Avoid the ego ride

Winter training is a good time to build a solid aerobic base, and this means staying within defined heart rate zones. This can be tricky if you do your riding in a group setting or live in a place with lots of cyclists on the roads with whom to get competitive – damn speedy commuters with panniers! This is when it is important to let go of your ego: yes you can likely outride that person, but not if you stay below your heart rate cap of 145 BPM. If you are out there for 5 hrs grinding away with your Ironman goal in mind, don’t let the annoying dude out for an hour ride who hangs on your wheel and then blows past you on descents, force you to abandon your plan!

If you live in a cold climate and spend a lot of time indoors on the trainer it is generally easier to keep yourself in check. A note – your HR is likely lower on the trainer than the equivalent perceived effort out side so don’t stress if you can’t get it into your usual outdoor zone. The workout is definitely still worth it.

You see some athletes training really hard in January, but hopefully these are the ones that have years and years of solid aerobic base in their systems – not the typical age group athlete that has taken a few months easy/off and needs to gradually build fitness.

Taking the time to train in aerobic zones will help you avoid burn out and extend your season – hopefully all the way to Kona in October.