Pre-Season Training.

It’s winter here in S.A. Some therefore call this the “offseason”, I prefer the term, Pre-Season Training. I have a number of reasons for this. Here are some.

• I love consistency. Trying to change your entire lifestyle for one event is nearly impossible. Surely the goal of all you do is to change your lifestyle into a healthier one.
• Athletes get injured, and a lot of their injuries occur when they suddenly up both distance and intensity too quickly. Someone will come in next February and tell me that they have developed an injury over the last two weeks and I fully understand what they mean by that, their iliotibial band suddenly started to hurt two weeks ago. However, that might have been something that they could have completely avoided if they had got their training right at this time of the year.
• This should be a fun time of the year. Ironman and Comrades are done. This is the wrong time to be obsessing about distance or pace.
• Now is the time to focus on some key concepts. These are strength, form, and efficiency. I want to break these up over the next few points for the swimmer, cyclist, and runner.
• Swimming – there are about a kazillion things I could write about here. Now is time to work on your hand entry, wrist position, catch driven via your elbow, breathing, tumble turns, kicking, drill work. The list is endless. Don’t go for coaching six weeks before Midmar or Ironman 70.3. Swimming is extremely tricky, get this stuff right now.
• Cycling – are you efficient on the bike, do you understand basic road etiquette, can you get your drink bottle safely back in its cage, are you cross chaining or have you got your gears figured out? I would never be able to get you into an aero position two months out from a triathlon if your hamstrings are short. Now is the time to stretch them out, instead of explaining that you have always been inflexible.
• Running – now is the right time to work on your gait. Are you smashing your heel into the ground or are you landing softly, do you know how to pace yourself so as to keep your heart rate at a certain level, are your postural muscles strong enough to support your frame over 10, 21, 42, 56 or even 90 kilometers. Are you pulling from your hips? Are your arms swinging from side to side as if you belong to an oompah band or are they swinging effortlessly backward and forwards?

  So the key points for this time of the year are as follows –

• Don’t call this the offseason, this is your preseason.
• Learn to dress warmly enough and the weather should not be an issue.
• Slow down and focus on both form and the sheer fun of being outside.
• Get into the right running shoes, have your gait examined, get your bike properly set up, stretch, join a yoga or Pilates class, learn how to use a heart rate monitor.
• Get some swimming coaching.
• Go slow and get efficient.
• Get a coach if you can. The investment will be worth it. Have a look at this link for info on what we offer.

Regards,

Mike Roscoe.