The Bad Snow Day Workouts

So today was one of the mornings where the triathlete part of you wakes up cursing. Why? It's been pouring snow outside for several hours now. And, Murphy's law, today's agenda was cycling day. Well, at least on the highway, that's out. So what do you do when you can't get out to train? Well, fortunately living in Greeley taught me to deal with frequent snows and training disappointments.

You see, where I live, it snows infrequently and melts off fairly quickly, so Greeley was a huge shock since it'd snow for a couple days straight and then stick around for two weeks through absolutely gorgeous weather. So if you're stuck indoors through your training season, you've got a few options to minimize the annoyance. 

1. Head to your local Rec center, community building, or gym

Most towns have a place where you can pay a dollar or two to use their facilities for a day. As a firefighter, I get access to the community Rec center for free, and thankfully they're well stocked with stationary bikes and treadmills. (No indoor pool, thanks to squeamish tax-payers, but that's a rant for another day.) So with a few high-intensity workouts, it's pretty easy to maintain and even gain fitness. 

2. Buy yourself a cycle trainer and treadmill.

This is actually my preferred route (I hate sharing machines in gyms) and after Christmas the cycle trainer should be good! (Hi, honey, I love you!) I'm still on the market for a treadmill...and a place to put it....and someone to be selling one who doesn't want over $50....but that's besides the point.

3.Make it a strength training day

One thing I've learned, most Ironman triathletes don't have time to fit strength training into their already busy schedules. So when it's bad outside, take a day for the weights. A vinyl dumbbell set at Wal-Mart is about $20 and can take you up to 40 lbs, which is more than most lightweights I know can curl.

4. Cross-train

This seems redundant as we get so much of this as triathletes but snowy days can be a great day to head to gym and shoot baskets. Sports like basketball give you excellent sprinting workouts and help you get used to sudden power bursts, good for that last marathon mile.

5. Take a rest day

If you're training at all, you could most probably use it. The last thing you want to be on race day is over-trained and taking extra rest days is one way to prevent it. Your muscles will thank you.

So what I will wind up doing today is still up in the air but I'm most probably going to drag my happy butt to the gym to plow away on a treadmill or bike. Happy training!