours if you might not be able to do that again for five more weeks? In the coming days I will elaborate more, chronicling my techniques for training in the late winter conditions, but suffice to say that running, MTB, cross, XC skiing, and indoor workouts are all prime tools to used during base conditioning. Continuing to do these activities even when the conditions would allow you to head out on a road ride will keep you interested and able to make the most out of your training when the the weather isn't so cooperative. Once I start getting out on the road every day, I find it a lot harder to enjoy the trainer on the stormy day when I am stuck inside. So don't be afraid to go out on the road when things are good, but stay involved in your winter activities so that you are prepared to get something out of them when they are all you can do. Running is the best example. There are far less hassles to running than cycling in crappy weather or cold, because you don't have the artificial wind chill and there are less light-related safety issues. You have to keep the running consistent though, because if you drop it for three weeks when the roads and temps are good, then you won't be able to push it enough when running is the only option.
Finally, remember that your supply of fortitude is not endless. Don't go out for three hours on the bike in 20 degree temps every weekend in February if this will make you hate the bike and stay inside in March. Your February workouts have only one purpose: to prepare you for your March workouts. March prepares you for April, etc. So keep your base routines consistent and meaningful, but don't empty your tank now in some effort to "get ahead." Trust your training, and trust yourself to follow it.
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