End of season 2014….bring on 2015! :)

The triathlon season has pretty much come to an end, unless you are disappearing to sunnier places. You should have had, or are having (like myself) a break from structured training, enjoying other sports, more time with the family, and just relaxing. This is also the time when you reflect on the past year, what has gone well, the goals you have achieved, and areas that you feel you could improve. It is also time to start planning your new seasons goals, whether its the challenge of a longer distance event, setting a pb, improving your weakest discipline, or getting injury free, and strong to attack the races you enter for 2015. Then, after a few weeks clear break from triathlon, its time to get back to business! It is always a challenging time of year, due to the cold, wet, and windy weather, dark mornings, and a general feeling of apathy! Therefore, its time to remember that consistency in your training is everything. Whether you are able to train 5, 10, 15 or 20 hours a week, regular blocks of training which progress and provide recovery weeks are far more productive than blitzing a few weeks, then laying off for 4. You would benefit more from less, structured regular and quality training hours, than trying to cram in loads of training in a few weeks because you are panicking you haven’t done enough, then ending up fatigued and ill, and all that hard work is lost as you cannot do anything for the next 3 weeks. Remember that even in the winter block regular testing of your power on the bike, CSS on swimming and running trials is important. There are so many park runs that can be used as benchmarks, as well as winter duathlons you can get wet and muddy in, all of which help maintain an element of speed throughout the more endurance based training months. (23rd November Sika Duathlon for one! see www.tripurbeck.co.uk) Then come the new year, when you shift towards a more pre race specific training load, your body will already be prepped for the quicker efforts, therefore limiting the risk of injury, and providing a stronger benchmark for your body to get even faster. Also, don’t forget that all important strength and conditioning element of your training! This is the time of year you can really work at building a strong body, to support the demands of swim / bike / run training and racing, and will also help prevent any risk of injury!

And remember, enjoy the training, and the rewards it brings, and if you fancy a weeks training camp, riding the mountains seen in the photo above, let me know as we are putting a schedule together for the week beginning 25th May 2015 and places are limited and going fast!